Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i World Soccer

“It’s a demented decision, insane. He’s a manager with zero experience, living off his fame as a player” OTTMAR HITZFELD (LEFT) ON ZINEDINE ZIDANE’S APPOINTMENT AS COACH OF REAL MADRID To see video footage of these goals, and many more that we have selected, scan the QR code using any free QR reader that can be downloaded to your smartphone. You can also see the videos by logging on to http://po.st/9vnyTq 1 HENRIQUE Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City With Melbourne keeper Thomas Sorensen joining the attack in the closing minutes, Brisbane break and the Brazilian dribbles out of his own half before scoring from just inside the opposition half. 2 LALLIANZUALA CHHANGTE INDIA V NEPAL A couple of step-overs before cutting inside and hitting a left-foot shot into the far…

Looking into football’s future...and finding its past With bouquets to my colleagues on World Soccer for providing the raw material, I shall plunge headfirst into the squads they have recorded for the teams in the top flights of England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. In these lists of names, I tried to find some hidden guide to the present state of the sport, and maybe cleverly unearth a hint about its future. And I was truly amazed to find where it took me. A total of 98 teams and 2,759 players includes 313 goalkeepers, who I regard as a separate and really rather mysterious category. The youngest among all 2,759 players is Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is 16 – although he is due to celebrate his next birthday in…

Football’s debt to Jimmy Hill It was sad to read, on his recent death, that Jimmy Hill, such a versatile and vital figure, had spent his declining years plagued by Alzheimer’s disease. There is no doubt that footballers in England owe him a tremendous debt. When he succeeded Jimmy Guthrie, Portsmouth’s 1939 FA Cup-winning captain, as PFA chairman there were some who thought he had been harshly treated. In retrospect, I think it fair to say that footballers needed a rather more subtle, less confrontational leader to plead their cause. And in Hill they arguably got that. Supported by the PFA secretary Cliff Lloyd, yet with no overt backing from Danny Blanchflower, by far the most eloquent footballer of his generation, Hill soldiered on in face of the opposition of…

STADE PIERREMAUROY, LILLE 1 Opened in 2012 at a cost of €282m and with a 50,157 capacity, Lille’s home was the first all-new ground to open its doors ahead of the 2016 Euros. Sadly, the team have yet to deliver a trophy. ALLIANZ RIVIEIRA, NICE 2 The new home of Nice opened its doors in September 2013 after a twoyear build that cost €245m. It has seen an upturn in the team’s fortunes, while also hosting rugby matches for Toulon. STADE MATMUT ATLANTIQUE, BORDEAUX 3 Owned by the city of Bordeaux, the 42,115-capacity arena cost €183m to build and has been home to Bordeaux since it opened its doors less than a year ago, in May 2015. THE OTHER GROUNDS THAT WILL HOST MATCHES ARE 4 Parc des Princes, Paris…

Due to soon embark on a sell-out tour of Premier League venues, Pep Guardiola is widely regarded as the planet’s best coach and an object of desire for every leading club in Europe. Yet in Germany, where he is in his third and final season in charge of Bayern Munich, not everyone is quite so sure. What counts at Bayern are the biggest prizes. And while Guardiola has achieved domestic dominance – two Bundesliga titles already in the bag and a third on its way – he still has to deliver in the Champions League, having been unable to prevent the Bavarians tasting bitter semi-final defeat against Real Madrid and Barcelona in each of the past two continental campaigns. The risk-versus-reward equation he faces over the next four months is…

3 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT DENDONCKER l He comes from a football family. Younger brother Lars plays for Club Brugge juniors, while elder sibling Andres is a centreback with West Flemish regional league side Meulebeke. His mother, Katrien, used to play the game, too. l His favourite player is Barcelona defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets. l In 2014, Anderlecht were so keen to recruit Zulte Waregem’s midfielder Thorgan Hazard, that they offered Dendoncker in part-exchange. Luckily for Anderlecht, Zulte coach Francky Dury was not interested in a deal. Leander DENDONCKER Age 20 (15.04.95), Anderlecht & Belgium In a sentence Amazingly mature, he can turn his hand to any sort of defensive mission, shining as a midfield holder for Anderlecht and at centre-back with Belgium’s under-21s. What they say Jean-Francois Remy,…

O OVERVIEW Despite calling on players based at some of Europe’s leading clubs, Croatia struggled in the qualifiers. O Croatia have qualified for five out of six Euro finals since independence. O Croatia were deducted a point and were forced to play two games behind closed doors after their home game against Italy, in June 2015, was played on a pitch with a swastika clearly marked out in the grass. O Niko Kovac was sacked as coach following the away defeat to Norway. His replacement, Ante Cacic, was criticised for a lack of experience and for the selection of Josip Simunic as his assistant. Simunic was banned for 10 games in 2013 after leading fans in a pro-Nazi chant following victory in a World Cup play-off. O Cacic has a…

O OVERVIEW Turkey travel to France on a high after their dramatic qualification for the finals. O Turkey squeezed through to Euro 2016 as the best third-placed team after finishing behind Czech Republic and Iceland in their qualifying group. They appeared to have little chance of qualification, but in their final two games they won away against the Czechs and beat Iceland with a last-minute goal to clinch their place in the finals. O Coach Fatih Terim is in his third spell in charge. In his first spell, Turkey qualified for their first major finals, Euro 96. In his second, he guided them to the semi-finals of Euro 2008, where they lost to Germany. O The vast majority of the squad are with clubs in the Turkish league. The exceptions…

TIM VICKERY “If you want to see a spectacle, go to the theatre” A famous Muricy Ramalho quote of old Something interesting is happening at Flamengo, Brazil’s most popular team. Traditionally associated with populist grandstanding and administrative chaos, in the low-profile presidency of Eduardo Bandeira things have been done somewhat differently at the Rio club. With priority being given to whipping finances into shape, results on the field have suffered. The supporters, however, appear to have understood. In 2014, Flamengo flirted with relegation before finishing 10th and last year, after hinting at something better, they slipped to 12th – and all without the terrace revolt that would normally accompany such results. Indeed, Bandeira was even re-elected. But fans will not wait for ever and 2016 is a key year, with…

By the time you read this, Pep Guardiola may have announced which club he will be heading for this summer. Or he may not. That’s one of the perils of monthly deadlines. But that does not mean we cannot analyse Guardiola’s time at Bayern Munich (page 62). Similarly, the FIFA presidential election, due to take place on February 26, is hard to call and any preview is likely to be rendered out of date by deals between the candidates. What is undeniable is the paucity of quality candidates in the election. Even the two leading candidates have major fl aws. Sheikh Salman remains under pressure from human rights campaigners to explain how he was not involved in the torture and imprisonment of Bahrain footballers. As FA president, he was there…

PIERREEMERICK AUBAMEYANG The striker is the first Gabonese to be voted African Player of the Year by CAF. NAPOLI Were Italy’s socalled “winter champions” for the first time since 1989-90. The leaders at the halfway point of a 20-team Serie A have always gone on to win the title. PANAMA Clinched the final CONCACAF place at this summer’s Copa America Centenario, in the United States, with a 4-0 victory over Cuba. SERGI GUARDIOLA Sacked hours after joining Barcelona’s B side when the club became aware that he had made a series of anti-Barca tweets in 2013. RON-ROBERT ZIELER The Hanover keeper lost all his clothes in a New Year’s Eve fire at The Address hotel in Dubai. SWANSEA CITY The Premier League club lost to Oxford United of the fourth…

“I was liquidated. I feel like an innocent person in a prison cell on a murder charge” ROLF FRINGER, WHO WAS SACKED AS SWISS CLUB LUCERNE’S director of SPORT FOR DARING TO SUGGEST THE REMOVAL OF COACH MARKUS BABBEL EUROPE Egypt midfielder MOHAMED ELNENY joined Arsenal from Swiss side Basle for £5million. For details of all the moves in Europe’s top five leagues, go to WWW. WORLDSOCCER.COM/TRANsfers LUCIANO SPALLETTI took charge of Roma for a second time, replacing Rudi Garcia, while GUILLERMO BARROS SCHELOTTO became Palermo’s third boss of the Serie A season. BAYERN TURN TO ANCELOTTI CARLO ANCELOTTI, 56, will succeed Pep Guardiola as coach of Bayern Munich next season after the Italian agreed a three-year contract. Ancelotti, the former Juventus, Milan, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss, left Real…

James Montague reports Inside a green-and-gold coloured coach, parked outside the Kyocera Stadion – home of Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag – Jacco Van Leeuwen counts the packets of pasta, cookies, soup, marshmallows, sugar and powdered milk piled up around his feet. “Every year ADO Den Haag is doing a lot for the poor and sick people,” says Van Leeuwen, who is chairman of the club’s supporters association, as he takes charge of yet more bags donated by fans on their way to that evening’s league game against Willem II, the last before the winter break. The supporters were collecting for a food bank that would distribute the packets to the local poor. In total, 451 separate packages covered the floor. “In this rich country, that so many people need…

Spoiler alert! The game was given away when Zinedine Zidane’s wife Veronique and four sons walked into the room at the Santiago Bernabeu and occupied seats in the front row. Then, just in case anyone still had any doubts, a few minutes later Zidane himself came in with Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez and sat down with them. To either side of them were the board of directors. Most of them, anyway. Some had chosen not to be there. Perhaps some were uncomfortable with what was about to unfold. It was a Monday night and Rafael Benitez had not yet been sacked as Real coach. In fact, it was just 13 days since Perez had described him as the “solution” and insisted: “Zinedine Zidane will not replace Rafa Benitez”. But…

Paulo SOUSA (Por) Age 45 (30.08.70) As a clever midfielder schemer he won the European Cup in 1997, with Borussia Dortmund, and 1996 with Juventus – an association which did not endear him to fans on arrival last summer. However, he has won them over with his intelligence, elegance and, above all, results. Has also coached in England, Hungary, Israel and Switzerland. THE PURPLE SHIRT As a club, Fiorentina have always been distinguished by their deep purple strip. Legend has it that the colour was the result of a clotheswashing incident when their original red-and-white shirts – Florence’s city colours – came out of a river wash looking more purple than anything else. In reality, the purple – which was used for the first time in a September 1929 friendly…

This season’s Premier League is one that would not feel out of place 30 years ago. The familiar stratification has broken down, even the best sides are inconsistent and it feels as though every round of games brings at least one major surprise. Perhaps it’s simply a freak, a rare coincidence of middling teams finding form and confidence just as the elite go through debilitating transitions. Perhaps it is the shape of things to come, the saturation of television money meaning almost everybody is buoyant. But there has also been an intriguing tactical shift, one that enhances the sense of this being a retro-season. There has been a return – at Leicester City and Watford most notably – of systems with twin strikers, something that runs contrary to the general…

After the announcement by Bayern that Guardiola will leave at the end of this season when his contract expires, the Spaniard revealed his desire to work in England. “I want to coach in the Premier League,” he told a press conference in early January. “That is the reason I did not prolong my contract. “Three years are enough. I am not comfortable with staying at one club for 30 years. I want new restaurants, a new city, a new challenge. “When I got to Munich, people asked, ‘Why Germany and not England?’ I want to experience the emotions there. Why England? That’s my instinct right now.” Guardiola insisted that no deal had been agreed with an English clubs. So what are the options open to him? MANCHESTER CITY The overwhelming…

An exclusive interview with Ballon d’Or winner Andriy Shevchenko saw the Milan and Ukraine striker feature on the cover, but the big talking point at the turn of the year was Italy’s first Derby della Capitale since Paolo Di Canio’s return to Lazio. “If you were hoping for peace, prosperity and tidings of comfort and joy in the Italian new year, you would have been sorely disappointed,” wrote Paddy Agnew. “It was perhaps inevitable that, with a January 6 Rome derby, the year would soon be marked by fierce tensions and drama. “The key figure in the dramatis personae was one Paolo Di Canio, Lazio’s prodigal son cum standard-bearer, who returned this season to his very own alma mater after four years in the English wilderness.” Di Canio was back…

O OVERVIEW The Russian campaign was revived after Leonid Slutsky replaced the highly paid Italian, Fabio Capello, midway through the qualifiers. O Russia’s qualifying campaign was dominated by debate over the tenure of coach Capello. The Italian was one of the world’s highest-paid coaches but was sacked in July 2015 after Russia won only two of their first six qualifying matches. O Under Slutsky, Russia enjoyed a remarkable turnaround, winning his last four matches to pip Sweden to second place in the group. O Russia will travel to France with one eye on preparations for the 2018 World Cup on home soil. Calls to naturalise foreignborn players, such as Lokomotiv Moscow goalkeeper Guilherme, CSKA defender Mario Fernandes and former Spartak striker Welliton, have grown in recent months as the country…

TIM VICKERY THE BIG GUNS: ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL In December, once again, the champions of South America were found wanting in the Club World Cup. The last team from the continent to win the trophy were Corinthians in 2012 under coach Tite, whose 2015 Brazilian title-winning team had looked set to enter this year’s Libertadores as favourites. That, however, was until Chinese money arrived and carried off their most important players. The constant loss of leading talent – now to China, the Middle East and USA as well as Europe – has clearly had a detrimental effect on the quality of the regional club game. It also makes continued success very difficult, since winning major titles inevitably puts the best players in the shop window. Corinthians are far from the…

STEVE MENARY “The domestic league is crawling along; it’s in a terrible state. Corporates don’t want to invest money because football has a bad name due to match-fixing” Former PPC academy director Tom Legg The new C-League season is due to kick off in February, but few are convinced that will happen as the size of the competition remains unclear. Supposedly comprising 12 teams, there were only 11 takers – and that was before Build Bright United pulled out with financial problems. “It’s supposed to start on February 6 but until the first whistle blows I wouldn’t guarantee that,” sighs Harry Varley, the community programme manager at defending champions Phnom Penh Crown. PPC, who beat local rivals Nagaworld in the play-off at the end of 2015, are owned by Rithy…

JOHN DUERDEN It’s cold when the South Korean season finishes in November and usually freezing when the new one starts in late February/early March. So while the players are off tanning themselves at training camps in Guam or Thailand, club officials and agents keep warm during the bitterest months trying to fend off the increasingly wealthy Chinese Super League clubs that come calling every time a campaign ends. The K League is now in its fourth decade and Asia’s oldest professional league has been its best, or very close to its best, from the very beginning. Six different clubs have won a combined total of 10 continental championships – double the total won by the next two most successful, Saudi Arabia and Japan. China now has three, two of which…

HOW IT WORKS Every month, journalists from each member of the European Sports Media group select their first Xl based on the best individual performances from Europe’s top competitions. For details of how each ESM member voted, visit worldsoccer.com/esm11 ESM – EUROPEAN SPORTS MEDIA The members of ESM are: A Bola (Portugal), Elf (Holland), Fanatik (Turkey), Frankfurter Allegmeine Zeitung (Germany), Goal News (Greece), Kicker (Germany), Marca (Spain), Nemzeti Sport (Hungary), So Foot (France), Sport (Belgium), Sport Express (Russia), De Telegraaf (Holland), TIPSbladet (Denmark), World Soccer (England). More details of votes at worldsoccer.com/votes…

”I wanted to pay them, but the Chinese hackers messed with my money” RAPID BUCHAREST OWNER VALERII MORARU EXPLAINS WHY HIS PLAYERS HAVE NOT BEEN PAID TOULOUSE To help fans attend the French Cup game against Marseille, which was scheduled to kick off at 5pm on a Wednesday, the club provided letters excusing supporters from work. ROBERTO MANCINI The Internazionale coach earned praise for his public condemnation of Napoli rival Maurizio Sarri, who called Mancini a “faggot” but was forced to apologise after Mancini claimed Sarri “ought to be ashamed of himself”. JACK BUTLAND The Stoke City goalkeeper donated £5,000 to Great Britain’s women’s deaf football team to help them attend June’s Deaf World Cup in Italy. GONZALO HIGUAIN Two goals in the 3-1 win against Sassuolo took the Argentinian’s…

“A lion doesn’t worry about lambs. He eats them” SINISA Mihajlovic responds with law-of-the-jungle disdain TO RUMOURS THAT HIS JOB AS MILAN COACH IS UNDER THREAT ITALY Following an easy 5-1 victory at Frosinone, Napoli were the “winter champions”. There is, of course, no winter championship; it is just a hypothetical trophy awarded each year to the side in front at the halfway point of the season. The real significance is that in seven out of 10 years, the winter champion has gone on to win the real thing. Napoli have been winter champions three times before – in 1987, 1988 and 1990 – and a Diego Maradona-inspired side went on to claim the title in 1987 and 1990. However, current coach Maurizio Sarri is keeping his feet firmly on…

THE INSIDER Perversely, probably the greatest service Sepp Blatter ever delivered to world football in general, and FIFA in particular, was to break his promise not to stand for re-election last year. The fury Blatter generated in the West – and its English language media – provided the impetus for critics and investigators to re-double their efforts into unmasking the culture of corruption to which he had contributed, at the least by acquiescence, in the corridors of FIFA power. By insisting on carrying on – which had been his clear intention from at least two years out – Blatter also encouraged the greediest of neighbours around FIFA’s ExCo boardroom to believe their regional reigns, built on patronage and/or bribery, were secure for years to come. Hence almost everyone – bar…

Howard Johnson reports The notoriously hard-nosed Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas showed himself to be human after all on Saturday, January 9. In charge of the club for a whopping 29 years, Aulas had a visible lump in his throat and a tear in his eye at the inauguration of Parc OL, the new 59,186-capacity stadium that replaces the old Stade de Gerland. It was no surprise the 66-year-old was overcome with emotion as the celebratory ribbon was cut before Lyon’s game against bottom club Troyes. It has been a hell of a personal battle to turn his vision for a new type of football ground into a reality. Ten years ago, Aulas was already dreaming of a new stadium that would be the base on which he would create a…

Rumen Paytashev reports from Sofia Not for the first time, Bulgarian football finds itself a laughing stock after four-time champions Litex Lovech were expelled from the top flight after their players left the pitch in protest over refereeing decisions during a game against Levski Sofia on the last weekend before the league’s winter break. Amid accusations of a pro-Levski bias among the domestic game’s hierarchy, reigning champions Ludogorets – who went into the break joint top with Levski – threatened to pull out of the competition in support of Litex. And if things weren’t farcical enough, Levski themselves even launched a campaign for Litex to be reinstated after realising that they could lose the seven points accrued in two victories and a draw against the team from Lovech this season.…

Andrea DELLA VALLE The younger brother of Diego, he is the club’s honorary president and is therefore the man who calls the shots. And also picks up the tab. A little-known public figure before the family took charge of Fiorentina in 2002, he has stuck doggedly with the task. Daniele PRADE The sports director is the club’s key transfer-market man. Having worked with Fabio Capello’s titlewinning Roma, he joined the Viola in 2012 and is responsible for bringing in the likes of Facundo Roncaglia, Borja Valero and, most recently, Nikola Kalinic. Mario COGNIGNI Executive president who once said he only got the job because, of all the senior figures in the Della Valle group, he at least had some football experience, having been involved with his lovcal village team, Vis…

GOALKEEPERS 24 Luca LEZZERINI Age 20 (24.03.95) Highly rated youth-team product who made his Serie A debut for the injured Tatarusanu this season. 33 Luigi SEPE Age 24 (08.05.91) Former Italy youth international on loan from Napoli. Given his chance in Europa League this term. 12 Ciprian TATARUSANU (Rom) Age 29 (09.02.86) Arrived from Steaua Bucharest in 2014 and now first choice. Romania’s player of the year and a key figure in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. DEFENDERS 28 Marcos ALONSO (Spa) Age 25 (28.12.90) Former Real Madrid, Bolton and Sunderland left-back. Grandfather Marquitos was a member of Real Madrid’s all-conquering 1950s side. 13 Davide ASTORI Age 29 (07.01.87) Left-sided, solid centre-back on loan from Cagliari who picks up plenty of cards. Ten Italy caps and played at the 2013 Confederations…

“Jurgen Klopp combined winning trophies with breathtaking football at Borussia Dortmund. How significant is it to your trophy ambitions to have him here at Liverpool? He created a highly successful side at Dortmund and it is great for Liverpool to have him. In training, we are working hard and enjoying his methods, which are helping to make us better players. Little by little, it is translating to matches and I think everyone has seen how effective his [gegenpressing] philosophy can be if we adapt it in the right way. It feels like we are moving in the right direction under him and we believe we can fight for the big prizes and enjoy some special moments with the fans. What influence has Klopp had on you in his time at…

1 Pep GUARDIOLA Age: 45 Nationality: Spanish Current status: Leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season. Style: Schooled in Barcelona but always open to new influences. Past: Won multiple trophies with Barca and has continued winning in Germany. Future: He says his next job will be in the Premier League. 2 Jose MOURINHO Age: 53 Nationality: Portuguese Current status: Unattached after being sacked by Chelsea in December 2016. Style: Brash and confrontational but also pays incredible attention to detail. Past: Multiple trophies with Porto, Chelsea, Internazionale and Real Madrid but has never lasted more than three seasons. Future: Would love to replace Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United but may have to wait. 3 Diego SIMEONE Age: 45 Nationality: Argentinian Current status: Contracted until 2020 to Atletico Madrid,…

O OVERVIEW Slovakia are preparing for their first Euro finals after beating Spain and Ukraine in the qualifiers. O Slovakia qualified for their first European Championship after finishing second behind Spain in their group. The most eye-catching result was the home win over Spain. However, the opening victory against Ukraine in Kiev would prove just as important. O Coach Jan Kozak has assembled a tight-knit squad of hard-working players and is not afraid of innovation, occasionally deploying youngsters or switching tactics. O Slovakia’s key players are spread around Europe, including in Italy (Marek Hamsik and Juraj Kucka), England (Martin Skrtel) and Russia (Jan Durica). Vladimir Weiss, now plays in Qatar. O Slovakia’s first major tournament was the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where they surprised many by defeating defending…

Tuesday December 15 GERMANY: Second-tier Heidenheim reach the last eight of the German Cup for the first time in their history with a 2-0 win at Erzgebirge Aue. HOLLAND: Twente are banned from European competition for three years after they “deliberately misled” the Dutch FA over a deal to sell transferfee rights to an outside investor. ITALY: Alessandria become the first third-tier side to reach the Italian Cup quarter-finals in more than 30 years with a 3-2 win over top-flight Genoa. WednesdayDecember 16 BULGARIA: Litex Lovech are expelled from the league after their players walked off in protest over refereeing decisions during the weekend game against Levski Sofia. CLUB WORLD CUP: Lucas Alario’s 72nd-minute goal puts River Plate in the Final with a 1-0 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. America of…

SIMON HILL They transformed the fortunes of Manchester City and have begun what they hope will be a similar revolution in the USA with New York City, but what of the third cog in the wheel of the Sheikh Mansour-backed City Football Group? The fortunes of Melbourne City – who were Melbourne Heart until a buyout two years ago – have followed a similar pattern to the parent club. A steady start, with much of the previous infrastructure left in place; the odd big-name signing (for Robinho, read David Villa, albeit briefly); and the construction of a remarkable new training facility – a smaller version of the Etihad Academy at the club’s base in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. City reached the ALeague finals for only the second time last year, while…

MARTIN DEL PALACIO LANGER “My philosophy is to attack with the ball and without it to defend. Why complicate something so simple?” Tigres coach Ricardo Ferretti If you were to ask a European football fan who are the best team in the Americas at the moment, the most logical answer would be the usual suspects: Boca Juniors, River Plate, Santos, Corinthians. The name of Mexican club Tigres would not cross their mind, and yet they have all the merits to be part of the discussion. For years, the results of the Monterrey-based club were far away from the outlandish amount of money that their owners – multinational cement giants Cemex – spent to strengthen the squad. Despite investing more than any other team in the Mexican league over the past…