Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2015 i World Soccer

“We’ve had enough of losing face. Stop going to nightclubs and start acting like professionals” Frustrated with Atalanta’s poor showing in Serie A, fan Claudio Galimberti leads an on-pitch protest during a training session Eintracht Frankfurt’s Alexander Meier, who is the Bundesliga’s top scorer so far this season, will miss the rest of the campaign with a knee injury. The 32-year-old striker had been enjoying the best season of his career, scoring 19 league goals before being sidelined by surgery. Meier, who stands 6ft 4in, joined Eintracht in 2004 and has proved a hit with fans who see him as a throwback to the days of an old-style centre-forward. “The injury to Alex has hit us hard,” says Eintracht coach Thomas Schaaf. “We had hoped that he could help us…

“My mentality is Argentine. My desires are in Buenos Aires” Juventus attacker, Carlos Tevez tells Italian daily La Repubblica of his hopes for an another spell at Boca Juniors Issa Hayatou shuffles along at a slower pace these days, but there is no mistaking his upright gait and imposing presence as he towers over his contemporaries. At April’s Confederation of African Football Congress, Sepp Blatter called him a man still “filled with physical vigour”. That was an exaggeration, given Hayatou now needs dialysis for a kidney complaint, but any suggestion the 68-year-old Cameroonian might be nearing the end of his long reign at the helm of African football is misguided after another massage of CAF’s statutes ensures he can continue for as long as he likes. Hayatou has never made…

Fifth term awaits Blatter as challengers flounder One safe bet – safer even than Sepp Blatter to be voted in again as FIFA president on May 29 – is that, while he might even conceivably be back in four years’ time, none of his current rivals will. They all acknowledge, privately, that their prospects of an FA Cup-style giant-killing are next to zero. But the strategy, as cooked up within UEFA, is not so much to overthrow the 79-year-old Swiss but to inflict cautionary damage. Blatter, of course, could respond at a meeting of his new executive committee the day after Congress, by demanding that UEFA cede World Cup slots. But, on the basis that he has to work with Michel Platini and co for the next four years, he…

“To begin with, it was a little difficult for me. I felt pique was reticent” French defender Jeremy Mathieu (left) reveals it took Barcelona centre-back partner Gerard Pique time to accept him following his move last summer from Valencia IN EUROPE  VICTOR SANCHEZ, who played in the Deportivo La Coruna side that won La Liga in 2000 and reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2004, took over from Victor Fernandez as the club’s coach. Almeria replaced Juan Ignacio Martinez with SERGI BARJUAN until the end of the season. Madrid sign danilo from Porto Real Madrid have signed Brazil right-back DANILO from Porto for ¤31.5million. The 23-year-old, who has agreed a six-year contract, will join the Spanish club at the end of the season. Danilo, whose Porto contract expires in 2016,…

What Lyndon Cooper describes as “parallel tournaments” are common all across the Caribbean. In a region where amateur football is still the norm, privately run competitions offering prize money are big attractions for fans and players in countries from Barbados to Guyana. But not, if Cooper has his way, in Saint Lucia. “We are selling one brand and that is association football,” says the Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA) president. “I am stopping this because it’s against international rules. You wouldn’t want a World Cup run by Adidas or Nike.” In order to facilitate the changes, the SLFA are introducing a player-registration system which, while it might seem obvious in larger countries, has rarely been needed on an island of 182,000 people. In fact, the previous registration system was so…

MAR 25, 2007 Scores in Colombia’s 5-0 win against Venezuela to secure second place in the South American Under-17 Championship. FEB 27, 2009 Comes on as a 64th-minute sub and scores nine minutes later on his debut for Banfield, in a game against Rosario Central. DEC 13, 2009 Despite a 2-0 loss at Boca Juniors on the last day of the apertura campaign, Banfield win the title for the first time in their history. MAY 6, 2010 Sent off in a 2-0 defeat away to Internacional as Banfield are knocked out of the Libertadores Cup on away goals. OCT 16, 2010 After signing for Porto in July, he makes his debut as a second-half sub in a 4-1 Portuguese Cup win at home to Limianos. DEC 15, 2010 Scores his…

KLAUS ALLOFS High-profile managing director with a flair for transfer bargains and a good business brain. He was headhunted in 2012, with the task of making the team competitive and putting finances in order, after success in a similar role at Werder Bremen. Won 56 caps for West Germany as a striker. MARTIN WINTERKORN Chairman of the Volkswagen group since 2007, he sets the tone for the club’s ambitions and money made available to the football department. He is also chairman of the VW subsidiary Audi, who have a stake in Bayern Munich. FRANCISCO JAVIER GARCIA SANZ Madrid-born businessman who, after joining VW in 1993, swiftly ascended the corporate ladder and became club chairman in 2009. Played a key role in ousting underperforming coach Felix Magath in 2012. WOLFGANG HOTZE…

In December 2005, Jose Mourinho won World Soccer’s World Manager of the Year award for the second year running. A presentation was arranged at Chelsea’s palatial training complex in Cobham, Surrey. Photographs were taken, a short interview took place and a polite request was made by this writer to respect an embargo ahead of the magazine’s publication the following week. “No chance,” came the reply from Chelsea’s chief press officer. “He’ll go back to his office now and he’ll be straight on the phone to his mates in Portugal.” Within hours the story was running on Portuguese websites. Another tale to boost Mourinho’s reputation – and ego – at home and abroad. Ten years on, and Mourinho is back at Chelsea and about to celebrate another Premier League title. His…

“I had many super years with Germany but I wanted to make sure I continued to play to my maximum in my last four years with Bayern” “ Where else could you get this complete package? Everyone would love to sign a long contract here” “You were out of action after fracturing your right ankle. Did you watch Bayern games during that time through the eyes of a fan or a coach? It’s a mix of everything. You can be thrilled like a fan and at the same time you can share the coach’s perspective because I know how Pep Guardiola thinks. I reflect on what we can do better. Compared to pitch level, you see situations differently from the outside. You see the whole field, the open spaces. What…

Is it possible that media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi could be getting ready to sell a majority shareholding in his much-loved Milan? Recent reports in the Italian media have suggested that at least two people, Thai financier Bee Taechaubol and Hong Kong businessman Richard Lee, have been in contact with Berlusconi with a view to buying the club. At this stage, it would appear that Taechaubol represents the most serious offer on the table. He has reportedly already concluded a preliminary agreement dependent on the conclusion of a “due diligence” assessment of the Milan books, with the club expected to return a 2014 annual deficit of approximately ¤60million. While the asking price remains difficult to calculate, Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that Taechaubol has offered ¤500m for a 60 per cent shareholding.…

Four campaigns on from the last time they made it to the final stage of the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, Thailand have a chance of making it to the second group phase again. Drawn in Group F – along with regional rivals Indonesia and Vietnam, top seeds Iraq and lowly Chinese Taipei – anything less than second would be disappointing. Top spot, or finishing as one of the four best runners-up from the eight groups, would see the “War Elephants” through to the last 12 for the first time since the 2002 qualification campaign. “Thailand are making some good progress, particularly with some of their young players who are starting to step up,” says Ricardo Rodriguez, the Spanish coach of Thai Premier League club Bangkok Glass. “Thailand has…

The expansion of the European Championship to 24 teams raised the possibility of a number of first-time finalists qualifying for next year’s tournament in France. And so it has proved, with Wales, Northern Ireland and Iceland emerging as strong contenders to qualify. In the latest round of qualifiers, Wales secured a crucial victory in Israel – largely thanks to Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale, who set up Aaron Ramsey’s goal, then scored two himself. Wales have not qualified for a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. They came close to making Euro 2004, when Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs was the star man, but fell to Russia in the play-offs. Giggs’ relationship with the national side was tetchy, with only a handful of friendly appearances among his 64…

2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS ASIA 1st round 2nd leg Mar 23 - Isa Town, Bahrain Pakistan 0 Yemen 0 Att: 2,200. Ref: Al Qaysi (Irq) Yemen 3-1 on agg Pakistan: M Hussain (Hanif 46) - Ahsan Ullah, Bilal, M Ahmed (Muhammad Ali 84), Younas, Mehmood Khan, S Hussain, Riaz, Mansoor Khan (Adil 50), Bashir, K Ullah. Yemen: Ayash - Al Jarshi, Al Radaei, Boqshan, Qaid, Al Sasi, Al Hifi, Al Khyat (Anbar 81), Al Hagri (Al Hubaishi 90+1), Al Gabr, Al Matari (Hafeedh 90+3). 2nd round draw Group A: East Timor, Malaysia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. Group B: Australia, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. Group C: Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, Maldives, Qatar. Group D: Guam, India, Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan. Group E: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Japan, Singapore, Syria. Group F: Indonesia,…

Although we are approaching the business end of the season, when titles are decided and reputations established, thoughts are already turning to the summer transfer market. There may well be some significant player moves – Radamel Falcao and Paul Pogba spring to mind – but the most interesting developments are likely to be on the coaching front. The decision by Jurgen Klopp to step down as Borussia Dortmund coach (page 14) may not in itself trigger a domino effect among the continent’s elite managers. But it could be the first step in a series of major changes that take place this summer. Inevitably, Klopp has been linked with Manchester City, where Manuel Pellegrini could depart after a disappointing season. But there will be other positions that become available that could…

CRISTIANO RONALDO Became only the third player – after Raul and Alfredo Di Stefano, with 323 and 308 respectively – to score 300 goals for Real Madrid. He reached that figure in just 288 games, compared to 741 and 392. SPARTAK MOSCOW After a 102-year-old supporter was robbed in his home, the club raised more than ¤7,000 for him through player donations and a share of the ticket sales from the home game against Kuban Krasnodar. KAZUYOSHI MIURA The 48-year-old striker extended his existing record as the oldest scorer in J-League history, with a goal for second-tier Yokohama in their 3-2 loss to Jubilo Iwata. LEE CASCIARO The policeman scored Gibraltar’s first-ever competitive goal at international level when he hit a 20th-minute equaliser against Scotland at Hampden Park. MONTENEGRO FANS…

“It would be wonderful to play in New York, London, Paris, Jakarta and Beijing” Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis wants the opening weekend of Serie A to be played in 10 foreign cities next season 1 Jurgen KLOPP Shares in the club fell to their lowest level in 18 months, chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke looked on the verge of tears and in the streets of the Ruhr city, fans wandered aimlessly, dismayed and disconsolate. Whether it be the money men, the administrator or the faithful in the stands, April 15 2015 will go down in Borussia Dortmund history as the end of an era – the day coaching superhero and tactical visionary Jurgen Klopp announced his intention to leave at the end of the season. The charismatic architect of Dortmund’s…

Europa League deserves more respect from the arrogant English Contemptuous disdain for the Europa League within English football is loud and insistent – and, to my mind, completely baffling. I keep hearing from myriad television and radio pundits that playing in a serious European competition – which is of far more worth than the domestic League Cup – is supposedly an unhelpful distraction at best and a “catastrophic burden” at worst. The latest example, supposedly, is the current mediocre season of Everton. The argument was they couldn’t cope with the extra demands of the Thursday/Sunday schedule of the Europa League and their Premier League campaign suffered as a consequence. It is tosh, pure and simple. Everton’s woes in the Premier League stemmed entirely from a defence that played poorly for…

New revelations shame Blatter and Qatar A devastating investigation by The Sunday Times’ Insight team has Sepp Blatter and FIFA bang to rights. Again, you might say. Except that this time the revelations are so shocking that you’d think action must be taken, above all to the extent of taking the 2022 World Cup away from Qatar. The Qataris have now been shown to have done a scandalous deal with Blatter at the expense of the superfixer Mohamed Bin Hammam, who Blatter evidently feared could successfully challenge him for the FIFA presidency that he now hopes to occupy for another four years. Not that we should weep for Bin Hammam, who would probably, if this be conceivable, have made a still worse president of FIFA than Blatter. Meanwhile, Bin Hammam…

LYNDON COOPER Cooper was elected SLFA president in 2011 but, by his own admission, his footballing experience is limited to school. He has proved a controversial president and faces re-election this June. He is also vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union. FRANCIS LASTIC Saint Lucia’s national coach spent most of his playing career as a defender with Vieux Fort-based Roots Alley Ballers and Northern United All Stars. Retired in 2011 and guided the national team to the runners-up spot in the revived Windward Islands Tournament in 2013 and claimed the title last year. CES PODD From St Kitts & Nevis, he made more than 500 Football League appearances for Bradford City between 1970 and 1984. A friendship with Keith Alexander, who had Saint Lucian parents, led the pair to develop…

Marcelo Bielsa has never been orthodox. Whatever else he is, he is an independent thinker, somebody who has the capacity to look at every problem afresh and find his own solutions to it. It was at Newell’s Old Boys in the early 1990s that Bielsa began prioritising pressing and it has remained the basis of his philosophy ever since. But although it was, in many ways, similar to the style that was coming to dominate Europe at the same time, there was one big difference: while the likes of Arrigo Sacchi, Louis Van Gaal and Egil Olsen liked their teams to use zonal marking, Bielsa often relied on man-marking. The development of zonal marking in the 1950s is usually seen as having been key to the adoption of pressing as…

A rare colour action picture, featuring Dukla’s Svatopluk Pluskal tackling Tadeusz Kraus of Sparta in the Prague derby, was on the front cover of the May 1962 edition as attentions turned to the forthcoming World Cup in Chile – the first to be covered by the magazine. Eric Batty, our international correspondent, reported on the defending champions Brazil, their back-room staff, and how a new “trainer” and a Sao Paulo media mogul were the key to their chances, rather than the skills of Pele, Garrincha, Nilton Santos and Zagallo. Vicente Feola, the architect of Brazil’s triumph in 1958 had left his post just over a year previously and the little-known Aymore Moreira had been given the chance to step up and fill his boots. The Brazilian Federation, the CBD, had…

The 2017 African Nations Cup qualifiers may begin in June, with the World Cup qualifying campaign starting after that, but Nigeria are still no nearer resolving their coaching situation. With the country going through a period of soul-searching following the failure of the “Super Eagles” to qualify for the Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea earlier this year, negotiations with Stephen Keshi to resume his role continue. Keshi was first appointed in November 2011 and led the team to the Nations Cup title in 2013, and the second round at the World Cup last summer, before his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) ran out after the tournament in Brazil. Continuing as caretaker, Keshi endured a turbulent 2014, in which he was sacked by the NFF in October, only to…

It’s almost impossible not to qualify for Euro 2016,” Guus Hiddink joked last September at the start of Holland’s qualifying campaign. “If that happened, I would have to emigrate.” Two months later the national coach announced he would leave if his team failed to beat Latvia. Luckily for him – and the Dutch FA who appointed the 68-year-old in spite of Ronald Koeman’s better qualifications – he was saved by his players, who ran out 6-0 winners in Amsterdam. However, the victory over Latvia was a small positive note in a qualification campaign in which everything else has gone wrong so far. Two wins against minnows, two crucial defeats against rivals and a disappointing draw leaves Holland six points behind group leaders Czech Republic and five behind second-place Iceland. Direct…

Algeria and Ghana already have the infrastructure and a strong football culture, but in the end Gabon was chosen to host the next African Nations Cup finals in 2017. And although it did not come as a surprise – all the talk before the decision was announced had been about the oil-rich nation – the exact reasons why were not made clear. Co-hosts of the 2012 finals with neighbours Equatorial Guinea, Gabon has just two functional stadiums, in Libreville and Franceville, so the promise to complete projects in Port-Gentil and Oyem is one possible reason as CAF has long sought to use the hosting of the tournament to get governments to build or upgrade sporting infrastructure. But Algeria has seven stadium upgrades planned and would have used two new planned…

AFRICA CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 1st round 1st legs - Mar 14-21; 2nd legs - Apr 3-5 Al Hilal (Sud) v Big Bullets (Mwi) 4-0, 1-1 (agg 5-1) Al Merreikh (Sud) v Kabuscorp (Ang) 2-0, 1-2 (agg 3-2) APR (Rwa) v Al Ahly (Egy) 0-2, 0-2 (agg 0-4) Cosmos Bafia (Cam) v Esperance (Tun) 0-1, 1-3 (agg 1-4) Coton Sport (Cam) v Sanga Balende (DRC) 0-0, 0-2 (agg 0-2) Enyimba (Nga) v Smouha (Egy) 1-0, 0-2 (agg 1-2) Gor Mahia (Ken) v AC Leopards (Con) 0-1, 0-1 (agg 0-2) Kaizer Chiefs (SAf) v Raja Casablanca (Mor) 0-1, 0-2 (agg 0-3) Mamelodi Sundowns (SAf) v TP Mazembe (DRC) 1-0, 1-3 (agg 2-3) Mangasport (Gab) v Stade Malien (Mli) 1-3, 1-2 (agg 2-5) MC El Eulma (Alg) v Asante Kotoko (Gha) 0-0, 2-1…

Lyon’s highly rated striker Nabil Fekir made his senior debut for France in March, picking the land of his birth ahead of Algeria, the country of his parents. The 21-year-old came on as a substitute for Les Bleus in a friendly against Brazil in Paris and then appeared again, against Denmark, four days later. “Yes, I confirm, France are my choice”, said Fekir. “I spoke with Didier Deschamps and he was very convincing. He said that he was counting on me and that I was an important player for him. “This is a significant year as we are close to Euro 2016 [in France] and I really want to play in that tournament. I am French of Algerian origin and I feel it was in my interest to opt for…

“They are corrupt, three thieves who don’t know the ethics of money” World Cup-winning striker turned campaigning politician Romario (left) lights the blue touchpaper with his comments on FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke and former CBF presidents Ricardo Teixeira and Jose Maria Marin 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/Cp0xsL 1 ROBINHO Palmeiras v Sao Paulo An outrageous dipping lob from 45 yards in the third minute of a Sao Paulo state championship game. 2 FLAVIO CARNEIRO Confianca v Socorrense Rounds the goalkeeper, then backheels the ball over the covering defender into the top corner in…

“In the second division, teams do take the bus to many away games. The players will have to get used to it” Nuremberg’s director of sport, Martin Bader, criticises players who refused to travel by coach to Hamburg for a game against St Pauli, paying for flights themselves SPAIN The Spanish Cup Final will be played in Barcelona after the annual pantomime over the venue finally came to an end that didn’t entirely satisfy anyone. For the third time in six years, Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona meet in the Final, and they will do so in the third different stadium in a third different city. Both clubs wanted to play at the Santiago Bernabeu – easily the biggest neutral stadium available and roughly as reachable for both sets of fans…

Qatar 2022 did not have to be a step into the unknown If I were to decide that I want to be a Formula One driver, they would first of all check that I have a driving licence; they would not let me start my learning process by awarding me pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. So just how did Qatar get awarded the 2022 World Cup when it has no experience of organizing major – or even less than major – FIFA tournaments? In 1995, Qatar hosted the Under-20 World Cup and even then it was pretty clear that FIFA knew about the heat problem. Scheduled to avoid high summer, the tournament was played from April 13 to 28. FIFA was aware that it was impossible to play…

A few years ago, when the global financial crisis struck but Brazil kept on booming, a new possibility appeared to open up. In an increasingly multi-polar world, it became conceivable that the Brazilian league might pose a challenge to the dominance of the major European competitions. It is now abundantly clear that this has not taken place. Indeed, the gap between Brazilian and European club football has probably never been wider. Worse still, some of the outstanding names of last year’s Brazilian championship will not be on show when the 2015 version kicks off on May 9 because they have been lured elsewhere. And instead of Europe, as used to be the case, these players have gone to China, the Middle East and the USA. For Brazil, the worry is…

“ If you come out of Ajegunle alive to achieve fame, then you are a living proof there is a God after all” Ajegunle is a ghetto in the heart of Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria. What was life like there? Growing up in Ajegunle was rough and tough because you are exposed to dangerous things at a young age, but I have a mother who kept me grounded. I would probably have ended up in jail with gangs or have my life cut short by following criminal gangs. Such beginnings gave me a mental toughness to stare challenges in the eyes today. Maybe I was lucky, but I think it was just by the grace of God. You paint a dark picture. How did you get the…

Turkey has lived with many kinds of hooliganism since the 1980s, but the events in April, on a motorway near Trabzon airport, shocked the nation. Set against the country’s ongoing struggle to be accepted as a stable footballing environment, this was yet another dark episode. After a 5-1 away win in their league game against Caykur Rizespor in the north-eastern province of Rize, Fenerbahce travelled by bus to nearby Trabzon in order to catch a flight back to Istanbul. However, in the Arsin district of Trabzon province, their bus was hit by gunfire, leaving the driver bleeding heavily. “It was an armed assault,” claimed the governor of Trabzon province, Abdil Celil Oz. “There’s a metal object in the driver’s cheekbone, but there is no brain damage and he is in…

SAO PAULO STATE Capital: Sao Paulo CORINTHIANS Back under the guidance of coach Tite – who was in charge during the all-conquering 2011-12 campaign – and looking sharp and compact. However, the Libertadores Cup is a distraction and they will lose key players during the Copa America. SAO PAULO Came second last year but the squad looks better on paper than on the pitch – a fact that forced out coach Muricy Ramalho. They are struggling to live up to the standards set in the middle of the last decade. PALMEIRAS Having just avoided relegation last year, morale is high and they will be one to watch. They have an excellent new stadium and a renovated squad led by experienced boss Oswaldo De Oliveira. SANTOS The team from the port…