Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i World Soccer

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BRENO LOPES In November he was still playing for Brazil’s Serie B club Juventude, and as recently as 2019 he was in the third tier. He hardly pulled up any trees there either, with four goals in 17 matches, yet fast forward to January 2021 – via loan spells at Figueirense and Athletico Paranaense – and the 25-year-old is at the pinnacle of South American club football, coming off the bench to score Palmeiras’ stoppage-time winner in the Copa Libertadores final. ASIER VILLALIBRE The Athletic Bilbao striker came to his side’s rescue in the 90th minute of their Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona, but that’s only half the reason he’s a hero. After Inaki Williams had given the Basques the trophy with a goal in extra-time, Villalibre lead the…

March 1, 2021 is a significant anniversary for football in every corner of the globe, as it marks 100 years since French lawyer Jules Rimet formally began his record 33-year reign as FIFA president. Rimet was 47 when he took office, two years after becoming president of the French Football Federation. By the time he retired in1954, FIFA’s membership had risen from12 to 85; it now stands at 211. Beyond expansion of the game’s popularity, Rimet’s historic legacy is launching the World Cup, whose status in popular culture transcends all of sport. He was not only FIFA’s longest-serving president, but also by far the greatest. Up to a point he was at one with fellow Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, the creator of the modern Olympics. Both men recognised the evolution…

“I’m not confident [he’ll stay], but I’m hopeful… I still don’t see Leo Messi in another shirt other than the Barca shirt” Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman discusses Lionel Messi’s future with The Athletic “It’s fantastic news for Fenerbahce…I think he can be the piece of the puzzle to make them even more of a threat to win the Turkish league” Mesut Ozil’s former manager Arsene Wenger speaks to beIN SPORTS about the playmaker’s move to Turkey IN EUROPE Milan signed former Juventus and Croatia striker MARIO MANDZUKIC as a free agent. Meanwhile SAMI KHEDIRA left Juventus to join Hertha Berlin and DEANDRE YEDLIN exited Newcastle United for Galatasaray, both on free transfers. Bayer Leverkusen completed a trio of signings from British clubs, adding Celtic defender JEREMIE FRIMPONG, Leicester winger DEMARAI…

Few players have announced their arrival in English football quite as explosively as a 16-year-old superstar did in 2002. “Remember the name,” trilled a delighted Clive Tyldsley. “Wayne Rooney!” The Everton boy-wonder had just opened his Premier League account with a stunning winner against league champions Arsenal, and was about to take the football world by storm. His retirement, in contrast, could hardly have been more understated. On January15, Rooney was confirmed as Derby County’s new manager after a period as player-caretaker-manager, thus ending his playing days. His final game, a 3-0 defeat to Middlesbrough that had left the side rooted to the bottom of the Championship, had come almost two months earlier. “Normally this happens at the end of a season and as a player you’d have time to…

Phil Neville launched his career as head coach of Inter Miami by stating: “One thing that really excites me is to prove people wrong.” The former Manchester United, Everton and England player will get plenty of opportunity to do that in Florida, with most observers suspecting he only got the job because of his long-time friendship with co-owner and club president David Beckham. Others query whether a foreign coach can succeed in winning MLS. The only one to do so in the last decade, Gerardo Martinez with Atlanta United in 2018, had two decades’ experience behind him and came to MLS after roles at Barcelona and Argentina. “We don’t just employ our friends. We employ the best people. We’re running a serious soccer club here and we hire people we…

■ TURKEY There was no mass turnout at Istanbul airport on his arrival. No flares, no raucous welcome, no street parties. But make no mistake about it – the signing of Mesut Ozil was one of the biggest transfers in Fenerbahce’s history. Due to COVID restrictions on public gatherings, Fenerbahce fans were forced to the online realm to get behind their new man. Over 100,000 people tracked Ozil’s flight from London to Istanbul. Fenerbahce’s tweet announcing the Ozil signing received over 610,000 likes and 216,000 retweets. The fans are excited. But they will demand results. Sceptics will argue that the Fenerbahce administration has resorted to what major Turkish clubs have always done in the past when facing strain: throw money at a big name not exactly in the prime of…

■ SOUTH SUDAN Sometimes Ashu Besong simply chuckles. It is all he can do when pondering his problems as coach of South Sudan, the youngest country in the world. At times, he is still confounded by his new environment. South Sudan doesn’t have a national stadium and the national training centre in the capital Juba boasts the only professional football field in the whole country The “Bright Stars” play their home fixtures in neighbouring Kenya. In November, they triumphed 1-0 against regional heavyweights Uganda, courtesy of a 36th-minute penalty from striker Tito Okello, who plays in Kenya for Gor Mahia. South Sudan protected their lead to record their first three points in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and maintain a slim chance of reaching the finals in Cameroon in…

“It is over a year since you were appointed as head coach of Red Star. How would you summarise that period? Yes, it’s been a year since I returned home. I am proud of my lads who did big things with me and with my coaching staff. We won the league title and we qualified for the Europa League group stage. We crowned all that with a European spring [playing in the Europa League knock-out stage], and we are on our way to winning another league title. It’s early to talk about it, but I’m very proud of my coaching period in my club. Five years ago, after a spell as Udinese’s assistant, you said that coaching is not for you. What made you change your mind? It doesn’t matter…

There is an old theory about the Football Association, that when hiring an England manager they swing “from bookies to bishops”, that each manager is the antithesis of the predecessor. So they went from Don Revie to Ron Greenwood, from Graham Taylor to Terry Venables, from Kevin Keegan to Sven Goran Eriksson. Perhaps most obviously, Sam Allardyce was succeeded by Gareth Southgate. It appears this decades-old trend applies to the women’s game, too. Hope Powell – a noted former player but rookie coach, English and female – was succeeded in late 2013 by Mark Sampson – a male, Welsh coach of no playing pedigree. When Sampson left four years later amid scandal, he was replaced by Phil Neville, a squeaky-clean former England men’s international with minimal management experience. Now Neville…

The 61st final of the Copa Libertadores will be hard for fans of Palmeiras to forget – and difficult for anyone else to remember. A goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time gave Palmeiras a1-0 win over Santos in an all-Brazilian decider, played in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana. The unlikely hero was substitute striker Breno Lopes, plucked recently out of the second division – so recently, in fact, that he was too late for selection for the Club World Cup. Had much-vaunted teenager Gabriel Veron been fit, then Breno Lopes would almost certainly have not been on the pitch. But he was there at the far post to meet a lovely Rony cross from deep right, and he headed firmly back across into the corner to provide some late…

Friday January 1 ENGLAND: Manchester United go level on points with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win against Aston Villa. Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink returns to Burton Albion as manager. JAPAN: Kawasaki Frontale begin 2021 by beating Gamba Osaka 1-0 to lift the Emperor’s Cup at the Tokyo National Stadium. CHINA: Shanghai SIPG name Croatian Ivan Leko as head coach. Saturday January 2 SCOTLAND: Rangers move19 points clear of Celtic with a1-0 win. SPAIN: Real Madrid go top of La Liga by beating Celta Vigo 2-0. Sunday January 3 SPAIN: Kieran Trippier’s suspension for gambling breaches is paused while Atletico Madrid appeal. The club regain top spot with a 2-1 win at Alaves, thanks to a 90th-minute winner by Luis Suarez. ENGLAND: Fulham’s fixture with Burnley…

The cast of clubs for the group phase of the latest edition of the African Champions League has an all too familiar look about it, with the expected frontrunners well satisfied with the draw and their pairings. Al Ahly will be heavily fancied to advance from Group A and be joined in the quarter-finals in May by TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South African big-spenders Mamelodi Sundowns (Group B); Wydad Casablanca of Morocco (Group C) and Tunisians Esperance and Zamalek from Egypt in Group D. Determining the two other places will ensure some intrigue in the six rounds of group action, which is completed mid-April, but there is an overwhelming sense that this will run largely to form. Ahly, seeking Ahly, seeking to extend their record…

SEASON RANKINGS Cumulative votes through the season GOALKEEPERS Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) 20 Ederson (Manchester City) 5 Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) 5 Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan) 4 David De Gea (Manchester United) 3 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich 2 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 2 Andrea Consigli (Sassuolo) 1 Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad) 1 Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg) 1 David Marshall (Derby County) 1 Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) 1 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) 1 Antonio Adan (Sporting) 1 Alisson (Liverpool) 1 Bernd Leno (Arsenal) 1 Mike Maignan (Lille) 1 Bono (Sevilla) 1 DEFENDERS Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) 14 Theo Hernandez (Milan) 11 Angelino (RB Leipzig) 10 Ruben Dias (Manchester City) 9 Mario Hermoso (Atletico Madrid) 9 Stefan Savic (Atletico Madrid) 8 Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid) 8 Andy Robertson (Liverpool) 7 Achraf Hakimi (Internazionale) 7 Joao Cancelo…

EUROPE CARABAO CUP 2020-21 Quarter-finals Dec 22 - London Brentford1 (Dasilva 66) Newcastle united 0 Ht: 0-0. ref: Jones (Eng) Brentford: Daniels - Fosu-Henry, Pinnock, Bech Sorensen, Thompson, Dasilva (Jensen 81), Janelt (Norgaard 60), Marcondes, Canos (Toney 69), Forss, Ghoddos. Newcastle united: Darlow - Yedlin, Hayden, Clark, Lewis (Carroll 80), Shelvey, S. Longstaff, Murphy, Almiron (Gayle 65), Fraser (Joelinton 65), Wilson. Dec 22 - London Arsenal1 (Lacazette 31) Manchester City 4 (Gabriel Jesus 3, Mahrez 54, Foden 59, Laporte 73) Ht: 1-1. ref: Attwell (Eng) Arsenal: Runarsson - Mustafi, Gabriel, Kolasinac, Cedric Soares, Elneny (Smith Rowe 66), Ceballos, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Lacazette (Balogun 77), Martinelli (Pepe 49). Manchester City: Steffen - Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Rodri (Walker 77), Fernandinho, Mahrez, Bernardo Silva (Torres 70), Foden, Gabriel Jesus (Aguero 74). Dec…

In recent years the Champions League knockout rounds have delivered some epic drama worthy of its own Netflix series. From Bayern Munich’s 8-2 thrashing of Barcelona in Lisbon last year, to Liverpool’s extraordinary semi-final comeback against the same opponents in 2019, plus the unexpected heroics of Ajax, Atalanta and RB Leipzig, this stage of the competition has witnessed some of football’s most defining and iconic moments. As crunch time begins again, we’ve taken a look at all the teams involved in the last 16 (page 52), plus a glance at the players to watch in the Europa League (page 60). “If the UEFA competitions can match the dying minutes of the Copa Libertadores final, then we’ll have plenty to look forward to” If the UEFA competitions can match the dying…

“In a normal transfer window, we would not look at Preston… but since our situation got clearer and clearer – the problems we had – when we saw him we got really excited” Jurgen Klopp on signing Ben Davies from Preston Ben DAVIES (Liverpool) The 25-year-old centre-back’s move from Preston North End to the Premier League champions was one of January’s most unexpected transfers, not least because he had reportedly agreed to join Celtic at the end of his contract this summer. The Reds’ defensive injury crisis saw them seal a £1.6 million deal for the Preston man – plus Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke – on the final day of the transfer window. Having spent his entire career in the Football League, Davies will be ready for all…

Perhaps it was inevitable that Marcelo Bielsa should become part of England’s increasingly tedious culture wars. He is, after all, foreign and unusual and challenges our preconceptions. He does not fit readily into the pre-existing templates. And so what is most striking about the criticism of him this season is how much of it has missed the point. At the same time, there are those at the other extreme who regard him as an infallible, messianic figure and refuse to countenance any doubts. But at the very least, questions about Bielsa should try to take him on his own terms. English football, though, has never been very good at that. The bizarre furore earlier this season over Bielsa’s preference for speaking to the media in Spanish stemmed from that same…

“I was happy for the England team in 1966 and Big Jack [Charlton] did a great job. But you can’t help thinking about what might have been” Peter Swan on his ban from football before the1966 World Cup JOHN MORTIMORE (1934-2021) As a centre-half, Mortimore spent the majority of his playing career at Chelsea, starring in the League Cup-winning side of 1965, before going on to a successful managerial career. After spells at Greek side Ethnikos Piraeus and Portsmouth, he took charge of Benfica – in two separate spells – winning the league in both1977 and 1987, plus back-to-back Portuguese Cups in 1986 and 1987. He also managed Real Betis, Belenenses and, briefly, Southampton, before later becoming a club president at The Dell. PETER SWAN (1936-2021) Swan joined Sheffield Wednesday in1953…

Guus Hiddink already has an impressive World Cup pedigree. He took a disparate and ego-filled Netherlands squad to the quarter-finals in the USA in 1994, and eight years later guided an extraordinarily fit South Korea on a fairy-tale run to the last four. He also qualified Australia by orchestrating an upset of Uruguay in the qualifying play-off for a place at the 2006 finals, and then got the Socceroos past the first round in Germany before a controversial loss to Italy. But, at the age of 74, the Dutchman wants more and is attempting to take the tiny island of Curacao to the finals for the first time, aiming for a place in Qatar next year, beginning the bid with their opening qualifiers at home to St. Vincent and the…

Less than four months into a season-long contract, Ravel Morrison’s time with ADO Den Haag – his 11th different club in nine years – was brought to an end by mutual consent in January. Morrison was highly regarded as a youth in Manchester United’s academy. Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville have all spoken about the midfielder’s jaw-dropping displays in early first-team training sessions, and Sir Alex Ferguson is said to have rated the17-year-old Morrison as a better prospect than Ryan Giggs at the same age. But Morrison became renowned for being difficult to work with, inattentive and a troublemaker. Brushes with the law and the FA led to United giving up on the gifted youngster in 2012, selling him to West Ham – whose manager at the time,…

■ QATAR The 2022 World Cup takes place next year – let that sink in – and in Qatar, the clock really is ticking. Preparations were moving briskly along but the global pandemic has cast a shadow over the world of sport and now nothing is certain any more. At least organisers in Doha can watch and learn as tournaments such as the Olympics and European Championship – should they go ahead – try to deal with it first. It is almost a surprise that Qatar are not participating in that latter competition as guests given their global commitments this year. In 2020 there was not much for the Asian champions to talk about, though there was just enough time late in the year to play four games. There was…

“This loan at Union Berlin is your seventh since joining Liverpool – how does it compare to your other stints in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium? It’s always about how mentally and physically prepared you are in every challenge. Germany is a different ball game entirely in my opinion but I think they all help in shaping me. The German league, with all respect to the Netherlands and Belgian leagues, is a bit different and more competitive. The way teams set up and the tactical aspect demands a lot from the teams and players. I think it’s all about growth and all these leagues have given me something different. Your last loan, with another German side Mainz, ended when you suffered a concussion in June 2020. Do you recall that…

€ in 555m The reported value of Lionel Messi’s current four-year contract at Barcelona. 37% NFL franchise San Francisco 49ers increased their stake in Premier League side Leeds United from15 per cent. 86.7% According to the Football Observatory, Atletico Madrid have the best home record of any team in Europe’s top five leagues since fans were excluded from stadiums. 18 Southampton recently lost 9-0 for the second time in consecutive seasons, but only skipper James Ward-Prowse was on the pitch for all 18 goals conceded. 54 Kazuyoshi Miura, the world’s oldest player, will play beyond his 54th birthday after extending his contract with Yokohama FC. 160 The number of places between part-timers Marine and Tottenham Hotspur, when the sides met in the third round of the FA Cup. 18 Trinity…

The Boca Juniors players’ shirts carried a simple message: “The Copa del 10 is staying at home,” it read as they celebrated lifting the Copa Diego Armando Maradona. There could be no more fitting champion of the competition, played in tribute to El Diez, than Boca. The club is an integral part of the Maradona mythology. The doors to the Bombonera became one of the shrines to Maradona in the days after he suffered heart failure in November. So the jubilant celebrations were tinged with emotion after a nervy final. Boca overcame Banfield in a drab clash. Colombian Edwin Cardona’s fabulous strike was the only difference between the two sides well into time added on, when Banfield’s Luciano Lollo produced a dramatic equaliser, taking the tie to penalties. Yet when…

The Kanagawa derby between 2020 champions Kawasaki Frontale and 2019 champions Yokohama F. Marinos tops the bill on the opening day of the 2021 J.League season on February 26. But the question in Japan today is not which but if any club can catch Kawasaki, who swept all before them to win their third title in four seasons in record-breaking form in last year’s punishing, tightly squeezed J.League schedule. The big changes at Kawasaki for 2021 are in midfield, where longstanding playmaker Kengo Nakamura has retired and versatile defensive midfielder Hidemasa Morita, now 25 and knocking hard on the national team door, has left for Santa Clara in Portugal. Morita’s main replacement to anchor midfield is former Sao Paulo and Rio Ave midfielder Joao Schmidt (27), who has more than…

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Team: Flamengo and Fluminense Built: 1950 Capacity: 78,838 Originally built for the1950 World Cup, one of the world’s most iconic stadiums was back in the spotlight at the end of January as it hosted the all-Brazilian 2020 Copa Libertadores final between Palmeiras and Santos. Situated in the middle-class neighbourhood of Maracana, Rio, the largest stadium in Brazil is now officially named Estadio Jornalista Mario Filho in honour of one of the country’s pioneers of sports journalism. Filho played a key role in campaigning for the stadium’s construction ahead of hosting the first post-war World Cup. At the time it was the world’s largest stadium, with 199,854 supporters cramming in to watch Brazil lose 2-1 to Uruguay in the final. From 2010 to 2013, the stadium…

What’s the reality about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager of Manchester United? It’s a red devil to know. When his side were easily beaten by Manchester City in the League Cup semi-final, a fourth defeat in four semis, the answer seemed clear: here is a man who forever flatters to deceive. A couple of weeks later, thanks to a fine run of victories, Solskjaer’s side were top of the Premier League and looking like credible title challengers. Perhaps the truth was evident in another moment of this season – the goal conceded to Istanbul Basaksehir in a Champions League group fixture, when Demba Ba was allowed to run from the halfway line unopposed following a United corner. This was more than a nightmare; it should never happen to any team…

When Frank Lampard was appointed Chelsea manager in 2019, he might have known that his tenure would ultimately end with his sacking. After all, few people have a better understanding of Roman Abramovich’s running of the club than Lampard: only John Terry has played more games for the Blues since they were bought by the Russian in 2003. Indeed, as an example of just how ruthless the corridors of power at Stamford Bridge can be, the third player on that list, Petr Cech, now a technical adviser at the club, was a key figure in the decision to sack his former team-mate of ten years. “When I took on this role I understood the challenges that lay ahead in a difficult time for the football club,” Lampard said in a…

In May 2018, it was announced that Mediapro, the Spanish broadcaster, had acquired rights to cover the majority of Ligue1 games between 2020 and 2024 for €1.15 billion a year. A new company entering the fray with such financial muscle came as a shock for French football: Ligue1 had never been broadcast by an entirely foreign company since it first appeared on TV in1984. Ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, Mediapro launched the subscription channel Telefoot to show games for €25.90 a month. Many French fans, who’d been used to watching domestic football as part of a wider European package, thought the price was very hefty to access French football alone The first game broadcast was a drab 0-0 draw between Bordeaux and Nantes, but viewers nonetheless applauded the quality of…

■ NIGERIA In the summer of 2020, Italian side Napoli paid a club record fee to sign striker Victor Osimhen from Lille. The outlay, which could reach as high as €81 million, would make the Nigeria international the most expensive African player of all time. It was not always apparent that he would hit those heights. Certainly not when his footballing journey began as a scrawny young boy. At that point in his life, Osimhen had already lost his mother, and was adjusting to the ever-constricting reality of privation in the Olusosun landfill slum in Lagos, after his father lost his job. Survival – by any means necessary – was the watchword, and while being one of seven children meant there was a multiplicity of potential income streams, hawking in…

JUL 8, 2010 Signs his first professional contract at Hamburg after impressing in pre-season. OCT 30, 2010 Scores his first league goal for Hamburg to become the club’s youngest-ever Bundesliga goalscorer. DEC 30, 2010 Makes his debut for South Korea in a friendly against Syria ahead of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. JUN 13, 2013 Signs for Bayer Leverkusen for a reported fee of €10 million, the highest transfer fee in the club’s history at the time. AUG 25, 2015 Joins Tottenham for £22m to become the most expensive Asian player in football history. SEP 13, 2015 Makes his Tottenham debut in a1-0 Premier League win against Sunderland, before being subbed off in the second half. SEP 17, 2015 Scores his first two goals for Spurs, in a 3-1 home…

The Club World Cup is never a priority for European clubs. Both unloved and unwanted, the tournament is even considered a distraction during busy winter months. Yet Bayern Munich, the 2020 Champions League winners, demonstrated enough German cool to win the global crown with a1-0 victory over Mexico’s Tigres UANL in the competition’s final in Qatar and lift their sixth trophy in nine months. In a low-wattage final, Bayern struggled to break down the tenacious Mexicans. Joshua Kimmich’s wonderful 18th-minute strike was chalked off by VAR for Robert Lewandowski’s offside, but Bayern’s perpetual movement and sheer class eventually fatigued their opponents. In the 59th minute, the ball dropped to Benjamin Pavard in the box and with Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman out of position, the full-back slammed the ball into an…

Brunei Darussalam, one of Asia and the world’s most inactive national teams, is preparing for a step-up in activity. The oil-rich sultanate located on the north east coast of Borneo is expected to enter the Asian Football Federation Championship, also known as the Suzuki Cup, for only the second time in 2021. Brunei’s only other appearance was in1996 and the country has only entered World Cup qualifying four times. This inactivity was partly due to being suspended by FIFA in 2009 for two years due to government interference. The Hornets have entered the last two World Cups and in qualifying for Russia 2018 finally won a match, beating Taiwan 1-0, only to then lose on aggregate. Dutch coach Robbie Servais emulated this feat in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, beating…