Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2021 i World Soccer

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LUIS SUAREZ To celebrate the Uruguayan striker’s 500th career goal, his sponsors Puma donated 500 footballs to youth teams in the cities he has played in at club level, including Amsterdam, Liverpool and Barcelona. The news came just weeks after the Barca forward established Deportivo LS, a new team that will play in Uruguay’s University League, with the goal of eventually turning professional. LIVERPOOL No, not them, the other ones: Liverpool FC of Montevideo. For the first time in their 106-year history, the “Black and Blues” have been crowned champions of Uruguay, sealing the Clausura title after losing just one game. Striker Ignacio Ramirez was the star, topping the league’s scoring charts with13 goals. BONO After earning cult-hero status in Andalusia last season, thanks to his goalkeeping heroics in helping…

This is a cautionary tale about Franz Beckenbauer and about why retired superstars should think long and hard before staking their status and image on power games off the pitch. In some ways Beckenbauer shares a legacy with the late Diego Maradona. First viewing suggests few points of connection. They were superstars in different, succeeding eras and their only competitive collisions were the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals. Maradona was captain of Argentina, Beckenbauer coach of West Germany. Yet both present the confusion of a great playing legacy entangled with a subsequent life less than bright. Throughout most of the 20th century, footballers were singledimension individuals who morphed either into management or vanished altogether once their playing days were done. Our media revolution has changed that: ex-players may now…

“It took a little while, but now the Golden Shoe is finally yours… It was OK to wait for it. The main thing is that I have it now [smiles]. You are only the third Italian winner after Luca Toni and Francesco Totti. After a Romanista, a Laziale couldn’t be missing, could he? Correct [laughs]. Both are world champions and were extraordinary players, which makes me immensely proud to follow their names. Also, to see my name among all these great footballers who won it before me. Was it also a response to a lot of the criticism you received in your career? Maybe you could call it a kind of revenge. Not against anyone personally, though. In football, everyone gets their moment, and last season I got mine. At…

Jamaica’s most famous footballer never played a game for the “Reggae Boyz”. Instead, John Barnes won 79 caps for England and scored 11 goals between 1983 and 1995, in an international career that included two World Cups and ended with induction into the English Football Hall of Fame. In modern times, the Caribbean island’s most recognisable player is Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling. The Kingston-born attacker is just 26 years old and already has over 50 caps. However, he also spends his international match days on duty for the “Three Lions”, rather than the country of his birth. “This generation of players want to play for us in no uncertain terms because they think they can play in a World Cup”Rudolph Speid, Jamaica Football Federation Payback seems to be on the…

It might have come as a bolt from the blue for those outside of Belgian club Beerschot when 28-year-old Will Still was chosen to replace Hernan Losada, as he headed across the Atlantic to DC United. Internally however, it was an obvious choice. Picking the Anglo-Belgian for the job made him the youngest coach at a top-level club in Europe since the last World War, continuing his rapid catapult up from video analyst and then assistant coach, to taking charge of the Antwerp-based club. He had been an active assistant under Losada. “I was close to him and did 70 to 80 per cent of the training,” Still explains. And Beerschot’s chairman, Francis Vranken, saw the potential. “We were aware of his qualities. He was very important in Beerschot’s development…

Slavia’s bosses could only laugh. At the end of August 2019, Slavia Prague were drawn into a Champions League group with Barcelona, Internazionale and Borussia Dortmund. Tomas Syrovatka, the club vice-chairman, burst out laughing. The so-called “group of death” came just four years after the club had narrowly escaped bankruptcy. In the end, Slavia, described as the group’s minnow, were far from pushovers. In the first game, they drew 1-1 at the San Siro only after a stoppage-time equaliser for the home side. At the end of October, they unluckily lost at home to Barcelona (1-2), only to draw away (0-0). Two points out of six games: hardly a miracle, but it was definitely a Czech champion punching above its weight. It was proof of a good strategy by Slavia,…

EDUARDO CAMAVINGA (France) As he proved when netting a fine goal in only his second international appearance for “Les Bleus” - a sublime over-the-shoulder flick in a thumping 7-1 victory over Ukraine six months ago - 18-year-old Rennes midfield prodigy Camavinga is a special talent, indeed, a teenager destined to go all the way to the top. Les Bleus head coach Didier Deschamps is the dictionary definition of conservatism, never one to gamble unless he absolutely has to. But even the risk-averse Deschamps found himself unable to resist Eduardo’s charms, bringing the midfielder into the national team fold as quickly as possible. Camavinga, only 17 years and 11 months old when making his full international debut last autumn in a Nations League tie versus Croatia, is very much a history-maker…

August 9, 2015. It’s the opening weekend of the new Premier League season. Arsenal welcome West Ham to the emirates Stadium on a warm summer’s afternoon. Aged just16 years and 237 days, Reece Oxford is making his league debut to become the second-youngest starter in the competition’s history. Just over a month earlier, at16 years and 198 days old, he became the club’s youngest-ever player, when he started in a europa League qualifier against Andorran outfit fc Lusitanos. Oxford is thrown in at the deep end: his first task is to keep tabs on Mesut Ozil. Nothing comes easy in this league. Yet the teenager managed to inspire his team to victory with a Man of the Match performance. Goals from cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate either side of half-time…

257 Number of Manchester City goals scored by Sergio Aguero when he announced he would be leaving the club this summer. 3 The United States Men’s team failed to qualify for the Olympics for the third time in a row after losing 2-1 to Honduras in the CONCACAF semi-finals. 4 Dinamo Zagreb coach Zoran Mamic was handed a four-year prison sentence for embezzling funds from player sales. 1 In the Netherlands’ 2-0 win over Latvia, Stephanie Frappart made history by becoming the first female referee to take charge of a men’s World Cup qualifier. 1,785 Number of days between Zlatan Ibrahmovic’s116th cap and his 117th after the Sweden striker came out of retirement. 18 Every top-flight club in Belgium voted in favour of merging with the Eredivisie to form a…

“He has everything to become one of the best players…Phil is the most, most, most talented player I have ever seen in my career as a manager.” For a man that has coached some of the world’s finest players, Pep Guardiola’s praise of Phil Foden is not to be taken lightly. The former Barcelona coach has heaped it on fairly regularly since arriving in Manchester, but it has taken until this season for him to truly place his trust in the young Mancunian. Foden’s time has arrived. After his devastating display at Anfield back in February, World Soccer immediately set Ryan Baldi the task of delving into the youngster’s past, to tell the story of how he became one of the most highly-regarded young players in world football (page 28).…

“I am still very curious about the offside rule because I am convinced that it is not a good rule…I am convinced football would be better without it”Netherlands legend Marco van Basten Ibrahima KONATE (RB Leipzig) While Bayern-bound Dayot Upamecano has grabbed plenty of headlines as one of the most wanted players in Europe, his fellow Frenchman in RB Leipzig’s defence is just as highly rated. That’s why Liverpool have reportedly agreed to pay his €40 million release clause ahead of the summer’s transfer window. Konate, who turns 22 in May, joined Leipzig from Sochaux in 2017 and has played over 60 Bundesliga games for the German side. In the mould of many modern centre-backs, he combines impressive athleticism with strong defensive attributes, while also being extremely comfortable in possession.…

WHOSE GAME IS IT ANYWAY? by Michael Calvin (Pitch Publishing, £19.99) Football has never seemed so distant from its fans, with many alienated by the greed and shameless at the top of the game. In Michael Calvin’s latest book, the acclaimed sports writer shares the lessons of a lifetime spent observing sport across the globe. Part memoir, part manifesto, the book is a thought-provoking, deeply personal account of the role sport and particularly football plays in everyday life. WHEN THE SEAGULLS FOLLOW THE TRAWLER: FOOTBALL IN THE 90S by TomWhitworth (Pitch Publishing, £12.99) The 1990s was a golden age for football. The Premier League exploded, England hosted its first major tournament since 1966, and a raft of new stadia sprang up in the wake of the Taylor Report. In When…

“I turned down England maybe two or three times. It’s a football country and for me…it makes sense that the manager is English and that it shouldn’t work like a club”Arsene Wenger reveals to beIN SPORTS that he rejected the England national team job on numerous occasions “It’s another one of our greats taken far too soon. Peter epitomises the word legend. A word thrown around far too often but he certainly was one at Leeds United”Ex-Leeds United and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson pays tribute to Peter Lorimer on Sky Sports News IN EUROPE RB Leipzig confirmed that striker BRIAN BROBBEY will join them from Ajax on a four-year contract this summer. In the English Football League, Birmingham City and Preston North End made managerial changes, with LEE BOWYER leaving…

Only time will tell if the German federation, the DFB, made the right call when giving advanced warning in March that national team coach, Joachim Low, in the post for 15 years, would be stepping down after Euro 2020. “Jogi” Low, who since the Nationalmannschaft’s humiliating first-phase exit from World Cup 2018, has been on the receiving end of much criticism from fans and media alike, obviously hopes the announcement will take some of the vitriol and heat out of the situation. But it’s an equally dangerous game for the Bundestrainer to play. The concept of a “farewell tour” is a risky business, with the real prospect that Jogi swiftly turns into a lame duck figure, shorn of authority and cachet. Knowing that the man in charge only has a…

Mohamed Ihattaren had just turned 17 when he debuted for PSV Eindhoven two years ago, hailed as the next sensation to emerge from Dutch football. But now, having just turned 19, that promise has wavered off course, with the midfielder kicked out of the PSV Eindhoven squad and his prospects now at a crossroads. Ihattaren’s potential had been such that the Dutch football association (KNVB) and then-national coach Ronald Koeman actively courted him soon after his club debut, desperate to avoid a repetition of their failure to hook in Hakim Ziyech for the national team. “It’s not always easy for promising young players with all the hype around them, but ultimately you cannot change people, they must change themselves”PSV coach Roger Schmidt Ihattaren already has 30 caps for the Netherlands…

At a 2012 youth tournament in Madrid, Manchester City’s Under-12s proved no match for their Juventus counterparts. Managed by legendary striker Fabrizio Ravanelli, the Italian youngsters were bigger, stronger and more athletic than the English kids. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Anderlecht were all represented, and all advanced beyond the competition’s group stage; City did not. Nevertheless, it was one of City’s young players that elicited excited whispers among coaches and, despite his side’s failure, was named the overall best player. The Juventus coach sought out Phil Foden as soon as the final whistle blew, wrapping his arm around the tiny pre-teen for a photograph. “This kid is going to be special,” Ravanelli prophesised. Foden was just six years old when he was spotted by City. The club’s head of academy…

NEW! From the publishers of WorldSoccer Part three of World Soccer’s bi-monthly 100-page souvenir bookazine collection, Face to Face is a collection of the best interviews to feature in the magazine over the years, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaka, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Pele and more. Save 15% Subscribe today and pay just £40.94 every 6 issues Great reasons to subscribe • Pay just £40.94 for 6 issues – saving 15% on the shop price• Each issue delivered directly to your door for FREE Subscribe online at shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSP120 or call 01959 543 747 quote code WSP120 Calls charged at your standard network rate. Lines are open 8am-5.30pm Monday to Friday. Terms and conditions: Offer available for UK customers only. You will pay £40.94 every 6 issues saving15%. For overseas rates…

Kingsley Coman’s CV is a sight to behold. since making his professional debut in 2013 – when he became Paris saint-germain’s youngest-ever player aged16 years, eight months and four days – the winger has ended every single season with a league winner’s medal, lifting trophies in three different countries. “it was never my plan to travel so much – it was really just something that happened,” he admits. His critics will point out – not unfairly – that he has not exactly made telling contributions in all nine of those successes: he played a grand total of 39 minutes for his two ligue1 medals, and started just five times when Juventus won serie a in 2014-15. Before the current campaign, the most starts he’d managed in a single Bundesliga season…

Multi-club ownership is a new buzzword in football, particularly in Europe, due to the activities of the City Football Group – owners of Manchester City – and the Red Bull Empire, which stretches from Leipzig and Salzburg to New York and Brazil. MCO is an acronym that is set to be an increasing part of the footballing landscape, but how many clubs are interlinked across the globe and what are the long-term consequences? In 2017, UEFA’s research found 26 top-flight clubs across Europe involved in cross-ownership. By this February, the figure had leapt to 56 teams with 20 investors holding a portfolio of three or more clubs including one in Europe. Overall, UEFA estimates there are 90 clubs with links and “just under” 50 shareholders owning two or more clubs.…

Already one of the biggest leagues in the world, Major League Soccer expands to 27 teams for its 26th year which sees a return to a full schedule following an abridged 2020 season. As well as welcoming a new club, Austin FC, there’s a rebrand in Montreal and new coaching hires across the league as clubs look to improve on and off the pitch. All eyes will be on returning stars Carlos Vela of Los Angeles FC and Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez, who missed the majority of the 2020 season through injury. Both have already etched their name in the MLS history books. In 2018, Martinez broke the record for goals scored in the regular season with 31, only for Vela to break it again in 2019, scoring 34. The…

After years as an after-thought, football in Anguilla finally appears to have some direction. The British overseas territory with a population of 15,000 played sporadically after joining FIFA in 1996, and nine years ago World Soccer revealed that half the clubs could not vote and had not seen proper financial accounts for three years. Then-AFA president Raymond Guishard has since been replaced by former national team player Girdon Connor and football on the island is on the up. A league that once had just six teams now has 11 clubs and the recruitment of two Caribbean legends, Stern John and Brent Sancho of Trinidad & Tobago, to lead the national team has revitalised expectations. John, who played in England for a decade and is Trinidad’s record goalscorer, is the manager…

2021 has been quite an eventful year so far for Canadian football. After the 2020 Canadian Championship, scheduled to take place between June and September, was suspended due to the COVID pandemic, this year everything was poised for the return to activity, but circumstances have made it more complicated than it seemed. In principle, the winner of this tournament, which would be played by11 teams - the three Canadian representatives in MLS and the eight teams of the Canadian Premier League - would be the country’s flag bearer in the CONCACAF Champions League. However, the cancellation of the tournament forced plans to be modified. Thus, last August, Canada Soccer decided that, to determine the Canadian club in the continental competition, a one-game final would be played on March 20 between…

When football stopped all over the world last year, it was just situation normal in Yemen. The league there was suspended in late 2014 as war spread around the country but, after six years without the sport, the Yemen Football Association (YFA) announced in January that it planned to restart in mid-February. Renewed fighting put it back to early March which didn’t happen either. The outlook is still uncertain but the will is there. If all was well then 34 teams would be in the top two tiers but the FA quickly realised that would not be the case. A number of clubs have refused to participate until it is safer but, by the first week of March, just12 teams had submitted their registrations. There are obviously bigger issues than…

ENGLAND Sheldon report delivers verdict into child abuse scandal The report into football’s child sex abuse scandal found that there were “significant institutional failings” by the FA in dealing with the accusations and that they “did not do enough to keep children safe”. “The FA acted far too slowly to introduce appropriate and sufficient child protection measures, and to ensure that safeguarding was taken sufficiently seriously by those involved in the game,” said the 710-page Sheldon report, which focused on abuse of children between 1970 and 2005. In response, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham apologised by addressing the victims directly, saying: “No child should ever have experienced the abuse you did. What you went through was horrific and it is deeply upsetting that more was not done by the game…

Sometimes in life the heart should rule the head. So yes, it may be a triumph of emotion over logic, but the most appropriate choice of venue for the 2030 World Cup, its centenary year, is one that features a final in Montevideo. This is where it all started, when Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 at the Estadio Centenario to lift the first-ever trophy. How can returning full circle not be the preferred option for anyone who values history and tradition? The logistics of future 48-team World Cups mean that all the potential 2030 bids will involve several nations co-hosting the event. Uruguay’s application will be jointly made with Argentina, Chile and Paraguay – and it will be the clear favourite once FIFA’s formal process begins early next year. Nobody doubts…

When football returned in much of Western Europe last May and June, the priority was clear: get it done. Get through the season in whatever form was possible, both to avert financial meltdown and to offer at least something for the public to watch. But as this season has gone on, the cycle of two games almost every week for Premier League clubs has very clearly taken its toll – and that has major implications for the Euros. Players look tired. Game after game feels like a slog. That’s reflected not only in the running stats and the number of soft tissue injuries, but also a lack of imagination; tiredness shows in the minds as well as the bodies. And then just when the season comes to an end, players…

SEASON RANKINGS Cumulative votes through the season GOALKEEPERS Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) 26 Ederson (Manchester City) 13 Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) 6 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) 4 Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan) 4 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 3 David De Gea (Manchester United) 3 Samir Handanovic (Internazionale) 2 Antonio Adan (Sporting) 2 Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain) 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 Alisson (Liverpool) 1 Bernd Leno (Arsenal) 1 Mike Maignan (Lille) 1 Bono (Sevilla) 1 Andreas Linde (Molde) 1 Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) 1 Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona) 1 DEFENDERS Ruben Dias (Manchester City) 26 Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 22 John Stones (Manchester City) 16 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) 14…

The new Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe is certainly a different cut to that of his predecessors. The South African mining magnate, 59, was the first black African to be ranked on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires, making his fortune by turning unprofitable, low-producing gold mines into cash cows after first starting out as a lawyer. His net worth is now estimated at $3 billion and over the last decade he has pledged to give half of it away, taking on any charitable cause. Certainly, his passion for his club Mamelodi Sundowns, which he bought into some15 years ago, has tugged at his pocket, turning the Pretoria-based side into an all-conquering domestic force and also African Champions League winners in 2016. His impact on the South African football…

After an absence of 48 years, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise are back at the elite level of Belgian football. Founded in1897 by local teenagers, Union had none of the resources of the elitist Racing Club de Bruxelles and Leopold Club de Bruxelles. But then Racing donated a few shirts and a match ball to the upstarts, and soon Union settled in the neighbourhood of St Gillis and their stadium in Duden Park to become the team to beat. Prior to the Second World War they dominated Belgian football, winning the domestic crown seven times before1914, including a record-breaking goal difference of +88 in 1909. Union supplied six players for Belgium’s gold medal-winning team at the1920 Olympics in Antwerp. Their stadium hosted games at the tournament too, with a Spanish national team…

Confusion and disarray cloud Chinese foot ball ahead of the 2021 season. Jiangsu FC, formerly Jiangsu Suning, won their maiden Chinese Super League (CSL) title last November thanks to an abbreviated competition format in respone to the pandemic. But barely four months later, the side has “ceased operations” following withdrawal of their parent company due to financial difficulties. Even in a country known for its chaotic foot ball system, the news that the 2015 Chinese FA Cup winners would be disbanded and not defend its CSL crown, came as a shock to many. At the time of writing, the team has yet to officially be wound-up, but this is widely believed to be a formality. Owners Suning – part of a sprawling conglomerate with interests in retail, real estate, broadcasting,…

On May15, 2018, 50 of Sporting’s own ultras, furious at an end-of-season collapse, charged the club’s training complex and violently attacked the players and coaching staff, precipitating a mass exodus of first-teamers in the summer. That fateful afternoon is often referred to as the darkest day in the club’s 114-year history. Less than three years later, Sporting Clube de Portugal are in rude health. After going ten points clear of their rivals with a dozen matches remaining, the Lions are set to win a first championship title since 2002. Even allowing for the global pandemic’s peculiar warping of reality as we had previously known it, the turnaround in fortunes at the famous old club from Lisbon is truly astonishing. The unexpected nature of Sporting’s title charge cannot be over-emphasised. Benfica…

“It’s been a mixed season for Real Madrid, although you have been one of the most consistent players. How do you feel 2020-21 has gone so far? We are still fighting for trophies and that is the main thing. There have been some results that we have not been happy with, but we have always had some very good performances. it is a strange season in many ways but there is big belief we can be successful. I feel confident for both La Liga and the Champions League but as always it will not be easy. We have to show real consistency in La Liga and in Europe, as we know that we have to take things up a level. And on a personal level, do you feel settled at…

Michel Platini was in expansive, relaxed mood on a sun-splashed breakfast terrace before a Champions League draw in Monte Carlo. He was the all-powerful head of UEFA, explaining why he was transferring the Champions League final from its traditional midweek slot to a Saturday. “It’s the real day you must have for a cup final,” he told me. “When I was a young boy I remember the excitement, every year, for the day of the FA Cup final in England. We did not have much football on television then and this was the great occasion: Wembley, 100,000 fans, the anticipation, the singing, maybe the Queen or whoever – and the most important match.” The 1950s and early 1960s, with the new magic of television, brought the dramatic reality of the…

The fightback is on. Having first battled the past – the history of failed US professional women’s soccer leagues – then fought through a pandemic, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has turned its focus towards a new threat. This one comes from across the Atlantic – from England, France and, in time, Spain, Italy and Germany too. The sport’s global reach is both an opportunity and a challenge for soccer in the US. There is an international market, but also worldwide competition. The financial power and football heritage of European clubs, and the glamour of the Champions League, are an alluring combination. While many NWSL-based players who went east this winter did so on loan to get matches in a COVID world, a significant number left for the longer…

Pep Guardiola had to send two congratulatory messages to Mumbai City in March. The first came as the member of the City Football Group (CFG) stable pipped ATK Mohun Bagan to first place in the Indian Super League (ISL). The same two teams met in the Championship play-off final on March13, and Mumbai left it late once more to win 2-1 to give CFG another title success in Asia to go along with the 2019 J.League championship delivered by Yokohama F. Marinos. It was harsh however on ATK who, despite being the best team for almost the entire season and for much of the Championship play-off final, ended up with nothing. The Kolkata club had led the11-team table from the start but dropped five points in the last two games…

Saturday February 27 GERMANY: Jadon Sancho becomes the youngest Bundesliga player to get 50 assists following Dortmund’s 3-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld. Elsewhere, Alexander Sorloth scores a 93rd-minute winner for RB Leipzig in their 3-2 comeback victory against Borussia Monchengladbach. Sunday February 28 INDIA: Mumbai City overhaul ATK Mohun Bagan in the final match of the ISL’s regular season to win the League Winners’ Shield. Monday March 1 BOSNIA: In the Sarajevo derby, FK Sarajevo and Zeljeznicar draw 0-0. Wednesday March 3 ITALY: Lorenzo Tonelli rescues a point for Sampdoria in the Genoa derby as the two sides draw 1-1. Off the pitch, Juventus sign on-loan midfielder Weston McKennie for €18.5 million from Schalke. Thursday March 4 ARGENTINA: In the delayed final of the 2019 Argentina Super Cup, River Plate…

A cascade of qualifiers emerged day after day as the final two rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations preliminaries were played over seven successive days in a dramatic finish to the campaign. But the major headline makers did so early in the week, as the Comoros Islands and the Gambia both qualified on the same day, reaching the finals for the first time in extraordinary achievements for two of the continent’s smallest countries. The Comoros had gone through the first four Group G games without defeat, including an away win in Togo and holding mighty Egypt at home, and needed only a home draw against Togo to book their place in the finals with a game to spare. This was achieved in a goalless clash against under strength opposition,…

2022 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS EUROPE section • 13 finals places available Group A Mar 24 - Turin Portugal 1 (Medvedev 37 og) Azerbaijan 0 HT: 1-0. Ref: Siebert (Ger) Portugal: Lopes - Cancelo, Duarte, Dias, Mendes, Bernardo Silva (Oliveira 88), Moutinho (Fernandes 45), Neves (Palhinha 88), Neto (Rafa Silva 63), Andre Silva (Felix 75), Ronaldo. Azerbaijan: Mahammadaliyev - Medvedev, Huseynov, Badalov, Krivotsyuk, Huseynov (Nuriev 45), Mustafayev (Ibrahimli 45), Mahmudov (Isaev 85), Salahli, Emreli (Alasgarov 85), Ghorbani (Seydaev 85). Mar 24 - Belgrade Serbia 3 (Vlahovic 40, A. Mitrovic 68, 75) Republic of Ireland 2 (Browne18, Collins 86) HT: 1-1. Ref: Massa (Ita) Serbia: Dmitrovic - Milenkovic, S. Mitrovic, Pavlovic, Gajic, Lukic, Racic (Maksimovic 63), Mladenovic (Kostic 45), Tadic (Gudelj 78), Vlahovic (Jovic 82), Djuricic (A. Mitrovic 63). Republic of Ireland:…