Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i World Soccer

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Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger gave so much of themselves to English football that nobody can begrudge them whatever they decided to do next. Both have taken lucrative jobs with “global” in the title. Both possess knowledge and wisdom missed by English football. Put either Klopp or Wenger on the Football Association board and English football would be in a better place. Imagine all that experience feeding back into the game. Management is a draining occupation, well paid but exhausting, and it is understandable that those leaving such intense jobs need a break or a lighter workload. Even Klopp, a far more extrovert individual than Wenger, has created a figurative decompression chamber that works for him in life after Liverpool. Talk to Kopites about Klopp and they don’t care what…

The problem with assessing anything new is that when you first see it, you are viewing it through the eyes of the old. It’s certainly true that the new Champions League format appeared for a long time more exciting than the old group stage – although given how stale and predictable that had become almost anything would have done. But will it still seem exciting in three or four years’ time? There were moments of intrigue – Liverpool beating Real Madrid; Aston Villa beating Bayern Munich; Brest and Atalanta winning four games; Madrid losing three; and, perhaps most fascinating of all, Manchester City losing to Sporting, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain while also throwing away a three-goal lead to draw at home to Feyenoord. And it is true that the number…

“I have enjoyed the chance to work in a new country with a different culture…football is unpredictable and sometimes things don’t go the way we want”Steven Gerrard announces his departure as head coach of Saudi club Al Ettifaq Champions League PLAY-OFFS FIRST LEGS: February 11-12 SECOND LEGS: February 18-19 Brest v Paris Saint-Germain Club Brugge v Atalanta Manchester City v Real Madrid Juventus v PSV Feyenoord v Milan Celtic v Bayern Munich Sporting v Borussia Dortmund Monaco v Benfica ROUND OF 16 DRAW: February 21 FIRST LEGS: March 4-5 SECOND LEGS: March11-12 1. Brest/Paris Saint-Germain v Liverpool or Barcelona 2. Club Brugge/Atalanta v Lille or Aston Villa 3. Manchester City/Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen 4. Juventus/PSV v Arsenal or Internazionale 5. Feyenoord/Milan v Internazionale or Arsenal 6.…

How are Singaporean clubs funded? Most Singaporean teams are registered as societies by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Much of their (limited) funding comes from the Football Association of Singapore, without which they would not be able to survive. There is an exception. In 2020, a local billionaire bought Home United and then rebranded it as Lion City Sailors. Soon, the club smashed the Singaporean transfer record by paying around £1.65m for Brazilian midfielder Diego Lopes from Portuguese club Rio Ave and invested in other foreign players with the reward of the 2021 title. Money was spent on the academy and facilities. They made waves in the early days at home and also in Asia but there are limits to what one club can achieve. A couple more would make…

Founded by Manchester United scout Tom Vernon as an academy in Ghana in 1999, Right to Dream has long maintained a great reputation in the world of football. Initially operating out of Vernon’s own house before eventually expanding to a proper campus, the academy’s acquisition of Danish club FC Nordsjaelland in 2015 was the first vital step in providing a pathway into professional first-team football for their graduates. Subsequent success stories – West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus, Brentford schemer Mikkel Damsgaard and Brighton winger Simon Adingra are among their most notable alumni – helped put them on the global map, but a takeover by Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour in 2021 allowed Right to Dream to expand even further. Through Mansour, a presence in Egypt was established in the shape…

“How did your coaching career in Albania begin? Even before I ended my career, I’d already started with the goalkeeping coaching licence. When I was playing, a lot of coaches saw that in me and many of them told me: “You are going to be a good coach in the future,” because of the way they saw that I read the game. So that was in my mind early, that when I finished my playing career, I was going to go into coaching. Was it going to be restricted to just goalkeeping in those initial stages? No, no, I wanted to be more than only a goalkeeping coach, I wanted to get all the coaching licences available. And I used my team, FK Bylis, to do all of that. I…

The 2025 J. League season kicked off with the Osaka derby between Gamba and Cerezo on the evening of February14. The decision to start the league in Osaka reflected last season’s westward shift in Japan’s balance of power, with both Gamba Osaka and Sanfrecce Hiroshima again poised to challenge strongly for the J. League title. The rise of the West, however, is still more about Gamba’s other near neighbours, Vissel Kobe, whose back-to-back title triumphs in 2023 and 2024 proved Vissel are now the team to beat. Can Vissel now become only the second team, following Kashima Antlers from 2007 to 2009, to win the J. League three years in a row? And how about the 2024-25 Asian Champions League Elite as well? Vissel had never won any big title…

If there is a theme to this issue, it is highlighting individuals that have ventured abroad to take on new challenges, starting with the late, great Denis Law and his time in Turin. Thiago Almada, Tom Vernon, Ahmet Schaefer, Charlie Trout, Ndubuisi Egbo and Calum Hall have all stepped into the unknown to pursue their own footballing adventures, and we’ve told their stories too. With a landmark MLS season about to begin, the knockout rounds of the major European club competitions on the horizon, and the January transfer window wrapped up and analysed, there is plenty more to reflect on and look ahead to.…

Memories of Denis Law served up a plethora of happy tales, but in the background was a significant reminder of how the footballing stage has been revolutionised since he was in his inspirational, goalscoring pomp. Trophies and goals, such as the 300-plus he claimed on behalf of Huddersfield Town, Manchester City, Torino, Manchester United and Scotland remain the ultimate targets. Yet the three record transfer fees that acknowledged his talent would be small in comparison to the exorbitant prices of today: £55,000 from Huddersfield to City, £110,000 from City to Torino and then £115,000 back to United. No substitutes when Law undertook all three big-money moves; no live league football on television; no international free movement of players; no European mini-leagues; no named shirts; no goal-line technology; no VAR; not…

“We are the worst team, maybe, in the history of Manchester United. We have to acknowledge that and change that”Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim owns up to the scale of his job at Old Trafford 4,266 Days between David Moyes’ last game in charge of Everton back in 2013 and his return to Goodison Park inJanuary after he replaced Sean Dyche as Toffees manager. $1.1m Transfer fee paid by Chelsea Women to San Diego Wave for USA defender Naomi Girma, making her the most expensive women’s footballer of all time. 2 African nations to appoint new managers in January, with Nigeria hiring former Mali coach Eric Chelle, and ex-Cameroon boss Rigobert Song taking charge of the Central African Republic. 4 England internationals in the current Milan squad after Kyle Walker joined Tammy…

Breton clubs are renowned for their player development. In the past it was the likes of Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Sylvain Wiltord and Yoann Gourcuff, while more recently Eduardo Camavinga, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Randal Kolo Muani, Mathys Tel, Matteo Guendouzi andJordan Veretout have emerged from the region. Yet despite being surrounded by such a fertile breeding ground of footballing talent, Brest remained impotent. None of those players listed above were developed at the club, which for so long has been dwarfed by its bigger neighbours: Rennes, Nantes, even Lorient, and at times Guingamp. Now though, having secured European football for the first time in their 75-year history, Brest are enjoying their moment in the sun. In Brittany, Brest have always been the small club in the big pond; they…

Just four years ago, Clermont Foot 63 left behind a largely inauspicious past in the lower reaches of French football and stepped into a bright new future with promotion to Ligue 1. Based in the city of Clermont-Ferrand, the club’s origins date back to 1911 but in recent years were best known for becoming the first professional men’s team to appoint a woman as manager – first hiring Portuguese coach Helena Costa, who quit after just one month, and then replacing her with Corinne Diacre who led the team for three seasons. That, though, was in a different era under different owners. In 2019, the club was taken over by Swiss-based investment group Core Sports Capital (CSC) as the centre of a new multi-club ownership portfolio. CSC was formed by…

In the summer of 2007, Charlie Trout took a bold step, leaving behind his family and football club for a fresh start on the other side of the world. His playing ambitions were fading and he wanted to explore new possibilities. Moving to Chicago on a college scholarship sent his life and career down a very different path. Remarkably, Trout’s still there18 years later, now with a wife, three young children and a wealth of coaching experience. At the age of 39, he manages the Puerto Rico men’s national team, who are ranked 157th in the world. Nobody could have predicted his trajectory so far, or where it might take him from here. Trout grew up on the Clifton council estate in Nottingham. He inherited a love of football, and…

“As a teenager you were released by Hibernian and then spent five years playing in the lower reaches of Scottish football for Edinburgh City and Gala Fairydean Rovers. Tell us a little bit about those early years… When I got released the only option was to go to Edinburgh City, who had just spent one year in League Two. They signed me on a contract on top of a green wheelie bin in the changing room – not how you imagine your first senior contract, but that was part of getting exposed to men’s football, thrown in at the deep end. I wasn’t quite ready for [men’s football], but I just had to deal with it. It’s very physical, not very pretty. You’re travelling three or four hours up to…

Sudan’s Al Hilal overcame the difficulty of their exiled existence to confound the odds and qualify for the last eight of the African Champions League, securing their spot with two games to spare. They were the first side to book their progress to the quarter-finals despite their country continuing to be embroiled in a brutal civil war. Based thousands of miles from home, in Mauritania, Al Hilal picked up ten points from their opening four Group A games to make sure of a top-two finish, defying difficult odds and ensuring an extraordinary feat. They were joined by another five clubs, including holders Al Ahly of Egypt and last season’s runners-up Esperance of Tunisia, following the penultimate round of fixtures, leaving only two more places to be settled going into the…

The Marshall Islands are hoping to finally secure a place on the bottom rung of football’s affiliation ladder this year after submitting an application to join the Oceania Football Confederation. Formerly a US protectorate, the chain of five islands and 29 atolls in the North Pacific declared independence in1979 but remained one of a tiny handful of countries recognised as independent by the United Nations but without a recognised football association. That began to change in 2020 with the formation of the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation (MISF), which has been developed with locals helped by an enthusiastic community formed online. At the end of 2022, Englishman Lloyd Owers was appointed as their first-ever technical director. The only organised football on the Marshalls had been a nine-a-side league on the US…

O Elvas v Tirsense Portuguese Cup, February 26 O Elvas, who hail from near Portugal’s eastern border with Spain, stunned top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1 in the last round to set up a Portuguese Cup quarter-final clash with fellow fourth-tier outfit Tirsense, guaranteeing at least one lower-league side in the last four. Magdeburg v Hamburg 2. Bundesliga, March 16 Promotion-chasing Magdeburg briefly topped Germany’s second tier in early 2025 despite having failed to win a home game all season. Three points against Hamburg, who were top at the time of writing, would bolster their bid to reach the Bundesliga for the first time ever. Comoros v Mali African 2026 World Cup qualifier, March 19 Comoros – an archipelago off Africa’s east coast in the Indian Ocean – are on a…

CLASSIC DERBIES AND EPIC RIVALRIES By Andy Bollen (Pitch Publishing) Classic Derbies and Epic Rivalries explores the history, tradition and violent nature of football’s biggest clashes. It includes Spain’s famous El Clasico, Buenos Aires’ Superclasico, Turkey’s Intercontinental derby and many more. The heated rivalry that fuels these contests is often sinister yet remains an essential part of the event. It can be a deep-rooted animosity, based on geography, politics or religion. DAME BOLA By Christopher Hylland (Pitch Publishing) Dame Bola takes you on a wonderful journey across a country with an incredibly rich footballing tongue. Expect to discover poetically romantic words, phrases, concepts and metaphors and the many curious stories that define them. Enjoy a deep dive into the cultural, historical and linguistic context of football terminology exclusive to a…

“He was the best Scottish player of all time…you had guys like George Best, Bobby Charlton – the greatest English player of all time and a fantastic player for our club – and they called Denis ‘the King’”Sir Alex Ferguson pays tribute to the late Denis Law “One of the best defenders the club has ever signed – an exceptional player and terrific reader of the game. I was close friends with George Best, and he always said Tony was his most difficult opponent”Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee on his former club team-mate and captain Tony Book Denis LAW (1940-2025) Denis Law, King of the Stretford End, also ranks as perhaps Scotland’s greatest footballer with a record-equalling 30 goals in 55 appearances (47 fewer than his rival for the top…

“Now was the right time to close this chapter”Simon Kjaer, the former Denmark captain and centre-back of132 international caps, announces his retirement from football having failed to find a new club since leaving Milan last summer Nuri SAHIN Borussia Dortmund parted company with their head coach, seven months after hiring their former midfielder, with the club lying tenth in the Bundesliga. Naby KEITA The ex-Liverpool midfielder joined Ferencvaros on loan from Werder Bremen for the rest of the season. He will work with the Hungarian side’s new manager, Robbie Keane. DELE Alli Having been released by Everton, the ex-England midfielder joined Serie A club Como. Cesc Febregas, who Dele came up against in the Premier League, will be his coach. Ole Gunnar SOLSKJAER In his first managerial role since leaving…

Argentina’s first goal as world champions was scored by a player making his living in the United States. It came against Panama in March 2023, a supposedly gentle friendly in Buenos Aires to celebrate the triumph in Qatar just over three months earlier. In the event, it was proving a frustrating evening. Panama were putting up stern resistance and the ball would not go in. The match was already in its final15 minutes when Lionel Messi dinked a free-kick against the angle, Leandro Paredes missed his kick on the follow up, and the ball fell for Thiago Almada of Atlanta United to hook home a left-footed volley. Almada had only made a single brief appearance during the Qatar campaign – coming on in the 84th minute of the group game…

“You returned to Ukraine and were elected president of the Ukrainian Football Association in January 2024 while the war was ongoing. What were your thoughts at that time? Above all, I believe that football has the power to heal a war-torn country. This belief motivated me, knowing that despite all the difficulties, Ukrainian football will emerge stronger and more united than ever. You were a legendary footballer, then a manager – how difficult has it been for you to adapt to this new role? To be honest, this transition required me to adapt to new responsibilities and a broader perspective. My passion for football and the desire to help my country in extremely difficult times gave me a special drive. How much damage has the war caused to sports facilities…

Jessica Berman’s appearance on a Las Vegas stage in January to receive the Sports Illustrated Innovator of the Year award completed an impressive hat-trick for the NWSL commissioner, following on from being named Sports Business Journal’s Executive of the Year and a CNBC Changemaker. This trifecta, while honouring the individual, reflected the huge strides the NWSL has made since being embroiled in the shocking revelations of systemic player abuse in 2021, while at the same time having its primacy threatened by the rise of European leagues. Under Berman, appointed back in April 2022, the league drove a change in training ground culture, backed by lifetime bans for those coaches accused of the most serious behaviours, and a player-centric collective bargaining award (CBA). The league also abolished the draft and introduced…

Thirty teams will compete in Major League Soccer’s 30th anniversary season as the league embarks on its final full campaign before the World Cup arrives in 2026. The introduction of a new expansion team, San Diego FC, evens out the Western and Eastern Conferences to 15 teams apiece for what is, in many ways, the league’s biggest-ever season. 2025 is also the final year of Lionel Messi’s current MLS contract, but Inter Miami co-owner, Jorge Mas, has already stated his intention for the Argentine all-time great to remain with the club through 2026 when they’ll move into a new stadium. Before then, Inter Miami and Messi have unfinished business as they look to go one better on last year’s performance and lift the MLS Cup. The team topped the regular…

GUANGZHOU FC PAY THE PRICE FOR CHINESE PROPERTY MARKET CRISIS Following their purchase by the Evergrande Real Estate Group in 2010, Guangzhou FC – who were subsequently renamed Guangzhou Evergrande – enjoyed unprecedented success. With the likes of Marcello Lippi, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Fabio Cannavaro in the dugout, they twice won the Asian Champions League and claimed eight Super League titles. But with the Evergrande Group amassing debts of over US$300 billion and eventually defaulting in 2021, the club has fared less well in recent years. They were relegated in 2022 and have since been competing in China’s second tier. But matters went from bad to worse in January 2025. Due to their “historical debts”, the Chinese Football Association excluded Guangzhou FC from the list of 49 clubs set…

United States v Argentina 1995 Copa America, Estadio Parque Artigas One year on from reaching the last 16 at the World Cup on home soil, the United States headed to Uruguay for the 1995 Copa America. Led by star wingerJones, the US made history – starting with a famous group-stage win against Argentina “We’d played in the Copa America two years earlier and had drawn 3-3 with Venezuela in our last group game after leading 3-0. So the main lesson we took from that tournament was: don’t give up leads. That was a squad that had been brought together to find a way to get ready for the World Cup in ’94. We were prepping. Those were like warm-up games to understand what a major tournament is like. But going…