Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 i World Soccer

THE WORLDWIDE VIEW I think it’s about time that I weighed in with my opinion on the never-ending FIFA scandal. So here goes. Above all, this scandal is a colossal bore. Because it has nothing to do with football. Nothing. A dozen or so guys have been caught, or may have been caught, with their hands in the till. A nefarious activity that seems, these days, to be even more widespread than football itself. How much money? A few million dollars – actually peanuts when set alongside the billions that the big banks have been gambling with. Not a football scandal then, a financial one – and not even a major one at that. It’s mostly money either extracted from commercial companies, or offered by them, as sweeteners to secure…

THE VOICE OF FOOTBALL England’s cautious grounds for optimism England’s European prospects looked somewhat better after beating a French side which, as their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said, “had a lack of aggressiveness and concentration. It was more about solidarity.” How, after the horrors of Paris, could it have been otherwise? Still, after the tepid showing in Alicante, when England treated Spain with such excessive respect, it was unquestionably a good step forward, and there should ideally be more to come. This, after all, was a team without Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Daniel Sturridge and, yes, Jamie Vardy, that explosive 28-year-old late developer. Recklessly jettisoned by his local club Sheffield Wednesday, he languished for years in non-league football, doing exhausting manual work, before his prolific inspiration of a Fleetwood team that…

Some brave and unexpected team selections by incoming coach Bernd Storck enabled Hungary to overcome Norway in two knife-edge play-off games for a place at Euro 2016. “Thirty years of hurt,” sang fans at Euro 96 in reference to England’s three decades without a trophy since 1966. Before Norway, Hungary supporters had endured a similar 30 years without qualifying for a single major tournament. This sorry statistic was brought to an end with narrow wins in Oslo and Budapest: 1-0 and 2-1 respectively. While Hungarians took to the streets in wild celebration, the players stayed on the pitch at Ferencvaros for half an hour after the final whistle. Following a tearful communal rendition of the national anthem with the crowd, the players gathered round a bemused Storck to lift him…

The Olympic Stadium, Rome, on the evening of March 21, 2004, minutes into the second half of a Lazio-Roma derby. Smoke flares have just been thrown onto the pitch, within seconds filling the stadium with such a dense smoke that it is temporarily impossible to play on. In theory, fans from both clubs were protesting about the death of a child, allegedly run over by a police vehicle during pre-match skirmishes between fans and police. In reality, there had been no such fatality, but the rumour of the “death” spread like wildfire. Not even seven announcements over the public-address system, pointing out that no one had died, could convince the sceptical fans. At this point, amid huge confusion, at least three Roma ultras climbed the stadium barrier and made their…

Arsene Wenger’s irritation at being asked again and again why he didn’t sign a striker in the summer has been obvious, but his answer has rarely varied. He didn’t sign a striker for the very simple reason that there wasn’t one available. Or at least, there wasn’t one available that he could guarantee would be better than Theo Walcott and Oliver Giroud, and who would fit in with his economic principles – which meant not splashing a potential £58million on a 19-year-old of unproven potential as Manchester United did when they signed Anthony Martial. Who, after all, could Arsenal realistically have signed? Who could they have got in the £30-50m bracket who would have left whatever club they were with and be guaranteed to score 20 goals a season? With…

West Germany’s World Cup winning-captain Lothar Matthaus was on the cover after finishing top in our poll for World Player of the Year. In a clean sweep for the world champions, West Germany won the Team of the Year award and their coach, Franz Beckenbauer, was voted Manager of the Year. “Italia 90”, as it was to become known, was a tournament remembered as much for the operatic voices of the “Three Tenors” – Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras – as for the football of Schillaci, Gascoigne and Matthaus. Sue Mott wrote of the West German skipper: “Mention of the 1990 World Cup will forever conjure visions of Gazza howling to that tune from Turandot. “But in reality, the Italian extravaganza was hijacked by the Wagnerian brigade, led by the tough…

● OVERVIEW After their disastrous World Cup campaign in Brazil, coach Vicente Del Bosque introduced some new faces, but many of the old guard remain. ● Spain’s first-round exit from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil offered coach Vicente Del Bosque a chance to rebuild. Some new faces were introduced – Paco Alcacer, Thiago Alcantara, Marc Bartra, Dani Carvajal – but lots of familiar faces remain: Iker Casillas, Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Sergio Ramos. However, Spain no longer have the “X factor” as Xabi Alonso and Xavi both retired after the World Cup. ● The Euro 2012 winners suffered a hiccup in qualifying for Euro 2016, losing away to Slovakia, their first qualifying defeat in eight years. That suggested their World Cup hangover might last longer than expected, but…

As the reclusive Asian nation of Myanmar edges towards political respectability, football is also recovering. But with that comes growing pains. When the country was still known as Burma, the “White Angels” reached the Asian Cup Final in 1968 and qualified for the 1972 Olympic tournament. But progress dissipated as a military junta, which seized control in 1962, exerted increasing power over all aspects of society. After international outrage over human rights abuses, gradual liberalisation saw a handover to a nominally civilian government in 2011, and elections in November saw Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party, the National League for Democracy, win an absolute majority in both houses of the Assembly, possibly paving the way to democracy. “Clubs must take their own initiatives so that the community can identify with…

The nature of modern football means that derby matches now happen more frequently than in the past. They are manna for the TV marketeers but for those directly involved they are not always a positive experience. Glenn Hoddle once claimed that it was harder for a London club to win the English league title because of the high number of draining local derbies that are played in the capital each season. That may be a questionable theory but there is no denying that rivalries are part of the lifeblood of the game: energising, enthralling and agonising in equal measure. In the past month, we have witnessed “live” such delights as Real Madrid-Barcelona, Sweden-Denmark, Dortmund-Schalke and Argentina-Brazil. In a special feature this month (page 37), we take an in-depth look at…

THE INSIDER If Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are banned from football, as appears increasingly likely, it will not be only their intelligence-insulting financial finagling which will take sole focus. Both the respective presidents of world federation FIFA and European governing body UEFA deny any wrongdoing but, at the least, they are culpable of massive misjudgement. Clearly they never expected their “arrangement” to be revealed to even their FIFA executive committee colleagues, never mind the world at large. The investigation which has been undertaken by the ethics committee is a disciplinary procedure within a private organisation and not a formal judicial process, hence the freedom for assessment in a fevered political world – with the forthcoming election of Blatter’s presidential successor looming on February 26. Inevitably, the case prompts questions…

Neymar’s backheel was perfect and so was Andres Iniesta’s finish. Dashing towards the edge of the Real Madrid penalty area, he smashed the ball into the top corner past Keylor Navas. He hadn’t scored for 608 days, not since Barcelona won 4-3 at the Santiago Bernabeu late in the 2013-14 season, but now he had put his side 3-0 up in another clasico. Not long after, Luis Suarez clipped in a fourth, leaving Navas on his knees before lifting the ball calmly into the net. The first clasico of the 2015-16 season would “go down in history”, Luis Enrique said afterwards. They always do. But, to use the Barcelona coach’s own words, this one will be particularly memorable. “It tastes like heavenly glory,” he said. Even when they are not,…

MILAN INTERNAZIONALE The world’s most celebrated shared-stadium, cross-city derby will soon be over. When Milan leave San Siro for their own new-build arena in nearby Portello as planned in 2020, they will close the door on seven decades of a rivalry based at the largest football arena in Italy. Due to host next year’s Champions League Final, the 80,000-capacity San Siro is a football temple bar none. It was Milan, under the leadership of then-president Piero Pirelli, who built the San Siro in 1926. Designed specifically for football, it would also become the home of city rivals Internazionale in 1947. With no running track and with four stands making a rectangular shape around the pitch, the San Siro has not lost its shape, style or staying power despite three major…

The futuristic Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in the oasis city of Al Ain – 100 miles south of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi – hadn’t seen anything quite like it before. The home of reigning UAE Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ain usually hosts crowds numbering in their hundreds. In fact, the arena had only once come anywhere near filling its 26,000 capacity, and that was when Manchester City – owned by a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and festooned with star names – were welcomed with open arms as they played there to mark the stadium’s opening. But on October 15, 2015, the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium could have been filled at least four times over. And the reception was far from friendly. One half of the…

“In March 2012, Aston Villa lost 3-0 to Arsenal and you played the game with a high temperature. You didn’t know at the time, but it was to be your last appearance in the Premier League. Soon afterwards you were diagnosed with leukaemia… The worst moment in my life was when I heard the diagnosis. Then I felt like I was the loneliest person in the world. The leukaemia was aggressive and I had to begin medical treatment immediately. I felt the support of millions of people from throughout the football world. To hear applause for me in the 19th minute [he wore the number 19 shirt] was incredible. I had to fight three years. The first year was very difficult. The likelihood of beating the cancer is 50 to…

● OVERVIEW Les Diables Rouges (the red devils) are FIFA’s top-ranked side and will be taking part in the European Championship for the first time since co-hosting with Holland in 2000. ● Belgium sealed top spot in their qualifying group with a win over Israel in Brussels and moved to the top of the FIFA world rankings for the first time. ● They were not entirely convincing in the qualifying campaign, losing in Cardiff to Wales and benefitting from Bosnia-Herzegovina’s collapse in form. ● The team is still built around the figures who were crucial to the team that reached the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup: Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard, Axel Witsel and Kevin De Bruyne. Over the past year, a number of youngsters have forced themselves into…

● OVERVIEW Four years on from the death of manager Gary Speed, and inspired by Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale, the Welsh qualified for their first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup. ● Four years ago, Chris Coleman became Wales manager in tragic circumstances following the death of Gary Speed and has succeeded in fostering a club mentality among the players. “We are like brothers on the pitch,” Gareth Bale said as fans in Cardiff celebrated a win in the final qualifying match against Andorra. ● Bale heads a group of players who first played together at youth and under-21 level and were given their senior debuts by John Toshack. The Real Madrid forward was top scorer in qualifying with seven goals, including a late winner against Andorra in…

It looks as though the Centenary Copa America will go ahead next June after all, with the host cities in the USA having been announced. South American football, then, is ready to celebrate 1916 and the birth of the world’s oldest continental tournament. However, in future years, perhaps 1996 will also be seen as a cause for celebration. That was when CONMEBOL introduced the current marathon format of World Cup qualification, with the 10 countries playing each other home and away. Before that, with the nations divided into groups, there were few competitive games. But with South American teams enjoying the kind of calendar that is taken for granted in Europe, there has been a rapid rise in the standard of the less traditional nations. Ecuador are the outstanding example.…

Heard the one about the FIFA Confederation that doesn’t have a single professional football club? Well, you might do soon because Oceania’s sole full-time outfit, New Zealand’s Wellington Phoenix, have been put on notice after a request for a 10-year extension to their licence to play in the Australian A-League was rejected. Teams from across the Tasman have a long history of inclusion in sporting competitions in Australia and football has had Kiwi involvement since the dreadfully named Football Kingz entered the National Soccer League in 1999. The Kingz failed to qualify for the end -of-season finals in each of their five seasons before they disbanded, along with the old competition. When the A-League opened its doors in 2005, room was found for the New Zealand Knights – who, like…

Nigeria became the first country to win the Under-17 World Cup five times and only the second to successfully defend the title. Yet they achieved their success in Chile despite a vociferous media campaign against coach Emmanuel Amunike and the all-too-familiar administrative neglect. When the team landed in Chile they lacked enough funds to cover their daily allowances and bonuses. Add in the non-payment of coaches’ salaries and a lack of match and training kit, and it’s easy to see just how difficult it was for Amunike’s side. Having only just qualified for the finals after finishing fourth in the African championship, few expected Nigeria to progress further than the group stage. Some newspapers even called for a change of coach, players or both “before they embarrass us in Chile”.…

“I am completely sick of it. What we are trying to build here is being broken down by a small group of people in the stadium” Utrecht owner Frans Van Seumeren threatens to leave the club because of the racist chants of some fans ITALY Roma’s Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic is good but even he cannot walk on water, quipped La Gazzetta dello Sport after his club’s 2-2 draw with Bologna. The point is that the game was played in a ferocious, insistent downpour which made the pitch almost unplayable. Roma coach Rudi Garcia complained that the game should have been abandoned, saying it was “a parody of football...water polo played with your feet” In the end, Garcia consoled himself with the thought that no one had been injured, something…

“She was, for me, a point of reference, someone who supported me, a big sister” Marseille and France midfielder Lassana Diarra on his cousin, Asta Diakite, who was killed in the Paris terrorist attacks IN EUROPE Ex-Lyon coach REMI GARDE replaced Tim Sherwood in charge of Premier League side Aston Villa. Former Barcelona B coach EUSEBIO SACRISTAN took charge of La Liga strugglers Real Sociedad after they sacked David Moyes. ANDRE SCHUBERT, who was made caretaker in September, was named Borussia Monchengladbach’s permanent coach. Former Borussia Dortmund and Galatasaray boss MICHAEL SKIBBE was appointed coach of Greece. Former Rennes coach FREDERIC ANTONETTI took charge of Lille, who dismissed Herve Renard after just 13 Ligue 1 games Former Turkey boss MUSTAFA DENIZLI – who is the only coach to have won…

France’s collective pain at the terrorist attacks on Paris has been felt particularly acutely in the country’s footballing community. After the shock of the scenes at the Stade de France on November 13, where the first attacks took place and taxi driver Manuel Dias was the first of the evening’s 130 victims, football was forced to face up to the full horror of events. Dias lost his life when a suicide bomber blew himself up just as the 63-year-old was dropping passengers – who were running late to see the friendly between France and Germany – outside the stadium. But while further devastation was mercifully avoided at the country’s national arena, the events that followed – and thoughts about what might have been – have touched football fans, players and…

Even if the football on display has been in decline over the past decade, the intensity and passion of the Superclasico make it still the fiercest and most enduring rivalry in South America. “Boca-River comes before everything,” explains former Boca defender Roberto Mouzo who played in nearly 30 Superclasicos. “I still miss it.” And Leopoldo Luque, a 1978 World Cup-winner with Argentina who scored the winning goal for River against Boca on his debut for the club, says: “Anyone who says it’s just another game is lying. It is not only the Argentinian Superclasico, it is also the South American Superclasico.” The Superclasico as an institution has transformed since the days of Mouzo and Luque in the 1970s and 1980s, but it remains a fixture that attracts attention and fans…

It’s probably the most important derby in the world,” said Argentina coach Gerardo Martino before a friendly against Brazil last year. “Its significance lies in the history of the two teams and the players they can choose from.” Without doubt, Argentina against Brazil is something very special, a duel for bragging rights between neighbours and rivals who can claim to consistently produce the game’s leading stars. But Argentina have another local derby which, as well as present-day piquancy, has even more history. Brazil’s third place at the 1938 World Cup was the first real sign of what was to come from them. By then, however, the remote outpost of South America had already established itself as a leading centre of the game. It had hosted the first continental tournament and…

Leroy SANE Midfielder, 19 (11.01.96), Schalke & Germany In a sentence An attacking midfield virtuoso who has taken German football by storm this year and was so electrifying that Nationalmanschaft coach Joachim Low handed him his first full cap in November’s friendly against France. What they say Schalke coach Andre Breitenreiter: “Even when he’s not having a good day, and not especially on the radar, he has the ability to decide a game at any time. A remarkable young player.” Pep Guardiola: “He’s a great talent. Congratulations, Germany.” Joachim Low: “His performances this year have been very impressive. I like the way he goes about his business. He’s very clever at moving into space, he’s incredibly quick, has the vision to create and scores a lot of goals himself. I…

● OVERVIEW Italy extended their unbeaten run in qualifying to 50 games as they qualified comfortably for next summer in France. ● Italy qualified comfortably for Euro 2016, winning seven games and drawing three, but did not set the world alight. 1-0 home wins over Malta and Bulgaria, and a victory in Azerbaijan, took them over the finishing line. ● A 2-1 win over Norway in their final game extended the Azzurri’s unbeaten run in qualifying to 50 matches, stretching back to 2006. ● Caps for Franco Vazquez and Eder reignited the debate about foreign-born “oriundi” and says a lot about the paucity of Italian talent. Andrea Pirlo, 36 and playing in Major League Soccer, is still a contender, as is Toronto forward Giovinco. ● Coach Antonio Conte has endured…

Fixtures 10-20 Dec, Japan CLUB AMERICA (Mex) Martin Del Palacio Langer THE STORY SO FAR America are arguably the biggest team in Mexico. They have won the most titles (12) since the advent of professionalism in the country in 1943 and, according to recent surveys, they have surpassed arch-rivals Guadalajara as the best supported side in the league. They are owned by media-giants Televisa and have traditionally been associated with the country’s elites, although nowadays their fanbase spans every strata of Mexican society. Their last title was the 2014 Apertura, which allowed them to participate in the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League, which they subsequently won, to reach the Club World Cup. HOW THEY QUALIFIED FOR JAPAN America beat MLS side Montreal Impact 5-3 on aggregate in the Final of the…

In double quick time, almost a third of the 56 African entrants in the 2018 World Cup are out of the preliminaries, with two rounds of knockout matches decimating the field with almost indecent haste. For many, the World Cup experience lasted just a handful of days, as Africa changed its qualification format from that of four years ago, when 40 countries went on to participate in an expansive group phase. This time, just 20 countries go into the group stage, which starts next October after the completion of the 2017 African Nations Cup qualifiers. Why CAF agreed with FIFA to limit the numbers and deprive more than half their constituents of a regular diet of international action is baffling and counter to both organisations’ ambitions for the development of…

The 2014 World Cup may have ended badly for Luiz Felipe Scolari but he has a quicker than usual opportunity to redeem himself when taking Guangzhou Evergrande to the club version in December. And it has surely not escaped the coach’s attention that the Yokohama venue for the Final is the same Japanese stadium in which he lifted the 2002 World Cup with Brazil. Happy memories, then, and this year has been a much happier time in general for Scolari. “Big Phil” took over Guangzhou Evergrande in June and didn’t lose a single game as he led the team to a fifth successive Chinese Super League title. More importantly, they also picked up a second Asian Champions League title in three years, defeating Al Ahli of United Arab Emirates 1-0…