Innehållsförteckning för February 2015 från World Soccer

HAMZA ALDARADREH The third-choice striker for Jordan at the Asian Cup, he scored a hat-trick when called upon to play against Palestine after regular forward Ahmad Hayel collapsed with exhaustion during the previous week. STEPHAN WHITE The 12-year-old Australian ball boy advised China goalkeeper Wang Delai to dive to his left – and he saved a penalty from Saudi Arabia’s Naif Hazazi in the Asian Cup. YASUHITO ENDO Became only the 16th player to win 150 caps as Japan beat Iraq 1-0 in the Asian Cup. JULIO CESAR The goalkeeper kept seven clean sheets, and hadn’t conceded a goal for 719 minutes, as Benfica chalked up a run of nine successive league wins. ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE Scored in seven successive matches to help Lyon go top of Ligue 1 in France.…

“Although I like him as a player, recruiting him was a mistake. He’s not adapting” Ex-Atletico Madrid coach turned pundit Jorge D’Alessandro tells a Spanish radio station that Barcelona made a miscalculation in signing Luis Suarez (right) When Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan took on powerful, long-serving Chung Mong-joon for FIFA’s Asian vicepresidency in 2011, he had the behindthe-scenes support of Sepp Blatter. One of the planks of Prince Ali’s programme was a need for greater transparency in football governance. To Blatter’s chagrin, he not only meant it but has sought to follow through. Hence Blatter was perturbed two years ago when Prince Ali decided not to contest the AFC presidency left vacant by the life ban on Mohammed bin Hammam. Did that mean, Blatter fretted, that Prince…

Juan Roman Riquelme, one of the most talented players of his generation, has announced his retirement at the age of 36. The playmaker made 51 appearances for Argentina, scoring 17 goals, and was a key figure in Boca Juniors’ 2007 Libertadores Cup triumph. He also played in Spain for Barcelona and Villarreal, reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2006, and latterly had a spell with Argentinos Juniors. He had recently been linked with a move to the United States or Paraguay. “I have decided to no longer play football,” announced Riquelme. “Now I am just a fan. I will go and suffer in the stadium. I am very pleased with the career I had. “I enjoyed football to the maximum. I hope the people have enjoyed it alongside me. I…

Bastia striker Djibril Cisse fires off a retaliatory shot at Rene Ruello after the Rennes president accused the Corsican club and its supporters of overtly intimidating visiting sides “If you can’t put up with the pressure, then take up dancing” IN Zola checks in at old club Cagliari Former Italy international GIANFRANCO ZOLA, who finished his playing career with Cagliari, was appointed coach of the Serie A side, replacing Zdenek Zeman, who was sacked with the side third bottom of the table. EUROPE Manchester City completed the signing of Ivorian striker WILFRIED BONY from Swansea City for an initial £25million. The 26-year-old agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal, with Swansea set to receive a further £3m in performance-related addons. For all the transfer-window moves in Europe’s big five leagues go to http://po.st/Mbzy8m…

FIRST LEG: FEB 17 SECOND LEG: MAR 11 Paris Saint-Germain ● Season so far Despite progress in the Champions League, domestic form has been disappointing, with the side slipping to third in Ligue 1, behind Marseille and Lyon. South American strikers Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani were dropped after turning up late for January’s mid-season winter break in Morocco. ● Key players Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains the team’s talisman, especially on big European nights, but his effectiveness has been affected by injuries this term. ● Emerging star Brazilian attacker Lucas Moura, who is still only 22, has been averaging a goal every three games from midfield in the league this season. ● Coach performance Laurent Blanc has struggled to assert his authority over unsettled Lavezzi and Cavani, and has admitted: “I…

FIRST LEG: FEB 18 SECOND LEG: MAR 10 Schalke ● Season so far Eventful. Jens Keller was fired as coach in October and replaced with ex-Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo, who has steered Schalke to the knockout stage. Serbian defender Matija Nastasic was signed on loan from Manchester City during the January window. Key players With injures to Julian Draxler and Jefferson Farfan, the goals of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar have been more important than ever. ● Emerging star Cameroon striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has linked well with Huntelaar since his summer move from Mainz. ● Coach performance Di Matteo has impressed with his perfect German and steadied a Schalke ship that was in danger of running aground. ● How to beat them As proved by the 5-0 home loss to Chelsea,…

FIRST LEG: FEB 25 SECOND LEG: MAR 17 Arsenal Season so far Hit by injuries to Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil in the Premier League but fit-again players have re-emerged for a spring challenge for the top four. Two January signings, Polish midfielder Krystian Bielik and Brazilian central defender Gabriel from Villarreal, give Arsene Wenger options. In-form players Alexis Sanchez has thrived in a central attacking role after finding himself marginalised at Barcelona. Emerging star Gedion Zelalem, a German-born, US-raised teenager played in their final game of the group stage. Coach performance Long-serving Wenger, in charge since 1996, has come under fire from some supporters but has stuck to his guns. How to beat them Wenger rarely deviates from his attackmined, possession-based philosophy, leading to accusations that he…

Football has entered a new age, and this is the age of the super-club. Wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few and that is having a profound effect; not merely on who can win tournaments, but how football itself is played. More than anything else, it is the domination of those clubs that explains the recent trend away from defensive football. The power of the super-clubs is perhaps best demonstrated by looking at the narrowing spread of teams who reach the Champions League semi-finals. After five years of the European Cup, there had been 13 different semi-finalists. Moving forward in rolling five-year blocks, those 20 slots tended to be filled by 14 or 15 different teams – until the 1980s, when the diversity became even more marked…

3 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT NEVES The goal he scored on his Porto debut, against Maritimo in August, made him the youngest league marksman in the club’s history, at 17 years and 155 days. He is the youngest Portuguese to appear in a Champions League game, either an eliminator or group game, edging out Cristiano Ronaldo by one month earlier this season. He comes from the town of Mozelos, 20km south-east of Porto. All his family are unconditional fans of the club, including his father, Jose, who was a decent amateur midfielder in his day. AGE 17 (13.03.97) CLUB Po rto COUNTRY P ortugal In a sentence Defensive midfielder or engine-room regulator who is known as the “New Paulo Sousa” after the former Portugal captain and Champions League winner…

p16 Another manager in the news was Real Madrid coach Miguel Munoz who had just resigned after 14 years in charge at the Bernabeu, winning 14 trophies. The end of his tenure did not surprise Keir Radnedge, who wrote: “I would like to say that Munoz’s departure is a shock, but it is not. “Real have not only failed results wise this season. They have been playing badly. Sunday’s defeat away to Castellon was too much for the fans to stomach and, obviously, too much even for Munoz.” Radnedge then went on to nominate seven people to succeed Munoz, indicating that Ferenc Puskas – “need I say more?” – and Alfredo Di Stefano – “must be the favourite”, were the outstanding candidates. p28 We also reported on the aforementioned Johan…

The Key Figures ROVNAG ABDULLAYEV AFFA president since 2008, chief executive of state oil company SOCAR and member of the national assembly, he was also Neftchi president from 2004 to 2008 and key to major changes in the running of the game and bidding for major events. ELKHAN MAMMADOV Involved in Azerbaijan’s bids for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games before joining AFFA as secretary in 2007. Central figure in Azerbaijan winning the rights to host the 2012 Women’s Under-17 World Cup and the men’s 2016 European Under-17 Championship. An increasingly influential figure in UEFA politics. ROBERT PROSINECKI Signed a three-year contract as national coach in December and expected to have Azerbaijan challenging for Euro 2020 qualification. Currently holed up in the Absheron Marriot hotel in Baku but, unlike predecessor…

Thursday January 1 ENGLAND: Harry Kane scores twice as Tottenham Hotspur stun league leaders Chelsea 5-3 at White Hart Lane. Southampton stay in fourth place after beating Arsenal 2-0. Frank Lampard celebrates the extension of his stay at Manchester City by scoring the winner in a 3-2 victory over Burnley. West Brom confirm Tony Pulis as their new manager. FRANCE: Bordeaux announce Mali striker Cheick Diabate will be sidelined for four months, missing the African Nations Cup. Friday January 2 GERMANY: Bayern Munich agree to sign Germany under-19 international Joshua Kimmich from Red Bull Leipzig in the summer. SPAIN: Argentina midfielder Enzo Perez agrees to join Valencia from Portugal’s Benfica for a reported ¤25million. Saturday January 3 ENGLAND: Former Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew is confirmed as the new manager…

Matchday 24 of the new season promises much. The Julio Humberto Grondona 2015 Championship will be in the home straight, with just six games remaining. Scheduled for September 13, it will be an historic weekend, with a dizzying total of 15 top-flight clasicos being played. There will be the country’s number one derby, the superclasico, with River Plate at home to Boca, but there is also Independiente against Racing. Huracan are at home to San Lorenzo, while Rosario Central host Newell’s Old Boys. In La Plata, Estudiantes and Gimnasia will face off. To the south of Buenos Aires, Lanus will host Banfield. To the west, by the Andes, Godoy Cruz will take on local rivals San Martin. In Santa Fe, Colon will be home to Union. It will be a…

The grand absentee from the African Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea is Egypt, a country who have won a record number of seven titles but whose fortunes have tumbled dramatically in recent years. The pitiful sight of the Egyptian side meekly surrendering to long-standing rivals Tunisia in their last qualifying game contrasted with years of confident dominance of the continental game and numerous examples of a never-say-die attitude that clinched many a famous last-minute success. The Pharoahs missed out on the latest African Nations Cup finals after finishing third in their group, behind Tunisia and Senegal, both of whom they lost to in Cairo – results that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Coach Shawky Gharib, a long-time lieutenant through the team’s glory years, has since lost…

The performances of San Lorenzo in the Club World Cup were hardly an advert for the quality of South American football – and the same could be said about most of the continent’s recent representatives in that competition. However, there is considerable promise in this year’s Libertadores tournament. There are plenty of big teams in a field that contains 14 past winners and not a single debutant. With its cocktail of tradition, atmosphere and exciting youngsters, the next few months should, at the very least, prove intriguing. Not since Boca Juniors, 14 years ago, has a team managed to retain the title, and it would be a surprise if an ageing San Lorenzo side, stripped of some of last year’s heroes, can go all the way this time. But the…

By the time you read this, the nominations will have closed for this summer’s FIFA presidential elections. Whether anybody of substance comes forward to challenge Sepp Blatter is irrelevant. By seeking a fifth term in office, Blatter has broken promises he made at the time of his last re-election, and made a mockery of the whole process. We have deliberately tried to avoid mention of a former French international’s misguided attempts to stand against Blatter (because he’s not worth it). However, if any good does come of his silly publicity stunt, it will be to raise awareness of the influence that bookmakers now have on the global game. For all the efforts being made to tackle match-fixing, football has become reliant upon the betting industry For all the efforts being…

“He resembles me technically. The public is enchanted by him” Zinedine Zidane gives his stamp of approval to real madrid midfielder isco To see video footage of these goals, and many more that we have selected, scan the QR code using any free QR reader that can be downloaded to your smartphone. You can also see the videos by logging on to http://po.st/zFzihs 1 SIMONE ZAZA Sassuolo v Milan A smartly taken volley on the run secures victory for Sassuolo as they came from behind to beat Milan. 2 CARL VALERI Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers Following a corner, the ball breaks to the edge of the box – from where he fires home a stunning shot into the top corner. 3 SARDAR AZMOUN Iran v Qatar Leaves defender…

“Azerbaijan and some African countries got in touch, and I also had some offers from eastern Europe, but basically I’m looking for a team which will allow me to stay reasonably close to home” At 76, Giovanni Trapattoni still yearns for another spell in the technical area Forty-five-thousand people turned out the day that Fernando Torres came home. There were almost as many supporters in the Calderon for Torres’ presentation on the Sunday morning as there had been in the stadium the night before, when Atletico played Levante. “We have been waiting for this moment since 24 July 2007,” said club president Enrique Cerezo. “I always hoped it would be a ‘see you later’, not a ‘goodbye’,” said Torres; and so it was. Seven-and-a-half years later, “The Kid” was back,…

Olympic football in the firing line Football’s place at the Olympics has never been much in question, apart from in 1932, when it was deemed beyond the comprehension of Americans who were expected to turn out to watch the summer Games in Los Angeles. Otherwise it has enjoyed an unchallenged presence since 1900. For all the ticketing value of Olympic football, this may be about to change – and at a time when the loudest voice in its defence will shortly be absent from the luxurious corners and corridors in which the members of the IOC conduct their most meaningful business. At London 2012, football accounted for 1.5million tickets for the men’s matches and 660,000 for the women; hence football accounted for a quarter of all the Games’ ticket sales.…

Ronaldo a winner despite World Cup failure Round up the usual suspects, as was said in the film Casablanca. The suspects in this case being Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, first and second in the annual FIFA poll for the Ballon d’Or, with Ronaldo way ahead of his rival, who indeed only just eased Germany’s World Cup winningkeeper Manuel Neuer out of second place. That Ronaldo and Messi are the two best players in the world can hardly be contested. Messi may have slipped behind Ronaldo now, but he has been a four-times winner of the title. Yet in a World Cup year, you do wonder why that major tournament appears to have been disregarded. As it transpired, Messi, exhausted by his supreme efforts in Argentina’s attack, had faded when…

FIRST LEG: FEB 17 SECOND LEG: MAR 11 Shakhtar Donetsk ● Season so far The unstable situation in eastern Ukraine forced Shakhtar to move their home games to Lviv. And although they only won two games in their group, they did enough to reach the knockout stage for the third time in five years. ● Key players Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano scored a record nine goals in the group stage, including five in one game, against BATE. ● Emerging star Brazilian midfielder Fred has emerged as a key element over the past season and a half. ● Coach performance Romanian boss Mircea Lucescu, now 69, has faced a battle to keep hold of players who have been unsettled by the domestic situation in Ukraine. ● How to beat them Their…

FIRST LEG: FEB 24 SECOND LEG: MAR 18 Juventus ● Season so far Have once again proved to be dominant in Serie A, but they struggled in the group stage of the Champions League, losing key games to Atletico Madrid and Olympiakos. However, they recovered with a crucial win over the Greek side to finish second in the group, behind Atletico. ● Key players French midfielder Paul Pogba is already among the world’s leading midfielders – at the age of 21. ● Emerging star French teenager Kingsley Coman is an exciting prospect. ● Coach performance Former Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri succeeded Antonio Conte last summer and has kept the club on course for further domestic success. ● How to beat them Press and harry them. Juve are used to exercising…

FIRST LEG: FEB 25 SECOND LEG: MAR 17 Bayer Leverkusen Season so far Roger Schmidt arrived from Salzburg in the summer and steered Leverkusen through the Champions League qualifying round. In the group stage they recorded home and away wins over Zenit to finish second in the group behind Monaco. Key players South Korea’s Son Heung-min scored some crucial goals in the group stage. lEmerging star Winger Karim Bellarabi has played his way into the senior Germany national side this season. Coach performance Schmidt has been compared to Jurgen Klopp for his team’s high-pressing tactics but he has come under fire for an approach that many see as too risky. How To Beat Them With Schmidt’s side pressing so high from the first moment to the last, the obvious response…

In the last seconds of Qarabag’s Europa League group game against Internazionale in December, the Azeri champions’ Brazilian midfielder Richard Almeida puts the ball in the net. The crowd at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku leap out of their seats – and football in Azerbaijan seems about to change forever. The deadlock is seemingly broken. Then, in the bitterest of ironies, in a stadium named after the linesman whose questionable decision helped England win the 1966 World Cup, a flag is raised and the goal disallowed. Qarabag needed to win to become the first Azeri team to reach the knockout stage of a UEFA competition. But when the referee immediately blows for full-time, it’s 0-0 and Qarabag are out. For all the disappointment of that result, football in Azerbaijan…

Germany’s World Cup-winning coach reflects on his side’s victory in Brazil last summer “You had an extensive three-day meeting with your staff early last year. What did it yield? At that point in time the World Cup was taking shape. We could make plans for group-stage opponents and our training HQ in Brazil, and look at the different routes we could take during the tournament. We intensively asked ourselves many questions. What was the strategy with our own team? How did we foresee the pre-competition preparations? Which players were in the frame to meet our requirements? Which factors were crucial in that last area of player requirement? Naturally, the decisive criteria were ones of performance potential. But, as shown by my experience of previous tournaments, there are other things to…

While it is never a surprise to see Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Porto battling it out for the top three places in Portugal, an unexpected fourth side has joined the party this season in Vitoria Guimaraes. Although the team has some of the country’s most fervent supporters, the club was in a state of financial meltdown when coach Rui Vitoria was first appointed, in 2011, with wages unpaid and any bankable assets in the squad quickly sold off. The 44-year-old quickly realised that the only way forward was to put the emphasis on youth – and he oversaw a spectacular change in fortunes. As well as building an increasingly competitive side, in 2013 he led the club to its first major silverware, beating Benfica in the Portuguese Cup Final. And…

BOLIVIA Bolivar claimed the apertura title on the final day of the season, beating Blooming 3-0 to finish four points clear of Oriente Petrolero, who went down 2-1 to third-place The Strongest. Juanmi Callejon, Juan Carlos Arce and Jose Luis Capdevila scored the goals that gave Bolivar their first title since they won the 2013 clausura. Paraguayan coach Celso Ayala took charge of Sport Boys, replacing Victor Hugo Antelo, ahead of the start of the clausura campaign. CHILE After an absence of 35 years, Palestino returned to the Libertadores Cup – where they join Colo Colo and Universidad de Chile – after beating Santiago Wanderers 9-2 on aggregate in the Final of the play-off for the third continental spot. The last time they were in the Libertadores, in 1979, Palestino…

The cynical might suggest Jorge Luis Pinto has a keen sense of irony – and perhaps not a little devilment. Not long after the World Cup, where he led Costa Rica to an unlikely quarter-final berth, the Colombian left as coach of the triumphant Ticos amid murmurings of rancour with squad members and, in particular, with assistant coach Paulo Wanchope, who is a national hero. Pinto has now re-emerged in charge of Honduras, the main regional rivals of Los Ticos. And to add an extra level of spice to proceedings, he took over in controversial circumstances from a Costa Rican, Hernan Medford. A former player and coach of his own country, Medford had only assumed control of Honduras in July, following a dismal World Cup under Colombian leader Luis Fernando…

Andoni Zubizarreta has been sacked as Barcelona’s director of football, while his deputy, Carles Puyol, also left the Catalan club. Zubizarreta, the club’s former goalkeeper, replaced his one-time team-mate Txiki Begiristain in the summer of 2010 but faced criticism this season for the club’s transfer policy. In addition, his position was in danger of becoming untenable after a FIFA ban on the club’s transfer activity in 2015 was upheld by the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS). Barcelona will not be able to sign any new players until January 2016 after CAS upheld the ban for breaching FIFA’s rules on the transfer of players aged under 18. “These three-and-a-half months have given me the opportunity to see another side of the club,” said Zubizarreta. “I want to grow, both personally…

REAL MADRID Equalled Milan’s record of four World and Intercontinental Cups with victory in the Club World Cup Final. GRENOBLE The minnows from the fourth tier of French football shocked Marseille by beating their opponents 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in the Cup. YAYA TOURE The Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder was voted CAF African Player of the Year for a record fourth consecutive time. QUEENS PARK RANGERS Became the first English top-flight side to lose their opening 10 away fixtures in the league for 50 years. HATEM BEN ARFA Banned from playing for French club Nice because he had already played for two sides this season. GIANFRANCO ZOLA The former Italy international was thrashed 5-0 by Palermo in his first game as coach of Cagliari. LOSERS…

Johan Cruyff (left) insists in De Telegraaf that German World Cup-winning midfielder Toni Kroos would have made a better Ballon d’or recipient than Cristiano ronaldo “Ronaldo did nothing at the World Cup. I can’t take this award seriously” Italy international Sebastian Giovinco will become the highest-earning Italian player in the world after signing a five-year contract to play for MLS side Toronto. The 28-year-old attacker, who is out of contract with Juventus this summer, will earn a basic annual salary of around $7million at Toronto – which is higher than the $6m earned by David Beckham at Los Angeles Galaxy but less than the $7.1m that Brazilian star Kaka is reported to be earning at Orlando City. Toronto have also signed USA international striker Jozy Altidore from Sunderland in a straight…

Wrong...Fabregas (in blue) was booked after this foul by Targett Anti-diving crusaders are the true blight on the game When highly trained, top-line referees make abysmal calls – and make them not in aberrational moments, but with deliberation and assurance – harsh questions should be asked about their decision making. How can Premier League referee Mike Jones make a call as atrociously bad as the diving call he made against Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in November? How can Michael Oliver, another Premier League official, book Chelsea’s Diego Costa for diving when he was obviously tripped by Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton? And what about referee Anthony Taylor’s yellow card to Cesc Fabregas of Chelsea for diving, when he was clearly fouled by Southampton’s Matthew Targett? I’m focusing on the Premier League…

The race is on to reach Berlin on Saturday June 6 for the 2015 Champions League Final. No team has retained the trophy since Milan in 1990 and yet the same teams are in the frame. The winners are likely to come from a select band of clubs, a group that is growing smaller every year. In the last 20 years, only Ajax (1995) and Porto (2004) have come from outside the big five leagues. Ironically, two of the strongest – and wealthiest – contenders, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, have yet to see their name on the trophy.…

FIRST LEG: FEB 18 SECOND LEG: MAR 10 Basle ● Season so far Under former Portugal midfielder Paulo Sousa, Basle recovered from losing twice to Real Madrid and a surprise defeat at Ludogorets to take second spot in their group, ahead of Liverpool, to reach the knockout phase. ● Key players Midfielder Fabian Frei took on extra responsibility following injury to captain Marco Streller and weighed in with some crucial goals for his side. ● Emerging star Taulant Xhaka, brother of Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Granit, can play in a number of different defensive positions. ● Coach performance Sousa was a surprise choice to replace Murat Yakin last summer, having previously coached in Israel and Hungary. But under his guidance Basle have maintained their domestic dominance while also making progress in…

FIRST LEG: FEB 24 SECOND LEG: MAR 18 Manchester City Season so far Drawn in a tough group with Bayern and Roma, they again looked like missing out. But City’s fortunes changed dramatically with a hat-trick from Sergio Aguero against Bayern. Injuries to strikers Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic prompted City to pay Swansea City £28million for Wilfried Bony. Key players Aguero, when fit, has fired City out of trouble on many occasions. Emerging star None. Sheikh Mansour’s millions have been spent on established players. Coach performance Manuel Pellegrini will need to make further progress in the Champions League for City’s powerbrokers to keep faith in him. He will be looking nervously over his shoulder at Pep Guardiola’s situation in Munich. How to beat them Yaya Toure, while not…

Loris KARIUS AGE 21 (22.07.93) CLUB Mainz COUNTRY Germany In a sentence Arguably his country’s premier goalkeeping prospect of the moment. What they say Ex-Germany, Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt keeper Uli Stein believes he is already international class, showering him with praise for his presence and authority. “The best course is for Karius to stay here and develop,” says Mainz coach Kasper Hjulmand. “At his age, he has to play and here he has that chance.” The story so far Started last season as Mainz’s third choice but by the start of 2014 he had definitively displaced both Heinz Muller and Christian Wetklo. His star continues to rise this term and in November he won his first German under-21 cap. 3 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT KARIUS Began in Ulm…

Four months before the start of the World Cup finals in West Germany, World Soccer ran a front cover featuring the up-and-coming Holland team of Ruud Krol, Johnny Rep, Rob Rensenbrink and, of course, the two Johans, Cruyff and Neeskens. We had suggested that the World Cup draw had been unkind to Rinus Michels’ team, pairing them in the same group as Uruguay and the dangerous Sweden and Bulgaria. However, with a newly elected European Footballer of the Year in Cruyff, Dutch hopes were high for the summer ahead – and the team wouldn’t disappoint. One side who would not be at the tournament were England and World Soccer’s Brian Glanville was unrepentant in his views on the failure of England manager Alf Ramsey and his reluctance to resign, some…

While Europeans seem to think the Club World Cup does not matter, try telling that to the 9,000 San Lorenzo supporters who made the long trip to Morocco for what they believed was the most important week in their club’s history. Real Madrid, three-times winners of the Intercontinental Cup, cantered to victory. They beat CONCACAF champions Cruz Azul 4-0 in the semi-finals and South American champions San Lorenzo 2-0 in the Final to claim this competition for the first time since it began in 2005. Having already won with Milan in 2007, coach Carlo Ancelotti became a two-time club world champion. But while he looked fairly unexcited by the whole thing, for the likes of San Lorenzo and part-timers Auckland City, who astonishingly reached the last four, it was a…

Barcelona will go to the polls after the club’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, called elections for the end of the season, a year ahead of schedule. According to Bartomeu, the decision had been taken to “lessen the tension” surrounding the club in the midst of a growing crisis. A date is yet to be set, but it is likely to be in June, and although he is yet to make an announcement, the former president Joan Laporta is already the favourite. Bartomeu will stand too, but he is extremely unlikely to win. He announced the decision at the start of what would become an exhausting 75-minute press conference at Camp Nou in which he struggled to respond convincingly to an avalanche of questions. At one point he insisted that the…

New Yorkers, who like to consider their city the capital of the world, are a pretty tough crowd who can deal with almost anything. But they draw the line at disrespect – as the guys running the new club, New York City FC, have now discovered. Having announced in July last year that Frank Lampard had signed a two-year deal with NYCFC that would begin in August, further news followed that the 36-year-old midfielder’s arrival would be delayed until January 1, 2015, because he was going on loan to Manchester City. This raised a lot of eyebrows and some doubts about Lampard’s ability to talk straight. When his signing was announced, he had let it be known that, while he wanted to prolong his career, he did not feel he…

COSTA RICA Saprissa successfully defended their national title and were crowned champions for a 31st time after beating Herediano 5-3 on aggregate to win the 2014 Invierno. Although they only finished fourth in the regular season, Saprissa beat first-place Alajuelense 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the second stage. They then won their home leg of the Final 4-2 – with goals from Heiner Mora, Ariel Rodriguez, Juan Bustos and Daniel Colindres – before securing the title with a 1-1 draw in the return, with Deyver Vega on target. EL SALVADOR Isidro Metapan won a third consecutive national title, beating Aguila on penalties in the apertura Final with Milton Molina scoring the winning spot-kick after the game finished 1-1 in extra-time. Isidro Metapan, who have now been champions on…