Innehållsförteckning för July 2015 från World Soccer

“Let’s be realistic: the love of a club’s shirt is a completely utopian concept nowadays” Following the departure from Marseille of a host of key players, an anonymous agent offers his take to the local paper, La Provence 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/js4PW4 1 JACK WILSHERE England v Slovenia A curling strike with his left foot, beyond the reach of the goalkeeper and into the top corner for his and England’s second goal of the game. 2 CARLI LLOYD USA v Japan Completes her hat-trick in the Women’s World Cup Final with a shot…

Dribbing skills are in danger of meeting a violent end On YouTube you can find a grainy, black-andwhite video clip from a 1968 game in Brazil, between Santos and Botafogo. It shows Santos forward Kaneko dribbling into the Botafogo penalty area, where he suddenly performs the perfect “donkey manoeuvre”, flipping the ball up with his heel, over his own head and over the defender. The execution is perfect and Kaneko runs on to set up Toninho to score. Kaneko never became a great player, but he was long remembered for that “lambretta”. We now leap forward 47 years, to the 2015 Spanish Cup Final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Another “lambretta”, this one from Barca’s Neymar. But whereas Kaneko’s effort had been greeted with cheers, smiles and celebrations, Neymar’s caused…

“Sadly, the results of Guus’ work were not immediately visible to everyone” Dutch federation vice-president Bert Van Oostveen makes a bid for understatement of the year in the wake of the resignation of national coach Guus Hiddink (left) IN EUROPE Porto’s Colombian striker JACKSON MARTINEZ joined Atletico Madrid from Porto for Á35million. For all the other big summer moves in Europe’s top five leagues, go to www.worldsoccer.com PAULO SOUSA took charge of Fiorentina in Serie A, while SINISA MIHAJLOVIC quit Sampdoria and replaced Filippo Inzaghi at Milan. Marco Giampaolo was named coach of Empoli. DEJAN STANKOVIC, who won 15 trophies and played over 300 games for Internazionale, has returned to the Serie A side as part of Roberto Mancini’s backroom staff. Former Argentina striker HERNAN CRESPO, who was a youthteam…

“Goodbye, moral victories,” was a headline in Chile’s La Tercera newspaper the day after the national team won its first senior title. Meanwhile, the Ultimas Noticias paper declared that “the glory took 99 years to arrive, but the wait was worthwhile”. For the neutral, Chile’s penalty shootout win in the Copa America Final after a disappointing goalless draw with Argentina may have seemed a relatively tame way to win the trophy. But that would be a misunderstanding of the context. Nearly 99 years to the day since Chile kicked off the very first Copa America game, the title was theirs at long last. La Tercera caught the mood on its front page, stating: “‘La Roja’ threw off its chronic fatalism. The tactical scheme of [coach Jorge] Sampaoli neutralised and minimised…

CHILE 2 PERU 1 For the first 20 minutes, there looked to be a real chance of a shock result. Peru took the game to Chile, with winger Andre Carrillo and Paolo Guerrero proving a handful for a Chile defence lacking the suspended Gonzalo Jara. His replacement Jorge Rojas seemed overawed and there was a nervous hush around Santiago’s National stadium. But, and not for the first time in his international career, Peru centre-back Carlos Zambrano lost his head. He had already been involved in a couple of spats, and was on a yellow, when he received a straight red card for an ugly, unnecessary high footed stamp on Charles Aranguiz. It was now far easier for Chile, who took the lead shortly before half time, when a cross-cum-shot from…

AUG 18, 1998 Makes his Barcelona debut in the Spanish Super Cup and scores against Mallorca. APR 24, 1999 Is a member of the Spain under-20 side that wins the World Youth Championship, beating Japan 4-0 in the Final. JUN 13, 1999 Ends his first full season at Camp Nou as a title winner under coach Louis Van Gaal. SEP 30, 2000 Picks up a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics after scoring in the Final as Spain lose to Cameroon on penalties. MAR 15, 2002 Scores his first “El Clasico” goal as Barcelona draw 1-1 with Real Madrid at Camp Nou. MAY 22, 2005 Barcelona win La Liga for the first time in six years after beating Villarreal at Camp Nou. MAY 17, 2006 After missing four months through…

The cover of the July 1989 edition of World Soccer featured Pele in a Scotland tracksuit alongside two young Australian players. The Brazilian had been promoting the World Under-16 Championship in Scotland and the magazine devoted its first four pages to a tournament described by Paul Gardner as “the true coming of age of the Under-16 World Cup”. Gardner wrote: “The Scots gave this tournament the credibility it has been seeking. The sheer quality of the football, the exuberance of the players, proved an irresistible draw. The success of Scotland was the perfect accompaniment.” Scotland, against all the odds, reached the Final, and their semi-final victory over a Portugal team coached by Carlos Queiroz saw 29,000 fans packed into Tynecastle, in Edinburgh, to witness a 1-0 win courtesy of a…

Following in the footsteps of England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966, Carli Lloyd became only the second person to score a hat-trick in the Final of a senior World Cup showpiece as the USA ended 16 years of hurt to reclaim the women’s title for a record third time with a 5-2 victory over holders Japan. It was a fitting finale for the United States’ veteran striker Abby Wambach who, at the age of 35, now has a World Cup winners medal to go with her two Olympic golds and the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year award. At the Final, the 53,341 fans inside Vancouver’s BC Place were not slow to voice their disapproval of the visiting dignitaries, with the crowd booing the introduction of Issa Hayatou. The FIFA…

Following Serbia’s triumph at the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand, a crowd of 50,000 turned out in Belgrade to welcome home the country’s triumphant youngsters. On one of the banners hanging from the front of City Hall – which is more used to celebrating successes in basketball, water polo or volleyball – there was the inscription “Ima nade” (there is hope). And while the euphoria of the under-20s may soon be over, there is a real hope that this will be the start of something great at senior level. Much of that belief is not just down to the fact that the team won the junior world championship, but more about how they did it, battling to victory despite playing extratime in all four of their games in the…

Four years after Guernsey FC started playing in the English league system – where they won successive promotions and are currently in Ryman League Division One – the Channel Islanders won gold at the Island Games’ 14th football tournament, beating the Isle of Man 3-0 in the Final on neighbouring Jersey. With all but one of the squad coming from Guernsey FC, they sailed through the group stage, beating Ynys Mon 5-2 and the Swedish island of Gotland 3-0, before brushing aside UEFA’s newest members Gibraltar with a 4-0 victory at Springfield Stadium in St Helier. Guernsey then returned to Springfield to edge out Menorca in the semi-finals before facing the Isle of Man, who were losing finalists in 1993, 1999 and 2003. Craig Young, Ross Allen and Kieran Mahon…

Xavi and Gerrard are a rarity in the modern age: players who spent their entire careers in Europe with a single club Xavi has graced the cover of World Soccer before, in 2010 when he was voted World Player of the Year. It seems fitting, on the occasion of his final match for Barcelona, to feature him again. The tributes to Xavi (page 42) have been long and justified. One of the most intelligent footballers to have played in Europe in recent times, it seems highly likely that he will return to Barcelona in a coaching capacity in the future. While Xavi earns petro-millions in semi-retirement in Qatar, so Steven Gerrard begins a new phase of his life in Los Angeles with Galaxy (page 50). Both are a rarity in…

CHILE The hosts won the Copa America and were crowned champions of South America for the first time in their history. SERBIA Beat Brazil 2-1 in the Final of the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand to claim their first football title since becoming an independent nation. TERRY BRADBURY The 75-year-old, who earned £25 a week playing for Chelsea in the 1950s, won the £5.5million Lotto jackpot. BRAZIL Almost a year after their 7-1 World Cup rout by Germany, they lost the Copa America quarterfinals on penalties to Paraguay. LIONEL MESSI Despite his success at club level with Barcelona, he still has no major titles to his name while for Argentina. CSKA SOFIA Bulgarian champions a record 31 times, they will start the new season in the amateur leagues after…

Fearful Blatter skips USA as FIFA crisis continues The Cold War has been revived by the FIFA crisis. Sepp Blatter is happy to travel to Russia for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying draw but daring to visit North America for the Women’s World Cup Final was out of the question. Blatter, if the United States Department of Justice should want to meet him face-to-face, is a Swiss citizen and cannot be extradited from the country – like fearful Brazilians back home in South America, such as Ricardo Teixeira and Marco Polo Del Nero. Football is bigger than its individual officials – who come and go, though some stick around longer than others – and, indeed, far bigger than FIFA. Certainly, the senior World Cup underwrites the losses of all the…

Group A Chile got the tournament under way with a wobbly 2-0 win over Ecuador, in Santiago, both second-half goals coming at times when the Ecuadorians were looking the better side. The hosts were back to their best in their next game, against Mexico, and their high-tempo football was a delight to watch. But the deficiencies of the defence were cruelly exposed in a 3-3 draw that was overshadowed by the next day’s events. Returning to the team’s training camp, Arturo Vidal crashed his Ferrari with alcohol in his system but Sampaoli insisted he remain part of the squad. Already assured of a quarter-final place, Chile then turned on the style to beat Bolivia 5-0 in their final group game. Despite that humbling, Bolivia had also already qualified before their…

ARGENTINA Amid the trauma of yet another Final defeat, Gerardo Martino pointed out that “the positive side is that we’ve found our style”. However, it is a style that would surely work better with more defensive pace, allowing the back line to play higher and the team to stay more compact. Martino took a very experienced squad to the Copa; presumably new players can be filtered into the process in next year’s Centenary Copa and in the Olympics. BOLIVIA Making it out of the group, though almost entirely dependent on a dreadful 45 minutes’ defending by Ecuador, was a big boost, and Mauricio Soria’s team gave a good account of themselves in the 3-1 quarter-final defeat by Peru. Swedish born Martin Smedberg-Dalence looks a find, and if there may be…

With clement weather and empty ski resorts clamouring for summertime guests, Austria has become Europe’s most popular destination for pre-season training camps. Helped by a major marketing boost in 2008, when Austria staged the European Championship with neighbours Switzerland, an industry has developed that saw more than 500 friendlies staged in Austria last summer, between clubs from places as diverse as Azerbaijan and Ukraine. “The challenge is to provide a good package,” says Thomas Plasser, an account manager at one of the leading operators, Global Sports, which was formed in 2010 and has since hosted clubs including Celtic and Sunderland. Spain and Portugal were once popular with British clubs in pre-season but, while the USA and Germany are the top destinations for one-off games or tours, between 2005 and 2014…

There is a single phrase that sums up Diego Simeone; one that condenses the philosophy and attitude that he brings to his teams and what he expects from his players. “Effort is non-negotiable”. While his career path and his teams reflect this maxim, there is also one single defining moment in his coaching career to date – and that is December 2011, when he took over at Atletico Madrid. Up until then, his track record had been a sharp and unrelenting learning curve, experimenting with style and formations at a dizzying number of clubs. Since then, it has been one of stability and unprecedented success. “El Cholo” had always known that Atletico would come calling. He also knew that, when it happened, Atleti would more than likely be in trouble.…

“Are you tired of always handing the trophies to Spanish clubs? No, because the Champions League is a very difficult competition and because no one had won the trophy two years in a row – which is different to what happened before with Ajax, with Bayern, with Liverpool. I always respect whoever wins the Champions League because it is a tough season. When I was a player we had important games from the quarter-finals: we had two quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the Final. Then there was a cup. Now you begin good games in September. September! You already have good games where you have to win, but I think I always will give the cup to the team who deserve to be the winners. Do any particular moments stand out…

Much as had been expected, there was no knight in shining armour riding over the hill to save Parma. Relegated to Serie B at the end of the season, the club that won the UEFA Cup (in 1995 and 1999) and the Cup-winners Cup (1993) lost an even bigger battle when faced with the receiver’s deadline. Declared bankrupt in March, with debts of around Á220million, Parma’s last remaining chance of survival rested on the unlikely possibility that someone might step up to the plate and buy the club by June 22. Even though the receivers had reduced the debt to Á22.6m, there were still no takers. As a result, Parma will now drop out of professional football, perhaps starting life again in the amateur ranks of the fifth-tier Serie D…

Serbia’s first global title was achieved with a never-say-die attitude that culminated in a 2-1 victory over Brazil in the Final thanks to Nemanja Maksimovic’s 118th-minute winner. All four of their games in the knockout stage went to extra time and they were seconds away from going out in the round-of-16 until Ivan Saponjic’s equaliser against Hungary. They then went on to win 2-1 despite Milan Gajic being sent off. Although a recordequalling sixth world under-20 title eluded Brazil they did extend their record unbeaten run in the finals to 20 matches. They beat the previous best mark of Argentina, whose failure to get out of their group was one of the competition shocks. Adama Traore, who scored twice as Mali beat Senegal 3-1 in the thirdplace play-off, was named…

Supposed makeweights in their group, Sweden were crowned European Under-21 champions in the Czech Republic and proved once again that the gap between age-group teams is far flimsier than at senior level. Their first success at this level was achieved by doing the simple things well, with goalkeeper Patrik Carlgren, defender Joseph Baffo, midfielders Simon Tibbling and Abdul Khalili, and the hard-running John Guidetti in attack all determinedly impressive. Of the other teams, Denmark’s centre-back Jannick Vestergaard and the more exotic likes of Portugal’s Bernardo Silva and William Carvalho, as well as Italy’s Domenico Berardi, stood out. England’s Harry Kane, who was the focus of much attention, was hamstrung by a lack of creative support. The Czechs’ staging of the tournament was happily straightforward after the politically-inspired mangles of so…

7 min Roberto Boninsegna opens the scoring for Italy following an assist by Luigi Riva. 1-0 90 min Jurgen Grabowski sets up Karl-Heinz Schnellinger for a late equaliser to take the game into extra time. 1-1 95 min Gerd Muller scores to give the West Germans the lead for the first time in the match. 1-2 98 min Tarcisio Burgnich draws Italy level following a mistake by substitute Sigi Held. 2-2 104 min Luigi Riva puts Italy ahead with a powerful low shot from outside the area. 3-2 110 min Muller scores his second goal of the match after being set up by Uwe Seeler. 3-3 111 min Within a minute, Boninsegna carves out an opening on the left and his cross is converted by substitute Gianni Rivera for the…

“I can’t just suddenly kiss another badge now” Hamburg’s Marcell Jansen announces his retirement PATRIK CARLGREN Sweden’s goalkeeper saved two spot-kicks as his side beat Portugal on penalties in the Euro Under-21 Final. MARCELL JANSEN Announced his retirement, at the age of 29, after being released by Hamburg as he could not sign for another team because he was too emotionally tied to the German club. GO AHEAD EAGLES The Dutch club appointed fan Henk De Haan to their board so he could see the Europa League game away to Ferencvaros, despite the Hungarian club’s stadium ban on spectators. MARTUNIS The 17-year-old Indonesian, who was found alive wearing a Portugal shirt bearing Cristiano Ronaldo’s name following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, signed a deal with Sporting Lisbon – where Ronaldo…

Weekly notes from Brazil, Spain, Germany and Italy at worldsoccer.com “Like others who profoundly love this club, I was ready to return and offer a helping hand” Parma look to rise from the ashes in Serie D, with former coach Nevio Scala in the presidential chair SPAIN And so a club without a president, that is banned from signing new players, has signed a player who didn’t want to run and can’t play. Not for six months, anyway. Like Aleix Vidal, who was signed from Sevilla, Arda Turan has left Atletico Madrid to become a Barcelona player – even though he can’t play until January. The club’s ban on transfers does not end until the next window but, in practical terms, the ban is on registering players, not buying them.…

Former Ajax captain DANNY BLIND was appointed national coach of Holland following the departure of Guus Hiddink, who had overseen the team’s stuttering start to the Euros. Blind, an assistant to Hiddink and the previous coach Louis Van Gaal, has been tasked with rescuing Holland’s qualifying campaign. The 2014 World Cup semi-finalists currently lie third in their group, five points behind leaders Iceland and three points behind Czech Republic, with four games remaining. Blind, whose only other coaching experience was a short spell in charge of Ajax, has signed a contract until August 2018, with an “evaluation moment” planned next summer. “Reaching the European Championship is my only goal,” said Blind, who will be assisted by Marco Van Basten. “Only qualifying for Euro 2016 counts.” Hiddink had been in his…

England’s women tread fine line from the sublime to the ridiculous As Groucho Marx might have said, I’ve heard of patriotism but this is ridiculous. The day after England’s women had beaten their German equivalents in the third-place World Cup play-off, a daily paper correspondent began his report: “A quarter of a century of hurt consigned to the rubbish bin. Revenge for Italia 90, an historic first win over Germany in a World Cup finals since 1966, and the journey from losers to legends.” The world bathos springs irresistibly to remind. If comparisons are odious, then this one is surely ludicrous. It might be added that, worthy though this victory was, it happened in a third-place match and not in the Final. But should it be bathos or pathos? Has…

CHILE 1 URUGUAY 0 Despite pressing remorselessly against an opponent steeped in dogged defence, and enjoying 80 per cent possession, Chile had problems turning their domination into clear chances in Santiago – even after Uruguay went down to 10 men just after the hour. Perhaps not in the best frame of mind after his father had been involved in a traffic accident the day before in which a motorcyclist had died, Uruguay centre-forward Edinson Cavani reacted with a slap after Gonzalo Jara pressed a finger against his backside. Already on a yellow, Cavani was sent off, while Jara was later handed a three-match ban. Chile badly needed physical presence in the penalty area, which sub Mauricio Pinilla was to provide. With 10 minutes left, Pinilla and Arturo Vidal attacked a…

Where next for Jorge Sampaoli? Although he has a contract to stay on as Chile coach until the 2018 World Cup, he hinted after the Copa America Final that he may look to move on. And he could hardy be blamed for doing so, because what he has achieved with Chile is remarkable. From a financial point of view, Sampaoli is unlikely to ever be in a better negotiating position. But, from an emotional point of view, Chile’s 99-year wait for a trophy with a win over his own native country, in a stadium where he achieved such success with Universidad de Chile, is unlikely to be topped. For, more than anything, Chile’s triumph was Sampaoli’s triumph. It’s true that the foundations of this triumph were laid by Marcelo Bielsa,…

I was one o’clock in the morning when Xavi Hernandez left the dressing room as a Barcelona player for the last time. And he couldn’t have wished for better company on his final walk, stepping out at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and down the concrete slope underneath the main stand towards the team bus. Alongside him was Sergio Busquets and together they carried the European Cup; one handle each, the trophy swinging between them. A few days later, Xavi headed off to Qatar and semi-retirement, aged 35. His European career was over after exactly 900 senior games: 133 for Spain and 767 for Barcelona. No one has played more times for the Catalan club; no outfield player has played more times for Spain. No one has won more, either.…

With over 10 million people in the greater Los Angeles area, it was always likely the city would get a second MLS team, and they arrived in 2005 with Chivas-USA. The Mexican owner-investors were led by Jorge Vergara, owner of CD Guadalajara in Mexico, whose nickname is “Chivas” – which translates as “goats”. Chivas-USA was positioned as a sister club of Guadalajara and aimed to play Mexican-style soccer with, it was hoped, particular appeal to the huge Mexican-American population of Los Angeles. But while this seemed an excellent idea – the tastes of the Hispanic fans had long been neglected – it flopped badly. After a poor opening season, the owners panicked, hastily bringing in non-Mexican players and a series of non-Mexican coaches, most of whom didn’t even speak Spanish.…

Jan KLIMENT Striker, 21 (01.09.93), Czech Republic & Stuttgart (Ger) In a sentence June 2015 was a career-defining month for the striker, who scooped the top scorer award at the Euro Under-21s - his hat-trick in the 4-0 win against Serbia was his entire goal haul – and earned a move from Vysocina Jihlava in his homeland to Stuttgart. Not bad for someone who probably would not have made the Czech squad this summer if Watford had not prevented Matej Vydra from taking part. What they say “Selecting Kliment was a brilliant move by coach [Jakub] Dovalil,” declares Czech alltime midfield great Pavel Nedved. “His agent told me he had talent, though I have to admit I didn’t really know too much about him until now. He looked very sharp…

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Tuesday June 9 BRAZIL: Oswaldo De Oliveira of Palmeiras becomes the eighth coaching casualty in the first six games of the season. ITALY: After a goalless first leg, Bologna – who were fourth in the second tier – return to Serie A after being held 1-1 at home by seventh-place Pescara as the team that finished higher in the regular season go up if the promotion play-off Final ends in a draw. SPAIN: Three days after Barcelona win the Champions League Final, coach Luis Enrique extends his contract until 2017. Wednesday June 10 USA: Five days on from beating Holland in Amsterdam, the US win 2-1 against Germany in Cologne with an 87th-minute goal from second-half sub Bobby Wood. Thursday June 11 COPA AMERICA: Hosts Chile kick off the tournament…

The second round of qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup is well and truly up and running in Asia, with 39 teams – 40 before Indonesia’s suspension by FIFA – split into eight groups of five, with the winners and the four best second-placed finishers going into the final round. The eight top seeds, including Australia, Japan and South Korea, have played just once so far while most of the other sides have 180 minutes under their belt. But who would have thought Guam would be leading their group with maximum points from the first two games? Well, Guam coach Gary White for one. As he told World Soccer last month: “We want to be top of the group after the first two games and then we’ll see what happens.”…

COPA AMERICA Played in Chile Group A June 11 - Santiago Chile 2 (Vidal pen 67, Vargas 84) Ecuador 0 HT: 0-0. Att: 46,000. Ref: Pitana (Arg) Chile: Bravo - Medel, Jara, Mena, Isla, Aranguiz (Pizarro 85), Diaz, Beausejour (Vargas 46), Valdivia (Fernandez 68), Sanchez, Vidal. Sent off: Fernandez 90+3. Ecuador: Dominguez - Paredes, Achilier, Erazo, Ayovi, Martinez (Ibarra 79), Noboa, Lastra (Quinonez 68), Montero, Valencia, Bolanos. June 12 - Vina del Mar Mexico 0 Bolivia 0 Att: 14,987. Ref: Caceres (Par) Mexico: J J Corona - Flores, Ayala, Marquez (Aquino 64), Dominguez, Aldrete, Medina (Montes 81), Guemez, J M Corona, Herrera (Jimenez 61), Vuoso. Bolivia: Quinonez - Hurtado, Raldes, Zenteno, Morales, Pedriel (M Bejarano 85), Chumacero, D Bejarano, Smedberg-Dalence, Campos (Escobar 71), Moreno. June 15 - Valparaiso Ecuador 2…