Innehållsförteckning för February 2017 från World Soccer

KAZUYOSHI MIURA The Japanese striker signed a deal with second-tier side Yokohama that will take him past his 50th birthday, having made his professional debut in 1986. ALBERT GUDMUNDSSON Coming on as a sub for his senior international debut in the final minute of Iceland’s 2-0 victory against China, the 19-year-old PSV midfielder followed in the footsteps of father Gudmundur Benediktsson (1996–2001, 10 caps), mother Kristbjorg Ingadottir (1996, four caps), maternal grandfather Ingi Bjorn Albertsson (1971–79, 15 caps) and maternal great grandfather, also Albert Gudmundsson (1946–58, six caps). BESART BERISHA The Melbourne Victory forward’s goal against Newcastle Jets made him the A-League’s top scorer of all-time, on 91, breaking the record he previously shared with Archie Thompson. RYAN HOLLINGSHEAD The Dallas defender was courageously assisting another driver who had been…

Bigger but not better A 48-team World Cup will raise more cash but will be low on quality Sir Stanley Rous would probably have approved of a 48-team World Cup as, for all the colonial baggage that accompanied him on his 13-year FIFA reign, he believed the World Cup was the prime means for taking and growing the game around the planet. It was Rous, decades ahead of 2002, who urged Japan to set World Cup hosting as a long-term target for the game’s development. And, for all the other contentious issues, a 48-team World Cup can promote the game as never before. Admittedly anything enacted by FIFA should be treated with scepticism after the corruption-fired years of cosy Blatterism bequeathed such a poisonous legacy of disgust and distaste. But…

“You cannot force someone to be where they do not want to be” Sevilla president jose castro carmona comments on speculation that sporting director monchi could leave the club in the summer IN EUROPE Having stepped down as England manager after 67 days, SAM ALLARDYCE was appointed Crystal Palace boss three months later, replacing ALAN PARDEW. PAUL CLEMENT left his role as assistant coach at Bayern Munich to take over at Swansea City, while MARCO SILVA, who won the Greek league with Olympiakos last term, joined Hull City. DIETER HECKING, out of work since leaving Wolfsburg in October, replaced ANDRE SCHUBERT at Borussia Monchengladbach. Osasuna sporting director PETAR VASILJEVIC replaced JOAQUIN CAPARROS as the Liga side’s coach until the end of the season. CONCACAF Former Real Madrid coach BENITO FLORO,…

Omonia president Antonis Tzionis sits quietly in his chair in the offices of the Cypriot club. Although not naturally a quiet man, he knows that a word out of place could cost him another €5,000. In December he made the claim that Cypriot football was “dishonest” and dogged by “filth, stench, nepotism, cronyism and corruption”. The game, said Tzionis, was controlled by betting activity and corruption, and there is no freedom of speech. In response, he was fined €5,000 by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) for bringing the game into disrepute. For a game that, in recent years, has – on the pitch, at least – punched above its weight for an island of just 1.1million people, those are startling claims. Since Anorthosis Famagusta became the first Cypriot side to…

“Arsenal lost their opening game of the season, to Liverpool, but are flying again. What’s the secret behind the turnaround? There’s really no secret, we are just buzzing. Everyone is playing and training well. Everyone is happy, we are all confident. I think when you have confidence you are always going to do well in your matches and that’s what is going well for us. As a young player you are faced with the pressure of improving on your first season. How tough has that been for you this term? Unfortunately I picked up an injury on the opening day of the season so I had my doubts if I was going to ever get back into the team, but the manager showed his faith in me. When you are…

By now, Chinese fans know that in the weeks leading up to the opening of a transfer window – especially the winter one ahead of a new season – two things are certain. The first is that big names will sign for Chinese Super League clubs; the second is that many more will be linked with moves. These “unnamed Chinese clubs” feature regularly in English websites, bringing not only clicks but also the gratitude of agents all over Europe. In January, Chelsea’s Oscar was signed by Shanghai SIPG for a fee reported to be around £60million, with the midfielder joining Brazilian compatriot Hulk at the club now coached by Andre Villas-Boas. Soon after, Carlos Tevez was snapped up by city rivals Shanghai Shenhua to become – again, reportedly – the…

A new year and lots of stories to discuss this month, not least the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams and Marco Van Basten’s attempts to provoke a discussion about changes to the Laws of the Game. But we have chosen to focus heavily on RB Leipzig (page 50) and the issue of multi-club ownership (page 58) because it touches on one of the fundamental questions of the game: who owns football? Controversial owners are nothing new in the game, of course, but the emergence of RB Leipzig has brought the issue of multi-club ownership sharply into focus. Leipzig have circumvented the Bundesliga’s “50+1” rule, which is designed to prevent corporations owning clubs and, in theory, keep fans in control. But more than that, Red Bull’s global network…

“Thank you for having voted me. My gratitude goes to my friends and especially to myself because I was the one who worked hard, wasn’t I?” Gabriel tamas, steaua’s modest 33-year-old centre-back, on being named romanian players’ union’s defender of the year for 2016 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/gWR1LV 1 JULIAN DRAXLER Paris Saint-Germain v Bastia Times his run perfectly, following an exchange of passes with Hatem Ben Arfa, and then delicately chips the Bastia goalkeeper on his PSG debut. 2 OLIVIER GIROUD Arsenal v Crystal Palace On the break from an opposition corner,…

China’s rise is no mirage The trumpets and bugles of European angst about the money being splashed around by Chinese football must sound particularly hollow across the sports-obsessed continents of South America and Africa. Clubs in Brazil and Argentina, Senegal and Ivory Coast, have been powerless for decades as their finest players are lured away by the extravagant wages paid by wealthy teams in Europe. They have long known one of the game’s bitter truths: professional footballers are forever mercenaries who follow the money wherever it takes them. When Belgium international midfielder Axel Witsel opted to join Tianjin Quanjian rather than Italian champions Juventus, he gave an honest answer for his decision, saying: “On the one hand there was a top club like Juve, but on the other there was…

Graham Taylor: a ‘national treasure’ with failed ideas That the late, much lamented Graham Taylor should be seen at Watford as an almost Messianic figure is scarcely surprising. No manager has or ever could do what he triumphantly did for them, taking them all the astonishing way from the fourth tier to second place in the top division and getting them to the FA Cup Final at Wembley, where they were runners-up. It was mildly surprising, however, to find he had become what now tends to be known as a “national treasure”, with the football powers that be decreeing a celebratory minute of happy clapping at every ground. Personally, I would much prefer the old established practice of a solemn minute’s silence, but I suppose we must resign ourselves to…

There are easily a hundred reasons for feeling dismay at FIFA’s decision to further despoil the World Cup by extending the finals to 48 teams – and at least one of them is tactical. Football has changed radically over the past 30 years. At the very top, the quality and the level of entertainment are probably higher than they have ever been, but the structures of the world’s premier club and national competitions seem increasingly to militate against that. The symptoms may be different, but the root cause is the same: greed has conquered any notion of sporting integrity But there have been other changes, and one of those is how we consume football – which itself has implications, if not for tactics per se then certainly for how the…

Jack HARRISON Age 20 (20.11.96), New York City (USA) & England In a sentence A former pupil at the Manchester United academy, he enjoyed a memorable first season in MLS, turning heads with his confident performances and not looking out of place in a New York City side containing such global stars as Andrea Pirlo, David Villa and Frank Lampard. What they say Ray Selvadurai, one of his coaches at Manhattan Soccer Club: “What sets him apart is the ability to do anything at top speed with precision and accuracy.” Claudio Reyna, New York City sporting director: “We were very excited to get him. We didn’t simply see him as one for the future. The feeling we had was that he could make a contribution right away in attack. He’s…

Romanian football is facing its biggest crisis since the fall of the communist regime in 1989 as a lack of strategy and vision from national bodies and club owners has left the league in a state of undeniable mediocrity. And Steaua, the country’s biggest club, are no different. The 1986 European Cup winners are not struggling to pay salaries like most, but Steaua’s problem is far bigger – and involves their very identity. Figures from a survey last year show that 49 per cent of Romanian football fans are Steaua supporters. But who exactly are the team that they follow? Is it the same Steaua who won the country’s hearts 31 years ago with a penalty shoot-out victory over Barcelona? Is it the Steaua who won 26 national championships and…

WORLD Club WOrlD CuP Played in Japan 1st round Dec 8 - Yokohama Kashima antlers (Jap) 2 (Akasaki 67, Kanazaki 88) Auckland City (NZ) 1 (Kim 50) Ht: 0-0. att: 17,667. ref: Sikazwe (Zam) Kashima: Sogahata - Nishi, Hwang, Shoji, Yamamoto, Endo (Nakamura 84), Ogasawara (Kanazaki 63), Nagaki, Shibasaki, Fabricio (Akasaki 54), Doi. Auckland: Zubikarai - White, Kim, Berlanga, Iwata, Riera, Tade (Berry 90+3), Tavano, Lewis, De Vries (Lea’alafa 83), Joao Moreira. l Kashima Antlers qualified for the 2nd round, which America, Jeonbuk Motors & Mamelodi Sundowns entered directly 2nd round Dec 11 - Osaka Jeonbuk Motors (sKo) 1 (Kim Bo-kyung 23) America (Mex) 2 (Romero 58, 74) Ht: 1-0. att: 14,587. ref: Kassai (Hun) Jeonbuk: Hong Jeong-nam - Lim Jong-eun, Shin Hyung-min, Choi Chul-soon, Kim Chang-soo (Ko Moo-yeol 77),…

“A catastrophic move. I’ve the impression that it’s only about money. The quality will be watered down” Increasing the number of World Cup finalists to 48 in 2026 leaves Hans-Joachim Watzke, Borussia Dortmund CEO, hot under the collar The first FIFA Council meeting of 2017 agreed unanimously to a proposal from president Gianni Infantino to increase the number of World Cup finalists from 32 to 48, starting in 2026. The expanded competition will feature 16 first-round groups of three teams, with the possibility of draws being settled by penalties. A knockout stage of 32 teams will enable FIFA to complete the tournament within 32 days. “We are in the 21st century and we have to shape the World Cup of the 21st century,” said Infantino. “It is the future. Football…

Freeing football of the ‘Scrooge’ factor I have been wondering for well over a decade, in this column and elsewhere, whether there is anyone in an authoritative position in football who actually cares about the game? Well, suddenly, it seems that there is. The usually not-too-voluble Marco Van Basten has broken the silence, arguing: “We must keep looking for ways to improve the game, to make it more honest, more dynamic, more interesting, so that what we offer is attractive enough.” As Van Basten is now FIFA’s chief officer for technical development, the statement is of the highest significance. At last, someone who matters is paying attention to the state of the game. “The spectators,” he says, “want to see action, goals, tackles.” Having stepped into the limelight as a…

“I’m a pioneer, like the other players who came here before me” oscar reflects on his £60million transfer from Chelsea to shanghai sIPG OBITUARIES GRAHAM TAYLOR (1944-2017) If Graham Taylor held any rancour towards the journalists who ripped him apart for his management of England then he never let it show in later years. Taylor’s death at 72 prompted a flood of warm tributes to a man who achieved remarkable work at Watford twice over, as well as spells at Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Yet Taylor was also a controversial figure even before he led England to a groupstage exit at Euro 1992 in Sweden and to World Cup qualifying failure a year later. And his England failures were exacerbated by an ill-advised television documentary, An Impossible Job. The…

With no promotion or relegation, the Australian top flight is, in effect, a closed shop. And, on the face of it – when faced with huge competition from a sporting landscape that is dominated by three other football codes, not to mention the national obsession of cricket – such reasoning looks sound. Faced with vast geographical distances between only a handful of major cities (just five have a population of over one million), the A-League’s existence as a single structure makes sense. For example, if a regional team from the second tier – the state competitions, known as the National Premier Leagues – were to be promoted at the expense of a club from say, Sydney, the commercial ramifications would be severe. However, Football Federation Australia (FFA) is under pressure…

MONACO THOMAS LEMAR Monegasque starlet taking Ligue 1 by storm There are a good few reasons why Monaco have been able to get their noses in front of red-hot favourites Paris Saint-Germain in the race for the French championship this season. The shrewd tactics of coach Leonardo Jardim, Fabinho’s lung-busting midfield performances, the rebirth of Radamel Falcao, the defensive work of Djibril Sidibe – they are just some of the key drivers. However, it’s probably the emergence of 21-year-old attacking midfielder Thomas Lemar as a world-class talent that has done most to light Monaco’s fire. Lemar’s tally of six goals and four assists at the halfway stage of the club’s Ligue 1 campaign is a decent return for a young player. But the statistic that should really make Europe sit…

When Jean-Michel Aulas began courting Alex Morgan on Twitter he was ridiculed, with one newspaper even suggesting that the sexagenarian president of Lyon was in love with the American striker four decades his junior. But it was Aulus who had the last laugh after pulling off arguably the most audacious transfer in women’s football history. The best-known player in the sport’s most successful nation, World Cup winner and Olympic gold medallist Morgan was coming to Europe to play for the Champions League holders. And while it may only be a loan deal, it is nonetheless highly significant. For anyone outside the US it’s difficult to describe just how high-profile Morgan is. An exciting, attacking player with photogenic looks, a clean-cut lifestyle and more than 70 goals for the national side,…

New Blackburn Rovers signing Alan Shearer was the cover star of World Soccer’s February 1993 edition and he featured inside in a report on the revival of the oncefamous Lancastrian club. The season’s big ongoing story, however, was the fall from grace of Real Madrid in Spain. The Sunday Telegraph’s annual survey of Europe’s top 40 clubs had stated that “Real’s placing [of eighth] is almost entirely due to their historical record, large crowds and some good performances in this season’s UEFA Cup”. And as Graham Turner pointed out: “The phrase neatly summarises the sense of sadness felt by outsiders as one of Europe’s vintage clubs toil to find a route out of deep crisis.” He suggested that “the fans who recently waved white handkerchiefs in the Bernabeu stadium, as…

During the 11-year reign of Oscar Tabarez, Uruguay have become a force once again. In his first spell as national coach he took them to Italia 90, but thereafter La Celeste only reached one of the next four World Cup finals – in 2002, when they fell in the group phase. However, since he returned in 2006, things improved as they reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, won the Copa America the following year and are currently well placed to qualify for Russia 2018. Key to this success has been the importance attached to the national under-20 side. In this age of global football, it is impossible for a country as small as Uruguay – with a population little over three million – to hold on to its…