Innehållsförteckning för July 2017 från World Soccer

To the uninitiated observer, England’s performances this summer – world under-20 champions, European under-21 semi-finalists, European under-17 finalists, Toulon tournament champions – suggest a nation with a fine generation of young players emerging. Clearly, something positive is happening at the national football centre, St George’s Park. Yet how many of the successful under- 20 side will be given a chance in the Premier League this season and gain the experience needed to benefit England’s senior side? In contrast, Germany won the Confederations Cup (page 26) and Euro Under-21s (page 72), both with severely depleted squads. In Russia, they were captained by a 23-yearold, Julian Draxler. England’s star man in Korea, Dominic Solanke (page 66), left Chelsea for Liverpool this summer having never played for the first team. He is just…

CLAUDIO BRAVO The keeper was the hero of Chile’s semi-final win in the Confederations Cup when he saved all three Portugal penalties in the shoot-out that followed a 0-0 draw in Kazan. ANTE VUKUSIC The former Pescara and Croatia striker, who now plays his club football with Tosno in Russia, revealed that he played for a number of years with just one lung functioning. Italian doctors thought that he had a back problem, but when he moved to the Russian club they “realised everything was fine with my back, but I had a lung problem”. He says: “The doctor told me it is a miracle how I was able to play for several years with only one part of my lung functioning.” The 26-year-old has since undergone surgery on his…

The end of the full-back as we know it The English term “full-back” has been a misnomer for a long time now. If those players who play on the flanks of a back four are backs at all, they are certainly not fully so. Numerous English football terms survive in Spanish and Portuguese but not, significantly, “full-back”. Instead, the word used for that player is “lateral”. The longer time has gone on, and players such as Marcelo and Dani Alves have begun to define the position, the more appropriate that Spanish and Portuguese usage has come to seem. After all, what is certain about the position is its width, not its depth. When England met Scotland in the first international, in 1872, they played with one full-back, two halfbacks and…

The early FIFAGate fixture list has been published. Not the dates of the big matches to come this autumn but the dates on which the various bribers and money-launderers will learn their fate from the New York court that has been hearing the litany surrounding that $200m rip-off from marketing and broadcasting rights. Some observers object to the use, coined by one of the investigators initially, of the term “FIFAGate”, arguing that this was merely a local issue within the Americas. That, however, is wrong. Using and abusing competitions, conferences and congresses all organised under the benevolent aegis of the Blatter regime was enabled by a look-theother- way world federation which provided the power and the glory plus the connectivity. Sentencing dates August 5: Rafael Callejas (ex-Honduras President) October 7:…

Southgate’s England are still not good enough How ironic that hot on the heels of England’s plodding displays against France and Scotland, their under-20s should win a world title with such panache in South Korea. One hopes that, in a couple of years, many of this fine young team will be ready to step into the full national side. Certainly a winger with the pace and incision of Ademola Lookman, a Charlton Athletic discovery now at Everton, could probably help in the full England team now, even at the age of 19. In Scotland, against a prosaic and mediocre home team, England were saved by the bell, you might say, when Harry Kane got that face-saving equaliser. But it was, as indeed it was in Paris, overall a wretched performance,…

Germany carried off the Confederations Cup and are now favourites to become only the third nation in World Cup history to win the global prize twice in succession. Italy achieved the double in 1934 and 1938, while Brazil managed it in 1958 and 1962. That Joachim Low has all the tools and the talent at his disposal to do likewise is beyond doubt. On the weekend that Germany triumphed in Russia, the country also won the Euro Under-21s in Poland. Low said: “We know Germany are always favourites no matter what the tournament. But just because you win the Confederations Cup and the European Under-21s it’s no guarantee of being world champions again. “In the World Cup there are many more competitive teams and you have to do so much…

WORLD UNDER-20s Adalberto PENARANDA Age 20 (31.05.97), winger, Watford (eng) & Venezuela In a sentence The poster boy of his country’s bestever generation of footballers, he is a typical South American blend of determination and fantasy. What they say Venezuela senior and under-20 coach Rafael Dudamel: “Every day he plays better. Every day he gets better.” Granada boss Jose Ramon Sandoval, who had him on loan two seasons ago: “At the age of just 18, he not only knocked at the door, he broke it down.” Watford owner Gino Pozzo: “He’s not been affected by the huge expectations which he’s subject to in South America.” The story so far A native of the western city of El Vigia, he cut his teeth with junior teams in the Merida region before…

ARGENTINA ARGENTINA Sampaoli handed long-term contract and instructions to revive the national side “How beautiful it is to be near what one admires from afar,” said Jorge Sampaoli on his appointment as Argentina’s latest national coach. Negotiations between the AFA, Sevilla and the 57-year-old had been a long, drawn out affair. But once concluded, Sampaoli was brimming with patriotic pride and quoting local folk singer Jose Larralde. The song Sampaoli referenced is about the son of a gaucho, the historic and mythological figure of the Argentinian countryside. Quoting that line was just one of the cultural references linking Sampaoli to his home country. He has lyrics from Argentinian rock bands tattooed on his arm and has spoken of his admiration for the former presidents Nestor and Cristina Fernandez, as well…

SERBIA Unbeaten in their first six matches on the road to Russia and level on points with the Republic of Ireland in Group D, Serbia are proving to be a tough nut to crack under coach Slavoljub Muslin. Needless to say, they are a totally different proposition to the disjointed and dysfunctional side which failed to produce the goods in their last three major qualifying campaigns: Euro 2012, World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016. On taking over from the sacked Radovan Curcic in May last year, Muslin attributed those disastrous results to the poor attitude of the players and promised a reinvigorated mindset. And that’s exactly what he has brought about, restoring unity, sense of purpose and work ethic to the squad. The Serbs always had the deep reservoir of…

IRAN Iran booked their place in Russia as winners of Group A with two games in hand. So, in a country where football and politics are both prominent in people’s daily life, it was no wonder that two days after the qualification success, the national team was invited to the president’s office. “You changed the heartbeat of 80million Iranians during 90 minutes of football,” said the newly re-elected president, Hassan Rouhani. “Now you have the chance to create history. Let’s get ready to go beyond the group stages of the World Cup for the first time.” Rouhani also mentioned Iran’s memorable performance against Argentina in Brazil 2014. During that tournament he posted a photo of himself on social media, watching the game while wearing the national team shirt rather than…

“Sandor would never have made a winger of the Matthews-Finney- Julinho type for his technique was developed too late” The front cover had a picture of West German winger Gert Dorfel beating Angelos Anastasiadis of Greece to the ball in a World Cup qualifier which Germany won 3-0. Inside, Eric Batty penned a profile of Hungarian winger Karoly Sandor, on whose shoulders rested the hopes of a nation after the defection of Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan Czibor to Spain. “At frequent intervals the world’s press turns the spotlight on flying wingers and arguments rage about who is the fleetest of them all,” wrote Batty. “One name always mentioned is that of Karoly Sandor, a strong candidate in these stakes and unquestionably the fastest player in central Europe. “He…

We are like a family,” says Curacao boss Remko Bicentini, who has a huge smile etched across his face after his team beat defending champions Jamaica 2-1 in June’s Caribbean Cup Final. And it was this sense of unity – combined with coaching continuity, astute player recruitment and the development of a clear identity on the pitch – that culminated in the Dutch-speaking island’s maiden title. The foundations had been set by former Ajax and Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert, who was installed as national coach in early 2015 before leaving his post last summer to become director of football at Paris Saint-Germain. His assistant, Bicentini, took over and this year ensured Curacao’s ascent to the pinnacle of Caribbean football with victories over Martinique and Jamaica. With a core group of…

“The club is very happy with the renewal and commitment of Messi, the best player in history” Barcelona announce Lionel Messi is to sign a four-year contract extension Global football intelliGence The contentious Garcia Report into the scandal-scarred 2018/2022 World Cup bid process reveals a tawdry tale of greed, power and arrogant self-entitlement among the men running the game. FIFA published the report after an attempt to keep it under lock and key was pushed to the point of ridicule by its leak to German paper Bild. American lawyer Michael Garcia was appointed as FIFA’s first ethics investigator in 2012 with a brief to examine events which led up to the World Cup awards to Russia and Qatar by the executive committee in December 2010. Subsequently FIFA published only a…

“It’s indecent to think that someone could have done such a thing without anyone knowing” Rosangela santos, the daughter of Brazil legend garrincha, after her late father’s body was secretly exhumed from a cemetery in his home town 1 CRISTIANO RONALDO Portugal v Russia Begins and finishes a crisp, flowing team move by steering home a far-post header beyond the Russian keeper. 2 JHON CIFUENTES Ecuador v El Salvador Produces a spectacular near-post volley following a cross by Pedro Velasco. 3 LUIS SOLIGNAC Chicago Fire v Saint Louis A clever backheel flick loops over the Saint Louis goalkeeper and into the far corner during a US Open Cup tie. 4 LORENZO PELLEGRINI Italy U21s v Denmark U21s Bicycle kick from 12 yards into the far bottom corner. 5 BRUMA Portugal…

GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE 1 AN AGRICULTURAL APPROACH Juventus striker Moise Kean could leave the Serie A side next year – because they can’t afford to buy his dad some tractors. According to Biorou Kean, his son could walk away on his 18th birthday in February after the club broke a contractual promise. “Juventus offered a contract of €700,000-a-year, which was fine,” says Kean Snr. “The problem is they had also promised me some tractors for my agricultural business in the Ivory Coast, but now they say there is no budget for them. “I own several hectares of land in the Ivory Coast which I would like to cultivate with rice and corn.” 2 PSYCHIC DUTIES Ever since Paul the Octopus predicted results at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa,…

“I have no feelings towards him. I would not go to eat with him. I go with my friends” Former Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa on Barcelona centre-back and ex-Spain team-mate Gerard Pique According to Italian police chief Franco Gabrielli, 27 per cent of Roma’s seasonticket holders have a criminal record. Gabrielli made that statement during a hearing with Italy’s parliamentary antimafia commission in May. He added: “For more than 15 years now, we have been aware that the football industry is exposed to interference from both organised crime and everyday crooks. “We have documented several cases of overlapping between criminal groups and sports clubs, footballers and the professional world of footbal “The thing is the criminal world sees in the football economy an opportunity to increase illegal [money] trafficking…

Jerome Valcke, during his nine years as FIFA secretary-general before a high-speed descent to the sack and criminal suspicion, earned infamy for two remarks. One was the suggestion, ahead of the 2014 World Cup, that the Brazilian hosts needed “a kick up the backside” in expediating preparations work. The other was he was looking forward to Russia 2018 because “less democracy is sometimes better for organising a World Cup.” Dictatorships could get things done. The Frenchman, in his narrow World Cup field of vision at least, has been vindicated. South Africa, in 2010, worked only because FIFA threw money and expertise at the operation. The South Africans’ incompetence was revealed in details such as the park-and-ride scheme for fans going to Soccer City. No one thought to pay the bus…

The distraught Abkhazia team sat in the tunnel, sobbing. Their dream was over. After hosting and winning the 2016 ConIFA World Cup, Abkhazia – a state that broke away from Georgia after a bloody war in the early 1990s – were confident of winning the ConIFA European Cup in Northern Cyprus, organised for non-FIFA affiliated associations. But after a goalless semi-final against Padania, from northern Italy, Abkhazia lost 6-5 on penalties. One of the only teams to bring a significant number of visiting fans, their flags drooped in the shadow of the stadium’s main stand. Even an American TV producer who was making a documentary was in tears; perhaps because the fairy-tale ending she envisaged had gone. At least the Abkhazians got to play. Back home there is a 10-team…

SOUTH AMERICA A year ago, after their first six games, Uruguay and Ecuador topped South America’s World Cup qualification table with 13 points each. After a third of the competition, they already had half the number of points that historically have been enough to go through. Twelve months and eight games later, neither look so healthy. Uruguay have picked up 10 more points but dropped to third in the table, while Ecuador have acquired just seven more and slumped to sixth, outside even the play-off place. So, with four rounds to go, both are getting anxious – especially as next up is heavyweight opposition. At the end of August, Ecuador travel to Brazil, who have cruised to qualification with eight consecutive wins and who have yet to be beaten at…

SWITZERLAND Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic has something of the card sharp about him. Even if dealt a poor hand, he regularly scoops the jackpot. During the past year or so, the 53- year-old Bosnian has had to contend with one selection headache after another: star names struggling for their best form (midfield holder Granit Xhaka, defender Ricardo Rodriguez and forward Xherdan Shaqiri); long-term injuries (strikers Breel Embolo and Josip Drmic); and several players out of favour at club level. But ever the pragmatist, Petkovic has held it all together, steering the side to six wins out of six in Group B, including the scalp of European champions Portugal, who were swept aside 2-0 in Basle. Not bad at all for a team sporting a cluster of top-flight bench-warmers: Stephan Lichtsteiner…

A year on from Euro 2016, how do you look back on the tournament? As victorious. I think of it every day. Portugal became the European champions and delighted the Portuguese people. What was Portugal’s most difficult game of that campaign? The game with Hungary was definitely the most complicated. At all levels, we could have won or lost. Three times Portugal were out of the championship during the match. That was the most difficult, but the games against both Croatia and France were of a similar difficulty level. At what moment did you feel Portugal would become European champions? It was not a question of becoming champions. I had always said and thought that Portugal could go on to win the tournament. There are no certainties in life, and…

On May 20, Venezuela beat Germany 2-0 in the competition’s opening game, and on June 11 they lost 1-0 to England in the Final. In between, there was plenty to talk about as, despite plenty of early promise from African and Asian sides, all four semi-finalists came from Europe and South America. Few would have been surprised if the Final had featured France and Uruguay after both reached the knockout stage with ease and without conceding a goal. However, led by Paris Saint-Germain’s Jean-Kevin Augustin, the star of the victorious European Under-19 Championship in 2016, France met Italy in the last 16 in a re-run of that tournament’s Final, with the Italians gaining revenge. France’s defence was finally breached by Riccardo Orsolini – the Juventus striker ended up top scorer…

In a contentious development, the south-western section of the Regionalliga, the fourth tier of the German pyramid, may soon have a distinctly exotic flavour. Plans are afoot to induct the Chinese under- 20 side into the competition, and next season they could be going head-to-head with teams such as Saarbrucken, Ulm and the second-strings of Hoffenheim, Mainz and Freiburg. The idea stems from a football-partnership pact concluded a few months ago by the Chinese and German governments, a five-year agreement of mutual benefit, with the Deutschland federation offering its substantial soccer know-how to the Asian powerhouse and the German game gaining privileged access to the huge Chinese market. Seeing this European adventure as a way of broadening their sporting horizons and preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games, the Chinese under-20s…

confederations cup Played in Russia Group a Jun 17 - St Petersburg russia 2 (Boxall og 31, Smolov 69) new Zealand 0 Ht: 1-0. att: 50,251. ref: Roldan (Col) russia: Akinfeev - Samedov, Dzhikiya, Vasin, Kudryashov, Zhirkov, Erokhin (Tarasov 77), Glushakov, Golovin, Smolov (Miranchuk 90), Poloz (Bukharov 64). new Zealand: Marinovic - Colvey (Patterson 83), Smith, Durante, Boxall, Wynne, Barbarouses (Tuiloma 61), McGlinchey, Thomas, Rojas (Smeltz 71), Wood Jun 18 - Kazan portugal 2 (Quaresma 34, Cedric 86) Mexico 2 (Javier Hernandez 42, Moreno 90+1) Ht: 1-1. att: 34,372. ref: Pitana (Arg) portugal: Rui Patricio - Cedric, Pepe, Jose Fonte, Raphael Guerreiro, Quaresma (Andre Silva 82), William Carvalho, Joao Moutinho (Adrien Silva 58), Andre Gomes, Nani (Gelson Martins 58), Cristiano Ronaldo. Mexico: Ochoa - Salcedo (Araujo 67), D Reyes, Moreno,…

“Our preparation for those finals was extremely basic. Nor did we have any structure to our game” Jordan Lukaku blames then-boss Marc Wilmots for Belgium’s loss to Wales in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 Global football intelliGence SAUL Niguez (Spain) The Atletico Madrid midfielder was irresistible at the European Under-21 Championship, scoring with an acrobatic bicycle kick against Macedonia, finishing a memorable solo run with a searing shot against Portugal and putting Italy to the sword with a hat-trick in the semi-finals. Germany, though, found a way to keep him quiet in the Final, so in the end he had to make do with the consolation prize of a runners-up medal and the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer. Dubbed “Hurricane Saul” by Iberian daily Marca, he is an all-terrain…

GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE Goodbye is the hardest word for Terry and Totti The rain was teeming down on a muddy pitch in London’s suburbia as eager 13-year-olds played their hearts out, watched by scouts from all the big clubs. One kid shone amid the madding crowd; a cultured but robust central midfielder. My brief was to write a newspaper article about a day in the life of a senior scout from Manchester United. His was to deliver talent to Old Trafford. “Who knows whether John Terry will make the grade?” said the experienced chap from United as he watched the young star of the show. “But he will get an invite from us now.” In fact, Terry had already been lured by Chelsea, and even a personal meeting shortly afterwards…

GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE Uruguay wave goodbye to 2030 dream Uruguay, however reluctantly, must give up on their dream of hosting a centenary World Cup in 2030. World football’s movers and shakers have moved on. The idea was worthy but the practicalities of the concept always appeared shaky. Now it is dead in the political waters. In this era of inflated sporting extravaganzas, the Uruguayans could never hope to have staged the event on their own. Hence the cosying-up to neighbours Argentina. There was, of course, historical logic as well. Uruguay not only hosted but also won the inaugural World Cup finals in 1930, beating Argentina in the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. Visiting the Centenario even today it is possible to believe that not so much has changed in and around…

“our new president is the Kylian mbappe of politics. he’s got to the top at a young age, become a star in less than a year and can play on either wing, right or left” Eric Cantona (right) likens French head of state Emmanuel Macron to the Monaco star GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE IN EUROPE CLAUDIO RANIERI, who was sacked in February after winning the Premier League with Leicester City, was named coach of Nantes. OSCAR GARCIA, who led Red Bull Salzburg to back-to-back Austrian titles, joined Saint-Etienne. Having led Alaves to last season’s Spanish Cup Final, MaURiCiO PEllEGRinO replaced Claude Puel at Southampton. Former Ajax and Internazionale boss FRank dE BOER took over at Crystal Palace. A player in the last Roma team to win Serie A, EUSEBiO di FRanCESCO…

Zanzibar, an African island of 1.3million people that is part of Tanzania, has high hopes of becoming FIFA’s 212th member. States within states are not generally allowed into FIFA unless they have support of the parent association, but Zanzibar has the support of Tanzania. It became a full member of the Confederation of African Football this year and admittance to FIFA would give Africa 55 FIFA members – as many as UEFA. Kurdistan could join FIFA ahead of Zanzibar if a vote for independence from Iraq on September 25 proves decisive. In Europe, Northern Cyprus has sought recognition for years but to no avail due to pressure from the Cyprus Football Association, which was accepted into FIFA in 1948. According to The Independent, UEFA began tentative negotiations with Nagorno-Karabakh in…

SWEDEN After a decade and a half of depending on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden might be in a transitional period – but no way are they suffering because of it. Courtesy of a last-gasp 2-1 win at home to France in Solna, Sweden currently occupy pole position in Group A – albeit on goal difference – and have to be confident of their first World Cup finals since 2006 in Germany. Although the visitors dominated for long spells, the Swedes simply refused to buckle, and three minutes into stoppage time they delivered an amazing coup de grace, with Ola Toivonen scoring from long range after a miscued clearance from keeper Hugo Lloris. It later emerged that Toivonen’s pre-match preparation had involved persuading the team psychologist to give his boots a pep…

ASIA The Asian race to Russia is becoming clearer. With two games remaining, three of the four automatic spots are still up for grabs and five countries are in the hunt. The penultimate round takes place on August 31 with the last matches on September 5. That will leave the two third-placed nations to face each other in October for the right to take on CONCACAF’s fourth-placed team in a final showdown in November. Iran can sit smugly and watch the action unfold. Under Carlos Queiroz they went undefeated in eight Group A games without conceding a single goal. A first back-to-back World Cup spot was clinched in June with a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan that sparked a night of celebration on the streets of Tehran. Such domination of Group…

Glenn Moore When, in the wake of another tournament failure, France appointed Olivier Echouafni as coach, it seemed an odd choice. The 44-year-old’s experience consisted of brief spells at men’s clubs Amiens and Sochaux, neither top flight at the time, and his strongest link to the female game was as “patron of the women’s section” when a player at Nice. Odd, but perhaps inspired. France, hugely talented but so often chokers on the grand stage, head into this summer’s European Championship, which takes place in Holland from July 16 to August 6, looking as though they may finally realise their rich potential. Les Bleues are the female equivalent of Spain’s men prior to 2008: a delight to watch, brimming with quality, tipped for every tournament...but always falling short. La Roja…

With the most wins and the most goals, the fewest defeats and the second-tightest defence in the country, Boca Juniors were crowned champions for a 32nd time. Yet for a club with such a successful history, imbued with rich folklore and popular culture, and a long list of world-class players who either grew up with or played for the club, this was not a vintage side. As far as the local media were concerned, the 2016–17 Primera Division – called the Torneo de la Independencia in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence – was a lacklustre campaign that produced a lacklustre champion. Boca Juniors’ coach, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, may have won 16 titles with the club during his playing days as a winger, but he still has…

With its new 12-team format, the 2017 European Under-21 Championship in Poland meant just two days rest between games for the players, with the finalists having to play five matches in less than two weeks. “I think the formula is exciting for neutrals, but of course it’s not a good thing for coaches,” was the opinion of England manager Aidy Boothroyd, whose team were beaten on penalties in the semifinals by Germany after a 2-2 draw. The tournament had started with much of the attention focused on the high-quality football of Spain, whose 3-1 victory over Portugal in the group stage was a real feast for fans at Gdynia stadium. Displaying impressive technical finesse, the Spaniards won all of the tournament’s individual prizes, with Real Betis’ Dani Ceballos named the…