Innehållsförteckning för October 2017 från World Soccer

Bayern Munich’s sacking of Carlo Ancelotti (page 13) took many by surprise, though it was the style of his team’s performances rather than the substance of their results that ultimately cost him his job after 15 months. Ironically, Ancelotti has a reputation as a coach who is comfortable managing the egos of highly paid modernday superstars. Yet elsewhere in Europe, player power seems on the wane. Arsenal and Liverpool were able to resist the transfer desires of Alexis Sanchez and Philippe Coutinho respectively, while Borussia Dortmund (page 46) were prepared to sideline Ousmane Dembele until an irresistible, overthe- odds offer from Barcelona. Ancelotti has a reputation as a coach who is comfortable managing the egos of highly paid modernday superstars At the continent’s top clubs things are different. At PSG,…

ALAN RUSCHEL One of only three survivors of the Chapecoense plane crash last year, the 28-year-old defender made his first competitive appearance since the disaster in a 0-0 draw with fellow Brazilian side Flamengo in the Sudamericana Cup. Ruschel played for 73 minutes before he was replaced, having been an unused sub in Chapecoense’s league loss to Cruzeiro the previous week. OMAR AL SOMA Marked his return to Syria’s national team after a five-year absence with a late equaliser to clinch the 2-2 draw with Iran that sealed a place in the World Cup play-offs. SAMI KHEDIRA The Germany midfielder bought 1,200 tickets for his country’s World Cup qualifier against Norway and gave them to children fighting cancer and socially disadvantaged youngsters in his native Stuttgart, where the game was…

“It shouldn’t be forgotten that it has saved European football” FIFA chief Gianni Infantino defends the concept of financial fairplay Bruno FERNANDES (Sporting) Sporting fans rightly questioned the credentials of the 23-year-old when he was signed from Sampdoria this summer for €8.5million. The former Boavista trainee was raised in Italian football with Novara and Udinese, before impressing last season at Samp. But any doubts about the midfielder were wiped out as he scored five goals in his first six league games in Sporting’s unbeaten start to the season. Called into the Portugal squad for the first time in August, he has been compared to ex-Sporting playmaker Joao Mario, who is now at Internazionale, and his impressive start at the Estadio Jose Alvalade has meant Adrien Silva – the subject of…

Clubs remain Europe’s real powerbrokers In 2008 the newly appointed UEFA president, Michel Platini, decided the European federation’s clubs committee was a waste of time and that the clubs should be kicked into the outer darkness. Hence the creation of the European Club Association (ECA) after negotiations that saw the disbanding of the G-14 group, whose big-money superleague sabre rattling had become an increasing nuisance. Platini thought that an expanded clubs body, with many more teams from lower down the financial scale, would effectively neuter all that sort of nonsense. In fact, quite the opposite happened. Led by Bayern Munich’s Karl- Heinz Rummenigge, the ECA quickly made its weight felt by forcing FIFA to accept the logical need for clubs to receive “recompense” payments for players absent at international tournaments…

Feeble FA must answer questions over ‘hush money’ The Mark Sampson affair could obviously run and run. That Sampson should have been fired from his post as manager of the England women’s team hot on the heels of a triumphant 6-0 conquest of Russia in the World Cup qualifiers added a fresh dimension of irony to a controversy which seems to defy logic. Certainly the women who thrashed the Russians seemed to have no doubt about their solidarity, even affection, for their coach – as vividly illustrated when they rushed to hug him after scoring the first of their half-dozen goals. Yet one leading player after another had fallen by the wayside in the recent past, of whom none were more involved than the much-capped Eni Aluko. The salient question…

Vincent THILL Born 04.02.00, Metz (Fra) & Luxembourg In a sentence Precocious, slender number 10 or second striker whose reputation goes far beyond his homeland. What they say Metz academy director Denis Schaeffer: “We first came across him when he was just 12, and even at that age he had the rare gift of being able to use his individual skills in a collective context. He saw things on the pitch before anyone else and was always decisive.” Luxembourg coach Luc Holtz: “Our team has to be built around this kid.” Former Luxembourg striker Robby Langers: “With this lad on board, the Luxembourg team can move on to another dimension. In a few years, he will be at a top continental club.” 3 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THILL •…

Hernan Crespo, top scorer in Argentina’s successful World Cup qualifying campaign, was the cover star. However, one team who would not be going to Japan and South Korea was Holland. Simon Kuper grew up in Holland in an era when they failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1981 (losing to France) and 1985 (losing to Belgium), and he tried to explain why the Dutch had now failed to reach the 2002 finals. “Those defeats weren’t half as shameful as the 1-0 loss to the Republic of Ireland which put Holland out,” wrote Kuper. “In 1981 Holland lost because the great generation of the 1970s had grown old. In 1985 it was because [Ruud] Gullit and co weren’t ready yet.” According to Kuper, there was no excuse for defeat…

KEY DATES Regular season starts October 6, 2017 Regular season ends April 15, 2018 Finals series starts April 20, 2018 Grand Final May 5, 2018 G aining traction in a crowded – and occasionally hostile – sporting market is not easy for Australia’s A-League. And as the young competition hits its teenage years, the landscape has been further complicated by some self-inflicted wounds. The ongoing row over the make-up of the Football Federation Australia (FFA) congress is threatening to drag on until late November, with representatives from FIFA and the AFC having arrived and left without being able to broker a compromise between the warring factions. A-League club owners and the FFA are at loggerheads over how many seats the former should have in a newly expanded assembly, along with…

T he newly extended, year-long Libertadores Cup opened up more space for teams from Brazil and Argentina, and – purely by coincidence of course – the 2017 competition ended up placing the last three representatives of each in separate halves of the knockout draw. One half contained three Argentinian sides plus Jorge Wilstermann of Bolivia, while the other had three Brazilians and Barcelona of Ecuador – and the story of the two quarter-final outsiders ended very differently. Wilstermann were this year’s big surprise and had progressed by following a set pattern: winning their home games, where the altitude of Cochabamba, though not extreme, gives them an advantage, and then defending doggedly in their away ties. The first part of that script worked to perfection against a River Plate side that…

SOUTH AMERICA LIBERTADORES CUP Quarter-finals 1st legs Sep 13 Barcelona (Ecu) 1 (Alvez 78) Santos (Bra) 1 (Bruno Henrique 46) HT: 0-0. Ref: Fedorczuk (Uru) Sep 13 Botafogo (Bra) 0 Gremio (Bra) 0 Ref: Argote (Ven) Sep 13 San Lorenzo (Arg) 2 (Blandi 33, pen 50) Lanus (Arg) 0 HT: 1-0. Ref: Roldan (Col) Sep 14 Jorge Wilstermann (Bol) 3 (Zenteno 4, Alvarez 50, Machado 81) River Plate (Arg) 0 HT: 1-0. Ref: Ricci (Bra) 2nd legs Sep 20 Gremio 1 (Barrios 62) Botafogo 0 HT: 0-0. Ref: Loustau (Arg) Gremio 1-0 on agg Sep 20 Santos 0 Barcelona 1 (Alvez 67) HT: 0-0. Ref: Carrillo (Per) Barcelona 2-1 on agg Sep 21 Lanus 2 (Sand 10, Pasquini 15) San Lorenzo 0 HT: 2-0. Ref: Caceres (Par) Agg 2-2. Lanus…

“My reaction to this situation is one of surprise as this is a club with a reputation for developing and promoting young Portuguese players” Joaquim Evangelista, the head of Portugal’s players’ union, is shocked as Vitoria Guimares field an entire team of non-Europeans in a Europa League tie against Red Bull Salzburg Atletico Madrid’s new home, the recently opened 67,000-capacity Estadio Metropolitano, has been chosen to host the 2019 Champions League Final on June 1, 2019. The stadium, on the outskirts of eastern Madrid, opened in September with Atletico beating Malaga 1-0 in La Liga. UEFA also confirmed that Baku’s Olympic Stadium, which had been the other shortlisted contender to stage the Champions League Final, will host the Europa League Final on May 29, 2019. Istanbul’s Besiktas stadium will host…

“Neymar has peed from the diving board. And we can’t accept this. At least we need to open up a file. This needs to be investigated” La Liga president Javier Tebas on the Brazilian’s €222m move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain 1 IVAN PERISIC Internazionale v SPAL Left-footed volley from just inside the penalty area following a cross by Danilo D’Ambrosio. 2 MUNAS DABOUR Red Bull Salzburg v Rapid Vienna A well-worked team goal finished off with an acrobatic volley following a teasing cross by Stefan Lainer. 3 IBSON MELO Maritimo v Rio Ave Controls Rodrigo Pinho’s flick over a defender on his chest before neatly finishing. 4 STEVEN BERGWIJN PSV v Utrecht Dribbles past four defenders before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home. 5 ENZO PEREZ River Plate v…

The diving witch-hunt strikes again We’re all pretty accustomed to football clampdowns by now. As a new season starts, or a World Cup rolls around, the league authorities or FIFA tell us that referees have been instructed to keep an eye out for, and to sternly punish, some specific offence. These have ranged from important things like tackling from behind and surrounding referees, to more trivial matters such as making sure players tuck their shirts in. At the start of a new season the clampdown is applied vigorously. Halfway through, the initial zeal of the referees slackens – possibly because the clampdown is working – and by the end of the season it has been forgotten. My feeling is that most clampdowns are justified, that they respond to a general…

“Lions are not interested in the opinion of sheep” USA midfielder Michael Bradley brushes off criticism of the national team’s performances from former international defender Alexi Lalas You have to feel for Edinson Cavani. His on-field spat with Neymar during Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 victory over Lyon in September made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The pair argued over who would take free-kicks and a 79th-minute penalty. When Cavani finally won the battle of wills, he proceeded to smash the spot-kick against the bar. Highly displeased, rumours abounded that Neymar had demanded the club ship out the Uruguayan at the first opportunity. Although peace broke out the following week, it is not the first time Cavani has found himself having to fight his corner to get the respect he believes…

Juventus will appeal against a ruling that handed a one-year ban and a €300,000 fine to club president Andrea Agnelli for his role in selling match tickets to “ultra” supporters who were allegedly connected to organised crime. The ruling was handed down by the Italian federation’s Disciplinary Court, which had prepared a case against Agnelli and three other club officials on the basis of evidence gathered by Turin-based public prosecutors investigating mafia infiltration in the Piedmont region. Juventus said that it would appeal the ruling “in the firm belief that the club is in the right”. Agnelli denies any wrongdoing, arguing that the fans with whom he had met were not involved in criminal activity and there had been nothing clandestine about his meeting with them. The ruling came less…

“We were not far away from signing him but it didn’t work out. The dossier is now closed” Shu Yuhui, president of Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian, insists he will not make another bid for Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (right) The day after Bayern Munich suffered their worst-ever Champions League defeat, 3-0 away to Paris Saint-Germain, Carlo Ancelotti was sacked, dispatched before the end of September by a club hierarchy alarmed at the team’s belowpar performances. Ex-Bayern players turned pundits had been having a field day selling doom and gloom about Ancelotti’s team. Paul Breitner claimed the Bayern class of 2017-18 had taken a “backwards step”. Lothar Matthaus believed the Bavarians may not win a single piece of silverware this season. Mario Basler predicted that Ancelotti would be packing his…

1 MAY THE WOLVES BE WITH YOU American actor Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, has become a fan of English second-tier side Wolverhampton Wanderers... by accident. After the 66-year-old “liked” a suggestion from a fan on Twitter that he could support Wolves, he admitted that he “thought they meant the animal”. However, he then realised that “everyone got so excited – I had to be a fan”. After being made aware of the social media chat, the club said: “The force is certainly strong at Molineux at the moment, with the team making an excellent start to the season, and it was perhaps fitting that the game against Millwall finished Obi Wan-Nil.” 2 AGE A CONCERN FOR YOUNG STAR The father of a 12-yearold boy who…

“It is a pity that we had to remove a coach who only a few months ago led us to the league title” Anderlecht director of operations Jo Van Biesbroeck on the sacking of coach Rene Weiler (left) IN EUROPE ROY HODGSON, who had been out of management since resigning as England boss after a Euro 2016 defeat by Iceland, replaced Frank De Boer at Crystal Palace. GIANNI DE BIASI, who took Albania to the finals of Euro 2016, took over from Luis Zubeldia as coach of Alaves, who lost their first four games in La Liga this season without scoring. Villarreal promoted B team boss JAVIER CALLEJA after sacking Fran Escriba. Former Mainz boss MARTIN SCHMIDT replaced Andries Jonker at Bundesliga strugglers Wolfsburg. COSMIN CONTRA left his role as…

After a three-year stay in the Swiss Super League, Vaduz were relegated to the second-tier Challenge League – and the absence of the Liechtensteiner club this season is not being mourned. The presence of a foreign team in their top flight, while big-name local sides such as Zurich, Servette and Neuchatel Xamax have laboured in the division below irked some in Switzerland. “We have quite a good relationship with clubs like Basle, FC Zurich and Sion, but quite a lot of clubs, especially in the west, do not like Vaduz and would rather have another French-speaking club in the Super League,” claims Hans Thony, a former Vaduz director who is now head of one of their three fan clubs. Zurich went up at the end of last term and replaced…

JUL 20, 2012 Joins Palermo from Instituto on a four-year deal. NOV 11, 2012 Scores his first goals in Italian football as Palermo win 2-0 at home to Sampdoria. MAY 3, 2014 Part of the Palermo side that gains promotion with a 1-0 victory over Novara and then goes on to win the Serie B title. JUN 4, 2015 Signs a five-year deal with Juventus and is handed the number 21 shirt, which was previously worn by Andrea Pirlo who left in the summer. AUG 8, 2015 Appears as a 61st minute substitute against Lazio in the Italian Super Cup and scores the second goal in a 2-0 victory. AUG 30, 2015 Gets his first goal for Juve in Serie A in a 2–1 defeat by Roma. OCT 13 ,…

“The Old Lady” finally has a ladies’ team and their debut campaign looks like being one of the stories of the new season. Juventus have been known as “La Vecchia Signora” since the 1930s, having been founded in 1897, but only this season have they had a female team. In a surprise move, Juve bought the licence of established women’s Serie A side Cuneo in the summer and moved the team 50 miles to Turin, bringing in Rita Guarino – an ex-Italy international and then coach of the Italian women’s under-17s – to re-build the team. Guarino has been very active, recruiting a core of players from the 2014 and 2016 champions Brescia, and adding a sprinkling of overseas talent such as seasoned internationals Ingvild Isaksen of Norway and Finland’s…

W ith Dutch troops on the lawless streets of Sint Maarten’s capital Philipsburg after the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma, football is an afterthought. The new league was due to kick off in October, and would have been only the second to start since 2011, but that seems highly unlikely now. Yet before the hurricane struck, football on the Caribbean Island had made massive strides. “When I came four years ago there was no league, but there was indoor soccer,” says Raymond Wolff, who arrived from Holland to teach. With no outdoor game, Wolff signed up for the RISC Takers futsal side, which kept the game alive on Sint Maarten after an XI-a-side league first staged in 1979 fell apart. The Sint Maarten Soccer Association (SMSA) was part of the…

W hen the fourth season of the Indian Super League (ISL) kicks off in November it will herald the start of a transition from glitzy showpiece to traditional league set-up. Having expanded from eight to 10 teams, the ISL will now run for a full five months, rather than the previous 10 weeks, and it is no longer viewed as just an exciting sideshow to the country’s traditional top tier I-League. With the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA wanting to see just one national league, a merger between the two has been talked about for some time and a new proposal will be put forward in November that could see an 18-team league set up in the near future. But whatever the make-up of any future Indian top-flight league, it…

2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS AFRICA section • 5 finals places available 3rd round Group A Aug 31 - Conakry Guinea 3 (N Keita 7, D Camara 23, Alkhali Bangoura 90+3) Libya 2 (Sabbou 87, Zuway 88) HT: 2-0. Att: 12,000. Ref: Ahmed Djama (Dji) Guinea: N Yattara - Alseny Bangoura, S Conde, F Camara, Issiaga Sylla, O Balde (Sankhon 74), N Keita, S Diallo (Landel 74), Alkhali Bangoura, D Camara (S Camara 81), Kamano. Libya: Nashnoush - Fetori, Abboud, S Al Warfali, Sabbou, Ahmed, Almoatasembellah (Al Gadi 64), Al Tarhouni, Al Lafi(Ghanudi 81), Al Tubal, Saltou (Zuway 68). Sep 1 - Rades Tunisia 2 (Meriah pen 18, Chaalali 47) DR Congo 1 (Bakambu 43) HT: 1-1. Att: 25,000. Ref: Otogo-Castane (Gab) Tunisia: A Mathlouthi - Bedoui, S Ben Youssef, Meriah,…