Innehållsförteckning för Jul-2018 från World Soccer

Russia delivers a finals to remember As much as possible in a world of human fallibility, a World Cup approached through a dark cloud of derision and suspicion proved a success for the Russian organisers, for embattled FIFA and, above all, for the game itself. The World Cup can no longer claim to represent football’s highest standard – the Champions League knockout stage overthrew those pretensions long ago – but the 2018 finals presented entertainment, excitement and drama at a relentless pace, both in the group stage and in the knockout rounds. Maybe the finals produced no great team and no event-seizing individual but there was a cascading cast of personalities to enliven proceedings, from the emergent Kylian Mbappe to the tormented Neymar and the understated Gareth Southgate. Then there…

MOROCCO They waited 20 years to return to the finals and were out after seven days, the first team to be eliminated. Yet they were arguably the best side not to make the knockout stage. Desperately unlucky against Iran, when they lost concentration in the final seconds of stoppage time, Herve Renard’s side scared the living daylights out of Spain with their heavy pressing and felt aggrieved at refereeing incidents that went against them versus both Spain and Portugal. SAUDI ARABIA Overpowered and overawed by Russia in the opening game, they looked to have gone backwards since the departure of Bert Van Marwijk and the appointment of Juan Antonio Pizzi. Talk that Pizzi might be sacrificed after the defeat by Uruguay proved fanciful and they redeemed themselves with a 2-1…

JULY 15 FRANCE Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Pogba, Kante (Nzonzi 55), Matuidi (Tolisso 73); Mbappe, Giroud (Fekir 81), Griezmann ■ Kante 27, Hernandez 41 CROATIA Subasic; Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Strinic (Pjaca 81); Modric, Brozovic, Rakitic; Rebic (Kramaric 71), Mandzukic, Perisic ■ Vrsaljko 90+2 FRANCE CROWNED CHAMPIONS Croatia make a lively start and their midfield presses Ngolo Kante into uncharacteristic errors. But against the run of play, France open the scoring when Anrtoine Griezmann’s free-kick goes in off the head of Mario Mandzukic. Comeback kings Croatia equalise through Ivan Perisic and then there is drama when, after a lengthy VAR review, ref Nestor Pitana awards a penalty as Perisic handles a French corner. Griezmann dispatches the spotkick and France remain in control after the break. They extend their lead with…

URUGUAY Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt; Nandez (Urretaviscaya 73), Torreira, Bentancur (Gomez 59), Vecino; Suarez, Stuani (Rodriguez 59) ■ Bentancur 38, Rodriguez 69 FRANCE Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Pogba, Kante; Mbappe (Dembele 88), Griezmann (Fekir 90+3), Tolisso (Nzonzi 80); Giroud ■ Hernandez 33, Mbappe 69 MUSLERA’S COSTLY MISTAKE France rarely get out of second gear as they reach the semi-finals for the sixth time in their history with goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann. Without injured striker Edinson Cavani, Uruguay’s plan is to close France down, restrict their movement and passing, and hope for a chance at a set-piece. But, unfortunately for them, it is France who take their chance from a set-piece. After Rodrigo Bentancur’s foul on Corentin Tolisso, Griezmann plays in a free-kick for Varane to…

MOROCCO Munir; Hakimi, Benatia, Saiss; Boussoufa, Ziyech, El Ahmadi (S Amrabat 76), Harit (Da Costa 82); N Amrabat, El Kaabi (Bouhaddouz 77), Belhanda ■ El Ahmadi 34 IRAN Beiranvand; Rezaeian, Cheshmi, Pouraliganji; Ansarifard, Ebrahimi (Hosseini 81), Hajsafi, Shojaei (Taremi 68); Jahanbakhsh (Ghoddos 85), Azmoun, Amiri ■ Shojaei 10, Jahanbakhsh 47, Ansarifard 90+2 LATE OWN-GOAL HEARTBREAK Iran secure their first victory at a World Cup since 1998 as Moroccan sub Aziz Bouhaddouz heads into his own net with virtually the last touch of the game. It was a heartbreaking outcome for the north Africans at the end of a week in which they lost their bid to host the 2026 finals. GOAL 1-0 Aziz Bouhaddouz is unchallenged at the near post as he heads a free-kick from the left flank into…

COSTA RICA Navas; Gamboa, Acosta, Gonzalez, Duarte, Calvo; Venegas (Bolanos 60), Guzman (Colindres 73), Borges, Ruiz; Urena (Campbell 67) ■ Calvo 22, Guzman 56 SERBIA Stojkovic; Ivanovic, Milenkovic, Tosic, Kolarov; Matic, Milivojevic (Prijovic 89); Tadic (Rukavina 82), Milinkovic-Savic, Ljajic (Kostic 70); Mitrovic ■ Ivanovic 59, Prijovic 90+7 CAPTAIN LEADS THE WAY A stunning free-kick from Aleksandar Kolarov seals victory for Serbia, who should have won by a bigger margin but Aleksandar Mitrovic and the otherwise impressive Sergej Milinkovic-Savic can not find a way past Keylor Navas. Costa Rica have an early chance when an unmarked Giancarlo Gonzalez heads over but they rarely threaten after that. GOAL 1-0 Aleksandr Kolarov curls a magnificent free-kick with his left foot into the top corner. TALKING POINT Serbia’s captain Aleksandr Kolarov had been an…

COLOMBIA Ospina; Arias, D Sanchez, Murillo, Mojica; C Sanchez, Lerma; Juan Cuadrado (Barrios 31), Quintero (Rodriguez 59), Izquierdo (Bacca 70); Falcao ■ Barrios 64, Rodriguez 86 ■ C Sanchez 3 JAPAN Kawashima; H Sakai, Yoshida, Shoji, Nagatomo; Hasebe, Shibasaki (Yamaguchi 80); Haraguchi, Kagawa (Honda 70), Inui; Osako (Okazaki 85) ■ Kawashima 90+4 A JAPANESE FIRST Japan win their first World Cup match on European soil and became the first Asian side to beat a South American nation. The first red card of the tournament gives Japan the chance to control the game after Shinji Kagawa converts his penalty, but Colombia are the better side for the first half and equalise through Juan Quintero’s clever free-kick. However, Japan make their numerical advantage count after the break. GOALS 0-1 Carlos Sanchez is…

“Real Madrid has conquered my heart, and that of my family, and that is why more than ever I want to say thank you”Cristiano Ronaldo The numbers are staggering: 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo will earn €120million after tax over four years following his €105m transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus. When taxes and commission to agent Jorge Mendes are added, there will be little change from €370m. It is a seismic transfer, the fourth biggest of all time, and one that signals the end of the rivalry with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi that has dominated Spanish football for almost a decade. Plenty of spin accompanied the announcement, made on the afternoon of the first World Cup semifinal, between France and Belgium. Real Madrid were keen to suggest that it was Ronaldo’s decision,…

A is for ABSENTEE. Croatia’s Nikola Kalinic was sent home for reportedly refusing to appear as a late sub against Nigeria. B is for BABIES. When Jonas Knudsen’s wife gave birth earlier than expected, his Denmark team-mates paid for a private jet to fly him home. And England’s Fabian Delph returned home for the birth of his daughter. C is for CASH, $38m collected in prize money by winners France, from a total pot of $400m. D is for DIDIER DESCHAMPS, only the third man to win the World Cup as a player and then as a coach. E is for EL HADARY, the Egypt keeper who, aged 45 years and 161 days, became the oldest player to feature at a World Cup. F is for FIFA FINES. $70,000 for…

Brave England surpassed themselves in Russia In the event, it has to be said that England surpassed themselves in Russia, maintaining a brave challenge while other more fancied teams fell by the wayside: Germany, in the most embarrassing manner; Brazil who, even if they avoided anything like the humiliation of Belo Horizonte and Germany in the previous World Cup, were never the power of bygone times; Spain fell early; Portugal, even with Cristiano Ronaldo, made scant progress; and Italy were not even there. For a gloriously deluding first half it did look as if England could defeat Croatia. They scored that magnificent early goal through Kieran Trippier’s sublime freekick, which is something he has so seldom done in the past. They largely bettered a Croatia team that looked predictably weary…

ARGENTINA The difficulties in qualifying – a result of the decades-old problem of chaotic administration – were carried over into the finals. While Jorge Sampaoli could be criticised for omitting striker Mauro Icardi, he could also blame bad luck for the injury that ruled out keeper Sergio Romero, forcing a competitive debut for Franco Armani after Willy Caballero’s disastrous performance against Croatia. But for some time Argentina’s fundamental problem has been that players are no longer coming through the youth teams, in contrast to the under-20 and under-17 successes of a decade ago. If Sampaoli lacked the time and the players to implement his system, his tactics in Russia were still a mystery: four games, four formations and four different starting line-ups. And then there was the question of who…

BELGIUM Courtois; Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen; Meunier, Tielemans (Dembele 78), Witsel, Chadli (Vermaelen 39); De Bruyne, E Hazard; Lukaku (Mertens 60) ENGLAND Pickford; Jones, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Loftus-Cheek (Alli 84), Dier, Delph, Rose (Lingard 46); Sterling (Rashford 46); Kane ■ Stones 52, Maguire 77 BELGIUM TAKE BRONZE These two teams meet for the second time in the tournament – and Belgium triumph once again, with goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard. GOALS 1-0 Thomas Meunier beats Danny Rose to turn in Nacer Chadli’s cross. 2-0 Eden Hazard, played in by Kevin De Bruyne, cuts across Phil Jones and fires inside the near post. MATTER OF FACT Thomas Meunier was the 10th different player to score for Belgium at the finals, equalling a record set by France (1982) and Italy (2006).…

FRANCE Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Pogba, Kante, Matuidi (Tolisso 75); Mbappe (Thauvin 89), Giroud, Griezmann (Fekir 83) ■ Matuidi 72, Pavard 73, Giroud 90+3 ARGENTINA Armani; Mercado, Otamendi, Rojo (Fazio 46), Tagliafico; Perez (Aguero 66), Mascherano, Banega; Messi; Pavon (Meza 75), Di Maria ■ Rojo 11, Tagliafico 19, Mascherano 43, Banega 50, Otamendi 90+3 MBAPPE ANNOUNCES ARRIVAL Kylian Mbappe outshines Lionel Messi as France tear through a disjointed and disorientated Argentina, who have no answer to the teenager’s blistering pace, and a run from his own half is ended by a stupid foul for the opening goal. France’s failure to increase their lead lets Argentina back into the game and they even enjoy a stroke of luck when Gabriel Mercado’s deflection puts them ahead early in the second half.…

FRANCE Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Tolisso (Matuidi 78), Kante, Pogba; Mbappe, Griezmann (Giroud 70), Dembele (Fekir 70) ■ Tolisso 76 AUSTRALIA Ryan; Risdon, Milligan, Sainsbury, Behich; Jedinak, Mooy; Leckie, Rogic (Irvine 72), Kruse (Arzani 83); Nabbout (Juric 64) ■ Leckie 13, Risdon 57, Behich 87 HISTORIC USE OF VAR France, despite their attacking talents, give a lacklustre performance. They lack energy but do just enough to edge past an Australia side that withstands an early flurry of pressure to settle into the game. France claim their victory with the help of video technology, with the opening goal the first to be awarded at a World Cup by VAR, and their second needing goalline technology to confirm the ball had crossed the line. GOALS 1-0 Antoine Griezmann dispatches the penalty…

GERMANY Neuer; Kimmich, Boateng, Hummels, Plattenhardt (Gomez 79); Kroos, Khedira (Reus 60); Muller, Ozil, Draxler; Werner (Brandt 86) ■ Muller 83, Hummels 84 MEXICO Ochoa; Salcedo, Ayala, Moreno, Gallardo; Herrera, Guardado (Marquez 74); Layun, Vela (Alvarez 58), Lozano (Jimenez 66); Hernandez ■ Moreno 40, Herrera 90 HOLDERS SUFFER SHOCK DEFEAT The defending champions struggle to cope with Mexico’s quick counter-attacks and Hirving Lozano’s winning goal is a brilliant strike at the end of a devastating move. Germany are more composed in the second half and enjoy more possession, but Timo Werner and Mario Gomez miss excellent opportunities to equalise. GOAL 1-0 Javier Hernandez, beating Mats Hummels to the ball to initiate a counter-attack, plays in Hirving Lozano, who turns inside Mesut Ozil and fires past Manuel Neuer. TALKING POINT Joshua…

Alberto FOUILLIOUX (1940-2018) Chile were surprise absentees from Russia this summer, after recent Copa America successes, and the sense of World Cup depression was exacerbated by the death of Alberto Fouillioux during the finals. A strong, skilful inside-forward who later enjoyed a career as a sports presenter and commentator, he was one of the heroes of the side that finished a best-ever third at their own World Cup in 1962. Between 1957 and 1969 he won two national championships with Universidad Catolica and led them to the Libertadores Cup semi-finals in 1966. He then had a season each with Huachipato and Union Espanola before playing in France with Lille from 1972 and 1974. He scored 12 goals in 70 appearances for Chile over a period of 12 years after making…

GOALKEEPER Danijel Subasic (Croatia) Honorary mentions Jordan Pickford (England) Hugo Lloris (France) CENTRAL DEFENDERS Raphael Varane (France) Samuel Umtiti (France) Honorary Mentions Toby Alderweireld (Belgium) Yerry Mina (Colombia) Harry Maguire (England) Andreas Granqvist (Sweden) FULL-BACKS Kieran Trippier (England) Yuto Nagatomo (Japan) Honorary Mentions Thomas Meunier (Belgium) Diego Laxalt (Uruguay) CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS Luka Modric (Croatia) N’Golo Kante (France) Honorary Mentions Ivan Rakitic (Croatia) Paul Pogba (France Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia) ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium) Philippe Coutinho (Brazil) Ivan Perisic (Croatia) Honorary Mentions Eden Hazard (Belgium) Denis Cheryshev (Russia) Christian eriksen (Denmark) Hirving Lozano (Mexico) CENTRE-FORWARD Kylian Mbappe (France) Honorary Mentions Harry Kane (England) Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) Antoine Griezmann (France) Mario Mandzukic (Croatia)…

Where was VAR when it really mattered? As technology insinuates itself more and more into football, so the sport’s rule book begins to grow in complexity. We now have a sort of auxiliary rule book: the VAR Handbook. This handbook is necessary because the VAR has brought with it not only a web of technical equipment but a posse of colleagues – seven in total: three assistants and four replay operators, all of whom need to have their duties set out in detail Obviously, this booklet won’t be used too often. After all, how many of football’s thousands of leagues will be using the VAR system? On the whole I’d say VAR came out of the 2018 World Cup pretty well. But there was one inexplicable gap in its performance:…

URUGUAY A clutch of young midfielders – Rodrigo Bentancur, Diego Laxalt and Nahitan Nandez – were introduced by Oscar Tabarez, but ultimately it was the Diego Godin-Jose Gimenez defensive axis and the Edinson Cavani-Luis Suarez attacking partnership that carried them through to the last eight, where they met their match in France and when, crucially, the injured Cavani was missing. BRAZIL In qualifying, Tite looked to have weaned the team off their Neymar dependency, but Gabriel Jesus failed to rise to the occasion in Russia and Roberto Firmino never got a chance to shine until it was too late. Tite’s policy of rotating the captaincy was confusing but they moved through the gears as they eased past Serbia and Mexico and into the quarters. It all fell apart in the…

FRANCE Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Pogba, Kante, Matuidi (Tolisso 86); Mbappe, Giroud (Nzonzi 85), Griezmann ■ Kante 87, Mbappe 90+3 BELGIuM Courtois; Chadli (Batshuayi 90+1), Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen; Dembele (Mertens 60), Witsel; De Bruyne, Fellaini (Carrasco 80), E Hazard; Lukaku ■ E Hazard 63, Alderweireld 71, Vertonghen 90+4 HEADER SEALS FINAL SPOT Samuel Umtiti’s towering header from a corner is enough to see off Belgium, who make a bright start, with Eden Hazard a constant threat on the left flank. However, after France keeper Hugo Lloris denies Toby Alderweireld from a corner, the French midfield begins to assert control over proceedings. Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud both miss decent chances, while Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois saves from Benjamin Pavard. Umtiti scores after losing Marouane Fellaini at the near post and…

RUSSIA Akinfeev; Fernandes, Kutepov, Ignashevich, Zhirkov; Gazinsky, Zobnin; Samedov (Kuzyayev 64), Dzagoev (Cheryshev 24), Golovin; Smolov (Dzyuba 70) ■ Golovin 88 SAUDI ARABIA Al Mayouf; Al Breik, Osama Hawsawi, Omar Hawsawi, Al Shahrani; Al Dawsari, Otayf (Al Muwallad 64), Al Faraj, Al Jassim, Al Shehri (Bahebri 72); Al Sahlawi (Assiri 85) ■ Al Jassim 90+3 HOSTS OFF TO A FLIER Russia record the biggest opening-game win since Italy beat USA 7-1 in 1934, thrashing Saudi Arabia in front of state president Vladimir Putin and FIFA dignitaries. The hosts had failed to win in their previous seven warm-up games, but any fears they would be embarrassed in front of a global TV audience are dispelled by an early goal and they go on to capitalise on some shocking defending by the…

ARGENTINA Caballero; Salvio, Otamendi, Rojo, Tagliafico; Mascherano, Biglia (Banega 54); Meza (Higuain 84), Messi, Di Maria (Pavon 75); Aguero ICELAND Halldorsson; Saevarsson, Arnason, R Sigurdsson, Magnusson; J Gudmundsson (Gislason 63), Gunnarsson (A Skulason 76), Hallfredsson, Bjarnason; G Sigurdsson; Finnbogason (Sigurdarson 89) MESSI MISSES FROM THE SPOT Argentina’s opening game ends in frustration as they are held by a disciplined Iceland side playing their first-ever World Cup match. Lionel Messi is denied a winner by Iceland keeper Hannes Halldorsson, who saves a second-half penalty and is the anchor of a defence that resists a wave of Argentina attacks. GOALS 1-0 Sergio Aguero collects a mishit shot from Marcos Rojo, turns past Ragnar Sigurdsson and fires home. 1-1 Alfred Finnbogason taps in through the legs of Nicolas Otamendi after a cross-shot from…

BELGIUM Courtois; Alderweireld, Boyata, Vertonghen; Meunier, De Bruyne, Witsel (Chadli 90), Carrasco (Dembele 74); Mertens (T Hazard 83), Lukaku, E Hazard ■ Meunier 14, Vertonghen 59, De Bruyne 88 PANAMA Penedo; Murillo, R Torres, Escobar, Davis; Barcenas (G Torres 63), Cooper, Gomez, Godoy, J Rodriguez (Diaz 63); Perez (Tejada 73) ■ Davis 18, Barcenas 45+2, Cooper 49, Murillo 51, Godoy 57 INDIVIDUAL BRILLIANCE BEATS NEW BOYS Belgium eventually overrun debutants Panama thanks to an improved second-half performance. Lethargic for much of the first period, they fail to press a well-organised, deep-lying Panamanian side and the breakthrough only comes with a moment of individual brilliance from Dries Mertens. Panama have several chances themselves before two Romelu Lukaku goals confirm a Belgian victory. GOALS 1-0 After his cross is partially cleared, Dries…

A part from Tonga’s brief Italian sojourn in 1991 and sporadic visits by French territories to Paris, Europe is another world for most Pacific Island national teams. But not for Tuvalu. One of the last countries in the world yet to be recognised by FIFA, they visited Holland in 2013 and then London for this year’s ConIFA World Football Cup. “The government of Tuvalu supported us,” says Soseala Tinilau, Tuvalu National Football Association (TNFA) president of a trip that saw 23 players and four officials spend two days flying via Fiji and South Korea to London. “We received money from them to purchase our tickets.” Jet-lagged, Tuvalu began with a 4-0 defeat to Szekely Land, representing ethnic Hungarians in Romania. An 8-0 defeat to Padania was then followed by a…

COSAFA CUP Played in Polokwane, South Africa Group A May 27 Madagascar 2 (Andrianarimanana 7, Andriamanjato 61) Mozambique 1 (Luis Miquissone 51) HT: 1-0 Comoros 1 (M’Changama 61) Seychelles 1 (Coralie 84) HT: 0-0 May 29 Mozambique 3 (Jeitoso 38, Luis Miquissone 42, 72) Comoros 0 HT: 2-0 Seychelles 1 (Mellie 34) Madagascar 1 (Bourahim 24) HT: 1-1 Sent off: Manampisoa (Madagascar) 77 May 31 Madagascar 1 (Bourahim 45+1) Comoros 0 HT: 1-0 Mozambique 2 (Luis Miquissone pen 11, Jeitoso 72) Seychelles 1 (Tamboo 53) HT: 1-0 Group B May 28 Botswana 2 (Seakanyeng pen 4, Makgantai 44) Angola 1 (Kaporal 59) HT: 2-0 Mauritius 1 (Balisson 15) Malawi 0 HT: 1-0 May 30 Angola 1 (Vincent og 64) Mauritius 0 HT: 0-0 Malawi 1 (Sambani 6) Botswana 1 (Seakanyeng…

SOUTH AMERICA LIBERTADORES CUP 1st knockout round (last 16) draw Atletico Tucuman (Arg) v Atletico Nacional (Col) Boca Juniors (Arg) v Libertad (Par) Cerro Porteno (Par) v Palmeiras (Bra) Colo Colo (Chl) v Corinthians (Bra) Estudiantes (Arg) v Gremio (Bra) Flamengo (Bra) v Cruzeiro (Bra) Independiente (Arg) v Santos (Bra) Racing Club (Arg) v River Plate (Arg) 1st legs - Aug 7-21; 2nd legs - Aug 28-30 BOLIVIA 2018 apertura final 1st leg - May 30; 2nd leg - Jun 3; 3rd leg - Jun 6 The Strongest v Jorge Wilstermann 2-1, 1-2, 2-2 (Jorge Wilstermann 3-2 on pens) COLOMBIA 2018 apertura final 1st leg - Jun 6; 2nd leg - Jun 9Tolima v Atletico Nacional 0-1, 2-1 (agg 2-2, Tolima 4-2 on pens) PARAGUAY VENEZUELA 2018 apertura final 1st…