Innehållsförteckning för May 2019 från World Soccer

I’ve yet to meet a football supporter who doesn’t enjoy reading about transfer speculation. It’s part and parcel of the game, but so much of what appears online has very little basis, often prompted by agents touting their clients – both players and clubs. Our main feature this month – Football’s Most Wanted (page 33) – is an attempt to sift through and weed out some of the more outlandish rumours that have been doing the rounds. It presents an opportunity to focus on some of the outstanding players and stories of this season. Whether that’s emerging talents such as Nicolo Zaniolo, Eder Militao or Aaron Wan-Bissaka; those who have escaped our attentions in the past, such as Kalidou Koulibaly or Samuel Umtiti; players who have slipped under the radar,…

Watches are football’s corruption currency When is a gift not a gift? In football, that’s simple: when it’s a watch. Luxury timepieces are collectibles for many of the rich and well-heeled in the upper echelons of football, but also for the self-entitled and the unbelievably naive. And within these ranks now count the latest hapless and hopeless recruit, Reinhard Grindel. Football’s grandees need no wristwatches to note hours, minutes and seconds; they count time only in computations of years until the next election stitch-up. When it comes to examining the fuzzy line between gift and bribe, look back no further than Mohamed Bin Hammam. As The Sunday Times revealed, the Qatari supported his decade-long reign over the Asian Football Confederation with a generous distribution of largesse far beyond his nearest…

IN EUROPE OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER, who arrived on an interim basis in December to replace Jose Mourinho, was appointed Manchester United’s permanent manager. Wolverhampton Wanderers paid Benfica a club record £32m to make RAUL JIMENEZ’s loan deal permanent. VINCENZO MONTELLA replaced Stefano Pioli as coach of Fiorentina. HUUB STEVENS was named Schalke coach after they sacked Domenico Tedesco, while MARTIN SCHMIDT replaced Manuel Baum at Augsburg. Ajax number two ALFRED SCHREUDER will take charge of Hoffenheim at the end of the season. LUCAS HERNANDEZ will join Bayern Munich from Atletico Madrid on a five-year deal this summer. PACO JEMEZ returned to Rayo Vallecano after they dismissed Michel. Udinese brought back IGOR TUDOR as coach after sacking Davide Nicola. Former Chelsea and Ghana midfielder MICHAEL ESSIEN, who had been a free…

The Canadian Premier League (CPL) will kick off its inaugural campaign with seven teams spread from coast to coast: Forge FC (Hamilton), York 9 FC (Toronto area), FC Edmonton, HFX Wanderers (Halifax), Valour FC (Winnipeg), Cavalry FC and Pacific FC (Vancouver Island). The competition will operate a split-season format – as used in many South American leagues – with the spring and fall winners meeting in a championship Final in October following the 28-game regular season. Sanctioned as Canada’s top division, the CPL was founded by a small group of investors – the most notable being computer-software millionaire Bob Young – working in conjunction with the Canadian Soccer Association to help fill a major footballing void in the country. Although MLS boasts three Canadian clubs (Toronto, Montreal Impact and Vancouver…

1 South Americans Latin players who could be heading to Europe 2 Academy alumni Home-grown youngsters who might be set to fly the nest 3 Headline acts The big-name superstars who may be moving 4 Prime-time youngsters The new kids on the block 5 Mature movers The experienced names changing clubs 6 Bosmans Players going for free this summer 7 Seeking more game time Talented individuals who are in need of more on-pitch action 8 Unsettled Those frozen out by their current employers 9 Loan stars Players seeking more permanent homes 10 Done deals Agreements for next season that are already signed and sealed 11 Under the radar Lesser-known names set for a bigger stage 12 Surprise switchers Names that might make an unexpected move REINIER (Flamengo & Bra) Captain…

The calendar of Brazilian football is a constant battle to fit three litres into a bottle that can only hold two. Something has to give. With the games coming thick and fast, priorities need to be established – and the league pays the price. Top of the wish-list is the Libertadores Cup, with the Sudamericana Cup less of a distraction until the closing stages. The domestic cup is also a very big attraction. There is plenty of prize money on offer and it is seen as a short cut to winning some major silverware, as opposed to the 38-game slog of the league. As a consequence of all this, key players are often rested for league games – which clearly favours those clubs with the resources to maintain a squad…

On September 23, one of Portugal’s most storied football teams will be celebrating its centenary. But instead of commemorating 100 years of existence and a glorious past, Os Belenenses have lurched into an unprecedented crisis with no solution in sight. And it’s a crisis that has, quite literally, split the club in two. An ugly boardroom battle with increasingly vitriolic overtones resulted in the bizarre situation whereby this season kicked off with two separate incarnations of the team from Lisbon’s chic Belem quarter. One is playing in Portugal’s the sixth tier, attracting crowds of over 5,000 and rocketing towards promotion, the other is in Portugal’s top flight, with no fixed abode and almost no fans, and yet is in with a shout of qualifying for Europe. Belenenses is a club…

HOW IT WORKS Every month, journalists from each member of the European Sports Media group select their first Xl based on the best individual performances from Europe’s top competitions. For details of how each ESM member voted, visit worldsoccer.com/esm11 SEASON RANKINGS Cumulative votes through the season GOALKEEPERS Marc-Andre TER STEGEN (Barcelona) 17 Jan OBLAK (Atletico Madrid) 13 ALISSON (Liverpool) 11 EDERSON (Manchester City) 11 David DE GEA (Manchester United) 7 Wojciech SZCZESNY (Juventus) 5 Thibaut COURTOIS (Real Madrid) 4 Gianluigi DONNARUMMA (Milan) 3 Peter GULACSI (RB Leipzig) 2 Hugo LLORIS (Tottenham Hotspur) 2 NETO (Valencia) 2 Salvatore SIRIGU (Torino) 2 Kevin TRAPP (Paris Saint-Germain) 2 Roman BURKI (Borussia Dortmund) 1 Petr CECH (Arsenal) 1 Ralf FAHRMANN (Schalke) 1 Mike MAIGNAN (Lille) 1 Jordi MASIP (Real Valladolid) 1 Oier OLAZABAL (Levante)…

BALAZS DZSUDZSAK The 32-year-old winger became only the third Hungarian to play 100 games for his country, equalling the achievement of Gabor Kiraly (108 caps) and Jozsef Bozsik (101), with his appearance against Croatia. SOULEYMANE CAMARA The Senegalese striker’s goal in Montpellier’s 3-2 defeat at Lyon meant the 36-year-old has been on target in Ligue 1 in 15 different seasons – making him the first player to do so in the 21st century. JANO ANANIDZE The Georgian international rushed to the aid of Fabian Schar after the Swiss defender clashed heads with Georgia’s Jemal Tabidze during a Euro 2020 qualifier. Ananidze saw that Schar was unconscious and realised he had swallowed his tongue, and his quick reaction meant Schar was able to continue as Switzerland went on to win 2-0.…

The backheel: football’s space craft While you will be familiar with 3-4-3 and 4-2-4 and 3-5-1-1 and suchlike as ways of describing how a team plays, I don’t like this numbers game. Firstly, because I’m very uncertainly grounded in maths, and secondly because the numbers are dull and, I feel, of questionable value. I usually have major problems matching up what I see and what the pundits have told me I ought to be seeing. I know what I ought to be seeing: attractive, exciting, attacking football. I also know that those formations are never designed with that in mind as they are invariably defence-based. Coaches are good at planning defence but not nearly so good at organising things up front. I have worked on this matter and managed to…

Football Association officials were culpable for Hillsborough disaster April 15, 1989 was the date of the appalling Hillsborough disaster in which so many lost their lives, but the aftermath is still with us, and recently at Preston Crown Court a jury failed to reach a verdict on the alleged culpability of David Duckenfield, the policeman in charge of the operation in which a gate was so disastrously opened and 96 fans died. I thought, erroneously, that the matter had long since been done and dusted. My opinion has long been, and still is, that Duckenfield has been the fall guy, that the immediate blame may or may not lie on him, but that others are deeply to blame. Not least the Football Association, who persisted in using the Sheffield Wednesday…

HFX WANDERERS FC Home Halifax, Nova Scotia – the biggest city in Atlantic Canada with a population of over 400,000 Team owner Sports & Entertainment Atlantic Stadium Wanderers Grounds (5,000-seating capacity) Player to watch Elton John, a veteran defender who spent most of his career in his native Trinidad & Tobago before coming to Canada Coach Stephen Hart, the former national team coach YORK 9 FC Home North York, Ontario – a suburb of Toronto with a subway that provides a direct link from Canada’s largest city Team owner York Sports & Entertainment, who are headed by Carlo Baldassarra, who also owns Greenpark Group, which is one of the region’s biggest home builders Stadium York Lions Stadium (3,700-seat venue located on the campus of York University) Player to watch Kyle…

In recent years, women’s football has abounded with talk of tipping points and game-changers, with the sport seemingly forever on the cusp of making a great leap forward. In reality, progress has been a mix of other cliches, forever taking two steps forward and one backwards, encountering false dawns as it edges out of the shadows into which it was cast during decades of prohibition. Nevertheless, while there has been no seismic moment of late to match the famous bra-top World Cup-winning celebration of USA’s Brandi Chastain in 1999, the trend line has been surging upwards and 2019 is shaping up as a breakthrough year. A World Cup always provides a boost but, more significantly, the club game is finally making waves by attracting fans, sponsors and media coverage. This…

South Africa were the last country to book a place at this summer’s African Nations Cup finals, holding on to win 2-1 “away” to Libya in Tunisia and salvage what has been a disappointing decade of results since they hosted the World Cup in 2010. Going into the final weekend of Nations Cup qualifiers at the end of March there were 10 places yet to be filled in the 24-team field, with 21 countries still in with a chance – and a fair number of them looking to qualify for the first time. In the end, tiny Burundi made it to the finals but Comoros Islands, Gambia and Lesotho did not. Tanzania gained their place in emphatic fashion and will be competing in the finals for only the second time…

EURO 2020 QUALIFIERS Group A Mar 22 - Sofia Bulgaria 1 (Nedelev pen 82) Montenegro 1 (Mugosa 50) Ht: 0-0. Att: 5,652. Ref: Buquet (Fra) Bulgaria: Mihaylov - S Popov, Bodurov, Bozhikov, Zanev, Kostadinov, Chochev (Slavchev 69), Nedelev, I Popov, Ivanov (Kostov 51), Delev (Minchev 82). Montenegro: Petkovic - Marusic, Simic, Tomasevic, Stojkovic, Jankovic (Boljevic 64), Ivanic, Vukcevic, Vesovic (Jovovic 78), Mugosa (Kosovic 89), Beciraj. Mar 22 - London England 5 (Sterling 24, 62, 68, Kane pen 45+2, Kalas og 84) Czech Republic 0 Ht: 2-0. Att: 82,575. Ref: Dias (Por) England: Pickford - Walker, Keane, Maguire, Chilwell, Henderson, Dier (Barkley 17), Alli (Rice 63), Sancho, Kane, Sterling (Hudson-Odoi 70). Czech Republic: Pavlenka - Kaderabek, Celustka, Kalas, Novak, Soucek, Pavelka, Gebre Selassie, Darida (Masopust 67), Jankto (Vydra 46), Schick (Skoda…

Serge GNABRY (Bayern Munich) Two-and-a-half years after Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger declared him surplus to requirements, the 23-year-old has ended up having the last laugh. Looking anything but a cast-off these days, he has enjoyed an exceptional first season at Bayern and is tipped for a long and glittering international career, having conjured up an impressive goal in Germany’s recent 3-2 victory against Holland in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. “Serge played really well tonight,” enthused national coach Joachim Low after the game in Amsterdam. “His movement was incredible, he took on [Virgil] Van Dijk all night and physically asserted himself. His goal was top class.” Gnabry has a patchy record of staying fit in the past, but believes he has now found the answer in a vegan diet. “I’m feeling very…

Sometimes, even in the cynical, fiercely competitive world of professional football, there is a poetic justice out there. Or so it seemed when Moise Kean, the current overnight sensation in Italian football, scored the winning goal for Juventus in their 2-1 victory at home to Milan. In just one month, the 19-year-old’s status has gone from that of a relatively unknown Juve reserve to one of the brightest prospects in Serie A. Kept on the bench until the beginning of April, Kean – Italians pronounce it “Ken” – got his big break on the eve of the Champions League round-of-16 return game with Atletico Madrid. Two-nil down from the first leg in Spain, Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri unsurprisingly opted to rest many of his normal starting XI in a domestic…

• DAVID CLANACHAN The Canadian Premier League’s first commissioner and chairman. Left his job as president of Tim Hortons, Canada’s iconic coffee and donut fast-food chain, to become the league’s head honcho. • BOB YOUNG Canadian businessman who made his millions in computer software. One of the founding fathers of the CPL, Young also owns the Hamilton Tiger-Cats gridiron team, who play in the Canadian Football League. • SCOTT MITCHELL Chief executive officer of Canadian Soccer Business, the group responsible for managing and marketing the CPL’s commercial inventory and media rights. • JAMES EASTON As vice-president of soccer operations for the CPL, he is in charge of all on-field matters, including competition standards, player management and development, officiating and scheduling. • PAUL BEIRNE President of the CPL, he oversees all…

LYON WIN FINAL REPEAT In the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals, holders Lyon beat Wolfsburg home and away in a repeat of the 2018 Final. Having won 2-1 in France, Dzsenifer Marozsan scored early on in Germany to set the visitors up for a 4-2 win on the night as they chase a fourth successive title. They will meet Chelsea in the semi-finals after the English champions beat Paris Saint-Germain. PSG wiped out Chelsea’s 2-0 home win within an hour in the return, but in the 91st minute Norway’s Maren Mjelde struck to give the away side a 3-2 aggregate win. In the other half of the draw, Barcelona eased to a 4-0 victory over LSK Kvinner of Norway, while Bayern Munich followed a1-1 draw in Prague with a 5-1…

While there is much debate in south-west London over whether Roman Abramovich is losing interest in football, there is plenty of evidence in the Caribbean that the Russian billionaire still loves the game. In 2010, he donated a reported €3million to help revamp the Stade de Saint-Jean on Saint Barthelemy, and he stepped in again to help rebuild it after Hurricane Irma devastated St Bart’s in 2017. “We have the huge chance and advantage of having a football fan who has one of the most beautiful homes on our island and is the owner of the Chelsea club,” says Jeremy Merlet, a consultant for the Comite Territorial de Football de Saint-Barthelemy (CTFSB), which runs football on the island. Like most of France’s overseas possessions, St Bart’s is a member of…

In August 2018, Racing Club de Avellaneda crashed out of the Libertadores Cup, losing 3-0 to River Plate. “I have been here nearly three years and we haven’t won anything,” lamented captain Lisandro Lopez afterwards. Aged 36, this was to be the striker’s last Libertadores campaign. Like many Argentina players, after a successful spell in Europe, he was winding down his career at the club where he started out and he had unfinished business. “It is time we started winning titles.” Fast forward seven months, the Racing captain lined up in the wall to defend a free-kick against Tigre in the league. He was in tears. His nearest team-mate consoled him. News had filtered through from the other side of Buenos Aires where Defensa y Justicia failed to win their…

AFRICA CAF SUPER CUP (Champions League holders, Esperance Tunis v Confederation Cup holders, Raja Casablanca) Mar 29 - Doha, Qatar Esperance Tunis (Tun) 1 (Belaili 57) Raja Casablanca (Mor) 2 (Hafidi 22, Banoun 64) Ht: 0-1. Ref: Tessema Weyesa (Eth) Esperance Tunis: Jridi - Derbali (Mbarki 54), Dhaouadi, Yacoubi (Jouini 73), Ben Mohamed, Coulibaly, Kom, Badri, Bguir (Belaili 46), Elhouni, Khenissi. Raja Casablanca: Zniti - Boutayeb, Banoun, Al Warfali, Ngah, Achchakir, El Wardi, Benhalib, Hafidi (Nanah 80), Hadraf, Rahimi (Iajour 90+4). CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Group A Jan 11: Lobi Stars (Nga) 2 Mamelodi Sundowns (SAf) 1; Wydad Casablanca (Mor) 5 ASEC Abidjan (IvC) 2. Jan 19: ASEC Abidjan 1 Lobi Stars 0; Mamelodi Sundowns 2 Wydad Casablanca 1. Feb 1: Mamelodi Sundowns 3 ASEC Abidjan 1. Feb 2: Lobi Stars…