Innehållsförteckning för June 2022 från World Soccer

13 ISSUES FOR JUST £39.99 Don’t miss this special Father’s Day offer Treat someone special this Father’s Day with a gift subscription Pay just £39.99 for 13 issues of World Soccer – saving 49% They’ll never miss an issue with FREE UK delivery THE PERFECT FATHER’S DAY GIFT Treat yourself or someone special to a World Soccer subscription, paying only £39.99 for 13 issues ● DON’T MISS 2022 – it’s a massive year for football! ● Get amazing coverage of the 2021-22 league campaigns, Women’s Euro 2022 and more with World Soccer ● PLUS…don’t miss our ultimate build-up to the 2022 World Cup Save 49% Subscribe online now shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSCP622 or call 01959 543 747 quote code WSCP622 Calls charged at your standard network rate. Lines are open 8.30am-5pm Monday to…

AT THE HEART OF THE GAME Does the world of soccer, already jam-packed full with a myriad of competitions, really need to squeeze another trophy into its relentless schedule? Are we truly excited by the latest bauble on offer: the Finalissima? The sporting public has already delivered its emphatic answer. Tickets for the showdown between Italy and Argentina, to be staged at Wembley Stadium on June 1, sold out in just a matter of days. There will be an 86,000-capacity crowd for the clash between the champions of Europe and South America. Many people were surprised by the clamour to attend. I can’t think why. This is an occasion to cherish, a match with serious pride and honour at stake, a match with a touch of history to add meaning…

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING Everton’s aim was simply not to lose against Liverpool; or at least to ensure that if they did it would not be too humiliating, would not do too much damage to either their self-esteem or their goal difference, both of which could be vital in the battle against relegation. It was grim to watch: one team playing football, one team doing nothing but trying to stop them, slowing the game down, breaking up play, wasting time. Everton managed17 per cent possession – which, depending which source you prefer, is either the lowest or the second-lowest ever recorded in a Premier League game – and, to an extent, achieved their objective: they held Liverpool for an hour and got away with merely a 2-0 defeat. Had they been awarded…

Freddy RINCON (1966-2022) Colombia’s generation of footballers that emerged in the1990s to guide the nation to three consecutive World Cups – after a 28-year absence from the competition – are among the most revered in the nation’s history. Rincon is perhaps second only to Carlos Valderrama as the finest Colombian of that era. The two of them dovetailed beautifully to score one of Colombia’s most significant goals of all time. With time running out on their Italia ’90 campaign, Rincon raced on to a Valderrama through ball to slide past West Germany goalkeeper Bodo Illgner, and send his team into the knockouts for the first time ever. He remained an integral part of the squad for both the 1994 and1998 finals, and shares Valderrama’s record of ten World Cup games…

The first time Ghanaians unanimously cheered for Joseph “Jojo” Wollacott was in Kumasi, when the Black Stars faced West African rivals Nigeria in the first leg of the Qatar 2022 World Cup play-offs in March. For a stadium that was bouncing with over 40,000 spectators, the Baba Yara went dead silent for a moment when Moses Simon worked out a rare opening in the 54th minute. With one deft touch, the Nantes winger was through on goal, leaving him one-on-one with Wollacott. If the stadium was already quiet, that chance escalated the atmosphere to extremely inaudible levels when Simon adjusted his body to shoot. It was almost inevitable that the ball would end up in the back of the net… almost. A second later, though, the stadium erupted with applause…

If at first you don’t succeed, try again; that was Liverpool’s attitude to the capture of Fulham youngster Fabio Carvalho. After time ran out on deadline day of the January transfer window as the Reds tried to secure a last-minute deal for the 19-year-old, they have now got their man. In reality, the delay makes no difference, given that the initial plan was to loan Carvalho back to the Championship leaders until the end of the season anyway. A move to Anfield was inevitable, with his current contract due to end in the summer and a five-year deal at Anfield already agreed. Given his age, a fee had to be negotiated: £5 million up front, £2.7m in add-ons and a 20 per cent sell-on fee. So, what have Liverpool got…

Qarabag are on course to win the ninth Azerbaijani Premier League title of their history. And maybe, for the first time, they’ll be able to celebrate this achievement in their hometown, Agdam. The club belongs to a disputed region that, sadly, has become famous for a long war between the Azerbaijani army and the self-proclaimed independent republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. The conflict is one of the many legacies of the Soviet Union. The name Nagorno-Karabakh embodies all the complexity, cultural richness and contradictions of a region in which the word “peace” disappeared from the vocabulary 30 years ago. While Nagorno is a Russian adjective that translates as “mountainous”, Karabakh – the traditional pre-Soviet name for the region – is made up of two words of different origin: kara, meaning…

Plus, don’t miss previews of the women’s European Championship, Africa Cup of Nations and Copa America Femenina, and a look ahead to the men’s Asian Cup 2023 qualifying campaign. You’ll also find all of our monthly features including regular columnists Keir Radnedge and Jonathan Wilson, EyeWitness, World Service, ESM XI, Global Diary and loads more. Print £5.99 Digital £3.99 ORDER NOW Shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSC22 Or Call: 01959 543 747 You may have missed… February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 SAVE10% when you spend £25 or more VOUCHERCODE: WSCSHOP22 shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSC22 +44 (0) 1959 543 747 Offers subject to availability. Prices for goods delivered to destinations outside of the UK may be higher Also from the publishers of NEW–The Prem Era Part1 World Soccer Presents Issue 9 is a nostalgic anthology of…

The pandemic fall-out and the disruption caused by the winter World Cup might have given a haphazard feel to this year’s Nations League schedule, but players, managers and fans are coming around to the value of the tournament ahead of its third edition. The opening stage of the 2022-23 Nations League is scheduled for a busy first fortnight in June at a time when, normally, excitement would be building ahead of the World Cup kick-off. In that context the Nations League may appear something of a damp squib. But it provides important team-building opportunities for both World Cup finalists and Qatar absentees planning and plotting ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. All but one of European federation’s 55 members will be competing in 14 groups – including Wales, Ukraine and…

GROUP A Guinea-Bissau Nigeria Sao Tome e Principe Sierra Leone GROUP B Burkina Faso Cape Verde Eswatini Togo GROUP C Burundi Cameroon Kenya Namibia GROUP D Egypt Ethiopia Guinea Malawi GROUP E Angola Central African Rep Ghana Madagascar GROUP F Algeria Niger Tanzania Uganda GROUP G Congo Gambia Mali South Sudan GROUP H Comoros Ivory Coast Lesotho Zambia GROUP I DR Congo Gabon Mauritania Sudan GROUP J Botswana Equatorial Guinea Libya Tunisia GROUP K Liberia Morocco South Africa Zimbabwe GROUP L Benin Mozambique Rwanda Senegal…

For the past five years, Sri Lanka have, on average, been Asia’s lowest-ranked team in the FIFA rankings, lying south of 200 for the entire period along with the likes of San Marino and Somalia. That does not mean there has been no ambition on this cricket crazy island – there has been a determination to grow the game – but things tend to get in the way. There was real excitement when the national team was drawn against South Korea in the second round of qualification for the 2022 World Cup. The first game was in October 2019 when the hosts ran out 8-0 winners to send over 23,000 fans in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul, home happy. It was also an experience that the South Asians will never…

Manchester United 1 Chelsea 1 2008 Champions League final, Moscow (Manchester United won 6-5 on penalties) Rio Ferdinand won it all in a glittering career at Manchester United. Yet while he looks back on the 2008 Champions League final win against Chelsea as his greatest moment, it also offers a reminder of what else he could have won… “When I started out in the game, I always looked at other teams winning trophies with a hint of envy. Manchester United and Arsenal were winning everything and you wanted to be part of that, to get those medals. When I joined Manchester United that desire grew even stronger; this was a club built to succeed. They talk about United’s treble-winning team in 1999, but I would argue that our 2008 team…

“This is an enormous step forward in providing much-needed reform for football”Former sports minister Tracey Crouch reacts to the government’s Our countdown to the 2022 World Cup continues in this issue as we preview the remaining European, Asian and inter-confederational play-offs to determine the final three qualifiers for Qatar. Three players already with their eyes on the World Cup are this issue’s cover stars – Netherlands hot-shot Cody Gakpo, Portugal forward Diogo Jota and United States wonderkid Brenden Aaronson – and we shine the spotlight on the talented talismanic trio who are all having terrific seasons for their clubs. The Ukraine conflict continues to cast its shadow, but countries around the world persist in showing their support for the war-torn nation. James Nalton provides an exclusive EyeWitness report into how…

43 Championship goals scored by Fulham’s Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic during the 2021-22 campaign, a record for the 46-game format. 3 Consecutive home defeats for Barcelona in April – the first time in the club’s history that they have suffered such a streak. £4.25bn Value of the late bid for Chelsea from British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe at the end of April. 1 Carlo Ancelotti is the first coach in history to win all five major European leagues after guiding Real Madrid to La Liga glory. The Italian has also won titles with Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. 0 Number of matches played in Panama’s top flight in gameweek 12 after the league’s players went on strike to demand contractual improvements. 6 Number of days per month, according…

THE INSIDER Remember Financial Fair Play, aka FFP? Michel Platini’s magic wand to put European club football finance on the straight and narrow, clean out the swindlers and the fraudsters, and present the game in a shiny-bright new light. It’s back. Under a new name and with the same flaw: it does nothing to address the gap between the hand-to-mouth majority and the Champions League elite who want a closed shop to suit themselves and their “historical status”. Former UEFA president Platini aimed to prise the game out of the greedy hands of those he dismissed sarcastically as “administrators”. Sepp Blatter noted the jibe and never quite forgot or forgave. Platini drove into UEFA HQ at Nyon, near Geneva, with a host of ideas, some sensible, some banal. Among the…

“Van Our Man”, declared PSV’s Twitter account after they confirmed the identity of their new manager for next season. He may have had an outstanding playing career that took him to England, Spain and Germany, but Eindhoven can rightly claim to be his true home. “I’ve been heading for this moment for years,” Van Nistelrooy said. “I’m proud and convinced that I’m ready to take a leading role at this club.” Convincing words, but in reality the former striker’s appointment came as a surprise. Current coach Roger Schmidt gets a lot of criticism for his occasionally inexplicable substitutions and lack of silverware, yet the German was the club’s first choice for next season. But after two seasons Schmidt has decided to call it a day, with Benfica his probable next…

Thousands of miles from Ukraine, on the East Coast of the United States, two distinctly Ukrainian soccer clubs are flying the flag for the Eastern European nation, showing solidarity and raising awareness through football. Like many lower league clubs in the area, the Ukrainian Nationals and the New York Ukrainians were formed by immigrant communities in their respective cities, and retain to this day the identity evident in their clubs’ names. In Philadelphia, the identity of the Ukrainian Nationals Soccer Club is one of a wide range of cultures in the diverse Pennsylvanian city. The Nationals themselves are part of a larger Ukrainian sports club and group of institutions that retain the language and emblems of their country of origin. Some of this has rubbed off on others, and has…

Towards the end of a typically raucous Champions League night at the Nou Camp, a number was announced on the public address system which reverberated around the football world: 91,553, the record attendance figure for a match between two women’s club sides. This was not only a world record for the professional women’s game, but the highest crowd figure at any football match played in Europe to that point this season. Moreover, it was a defining moment for the women’s game. The pre-match choreography, “More Than Empowerment”, was unusually displayed several times by the fans during the match on a night to believe in the European women’s club game as commercially viable, justifying the faith shown by UEFA, and their Head of Women’s Football Nadine Kessler, in the re-branded Women’s…

Ange CHIBOZO Juventus In a sentence Dynamic18-year-old Juventus youth team sharpshooter, already a full senior international for the West African nation of Benin and who has recruitment agents from all over Europe beating a path to his door. What they say “He’s a player of outstanding quality, someone with the capacity to take a leading role in a team” Andrea Bonatti, Juventus youth team coach “He is doing very well in the youth ranks of one of Europe’s biggest clubs and has a great deal of potential. We’ve been following and talking about him a lot. He represents the future of Benin football” Michel Dussuyer, head coach of Benin The story so far Angel Josue Chibozo – to give him his full name – learned the rudiments of the game…

The delayed World Cup play-off semi-final between Scotland and Ukraine is upon us. It’s set to be a match full of emotion as the war-torn visitors prepare for their first game since the Russian invasion. Ukraine have several domestically-based players, with the majority at either Dynamo Kyiv or Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian government granted them special visas to leave the country to train, with both sides embarking on a Global Tour for Peace in April to raise money for war victims ahead of their national team training camp. Ukraine head coach Oleksandr Petrakov had hoped to prepare in their homeland – in the city of Uzhhorod near the border with Hungary and Slovakia – for his side’s Hampden Park showdown, however that idea was thought better of. “Unfortunately, the plan…

LEAGUE A GROUP1 Austria Croatia Denmark France GROUP 2 Czech Republic Portugal Spain Switzerland GROUP 3 England Germany Hungary Italy GROUP 4 Belgium Netherlands Poland Wales LEAGUE B GROUP1 Armenia Republic of Ireland Scotland Ukraine GROUP 2 Albania Iceland Israel Russia (R) GROUP 3 Bosnia-Herzegovina Finland Montenegro Romania GROUP 4 Norway Serbia Slovenia Sweden LEAGUE C GROUP1 Faroe Islands Lithuania Luxembourg Turkey GROUP 2 Cyprus Greece Kosovo Northern Ireland GROUP 3 Azerbaijan Belarus Kazakhstan Slovakia GROUP 4 Bulgaria Georgia Gibraltar North Macedonia LEAGUE D GROUP1 Andorra Latvia Liechtenstein Moldova GROUP 2 Estonia Malta San Marino…

At one time, the group stage of the Asian Champions League used to take place over a period of three months. But this year, due to COVID circumstances, it happened over the space of a few weeks in April and May. Clubs from the usual suspects of Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea provided eight of the 16 teams that made it to the knockout stages, but that does not mean there were no surprises. The tournament is divided into two geographic halves until the final, and in the western zone, Qatari powerhouse Al Sadd were the biggest failures. It didn’t help that all five groups in the west were hosted in Saudi Arabia, but even without any home advantage, Al Sadd were seen as good enough to not only…

Greenland’s football association is planning to drop long-cherished ambitions of joining UEFA, and is instead applying to join CONCACAF. The world’s biggest island is a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark and has long-standing cultural ties to Europe, but the Football Association of Greenland (KAK) is changing tack. “We don’t feel the Danish FA will assist us in our work. That’s why we now have decided to look on the CONCACAF route,” says Toennes Berthelsen, a former national team manager and board member at KAK, which was founded in1971. Greenland’s only regular competitive outing is the football tournament at the biennial Island Games. The Polar-Bamserne have competed in all but one tournament since the first edition back in 1989 and were runners-up in 2013 and 2017. “We don’t feel…

Russia’s bid to host the European Championship in 2028 or 2032 has been dismissed by UEFA, while the country’s women’s team will not take part in this summer’s Euros in England either. In March, the Russian federation declared an interest in hosting the men’s tournaments, despite having already been kicked out of 2022 World Cup qualifying and having their club sides eliminated from European competitions. Yet UEFA ended any distant hopes of a Russian-hosted tournament by ruling their bid ineligible. That ruling means that the joint-bid from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Republic of Ireland remains the favourite to host in 2028, with Turkey declaring an interest in hosting both the 2028 or 2032 tournaments, while Italy are also in contention for the latter. Meanwhile, UEFA have also extended…

“Girls and women are more emotional than men. So, they take a goal going in not very well”Kenny Shiels, manager of Northern Ireland women, draws criticism while discussing his team’s 5-0 defeat to England. He later apologised for his comments TETE (Lyon) For most of the footballers fleeing Ukraine following the invasion by Russia, simply finding a new club and the opportunity to continue their careers has been success. But for some, it has been an opportunity to thrive, like Brazilian winger Tete. The 22-year-old hadn’t played in almost four months when he made his Ligue1 debut at the start of April, yet still netted an 80th-minute winner with a smart finish in Lyon’s 3-2 victory over Angers. His arrival boosted the club’s hopes of qualifying for Europe next season,…

GOLDEN By James Kelly (Pitch Publishing, £16.99) The definitive story of football in Belgium, Golden: Why Belgian Football is More Than One Generation goes beyond the current team of stars. Exploring both domestic and international success, it relives the forgotten Belgian triumphs against football’s biggest names. Packed with unsung heroes and pivotal figures from Antwerp to Waregem, it tells the tale of how a nation with a population of under12 million has continued to make its mark on world football. NOT GERMAN, I’M SCOUSE By Carsten Nippert (Pitch Publishing, £16.99) Carsten Nippert’s first visits to Anfield were characterised by fear when he encountered vitriolic Mancunians and Kopites whose dialect confused him, but his adventures as a passionate young fan would eventually take him to Istanbul, Athens, Kyiv and Madrid. Not…

“We can’t fight any more because of the sanctions and now Toni will leave. Our hands are tied. I don’t know what would have been the outcome [without the sanctions]”Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel explains the imminent departure of Antonio Rudiger “I didn’t know it – you gave me the news! We will see what happens at the end of the season. We don’t know what’s going to happen”Pep Guardiola reacts to the news that Fernandinho will leave Manchester City at the end of the season IN EUROPE Manchester United confirmed the appointment of Ajax head coach ERIK TEN HAG, with the Dutchman set to take charge in the summer. La Liga side Granada appointed former Real Madrid assistant AITOR KARANKA to replace caretaker Ruben Torrecilla. Fellow strugglers Alaves hired JULIO…

“He is like a fine wine,” Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti beamed in the Champions League post-match press conference at Stamford Bridge. “Every day he is getting better, showing more leadership and he has so much personality. He knows how important a player he is for us.” Ancelotti could have been speaking of any number of the superstars in his squad, from the midfield core of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos – so crucial in the four Champions League titles between 2014 and 2018 – to the thrilling 21-year-old Brazilian Vinicius Junior, who has emerged as a vital difference-maker this season. Yet Ancelotti was hailing the player whom he is compelled to praise after almost every single game, a player he described as “magic” only weeks earlier after a similarly…

Just over a decade ago, Zambia won their first Africa Cup of Nations as their modest squad saw off the mighty Didier Drogba and his Ivory Coast team-mates on penalties in Gabon. But since the heady success of 2012, Zambia have suffered a rapid decline after decades of being perennial qualifiers for the AFCON finals. The defence of their title proved all too brief in 2013 in South Africa, and they also went out in the group stage of the 2015 finals in Equatorial Guinea. For the three subsequent tournaments, they failed to qualify in what has been a major blow. Changing that narrative is the immediate ambition of new coach Aljosa Asanovic, appointed in January and eager to begin the rebuilding process when the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers…

A handful of fans cling to the wire fencing outside of Mauritius’ new sports centre at Cote d’Or. Inside is a sight hardly seen on the Indian Ocean island for the last year: a football match. And not just any game; a vital 2023 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary qualifier between the home side and Sao Tome and Principe. The winners go to the group stage and a guaranteed six matches with some of the continent’s major players. The losers are left with friendlies and regional tournaments. Financed by China and Saudi Arabia, the Cote d’Or National Sports Complex is the impressive new home of Mauritian sport with a pool, athletics track, judo hall and football ground with a top notch artificial surface. The site’s first international was just three…

This year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final will have the stamp of a heavyweight title unification bout. In the Blaugrana corner stands the holders Barcelona, the women’s game’s new dominant force. Facing them in Turin will be Olympique Lyon, the revived all-conquering predecessors. By the time the trophy is presented on May 21 we will know whether Barca have truly usurped Lyon’s crown, or were merely keeping it warm while Ada Hegerberg was injured. To suggest Barcelona’s title last year, sealed with an emphatic 4-0 win over Chelsea, was merely because of the Norwegian’s absence is to overstate the case, but Lyon had won the previous five competitions with Hegerberg in the team, the striker scoring 48 goals in 39 games in the process. However, the 25-year-old ruptured the anterior…

The World Cup in Qatar, the first one to be held in the Arab world, is drawing near. Lusail Iconic Stadium, the venue for the final, has been completed; La’eeb, in the form of a traditional keffiyeh headdress, will serve as a mascot; and Al Rihla, the ball, will decide the destiny of the 32 participants. In an unprecedented scenario, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine changed the calendar, meaning that – for the first time since 1974 – the World Cup draw took place with the final line-up still to be determined. Two of the final three tickets will be decided by two inter-confederational play-offs in Doha. The action begins on June 7, when Australia and the United Arab Emirates play to decide who Asia’s representatives…

Holders Senegal have been handed a comfortable route to the next Africa Cup of Nations and will begin the qualifying campaign for Ivory Coast 2023 almost five months to the day after winning their first continental title. But it is probably not what they need less than six months away from competing at the World Cup finals. They are scheduled to take on Benin in their opening Group L qualifier and then play away in Rwanda in June. But they would be better served taking on South American or Asian opponents for a better sense of what they are to face at the World Cup finals. Unlike Europe and the CONCACAF region, where they are beginning their Nations League campaigns, Africa is using June’s international matchdays, plus those in September,…

“Thanks, boys. We are proud of you!” That was the message the staff of Tahiti’s national team, led by coach Samuel Garcia, left on the blackboard at the team hotel following their semi-final defeat to New Zealand in the Oceania qualifiers. They had been just two matches away from a spot among the 32 World Cup finalists. Yet, it had been a strange mini-tournament. Tahiti hadn’t played a single game in almost three years, mainly because of the pandemic. Both the Cook Islands and Vanuatu withdrew from the competition due to COVID-19 outbreaks, and so, without a single win, Tahiti progressed to the last four in Doha, Qatar, where the qualifiers had been shifted to because of travel restrictions in Oceania. After the 1-0 defeat against the All Whites, some…

(All kick-off times, if stated, are BST) Friday May 13 ENGLAND: The Championship play-offs begin with the first leg of the first semi-final tie. Saturday May 14 ENGLAND: Chelsea meet Liverpool at Wembley in the FA Cup final in a repeat of February’s League Cup final. Elsewhere there’s more play-off action in both the Championship and League Two. SCOTLAND: The Premiership season concludes, with Celtic at home to Motherwell. GERMANY: The Bundesliga season concludes, with champions Bayern Munich visiting Wolfsburg, while Borussia Dortmund face strugglers Hertha Berlin. PORTUGAL: The Portuguese league season also comes to an end, with Porto potentially celebrating a title victory at home to Estoril. Sunday May 15 WOMEN: The Women’s FA Cup final takes place between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley. NETHERLANDS: The Eredivisie league…

EUROPE 2021-22 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Quarter-Finals–1st leg Apr 5 – Lisbon Benfica1 (Nunez 49) Liverpool 3 (Konate17, Mane 34, Diaz 87) Apr 5 – Manchester Manchester City1 (De Bruyne 70) Atletico Madrid 0 Apr 6 – London Chelsea1 (Havertz 40) Real Madrid 3 (Benzema 21, 24, 46) Apr 6 – Villarreal Villarreal1 (Danjuma 8) Bayern Munich 0 Quarter-Finals – 2nd leg Apr 12 – Munich Bayern Munich1 (Lewandowski 52) Villarreal1 (Chukwueze 88) Villarreal win 2-1 on aggregate Apr 12 – Madrid Real Madrid 2 (Rodrygo 80, Benzema 96) Chelsea 3 (Mount15, Rudiger 51, Werner 75) AET. Real Madrid win 5-4 on aggregate Apr 13 – Madrid Atletico Madrid 0 Manchester City 0 Manchester City win 1-0 on aggregate Apr 13 – Liverpool Liverpool 3 (Konate 21, Firmino 55, 65) Benfica…