Monthly Archives: November 2022

Why Qatar is a controversial host for the World Cup

“The selection of Qatar to host this year’s FIFA World Cup brought cheers to the streets of Doha in a celebration of the first edition of the tournament to be held in the Arab world. But the choice, made in 2010, also sparked instant criticism – over the logistics of holding a sporting event in a country where summertime temperatures regularly top 100 degrees; over allegations of bribery and corruption among FIFA officials who voted for Qatar; and over concerns about human rights abuses that have persisted in the years since. Now, with the World Cup days away, the Gulf country is expecting the arrival of more than a million fans. And billions more will tune in to watch the tournament’s 64 games. Yet the controversies have not subsided. …”
NPR
Vox: The many, many controversies surrounding the 2022 World Cup, explained

World Cup TV preview: Fox’s plans, crew assignments and a big viewership hope

“We watch because of Alphonso Davies, Kylian Mbappe and the rest of the planet’s magicians. The World Cup is a beautiful amalgamation of the best of sport, a global gathering of artistry and athletic hope. It’s also a moral quagmire, and no more so than this year’s tournament in Qatar. When Sepp Blatter, the former FIFA president and a high priest of oleaginous behavior, questions the location of a World Cup, we’re all deep in the muck. …”
The Athletic

How Europe Decides Who Wins the World Cup

“SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Once a week, the boys from the Palmeiras youth academy climb aboard a bus and prepare for their regular visit to the past. These are the fledgling stars of Brazilian soccer: the best and brightest prospects from the most prolific youth system in the world’s greatest hothouse of talent. From their pristine campus in Guarulhos, on the outer edges of São Paulo’s suburban sprawl, the boys slowly make their way through the grinding traffic and head into the tight, winding streets of Heliópolis, the biggest favela in Brazil, or one of the dozens of other informal communities that house millions of the city’s poorest inhabitants. …”
NY Times

From Kudus to Gavi: eight players ready to break through at World Cup Federico Valverde, Gavi, and Rafael Leão.

“We pick the young stars well placed to shine in Qatar, ranging from Milan’s Rafael Leão to Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo. … Rafael Leão (Portugal). A product of the Sporting academy, the attacker has become one of the most feared forwards in Serie A, helping Milan to their first title in 11 years last season and gaining a place in the league’s team of the year. In addition to height, the 23-year-old possesses plenty of pace and is often utilised on the flanks by Stefano Pioli. Leão is as adept at creating as he is scoring, making him a threat whether out wide or down the middle. …”
Guardian

Aliou Cissé on African Soccer, World Cup Places and Lost Generations

A mural of the Senegal star Sadio Mané in Dakar.
“DIAMNIADIO, Senegal — Ask those who have watched Aliou Cissé take Senegal to two World Cups in a row and direct his team to a victory in the Africa Cup of Nations in February, and they will tell you that his country’s wealth of soccer talent is only one part of the reason. There is something more tedious, more long-term, but far more transformative that Cissé, the 46-year-old former Paris St.-Germain midfielder and former Senegal captain, has brought to his squad since he became its coach in 2015. …”

Landon Donovan, 2010, and a Breakthrough Moment for American Soccer

“The Ringer’s 22 Goals: The Story of the World Cup, a podcast by Brian Phillips, tells the story of some of the most iconic goals and players in the history of the men’s FIFA World Cup. Every Wednesday, until the end of Qatar 2022, we’ll publish an adapted version of each 22 Goals episode. Today’s story involves a breakthrough moment for American men’s soccer. …”
The Ringer (Video)

Pulisic’s road to the World Cup — an eye-witness account of the US captain’s Chelsea season

“The biggest moment in Christian Pulisic’s career is here. This is his chance to deliver on years of fanfare as the face of American soccer. A chance to take the starring role in a rising, largely young US team at his first World Cup; to remind Chelsea supporters — as well as followers of potentially interested clubs — of the talent that earned him such status in the first place. …”
The Athletic

Walker Zimmerman Made Himself Into a USMNT Mainstay

“Walker Zimmerman paced around his Nashville home, anxious and distracted, unable to keep himself from checking his phone. It was September 2021, the late days of a Tennessee summer that usually stretches into early fall, and Zimmerman was waiting, impatiently, for a very important email. …”
The Ringer

The World Cup’s Forgotten Team

“… None of it would have been possible, though, without hundreds of thousands of men like him: the migrant workers who fuel the ruthlessly capitalist business of supply and demand that does much of the daily and dangerous work in searing heat of the Persian Gulf, and who were indispensable to the $220 billion nation-building project that will culminate in the first World Cup in the Arab world. Qatar’s preparations for the tournament have shined a spotlight on that army of workers who have done nothing less than redraw the country over the past decade, as well as on the system that exploits their labor and their desperation, and has cost thousands of them their lives. …”
NY Times

Art of saving a one-on-one: The spread, the block, the smother and the wait

“There was no World Cup call-up for Illan Meslier, even in the absence of AC Milan’s Mike Maignan, and no trip away with France’s Under-21s either. Leeds United would have been thrilled to see Meslier in Qatar but in the absence of that, common sense said that rest would do him good. The French Under-21s have a friendly against Norway planned for Saturday and Meslier, ordinarily, would have been part of the squad but clubs were not obliged to release players for the fixture and the decision was taken to sit him out, giving him a week’s holiday like most of Leeds’ dressing room. …”
The Athletic (Video)
W – Illan Meslier

The Qatar World Cup Explained

“The Qatar World Cup has provoked strong and sometimes conflicting, reactions in many people. In this series of videos, written by James Montague and illustrated by Alice Devine, Tifo explains why the World Cup in the Gulf State is so controversial. In the years since Qatar secured the FIFA World Cup, it faced its greatest crisis since its independence. A cold War. A war between its neighbouring countries. What sparked this war? Did it threaten the World Cup? How did new FIFA President Gianni Infantino get involved? …”
YouTube

Just like the hat, football’s grip could suddenly go out of fashion after Qatar – Jonathan Wilson

Hardly a bare head to be seen as Billy the white police horse helps hold back the crowd spilling on to the pitch at the 1923 FA Cup final.
“Look at a photograph of the crowd at the 1923 FA Cup final and pretty much everybody is wearing a hat. Fast-forward a quarter of a century and a rough estimate would be that a little under half the crowd at the 1948 final are similarly clad. Go forward another 25 years to 1973 and although Bob Stokoe, the Sunderland manager, topped off his tracksuit-and-mac look with a trilby, almost nobody in the stands at Wembley has their head covered. …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Jurgen Klopp, faith and navigating the moral maze of a Liverpool takeover

“A few words of reassurance in a week of uncertainty. Two days after The Athletic broke the story that Fenway Sports Group were willing to sell either part or all of their shares in Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp suggested that no matter what happens from here, he is ‘committed to the club.’ Listening to his answer in full while reading between the lines, it is clear that he thinks it is more likely that Liverpool will be subject to new investment rather than a takeover, a move which according to him, would ‘actually… make sense’. …”
The Athletic

Qatar World Cup Faces New Edict: Hide the Beer

“The message came from the highest levels of the Qatari state: The beer tents must be moved, and there would be no discussion about it. With the opening game of the World Cup only days away, Qatari organizers have been working hurriedly in recent days to relocate Budweiser-branded beer stations at eight stadiums after a sudden demand that three people with knowledge of the belated change said had come from inside the country’s royal family. …”
NY Times (Video)

Stadiums of shame: the numbers World Cup hosts Qatar don’t want to be seen

A worker on a construction site in Lusail City tries to stay hydrated.
“As the world’s media and teams start to arrive the facts and figures behind workers’ and human rights in Qatar remain hard to uncover. As 32 teams gather in Qatar for this most unsettling of World Cups, the following numbers serve as a stark reminder of the human cost of the tournament, as well as the ongoing suffering among migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ+ community in the country. …”
Guardian
Thousands of Migrant Workers Died in Qatar’s Extreme Heat. The World Cup Forced a Reckoning
‘A World Cup Built on Modern Slavery’: Stadium Workers Blow the Whistle on Qatar’s ‘Coverup’ of Migrant Deaths and Suffering

Milan late show keeps them in distant contact with Napoli’s ‘Martians’

“It was the 91st minute at San Siro when Milan scored the goal that might have rescued the Serie A title race. Technically the Fiorentina defender Nicola Milenkovic scored it for them – deflecting Aster Vranckx’s cross into his own net – but few were dwelling on the fine details as Zombie Nation’s Kernkraft 400, a German dance track older than some players on the pitch, blared out across the public address. …”
Guardian

Who Will Be This Year’s World Cup Supernova?

“Michael Owen, Mario Götze, and Kylian Mbappé anointed themselves as stars with stellar World Cup performances. Will any young players usher in a new era at this year’s tournament? There are very few moments in world history that can unite entire generations in awe. At the head of that very short list, you will find the moon landing. A couple of lines further down, but still on the same page, you will see an athletic feat of rare brilliance: say, Usain Bolt breaking the sound barrier in the Olympic 100-meter final. …”
The Ringer

England team to face Iran: Eight writers, eight different starting XIs

“England will kick off their World Cup campaign against Iran on November 21 and talk of who should start is likely to dominate the week between the end of the Premier League season and the start of the tournament in Qatar. We asked eight of our writers to pick the team they would like to see start at the Khalifa International Stadium — and they came up with eight different line-ups. …”
The Athletic

Introducing Tifo’s World Cup coverage – what we’re doing and why we’re doing it

“The World Cup in Qatar is a controversial sporting mega-event. There’s no getting around it. From allegations of corruption around the bidding process, to the highlighting of migrant worker abuses in Qatar and the country’s poor human rights record, the tournament is plagued with issues that complicate direct audience engagement. But there are very few simple answers here. Qatar 2022 isn’t a one-off. It has come to represent a confusing reality; football is not and never has been separate from global politics. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Mapping out Brazil’s Potential Route to the World Cup Final

“What if Brazil’s preparation for the 2006 World Cup in Germany had been more intense? What if Felipe Melo hadn’t received a red card in 2010? What if Neymar hadn’t been injured ahead of the semi-final in 2014? What if Thibaut Courtois hadn’t saved that shot from Renato Augusto in 2018? Brazil supporters are always looking back at the past, imagining a scenario where the Seleção have already won their sixth World Cup title. But now, with the help of our tournament simulator model, we can estimate the probabilities of the ‘Hexa‘ happening in Qatar 2022. …’
The Analyst

World Cup 2022 Group E guide: Spain’s young midfield stars and watch out for Germany’s triangles

1 Reply

“What should we expect from Spain? Where is Japan’s weakness? Are Germany playing differently under Hansi Flick? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic is running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar over the coming month. …”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup 2022 Group A guide: De Jong keeps Netherlands ticking and watch out for Ecuador’s set pieces

“What tactics do the Netherlands use? What is Senegal’s weakness? Which quirk should we look out for from Ecuador? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic will be running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar. Liam Tharme will look at each team’s playing style, strengths, weaknesses, key players and highlight things to keep an eye on during the tournament. …”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup 2022 Group B guide: England’s control and the Iran goalkeeper’s javelin-style throws

“What tactics do England use? What is the USA’s weakness? Which quirk should we look out for from Wales? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic will be running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar. Liam Tharme will look at each team’s playing style, strengths, weaknesses, key players and highlight things to keep an eye on during the tournament. …”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup 2022 Group D guide: France’s high press, Denmark’s inverted wingers and an Australian giant

“How will France set up under Didier Deschamps? What is Australia’s biggest weakness? What can we expect from Tunisia? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic will be running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar. Liam Tharme will look at each team’s playing style, strengths, weaknesses, key players and highlight things to keep an eye on during the tournament. …”
The Athletic (Video)

When Pelé met Banks: ‘Incredible – a move that required two geniuses’

“At last, on 7 June 1970, the champions, both old and new, met. After all the hype, hysteria and hyperbole in the heat of Mexico’s high-altitude Guadalajara, Brazil, the 1958 and 1962 World Cup winners, and England, the defending champions, were out to play a match that promised to stir the soul and marvel the mind. The world, once again, fawned over the Brazilians. …”
Guardian

World Cup 2022 Group C guide: Argentina’s fast starts, ageing Mexico and possession-shy Poland

“What tactics do Argentina use? What is Mexico’s weakness? Which quirk should we look out for from Poland? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic will be running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar. Liam Tharme will look at each team’s playing style, strengths, weaknesses and key players, and highlight things to keep an eye on during the tournament. …”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup 2022 Group G guide: Tadic’s corners, Swiss pressing and a more complete Neymar

“What should we expect from Spain? Where is Japan’s weakness? Are Germany playing differently under Hansi Flick? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic is running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar over the coming month. …”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup 2022 Group F guide: Free-scoring Belgium, cross-heavy Croatia and Canada’s cutbacks

“What tactics do Belgium use? What is Canada’s weakness? Which quirk should we look out for from Croatia? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic will be running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar. Liam Tharme will look at each team’s playing style, strengths, weaknesses, key players and highlight things to keep an eye on during the tournament. …”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup 2022 Group H guide: Bernardo Silva the orchestrator and Uruguay’s last dance

“Does Cristiano Ronaldo hurt or help Portugal these days? What should we look out for from Uruguay? How do South Korea use Son Heung-min? The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic has been running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar. …”
The Athletic (Video)

2022-23 FA Cup, 1st Round Proper: location-map, with fixtures list & current league attendances

“The FA Cup – the oldest football tournament in the world – begins its 142nd edition on Friday the 4th of November 2022. Of the 40 matches to be played in the First Round Proper, there are: 2 games on Friday the 4th, 33 games on Saturday the 5th, 4 games on Sunday the 6th, and 1 game on Monday the 7th. Televised matches are (with clubs’ league-levels noted)…Friday: Hereford (6) v Portsmouth (3); Saturday: South Shields (7) v Forest Green Rovers (3); Sunday [early]: Wrexham (5) v Oldham Athletic (5), and Sunday [late]: Torquay United (5) v Derby County (3); Monday: Bracknell Town (7) v Ipswich Town (3). …”
billsportsmaps

The Ten Commandments of Gegenpressing

“Space is critical in football, give your opponent too much of it, and you get punished; make the best of little space or try to profit from little space, and you might get rewarded with a goal. This creates a problem for every manager, irrespective of the philosophical divide: how do I limit and control my opponent’s use of space with and without the ball? To this end, Gegenpressing is a tantalizing option; Gegenpressing (counter-pressing) is simply winning the ball immediately after losing possession. The opposition’s intention after getting the ball is to start a counter; hence their defensive organisation is broken, leaving them vulnerable because their players are quite apart in the quest to score a goal. …”
Breaking the Lines
What is Gegenpressing and how it evolved into one of the most revolutionary tactics in modern football?
The Athletic: Liverpool are the masters of chaos – and the polar opposite of Manchester City
YouTube: What is Gegenpressing?

La Liga packs up for World Cup and some need a break more than others

“‘I’ll be watching it of course, at home, because I like football,’ Carlo Ancelotti said. ‘My teams will be the teams where my players play: Brazil, Spain, France, Uruguay, Croatia, Germany, lots of teams. I’ll follow the World Cup as a fan, and may the best team win it. Unfortunately, Italy can’t.’ There was a smile, a goodbye and with that he was gone. They all were. Just before midnight on a Thursday in early November and the Real Madrid coach was the last man to leave. La Liga was finished, everyone out of here for 50 days. Mentally, some had gone already. …”
Guardian

Taking Stock at the World Cup Break

“In the end, the reverie could not quite hold. Union Berlin, the unassuming, unheralded team from the forest, had first moved atop of the Bundesliga in early September. It had the air, back then, of the sort of fleeting feel-good story that the early days of the season can bring: not a fluke, of course, but a confluence of circumstance that was unlikely to last. Nobody expected Union to remain there for long, least of all anyone connected to Union itself. The highest echelon of German soccer has, in recent years, grown used to the sudden advent of supercharged underdogs in its ranks, from Hoffenheim, the passion play of a local billionaire, to RB Leipzig, the artificial creation of an energy-drink conglomerate. …”
NY Times

World Cup 2022 Groups: The Predictions

“The 2022 World Cup is finally here, with the tournament in Qatar being the first held in the months of November and December since the first World Cup finals in 1930. The 22nd men’s FIFA World Cup tournament will see 32 teams battle it out in the group stage after qualifying via five different regions – Asia, Africa, South America, North America/Central America and Europe (no nation from Oceania qualified). From there, 16 will make it through to the knockout stages. …”
The Analyst

World Cup 2022 team guides part 14: Denmark

“… Denmark have continued on the same path that took them to the semi-finals of the European Championship in 2021 and the only real worry is the long search for a centre-forward to fit Kasper Hjulmand’s 4-3-3 system. Denmark may have lost twice to Croatia in the Nations League but they beat France twice. In Paris they won 2-1 against a full-strength French team with a couple of late goals from the substitute Andreas Cornelius and, in the final game before the World Cup, they beat the world champions 2-0 at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. …”
Guardian

Deschamps interview: France’s ‘complicated’ World Cup defence, filling Pogba and Kante void

“Didier Deschamps contemplates the perception of problems around the French camp with the tenacity anyone who watched him patrolling a midfield would expect. His expression, as a series of issues are laid before him, is determinedly dismissive. What of the controversies? The scandals? The endless polemics about Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and so on? …”
The Athletic

Giovanni van Bronckhorst and the Irresistible Allure of the Long-Range Goal

“The Ringer’s 22 Goals: The Story of the World Cup, a podcast by Brian Phillips, tells the story of some of the most iconic goals and players in the history of the men’s FIFA World Cup. Every Wednesday, until the end of Qatar 2022, we’ll publish an adapted version of each 22 Goals episode. Today’s story involves an unlikely goal-scorer from 2010. …”
The Ringer (Video)

Roma’s early momentum dissipates to leave Mourinho pointing the finger

“The players were in the tunnel ready to emerge for the second half at the Mapei Stadium, but José Mourinho was headed in the opposite direction, returning from the dugout to the changing room. Roma were drawing 0-0 with Sassuolo but just for a moment that was not his priority, as he went to retrieve a team shirt to give to a young supporter in a wheelchair he had noticed beside the pitch. …”
Guardian

FIFA World Cup: La Coupe De La Gloire 1998

“The French team on home soil was always going to be in contention for the title of World Champion. France ’98 wasn’t short on drama and this is captured effectively in this film. …”
FIFA World Cup (Video) 1:25:36

Inside Bayer Leverkusen and how they plan to grow a club built around a company

“There are wild parrots in Leverkusen. Step off the train in the German city and walk into the park that leads to the football stadium. They’re there. A dozen, maybe two. They sit in the branches and then flutter away when they decide people are getting too close. It’s a local phenomenon. Nobody seems to know quite where they came from. One theory has it that a few rose-ringed parakeets were released many years ago and, from there, the population boomed. ….”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup 2022 team guides part 9: Argentina

“This is the first time Argentina arrive at a World Cup in peace. Excited, yes, but also calm. The greatest strength is the team’s collectiveness, the fact that everyone works hard for each other and that has been highlighted again and again over the past four years. Everyone in the team – in the squad in fact – knows their role: this is a well-oiled machine. The current cycle began towards the end of 2018 after Jorge Sampaoli’s disastrous spell in charge, which included a last-16 exit from the Russia World Cup and off- and on-field problems. Lionel Scaloni, who had been an assistant to Sampaoli, took over on an interim basis – together with Pablo Aimar – and the former Deportivo La Coruña and Lazio player never looked back. …”
Guardian

The Curious Case of the World Cup Catfish

“Many of us have had that experience where we have been anticipating a film for many months, one whose cast and director are so good that it simply cannot fail, only to realize that, within the movie’s first few scenes, we are in for an epic disappointment. By the time we shuffle away from the cinema or forlornly fold our laptops closed, we are overwhelmed by that unique feeling: the ache of unsatisfying art. In extreme cases, our ache also carries a sense of betrayal: You promised us a rousing, soaring spectacle, and yet you presented us with something so different from and so far beneath our expectations. How could you? You catfished us. …”
The Ringer (Video)

A Soccer Team Once United Iran. Now It Reflects Its Divisions.

“Iran’s national soccer team has historically been viewed as a representative of the country’s people, not of the Islamic Republic’s government. Team Melli, as the squad is known, has been embraced as an apolitical force, and as a secular passion that reflected a certain ideal, the Iran of everyone’s imagination. For years, the team has brought unity and joy to a fractious nation. Support for it has been effectively unconditional. Until now. …”
NY Times

Inside AFTV a decade since its launch: The controversies, criticism, changes and future

“Last month, AFTV turned 10 years old. The channel has now provided a decade of post-match catharsis for Arsenal supporters. … This is, in business terms, a clear success story. At the time of writing, AFTV is on the verge of reaching 1.5 million YouTube subscribers. It has amassed more than a billion views. Its other social-media profiles have grown too, with more than a million followers on Instagram. This is a significant media organisation. …”
The Athletic (Video)

‘Racism’: Qataris decry French cartoon of national football team

“A cartoon by a French newspaper depicting Qatari footballers as terrorists has sparked outrage on social media, with users calling out its ‘blatant Islamophobia’ and ‘racism’. The caricature was published by Le Canard enchainé in its October issue, which focuses on Qatar and its role as the FIFA World Cup 2022 host. The image depicts seven bearded men with ‘Qatar’ written across their chests above big numbers. They appear to be chasing a football in the sand while carrying machetes, guns and rocket launchers. One wears a belt laden with explosives. Five are wearing blue robes and two are wearing black shirts and pants with balaclavas covering their faces. ….”
Aljazeera (Video)

Gabriel Jesus is not just a pressing striker – Arsenal benefit from his top tackling too

“Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday was slender in terms of scoreline, but considerably more convincing in terms of performance. Mikel Arteta’s side scored the winner from a set piece. But their dominance in open play was obvious — and, in a subtle way, the winner was perfect. The goal itself was an inswinging Bukayo Saka corner, missed by everyone and turned into the net from precisely a yard out by Gabriel Magalhaes. But if you work backwards, you find the key to Arsenal’s performance. The corner came from an Edouard Mendy save, from a Gabriel Jesus shot, and the move for that shot started when Thiago Silva was tackled by Jesus. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox

World Cup Penalty Shootouts: The Facts

“There have been a host of penalty shootouts at World Cup tournaments since they were introduced ahead of the 1978 FIFA World Cup as a tiebreaker, but which countries have had the best shootout record and what nation is right to have the fear factor about the dreaded match-decider? We look at the facts around World Cup penalty shootouts ahead of this year’s tournament in Qatar. …”
The Analyst (Video)

LAFC finds Hollywood ending, beats Philadelphia on penalty kicks for first MLS Cup title

LAFC goalie John McCarthy dives to block a shot during Saturday’s penalty-kick shootout against the Philadelphia Union.
“LAFC beat the Philadelphia Union to win its first MLS Cup in unbelievable fashion Saturday at Banc of California Stadium. Here’s what you need to know: LAFC got a 128th-minute equalizer from Gareth Bale to bring the game level at 3-3 and force penalties, where backup goalkeeper John McCarthy, a former Union player and Philadelphia native, made two saves to lead the Black and Gold to an unreal win. McCarthy, who was named MVP, was substituted on after starting keeper Maxime Crepéau was carted off with an injury — and got a red card — late in extra time. LA is the eighth team in MLS history to win both the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup in a single season. …”
The Athletic (Video)
LA Times (Video)
NY Times: Los Angeles F.C. Wins First Title on Dramatic Day’s Final Twist (Video)

Salah’s double leaves Liverpool enough room to see off Spurs’ late charge

“It was about time Liverpool remembered how to dig in. Even if Jürgen Klopp more or less admitted that the red machine is not back to full working order just yet, at least he saw glimpses of the old fighting spirit. It took plenty of guts to see off another late comeback from Tottenham, not to mention plenty of clearances from Ibrahima Konaté and brave punches from Alisson, and while this was not a complete display from Liverpool it was easy to see why Klopp celebrated at full time by marching across the pitch to celebrate with the travelling support. …”
Guardian

European roundup: Filip Kostic inspires Juventus in defeat of Internazionale

“Filip Kostic set up both goals as Juventus beat Internazionale in Serie A on Sunday in a challenging game where both teams had chances to win. Kostic took advantage of a cleared Inter corner and raced into the box, where Adrien Rabiot guided the assist elegantly into the bottom corner in the 52nd minute. Kostic then fed an unmarked Nicolo Fagioli six minutes before full time for the second goal. Juventus are fifth on 25 points, 10 behind leaders Napoli. Inter are seventh on 24 points. …”
Guardian

Barcelona vs Almería, La Liga: Final Score 2-0

Gerard Piqué
“Barcelona will be top of the La Liga table for the next two days thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win against Almería at the Greatest Stadium on Earth on Saturday night. Barça played very good football and dominated a helpless Almería side, and the night was extra special as Gerard Piqué started and captained the side for the last time at Camp Nou and was part of the winning team on his farewell. …”
Barca Blaugranes (Audio)

Out-of-gas Fabinho has become a symbol of Liverpool’s decline

“It was about halfway through the first half of Liverpool’s defeat to Leeds at Anfield last Saturday that Fabinho made his feelings known to the crowd. The hosts had once again failed to string some passes together and as the ball drifted out of play there came groans from the Kop. Hearing this, Fabinho turned to the stand and began waving his arms in a call for support, doing so aggressively and with a snarl on his face. He clearly was not happy and neither were those watching on, with a fair few making that clear to him. …”
Guardian

FIFA letter receives backlash from World Cup nations: ‘The pursuit of such a strategy will be self-defeating’

“A letter which FIFA sent to every World Cup nation asking them to ‘focus on the football’ in Qatar rather than ‘every ideological and political battle that exists’ has been criticised by several recipients. The build-up to the tournament has been overshadowed by allegations of serious human rights abuses, including Qatar’s criminalisation of homosexuality, the widespread death of migrant workers, and the limited rights of women in the country. …”
The Athletic

Qatar World Cup: What was promised and what is actually being delivered

“’The promise given was a necessity of the past; the word broken is a necessity of the present.’ Florentine diplomat, historian and philosopher (a genuine Renaissance man) Niccolo Machiavelli would have been good at winning bids for major sporting events. A World Cup for all of Italy? Sure. Us, the Duchy of Milan, Papal States, Venetian Republic, we’re all Italian brothers. A dozen new stadiums? Absolutely — why not 15? New roads? Of course, we’ll pave them with gold! …”
The Athletic
NY Times: The World Cup is Weeks Away. Will Qatar Be Ready?
NY Times: Qatar Offered Fans Free World Cup Trips, but Only on Its Terms (Video)