Askou has kept faith with most of the backroom staff he inherited
Celtic Park, away dressing room: Saturday, 3:52pm “Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou is standing in front of the projector, presenting bird’s-eye view footage from the first half on how to press Celtic’s left side better and where the spaces are to create overloads. There is a tinge of disappointment that they are drawing 1-1 and not still leading the 55-time Scottish champions. Frustration, too, that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still on the pitch after avoiding a red card. Despite that, playmaker Elliot Watt is prowling the changing room, reminding his team-mates to keep being brave on the ball. ‘We’ve got a right good chance here. Enthusiasm,’ adds defender Stephen O’Donnell. Motherwell had seen 58 per cent of the ball in the first half, and had the same expected goals (xG) and number of shots as Celtic. They had managed 14 touches inside the opposition penalty area compared to Celtic’s eight, and completed 285 passes to the home side’s 191. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Daily Archives: March 15, 2026
Red Star Belgrade
“Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda, commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda … and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in Anglophone media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, and a major part of the Red Star multi-sport society. They are the most successful club from the Balkans and Southeast Europe, being the only club to have won both the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup, having done so in 1991, and only the second team from Eastern Europe to win the European Cup. …”
Wikipedia
THE RISE, FALL AND RESURRECTION OF RED STAR BELGRADE – AND WHY EUROPEAN COMPETITION STILL MEANS SO MUCH TO THEM (Video)

It’s taken Iraq 20 matches and 28 months to get a shot at the World Cup. Now comes the hard part
Iraqis celebrate reaching the World Cup play-offs in November but the journey is not over yet
“Iraq have faced a long and arduous journey just to get this far in World Cup qualification — and the really hard part is yet to come. The team have played 20 games since their campaign first began in November 2023, more than 28 months ago, and a decisive 21st will see them face either Suriname or Bolivia in Monterrey, Mexico, at the end of the month. Win that intercontinental play-off final and Iraq will be back on football’s biggest stage for the first time since 1986. A place in Group I of this summer’s World Cup, alongside France, Norway and Senegal, is the gilded prize. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Iraq fans show their support for the national team
