Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2018 i Australian FourFourTwo

In a sea of troubled waters for the sport in Australia, there are some good things going on to keep us bobbing along from one crisis to the next. Not many though... Thanks again to the inevitable curse of magazine deadlines and lead times, we go to press with Football Federation Australia’s future still hanging in the balance and an intervention from FIFA looking ever more likely, What’s more, threats from Federal Government to pull funding from the Women’s World Cup bid to strongarm support for FFA could have devastating consequences. If there’s one thing FIFA hates, it’s having its authority challenged and governments getting involved in football governance. In a worst case scenario, FIFA could suspend FFA’s FIFA membership, axe our World Cup spot and isolate our players and…

Osama Vinladen and Sadam Hussein are brothers. Nope, this isn’t a joke. And not only that, but Osama Vinladen Jimenez is a decent footballer, having already represented Peru’s Under-15s in his short career. The names were given to Osama by his father, an avid fan of politics who’s yet to go into any great detail on why he gave Sadam and his brother their names specifically – or why he didn’t spell either correctly. “My mother will call me Osama and sometimes Vinladen, my father too – it’ll just depend on the particular moment,” the younger sibling tells FFT. “Before, I’d wanted to change my name as soon as I’d turned 18. I thought: ‘If I want to go and play in MLS or Europe some day, then I will…

Monday, 3.30pm, The Bowdon Hotel, a restaurant in Hale, a Mata favourite FOURFOURTWO : We’ve never heard of anything like Common Goal, especially within the football world, so why did you want to do it? JUAN MATA: Well it all began when I first met Jurgen Griesbeck, who’s the CEO of charity streetfootballworld. For 15 years, Jurgen has been using football as a tool to help improve social development around the world. I’d already been thinking of using my privileged position as a professional footballer to help society for two years or more and, initially, I was thinking about setting up my own foundation. But after speaking with Jurgen, I set about working on Common Goal. Giving one per cent of my salary, and encouraging other players to follow…

When Manchester City confirmed the appointment of Pep Guardiola as head coach in February 2016, the expectation outside the club was that his side would click into gear straight away and play the free-flowing attacking football his Barcelona and Bayern teams had displayed so often. Last season proved to be more frustrating than fantastical, so the Citizens’ excellent start to his second Premier League campaign has prompted questions asking precisely what’s changed? In truth, however, the Catalan has merely stuck to his guns and gone back to his Plan A for the Blues. “We are almost the same guys as last season, but now we have the feeling we are going to score a goal,” Pep said after watching his side dismantle Crystal Palace 5-0 in October. “Don’t ask me…

“SCORING THE GOAL ME THAT GOT SPURS INTO ES THE CHAMPIONS NW LEAGUE WAS PROBABLY OVA THE BEST FEELING I’VE EVER HAD ON A PO FOOTBALL PITCH” CLUBS 1998-2000 Tottenham 2000 Dulwich Hamlet (loan) 2000 IFK Hassleholm (loan) 2000-01 QPR 2001-02 Portsmouth 2002-04 Aston Villa 2003 Norwich (loan) 2004-05 Southampton 2005-08 Liverpool 2008-09 Portsmouth 2009-11 Tottenham 2011- Stoke COUNTRY 2005-10 England It’s baffling to think there was a time when Peter Crouch was not universally loved, but the man now called a champion of the people has had to work hard to shatter misconceptions – not to mention earn the right to play at the highest level. Fortunately, 2017 has been a vintage year for Crouchy. Not only has he forced his way back into contention at Stoke at the…

1 MELBOURNE HEART 2 MELBOURNE VICTORY AAMI Park, 22 December 2012 THE LEAD UP We lost the first derby 2-1 that season and we definitely didn’t want a repeat. THE MATCH We looked like we had this game in the bag when we went into the final 10 minutes with a 1-0 lead, but then Fred got an equaliser with nine minutes left to play. As the clock ticked past the 90 minute mark, it seemed like we might have to settle for a point each. THE GOAL How does that saying go, cometh the hour, cometh the man? The way we got the ball up the other end, 93rd minute, when Marco Rojas played the ball to me and I chipped it over the keeper and into the net.…

Brave New World Guillem Balague (Orion, $35) Written as a diary of Mauricio Pochettino’s third season at the helm of Spurs, this book provides a rare insight into the inner workings of a Premier League club from the incumbent manager’s perspective. As you may expect from a coach who’s so circumspect with the media, this is less a collection of electric anecdotes from the Argentinian and more a handbook on the art of leadership in the modern game. From the ‘tough love’ approach used to develop players at Spurs and previous club Southampton, to his obsession with filming everything at the training ground and his close bond with chairman Daniel Levy, it’s clear that Pochettino’s biggest quality is a natural charisma that can enamour and inspire. Setting aside the wisdom…

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 Ange Postecoglou, in camp with the Socceroos in Perth, slams both the FFA and PFA for using the team as a political football in an ugly pay dispute ahead of a World Cup qualifying match, declaring it “not good enough” and suggesting both sides should “lay down your guns” for the time being... SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 Posteoglou, having obviously been rebuked by his paymasters at the FFA, attempts to withdraw his comments, saying: “Maybe I should have tackled it a different way.” AUGUST 11, 2016 Socceroos superstar Tim Cahill, working towards achieving his long-term goal of playing in a fourth World Cup, announces he is returning to Australia to play for Melbourne City in the A-League. FEBRUARY 28. 2017 It is reported Postecoglou was approached by two…

Your WhatsApp status says quite a lot about you. “Updating my WhatsApp status,” for the banter merchants, “Terrible chat guaranteed,” for people keen to impress and “Hey! I’m using WhatsApp,” for those of us too bored, busy or technologically incompetent to change it. Luka Modric, however, has got something altogether different on his – a mission statement. “We are what we repeatedly do,” reads the Real Madrid midfielder’s bio. “Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” First coined by American philosopher Will Durant in 1926, the phrase epitomises the meticulous way in which Modric can control a football match. Simple, unfussy, yet routinely brilliant. Cristiano Ronaldo may provide the killer instinct, or Isco a sprinkle of playmaking stardust, but it is the pint-sized Croatian who gets the European…

Eight or 10 scudetti? The records say that Gianluigi Buffon has eight, with two lost to Calciopoli. But in the name of love and art, Gigi claims 10. “The federation, Wikipedia or the league say it’s eight and I’m not debating referees, judges and laws, but no one can deny my right to feel they’re all mine,” Buffon wrote in Turin daily La Stampa after Juventus’ scudetto win in May. “My first love was a girl I met at middle school. The feeling was unrequited. But what does it matter – for me it was love. Recognition isn’t everything in life.” If Wikipedia did list 10 scudetti in Buffon’s honours section, it would also note that his nearest challengers had won just eight, none of them in the modern era.…

‘As I’m older than a lot of the other guys, it makes it even more important for me to keep my body in good shape’ So what does an average day of training look like for you? I always like to get to the training ground an hour or so before training begins. I’ll go and say hello to the staff and then get into my prehab and treatment for any injuries that I might be carrying. When everyone else has arrived, we will have our session together as a team. After that, we have lunch together and possibly a team gym session in the afternoon. At the end of the day I often get a massage to help with recovery. Do you have a favourite part of your team…

GIANLUIGI BUFFON He’s been the best in the world for so long now and has been an idol of mine in every part of his game. It was an honour to go up against him. ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO To come up and play with Del Piero was definitely something special. To watch him do his thing on the park in the A-League, even at his age, will be something I won’t forget. CARLOS TEVEZ I came up against Tevez at the Olympics and he was everything you expected and more. He was relentless and always looked dangerous throughout his career. THE GAFFER ANGE POSTECOGLOU Ange is the type of coach that can always get the best out of you. He’s a great motivator and everyone knows where they stand in…

1 KYLIE MINOGUE: ST MIRREN FAN England London When Kylie Minogue revealed her latest calendar picture online, St Mirren’s fans were unexpectedly thrilled. Kylie welcomed in November by posing in a white football shirt with some black pinstripes, a strip that appeared familiar. “Great to see Kylie pay homage to our 1987 Scottish Cup winning team,” said the Buddies on Twitter. It was probably unintentional, although perhaps Kylie’s a big fan of retro Scottish football – next month, she destroys a corner flag and gets sent off three times, Windass-style. 2 GET OFF THE PITCH, GUYS! Egypt Cairo Al Ahly supporters wanted to back their heroes at a training session ahead of the African Champions League final second leg, but what they actually did was stop them training at all.…

I knew I’d made it as a player when I first went up to Scotland. At West Ham I was on the bench quite a bit and wasn’t really a part of it. When I went up to Scotland, I started playing week in, week out. I was playing European football and I thought this is what I always want to do. I was happiest when I was at Luton Town. It was a great club. It had great people around the club, great coaches, the boys in the dressing room were phenomenal. There were some real characters in there. We had some good success too, getting a couple of promotions. I was probably playing my best football there too. I had to leave because the club went into administration.…

Neymar had saved Barcelona when they needed him most. With 88 minutes gone in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain, Barça required three goals to overturn a 4-0 first-leg loss. Neymar believed when no one else did. First, he scored a sublime free-kick, then a nerveless penalty. Finally, in the fifth minute of added time, his delicious dinked assist for Sergi Roberto secured la remontada imposible, the impossible comeback. “Messi is the father, Neymar the son, one day it will happen that the son overtakes the father,” Spanish TV commentator Alfredo Martinez – whose reaction to the tie went viral – told FFT soon afterwards. “In the next two years, you’ll gradually see Neymar as this team’s protagonist, while Messi slowly moves to…

MOOY’S PROMOTION & $$$ SIGNING “Usually when he plays well, the team plays well – Aaron is the heart of our team,” Huddersfield boss David Wagner said in May ahead of the 2016-17 Championship playoffs. Mooy proceeded to perform brilliantly, converting penalties in both play-offs, helping his side to an unlikely promotion, winning the club’s Player of the Year and putting pen to paper on a permanent deal for a record fee for an Australian reportedly worth $16.7million from parent club Manchester City. Upon inking the permanent deal, Mooy said: “Now we’re in the Premier League, not only do I get to play at the highest level of football, but I continue to be part of a team that achieved something special and we will continue on that journey together…

Winning the European Championship on home soil must be a special feeling (although FFT wouldn’t know), but throw a glut of individual awards and a dream switch to Barcelona into the mix and you are talking about a near-perfect year. Moving to Spain will certainly not have daunted 24-year-old Netherlands star Lieke Martens, not least as she had already played in four different countries in a senior career that started only eight years ago. The forward was a part of the KNVB’s ‘sport schools’ programme and had played alongside boys until she broke through into the first team of SC Heerenveen Vrouwen aged just 16. A spell at VVV-Venlo was followed by stints in Belgium (at Standard Liege) and Germany (Duisburg) before she won a move to one of the…

He’s missed. I don’t believe it. What a bloody... wait, I’m captain of England – I can’t get too angry with Gareth. I can’t show him how much this hurts. He’s going to be in bits. I need to protect him and rally all the players – think of the team and not myself. I can remember seeing Gareth walking from the halfway line towards the penalty box. He had seemed really confident. I’d been standing next to the coach, Terry Venables, when he’d come over to us. I was due to take the first sudden-death pen, but there’s Gareth looking at us both and saying, ‘I’ll have the next one.’ Super confident. Tel looks at me and we both nod. Go on then, son. But he’s missed. I don’t…

Born December 6, 1979 Birthplace Sydney, Australia Senior clubs Millwall, Everton, New York Red Bulls, Shanghai Shenhua, Hangzhou Greentown, Melbourne City EPL goals 56 in 226 matches International bow Off the bench in 1-0 win over South Africa in London on March 30, 2004 Socceroos record 50 goals in 104 matches Sporting sibling Younger brother Chris captained Samoa, who Tim briefly played for before switching to Australia. Transfer fee Everton paid $2.63m to sign him from Millwall in 2004.…