Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2024 i World Soccer

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE UP TO 45% Delivery available in every country Don’t miss this special offer – subscribe today and save up to 45% • Never miss an issue with delivery direct to your door • Big savings – save up to 45% on the full price • Receive both the print and digital editions • You’ll also receive the World Soccer e-newsletter Receive both print and digital editions 3 EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE: 1 VISIT shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSCP124 2 CALL 01959 543 747 QUOTE CODE WSCP124 3 SCAN THE QR CODE Calls charged at your standard network rate. Lines are open 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday. Terms and conditions: Savings are based on the standard cover price of £5.99 plus postage. Overseas discounts are calculated on the standard cover price plus postage.…

FINANCIAL FAIR PLAY FFP should be a weapon of reassurance; not so while its administration remains subjective. The concept was Michel Platini’s most important contribution during his ultimately doomed presidency of UEFA. He agonised over rich individuals swooping on clubs for their own nefarious reasons, creating sporting inequality and leaving bankruptcies in their wake. Platini considered Roman Abramovich a worrisome example, fully justified by the accounting legacy that cost Chelsea one UEFA fine last July for “incomplete financial reporting” under the Russian’s ownership. Beyond that, Manchester City face115 Premier League charges – alleged breaches that they deny – though who knows when they may be resolved? Both UEFA and the Premier League must address a perception that it’s the vulnerable clubs (such as Football League founder members Everton) who are…

“In Europe we are lucky, but it’s important that we make football really global and this creates a chance for other clubs to progress. It will give more opportunities to more players all over the world”Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development, on the expanded Club World Cup in 2025 Champions League ROUND OF 16 FIRST LEGS FEBRUARY 13 FC Copenhagen v Manchester City RB Leipzig v Real Madrid FEBRUARY 14 Lazio v Bayern Munich Paris Saint-Germain v Real Sociedad FEBRUARY 20 Internazionale v Atletico Madrid PSV v Borussia Dortmund FEBRUARY 21 Porto v Arsenal Napoli v Barcelona MARCH 5 Bayern Munich v Lazio Real Sociedad v Paris Saint-Germain MARCH 6 Manchester City v FC Copenhagen Real Madrid v RB Leipzig MARCH 12 Arsenal v Porto Barcelona v Napoli…

“ Before we talk about the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Cape Verde started the World Cup qualifiers with four out of a possible six points, drawing at home with Angola and then winning away against Eswatini. Was that a good start? We had been hoping to win all our home games, which is essential for a World Cup qualifying campaign, but the pitch and the windy conditions sort of levelled out the game against Angola. We had to dig in in the first half, and second half we showed a bit more quality and I think a draw was a fair result. It made the long trip to Eswatini to get a 2-0 win very important. We used the momentum from that game to go into the Cup of…

World Soccer’s March 2024 edition is your essential guide to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League knockout stages. We tackle the big talking points and highlight teams and players to watch, whilst at the same time keeping one eye on the transfer window with 6 of the best January signings and all the deadline-day deals. Outside of Europe we preview the 2024 MLS campaign, the new J. League season and the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League, while women’s football’s attention is drawn to the Olympic qualifiers with action in Europe, Oceania and Asia ahead of Paris 2024. Print £5.99 Digital £4.99 ORDER NOW shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSC24 Or Call: 01959 543 747 You may have missed… October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 SAVE 10% when you…

Increasingly, the Asian Champions League is a story of Saudi Arabia’s stars and their fortunes. Not that long ago, the eastern zone (the tournament is divided into two geographic regions until the final) got much of the focus but now China, Japan, South Korea and Australia are playing very much second fiddle. In some ways, having the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema in action in the tournament is a real blessing for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Promoting the competition across the continent has been a challenge over the years and the presence of superstars makes it easier – wild celebrations of Mumbai City’s players upon discovering that they were grouped with Al Hilal and Neymar went viral. It is in danger, however, of becoming one-sided with…

“I like that we finally get a bit of an understanding that FIFA and UEFA and other bodies cannot just do what they want”Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on the ECJ’s Super League ruling In the last issue of World Soccer we looked back over the events of 2023, so it feels only natural that this time we should look ahead to 2024. It is a year filled with both excitement and trepidation. On the one hand, we have four continental championships to take in (the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup this month, and Euro 2024 and the Copa America this summer), as well as a number of exciting domestic stories unfolding across Europe. On the other, football’s leaders, administrators and decision-makers continue to exasperate and infuriate supporters, coaches…

A SPRINKLE OF MAGIC By Aaron Moore (Pitch Publishing, £12.99) A Sprinkle of Magic tells the fascinating stories of non-league clubs who defied the odds and dared to dream big in the world’s oldest cup competition. Dating back to the 2009-10 season, the stories include FA Cup runs from Redbridge, Bath City, Stourbridge, AFC Totton, Hendon and, of course, Lincoln City, who became the first non-league side to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals in more than a century in 2017. IN SAFE HANDS By Alistair Aird (Pitch Publishing, £25) In Safe Hands is the story of Rangers’ goalkeepers from the Scottish club’s origins back in1872 through to the modern day. This exhaustive account charts the contribution each and every keeper made to the rich history of the Gers, brought to…

“Football is a results business…however, time is the most precious commodity a manager requires and I do not believe 13 weeks was sufficient to oversee the changes that were needed”Wayne Rooney reacts to being sacked as manager of Birmingham City after just15 games EUROPE BRYAN ZARAGOZA The Granada and Spain star will join Bayern Munich on a five-year deal this summer. DONNY VAN DE BEEK Eintracht Frankfurt signed the Dutchman on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season, with a permanent option included. CLAUDIO ECHEVERRI Manchester City paid £21.7 million to sign the exciting Argentine teenage playmaker, who will stay at River Plate for next season. ELJIF ELMAS RB Leipzig paid €24m to capture the North Macedonian attacking midfielder from Napoli. FABIO SILVA Rangers signed the striker…

SEASON RANKINGS Cumulative votes through the season GOALKEEPERS Yann Sommer (Internazionale) 12 Marcin Bulka (Nice) 6 Lukas Hradecky (Bayer Leverkusen) 6 Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus) 6 Alisson (Liverpool) 3 Kepa Arrizabalaga (Real Madrid) 1 Ederson (Manchester City) 1 Kamil Grabara (Copenhagen) 1 Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) 1 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) 1 Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) 1 Andre Onana (Manchester United) 1 Ivan Provedel (Lazio) 1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona) 1 DEFENDERS Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen) 18 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 11 Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen) 10 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 10 Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen) 8 Kyle Walker (Manchester City) 7 Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) 6 Federico Dimarco (Internazionale) 6 Bremer (Juventus) 5 Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid) 5 Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur) 4 Jean-Clair Todibo (Nice) 4 Micky van de Ven…

Ousmane DIOMANDE Sporting (Por) Age: 20 Centre-back The hefty €80 million release clause that Lisbon big guns Sporting have slapped on the highly-rated Ivorian centre-back does not appear to be dampening the interest of a host of leading Premier League teams. Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester City and Chelsea are all thought to be very keen on the man-mountain defender and will be heartened by rumours that he has a soft spot for English football. Diomande, under contract to Sporting until 2027, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent times. Just four years ago, he was performing in the Ivorian third division with Olympic Sport Abobo; in the 2021-22 season he was still a member of the Midtjylland youth team in Denmark, and he spent part of the 2022-23 campaign on loan…

“ Are you on the brink of having a very talented generation of Ghanaian footballers at your disposal? I’ll answer that question in two ways. One, yes. I’m delighted to be head coach of the Black Stars, and with the prospect of these young players that have come through the system and are also doing well at their respective clubs. As a head coach, that’s a nice feeling. But Ghana has always produced good young players and, in my time as coach, I’ve been made aware of so many on our database, so many young Ghanaian lads, be it born in Ghana, or in Europe but able to represent the country. There is a lot of talent out there, who predominantly play in Europe and, of course, in the local…

Manchester City wrapped up a trophy-laden 2023 with a 4-0 defeat of Brazil’s Fluminense to win their first Club World Cup, confirming Europe’s dominance of a competition that will expand to 32 teams in 2025. All it took was 40 seconds for City to take control of the final against the Rio club. Nathan Ake exploited an avenue of space to curl an effort against the woodwork and Julian Alvarez, stepping in for marquee striker Erling Haaland, drew on his instinct to meet the rebound. After all the build-up to the showpiece event, this felt anti-climactic – albeit predictable. It was a reflection of the balance of power in the global game, with Europe far ahead of the rest because of huge investment. The Brazilians overcame African champions Al Ahly…

Four days after winning the Liga MX title, Club America played a celebratory friendly against Barcelona in Dallas. The result was a 3-2 victory for the Mexican champions, but it left a significant memory: just before the final whistle, a fan jumped onto the field, ran in front of Xavi and Robert Lewandowski, ignoring them, and went to hug a Spanish player, unknown in his country, Alvaro Fidalgo, one of the stars of the Mexican champions. Las Aguilas have traditionally been the most powerful team in Mexican football. Owned by the Televisa media consortium, they are the team with the most titles in Mexico, usually invest millions of dollars in new signings every season and are always at the top of the table. However, they had not won a Liga…

Assuming there is no major political fall out from its attempts to annex part of Guyana, then Venezuela will host the South American Under-23 Championship between January 20 and February11, effectively kicking off the 2024 season in the continent. The ten nations are divided into two groups. The hosts are together with Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia in the capital of Caracas, while Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and Peru meet in Valencia just over100 miles to the west. The top two from each group go through to the second phase, with the matches staged a little further to the west in Barquisimeto’s impressive Metropolitano Stadium. At stake are two places at the Paris Olympics. This may not seem like a big deal, but Olympic football has a special place in…

FEBRUARY 10 2023 Asian Cup final 11 2023 AFCON final 23 2023-24 Women’s UEFA Nations League semi-finals 25 English League Cup final 28 2023-24 Women’s UEFA Nations League final MARCH 21 Euro 2024 play-off semi-finals 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals CONCACAF 2026 World Cup qualifying begins Asian 2026 World Cup qualifying continues 24 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League final 26 Euro 2024 play-off finals 31 Women’s English League Cup final APRIL 6 Spanish Cup final MAY 11 Oceania Champions League begins 11/18 Asian Champions League final 12 Women’s FA Cup final 15 Italian Cup final 18 Bundesliga final day WSL final day Ligue1 final day 19 Premier League final day 19/26 African Champions League final 22 Europa League final 25 Women’s UEFA Champions League final FA Cup final German Cup final…

The good news for Barcelona is that they’re in the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time in three seasons and that, while they’re facing the Italian champions, Napoli are nothing like the force they were last season. And… well, that’s about it. By every other metric – league form, finances, tactical development – they’re struggling. Defeat to table-topping Girona followed by a1-1 draw at Valencia meant that Barca went into Christmas fourth in La Liga, seven points behind the surprise leaders. They only lost twice in the league in the first half of the campaign, and the financial stratification of Spanish football means that Champions League qualification remains almost guaranteed, but performances were poor. Even the likelihood that Girona will stutter at some point is little…

“About Brazil, I don’t know if it’s true or not, they didn’t talk to me”Roma boss Jose Mourinho on rumours linking him with the Brazil job after Carlo Ancelotti was ruled out of the running £1.03bn Price that Sir Jim Ratcliffe paid the Glazer family for a 25 per cent stake in Manchester United. 8 Goals scored by Solomon Islands striker John Orobulu at the 2023 Pacific Games, the tournament’s top scorer. 29 Years that Hong Kong had to wait to beat China – a wait that came to an end in January after a friendly in Abu Dhabi between the neighbouring countries. 3 Confirmed bids to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with Brazil competing against joint-bids from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Mexico and the…

Concern over the absence of some of the game’s biggest and most marketable names from the group stage of the Women’s Champions League did not take long to prompt change. This season’s group stage was barely taking shape before UEFA announced the competition would, from 2025-26, follow the men’s event in adopting a modified form of the Swiss system. This will feature18 clubs, each playing six teams once, with the top four qualifying automatically to an eight-team knockout stage and the clubs 5th-12th playing-off for the other four places. A second European competition will also be created, incorporating clubs knocked out of the Champions League qualifying rounds with non-champions of some mid-ranking leagues. There will be more clashes between big teams in the early stages, a safety net for big…

Chasing their first league title since 1995, Botafogo began the 2023 Brazilian national championship like a train, stringing together a sequence of wins while their rivals floundered. By the halfway stage, they had an extraordinary 13-point lead. Too big to lose? Not at all. A collapse of11 consecutive winless matches meant that they eventually crawled over the line a melancholy fifth. So, what went wrong? Perhaps the main problem was that everything went too right. At the start of the season, fifth place would have been seen as a triumph. This was not a team that had been constructed to be champions. Portuguese coach Luis Castro assembled the side in 2022, their first season back in the top flight, on entirely pragmatic lines. His Botafogo were strong in the air…

Defending champions Al Ahly have plodded through the group phase of the African Champions League in recent years, only to step up a gear in the quarter-finals and go on to win the trophy. Therefore, supporters of the Egyptian giants will not be overly concerned by a mediocre start to this season’s campaign where, albeit unbeaten, they have drawn two of their first three matches in Group D. The home draw with Algeria’s Chabab Belouizdad did raise some eyebrows but it came on the eve of their participation at the Club World Cup, which was a distraction and where they went out in the semi-final to Fluminense of Brazil after seeing off Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad. Al Ahly have won three of the last four Champions League titles with last…

New Caledonia won their eighth Pacific Games title, edging out the hosts in a dramatic gold medal play-off, but the tournament in the Solomon Islands was dogged by travel problems. A total of13 sides had entered, but Kiribati did not show up, Tuvalu arrived late and missed their first fixture, and the Cook Islands left early after their group-stage elimination. New Caledonia were runners-up in 2019 to New Zealand’s Under-23 team, who did not enter this time, and coach Johann Sidaner won with a side largely drawn from New Caledonia’s Super Ligue alongside two from the French fifth tier: Cesar Zeoula (US Chauvigny) and Lues Waya (USSA Vertou). Only the early part of the Games was in the official FIFA international window. This deprived the tournament’s latter stages of stars…

Leeds Utd 3 Newcastle Utd 4 2001-02 Premier League, Elland Road “When I first moved to Newcastle, everything was new – the language, the lifestyle, the weather – it was all completely different. But the city’s really close and there’s only one team. There’s so much passion for football and I really engaged with that. My kids were born and grew up in Newcastle, so now I feel like it’s my second home. After Ruud Gullit left in1999, Bobby Robson built that team spirit in the dressing room. He made sure everybody arrived at the club earlier and spent more time together. He was very clear in his team talks and always knew what we needed. We had a lot of respect for him. Everything started working perfectly under him.…