English // marca
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
FIFA Issues Integrity Warning for 2026 World Cup Vote
Soccer
FIFA Issues Integrity Warning for 2026 World Cup Vote
Stung by previous incidents of misconduct, soccer’s governing body has reminded voters in a letter not to accept inducements from bidding nations.
Monday, January 29, 2018
At African Soccer Event, Games of Cat and Mouse
Soccer
At African Soccer Event, Games of Cat and Mouse
The 16-team African Nations Championship may be a second-tier event, but for young players and the agents and scouts who stalk them, it is also a lucrative marketplace for talent.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Neil Warnock dreams of inflicting more FA Cup pain on Manchester City
Football | The Guardian
Neil Warnock dreams of inflicting more FA Cup pain on Manchester City
The veteran Cardiff manager has form of knocking out City and hopes memories of 1991 with Notts County can inspire his team against Pep Guardiola’s side
Neil Warnock is in his element, laughing at the memory of his biggest scalp in the FA Cup, a competition that he has been involved in for 49 years, 37 as a manager, he has just been told. Over the past half-hour he has talked about his mixture of excitement and dread at hosting Manchester City – “we just don’t want to get battered” – his love for how Arsène Wenger defies abuse from supporters and how, as a qualified chiropodist, he still regards himself as the in-growing toenail specialist at Cardiff.
Warnock grins as he recalls that 1-0 win in 1991, against Manchester City at Meadow Lane while he was in charge at Notts County, when he had a back four that “couldn’t pass water” and feels he was first tagged a long-ball merchant. It is apt then that Pep Guardiola’s side visit in the fourth round on Sunday.
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Saturday, January 27, 2018
José Mourinho relieved as Sánchez survives United debut unscathed
Football | The Guardian
José Mourinho relieved as Sánchez survives United debut unscathed
• Manager got what he was expecting from experienced Chilean
• ‘Alexis is a tough guy – I’m happy with everything he did’
• ‘Alexis is a tough guy – I’m happy with everything he did’
José Mourinho praised Alexis Sánchez’s “tough guy” attitude as the Chilean weathered some hefty tackles to provide two assists on debut as Manchester United eased beyond Yeovil and into the FA Cup fifth round.
Sánchez, English football’s highest paid player and already a two-time FA Cup winner, set up the visitors’ first two goals before departing 18 minutes from time with the Premier League club having punctured Yeovil’s early optimism. The former Arsenal forward had trained only twice with his new team-mates in the build-up to this fixture but his eye-catching contribution did not surprise his new manager.
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Friday, January 26, 2018
Football transfer rumours: Arsenal's Olivier Giroud to Chelsea?
Football | The Guardian
Football transfer rumours: Arsenal's Olivier Giroud to Chelsea?
Today’s piffle is tall
Unable to get a start in a Real Madrid team that is already 19 points off the pace in La Liga, Mateo Kovacic could be offered a change of scenery by José Mourinho, who has just signed a new contract of his own at Manchester United. Despite his inability to impress Zinedine Zidane, the Croatian midfielder could be offered a deal by Manchester United, who see him as a possible heir apparent to Michael Carrick, who is not getting any younger. Having made three appearances in Mourinho’s first team in the first half of this season, United’s 20-year-old defender Axel Tuanzebe has joined Championship promotion challengers Aston Villa on loan.
Related: José Mourinho signs new deal but confusion reigns over Sanchéz
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Thursday, January 25, 2018
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Jersey’s claim for Uefa membership status still falling on deaf ears
Football | The Guardian
Jersey’s claim for Uefa membership status still falling on deaf ears
The Channel Island want to become the 56th member and believe the Nations League is the perfect chance to get into the international game
This week Uefa makes its inaugural draw of the Nations League, which it sees as the home of fresh opportunity. Not everyone is so sure . Some remain unwillingly on the outside looking in and the Jersey Football Association’s quest to become part of the 55-strong Uefa membership has led to its taking a case to the court of arbitration for sport.
Next month – at the behest of Cas – Uefa’s congress will consider Jersey’s bid. It will be heard, though, against a backdrop of anger directly linked to the Nations League in which the JFA believes it can play a salient part.
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Monday, January 22, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Mike Ashley and Amanda Staveley are adding to the fog on the Tyne
Football | The Guardian
Mike Ashley and Amanda Staveley are adding to the fog on the Tyne
The takeover uncertainty leaves Newcastle in limbo, with no obvious direction, a willing but limited team and a manager happy to leave everyone wondering whether he will quit
When Kevin Keegan took over as manager at Newcastle United in 1992, the first thing he wanted to do was restore some pride in the place. Keegan had been at St James’ Park as a player eight years earlier and nothing seemed to have been touched since he left. He was shocked by how filthy everything was and sure they were still the same stains on the communal baths at the club’s training ground that had been there in his day.
The water had scum floating on the surface and Keegan’s first request to the board for money was not for a new player but for the kind of secret makeover, on his first weekend back, that has become fashionable on daytime television. The walls got a lick of paint, the baths were jetted down and the first the players knew about it was the following Monday morning when they turned up to find the place gleaming. Newcastle, Keegan told them, needed to have standards. The club was too important, with too much going for it, not to be treated with care.
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Saturday, January 20, 2018
On Sánchez, City Passes and United Strikes
Soccer
On Sánchez, City Passes and United Strikes
Manchester United reels in a star, but it (and Arsenal, and Chelsea) still has far to go to catch Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Socceroos to play Colombia in London as part of World Cup preparations
Football | The Guardian
Socceroos to play Colombia in London as part of World Cup preparations
New coach to run rule over players on 27 March Game comes four days after friendly against Norway in Oslo
The Socceroos’ preparations for the 2018 World Cup will take in a friendly match in the familiar surrounds of Craven Cottage against Colombia on 27 March, four days after they play Norway in Oslo in what is expected to be the still-to-be-appointed national team coach’s first game in charge.
Related: Mathew Ryan: ‘English pundits tend to be critical of goalkeepers’
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Eric Wynalda Discusses His Financial Problems — and Everything Else
Soccer
Eric Wynalda Discusses His Financial Problems — and Everything Else
The former member of the United States national team is taking an aggressive outsider approach in his campaign to be president of U.S. Soccer.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Morocco Wants to Host the World Cup. Just Don’t Ask for Any Details.
Soccer
Morocco Wants to Host the World Cup. Just Don’t Ask for Any Details.
Five months after declaring its interest in hosting the 2026 World Cup, Morocco hasn’t said much about how it proposes to stage the world’s most-watched sporting event.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Liverpool Beats Manchester City but Barely Dents Its Invincible Aura
Soccer
Liverpool Beats Manchester City but Barely Dents Its Invincible Aura
Liverpool ensured Manchester City would not go unbeaten through its Premier League schedule, but its 4-3 victory was more of a singular achievement than a game plan for others to follow.
Monday, January 15, 2018
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Said & Done: ‘What women will put up with is a bit different from guys’
Football | The Guardian
Said & Done: ‘What women will put up with is a bit different from guys’
The week in football – also featuring: Coutinho, Fifa and Onésimo
Martin Glenn on what the FA learned in 2017: “I think culturally what women will be prepared to put up with has been a bit different from guys. I guess banter would be a case in point.”
• His core message on the FA’s diversity agenda, three months after he called racially discriminatory remarks made by Mark Sampson “inappropriate banter”: “We’re there to set an example.”
Saturday, January 13, 2018
New Sound at Saudi Soccer Game: Women Cheering From the Stands
Soccer
New Sound at Saudi Soccer Game: Women Cheering From the Stands
Saudi women have long had to content themselves with watching their favorite sports teams on television. But on Friday, women were allowed into a public stadium for the first time.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Football | The Guardian
Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
The post-Coutinho era begins for Liverpool, Sam Allardyce looks to impress at Wembley and the underrated Riyad Mahrez has a chance to shine
It is time for Liverpool to move on from Philippe Coutinho and what a way to start that process – a visit from runaway league leaders, Manchester City. The nature of the opponent means Jürgen Klopp may decide to play things safer than normal, and specifically in midfield – deploying former City player James Milner alongside, say, Georginio Wijnaldum and Emre Can. Alternatively, Klopp may decide to be Klopp and simply go for it. That could be revealing in terms of how he sees the centre of his team shaping up post-Coutinho. There has been talk of a specific player having been targeted to fill the gap, but in the short term Klopp will have to look from within, which will likely mean a place for the fit-again Adam Lallana. The more interesting choice would arguably be Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who after a slow start to life at Anfield has impressed on a consistent basis. Oxlade-Chamberlain’s desire is to play centrally regularly and he may now get his wish, starting with Sunday’s mouthwatering contest. SN
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Thursday, January 11, 2018
Viktor Orbán’s reckless football obsession
Football | The Guardian
Viktor Orbán’s reckless football obsession
The Hungarian prime minister has been lavishing public money on his favourite sport for years. Could it be his undoing? By David Goldblatt and Daniel Nolan
With one main street and a couple of grocery shops, Felcsút looks like any other sleepy Hungarian village. That is until you catch sight of the football stadium, which dwarfs the other buildings in this town of 1,800 people, about 25 miles west of Budapest. The Pancho Arena, completed in 2014, is surely among the world’s most striking football grounds, more cathedral than stadium, with a swooping shingled roof, copper turrets and ornate wooden vaults thrusting upward around the interior.
Bearing the nickname that Real Madrid fans gave to Hungary’s greatest footballer, the striker Ferenc Puskás, in the 1950s, the Pancho Arena is home to a club also named in his honour, Puskás Akadémia FC, which was founded in 2007, and was recently promoted into the Hungarian first division. The stadium has a capacity of 3,800, more than twice the size of the town. But much as Puskás himself had little connection to Felcsút – he began his club career in Budapest, and never set foot in the small town – the stadium isn’t really here for the locals.
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Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Monday, January 8, 2018
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Happy-go-lucky Shrewsbury ready to punish Moyes’s grim West Ham realism | Paul Wilson
Football | The Guardian
Happy-go-lucky Shrewsbury ready to punish Moyes’s grim West Ham realism | Paul Wilson
Paul Hurst’s high-flyers have been defying expectations all season and will offer a stern FA Cup test for a side with both eyes on Premier League safety
A funny thing happened when Shrewsbury Town played at Wigan on Boxing Day. The visitors earned a goalless draw to end a run of five straight wins by the League One leaders, though that was not entirely unexpected. What was odd was that when the home crowd chanted: “We are top of the league,” the away fans responded with: “We are staying up.”
At that precise point Shrewsbury were second in the table, as they are still, about to reach the same points total by new year as they managed in the whole of last season. There was a time when Shrewsbury were worried about relegation; when Paul Hurst took over in October 2016 they were bottom of the division, though since then the climb has been steady and impressive.
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Saturday, January 6, 2018
Antonio Conte issues warning to critical Premier League managers
Antonio Conte has warned his Premier League managerial rivals that he is ready for a "fight" if they maintain their public criticism of him and his Chelsea players.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho made the latest in a series of thinly-veiled barbs towards Conte this week, when he referred to coaches who act like "a clown on the touchline," while Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger doubled down on his accusation that Eden Hazard dived to win a penalty in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.
A visibly annoyed Conte responded in his Friday news conference by suggesting that Mourinho has a memory problem when it comes to his own past actions on the pitch, and claiming that Wenger should show more respect for referees and other clubs.
And the Italian went on to say that he is prepared to meet fire with fire if he feels he or his players are being unfairly singled out.
Shoves and Shouts Mar a Winning Debut at Anfield
Soccer
Shoves and Shouts Mar a Winning Debut at Anfield
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk beat Everton with a late header in his Anfield debut, but an angry confrontation marred a fiery match between the bitter rivals.
Friday, January 5, 2018
Spurs’ Son Heung-min matches Pedro Obiang’s strike in draw with West Ham
Football | The Guardian
Spurs’ Son Heung-min matches Pedro Obiang’s strike in draw with West Ham
There was little on for Pedro Obiang. Just as there had been little on for West Ham United for 70 minutes, which had not been a great surprise given the emphasis David Moyes has placed on defensive solidity. Obiang had three Tottenham players in his vicinity but none of them moved to close him down and so he edged forward a little and decided to have a shot.
What happened next sent the travelling supporters into raptures and represented the latest step in the right direction for the club’s relegation battle. From fully 25 yards, Obiang aimed a shot at Hugo Lloris’s near, top corner and the goalkeeper could only feel its fizz as it beat him.
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Thursday, January 4, 2018
Vitaly Mutko Steps Down as Head of World Cup Organizing Committee
Soccer
Vitaly Mutko Steps Down as Head of World Cup Organizing Committee
Putin’s deputy prime minister was barred for life from the Olympics for his role in Russia’s doping program.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Harry Kane Breaks 2 Records With 3 Goals in Tottenham’s Win
Soccer
Harry Kane Breaks 2 Records With 3 Goals in Tottenham’s Win
Kane passed the mark for most Premier League goals in a calendar year with his 37th goal, and also ensured having the most international and club goals combined in 2017.
