31 October 2016

Return legs from round three

The first 3 days of next month are reserved for the two European cup tournaments. These are just copied games from previous round, but in reverse order.

For the first time in this season's Champions league one game will start earlier than expected. And immediately on the first day of the competition one match will draw special attention.

Tuesday, 01 November at 18.45 CET: Besiktas - Napoli.

Tuesday, 01 November at 20.45 CET: Atletico Madrid - Rostov.
Tuesday, 01 November at 20.45 CET: Basel - PSG.
Tuesday, 01 November at 20.45 CET: Benfica - Dynamo Kyiv.
Tuesday, 01 November at 20.45 CET: Borussia Moenchengladbach - Celtic.
Tuesday, 01 November at 20.45 CET: Ludogorets Razgrad - Arsenal.
Tuesday, 01 November at 20.45 CET: Manchester City - Barcelona.
Tuesday, 01 November at 20.45 CET: PSV Eindhoven - Bayern Munich.

Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: Borussia Dortmund - Sporting.
Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: FC Copenhagen - Leicester.
Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: Juventus - Lyon.
Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: Legia - Real Madrid.
Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: Monaco - CSKA Moscow.
Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: Porto - Club Brugge.
Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: Sevilla - Dinamo Zagreb.
Wednesday, 02 November at 20.45 CET: Tottenham - Bayer Leverkusen.

In matchday 3 we had two, but next week three time slots are back for the always exciting Europa league. Like in round 3, some interesting matches are expected into (the reverse) round 4 as well.

Thursday, 03 November at 17.00 CET: FC Astana - Olympiacos.

Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Anderlecht - Mainz.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: APOEL Nicosia - Young Boys.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Astra - Viktoria Plzen.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Athletic Bilbao - Genk.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Austria Vienna - Roma.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Fenerbahce - Manchester United.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Maccabi Tel Aviv - AZ Alkmaar.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Qabala - St. Etienne.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Sassuolo - Rapid Vienna.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Zenit St. Petersburg - Dundalk.
Thursday, 03 November at 19.00 CET: Zorya Luhansk - Feyenoord.

Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Ajax - Celta Vigo.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Braga - Konyaspor.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Forentina - Slovan Liberec.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Gent - Shakhtar Donetsk.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Nice - Red Bull Salzburg.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Panathinaikos - Standard Liege.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: PAOK - Qarabag.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Schalke - Krasnodar.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Southampton - Inter.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Sparta Prague - Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Villarreal - Osmanlispor.
Thursday, 03 November at 21.05 CET: Zurich - Steaua.

30 October 2016

Charges against Infantino dropped

In the middle of the week UEFA has conducted its internal investigation over a loan given to the Slovenian FA. Last month Scandinavian media reported that in 2015 UEFA's general secretary Gianni Infantino borrowed 4 million euros to Slovenian president Aleksander Ceferin. At the end the European football association was saying that no rules are broken and that amount was 'granted in real exception'.

29 October 2016

One Central American country suspended

From today we will not see much from Guatemala on international level because FIFA has suspended the federation 'with immediate effect'. The federation of this Central American nation does not have law that corresponds to those with FIFA and CONCACAF. Guatemalan officials now are given a deadline until 31 July to normalize changes with the statute.

28 October 2016

English hooliganism

Where no one expected to happen, chaos boiled yesterday in a football match in London.
At the FA cup game between West Ham and Chelsea, supporters from both rivals threw everything at each other with bottles, chairs, metal coins. Everyone condemned the violence - even the politicians, which want from harsh penalties for the troublemakers to closure of stadiums (for both teams). And the epilogue of this stupidity is: 6 fans arrested, 3 of them charged plus (according to West Ham investigation) 200 identified supporters who will never enter the pitch again in their life.

27 October 2016

Valencia fined - Barcelona warned

Last weekend Valencia and Barcelona played an entertaining match, but during those 90 plus minutes some scenes turned ugly.
Spanish FA has penalized Valencia with 1.500 euros for the incident when Neymar Jr. was hit by an object near the touchline. If similar incident occurs the team could face closure of its stadium.
After scoring a last minute winning penalty, Catalan celebrations was interpreted as 'provocation' in front of Valencia fanatical supporters 'Curva nord'. Thus, the guests have passed with only a warning.

26 October 2016

Former Brazilian legend has died

A friend, brother and a teammate in Pele's golden generation unfortunately has died on Tuesday. Brazilian captain Carlos Alberto, which in 1970 lifted the World cup in Mexico, passed away from heart attack in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 72. Apart from winning the trophy, he will be remembered mostly with the last beautiful and fantastic volley goal in the final against Italy.

Hefty punishment by FIFA

Real and Atletico Madrid have done a consistent 'damage' to the sport and after penalize the clubs, FIFA had no other option but to scourge the federation as well. Because of violation of signing minors into their squad, Spanish FA has to pay 220.000 Swiss francs (203.276 euros). Also the federation was given a deadline of six months to amend and control the present system of international transfer of minors within Spain.

25 October 2016

The race is on for the best player

The organizers of the competition, 'France football', today has released the candidates for the Ballon d'Or. In other words, who will be the best player for 2016 conducted solely from the French magazine?
Since the three finalists were thrown out, from this year nominees are 'shortlisted to only' 30 players, thus everyone will be favorite to take the prize. One of these players can win the award: Sergio Aguero, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gareth Bale, Gianluigi Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin de Bruyne, Paulo Dybala, Diego Godin, Antoine Griezmann, Gonzalo Higuain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta, Koke, Toni Kroos, Robert Lewandowski, Hugo Lloris, Riyad Mahrez, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Neymar Jr, Dimitri Payet, Pepe, Paul Pogba, Rui Patricio, Sergio Ramos, Luis Suarez, Jamie Vardy and Arturo Vidal. Whether someone is 'forced' to be on the list or got a deserved invitation, judge for yourself.
The winner will be known after selected journalists from Europe will cast their vote in Paris on 13 December. In the past eight years only two men have dominated the award: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, so there will be no surprise if one of the two lift the prize again.

24 October 2016

What is Zabivaka?

On the last working day of this week, Russian fans have chosen the mascot which will represent 2018 World cup in their own country. The campaign started nearly at the end of September when three candidates were offered between a cat, a tiger and a wolf. Results were published on a live televised show on public Channel 1: the cat picked up 20 percent of votes, followed by the tiger with 27 percent. As the official mascot of the World cup in Russia, football supporters around the world in two years time will meet the wolf gathering 53 percent of the votes.
We think that this wolf will not be scary and that fans will be friendly with him, calling him by his first name - Zabivaka.

23 October 2016

Former FIFA official suspended

Following an information that he has done a forgery, the world football organization this week sanctioned Worawi Makudi on five years. During that time, the ex-Thailand FA president and FIFA executive member cannot perform or do any activities in football. Parallel with the punishment, on falsifying records, now the former official has to pay a fine of 10.000 Swiss francs (9.243 euros).

22 October 2016

Kidnapped coach

Australian football trainer, who for seven years worked in Yemen, is vanished from the capital. Local media identified him as Craig Bruce McAllister was kidnapped in Sanaa. The coach disappeared without a trace late last month after regular training of Al Ahli.
Country's foreign minister Julie Bishop confirmed on Wednesday that an Australian national has been missing in Yemen.

21 October 2016

Europa league third round results

Celta Vigo - Ajax 2:2

Scorers: 0:1 22 Hakim Ziyech
              1:1 29 Andreu Fontas
              1:2 71 Amin Younes
              2:2 82 Fabian Orellana

Hapoel Beer Sheva - Sparta Prague 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 70 Matej Pulkrab

Konyaspor - Braga 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 09 Deni Milosevic
              1:1 54 Ahmed Hassan Koka

Krasnodar - Schalke 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 10 Yevheniy Konoplyanka

Osmanlispor - Villarreal 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 22 Raul Rusescu
              2:0 24 Raul Rusescu
              2:1 55 Alfred N'Diaye
              2:2 73 Alexandre Pato

Qarabag - PAOK 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 56 Dani Quintana
              2:0 87 Rahid Amirquilev

Red Bull Salzburg - Nice 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 13 Alassane Plea

Shakhtar Donetsk - Gent 5:0

Scorers: 1:0 12 Viktor Kovalenko
              2:0 29 Facundo Ferreyra
              3:0 46 Bernard
              4:0 74 Taison
              5:0 85 Maksym Malyshev

Slovan Liberec - Fiorentina 1:3

Scorers: 0:1 08 Nikola Kalinic
              0:2 23 Nikola Kalinic
              1:2 57 Petr Sevcik
              1:3 70 Khouma Babacar

Standard Liege - Panathinaikos 2:2

Scorers: 0:1 12 Victor Ibarbo
              0:2 36 Victor Ibarbo
              1:2 45+1-pen Edmilson Junior
              2:2 81 Ishak Belfodil

Steaua - Zurich 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 63 Bojan Golubovic
              1:1 85 Moussa Kone

AZ Alkmaar - Maccabi Tel Aviv 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 23 Ezequiel Scarione
              1:1 72 Robert Muhren
              1:2 81 Eyal Golasa

Dundalk - Zenit St. Petersburg 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 51 Robbie Benson
              1:1 70 Robert Mak
              1:2 77 Giuliano

Feyenoord - Zorya Luhansk 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 55 Nicolai Jorgensen

Genk - Athletic Bilbao 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 40 Jakub Brabec
              2:0 83 Wilfred Onyinye Ndidi

Mainz - Anderlecht 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 10-pen Yunus Malli
              1:1 65 Lukasz Teodorczyk

Manchester United - Fenerbahce 4:1

Scorers: 1:0 31-pen Paul Pogba
              2:0 34-pen Anthony Martial
              3:0 45+1 Paul Pogba
              4:0 48 Jesse Lingard
              4:1 83 Robin van Persie

Olympiacos - Astana 4:1

Scorers: 1:0 25 Diogo Figueiras
              2:0 33 Tarik Elyounoussi
              3:0 34 Seba
              3:1 53 Junior Kabananga
              4:1 65 Seba

Rapid Vienna - Sassuolo 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 07 Louis Schaub
              1:1 66-own goal Thomas Schrammel

Roma - Austria Vienna 3:3

Scorers: 0:1 16 Raphael Holzhauser
              1:1 19 Stephan el Shaarawy
              2:1 34 Stephan el Shaarawy
              3:1 69 Alessandro Florenzi
              3:2 82 Dominik Prokop
              3:3 83 Olarenwaju Kayode

Viktoria Plzen - Astra 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 41 Denis Alibec
              0:2 64-own goal Tomas Horava
              1:2 86 Tomas Horava

Young Boys - APOEL Nicosia 3:1

Scorers: 0:1 13 Georgios Efrem
              1:1 17 Giullaume Hoarau
              2:1 52 Giullaume Hoarau
              3:1 82-pen Giullaume Hoarau

20 October 2016

Incredible 28 goals from 8 games

Arsenal - Ludogorets Razgrad 6:0

Scorers: 1:0 12 Alexis Sanchez
              2:0 42 Theo Walcott
              3:0 46 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
              4:0 56 Mesut Ozil
              5:0 83 Mesut Ozil
              6:0 87 Mesut Ozil

Barcelona - Manchester City 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 16 Lionel Messi
              2:0 60 Lionel Messi
              3:0 69 Lionel Messi
              4:0 89 Neymar Jr.

Bayern Munich - PSV Eindhoven 4:1 

Scorers: 1:0 13 Thomas Muller
              2:0 21 Joshua Kimmich
              2:1 41 Luciano Narsingh
              3:1 59 Robert Lewandowski
              4:1 84 Arjen Roben

Celtic - Borussia Moenchengladbach 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 57 Lars Stindl
              0:2 77 Andre Hahn

Dynamo Kyiv - Benfica 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 09-pen Eduardo Salvio
              0:2 54 Franco Emanuel Cervi

Napoli - Besiktas 2:3

Scorers: 0:1 12 Adriano Correia
              1:1 30 Dries Mertens
              1:2 37 Vincent Aboubakar
              2:2 69-pen Manolo Gabbiadini
              2:3 86 Vincent Aboubakar

PSG - Basel 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 40 Angel di Maria
              2:0 62 Lucas Moura
              3:0 90+3-pen Edinson Cavani

Rostov - Atletico Madrid 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 61 Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco

19 October 2016

Groups known for the African championship

Sixteen teams - one wish. Gabon next year will host the thirty-first edition of the TOTAL Africa Cup of Nations tournament. From 14 January till 05 February the best teams from the continent will entertain us in 4 cities. Games from group A will be played in Libreville, group B will be determined in Franceville, C in Oyem while Port Gentil will welcome group D. Among other matches, in the capital Libreville will be played the opening and final match.

Group A: Gabon, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau.

Group B: Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Zimbabwe.

Group C: Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Togo.

Group D: Ghana, Mali, Egypt, Uganda.

Mega derby ahead of us

This evening will be rounding up the rest eight matches from the Champions league. In the third leg tonight one game will have so much attention which is called, without doubt, clash of the titans.

- Arsenal - Ludogorets Razgrad. Winless in group A, Ludogorets from Razgrad is playing one of the most important game. The Bulgarian champions simply have to win if they want to progress to the knockout stages. Arsenal is very difficult opponent to beat, specially at home, so the English team would have no problem collecting  all three points.
- Barcelona - Manchester City. This is the game where everyone talks about. Tonight we will have the first leg and the return will follow later on. Some derby games tends to be scoreless, but some very entertaining. We hope that these two will chose the second option. Confident Barcelona is back on winning track and are always victorious, no matter who their rivals are. Manchester City seems to have no slip ups as visitors and it will be interesting to see their formation in Camp Nou, prepared by Barcelona's former manager. In previous meetings both sides were victorious by beating each other. However this evening we sense that there will be no surprise as all points will stay at home. Simply the strength of the Catalans is unbreakable.
- Celtic - Borussia Moenchengladbach. As is said yesterday, no team can underestimates the Germans. Borussia Moenchengladbach are achieving mixed results as visitors opposing to Celtic who plays very confident at home. The Scottish team seems to find the right formula for the games, but tonight the will share points with their rivals.
- Dynamo Kyiv - Benfica. Dynamo Kyiv's latest home for is concerning which gives plenty of joy for Benfica to achieve their goal. Both teams still are without a win, so this is a must game for the two. Because of the home crowd Dynamo is a little bit closer to victory, however they will play out a tough draw with the Portuguese.
- Napoli - Besiktas. Italians Napoli are favorites to claim new win and with that step one foot closer into the knockout round. They are playing Besiktas tonight who will try to postpone their rivals' ticket for the next stage. The away team, who are masters of stalemates so far in group B, will try to play another one. But Napoli seems to be the strongest team.
- Rostov - Atletico Madrid. Playing last against first it is immediately known what the outcome will be. Atletico Madrid are not a team who is scoring plenty of goals and Rostov seems to be confident at home. This means that we are expecting a hard, tough game with (maybe) only one goal difference in the game. Thus, the visiting team should confirm third straight win and book a place onto the next year knockout stage.

Case opened against two European members

FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings versus Kosovo and Croatia for improper chants on their qualification game for World cup 2018 in Russia, which was played on 06 October. Supporters from both teams chanted indecent language towards Serbs. The world football organization did not state when the final decision will be announced.

Porto stole the away win in dramatic finish

Club Brugge - Porto 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 11 Jelle Vossen
              1:1 68 Miguel Layun
              1:2 90+2-pen Andre Silva

CSKA Moscow - Monaco 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 34 Lacina Traore
              1:1 87 Bernardo Silva

Dinamo Zagreb - Sevilla 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 37 Samir Nasri

Leicester - FC Copenhagen 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 40 Riyad Mahrez

Real Madrid - Legia 5:1

Scorers: 1:0 15 Gareth Bale
              2:0 19-own goal Tomasz Jodlowiec
              2:1 22-pen Miroslav Radovic
              3:1 36 Marco Asensio
              4:1 68 Lucas Vasquez
              5:1 84 Alvaro Morata

Sporting - Borussia Dortmund 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 09 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
              0:2 43 Julian Weigl
              1:2 66 Bruno Cesar

18 October 2016

Crazy bet with a fan

Antalyaspor is stuck at the bottom of the Turkish first division (Super Lig). Yesterday night they completed round 7 from the championship against Rizespor and in the end the team received an equalizing goal at the second minute of stoppage time. The result meant that the club remained winless for seven straight matches. After the game things started to get interesting with the team's main star.
Frustrated of how the club from Antalya is playing, (angry) supporters demanded some questions from the players. And on the 'mood' answering them was Samuel Eto'o. When one disappointed fan asked him 'We have Besiktas next, what will the state of the team be and when will we win?', the striker thought of an (original) idea. With a interpreter, the ex-Cameroonian international replied: 'We will finish in the top 10 of the Super Lig, I stand by what I said and my promise. Believe me, I will give you 100.000 euros if we do not finish in the top 10.'
For this bet to be real, the player wrote down his name and number. So the lucky supporter, which was identified in the Turkish media as Mehmet Akdeniz, will cross his fingers for his beloved Antalyaspor to finish in the lower part of the table at the end of the season and start spending this incredible sum.







Group stages on halfway, part one

First matches from round 3 are going to be played tonight. From all, only one can be distinguished as an interesting game.

- Club Brugge - Porto. Club Brugge looks to have an undefeated record at home, but in the Champions league the team cannot score even a goal. On the other hand Porto, who are achieving some mixed results, is expected to write the first victory in the group. However, it will not be easy for them to claim three points.
- CSKA Moscow - Monaco. Russian champions CSKA Moscow are struggling with the form at the moment and we can say the same thing for Monaco as well. In the group phase the hosts are still awaiting its first win, are slight favorites, but tonight's opponent are not naive. At this current form the visitors will be lucky enough if they can pull a draw from the match.
- Dinamo Zagreb - Sevilla. Croatian champions are still searching for the first win and are considering to be the worst team in group H. Europa league entrants Sevilla are not expected to have trouble this evening and although they cannot steal away victories, this is not a (serious) opponent to fear from.
- Leicester - FC Copenhagen. Many are surprised that Leicester is on top of the group. With another win here they will (practically) go to the knockout stage. However, 'the master' for stalemates will try to postpone that knockout ticket, and with another point tonight FC Copenhagen will stay on course for that second place.
- Real Madrid - Legia. If we want to see many goals this will be the right game, but it all depends on the players if they will be merciful. Dreadful Legia is given no chance against the mighty Real Madrid. Champions of the tournament, who are struggling with the form for the moment, is expected to write new three points against a weak rival whose goal drought will continue even tonight.
- Sporting - Borussia Dortmund. The previous match was for those who want to see plenty of goals, but this one is for everyone who want to watch (we hope) an thrilling and entertaining game. Excellent Sporting is inviolable at home whereas we know exactly how Germans never giving up on 90 plus minutes, so Borussia will do that the same. However, it will be tough for the Dortmund side to parry a strong team at home and that what makes this game special from the others. Games like these always gives us the thought on a draw, but home team is a little bit closer to victory.

Thailand wants to play away from home as hosts

Last Thursday at the age of 88 unfortunately died the monarch of Thailand king Bhumibol Adulyadej and since then mourning has been declared throughout the country on one year. Because of that many sporting activities has been cancelled.
One upcoming World cup qualifier match that Thailand should play on 15 November against Australia is now under big question. This game will surely go ahead as planned, but on foreign soil. The football association has requested from Australia and the Asian Football Confederation for relocation of the game. 'We have discussed two options with FIFA. First, we are hoping for an agreement with Australia to let us play an away match first. Second, we might have to find a neutral venue to play if the first option fails', said the spokesman Patit Supapong.
All parties are connected with FIFA so the final decision will be known soon.

17 October 2016

Mid leg next week

After regular matches in the national championships this weekend, European cup competitions are back next midweek. In both tournaments we reached the half round and from Tuesday till Thursday 40 matches will be played across the continent.

Two days of games is required to be played for the Champions league. There is no particular derby on the first day, but on the last one mega game awaits us in round 3. All 16 games are beginning from 20.45 CET.

Tuesday, 18 October: Bayer Leverkusen - Tottenham.
Tuesday, 18 October: Club Brugge - Porto.
Tuesday, 18 October: CSKA Moscow - Monaco.
Tuesday, 18 October: Dinamo Zagreb - Sevilla.
Tuesday, 18 October: Leicester - FC Copenhagen.
Tuesday, 18 October: Lyon - Juventus.
Tuesday, 18 October: Real Madrid - Legia.
Tuesday, 18 October: Sporting - Borussia Dortmund.

Wednesday, 19 October: Arsenal - Ludogorets Razgrad.
Wednesday, 19 October: Barcelona - Manchester City.
Wednesday, 19 October: Bayern Munich - PSV Eindhoven.
Wednesday, 19 October: Celtic - Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Wednesday, 19 October: Dynamo Kyiv - Benfica.
Wednesday, 19 October: Napoli - Besiktas.
Wednesday, 19 October: PSG - Basel.
Wednesday, 19 October: Rostov - Atletico Madrid.

At the most interesting European tournament 24 pairs will entertain us in one day. For the first time in the group phase this season (only) two time slots are going to be played in the Europa league.

Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Celta Vigo - Ajax.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Hapoel Beer Sheva - Sparta Prague.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Inter - Southampton.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Konyaspor - Braga.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Krasnodar - Schalke 
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Osmanlispor - Villarreal.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Qarabag - PAOK.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Red Bull Salzburg - Nice.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Shakhtar Donetsk - Gent.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Slovan Liberec - Fiorentina.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Standard Liege - Panathinaikos.
Thursday, 20 October at 19.00 CET: Steaua - Zurich.

Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: AZ Alkmaar - Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Dundalk - Zenit St. Petersburg.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Feyenoord - Zorya Luhansk.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Genk - Athletic Bilbao.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Mainz - Anderlecht.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Manchester United - Fenerbahce.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Olympiacos - Astana.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Rapid Vienna - Sassuolo.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Roma - Austria Vienna.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: St. Etienne - Qabala.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Viktoria Plzen - Astra.
Thursday, 20 October at 21.05 CET: Young Boys - APOEL Nicosia.

16 October 2016

Uncovering new scandal in South America

Earlier this week CONMEBOL has fell into a new affair. This time the 'guilty party' is 2007 event of Copa America which was played in Venezuela.
Maybe he did it out of guilt or conscience, former mayor of Maracaibo Giancarlo di Martino confessed that he bribed with one million dollars top officials at the organization to award his city the championships final. At that time CONMEBOL's president Nicolas Leoz, who later was charged in FIFA worldwide scandal, was part of it.
After the recognition, president Alejandro Dominguez has condemned the corruption and he ordered thorough investigation into the matter.

15 October 2016

Latest betting player

Greed for extra profit has slowly transferred among the footballers as well. Although players are not allowed placing bets on matches, they continue to do so (shamelessly).
The new 'hero on betting fever' has become Ivica Olic. Earning his salary at Munich 1860, ex-Croatian international allegedly was betting from 26 August until 11 September. Olic put his money on 9 second Bundesliga division matches.
The 37 year old, who has been punished by German FA, gets two match suspension and 20.000 euro fine. But the problem will not go away that easily as now the club can penalize him as well and could also be 'forced resting' from games.

Auxerre in foreign hands

AJ Auxerre is now officially owned by Chinese investor ORG Packaging. The company, specializing in food and packaging, has paid seven million euros for 60 percent shares from previous owners Limido family. New owners has promised to invest additional six million euros for the next three years to boost the club.
Auxerre is a third French team purchased from Chinese investors, after Nice and Sochaux.

14 October 2016

Santiago Bernabeu's new look

Many clubs around the world are remodeling their stadiums into marvelous and stunning architectures. Barcelona introduced its project in March for their Camp Nou, and now it is time to present ideas from their fierce rivals from the Spain's capital.
The city rejected Real Madrid several times on their ideas, but these days they finally approved a new project. With new facade and retractable roof Santiago Bernabeu will be a modern stadium which will cost 400 million euros. 'We will see a dramatic transformation of the Santiago Bernabeu. This stadium is one of the emblematic icons of our city and we want to make it one of the best stadiums in the world and the undisputed symbols of the strength of our capital' said president Florentino Perez. Constructions will start next year and is expected to be ready by 2020. Initially, the club wants to build a hotel and shopping centre near the stadium, but the city is not too happy about it.
One of the financiers is the International Petroleum Investment company an investment fund from Abu Dhabi.


13 October 2016

Three extra times, lots of goals, surprises, excitements and one cancellation

Puerto Rico - Curacao 2:2, 2:4 after extra time

Scorers: 1:0 16 Hector Ramos
              2:0 27 Michael Ramos
              2:1 63 Rangelo Janga
              2:2 85 Leandro Bacuna
              2:3 97 Felitciano Zschusschen
              2:4 120+1 Leandro Bacuna

Guyana - Jamaica 2:2, 2:4 after extra time

Scorers: 1:0 07 Adrian Butters
              2:0 30 Adrian Butters
              2:1 63 Je-Vaughn Watson
              2:2 88 Dicoy Williams
              2:3 116 Shaun Francis
              2:4 120 Cory Burke

Martinique - Trinidad and Tobago 0:0, 2:0 after extra time

Scorers: 1:0 105 Kevin Parsman
              2:0 120 Steeven Langil

Additional information: Hurricane Matthew again was the reason to postpone Haiti's match in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The aftermath of the biggest Caribbean storm forced Haiti now to play both games in group 2. There are still no new dates of those games.
Curacao from group 3 and group 4 winner Martinique are the first two Caribbean teams that will go into the Gold cup finals next year.

12 October 2016

Shock of the night in Cordoba

Bolivia - Ecuador 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 03 Pablo Escobar
              2:0 43 Pablo Escobar
              2:1 47 Enner Valencia
              2:2 88 Enner Valencia

Colombia - Uruguay 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 15 Abel Aguilar
              1:1 26 Cristian Rodriguez
              1:2 73 Luis Suarez
              2:2 84 Yerry Mina

Argentina - Paraguay 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 17 Derlis Gonzalez

Chile - Peru 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 09 Arturo Vidal
              1:1 76 Edison Flores
              2:1 85 Arturo Vidal

Venezuela - Brazil 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 07 Gabriel Jesus
              0:2 53 Willian

Three scoreless draws

Kazakhstan - Romania 0:0

Czech Republic - Azerbaijan 0:0

Denmark - Montenegro 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 31 Fatos Beqiraj

Germany - Northern Ireland 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 13 Julian Draxler
              2:0 17 Sami Khedira

Lithuania - Malta 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 75 Fiodor Cernych
              2:0 84-pen Arvydas Novikovas

Norway - San Marino 4:1

Scorers: 1:0 12-own goal Davide Simoncini
              1:1 54 Mattia Stefanelli
              2:1 77 Adama Diomande
              3:1 82 Martin Samuelsen
              4:1 83 Joshua King

Poland - Armenia 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 48-own goal Hrayr Mkoyan
              1:1 50 Marcos Pineiro Pizzelli
              2:1 90+5 Robert Lewandowski

Slovakia - Scotland 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 17 Robert Mak
              2:0 56 Robert Mak
              3:0 68 Adam Nemec

Slovenia - England 0:0

Goal in every game

Australia - Japan 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 05 Genki Haraguchi
              1:1 52-pen Mile Jedinak

Iraq - Thailand 4:0

Scorer: 1:0 07 Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
            2:0 25 Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
            3:0 87 Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
            4:0 90+3 Mohannad Abdul-Raheem

Uzbekistan - PR China 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 49 Marat Bikmaev
              2:0 85 Otabek Shukurov

IR Iran - South Korea 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 24 Sardar Azmoun

Qatar - Syria 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 37-pen Hassan al Haydos

Saudi Arabia - United Arab Emirates 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 73 Fahad al Muwallad
              2:0 79 Nawaf al Abid
              3:0 90+2 Yahya al Shehri

Known teams for final qualifying round

With today's games now all teams are known who will take part in the main qualifiers for AFC Asian cup in United Arab Emirates 2019. Twenty-four teams will try to enter the finals and 'only' 12 spots are still available.
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Guam, Hong Kong, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, North Korea, Oman, Palestine, Philippines, Singapore, Turkmenistan and Vietnam have all qualified from the second elimination round, which was joint with the World cup qualifiers. Adding to these 16 teams are joining 8 more play off winners: Bhutan, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Tajikistan and Yemen.
The final elimination round will start in March next year and the groups will be known in the next days.

All play off matches finalized

Chinese Taipei - Timore Leste 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 09 Chen Yi-Wei
              2:0 74 Chen Hao-Wei
              2:1 85 Jose Maria Oliveira

Laos - Maldives 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 80 Khonesavanh Sinavong
              1:1 90+1 Ahmed Nashid

11 October 2016

One game that catch the eye

Last region to close up World cup qualifiers for this month is CONMEBOL. With this leg, South American teams will enter into the second part of elimination games at this campaign.

- Bolivia - Ecuador. There is a slim chance for Bolivia to snatch that fifth playoff spot. If they want to do that the team has to start winning as soon as possible. Tonight's opponent, Ecuador is still in the (safe) zone of going to the finals and just to be sure they think of only three points. It will not be easy to earn them as Bolivia knows to beat much stronger teams on their stadium, however both will settle with a point.
- Colombia - Uruguay. From all pairs this is a game to watch. It is marked as a derby of the matchday, so we should watch an interesting 90 minutes. Colombia is playing very confident and their home advantage gives them hope of earning three points. On the other hand, the leaders Uruguay have to ask for directions of how they will play as the team still plays awful away. We are expecting a tough match where Los Cafeteros would be victorious at the end.
- Argentina - Paraguay. Paraguay is continuing playing very bad as visitors and, unless Argentina really has a lousy night, they can hope something from the game. After not so very good start at this campaign Los Gauchos want to get back on the right track and, in order not to humiliate themselves (again), a victory is the only option.
- Chile - Peru. Copa America champions is going through difficult times at the moment. Whatever they do and with plenty of stars, Chile simply cannot win or they are struggling to write a victory. With lots of gaps in defence Peru suddenly became one of the worst teams in these qualifiers. So playing worst against worst is equal a draw and maybe that will happen (as a surprise), but Peru did not score a goal in four matches as visitors. Los Incas surely await the 'right team' to do so, however all points will stay at home.
- Venezuela - Brazil. If they are in a good mood we have to expect from Brazil lots of goals. Venezuela now lost all the chances even of a play off spot as they are stuck at the last place. Unstoppable Selecao will be partying this morning by stealing the away win.

Last matchday for this month

In the Asian continent, World cup qualifiers continue with one more leg this October. This Tuesday we will have two derby games and right at the start we have big names clashing each other who also promises to be a good match.

- Australia - Japan. Probably the most toughest opponents in group B, Australia and Japan meet for the first time in this round. Even though they are winning games the Socceroos are very vulnerable at the back and practically this is their first serious test. Their opponents, who also do not need special introduction, are also playing shaky so it will be interesting to see how will they approach the game. According to their previous meetings Blue Samurai has never recorded a win against their rivals and almost every time their matches are ending in stalemates. That may change today, however another deadlock is expected.
- Iraq - Thailand. Clash from bottom team places from group B. Both teams have lost its composure as they were playing really good until recently. In the previous round Iraq and Thailand could not beat each other up and today it might be the same.
- Uzbekistan - PR China. Uzbekistan should have no problem beating China who have lost its good form earlier. The hosts is lacking efficiency as it cannot score more than one goal. That momentarily 'weakness' can be opportunity to China, but the points should not leave the stadium.
- IR Iran - South Korea. This can be also called another clash of the titans as unstoppable Iran welcomes strong South Korea team. It seems that nothing can beat the home side as Iran plays some superb football. At this first real test for both, these two are in excellent form, visitors have the power to surprise them, however the points can easily be shared.
- Qatar - Syria. Winless Qatar is already in trouble at the moment as it is stuck in last place waiting for first points to come. On the other hand, Syria resist very well and with a strong defence they can pull something out of it. Awfully and 'sleepy' hosts have to realize that another loss or sharing points practically means good bye and because of that the only option is victory.
- Saudi Arabia - United Arab Emirates. Slight favorites in this match is Saudi Arabia, but you never know what to expect from unpredictable UAE. These neighboring countries have met each other plenty of times and they know each other perfectly well. The visitors surely would like to surprise and looks like they have the strength to do it, however the Green Falcons will hold on to the (hard earning) victory.

Quickest goal scored from the European part

Andorra - Switzerland 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 19-pen Fabian Schar
              0:2 77 Admir Mehmedi
              1:2 90+1 Alexandre Martinez Gutierrez

Belarus - Luxembourg 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 79 Pavel Savitskiy
              1:1 84 Aurelien Joachim

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Cyprus 2:0

Scorer: 1:0 70 Edin Dzeko
            2:0 80 Edin Dzeko

Estonia - Greece 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 02 Vasilios Torosidis
              0:2 61 Konstantinos Stafylidis

Faroe Islands - Portugal 0:6

Scorers: 0:1 12 Andre Silva
              0:2 22 Andre Silva
              0:3 37 Andre Silva
              0:4 65 Cristiano Ronaldo
              0:5 90 Joao Moutinho
              0:6 90+2 Joao Cancelo

Gibraltar - Belgium 0:6

Scorers: 0:1 08 seconds (07.88) Christian Benteke
              0:2 19 Axel Witsel
              0:3 42 Christian Benteke
              0:4 50 Dries Mertens
              0:5 55 Christian Benteke
              0:6 79 Eden Hazard

Latvia - Hungary 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 10 Adam Gyurcso
              0:2 76 Adam Szalai

Netherlands - France 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 30 Paul Pogba

Sweden - Bulgaria 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 39 Ola Toivonen
              2:0 44 Oscar Hiljemark
              3:0 57 Victor Nilsson-Lindelof

10 October 2016

Penultimate European qualification night for October

In day 2 out of 3 the European teams continue their elimination games towards the World cup 2018 in Russia. All 9 matches are staring at the same time - 20.45 CET and in this third leg there are some easy matches and only one that will be a mini derby tonight.

- Andorra - Switzerland. One of those games where 'rain' of goals are expecting in this October night. Will the visitors be merciful for party or not we have to wait and see, but all depends on the mood and quality of the pitch. Minnows Andorra did not score a goal in two matches and Switzerland will try to remain that way.
- Belarus - Luxembourg. This is a complete copy from the previous match. The only problem here is that Belarus is not very confident of scoring goals opposing to their rivals who are giving them easily. There will be no surprise if Luxembourg will steal the victory, however share of points its imminent.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina - Cyprus. Much stronger Bosnia and Herzegovina side entertain a team who did not score a goal so far in this campaign. Cyprus seemed to loose its perfect form they once had, so all points should stay home.
- Estonia - Greece. Estonia feel very confident giving goals at home and tonight their rivals are Greece who are showing some excellent results. As both teams play perfectly well this game smells to be a draw, but visitors are slight favorites to take the game.
- Faroe Islands - Portugal. After Andorra from Friday, the second easiest training is expected from Portugal. If the European champions are in the mood we will see similar result like last time. On the other Faroe Islands, who meets first tough opponent in these qualifiers, cannot pose a real threat.
- Gibraltar - Belgium. What happens in a football game if the last is meeting the best (top) team in their group? It will be a one way result for sure with lots of goals. Newcomers Gibraltar seems to have lots of problem in defence unlike Belgium team who is always hungry for goals.
- Latvia - Hungary. It looks like Latvia are struggling to find its best form. Thankfully, their opponents play really bad either. Is it just a sign of deviation or something else its unknown, but Hungary have to steal the away victory.
- Netherlands - France. From all nine games this looks to be a small derby. Two great teams battle against each other, and currently at the top, we have to see an highly entertaining match. Netherlands and France does not have the best of times and still both can play perfectly. It smells like the visitors enjoy a big advantage, but at the end both will be satisfied with a point.
- Sweden - Bulgaria. Sweden is far far away from achieving some positive results, but tonight they should have no problem beating Bulgaria. Both teams are playing sloppy at the back and there cannot be a reason of why points have to leave the stadium.

Entertaining Bhutan marches on

Bhutan - Bangladesh 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 03 Jigme Tshering Dorjee
              2:0 22 Chencho Gyeltshen
              2:1 61 Mamunul Islam Maun
              3:1 76 Chencho Gyetshen

Decision time (cut in half)

Which four Caribbean teams will play at the Gold cup event next year? The answer to that comes next Wednesday. Unfortunately we have to wait a little bit longer for the final line-up to be completed, as the two postponed games does not have a rescheduled date yet. As it seems, two group winners will be known next week.

12 October, Wednesday at 01.30 CET: Puerto Rico - Curacao.
12 October, Wednesday at 02.00 CET: Guyana - Jamaica.
12 October, Wednesday at 02.00 CET: Martinique - Trinidad and Tobago.
12 October, Wednesday at 02.00 CET: St. Kitts and Nevis - Haiti.

Overlapping of games

At the most interesting and toughest region, the South American teams reached double figure matchday. Unfortunately at number ten we are left without any derby, but with the current play one can still be called like that and you can find it second on the list.

11 October, Wednesday at 22.00 CET: Bolivia - Ecuador.
11 October, Wednesday at 22.30 CET: Colombia - Uruguay.

12 October, Thursday at 01.30 CET: Argentina - Paraguay.
12 October, Thursday at 01.30 CET: Chile - Peru.
12 October, Thursday at 02.30 CET: Venezuela - Brazil.

Seventeen matches at the same time

For the next couple of days in Europe will conclude matchday three. All 18 games are scheduled to be played at the same time - except one.

10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Andorra - Switzerland.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Belarus - Luxembourg.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Bosnia and Herzegovina - Cyprus.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Estonia - Greece.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Faroe Islands - Portugal.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Gibraltar - Belgium.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Latvia - Hungary.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Netherlands - France.
10 October, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Sweden - Bulgaria.

11 October, Wednesday at 18.00 CET: Kazakhstan - Romania.

11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Czech Republic - Azerbaijan.
11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Denmark - Montenegro.
11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Germany - Northern Ireland.
11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Lithuania - Malta.
11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Norway - San Marino.
11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Poland - Armenia.
11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Slovakia - Scotland.
11 October, Wednesday at 20.45 CET: Slovenia - England.

Nearly mid leg for Asian teams

Next Tuesday will be played one more leg from the Asian continent for the World cup finals. According to the names, two games from the pairs are marked as potential derby. One of them happens to be at the start.

11 October, Tuesday at 11.00 CET: Australia - Japan.
11 October, Tuesday at 14.30 CET: Iraq - Thailand.
11 October, Tuesday at 15.00 CET: Uzbekistan - PR China.
11 October, Tuesday at 16.45 CET: IR Iran - South Korea.
11 October, Tuesday at 18.00 CET: Qatar - Syria.
11 October, Tuesday at 19.45 CET: Saudi Arabia - United Arab Emirates.

Final three play off games

Second play off enter in the final round of games before the main (and long) qualification process, which will begin next year. These six lower teams are clashing for remaining three places.

10 October, Monday at 14.00 CET: Bhutan - Bangladesh.

11 October, Tuesday at 13.00 CET: Chinese Taipei - Timor Leste.
11 October, Tuesday at 13.00 CET: Laos - Maldives.

Remaining two days of qualifiers

Usually four continental zones are played every month in qualifying for the World cup finals in Russia, but from tomorrow we will have only three. The rest are taking 'month off' and one (the second most interesting region from all six) will return in November. Also, in the next couple of days we will have last playoff matches before the main elimination round in Asia plus the last round from the Caribbean.

1. Three play off games, second leg will be playing for AFC Asian cup in UAE 2019 (10 and 11 October).
2. European qualifiers continue for the World cup 2018 in Russia (10 and 11 October).
3. Asian continent is also supposed to play elimination games for the World cup 2018 in Russia (11 October)
4. South American qualifiers are returning for one more day for the World cup 2018 in Russia (11 October).
5. Caribbean nations are playing the last round only to see who will go to the Gold cup final event in 2017 (11 October).

Second leg gives us eleven goals

Suriname - Guyana 1:1, 3:2 after extra time

Scorers: 0:1 04 Marcel Barrington
              1:1 57 Mitchell Kisoor
              2:1 105 Galgyto Tales
              3:1 109 Ivanildo Rozenblad
              3:2 120 Kai McKenzie-Lyle

Dominican Republic - Martinique 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 13 Steeven Langil
              1:1 75 Rony Beard
              1:2 89 Matthias Coureur

French Guiana - Saint Kits and Nevis 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 65 Arnold Albertini

Antigua and Barbuda - Puerto Rico 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 43 Peter Byers
              2:0 86 Stefan Smith

End of leg one in Africa

Zambia - Nigeria 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 32 Alex Iwobi
              0:2 42 Kelechi Iheanacho
              1:2 71 Collins Mbesuma

Congo - Egypt 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 23 Ferebory Dore
              1:1 41 Mohamed Salah
              1:2 58 Abdalla el Said

Tunisia - Guinea 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 58 Aymen Abdennour
              2:0 80 Anis Ben-Hatira

Algeria - Cameroon 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 07 El-Arbi Hilal Soudani
              1:1 23 Benjamin Moukandjo