30 September 2018

Details revealed of both American regional championships

At the busiest 2019 we will find out even 4 continental champions on a national level. Only 5 days in the new year is going to start the first tournament, while the other 3 will begin in the summer. One of them is the prestigious Gold Cup event, and the other is Copa America (by the way, the third mysterious is Africa Cup of Nations).
Edition number 15 of the CONCACAF Gold Cup is going to be played for the first time throughout the region: some duels are going to be staged in Central America and Caribbean (details of host countries is going to be announced later), whilst majority of them will be played in United States of America (in 14 cities and 15 venues). The event is going to be active from 18 June until 07 July, and also for the first time 16 teams will participate (an increase from 12): 6 are already known, and the rest will come from the debut competition CONCACAF Nations league. This Thursday from the confederation is announced that the last game is going to be played at Soldier Field. For the stadium in Chicago it will be the third time to host the final (after 2007 and 2013), while 6 times this pitch is appearing on Gold Cup events (which is a new record).
At the south neighboring continent, next year the oldest competition will be played (out from the whole 6 confederations): Copa America is going to appear for the forty-sixth time in Brazil. Unfortunately, this edition will be mixed with the above tournament: is going to entertain us from 14 June, and will end on 07 July. In here 12 teams is going to participate: all 10 from South America plus 2 from Asia, whilst for the first time one Arab nation is going to play (that is the next World Cup host - Qatar, who will be joined by Japan). From earlier we know that 5 cities is going to have the honor to host the best teams: Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo. Last Monday CONMEBOL have revealed that Morumbi stadium (Sao Paulo) will open the event, semi finals are assigned to Arena do Gremio (Porto Alegre) and Mineirao stadium (Belo Horizonte), while the famous Maracana venue (Rio de Janeiro) is going to close Copa America 2019. It is also been decided that this will be the last competition in odd years, so next is going to be held at 2024 in Ecuador (still waiting this news to be confirmed by FIFA).

29 September 2018

Technology tournaments

Is it telepathy or not, it is still mysterious, but on the same day two continents have agreed to use identical techniques in their competitions, and both of them happened yesterday. As it look like, more and more football events are favorable of the video assistant referee system.
After the sceptical look from the 'birds view above', the UEFA president finally gave green light for introducing them at official competitions. It is announced that from next season (2019-20) this technology is going to be present at Champions league, starting from the play-off (fourth qualifying) round onwards. For the (most interesting event) Europa league this system will arrive one year later (2020-21). Also it is going to debut in Super Cup 2019, EURO 2020 and Nations league finals 2021.
Same matter was discussed at another confederation. This time in question is the Asian Cup 2019. With only 100 days away, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan it was decided that next year main referees on the pitch will have great help from 'the televised controllers positioned above' (unfortunately, not all games will be covered). Thus, the seventeenth edition of Asian football championship in United Arab Emirates will be going into history books: as first tournament which is going to use 'anti-cheating digital monitoring technique'.

28 September 2018

European championship 2024 country was determined

As it was expected, with 12 votes against 4, today UEFA have assigned Germany to host the EURO 2024. The seventeenth edition will be the first to be staged in the country after the eastern and western part was reunified in 1990, while in the past last promoter on this soil was West Germany two years earlier (1988).
On the other hand, six days before the final decision (last Friday) the organization have spotted some 'problems' of the only other candidate - Turkey. This state has lost for the fourth time to organize a major football event like the European championship (joint bid with Greece in 2008 together with lone attempts at 2012, 2016 and 2024).

27 September 2018

Renovation of Santiago Bernabeu

Since 2001 Real Madrid did not renovate its stadium, and now (18 years later) the clubs president Florentino Perez think that it is perfect time to do it again. This Monday it was revealed that renewal will cost 525 million euros, and if this project succeeds, the new futuristic look of the stadium is going to bring back income of 150 million euros on a yearly basis in the club. Annual rate of the loan would be about 25 million euros. If permission from local authorities is given, then works will begin in early 2019, and should last three and a half years.
The lone construction of Santiago Bernabeu will remain intact, so that the club uninterruptedly can play its matches at home. When is finished, apart from retractable roof, spectators are going to enjoy plenty of technological novelties inside the object.

26 September 2018

Suspended duel is re-scheduled again

After all round two games are played at the CONCACAF Nations league next month, for a brief moment we are going backwards. In this tournament Martinique and British Virgin Islands did not even start their duel from round one at the beginning of September due to security reasons (tropical storm). As the confederation yesterday released the schedule for October, these two teams is going to 'repeat' debut round after all matches are finished from second stage. It is announced that will meet on 16 October, which is equivalent at 17 October from 02.00 CET (time may always change).

25 September 2018

World best footballers have been crowned

Tonight the world football organization has named the best players for last season. Some of the awards are the following:
From females part, the most valuable footballer is Marta from Brazil, while French coach Reynald Pedros has been named the best in its category.
From men counterpart, Thibaut Courtois is chosen as best number one, whilst Egyptian Mohamed Salah scored a fantastic goal to win the Puskas award. To a great surprise (and in a shameful decision from FIFA) these two players did not enter into the best 11. David de Gea - Dani Alves, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo Vieira - N'Golo Kante, Luka Modric - Eden Hazard, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi are making the 4-2-4 formation. The trophy for the best trainer was won by Didier Deschamps, and Luka Modric is announced as a topgallant footballer.

24 September 2018

Politics plays a big role to determine EURO 2024 host country

Whoever thinks that politics and football (or sport in general) do not go together hand by hand, then he / she is lying to himself / herself.
It looks like that the hospitality of the European championship in 2024 is already known in advance. Out of the two nominees, one is on a bad word, just 4 days before the final decision. After the complicated EURO event in two year time, UEFA has to decide (next Thursday) which country will host the seventeenth edition in 2024. This Friday the organization has expressed 'deep concerns' about human rights in Turkey. One of the biggest country in Europe, who spreads on two continents, for the first time wants to organize something big in this sport (who nevertheless deserves that). However, the confederation is worried about the 'repressive regime' of the current president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
That leaves the only other candidate, Germany, to win the rights. Its officials are also using the political questions in Turkey as main point in the campaign, who barely waited to mention how their players have been photographed with the president of the other country in political purposes...

23 September 2018

Bribery on African continent

It looks like taking money under the table is so sweet, but after that those precious papers are getting bitter all the way.
Firstly, it began at the beginning of the month where Salisu Yusuf is accused of receiving 357.000 nairas (854.141 euros). On 05 September was reported that the Nigerian coach took the money from 'football agents', who in return wanted to select players for the 2018 African nations championship. And to be more worse, those football agents were none other than...investigative journalists which recorded the whole case. Now, the unfortunate trainer is removed 'and will be forgotten' from the sport for at least one year.
And this Monday came totally different story. General secretary of the referees association of Ghana Joseph Ayita Mensah said that 61 football officials are in extreme danger on loosing their licences. After the conducted investigation, 8 of those referees are already banned for life, while the rest (53) are still waiting the final decision, whose outcome is not bright: could face up to 10 years off the pitch. To these numbers we add that 14 other 'men in black' were cleared from charges.
For the end, and on unrelated story of the above two, we left one larceny case. The ex Benin football federation president Anjorin Moucharafou was caught on 04 September by police how he is stealing sports equipment.

22 September 2018

Nominees for world best player

Next Monday FIFA will announce which footballer is the best on a world level. For 'The best' awards it will compete three names in various categories, when the organization revealed them on the first Monday of this month.


Fan award: Sebastian Carrera, spectators of Japan and Senegal, fans of Peru.

Best coach of female teamsAsako Takakura (Japan), Reynald Pedros (Lyon), Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands).


Best goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris (France), Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium).


Most valuable trainer of men teamsDidier Deschamps (France), Zinedine Zidane (currently without a club), Zlatko Dalic (Croatia).


Best female player: Ada Hegerberg (Norway), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany), Marta Vieira da Silva (just known as Marta, Brazil).


World best male footballerCristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mohamed Salah (Egypt).

21 September 2018

The quickest goal for Europa league groups this season was one of the best

Rennes - Jablonec 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 30 (30.12) Ismaila Sarr
              1:1 53 (53.16) Michal Travnik
              2:1 90-pen (90.16) Hatem ben Arfa

Rapid Vienna - Spartak Moscow 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 49-own goal (49.06) Artem Timofeev
              2:0 68 (67.41) Thomas Murg

Videoton - BATE Borisov 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 27 Jasse Tuominen
              0:2 84 Egor Filipenko

- Aleksandar Filipovic was the quickest before the whistle, as the BATE Borisov player received his second yellow card at 90+5.

Akhisarspor - FC Krasnodar 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 25 (25.19) Viktor Claesson

Lazio - Apollon Limassol 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 14 Luis Alberto
              2:0 84-pen Ciro Immobile
              2:1 87 Emilio Zelaya

Villarreal - Glasgow Rangers 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 01 (44.01 seconds) Carlos Bacca
              1:1 67 (66.32) Scott Arfield
              2:1 69 (68.23) Gerard Moreno
              2:2 76 (75.24) Kyle Lafferty

Dynamo Kyiv - Astana 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 11 Viktor Tsyhankov
              1:1 21 Marin Ancic
              2:1 45+2 Denys Harmash
              2:2 90+5 Roman Murtazayev

Besiktas - Sarpsborg 08 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 51 (50.42) Ryan Babel
              2:0 69 (68.25) Enzo Roco
              3:0 82 (81.35) Jeremain Lens
              3:1 90+4 (93.21) Kristoffer Zachariassen

Genk - Malmo 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 37 Leandro Trossard
              2:0 71 Mbawana Samatta

Sevilla - Standard Liege 5:1

Scorers: 1:0 08 (07.34) Ever Banega
              1:1 39 (38.52) Moussa Djenepo
              2:1 41 (40.46) Franco Vazquez
              3:1 49 (48.21) Wissam ben Yedder
              4:1 70 (69.23) Wissam ben Yedder
              5:1 74-pen (73.58) Ever Banega

Dudelange - Milan 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 58 (58.14) Gonzalo Higuain

Spartak Trnava - Anderlecht 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 79 Matej Oravec

Celtic - Rosenborg 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 87 Leigh Griffiths

Slavia Prague - Bordeaux 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 34 Jaromir Zmrhal

Olympiacos - Real Betis 0:0

- Because of two yellow cards Konstantinos Tsimikas (Olympiacos) left early from the match at 73.

AEK Larnaca - Zurich 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 61-pen Benjamin Kololli

- The guests closed this duel with 10 players, because six minutes before normal time Pa Modou Jagne had to go out due to two yellow cards.

RasenBallsport Leipzig - Red Bull Salzburg 2:3

Scorers: 0:1 19 Moanes Dabour
              0:2 21 Amadou Haidara
              1:2 69 Konrad Laimer
              2:2 82 Yussuf Poulsen
              2:3 89 Fredrik Gulbrandsen

Sporting Clube de Portugal - Qarabag 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 54 (53.20) Raphael Dias Belloli (or simply Raphinha)
              2:0 87 (87.05) Jovane Cabral

Arsenal - Vorskla Poltava 4:2

Scorers: 1:0 31 (31.12) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
              2:0 48 (47.43) Danny Welbeck
              3:0 56 (55.26) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
              4:0 74 (73.35) Mesut Ozil
              4:1 76 (76.00) Volodymyr Chesnakov
              4:2 90+3 (93.05) Vyacheslav Sharpar

Ludogorets Razgrad - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2:3

Scorers: 1:0 07 (07.12) Claudiu Keseru
              2:0 30 (29.58) Marcelo Nascimento da Costa (or simply Marcelinho)
              2:1 37 (37.19) Kai Havertz
              2:2 63 (62.51) Kai Havertz
              2:3 69 (68.47) Isaac Kiese Thelin

Dinamo Zagreb - Fenerbahce 4:1

Scorers: 1:0 15 (15.08) Ivan Sunjic
              2:0 27 (26.45) Izet Hajrovic
              2:1 47 (46.36) Roman Neustadter
              3:1 56 (56.01) Izet Hajrovic
              4:1 60 (59.40) Dani Olmo

FC Copenhagen - Zenit Saint Petersburg 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 43 Robert Mak
              1:1 62 Pieros Sotiriou

20 September 2018

It is really 'fun' to see three penalties in one match at this competition

Ajax - AEK Athens 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 46 (45.52) Nicolas Tagliafico
              2:0 77 (76.27) Donny van de Beek
              3:0 90 (89.47) Nicolas Tagliafico

Shakhtar Donetsk - Hoffenheim 2:2

Scorers: 0:1 05 (05.18) Florian Grillitsch
              1:1 27 (26.48) Ismaily Goncalves dos Santos
              1:2 38 (37.44) Havard Nordtveit
              2:2 81 (80.39) Maycon de Andrade Barberan

Viktoria Plzen - CSKA Moscow 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 28 (28.18) Michael Krmencik
              2:0 41 (40.56) Michael Krmencik
              2:1 49 (48.26) Fedor Chalov
              2:2 90+5-pen (94.22) Nikola Vlasic

Real Madrid - Roma 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 44 (44.07) Isco Alarcon
              2:0 58 (57.38) Gareth Bale
              3:0 90+1 (90.58) Mariano Diaz Mejia

Young Boys Bern - Manchester United 0:3

Scorers: 0:1 35 (34.53) Paul Pogba
              0:2 44-pen (43.20) Paul Pogba
              0:3 65 (65.09) Anthony Martial

Benfica - Bayern Munich 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 10 (09.31) Robert Lewandowski
              0:2 53 (53.18) Renato Sanches

Valencia - Juventus 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 44-pen (44.03) Miralem Pjanic
              0:2 50-pen (50.03) Miralem Pjanic

- At 29 (28.53) Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) got a direct red card for off-the-ball incident, while before the end of the match (95.54) an 11 metre punishment from Daniel Parejo (Valencia) was saved.

19 September 2018

Premiere 2018-19 group phase plays

Barcelona - PSV Eindhoven 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 31 (31.00) Lionel Messi
              2:0 74 (74.00) Ousmane Dembele
              3:0 77 (76.24) Lionel Messi
              4:0 87 (86.57) Lionel Messi

- Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona) received second yellow card at 78 (78.08).

Galatasaray - Lokomotiv Moscow 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 09 (08.41) Garry Rodrigues
              2:0 66 (66.18) Eren Derdiyok
              3:0 90+4-pen (93.37) Selcuk Inan

- Because of two yellow cards Badou Ndiaye was sent off for Galatasaray at 87 (86.20).

Monaco - Atletico Madrid 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 18 (17.31) Samuel Grandsir
              1:1 31 (30.52) Diego Costa
              1:2 45+1 (45.47) Jose Maria Gimenez

Club Brugge - Borussia Dortmund 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 85 (84.22) Christian Pulisic

Crvena Zvezda - Napoli 0:0

Schalke 04 - Porto 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 63 (63.05) Breel Embolo
              1:1 75-pen (74.27) Otavio Edmilson da Silva (simply known as Otavio)

- At 13 (12.21), a penalty from Alex Nicolao Telles (Porto) was saved.

12 September 2018

Last game did not even start

The last duel between Martinique and British Virgin Islands at the CONCACAF Nations league, which supposed to be played at 02.00 CET did not even begin due to safety concerns. Main reason for this suspension is the potential strike of tropical storm Isaac on the Caribbean Island. New time will be announced at a later date from the confederation.

These are not basketball matches

Haiti - Sint Marteen 13:0

Scorers: 1:0 11 Frantzdy Pierrot

              2:0 19 Duckens Nazon
              3:0 26-own goal Diaro Forsythe
              4:0 35 Duckens Nazon
              5:0 42 Duckens Nazon
              6:0 47 Herald Junior Charles
              7:0 59 Carlens Arcus
              8:0 61 Duckens Nazon
              9:0 64 Duckens Nazon
            10:0 71 Derick Etienne
            11:0 72 Frantzdy Pierrot
            12:0 86 Sony Mustivar
            13:0 87 Jeff Louis

Curacao - Grenada 10:0



Scorers: 1:0 11 Elson Hooi
              2:0 19 Cuco Martina
              3:0 23 Brandley Kuwas
              4:0 53 Leandro Bacuna
              5:0 59 Rangelo Janga
              6:0 63 Gevaro Nepomuceno
              7:0 68 Leandro Bacuna
              8:0 84 Rangelo Janga
              9:0 88 Rangelo Janga
            10:0 90+1 Ruensly Leutaria

Saint Martin - Guadeloupe 0:3

Scorers: 0:1 07 Florian David

              0:2 27 Yannick Mamilonne
              0:3 64 Yannick Passape

11 September 2018

Nine goals from just three duels

Aruba - Bermuda 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 07 Ronald Gomez
              2:0 11-pen Raymond Baten
              2:1 21 Jonte Smith
              3:1 49 Erik Santos

Jamaica - Cayman Islands 4:0


Scorers: 1:0 01 (01.16) Darren Mattocks
              2:0 34 (34.19) Cory Burke
              3:0 57 (57.05) Darren Mattocks
              4:0 66 (65.24) Cory Burke

Saint Kitts and Nevis - Puerto Rico 1:0


Scorer: 1:0 90+1 Harrison Panayiotou

10 September 2018

Great turnaround with the only visiting win this night

Kosovo - Faroe Islands 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 49 Arber Zeneli

              2:0 54 Atdhe Nuhiu

Malta - Azerbaijan 1:1



Scorers: 1:0 09-pen Andrei Agius
              1:1 26 Tamkin Khalilzade

Andorra - Kazakhstan 1:1


Scorers: 0:1 69 Yuriy Logvinenko 

              1:1 86 Jordi Alaez

Scotland - Albania 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 47-own goal Berat Djimsiti

              2:0 68 Steven Naismith

Sweden - Turkey 2:3

Scorers: 1:0 34 Isaac Thelin

              2:0 49 Viktor Claesson
              2:1 51 Hakan Calhanoglu
              2:2 88 Emre Akbaba
              2:3 90+1 Emre Akbaba

Montenegro - Lithuania 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 34-pen Stefan Savic

              2:0 35 Marko Jankovic

Serbia - Romania 2:2


Scorers: 1:0 26 Aleksandar Mitrovic

              1:1 48-pen Nicolae Stanciu
              2:1 63 Aleksandar Mitrovic
              2:2 68 Marius George Tucudean

Portugal - Italy 1:0


Scorer: 1:0 48 Andre Silva

Seven duels to complete round one

The only other tournament under the same name is going to finish in North America with its first round of matches. These 14 teams are going to introduce us for the very first time, and games are going to be played mostly in the morning.

10 September, Monday at 00.00 CET: Aruba - Bermuda.
10 September, Monday at 02.00 CET: Jamaica - Cayman Islands.
10 September, Monday at 02.00 CET: Saint Kitts and Nevis - Puerto Rico.

11 September, Tuesday at 00.30 CET: Haiti - Sint Marteen.
11 September, Tuesday at 02.00 CET: Curacao - Grenada.
11 September, Tuesday at 22.00 CET: Saint Martin - Gudeloupe.

12 September, Wednesday at 02.00 CET: Martinique - British Virgin Islands.

Fifteen matches starting at same time

On the European continent there are two more days to play from the Nations league. There is not much choice what to watch, as the next two nights (believe it or not) all duels will begin at the same time. With the following games, round two is going to be complete.

10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Andorra - Kazakhstan.
10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Kosovo - Faroe Islands.
10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Malta - Azerbaijan.
10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Montenegro - Lithuania.
10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Portugal - Italy.
10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Scotland - Albania.
10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Serbia - Romania.
10 September, Monday at 20.45 CET: Sweden - Turkey.

11 September, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Bosnia and Herzegovina - Austria.
11 September, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Finland - Estonia.
11 September, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Hungary - Greece.
11 September, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Iceland - Belgium.
11 September, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Moldova - Belarus.
11 September, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: San Marino - Luxembourg.
11 September, Tuesday at 20.45 CET: Spain - Croatia.

09 September 2018

Double result

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Nicaragua 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 27 Henry Nino
              0:2 39 Juan Barrera

Cuba - Turks and Caicos Islands 11:0

Scorers: 1:0 08 Luis Paradela
              2:0 33 Luismel Morris
              3:0 36 Andy Baquero
              4:0 37 Luis Paradela
              5:0 45 Andy Baquero
              6:0 49 Luis Paradela
              7:0 52 Yordan Santa Cruz
              8:0 54 Yordan Santa Cruz
              9:0 64 Roberney Caballero Ariosa
            10:0 77 Roberney Caballero Ariosa
            11:0 83 Luismel Morris

Montserrat - El Salvador 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 38 Joseph Taylor
              1:1 64 Oscar Ceren
              1:2 90+4 Oscar Ceren

In three duels 15 goals were given

Northern Ireland - Bosnia and Herzegovina 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 36 (35.48) Haris Duljevic
              1:1 64 (63.55) Elvis Saric
              1:2 90+3 (92.29) Will Grigg

Belarus - San Marino 5:0

Scorers: 1:0 03 (03.19) Igor Stasevich
              2:0 26 (25.29) Stanislav Dragun
              3:0 67-pen (66.44) Anton Saroka
              4:0 86 (86.17) Stanislav Dragun
              5:0 90+1 (90.24) Yury Kavalyow

Switzerland - Iceland 6:0

Scorers: 1:0 13 (12.37) Steven Zuber
              2:0 23 (22.49) Denis Zakaria
              3:0 53 (52.32) Xherdan Shaqiri
              4:0 66 (66.16) Haris Seferovic
              5:0 70 (70.03) Albian Ajeti
              6:0 82 (81.48) Admir Mehmedi

Finland - Hungary 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 06 (06.09) Teemu Pukki

England - Spain 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 10 (10.11) Marcus Rashford
              1:1 12 (12.10) Saul Niguez
              1:2 32 (31.24) Rodrigo Machado (simply known as Rodrigo)

Estonia - Greece 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 14 Kostas Fortounis

Luxembourg - Moldova 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 34 (33.21) Kevn Malget
              2:0 59 (59.19) Olivier Thill
              3:0 75 (74.35) Daniel Sinani
              4:0 83 (82.49) Christopher Martins Pereira

Two saved penalties from one goalkeeper who at the end received six goals

Comoros - Cameroon 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 15 (14.34) El Fardou ben Nabouhane
              1:1 79 (78.58) Stephane Bahoken

Seychelles - Nigeria 0:3

Scorers: 0:1 15 (14.21) Ahmed Musa
              0:2 34 (33.31) Chidozie Awaziem
              0:3 57-pen (56.25) Odion Ighalo

Kenya - Ghana 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 40-own goal (39.31) Nicholas Opoku

- Direct red card received Joash Onyango (Kenya) at 61 (60.57) for stopping a player to score a goal.

South Africa - Libya 0:0

Uganda - Tanzania 0:0

Namibia - Zambia 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 79 Benson Shilongo
              1:1 90+2 Justin Shonga

Gabon - Burundi 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 39 Saido Berahino
              1:1 76 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Mozambique - Guinea-Bissau 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 43 (42.35) Zainadine Junior
              1:1 50 (50.02) Carlos Embalo
              2:1 90+1 (91.06) Reginaldo Faife
              2:2 90+7 (96.54) Frederic Mendy

Equatorial Guinea - Sudan 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 30 (29.35) Emilio Nsue

Gambia - Algeria 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 47 (46.42) Baghdad Bounedjah
              1:1 48 (48.02) Assan Ceesay

Mauritania - Burkina Faso 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 36 (35.55) Ismael Diakhite
              2:0 39 (39.09) Khassa Camara

Egypt - Niger 6:0

Scorers: 1:0 12 (12.10) Marwan Mohsen
              2:0 19 (19.06) Ayman Ashraf
              3:0 29 (28.35) Mohamed Salah
              4:0 73 (72.34) Salah Mohsen
              5:0 86 (85.41) Mohamed Salah
              6:0 90+1 (91.07) Mohamed Elneny

- Kassaly Daouda (Niger) fantastically saved two punishments from Mohamed Salah: on 02 (02.13) and 29 (28.33) for which the Egyptian player got the rebound and scored the third goal.

Morocco - Malawi 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 02 (02.17) Hakim Ziyech
              2:0 42 (41.45) Youssef en-Nesyri
              3:0 77 (77.00) Youssef en-Nesyri

08 September 2018

Opponents with no chance of scoring

Anguilla - French Guiana 0:5

Scorers: 0:1 15 Laurintin Jean-Eudes
              0:2 29 Joffery Torvic
              0:3 38-pen Eric Alex
              0:4 54 Thomas Issorat
              0:5 83 Warren Rino

Antigua and Barbuda - Saint Lucia 0:3

Scorers: 0:1 50 Pernal Williams
              0:2 67 Zaine Pierre
              0:3 89 Jevick Mac Farlane

Belize - Bahamas 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 40 Deon McCaulay
              2:0 43-own goal Jonathan Miller
              3:0 79 Krisean Lopez
              4:0 90+4 Krisean Lopez

Night of couple identical results

Azerbaijan - Kosovo 0:0

Lithuania - Serbia 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 38-pen (37.28) Dusan Tadic

- The only goalscorer at the match took another 11-metre punishment, but it was saved at 82 (82.10).

Romania - Montenegro 0:0

- Bad boy was Stefan Mugosa (Montenegro) due to two yellow cards at 77 (76.43).

Albania - Israel 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 54 (54.08) Taulant Xhaka

Faroe Islands - Malta 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 31 (30.34) Joan Simun Edmundsson
              2:0 37 (37.08) Rene Joensen
              2:1 42 (41.25) Michael Mifsud 
              3:1 51 (50.54) Hallur Hansson

Turkey - Russia 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 13 (12.35) Denis Cheryshev
              1:1 41 (40.37) Serdar Aziz
              1:2 48 (48.12) Artem Dzyuba

07 September 2018

Two matches, four goals

Dominika - Suriname 0:0

- Williams Erskin (Dominika) received a direct red card at 61.

Guyana - Barbados 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 46 Trayon Bobb
              1:1 64 Hallam Hope
              1:2 73 Hallam Hope
              2:2 78 Neil Danns

First delayed play on day one

Kazakhstan - Georgia 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 69 (68.33) Giorgi Chakvetadze
              0:2 73-own goal (73.05) Serhiy Malyi

Armenia - Liechtenstein 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 30 (29.55) Marcos Pinheiro Pizzelli (also known as Marcos)
              1:1 33 (32.45) Sandro Wolfinger
              2:1 76 (75.25) Tigran Barseghyan

- At 69 Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Armenia) missed a penalty, while 5 minutes later Michele Polverino was sent off due to two yellow cards.

Norway - Cyprus 2:0

Scorer: 1:0 20 (20.00) Stefan Johansen
            2:0 42 (41.54) Stefan Johansen

Latvia - Andorra 0:0

Slovenia - Bulgaria 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 02 (02.09) Bozhidar Kraev
              1:1 40 (39.28) Miha Zajc
              1:2 58 (58.04) Bozhidar Kraev

Wales - Republic of Ireland 4:1

Scorers: 1:0 06 (05.36) Tom Lawrence
              2:0 17 (17.02) Gareth Bale
              3:0 37 (36.51) Aaron Ramsey
              4:0 55 (54.49) Connor Roberts
              4:1 66 (65.45) Shaun Williams

Czech Republic - Ukraine 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 03 (03.17) Patrik Schick
              1:1 45 (45.05) Yevhen Konoplyanka
              1:2 90+3 (92.30) Oleksandr Zinchenko

- This match was postponed for 16 minutes because of technical problems (started at 21.01 CET).

06 September 2018

Portuguese club in trouble

For the past two years Benfica is facing corruption charges after the public prosecutor today has accused the club of bribing investigative judges. Supposedly, the team wanted to know upfront what kind of files there are against them (Benfica) and their league opponents. And, to be more worse for them, two employees of the court are also accused. The Portuguese football federation announced that is conducting its own investigation on this matter. Benfica will fight against these accusations, but if these malversations are true then the team may be thrown out from their national championship plus European Cups and face serious consequences.

05 September 2018

The mutiny did not help

This is the (football) story of two brothers and a mother based on true events.
Two weeks ago, the little brother (Real Madrid) sued the older brother (Inter), as the older one wanted to grab the best World Cup player from the little one. In other words: the Italian team desperately wanted to bring Luka Modric to play in Serie A, but the transfer did not occur. If the club was found guilty, there was even a possibility to forbid Inter registering and signing new players on two transfer windows. However, according to the rules, it is allowed to talk to the footballer six months before the contract is expiring and, although they knew that, the Spanish club immediately got angry and accused the older brother, from which at the end had to interfere their mother (FIFA). After the weekend was over, on Monday (at the start of new school year) the grown up have thought carefully about this and spoke the final decision: an accusation of Real Madrid against Inter is rejected.
Case closed. But are these two brothers going to make a truce between each other and talk again, only time will tell.

04 September 2018

Horrible tragedy on a football pitch

Terrible tragedy happened yesterday at a football pitch in 's-Heerenberg, Netherlands. A young goalkeeper from the MvR Heerenberg club collided with an opposing player hard in its head, after which he lost consciousness. Doctors were trying to reanimate him, but later in the day the youth footballer passed away in the hospital near the city of Nijmegen. He was only 13-years-old.

03 September 2018

Resuming the forgotten qualifiers

It is really strange and unclear why the African confederation did this huge break from the African Cup of Nation qualifiers more than a year. That is why it has the word 'forgotten' in the title, and 15 months later all duels from round two are going to be played next weekend.

08 September, Saturday at 14.00 CET: Comoros - Cameroon.
08 September, Saturday at 15.00 CET: Kenya - Ghana.
08 September, Saturday at 15.00 CET: South Africa - Libya.
08 September, Saturday at 15.00 CET: Uganda - Tanzania.
08 September, Saturday at 16.00 CET: Namibia - Zambia.
08 September, Saturday at 17.00 CET: Equatorial Guinea - Sudan.
08 September, Saturday at 17.00 CET: Gabon - Burundi.
08 September, Saturday at 17.00 CET: Mozambique - Guinea-Bissau.
08 September, Saturday at 18.30 CET: Gambia - Algeria.
08 September, Saturday at 18.30 CET: Seychelles - Nigeria.
08 September, Saturday at 19.00 CET: Mauritania - Burkina Faso.
08 September, Saturday at 20.00 CET: Egypt - Niger.
08 September, Saturday at 22.00 CET: Morocco - Malawi.

09 September, Sunday at 13.30 CET: Madagascar - Senegal.
09 September, Sunday at 15.00 CET: Ethiopia - Sierra Leone.
09 September, Sunday at 15.00 CET: Lesotho - Cape Verde.
09 September, Sunday at 15.00 CET: South Sudan - Mali.
09 September, Sunday at 15.00 CET: Swaziland - Tunisia.
09 September, Sunday at 15.30 CET: Rwanda - Ivory Coast.
09 September, Sunday at 16.30 CET: Congo - Zimbabwe.
09 September, Sunday at 17.00 CET: Angola - Botswana.
09 September, Sunday at 18.00 CET: Liberia - Democratic Republic of Congo.
09 September, Sunday at 18.00 CET: Togo - Benin.
09 September, Sunday at 18.30 CET: Guinea - Central African Republic.

Completely new tournament, part two

Apart from Europe, Nations league is existing in North America too. This time the first 10 teams will go directly at the Gold Cup 2019 edition, but before we come to that plenty of matches are going to be played at its first, debut event. From past experience, please note that original kick off can be delayed from 7 to 10 minutes or more.

06 September, Thursday at 22.00 CET: Dominica - Suriname.

07 September, Friday at 22.00 CET: Anguilla - French Guiana.

08 September, Saturday at 00.00 CET: Antigua and Barbuda - Saint Lucia.
08 September, Saturday at 02.00 CET: Belize - Bahamas.
08 September, Saturday at 21.00 CET: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Nicaragua.
08 September, Saturday at 22.00 CET: Cuba - Turks and Caicos Islands.

09 September, Sunday at 03.00 CET: Guyana - Barbados.
09 September, Sunday at 03.00 CET: Montserrat - El Salvador.
09 September, Sunday at 22.00 CET: Bonaire - Dominican Republic.
09 September, Sunday at 22.00 CET: United States Virgin Islands - Canada.

Debut competition, part one

After the World Cup this summer, we are getting back to the first official international games. Out of the three tournaments which are starting next week, the first 2 are debut competitions playing on different continents while the rest is forgotten qualifying tournament which is back with plays for more than a year.
Those teams who missed to qualify for EURO 2020, can do it from this new competition called Nations league. The European contest have three kick off times, which is going to be played two rounds in six days / nights. Schedule for next week is the following:

06 September, Thursday at 16.00 CET: Kazakhstan - Georgia.
06 September, Thursday at 18.00 CET: Armenia - Liechtenstein.
06 September, Thursday at 20.45 CET: Czech Republic - Ukraine.
06 September, Thursday at 20.45 CET: Germany - France.
06 September, Thursday at 20.45 CET: Gibraltar - FYR Macedonia.
06 September, Thursday at 20.45 CET: Latvia - Andorra.
06 September, Thursday at 20.45 CET: Norway - Cyprus.
06 September, Thursday at 20.45 CET: Slovenia - Bulgaria.
06 September, Thursday at 20.45 CET: Wales - Republic of Ireland.

07 September, Friday at 18.00 CET: Azerbaijan - Kosovo.
07 September, Friday at 20.45 CET: Albania - Israel.
07 September, Friday at 20.45 CET: Faroe Islands - Malta.
07 September, Friday at 20.45 CET: Italy - Poland.
07 September, Friday at 20.45 CET: Lithuania - Serbia.
07 September, Friday at 20.45 CET: Romania - Montenegro.
07 September, Friday at 20.45 CET: Turkey - Russia.

08 September, Saturday at 15.00 CET: Northern Ireland - Bosnia and Herzegovina.
08 September, Saturday at 18.00 CET: Belarus - San Marino.
08 September, Saturday at 18.00 CET: Finland - Hungary.
08 September, Saturday at 18.00 CET: Switzerland - Iceland.
08 September, Saturday at 20.45 CET: England - Spain.
08 September, Saturday at 20.45 CET: Estonia - Greece.
08 September, Saturday at 20.45 CET: Luxembourg - Moldova.

09 September, Sunday at 15.00 CET: Ukraine - Slovakia.
09 September, Sunday at 18.00 CET: Bulgaria - Norway.
09 September, Sunday at 18.00 CET: Denmark - Wales.
09 September, Sunday at 18.00 CET: FYR Macedonia - Armenia.
09 September, Sunday at 18.00 CET: Georgia - Latvia.
09 September, Sunday at 20.45 CET: Cyprus - Slovenia.
09 September, Sunday at 20.45 CET: France - Netherlands.
09 September, Sunday at 20.45 CET: Liechtenstein - Gibraltar.

02 September 2018

Seedings announced for Gold Cup 2019

With the last day in August, the ranking came up for next month (September) at CONCACAF region. At the same time, this list has revealed the seedings for the North American football championship which will begin next summer, from positions 1 to 4. This quartet is (in order): Mexico, United States of America, Costa Rica and Honduras.

01 September 2018

Europa league 2018-19 autumn clusters

Just 19 hours after the first draw came the second and for the same meaning: the group stage. But this time is for another competition: the most exciting, entertaining and full-of-goals Europa league. The following 48 teams have learned today their fate in these 12 groups. Each club is going to play 6 rounds, every second week starting from September until December.

Group A: Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Ludogorets, Zurich, AEK Larnaca.

Group B: Red Bull Salzburg, Celtic, RasenBallsport Leipzig, Rosenborg.

Group C: Zenit Saint Petersburg, FC Copenhagen, Bordeaux, Slavia Prague.

Group D: Anderlecht, Fenerbahce, Dinamo Zagreb, Spartak Trnava.

Group E: Arsenal, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Qarabag, Vorskla Poltava.

Group F: Olympiacos, Milan, Betis, F91 Dudelange.

Group G: Villarreal, Rapid Vienna, Spartak Moscow, Glasgow Rangers.

Group H: Lazio, Olympique Marseille, Eintracht Frankfurt, Apollon Limassol.

Group I: Besiktas, Genk, Malmo, Sarpsborg 08.

Group J: Sevilla, Krasnodar, Standard Liege, Akhisarspor.

Group K: Dynamo Kyiv, Astana, Rennes, Jablonec.

Group L: Chelsea, PAOK, BATE Borisov, Videoton.

Before the draw even began, even deservedly so, Antoine Griezmann was announced as best player for the competition for 2017-18 season.