31 July 2019

One hat-trick scored tonight

Europa league:

Lincoln red imps - Ararat-Armenia 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 45+1 (45.33) Ogana Louis
              0:2 58 (57.34) Ogana Louis
              1:2 73 (73.12) Anthony Hernandez

Suduva - Tre penne 5:0

Scorers: 1:0 14 Josip Tadic
              2:0 17 Samir Kerla
              3:0 39 Mihret Topcagic
              4:0 54 Mihret Topcagic
              5:0 89 Sandro Gotal

Feronikeli - Slovan Bratislava 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 19 (18.44) Vernon de Marco
              0:2 53 (53.18) David Holman

- Because of an elbow Mevlan Zeka (Feronikeli) received a direct red card on 86 (86.20).

Champions league:

APOEL - Sutjeska 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 12 (12.16) Andrija Pavlovic
              2:0 24 (24.01) Andrija Pavlovic
              3:0 66 (65.42) Andrija Pavlovic

Nomme Kalju - Celtic 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 10-own goal (09.25) Aleksandr Kulinits
              0:2 90+3 (93.05) Maryan Shved

Maccabi Tel Aviv - Cluj 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 15 (14.36) Nick Blackman
              1:1 18-pen (17.52) Emmanuel Culio
              1:2 41 (41.15) Mario Rondon
              2:2 48 (47.23) Yonathan Cohen

Valletta - Ferencvaros 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 27-pen (26.57) Mario Fontanella
              1:1 59 (58.59) Tokmac Chol Nguen

Basel - PSV 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 07 (07.13) Eray Comert
              1:1 22 (22.08) Armindo tue na Bangna (also known as Bruma)
              2:1 68 (67.21) Ricky van Wolfswinkel

Dinamo Zagreb - Saburtalo 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 76 (75.58) Mislav Orsic
              2:0 88 (87.48) Bruno Petkovic
              3:0 90+4 (93.35) Dani Olmo

Olympiacos - Viktoria Plzen 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 51 (50.28) Guilherme dos Santos Torres
              2:0 69 (68.58) Miguel Guerrero
              3:0 72-own goal (72.09) Radim Reznik
              4:0 82 (81.38) Ruben Semedo

Additional information: the following 10 clubs have qualified for elimination stages round 3 of Europa league: Ararat-Armenia, Suduva, Slovan Bratislava (together with the Champions league losing teams Sutjeska, Nomme Kalju, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Valletta, PSV, Saburtalo and Viktoria Plzen). APOEL, Celtic, Cluj, Ferencvaros, Basel, Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos are into the next qualifying phase of Champions league.

30 July 2019

Familiar dates for final competition

So far we know that Qatar is going to host the final official event of the year with 6 continental club champions plus the title winner in its home championship Al-Sadd (who will open the Club World Cup). And from last Thursday dates have been known for the event: edition number 16 is going to be played from 11 until 21 December.
Until now only 4 clubs are known (from which 3 are regional champions), and thus one pair is already decided: debutants Hienghene sport (Oceania title winner from New Caledonia) is going to play with the Qatar stars league champion as match number 1. Two duels from the second round is going to be on 14, 17 and 18 December are semifinal games plus classification match for fifth / sixth place, and on the final night will be played the last two duels. In total there is going to be 8 matches.
From North, Central America and the Caribbean region comes Monterrey (Mexico) who will first appear at quarterfinal games, while Liverpool (England) is the European representative which is going to enter playing from semifinals. The other 3 mysterious clubs from Africa, South America and Asia will be known until second part of November.

29 July 2019

Which clubs will enter the third qualifying stage?

Next midweek the European Cups continue with ending of the second elimination round. Both competitions are going to be held in two and three nights consecutively, while we easily may experience additional times to be played, or even penalty shoot-out, like the last stage.

Matches are scheduled for the last two nights of this month. Five different time slots awaits the second leg of Champions league.

Tuesday, 30 July at 19.00 CET: APOEL - Sutjeska.
Tuesday, 30 July at 19.00 CET: Maccabi Tel Aviv - Cluj.
Tuesday, 30 July at 19.00 CET: Nomme Kalju - Celtic.
Tuesday, 30 July at 20.00 CET: Basel - PSV.
Tuesday, 30 July at 20.00 CET: Dinamo Zagreb - Saburtalo.
Tuesday, 30 July at 20.00 CET: Valletta - Ferencvaros.
Tuesday, 30 July at 20.30 CET: Olympiacos - Viktoria Plzen.

Wednesday, 31 July at 18.00 CET: HJK - Crvena zvezda.
Wednesday, 31 July at 19.00 CET: AIK - Maribor.
Wednesday, 31 July at 19.00 CET: Qarabag - Dundalk.
Wednesday, 31 July at 19.00 CET: Rosenborg - BATE.
Wednesday, 31 July at 19.45 CET: Copenhagen - The new saints.

If the previous event was playing at the last two nights of this month, Europa league is going to open the very first night of next month as well where majority of games are scheduled. Until now this tournament continues to be on playing successively.

Tuesday, 30 July at 17.45 CET: Lincoln red imps - Ararat-Armenia.
Tuesday, 30 July at 17.45 CET: Suduva - Tre Penne.
Tuesday, 30 July at 17.55 CET: F91 Dudelange - Skendija.
Tuesday, 30 July at 18.00 CET: Feronikeli - Slovan Bratislava.

Wednesday, 31 July at 20.45 CET: Cukaricki - Molde.

Thursday, 01 August at 16.00 CET: Astana - Santa coloma.
Thursday, 01 August at 16.00 CET: Ordabasy - Mlada Boleslav.
Thursday, 01 August at 16.30 CET: Kairat - Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Thursday, 01 August at 17.00 CET: Viitorul - Gent.
Thursday, 01 August at 18.00 CET: KuPS - Legia.
Thursday, 01 August at 18.00 CET: Zorya - Buducnost.
Thursday, 01 August at 18.15 CET: Universitatea - Honved.
Thursday, 01 August at 18.30 CET: Debrecen - Torino.
Thursday, 01 August at 18.30 CET: Hacken - AZ.
Thursday, 01 August at 18.30 CET: Levski - AEK Larnaca.
Thursday, 01 August at 18.30 CET: Riga - Piast.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: AEL Limassol - Aris.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Apollon - Shamrock rovers.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Atromitos - Dunajska streda.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Dinamo Tbilisi - Gabala.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Jablonec - Pyunik.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: KI - Luzern.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Liepaja - Norrkoping.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Maccabi Haifa - Strasbourg.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Malmo - Domzale.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Neftchi - Arsenal Tula.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Sheriff - Partizani.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Vaduz - Videoton.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.00 CET: Zrinjski - Utrecht.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.30 CET: Brondby - Lechia.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.30 CET: Ludogorets - Valur.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.30 CET: Progres - Glasgow rangers.
Thursday, 01 August at 19.45 CET: Esbjerg - Shakhtyor Soligorsk.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.00 CET: Gzira - Ventspils.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.00 CET: Olimpija - Malatyaspor.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.30 CET: Eintracht Frankfurt - Flora.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.30 CET: Steaua - Alashkert.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.30 CET: Sturm - Haugesund.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.45 CET: Aberdeen - Chikhura.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.45 CET: Linfield - HB.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.45 CET: Osijek - CSKA Sofia.
Thursday, 01 August at 20.45 CET: Spartak Trnava - Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Thursday, 01 August at 21.00 CET: Crusaders - Wolverhampton.
Thursday, 01 August at 21.00 CET: Partizan - Connah's quay nomads.
Thursday, 01 August at 21.00 CET: Vitoria - Jeunesse Esch.
Thursday, 01 August at 21.15 CET: Stjarnan - Espanyol.

28 July 2019

Judges had mercy on a dishonest player

Daniel Sturridge faced with 11 charges because of rules violation of misleading information on the transfer market that happened last January. However, he was found guilty of 9 out of which only 2 were proven. Originally the striker had to be removed from this sport for 6 weeks, but last Thursday he received only 2 weeks suspension plus had to pay 75.000 pounds (83.023 euros). There was little information about the case, however in the weight of the accusations some were saying that this was way too soft and that the player had to be banned from football for life.
It was even confirmed that one member of his family placed a bet that the footballer would go to Inter, but instead the 29-year-old finished at West Bromwich Albion that time.

27 July 2019

Pairs are now known for penultimate eliminatory phase

We are midway through of the second qualifying round of the European Cups, but before it began this Monday the European football organization performed the draw for the next eliminatory stage. In the third qualifying round all duels are scheduled to finish in exactly first 15 nights of next month.

First 90 minutes of the penultimate phase for Champions league are 06 and 07 August. What is more strange is that in only one night all games have to be played for this event, and 13 August is picked as the deciding night.

Champions path:
Cluj / Maccabi Tel Aviv - Celtic / Nomme Kalju.
Sutjeska / APOEL - Dundalk / Qarabag.
PAOK - Ajax.
Saburtalo / Dinamo - Ferencvaros / Valletta.
Crvena zvezda / HJK - The new saints / Copenhagen.
Maribor / AIK - BATE / Rosenborg.

League path:
Basaksehir - Viktoria Plzen / Olympiacos.
Krasnodar - Porto.
Club Brugge - Dynamo Kyiv.
PSV Eindhoven / Basel - LASK.

One afternoon / night also awaits the most exciting club tournament as well, but on two occasions. At the second will begin, and on the third Thursday is going to be decided which clubs will travel to the third eliminatory stage of Europa league. Do not be surprised if you see all Champions league pairs written here again: however the losers will advance to this phase and not the winners.

Champions path:
Sutjeska / APOEL - HB / Linfield.
Cluj / Maccabi Tel Aviv - Tre penne / Suduva.
Ararat-Armenia / Lincoln red imps - Saburtalo / Dinamo.
Piast / Riga - Crvena zvezda / HJK.
Valur / Ludogorets - The new saints / Kobenhavn.
Sarajevo - BATE / Rosenborg.
Skendija / Dudelange - Celtic / Nomme Kalju.
Santa coloma / Astana - Ferencvaros / Valletta.
Partizani / Sheriff - Maribor / AIK.
Slovan Bratislava / Feronikeli - Dundalk / Qarabag.

Main path:
Norrkoping / Liepaja - Hapoel Beer-Sheva / Kairat.
Torino / Debrecen - Shakhtyor Soligorsk / Esbjerg.
Antwerp - Viktoria Plzen / Olympiacos.
Austria Vienna - Shamrock Rovers / Apollon.
Feyenoord - Gabala / Dinamo Tbilisi.
Lechia / Brondby - Braga.
Molde / Cukaricki - Aris / AEL Limassol.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv / Spartak Trnava - Strasbourg / Maccabi Haifa.
Thun - Spartak Moskva.
Alashkert / Steaua - Mlada Boleslav / Ordabasy.
Pyunik / Jablonec - Wolverhampton / Crusaders.
Midtjylland - Glasgow Rangers / Progres.
Mariupol - AZ / Hacken.
AEK Larnaca / Levski Sofia - Gent / Viitorul.
Legia / KuPS - Dunajska streda / Atromitos.
Haugesund / Sturm Graz - PSV Eindhoven / Basel.
Rijeka - Chikhura / Aberdeen.
Ventspils / Gzira - Jeunesse Esch / Vitoria Guimaraes.
Videoton / Vaduz - Flora / Eintracht Frankfurt.
Connah's quay nomads / Partizan - Malatyaspor / Olimpija.
Domzale / Malmo - Utrecht / Zrinjski.
CSKA Sofia / Osijek - Buducnost / Zorya.
Arsenal Tula / Neftci - Bnei Yehuda.
Luzern / KI - Espanyol / Stjarnan.
Sparta Prague - Trabzonspor.
Honved / Universitatea - AEK Athens.

26 July 2019

Unbelievable nine goal thriller in a qualifying game

Pyunik - Jablonec 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 05 (04.57) Artur Miranyan
              2:0 29 (29.05) Artur Miranyan
              2:1 52 (52.11) Martin Dolezal

Ventspils - Gzira 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 40 (40.01) Kaspars Svarups
              2:0 49 (48.57) Helio Monteiro Batista
              3:0 83 (82.48) Ingars Stuglis
              4:0 87 (86.27) Tosin Aiyegun

Gabala - Dinamo Tbilisi 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 41 (40.29) Levani Kutalia
              0:2 87 (86.28) Arfang Daffe

Partizani - Sheriff 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 23 Robert Ndip Tambe

AEK Larnaca - Levski 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 66 (65.53) Apostolos Giannou
              2:0 69 (69.16) Raul Ruiz Matarin
              3:0 74 (74.14) Hector Hevel

- Zhivko Milanov (Levski) on 45+1 (46.15) received his second yellow card.

Utrecht - Zrinjski 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 34 (33.40) Miljan Govedarica
              1:1 60 (59.57) Gyrano Kerk

Chikhura - Aberdeen 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 40-pen Giorgi Koripadze
              1:1 68-pen Sam Cosgrove

Honved - Universitatea 0:0

Arsenal Tula - Neftchi 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 45+1 (45.34) Dario Frederico da Silva

Mlada Boleslav - Ordabasy 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 21 (20.32) Mirzad Mehanovic
              1:1 45+1 (46.12) Nikolay Komilchenko

Malatyaspor - Olimpija Ljubljana 2:2


Scorers: 0:1 13 (12.29) Ante Vukusic

              1:1 19 (19.12) Arturo Rafael Mina Meza
              1:2 66-pen (66.00) Adis Jahovic
              2:2 74 (73.28) Stefan Savic



Lechia - Brondby 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 26-pen (25.26) Flavio Paixao

              1:1 58 (58.18) Simon Hedlund
              2:1 62 (62.10) Patryk Lipski

Molde - Cukaricki 0:0

- Visiting midfielder Veljko Birmancevic picked up his second yellow card at 90+4.

Haugesund - Sturm 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 51 Kevin Martin Krygard
              2:0 64 Niklas Sandberg

Flora - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 24 (23.22) Lucas Torro
              1:1 33 (33.15) Mihkel Ainsalu
              1:2 71 (70.50) Dejan Joveljic

Shakhtyor Soligorsk - Esbjerg 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 05 (04.37) Elis Bakaj
              2:0 55 (54.47) Pavel Rybak

Alashkert - Steaua 0:3

Scorers: 0:1 59 (59.03) Florin Tanase
              0:2 68 (67.31) Iulian Cristea
              0:3 81 (80.56) Florinel Coman

CSKA Sofia - Osijek 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 53 Evandro da Silva

Hapoel Beer Sheva - Kairat 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 09-pen Ramzi Safouri
              2:0 53 Eden Shamir

Connah's quay nomads - Partizan 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 62 (61.24) Aleksandar Scekic

Lokomotiv Plovdiv - Spartak Trnava 2:0

Scorer: 1:0 38-pen (38.14) Dimitar Iliev
             2:0 61-pen (60.25) Dimitar Iliev

Piast - Riga 3:2

Scorers: 0:1 66 Jakub Czerwinski
              1:1 21 Roman Debelko
              2:1 81 Jorge Felix
              3:1 85 Jorge Felix
              3:2 86 Uros Korun

IFK Norrkoping - Liepaja 2:0


Scorers: 1:0 01 Simon Thern

              2:0 79 Sead Haksabanovic


Videoton - Vaduz 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 04 (04.19) Ianique dos santos tavares (also known as Stopira)

Luzern - KI 1:0


Scorer: 1:0 90+2 Christian Schneuwly


Jeunesse Esch - Vitoria Guimaraes 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 90+4 Joseph Amoah

Aris - AEL Limassol 0:0

Dunajska streda - Atromitos 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 20 Javier Umbides
              1:1 35 Kristopher Vida
              1:2 43 Giorgos Manousos

Gent - Viitorul 6:3

Scorers: 1:0 03 (03.19) Nana Akwasi Asare
              2:0 13 (12.42) Brecht Dejaegere
              2:1 20 (20.00) Sebastian Mladen
              3:1 34 (34.14) Yuya Kubo
              4:1 42-pen (41.28) Roman Yaremchuk
              5:1 44 (44.06) Yuya Kubo
              6:1 50 (49.45) Roman Yaremchuk
              6:2 55 (54.59) Bogdan Tiru
              6:3 61 (60.29) Bogdan Tiru

AZ - Hacken 0:0

Strasbourg - Maccabi Haifa 3:1

Scorers: 0:1 38 (38.07) Maxim Plakuschenko
              1:1 45-pen (44.55) Ludovic Ajorque
              2:1 47 (46.44) Adrien Thomasson
              3:1 61 (60.53) Jonas Martin

- On 43 (43.04) Ayid Habshi (Maccabi Haifa) got a deserved direct red card.

Domzale - Malmo 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 37 (36.24) Shamar Nicholson
              1:1 42 (41.19) Rasmus Bengtsson
              2:1 48 (47.32) Adam Gnezda Cerin
              2:2 51 (51.07) Marcus Antonsson

Buducnost - Zorya 1:3

Scorers: 0:1 15 (14.50) Artem Hromov
              0:2 19 (18.46) Artem Hromov
              1:2 59 (58.50) Mihailo Perovic
              1:3 81 (81.02) Levan Arveladze

Glasgow Rangers - Progres 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 20 Joe Aribo
              2:0 53 Sheyi Ojo

- James Tavernier (Glasgow Rangers) missed a 11 metre shot at 69.
- For two yellow cards Tom Laterza (Progres) had to leave the game on 88.

Wolverhampton - Crusaders 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 36 (36.13) Diogo Jota
              2:0 90+3 (92.28) Ruben Vinagre

Shamrock Rovers - Apollon 2:1

Scorers: 0:1 06 Fotios papoulis
              1:1 14 Lee Grace
              2:1 58 Roberto Lopes

- Nasty player was Esteban Sachetti (Apollon) on 83 when the referee showed him a direct red card.

Espanyol - Stjarnan 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 49 (48.42) Facundo Ferreyra
              2:0 56 (56.08) Facundo Ferreyra
              3:0 59 (59.01) Borja Iglesias
              4:0 67 (66.59) Borja Iglesias

Valur - Ludogorets 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 11 (10.21) Lasse Petry
              1:1 90+2 (91.42) Anicet Abel Andrianantenaina

Legia - KuPS 1:0

Scorers: 1:0 09 (08.48) Mateusz Wieteska

Torino - Debrecen 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 20-pen (19.47) Andrea Belotti
              2:0 41 (41.18) Cristian Ansaldi
              3:0 90+2 (91.56) Simone Zaza

25 July 2019

Highest victory achieved

Europa league:

Slovan Bratislava - Feronikeli 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 09 (08.27) Jose Antonio Delgado Villar (also known as Nono)
              2:0 61-pen (61.00) Andraz Sporar
              2:1 67 (66.26) Mendurim Hoti

Champions league:

BATE - Rosenborg 2:1


Scorers: 1:0 05-pen (04.36) Ihar Stasevich
              1:1 24 (24.11) Anders Konradsen
              2:1 51 (50.39) Maksim Skavysh

Ferencvaros - Valletta 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 19-own goal (18.47) Henry Bonello
              2:0 36-pen (35.51) Davide Lanzafame
              3:0 59 (58.31) Davide Lanzafame
              3:1 84 (84.14) Yuri de Jesus Messias

- The guests finished the match with 10 players because Steve Borg was quicker than the final whistle receiving a direct red card on 90+3 (93.08).

Cluj - Maccabi Tel Aviv 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 22 (21.26) Bilel Omrani

Maribor - AIK 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 06 (05.48) Rok Kronaveter
              1:1 28 (27.24) Henok Goitom
              2:1 38 (37.31) Sasa Ivkovic

Dundalk - Qarabag 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 04 (03.46) Mahir Emreli
              1:1 77 (77.18) Patrick Hoban

Celtic - Nomme Kalju 5:0

Scorers: 1:0 36 (35.41) Kristoffer Ajer
              2:0 44-pen (43.28) Ryan Christie
              3:0 45+2 (47.06) Leigh Griffiths
              4:0 65 (64.26) Ryan Christie
              5:0 76 (76.19) Callum McGregor

Crvena zvezda - HJK 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 26 (26.08) Richmond Boakye
              2:0 90 (89.38) Milan Pavkov

24 July 2019

Visitors were more successful

Europa league:

Ararat-Armenia - Lincoln red imps 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 33 (32.25) Anton Kobyalko
              2:0 45+2 (46.43) Kodjo Kasse Alphonse

- The visiting team finished the game with 10 players because Marcos Perez received a direct red card on 49.

HB - Linfield 2:2

Scorers: 0:1 01 Andrew Waterworth
              1:1 37-pen Adrian Justinussen
              1:2 88-pen Andrew Waterworth
              2:2 89 Paetur Joensson Petersen

Santa coloma - Astana 0:0

Tre penne - Suduva 0:5

Scorers: 0:1 09 Giedrius Matulevicius
              0:2 20 Mihret Topcagic
              0:3 66 Andro Svrljuga
              0:4 80 Josip Tadic
              0:5 90+1 Tosaint Ricketts

Champions league:

Viktoria Plzen - Olympiacos 0:0

Saburtalo - Dinamo Zagreb 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 66 Mislav Orsic
              0:2 78 Bruno Petkovic

The new saints - Copenhagen 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 17 (17.14) Pieros Sotiriou
              0:2 61-pen (60.25) Robert Skov

PSV Eindhoven - Basel 3:2

Scorers: 1:0 13 (13.10) Armindo Tue na Bangna (also known as Bruma)
              1:1 45+1 (45.43) Albian Ajeti
              1:2 79 (78.51) Omar Federico Alderete Fernandez
              2:2 89 (88.48) Sam Lammers
              3:2 90+2 (92.00) Donyell Malen


Sutjeska - APOEL 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 42-pen (41.28) Tomas de Vincenti

- Stefan Nikolic had a chance to equalize for Sutjeska at 68 (67.57), but his shot from 11 metres hit the post.

23 July 2019

Groups were decided for two qualifying combined tournaments

On 17 July at the capital of Malaysia happened the draw for two important joint qualifying competitions: World Cup 2022 (Asian region only) and for the Asian Cup event which is going to start one year later. In total, 40 teams were equally divided in 8 groups, where there will be 10 rounds in each group which their quest for the third qualifying round are going to pursue from this fall and will last until June 2020.
From pot 5 to pot 1 Tim Cahill have pulled out all teams (from the weakest to the strongest), and placed them in the following groups as is shown below:

Group A: Guam, Maldives, Philippines, Syria, People's Republic of China.

Group B: Nepal, Kuwait, Chinese Taipei, Jordan, Australia.

Group C: Cambodia, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Group D: Singapore, Yemen, Palestine, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia.

Group E: Qatar*, Afghanistan, India, Oman, Bangladesh.

Group F: Mongolia, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan.

Group G: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates.

Group H: Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, North Korea, Lebanon, South Korea.

* The hosts of the next World Cup originally was a pot 1 team, but as Qatar competes at Copa America 2020 they immediately swapped position places with Bangladesh in order to adjust matches between these qualifiers and the South American championship next year.

22 July 2019

Introducing first matches of second qualifying round from European Cups

In the shadow of the Africa Cup of Nations, the European Cup competitions in the meantime already reached the second qualifying round. Currently the continent is under extreme heat (in some parts), thus the only solution is to begin playing at night. Both events are going to introduce us with the first 90 minutes.

As it becomes practice Champions league will be on two nights, but on both occasions will not start first. With unequally scheduled duels in total we are having 5 different time slots.

Tuesday, 23 July at 19.00 CETViktoria Plzen - Olympiacos.
Tuesday, 23 July at 19.30 CETSaburtalo - Dinamo Zagreb.
Tuesday, 23 July at 20.00 CETPSV Eindhoven - Basel.
Tuesday, 23 July at 20.00 CETThe New Saints - Copenhagen.
Tuesday, 23 July at 20.15 CETSutjeska - APOEL.

Wednesday, 24 July at 19.00 CET: BATE - Rosenborg.
Wednesday, 24 July at 20.00 CET: Cluj - Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Wednesday, 24 July at 20.00 CET: Ferencvaros - Valletta.
Wednesday, 24 July at 20.15 CET: Maribor - AIK.
Wednesday, 24 July at 20.45 CET: Celtic - Nomme Kalju.
Wednesday, 24 July at 20.45 CET: Crvena Zvezda - HJK.
Wednesday, 24 July at 20.45 CET: Dundalk - Qarabag.

Many games happening from this competition. Some new (and privileged) clubs have entered from this phase, and most of them chose to play at the last night scheduled for Europa league. From the first qualifying round this event continues to use playing consecutively, thus all results will be known in less than 72 hours.

Tuesday, 23 July at 17.00 CET: Lincoln Red Imps - Ararat-Armenia.
Tuesday, 23 July at 17.45 CET: Linfield - HB.
Tuesday, 23 July at 17.55 CET: F91 Dudelange - Skendija.
Tuesday, 23 July at 20.00 CET: Astana - Santa Coloma.
Tuesday, 23 July at 20.30 CET: Suduva - Tre Penne.

Wednesday, 24 July at 18.00 CET: Feronikeli - Slovan Bratislava.


Thursday, 25 July at 15.30 CET: Pyunik - Jablonec.
Thursday, 25 July at 16.45 CET: Gzira - Ventspils.
Thursday, 25 July at 17.00 CET: Dinamo Tbilisi - Gabala.
Thursday, 25 July at 17.30 CET: Levski - AEK Larnaca.
Thursday, 25 July at 17.30 CET: Sheriff - Partizani.
Thursday, 25 July at 18.30 CET: Utrecht - Zrinjski.
Thursday, 25 July at 18.45 CET: Chikhura - Aberdeen.
Thursday, 25 July at 18.55 CET: Honved - Universitatea.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Alashkert - Steaua.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Arsenal Tula - Neftchi.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Flora - Eintracht Frankfurt.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Haugesund - Sturm.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Lechia - Brondby.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Malatyaspor - Olimpija Ljubljana.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Mlada Boleslav - Ordabasy.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Molde - Cukaricki.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.00 CET: Shakhtyor Soligorsk - Esbjerg.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.30 CETConnah's quay nomads - Partizan.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.30 CET: CSKA Sofia - Osijek.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.30 CET: Hapoel Beer Sheva - Kairat.
Thursday, 25 July at 19.30 CET: Lokomotiv Plovdiv - Spartak Trnava.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.00 CET: Jeunesse Esch - Guimaraes.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.00 CET: IFK Norrkoping - Liepaja.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.00 CET: Piast - Riga.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.00 CET: Videoton - Vaduz.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.15 CET: Luzern - KI.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.30 CET: Aris - AEL Limassol.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.30 CET: AZ - Hacken.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.30 CET: Dunajska Streda - Atromitos.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.30 CET: Gent - Viitorul.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.45 CET: Buducnost - Zorya.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.45 CET: Domzale - Malmo.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.45 CET: Glasgow Rangers - Progres.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.45 CET: Strasbourg - Maccabi Haifa.
Thursday, 25 July at 20.45 CET: Wolverhampton - Crusaders.
Thursday, 25 July at 21.00 CET: Espanyol - Stjarnan.
Thursday, 25 July at 21.00 CET: Legia - KuPS.
Thursday, 25 July at 21.00 CET: Shamrock Rovers - Apollon.
Thursday, 25 July at 21.00 CET: Torino - Debrecen.
Thursday, 25 July at 21.00 CET: Valur - Ludogorets.

21 July 2019

African numbers

Congratulations to Algeria who are the new rulers of the African continent! It took them just 81 seconds to score the winning goal, and after 21 days / nights here are all the numbers that made this event so exciting to watch and follow.

Goals and own goals: In normal time 101 goals were given in 52 matches or 1.94 per game. The only shake of the net in additional time was given at the 100 minute of the first semifinal which also was an own goal. And speaking of own goals, 4 of them happened in just 50 games. Tunisia gifted the other teams with the most: 2. Five goals were given in stoppage time: 2 after 45 minutes plus 3 happened after the ninetieth.

Unpopular results: the first time that we saw zeros in the games was at the end of round two, with 3 consecutive duels. After that, near the end of third round finished 2 times plus 1 more zero was at the first semifinal (when the unfortunate own goal happened in extra time).

Punishments, saved and missed: referees were in the mood to give 8 penalties for different teams in 50 duels: 3 of them in the first half plus 5 at the second. Two of them were given at the same game. Goalkeepers saved 4 punishments which 3 of them happened to be from Senegal. Players were quiet in all rounds from group stages, but from then on started to miss penalties on 2 occasions. This 'spell was broken' in round of 16, while the other was in the quarterfinal game.

Departure from games: in total there was 5 sending offs in the tournament. Three players received two yellow cards, with one of them happened to be at extra time. However, two footballers (one in the first and the other at the second half) did really nasty fouls from which referees gave them direct red card.

To conclude, it has been a fantastic summer where even 4 continental champions were decided in 2019: Asian Cup winners Qatar, Copa America champions Brazil, winners of the Gold Cup event Mexico plus the above mentioned champions of Africa Algeria. Unfortunately, these quartet will not be playing at the Confederations Cup 2021 (just to see who is better among them), because the tournament was cancelled two years ago when this stupidest idea came from the world football organization who put all the weight now on the Club World Cup event.

19 July 2019

King of Africa is crowned to rule the continent for the next two years!

Africa Cup of Nations 2019: match 52, day 21, final

Senegal - Algeria 0:1


Scorer: 0:1 02 (01.21) Baghdad Bounedjah

Stoppage time played for both halves: 2.03 + 4.25.

Different games from yesterday: couple of them decided at additional time

Tobol - Jeunesse Esch 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 22-own goal Halim Medy Meddour
              1:1 59-pen Mehmet Arslan

Kairat - Siroki Brijeg 2:1

Scorers: 0:1 89-pen Drazen Bagaric
              1:1 90+2 Ramazan Orazov
              2:1 90+3 Islambek Kuat

Teuta - Ventspils 1:0

Scorer: 47 Sherif Kallaku

Inter Turku - Brondby 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 51 (51.11) Niko Markkula
              2:0 56 (55.53) Filip Valencic

Levadia - Stjarnan 2:1, after extra time 3:2

Scorers: 1:0 17 Yevgeni Osipov
              1:1 25 Thorsteinn Mar Ragnarsson
              2:1 89 Yevgeni Osipov
              3:1 105-pen Dmitry Kruglov
              3:2 120+2 Brynjar Gauti Gudjonsson

Rigas futbola skola - Olimpija 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 45 Endri Cekici
              0:2 90+2 Stefan Savic

RoPS - Aberdeen 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 01 (01.08) Tarik Kada
              1:1 26-pen (26.02) Sam Cosgrove
              1:2 90+4 (93.37) Lewis Ferguson

Universitatea - Sabail 3:2

Scorers: 1:0 27 (27.20) Alexandru Cicaldau
              2:0 53 (52.51) Bogdan Ilie Vatajelu
              2:1 67 (66.31) Agabala Ramazanov
              2:2 69 (68.33) Dylan Ludovic Duventru-Huret
              3:2 89 (89.13) Carlos Fortes

Dinamo Minsk - Liepaja 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 10 Dan Spataru
              0:2 70 Luiz Paulo Hilario (known as Dodo)
              1:2 90+1 Valentins Ralkevics

Levski - Ruzomberok 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 32 (32.09) Davide Mariani
              2:0 90+1 (91.18) Deni Alar

Neftchi - Speranta 6:0

Scorers: 1:0 18 Vangelis Platellas
              2:0 24-pen Emin Makhmudov
              3:0 39 Vangelis Platellas
              4:0 42 Dario Frederico da Silva
              5:0 67 Steven Joseph-Monrose
              6:0 78 Ismayil Zulfugarli

Apollon - Kauno 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 05 (04.45) Emilio Zelaya
              2:0 43-pen (42.59) Emilio Zelaya
              3:0 59-pen (59.04) Emilio Zelaya
              4:0 83 (82.36) Attila Szalai

Torpedo Kutaisi - Ordabasy 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 81 (80.52) Mirzad Mehanovic
              0:2 90+4 (93.52) Ziguy Badibanga

Cracovia - Dunajska Streda 1:1, after extra time 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 01 (01.17) Rafael Lopes
              1:1 46 (46.14) Connor Ronan
              1:2 93 (93.25) Eric Ramirez
              2:2 120+1 (121.14) Filip Piszczek

Haugesund - Cliftonville 5:1

Scorers: 1:0 05 Kristoffer Velde
              1:1 17 Conor McMenamin
              2:1 36 Martin Samuelsen
              3:1 45 Ibrahima Kone
              4:1 51 Mikkel Desler
              5:1 68 Kristoffer Velde

Milsami - Steaua 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 04 (03.24) Cristian Cosmin Dumitru
              0:2 41 (41.10) Razvan Oaida
              1:2 47 (46.34) Vadim Bolohan

Vaduz - Breidablik 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 56 (56.00) Mohamed Coulibaly
              2:0 78 (78.17) Dominik Schwizer
              2:1 90+2 (92.14) Hokuldur Gunnlaugsson

Zalgiris - Honved 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 17 (17.11) Liviu Antal
              1:1 62 (61.47) Djordje Kamber

Petrocub - AEK Larnaca 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 90+2-own goal Maxim Potimiche

Engordany - Dinamo Tbilisi 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 81 (80.25) Abdel Jalil Zaim Idriss Medioub

Hapoel Beer Sheva - Laci 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 69 Naor Sabag

Progres - Cork 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 03 Garry Buckley
              0:2 47 Conor McCarthy
              1:2 68 Issa Bah

Videoton - Zeta 0:0

- On 74 (73.42) Djordje Vukcevic received his second yellow card.

B36 - Crusaders 2:3

Scorers: 0:1 03 Jordan Forsythe
              0:2 28 Paul Heatley
              1:2 37 Hugin Samuelsen
              2:2 51 Lukasz Cieslewicz
              2:3 68 Paul Heatley

IFK - Saint Patrick's 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 37 Jordan Larsson
              1:1 72 Conor Clifford 
              2:1 85 Karl Holmberg

- For having two yellow cards Ciaran Kelly (Saint Patrick's) was sent off on 89.

Kukesi - Debrecen 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 16 (16.05) Valon Ethemi
              1:1 58 (57.35) Csaba Szatmari

Hajduk - Gzira 1:3

Scorers: 1:0 06 (06.10) Bassel Zakaria Jradi
              1:1 56 (56.05) Jefferson Mateus de Assis Estacio
              1:2 68 (68.11) Hamed Kone
              1:3 90+6 (95.41) Hamed Kone

Hibernians - Shakhtyor Soligorsk 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 64 Nikita Tatarkov

- In this match both teams finished with 10 men on the pitch. For dangerous play Aleksandr Selyava (Shakhtyor Soligorsk) received a direct red at 33, while Ferdinando Apap received his second yellow at 73 for Hibernians.

Mura - Maccabi Haifa 2:3

Scorers: 1:0 06 (05.28) Luka Bobicanec
              1:1 31 (30.45) Muhammad Awad
              1:2 35 (34.40) Yuval Ashkenazi
              1:3 75 (75.08) Yuval Ashkenazi
              2:3 80 (80.20) Klemen Sturm

Vitebsk - KuPS 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 26 (26.02) Artem Stargorodsky
              1:1 53 (52.30) Babacar Diallo

Radnicki Nis - Flora 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 67 (67.20) Stefan Mihajlovic
              1:1 80 (79.21) Henrik Purg
              2:1 83 (82.56) Nikola Cumic
              2:2 90+3 (92.42) Mark Anders Lepik


Glasgow Rangers - Saint Joseph's 6:0

Scorers: 1:0 03 (02.32) Joe Aribo
              2:0 45+1 (45.40) Alfredo Morelos
              3:0 56 (56.09) Alfredo Morelos
              4:0 65 (65.05) Alfredo Morelos
              5:0 76 (76.06) Jermain Defoe
              6:0 86 (85.56) Jermain Defoe

Ballymena - Malmo  0:4

Scorers: 0:1 27 Behrang Safari
              0:2 52 Guillermo Molins
              0:3 68 Erdal Rakip
              0:4 79-pen Romain Gall

Domzale - Balzan 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 21 Slobodan Vuk

Kilmarnock - Connah's quay nomads 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 49 Ryan Wignall
              0:2 80-pen Callum Morris

- Bad boys in this duel were Stuart Findlay (Kilmarnock) who got a direct red card, and for second yellow card Ryan Wignall (Connah's quay nomads) had to go out on 85.

Buducnost - Narva Trans 4:1

Scorers: 1:0 03 Milos Vucic
              1:1 39 Eduard Golovljov
              2:1 49 Dusan Bakic
              3:1 56 Mihailo Perovic
              4:1 78 Dejan Zarubica

Spartak Trnava - Radnik 2:0, on penalties: 3-2

Scorers: 1:0 10 (09.23) Alex Sobczyk
              2:0 87 (86.34) Kristian Mihalek

- Spartak Trnava had a player sent off, because for second yellow Bogdan Mitrea had to leave early at 108 (107.42).

Legia - Europa 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 06 (06.01) Carlitos Lopes
              2:0 12 (12.15) Sandro Kulenovic
              3:0 60 (59.40) Carlitos Lopes

- At 53 Sergio Jimenez Sanchez (Europa) picked up a direct red card.

Shamrock rovers - Brann 2:1

Scorers: 0:1 57 Daouda Bamba
              1:1 76 Jack Byrne
              2:1 87 Gary O'Neil

KR - Molde 0:0

Additional information: Jeunesse Esch, Kairat, Ventspils, Brondby, Stjarnan, Olimpija, Aberdeen, Universitatea, Liepaja, Levski, Neftchi, Apollon, Ordabasy, Dunajska Streda, Haugesund, Steaua, Vaduz, Honved, AEK Larnaca, Dinamo Tbilisi, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Progres, Videoton, Crusaders, IFK, Debrecen, Gzira, Shakhtyor Soligorsk, Maccabi Haifa, KuPS, Flora, Glasgow Rangers, Malmo, Domzale, Connah's quay nomads, Buducnost, Spartak Trnava, Legia, Shamrock rovers and Molde qualified for the next phase of the competition.