In what seems to be a new development, the qualifying fixtures for South American countries aiming to be at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar have been postponed from the initial date to a new one, it has been confirmed. The games were originally supposed to be played this March, but they have now been hit with postponement following concerns over the coronavirus quarantine regulations and restrictions.
The top Asia football teams are very soon going to begin their quest for the FIFA World Cup 2022. The FIFA World Cup 2022 is going to take place in Qatar. The team would come to know their rivals round 2 of Asian Qualifiers Round. The schedule for the same will be declared in the next month.
In round two, around 40 teams will take part and they will be divided into five teams of eight groups. All the teams will take part in the double round robin format the format is popularly known as “home and away”. They will compete from 5th September 2019 to 9th June 2020. This news has been circulated by AFC on Monday.
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A feasibility study is usually done by FIFA when it considers the bids that different countries place for hosting the World Cup. In this study for Qatar, the hosting nation for World Cup 2022, it was found that, of the five countries that surround Qatar, three of them would not play co-hosts. These are Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. These countries need to be ruled out as co-hosts. This leaves only Kuwait and Oman with whom Qatar can share the matches. However, these countries might not want to participate in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are antagonized by their actions. After all, they are bigger brothers to these nations and they are all part of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The final decision would be taken by the FIFA Congress in June when they meet for the Paris convention. The three countries who have turned foes for Qatar have engaged themselves in legal and diplomatic battles that are acrimonious. Qatar has been spending a lot of resources and time to gain global opinions. Countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are also impacted by this but they have larger economies of scale to their advantage. Qatar is a speck on the global map. The embargo was put on June 2017, mainly because it has been sponsoring terrorist individuals and groups. For such reasons, the country is being isolated in this region. Qatar is, however, trying to show its bravery and ensuring that the World Cup event would not be harmed. They are working on infrastructure and other preparations. The country is not sparing money and effort for building hotels, roads, stadiums and subway systems.
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An injury time goal scored by Ahmed Al Saleh saw Syria hold the China team coached by Marcello Lippi’s team to a 2-2 draw on Tuesday evening.
As a result, China’s hope of qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals is hanging by the thinnest of threads.
China’s Gao Lin and Wu Xi scored in the second half thus putting China in the lead after Mahmoud Al Mawas had scored first for the Syrians from the penalty spot in the 12th minute.
However, it was not to be a win for China as a curling free kick from Al Saleh put the teams on the same level thus ensuring that they shared the points between themselves.
With this result, China now sits six points behindUzbekistan who are third placed. Two games are yet to be played and these two will be getting ready for a showdown sometime in August.
From each of Asia’s two groups, the top two teams will qualify automatically. Following their 2-0 win over Uzbekistan in Tehran on Monday night, Iran has now booked their place in the finals.Read More
The German under-17 side became the first team to win a match using the new penalty shootout system. Germany defeated their counterparts Norway 3-2 to make the final of the Euro Under-17 tournament in the Czech Rep.
The new system is more of a replica of the tie breaker in tennis. Referred to as the ABBA system, it seeks to help the team that takes the kick second in the shootout. The team that kicks after the other side in the shootout usually battle a psychological disadvantage as they have to play catch up.
The new system prescribes that the shootout follows the tennis tie-break method. Germany lost their first three chances, yet they won the shootout.
Germany played the first kick. The Norway keeper Karen Sneve saved it. Norway played theirs, which they lost. According to new rule, Norway played first in the second round of kicks – the third kick of the shootout as against Germany in the popular method. Norway scored so the scoreline was 1-0.Read More
Slovenian outfit Olimpija Ljubljana have acquired Tottenham academy product Nathan Oduwa on a permanent deal, according to the club’s official twitter handle.
The Premier League side agreed to sell of the player to the PrvaLiga defending champions as negotiations were mutually beneficent.
“We have reached agreement with Slovenian top-flight side Olimpija Ljubjana for the transfer of Nathan Oduwa. We wish Nathan all the best,” the tweet from @SpursOfficial read.
Before now there were reports that both sides were discussing transfers. The 20-year old made the headlines last year when he did rainbow flicks whilst on half-season loan to Rangers FC. The Scottish side were in the second division then with Mark Warburton managing them. His moves angered the player there. He spent some time there but he gradually faded into the background.Read More
Earlier, whatever assistance a Football match referee was to get, he had to get it from within the ground because all the linesmen or his associates would only be present in the ground, but, now the referees would be getting help from outside the ground too as a couple of the referees’ associates will be sitting away from the ground in front of computers and laptops and that’s where they would be helping him from.
So, that’s a sort of a big change in the decision making process in a Football game.
And the first big tournament to witness such kind of system will be the World Cup 2018 itself and as per Gianni Infantino, who is heading the Football administration in the world at the moment, this is pretty historical and this is helpful for everyone concerned, be it the referees himself because with this system in place, now they will not walk out of the ground thinking one of their decisions might have influenced the game. Read More
Former Germany international striker Miroslav Klose has confirmed that he has retired from football and that he will be joining the Germany coaching staff.
It is believed that he will be joining Joachim Low’s backroom staff as he continues to study towards his Pro coaching license.
The player who was playing for Lazio last season has announced his retirement at the start of this season and said that he is keen to embark on this new stage of his career. The player already retired from international football in 2014 after having won the World Cup with Germany. He is currently the highest goal scorer in World Cup history.
Miroslav Klose said that he was won different trophies during his career, but there is nothing compared to winning the World Cup. The player has played for Germany 137 times in his career and said that he would cherish the 2014 World Cup memories all his life.
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There is no rush in the German public to buy tickets of the coming Finland fixture which is going to be the final hurrah for one of their favourite sons, Bastian Schweinsteiger.
More than forty thousand seats are available in the stadium the match has been designated to, but, not even 50% of the total seats have been reserved up to this point and Joachim Low reckons it will really be a sorrowful situation if the seats happen to be empty on the evening of the match.
As stated by Low, what may happen to be the reason for a poor turn-out is that it’s not the best of the timings for a match like this as people have had a full dose of Football with a couple of big competitions taking place in the recent times in the form of Euro and Olympics and the domestic season has got off to a start too.
Low revealed that he got a call from Schweinsteiger earlier this month and as soon as he heard from him about his decision, he right away made the promise to the playmaker that the farewell match was surely going to be organized for him.
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Germany might be quiet on the football front recently, but its players are still remembered as one of the best players in the Premier League. One such instance is Ozil.
He is considered one of the best players in the English Premier League. Being a star and associated with Germany and Arsenal club, Mesut Ozil does wonders wherever he goes. He recently visited a Zaatari Refugee Camp. Located in Jordan, it was a courtesy gesture from his end to extend his goodwill and provide necessary donations to the refugees.
Mesut is best known for his midfielder position in Arsenal. He was on tour of the camp and was told about the conditions that the refugees were facing at the camp by UNHCR which is the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees. He was greeted by the children with much enthusiasm. This visit was part of the social development program where soccer players participate in. The Asian Football Development Project has been running several programs for Northern Jordan and the camps here since 2012. A Syrian football coach stated that an Ozil’s visit showcased the fact that stars like him did think about refugees in Syria and what is happening to them. With a player like Ozil coming to the camp it provides a lot of motivation for the children. The fact that such people care is a big thing for many.Read More