EURO 2022 SUCCESS WILL IMPACT WOMEN’S FOOTBALL AS 2027 WC BIDDING NEARS

Euro 2022 is yet to reach the semifinal stage, but even before the tournament reaches the last four next week, it can already be considered an unqualified success. An 85,000 sellout crowd at Wembley for the final on July 31 will only underscore how women’s football has now become a major player in world sport.


Almost 70,000 watched England’s opening game against Austria at Old Trafford earlier this month, an audience of 7.6 million watched the live television broadcast of their quarterfinal win against Spain, while 16,025 turned out at Brentford on Thursday to see Germany join the hosts in the semis with a 2-0 victory against Austria. Continue reading ”      EURO 2022 SUCCESS WILL IMPACT WOMEN’S FOOTBALL AS 2027 WC BIDDING NEARS”

NO PIRLO REUNION FOR RAMSEY

Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey won’t be reuniting with Andrea Pirlo at FatihKaragumruk in the Turkish top flight after a move was ruled out for the Juventus star. It had earlier been reported that FatihKaragumruk were one of the teams interested in signing Ramsey this summer as he tries to get a new club to enable him to stay in top form for Wales ahead of the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar.


Ramsey, 30, is expected to be an important player for Wales on their return to the World Cup after several decades. They were one of the last teams to book their spot at the World Cup 2022 tournament. As a matter of fact, Wales were the third to the last team to confirm a place at the World Cup 2022 tournament. Hosts Wales qualified by beating Ukraine 1-0 in their playoff clash. Continue reading “NO PIRLO REUNION FOR RAMSEY”

                    ITALY VS GERMANY PREVIEW: PROBABLE LINEUPS AND KEY STATS

It has been a contrasting period in Italian football, with the Azzurri first revelling in their success after winning the UEFA Euro 2020 then disappointing their fans by not qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Consistency is not necessarily an issue as Italy have been one of the most consistent national sides in Europe since Roberto Mancini took over. However, a few bad results and dropped points were only good enough to take them into the World Cup qualifying play-offs. At this stage, they shocked their fans by losing to North Macedonia and missing out on the plane to Qatar for the World Cup.

Mancini has a big task at hand, as he has stayed on despite many seeking his resignation. The supposed new era already began with a 3-0 loss to Argentina in the Finalissima, and the next one, coming shortly against Germany, is not the ideal start for the Azzurri this summer. Add the forthcoming England and Hungary games into the mix, and Italy are in for a big test of character. Continue reading ”                    ITALY VS GERMANY PREVIEW: PROBABLE LINEUPS AND KEY STATS”

          FRANCE’S SQUAD DEPTH AHEAD OF 2022 WORLD CUP IS FRIGHTENINGLY GOOD

France manager Didier Deschamps has picked his latest squad for next month’s Nations League fixtures – and it’s a timely reminder of their strength in depth coming into the World Cup in Qatar. The defending champions will be one of the favourites following last year’s Nations League victory against Spain in October.


And with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema in the form of their life, Les Bleus certainly have a good chance of lifting the trophy once again. So how will they line-up? Earlier this week, Deschamps made some controversial decisions when he unveiled his squad for their upcoming Nations League fixtures against Denmark, Croatia and Austria. Continue reading ”          FRANCE’S SQUAD DEPTH AHEAD OF 2022 WORLD CUP IS FRIGHTENINGLY GOOD”

RONALDO SCORING STREAK CONTINUES AGAINST CHELSEA

Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored in four successive Premier League games after he levelled proceedings for his team during the 1-1 draw with Chelsea in a rescheduled encounter. The game had to be moved forward by a few weeks due toFA Cup final commitment on the part of Chelsea.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRdW-GmX0AAjGdy.jpg

Ronaldo, 37, is one of the most in-form players in the Premier League after scoring eight goals in his last four games including his colleges strike against Chelsea. He’s expected to spearhead Portugal’s quest to win the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar when hostilities start in November. Ronaldo and Portugal had to go through the playoffs to seal their place at the World Cup 2022 tournament on Qatari soil after finishing second in Group A of the qualifiers in the European section. The Portuguese team finished second in their group behind Serbia who were able to secure am automatic spot to Qatar as a result. Portugal booked their place at the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar by beating Turkey and North Macedonia in the playoffs.
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BAYERN CRASH OUT OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Bavarian giants Bayern Munich have crashed out of this season’s Champions League at the hands of Spanish La Liga team Villarreal after they could only settled for a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie. Six-time champions Bayern Munich came into the second leg on the back of a one-goal deficit from the first leg and they needed more than a one-goal win to progress into the last four to live up to their status as massive favourites. In the first leg, Dutch forward Arnaut Danjuma scored as early as the eighth minute for the only goal of the game to give Europa League champions Villarreal a 1-0 lead before the two teams met at the Allianz Arena, Munich on Tuesday night.


In the second leg, there were no goals in the first half like what was obtainable with the first leg before Polish striker Robert Lewandowski gave hosts Bayern the lead seven minutes into the second half after Thomas Mueller pounced on the sloppy pass from Villarreal skipper Dani Parejo to provide the assist for the goalscorer who has 13 Champions League goals this season. Continue reading “BAYERN CRASH OUT OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE”

TRENT RULED OUT OF ENGLAND GAMES

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of the upcoming England games after he picked up a hamstring problem this week. The update on Trent was provided by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in his pre-match presser on Friday ahead of the FA Cup quarterfinal clash with hosts Nottingham Forest this weekend. The two former European champions will meet in the sixth round of the FA Cup on Sunday to determine who will go through to the semifinals scheduled to take place at the Wembley Stadium in April.


On Trent, Klopp said that the right-back would be out of action for some weeks thus ruling him out of the England friendlies against Switzerland and African team Ivory Coast this month. Trent was one of two right-backs in the 25-man England squad named by manager Gareth Southgate on Thursday. Continue reading “TRENT RULED OUT OF ENGLAND GAMES”

RUSSIA KICKED OUT OF QATAR 2022

Russia won’t be at this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar after world football’s governing body, FIFA confirmed that they have been thrown out of the playoffs for the tournament in the European section.

The Russians were on course to qualify for the World Cup 2022 tournament on Qatari soil via the playoffs. They had secured their place in the World Cup 2022 playoffs on the European scene after narrowly finishing second to Croatia in Group H. Russia finished one point behind Croatia at the end of their respective Group H campaigns. Group H leaders Croatia finished with 23 points from ten games, while runners-up Russia recorded 22 points from ten games.

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SPURS MOVE ABOVE ARSENAL WITH WIN

Tottenham Hotspur have moved above North London rivals Arsenal on the Premier League table after they secured a dramatic 3-2 win at Leicester City when the two teams met in a rescheduled match at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday. Spurs scored twice deep into injury time through Dutch substitute Steven Bergwijn to beat the Foxes and move ahead of the Gunners on the log.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJf9PySX0AE17bC.jpg

Spurs were the better of the two teams and they came close to taking the lead on numerous occasions with star striker Harry Kane the biggest culprit as he was wasteful when he should have have punished the home team. Kane is undoubtedly an important player for both club and country. The Tottenham Hotspur star is expected to spearhead the quest for glory at the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar later this year in the colours of the Three Lions of England. Kane had a difficult start to the season for Spurs on the back of his failed move to Manchester City last summer, but he has always found the back of the net for England despite his poor club form especially in theWorld Cup 2022 qualifiers. He finished as the joint topscorer in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers in the European section alongside Dutchman Memphis Depay.
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QATAR 2022: HOW SCOTLAND COULD QUALIFY

Scotland have qualified for the second and final round of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers in the European section. They qualified for the second round by finishing second in Group F as far as the first round of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers in the UEFA region is concerned.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E-Op7WmXEAYSoOb.jpg

The Steve Clarke-led side began their qualifying campaign with five points from the first four games before a run of six straight wins sealed their place in the second round.
Continue reading “QATAR 2022: HOW SCOTLAND COULD QUALIFY”