Paul Nicholson, Author at Inside World Football - Page 1046 of 1897

Little teams, big deeds. UAE 2019 is opening up a whole new football eco-system

By Paul Nicholson in Abu Dhabi

January 10 – The 17th and biggest ever Asian Cup currently being hosted in the UAE completed its first round of group games yesterday. Expanded from 16 to 24 teams, this is a competition that is opening a remarkable new world of football frontiers. It has spotlighted countries too often on the periphery of global football and is generating stories, new legend and football history every day.

Asian Cup

Thailand rebound to break Bahraini hearts

Thailand 1 Bahrain 0

By Paul Nicholson in Abu Dhabi

January 10 – Thailand, who sacked their Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac after losing their first game, turned their Asian Cup campaign around with 1-0 win over Bahrain at at the Al Maktoum Stadium.

Africa

FIFA steps in to run Namibian FA as infighting and cash issues leave football ‘paralysed’

FIFA shadows

January 10 – Namibia is the latest country to be subject of a normalisation committee imposed by FIFA to run its affairs as a result of a bitter internal squabble.

Europe

Rome chaos as Roma ultras hand out anti-semitic and clash with Lazio fans

January 10 – Italian police have launched an inquiry after Roma supporters allegedly distributed anti-Semitic leaflets on Wednesday to coincide with the 119th anniversary of bitter city rivals Lazio.

Asian Cup

UAE and Zaccheroni under pressure as India line up for ‘make-or-break’ battle

January 10 – Under pressure UAE coach Alberto Zaccheroni (pictured) has described the game with India as a “make-or-break” Asian Cup encounter for the hosts. In the opposition dugout he faces a buoyant Indian coach in Stephen Constantine who has vowed that his team will play for all three points.

Asian Cup

Uzbek keeper Nesterov makes Asian Cup playing history

By Abdelaziz Abuhamar

January 9 – Uzbekistan’s goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov made history at the AFC Asian Cup, posting a new playing record in the Asian football showpiece.

Asian Cup

Japan’s Moriyasu says Blue Samurai will sharpen as squad acclimates

January 9 – Japan’s coach Hajime Moriyasu part blamed the heat for his team’s underwhelming 3-2 win against Turkmenistan and acknowledged that Japan will need to improve as the tournament progresses.

Africa

Andrew Warshaw: Politics, the African elephant in the room of CAF decision-making

Things rarely go according to plan in African football, as one French publication emphasised this week. The decision to strip Cameroon of staging this coming summer’s African Nations Cup may have been a deeply hurtful blow to the original hosts but hardly took anyone by surprise given the nature of African football’s leadership which has, quite frankly, become a laughing stock.

Asian Cup

Iraq broke their first goal record with comeback victory against Vietnam

By Abdelaziz Abuhamar

January 10 – The Iraq national team broke an unwanted record when they posted their first group game victory over counterpart Vietnam in Group D.

Broadcast

AFC steps up Saudi and beoutQ pressure as every game of Asian Cup is pirated

By Paul Nicholson in Abu Dhabi

January 9 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has issued a statement condemning the Saudi-backed pirate broadcaster beoutQ’s theft of live matches from the Asian Cup currently being played in the UAE.

Asian Cup

Japan clear obstinate Turkmenistan hurdle after sluggish start

By Samindra Kunti

January 9 – Four-time Asian champions Japan came back from a first-half deficit to defeat a stubborn Turkmenistan 3-2 and claim their first three points at the 2019 Asian Cup.

Finance

Everton back in the red after big jump in player costs

By David Owen

January 9 – Surging player costs and one-off items pushed Everton, the club from the blue end of Merseyside, back into the red in 2017-18, in spite of a 34% jump in commercial revenue.

Performance

VAR gets poor reviews from Spurs and Chelsea bosses

By Andrew Warshaw

January 9 – The video assistant refereeing system, whilst gaining in overall popurity, has had its fair share of criticism since being gradually introduced across European and international football.

Africa

Salah beats club mate Mane to African player of year award

January 9 – Liverpool’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah has won the African footballer of the year award for the second consecutive time.

Asian Cup

Oman’s Verbeek sets sights on 4 points in a group he expects to go down to the wire

January 9 – Dutchman Pim Verbeek has forged a managerial career in Asia and, with his latest team, Oman, has had immediate success with their surprise win at the Gulf Cup last year. Expectations are high for the Asian Cup. He spoke to Samindra Kunti