Guatemala 0-1 Panama:
June 20 – Friday night at Q2 Stadium bore no resemblance to the venue that hosted football just 24 hours earlier. The transformation was complete, and the catalyst was simple: unbridled passion provided by the hordes of Guatemala supporters who descended on Austin. Stark contrast to the lack of interest shown by US fans on Thursday.
By David Owen
November 30 – It looks increasingly likely that matchday revenues generated by Premier League clubs will be found to have fallen in 2014-15. With six English top-tier clubs having already reported, cumulative matchday revenue from all competitions is showing 6% down at just over £290 million.
By Paul Nicholson
November 30 – Scottish giants Rangers are taking steps to rid themselves of the spectre of Mike Ashley, or at least his £5 million loan to the club via his leisure retailer Sports Direct.
November 30 – Manchester United has expanded its TV footprint into Indonesia with a multi-platform deal via SuperSoccer to distribute the channel for the first time in the country.
By Paul Nicholson
November 27 – With the great and good of Asian football gathering in New Delhi in India for the annual Asian Football Awards, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee has given its backing to Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in his election campaign to become the next FIFA president.
November 27 – Chelsea have signed Thai energy drink company Carabao as a new principal partner and their first official training wear partner in a multi-year deal estimated at £30 million.
November 27 – Liverpool, frequently derided by local Evertonian rivals for having its match day support flown in from Scandinavia, has launched a new community initiative with its first LFC Foundation Day to support the Club’s official charity.
“We are threatened with suffering from three directions: from our body, which is doomed to decay… from the external world which may rage against us with overwhelming and merciless force of destruction, and finally from our relations with other men.” Sigmund Freud
Nothing lasts forever, that much is clear. But the destruction that is in any case inevitable can be hastened by factors not always beyond our control. Freud was writing about the course of civilisation at large when he penned the words above but they apply in equal measure to FIFA right now.
By Mark Baber
November 27 – Danone’s one-season sponsorship of La Liga taking them to the end of the 2015-16 campaign, has been confirmed. The deal will see the food and dairy products company become an official supplier of Spain’s top two leagues.
The bombshell revelation that Michel Platini – and presumably Sepp Blatter too – faces a possible lifetime ban over “that” payment has crystallised the seriousness of what may or may not have actually been agreed between the pair all those years ago.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 27 – The head of Brazilian football, Marco Polo del Nero, has finally bowed to the pressure and agreed to resign from FIFA’s Executive Committee after being a no-show for the last six months amid fears he could be caught up in the burgeoning corruption scandal.
By Samindra Kunti
November 27 – In the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks France have banned away fans from attending games until mid-December. Paris Saint-Germain and Brussels-based Anderlecht have been ordered to implement special measures for their fixtures this weekend.
November 26 – The kick-off time of the second leg of the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup is being brought forward from 18:30 GMT to 14:00 GMT in response to Tunisia’s 30-day curfew, announced in the wake of the bombing of a bus carrying presidential guards last Tuesday.
November 26 – The list of the final 55 players who have been voted by their professional playing peers for inclusion into the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI has been released, with only two players not playing in European leagues in the list.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – ‘Watch-gate’, the much-published saga which blew up when heads of all 32 finalists at last year’s World Cup plus members of the FIFA executive committee, 65 individuals in all, were given luxury watches by the Brazilian FA to mark its centenary on the eve of the tournament, is back in the news – with an intriguing twist.
November 26 – The annual Premier League Truce Tournament scheduled to take place in Ypres, Belgium, December 10-13 has been called off following advice from British and Belgian authorities over safety concerns in following the raising of Belgium’s terror alert.