Canada 2-0 El Salvador
June 24 – Fresh from emerging from a Concacaf-imposed timeout, Canadian head coach Jesse Marsch returned to the technical area at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, knowing any more misbehaviour would send him back to the naughty room. He needn’t have worried as their opponents El Salvador simply imploded in a red mist.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – While most of the big guns of Europe as expected qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League, the draw for which is Monday, Liverpool were left to rue the price of failure.
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 11 – In a co-ordinated strike Bulgarian police have moved in on players, coaches and referees over the past two days, arresting nine players and detaining them for 24 hours for questioning, according to the country’s Ministry of the Interior. The unprecedented scale of the action was conducted in conjunction with the Bulgarian Football Union who were working closely with UEFA.
By Paul Nicholson
December 10 – Russia is progressing with its 2018 infrastructure build and it is an impressive organisational machine to observe in this respect; Brazil could do well to take notes as it now prepares for the Rio 2016 Olympics. But where Russia and Brazil do appear to have commonalities is when it comes to not paying those working in the game.
By Mark Baber
December 10 – FIFA, in an email signed by secretary general, Jerome Valcke, has come down on the side of the “majority” of the members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Electoral Appeals’ Committee who rebelled against their chairman to uphold the disputed September 30 election of Amaju Pinnick (pictured).
December 10 – Spanish football’s crackdown on misbehaving fans has been criticised by Europe’s main supporters group for being far too strict and indiscriminate.
By Florian Pertsch
December 10 – After four heart operations and 16 months of recovery for most athletes sport would be a thing of the past. Not so for third division Stuttgart Kickers forward Daniel Engelbrecht.
December 10 – Italian Serie A strugglers Parma have been handed a one-point deduction for financial irregularities last season.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is a master, a genius. If only it were as a football coach.
No, his gifts come in a much more productive area for the modern manager, that of positive spin and subtle self-praise. First spotted from him in that toe-curling American-flavoured documentary inside the club from 2012 and used to full effect as Liverpool meekly exited the Champions League with 5 points out of a possible 18. In a group that included Basle and the mighty Ludogorets.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 10 – A jury composed of members of the Hungarian architects’ association Magyar Epiteszek Hazabanhas have picked the winning design for the planned new stadium for Budapest-based side MTK. The project is estimated to cost about HUF 6.5 billion (€21.3 million).
December 12 – The president of French Ligue 1 side Bastia, Pierre-Marie Geronimi (pictured), has been arrested and placed in police custody as part of an investigation into the club’s finances.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – UEFA president Michel Platini has given another strong hint that moves are going on behind the scenes to find a suitable challenger for Europe to back at next year’s FIFA presidential election.
By Paul Nicholson
December 10 – Russia’s Federal Agency of Tourism is estimating there will be 30-40% more tourists visiting Russia during the 2018 World Cup, than there were during the Sochi Olympic games. During the whole period of the Sochi games, 2 million people visited the city.
By Samindra Kunti
December 10 – European football’s governing body UEFA has announced that it will continue to investigate Monaco under the Financial Fair Play Regulations, while Olympique Lyon has been asked to submit additional information.
By Paul Nicholson
December 9 – CONCACAF has announced Scotiabank as the first official partner of its revamped sponsorship programme. In an initial four-year deal, the bank will become the title sponsor of the CONCACAF Champions League, the official bank of the confederation, and a main sponsor of the Gold Cup.
By David Owen in Monte Carlo
December 9 – FIFA President Joseph Blatter appears to have left open the possibility that the 2022 World Cup may – after all – be played in January and February, in a prospect that will horrify winter sports federations.