March 21 – SoFi stadium, Inglewood, California is for all intents and purposes a spaceship, and the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) probably wishes they were boarding it with a one-way ticket to Mars after being dumped out of the Concacaf Nations League semifinal by Panama.
March 20 – Mexico weathered a relentless Canadian storm to win 2-0 and set up a Nations League final against Panama, a repeat of the Gold Cup final in 2023 when Concacaf were last in the SoFi Stadium.
March 21 – With a goal in the fourth minute of added time Panama derailed the USA’s expectations of a ‘fourpeat’ Nations league win with a goal by supersub Cecilio Waterman in the fourth minute of added time.
“In one way the constant battling was very good because what it did was make them very competitive. Horst and his family were all very aggressive and all very successful.” Former Horst Dassler aide Patrick Nally, as quoted by Andrew Jennings and Vyv Simson, The Lords of the Rings.
As the president of Adidas, Horst Dassler was until his death in 1987 arguably the most powerful man in sport.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Seven Spanish clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, could be investigated for allegedly obtaining illegal state aid or loans in breach of European Union regulations.
December 17 – Former AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, one of the most iconic figures in Italian football, is reportedly being investigated for match-fixing.
By Tom Parsons
December 17 – Twitter accounts predicting the outcomes of several high-profile football draws, leading some to conclude that those in charge of the draws are corrupt, have turned out to be a scam to build twitter audiences for these newly created and so-called ‘ITK’ (in the know) accounts.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 17 – The majority shareholder of Lechia Gdansk, currently playing in the Ekstraklasa, is planning to sell its stake in the Polish football club.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Having increasingly preached zero tolerance when it comes to racism, FIFA have dealt their severest penalty to date by banning Croatia midfielder Josip Simunic for 10 matches, ruling him out of next year’s World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Already embroiled in a tax evasion case that has clouded his image, Lionel Messi, through his representatives, has fiercely denied allegations in a Spanish newspaper that his father is suspected of being involved in helping to launder Colombian drug money.
December 16 – Big-spending Manchester City’s reward for reaching the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time is a mouth-watering clash with four-time winners Barcelona, while holders Bayern Munich face Arsenal for the second year in a row in the other big tie of the last 16 following today’s draw.
By David Owen
December 16 – FIFA has announced the appointment of Glasgow-based Aggreko as a branded licensee for the 2014 World Cup, in a move expected to save about $20 million in running costs for the 12 host-cities that will stage the tournament in Brazil next year.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Brazil’s preparations for next year’s World Cup have been rocked by yet another fatality at a stadium being used for the tournament after a young construction worker fell to his death, heightening safety fears six months ahead of the big kickoff. The latest death came at the Manaus Arena in the Amazonian jungle region where England will meet Italy.
Nelson Mandela, as we have been told endlessly in the last few days, belongs to the world. So it was no surprise to arrive at the Doha Goals Forum last week to see that pictures of Nelson Mandela were festooned all over Aspire Academy, the multi purpose sports and conference venue where the forum was being held. Even had this not been the week when the eyes of the world were glued to Mandela’s funeral a forum such as Doha Goals,
December 16 – CONCACAF have announced the winners of their inaugural Confederation awards across six categories. Mexico’s Oribe Peralta and Alex Morgan (pictured) of the United States were named the first-ever CONCACAF Male and Female Players of the Year.
December 16 – Moroccan champions Raja Casablanca have struck a mighty blow for the north African hosts by reaching Wednesday’s semifinal of the Club World Cup with another dramatic victory, this time 2-1 over Concacaf’s Monterrey of Mexico.
Can politics (though I hesitate to use the word) ‘succeed’ where football has failed?
I raise the question in the context of a referendum on independence that the President of Catalonia, the region around Barcelona, seems keen to hold in November 2014, less than two months after a similar vote in Scotland.
For the moment, it is far from sure this Catalonian referendum will even take place, or be seen as legally binding,
