The Italian league and the administrators running the league and the teams have been accused of plenty and the teams don’t have the best reputation when it comes to promoting youth, there are exceptions but notables ones like Marco Verratti end up in France to get regular game time. What some have recognized the Italians need is a more structured...
Italy didn’t qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years. The administration of Italian football has been backward, racist and unable to adapt or see the problems that are in plain site. Having chosen a top level inexperienced national team coach in Giampiero Ventura to lead the national team after Antonio Conte the resulting disasters were...
With the 2018 World Cup taking place in Russia for the first time it is perhaps useful to look at the number of players who play their club football in Russia and specifically the Russian Premier League. It could be that a player who is more familiar with the stadiums, the infrastructure and the nature of football in Russia can...
The draw for the UEFA Nations League was today on January 24th, 2018. As expected League A with top ranked European teams features some hard match ups. In particular Group A Germany, France and Holland should be a good one despite the fact that the latter team has not done well recently and failed to qualify for World Cup 2018...
The now ousted UEFA president Michel Platini brought many ideas to the table, as a former star player his contribution on the pitch was significant and so it has been off the pitch as an administrator. Under his reign the European Championship was spread around to venues around Europe for the 2020 edition, also in an effort to give more...
In January 2017 the FIFA Council approved a 48 team World Cup for the 2026 edition. Up from the current 32 teams. A lot of time is left of course and the host(s) are not chosen yet, though a joint bid by USA, Mexico and Canada is the leading candidate. However increasing the number of countries is almost certain to...
Eight groups and 32 teams. Not necessarily world wide stars but some players will shine in the group stage even though their team might not make it out of the group or perhaps fade after reaching the last 16. Below is a list of sixteen such players, two for each group. Group A The hosts, Russia, are not favorites to...
The 2018 World Cup in Russia is just over five months away. Many bigger and not so bigger names have the chance to shine on the world stage, each of 32 teams’ forwards will try to make a bigger name for themselves and help their team advance to the knockout stages and play into July. Below are two forwards from...