Divided loyalties and questionable reasoning

Day -713. ‪WorldCup2018‬

Today in the first leg of the pre-qualifying round for the first round of qualifying for the first round proper of the Europa League, Shkendija 79 Tetovo of Macedonia beat KS Cracovia of Poland 2-0. At the same time Poland were heading to a penalty shoot out defeat to Portugal in Euro 2016. Polish player Bartosz Kapustka came on as a late substitute but didn’t make much of a difference. The Polish fans probably hardly noticed him and I wonder if the fans of KS Cracovia were watching their team and wondering what difference he could have made for them. Kapustka plays for Cracovia and because of the incredible amount of football being played these days was playing for his country at an end of season summer tournament while his club were starting their new season. So while he left for France with Poland at the end of the domestic season, his team mates were starting pre-season training. Its just crazy. Will Kapustka join Cracovia for the second leg, or the next round if they make it, then play a full regular season, play the Europa league again next June, another full season and then the World Cup the following summer (while his team mates start pre-season again).

I did not used to be one for sympathy for footballers, who complained about how much football they played, but having to be in top competitive shape, physically and mentally, all year round for 2 or 3 consecutive years is just too much. I said the same about the South American players who played in the Copa America last summer, in the special Copa this year, the Confederations Cup next summer and then the World Cup in two years. Too much.

On a lighter note, the fans of Hamburg have started a petition for the club to buy the Wigan and Northern Irish striker Will Grigg. They feel his presence will add much needed atmosphere to their stadium. It's not his playing style because like everybody else watching the Euros they never saw him play, but it's because of the "Will Grigg's on fire" chant that was the too often heard Irish fans party song in Paris. It made him the most sung about, never played footballer. So instead of petitioning for his signature the Hamburg fans should simply go through their team list, find a player who had a permanent seat on the bench last season, look for a Euro pop song that said player’s name can be integrated into and come up with a catchy chant from the stands. On top of the improvement in Hamburg fans' enjoyment of home matches, with all that extra singing, it could do a world of good for the lucky player’s international prospects. He could be the Will Grigg of Russia 2018: never seen but the name will never leave you.

40 team World Cup

Day -714. ‪WorldCup2018‬

One of Gianni Infantino's pledges in his Fifa presidential election manifesto was to increase the World Cup to 40 teams. Will it happen by 2026, we don't know. But, scoff as many of us may, the increased number of countries at this Euros has made it quite exciting. And when you consider how many more countries there are in Europe now than 25 years ago, the percentage of countries qualifying must be very similar. (Of course I could easily figure this out, but it's too late)

A 40 team World Cup would need a new format. With ten groups of four, it will be hard to whittle it down to a round of 16. If the top two teams in each group moved on there's 20 teams. So maybe it would have to be eight groups of 5, with the top two moving on to make a last 16. But whereas the format at the Euros meant every team (bar Ukraine) still had a chance of qualifying in the last round of group matches, just imagine the number of dead matches in a 5 team group. Do I have a point? I'm not sure. I might just be trying to get ahead with a solution for Fifa.

In real, happening now football news the quarter finals at the Euros will be played over the next 4 days. Here's my perception of the 4 days: tomorrow, Poland-Portugal, the boring one; Friday, Belgium-Wales, the fun one; Saturday, Italy-Germany, the true tactical football battle, the clash of the heavyweights, the we've-been-here-so-many-times-before (will probably also be boring); Sunday, France-Iceland, the fascinatingly interesting one, the fairytale team against the hosts, will the fairy tale have another chapter, but a tournament without the hosts loses a lot of the fun factor.

Champions League in the summer

Day -715. ‪WorldCup2018‬

There's always football, in these days of almost never ending seasons. With Europe getting bigger, more countries more teams, I wonder if the Champions League Season 2018/19 will start before the 2018 World Cup, just a few weeks after the end of Season 2017/18. It may just all become one continuous season.

Today, in the midst of the Euros, the supposedly summer tournament, the Champions League qualifiers started. Of personal interest, Maltese champions Valletta beat Faroe Islands' B36 Torshavn 1-0 in the first leg. A great start then on the road to the final in Cardiff. I'm not a gambling man but I will predict that for whoever wins this tie the road will end in the next round against Red Star Belgrade.

Ah well, the dream was good for a week. Next year.

England, post Norway

Day -716. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬

England aren't having a very good time of it recently, are they? EU, voted out of. Euro 2016, dumped out of. World Cup 2018? Will they be there? More than it did before, their qualifying group is looking rather tricky. Not only will Slovenia and Slovakia now be looking at England as easily beatable, but even the minnows Malta and Scotland will fancy their chances of an upset. The England football team is a badly wounded animal right now, and those wounds may take longer than before to heal. There are going to be some very emotionally fragile English footballers when the qualifiers start in September.

Iceland's win against England today was a huge upset. No matter how much the naysayers may say England losing to a rank outsider is no surprise anymore, the pragmatic neutral view has to be that it is a massive surprise that shouldn't have happened given the gulf in football tradition, experience and professional structure between the two countries. It is massive. And every England player should be ashamed and embarrassed. And every Icelandic player has the right to feel proud of an immense achievement.

I would fear being an English player and showing up on the first day of the Premier League season. Any abuse from the fans is almost justified and I would not be surprised if they are jeered to the point of being asked to be substituted. I doubt how many of the 14 players who played today will be in Russia, if England are even there.

Another player won't be in Russia. The supposedly greatest player of his generation, Lionel Messi, announced his retirement from international football in today's other big news. It is almost as big as the Iceland result. And it makes me angry. Messi was back to his normal, do nothing for Argentina, self when it really mattered in the Copa America final defeat to Chile. After missing a penalty in the shoot-out he announced he was done with Argentina, tired of trying to win after losing 4 major finals. Tired of trying? He quit without making a difference, ever. And he'll scurry back to his comfort zone with Barcelona, with his week in, week out barely competitive matches against the likes of Getafe, Espanyol and Levante. And the media will go head over heels with lavish praise for a hat-trick scored against one of those lowly opponents. But he won't be there when it matters, for one more shot with Argentina, in Russia, against the best in the world. And Diego Maradona will remain as the greatest Argentinian ever. Argument over, and I never thought it begun.

But back to England. The only consolation is that this legendary, mocking commentary might now be forgotten. Or it may be looked at, with nostalgia, as the days when at least "we were losing against Norway".

Eden Hazard

Day -717. ‪WorldCup2018‬

Eden Hazard and Belgium today accomplished one of the items on my list from last week: a dominant team performance and, as a bonus, an amazing performance from one of the star players. I also lamented how there was no wow team yet. Today that all changed.

While Germany dominated in their way, clinical and methodical, Belgium entertained. I am trying to find the best words to describe the enjoyment I get from watching football played the way it is supposed to be played. It is fascinating, exhilarating and wonderful when players play like we imagine football is played when we played at lunch at school: tricks, flicks and spectacular goals. It's a great contrast from the reality of today's football: well-organised teams (how I despise that term) defending as a unit.

And Hazard? You've got your Ibrahimovichs and your Ronaldos, with all their big talk about what they are going to achieve, without doing much to live up to their self built-up arrogance. Then you've got Eden Hazard. Arrogant? Yes, to a certain degree. But what successful athlete, in any sport, isn't. He had a terrible season in England, was criticised to no end for his lack of form. At the Euros the bad reviews for him, and his Belgian team mates, carried on after a lucklustre showing in their opening games. So what does he do? He plays like he knows he can play. He took control of today's game and was the difference maker between a great Belgian team and a fantastic Belgian team.

It may be a stretch but it made me feel like I do when I think of watching Brazil 1982. It might be relative to today's defensive, not overly exciting football (why do I watch this?). Regardless, and it may be selective memory, today was a joy to watch. Finally we may have a "golden generation" team that delivers. Only two years to go to the next World Cup and this team is young enough to still be together. But before that let's hope today's team shows up against Wales in the next round.

Six thoughts

Day -718. ‪WorldCup2018‬

There were six things that I learned from the Euros today. Or better, there were six things which I already knew but I was reminded of and will hopefully remember for Russia 2018.

1. If your feeling, your deep down gut instinct is that a match is going to be boring because it's between two teams who up to that point in the tournament have been, quite simply, boring don't build up the expectations in your head that all of a sudden they will play like Brazil, version 1982. Poland and Switzerland were boring to watch for three matches. Put them together=double the boredom.

2. Northern Ireland supporters are great, a lot of fun, yet most of their exuberance is based on one song....about a player who didn't play today, or ever in these Euros. How many of you know who Will Griggs is? Apparently he's on fire. He's so hot that manager Michael O'Neill has to keep him well away from the opposition, on the bench. The Welsh fans today picked up on this obsession with a chant of, "you've only got one song". To which the Irish replied with, "you've only got one player". Fair enough. But at least he was playing. At one point the legendary commentator, Martin Tyler, let out an embarrassed, exasperated laugh and said to his co-commentator, "here we go again...the Will Griggs song". So if Northern Ireland do pull off another miracle and qualify for Russia then Will Griggs had better be playing or the fans should learn a new song.

3. Previous results mean absolutely nothing, other than raising expectations. When Croatia beat Spain in the group stage, there was much talk of what a great team they were. Today, against Portugal, they looked nothing like that great team. This did not surprise me. Examples from the past that spring to mind: Holland beating Italy 4-1 in 2008, in a fantastic display of attacking football; in the quarter final against Russia they were abysmal; Denmark beat Uruguay 6-1 in 1986; in the next round Spain thrashed them 5-1; and there were many more. Take each match as it comes.

4. A spectacular goal, a moment of pure football genius, does not a football match win. The goal that Shaqiri! Shaqiri! scored today would have been, in many commentators' eyes, "worthy of winning any football match". Except it didn't win Switzerland the match. It only brought them level and to win you have to score one more than the other team.

5. Come Russia 2018 I have to be in one of two life situations to be able to watch the World Cup. I have to either be doing something that pays me to write daily musings about football, or I have to have found the answer to acquiring independent wealth status where I spend my days watching Northern Ireland play Syria and writing about it and not needing to get paid. Otherwise, I will have another day like today of trying to watch in between the annoyance of work.

And number 6 is that the BBC do indeed know who Marco Pacione is and understood my humour.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157173418535145&set=a.10152446157395145.955377.901040144&type=3

Tomorrow....

Day -719 ‪WorldCup2018‬

Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Modric, Bale, Skaqiri Shaqiri. Let's hope all the stars come out to play tomorrow.

In a pickle at Burger King

Day -720. WorldCup2018‬

Rest days at the Euros. It's anti-climatic having days off following day after day of the excitement at the World Cup or Euros. When you can't watch many of the matches because of annoying time differences and work the excitement comes down to a level of what are you going to miss watching today, what are you going to have to look up online for a quick check of what's happening in the 58th minute and then in the 89th. So the football is on but you're not really watching it. So on the rest days you're missing the not-watching. Get it? 

It reminds me of the time I went to a Burger King with a friend who was eating there for the first time. When he sat down to eat his cheeseburger he was disappointed there was no pickle, "like at Macdonald's". "So you like pickle on your burger?", I asked. "No, I just like that I can open up my burger and take it out". You miss what's not there even though you can't enjoy it when it is there. Bring on Saturday.

Thunderstorms at the Copa

Day -721. ‪WorldCup2018‬

It looks like it will be a repeat of last year’s final at the Copa America Centenario. After Argentina's comfortable win last night, Chile are almost there except they are battling not only Colombia but also the weather. Chile are up 2-0 a halftime but a violent thunderstorm has delayed the start of the second half. It seems like an odd thing to hear that a football match is in a "rain delay", something I never remember in Europe. But I know from experience that these summer North American thunderstorms can pack quite the punch. It is not weather to be out doing anything in. And it will be no fun for the spectators in Chicago who are probably all huddled in the walkways under the stands, it not even being safe for them to leave the stadium.

Right now, after a couple hours delay, at 10.30pm Chicago time it looks like it's about to resume. Hope it's not past the players' bedtime. But it's good night from me.

Croatia ban. Huh?

Day -722. ‪WorldCup2018‬

UEFA have been busy handing out fines and punishments after a number of incidents of fan violence, flares and pitch invasions. The most baffling (and amusing if it wasn't so sad, the fighting that is) was the Croatian FA's sanction. On top of a significant fine they have been banned from selling tickets to known hooligans. Because before this it was ok for them to do it. And isn't the insinuation that UEFA knew that the Croatian FA didn't monitor who was "supporting" the team? Interesting sanction. Why not just do a simple banning of all supporters?

In the other continental championship Argentina are playing the USA right now in the Copa semifinal. Who would have given the Americans any chance of playing, let alone beating, Argentina in the semifinals of a major tournament? Well, nothing's changed much. Yes, the USA are in the semis but Argentina are reminding them of their place in the football word order. 90th minute as I write, 4-0 Argentina.

Champions League starts

Day -723. ‪WorldCup2018‬

Lots of thoughts. But the day has ended. More tomorrow.

Just one....long before the Euors end, the summer tournament played in the off season, Valletta of Malta play the champions of the Faroe Islands in the pre-pre-pre-pre qualifying round of the Champions League. On June 28th their dream of playing in the group stages will begin and before the Euros end the end of the road will be reached by one of them. It's just a dream, right? There's no way they are doing an Iceland.

A bit flat

Day -724. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬

I've been going strong for a few days. At least I think I have been. Today I'm feeling a bit flat, as flat as that football that went flat during the Switzerland-France match after a player stepped on it. Quality products these days, eh? Hard to find.

It almost provided us with the one hilarious moment from the Euros, but it's still not quite it. Off my list a few days ago, we did get a couple of dominant wins. But still no terrible referee decision, no questionable goal allowed.

And there is one thing this tournament, and any other major tournament these days. It's a team that with the wow factor. They may not win the whole thing but they will entertain us. Holland, in 2008, destroyed Italy. They fell apart after that but for that day they were a joy to watch.
Yes, what we need (and I have to say it again) is Brazil, version 1982.

Messi at the Copa

Day -725. ‪WorldCup2018‬ (Part 2)

Well, well. Lionel Messi, the man who wishes to replace Maradona as the greatest Argentinian footballer ever seems to be finally making a difference. Another goal and 2 assists today in the Copa America Centenario win against Venezuela has set up a semifinal against the USA. The Americans are going to so love taking down that Messi. Dempsey vs Messi. I'm that story is being written somewhere.

In the other quarter final Chile gave Mexico a good old fashioned 7-0 thrashing. 7-0. Seven. Many years ago I watched Italy beat Mexico 5-0 and my Dad said that Mexico aren't the kind of team that get beaten that way. And even though they've always threatened to be really good and kind of think they belong to the South American level of football rather than their North American peers, I do never remember them being beaten like this.

This Copa has come alive with some goals, except for yesterday's Colombia-Peru match, settled on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Colombia-Chile and USA-Argentina. A couple of tasty semifinals. Enough to possibly compete with the Euro action. Canadian TV doesn't think so. With a major tournament going on at our doorstep, we have multiple channels of the Euros and the Copa on some obscure channel which requires forking out more money to watch. Messi is still not enough of a draw. We'd rather watch Sigurdsson and Zoltan Gera. And the not to be forgotten Swedish bloke who seems to have forgotten that he said himself that the last Euros and World Cup would be of an inferior quality without him. Ibra, the tournament has started. Your team has played 2 matches already. When are you going to show up? Saving yourself for Russia 2018, I guess.

The Iceland phenomenon

 Day -725. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬ (Part 1)

Watching Iceland and doing research at the same time. That a country with a population smaller than Malta's in a few years went from being ranked similar to Malta to qualifying for the Euros (and almost the last World Cup) was no lucky accident. The Icelandic FA decided not only that they wanted to be better than the whipping boys of each qualfying group, they wanted to be competing with the best. They had a plan and they stuck with it. The highlights:

1. They built football pitches, lots of them and given their climate quite a few full sized indoor ones.
2. They made sure all the football coaches at every level had UEFA qualifications
3. The coaching courses were held in Iceland; nobody had to travel overseas
4. Every resident of every tiny fishing village now could have their children coached by a highly qualified coach at top level facilities in their own village
5. Players were given the opportunity to play at the top competitive level at a young age: Eidur Gudjhonssen made his international debut at the age of 17; he was an exception but many others were playing for their clubs at a young age
6. The FA and clubs acknowledged that Icelandic players needed to play in top European leagues to reach the next level; Icelandic clubs produced skilfull 14-16 year olds but that skill needed to be challenged and matured in Europe
7. Iceland have a history of struggling due to their geographic isolation and the harsh climate: the young players had it in them to "struggle" against the challenge of moving away from home at a young age
8. Icelanders work hard. All the plans would have been nothing without some "duglegur". In Iceland they don't say "good job", they say "hard work. You did hard work"

I wish Malta could take something out of this. If anybody thought it was a laughable dream for Iceland, why can't it happen for Malta?

The Special Ibra

Day -726. ‪WorldCup2018‬


I wonder if the arrogant one, the oh so special one (in his eyes and those of his inseparable friend, Maxwell), Ibrahimovc is going to hang on until Russia 2018 in order to redeem himself after his oh so pathetic performances at the Euros. But does anybody care? No, because we've all had enough of him. I hope he's living on a remote island somewhere in 2018, with no internet and no phones, with Cristiano Ronaldo for company.

The mighty Northern Ireland

Day -727. ‪WorldCup2018‬

In the early days of my football life I remember Gerry Armstrong scoring that goal in the 1982 World Cup to beat hosts Spain 1-0. I didn't realise how crazy it was at the time, what a huge surprise it was that Northern Ireland beat Spain. Today they beat Ukraine 2-0 to win at the European Championships for the first time. Being more knowledgeable than I was 34 years ago it felt pretty big. This is a team that has players who play in the second and third level of English football. And even though Ukraine may not be a powerhouse, it still seems that there should be a big difference in skill levels. I guess the experts were right about the value of team spirit.

Pity it didn't count for much for Wales......

Big problem with Russia 2018

Day -728. ‪WorldCup2018‬

I'm not being lazy. It's just that this is a good story, an important story, that is explained here and I don't have to repeat in any way better than it is reported. This is somebody who has sent time in jail for assault, has been seen performing the Nazi salute, and said that Russia should be represented by Slavic faces at the World Cup. And he is the head of the Russian football supporters association and is involved in the organisation of Russia 2018.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36539018

What hasn't happned at the Euros

Day -729. ‪WorldCup2018‬

They say it was a day for the minnows at the Euros. Iceland drew with Portugal and Hungary beat Austria. Iceland, yes, are a surprise. They have become a strong footballing country out of nothing. But Hungary I have a harder time thinking of as a small football country. They have a wonderful history. Sure, most of it was in the 1950s and 60s but it is there. Iceland do not have that. And when my football life started, in 1982, they were at the World Cup. And again in 1986. I'd say it's more that they've gone through an extended bad run.

And I also can't really get my head aorund it being a surprise that they beat Austria. I would say it was unexpected, based on recent form. But Austria haven't exactly been a football giant in the time that Hungary were in the doldrums. They did qualify strongly but consider who was in their group.
The two supposedly strong teams were Sweden and Russia. Russia spent most of their qualifying campaign wondering whether Fabio Cappello was going to be sacked or not, or whether some oil and gas billionaire was going to pay his salary. And the Russians don't need much distraction to add to their normal inconsistency. Sweden are on a bit of a downward slope right now and are hardly the Sweden of a few years ago. Austria were the best of a weak group and came into the Euros on the back of 3 consecutive friendly defeats.

But that's not really what I was thinking about today. No, no I spent no time on any of the above!

What was brewing in my head was how after the first round of matches this tournament is missing some of the commonly present incidents at a major football tournament. So far we have not had:
1. A huge win for any team. There's always at least one 4-0, 5-0. We didn't even have a 3-1.
2. A ridiculous refereeing decision; no penalty for a foul that happened way outside the penalty area; no sending off of a player for blowing in the direction of an opponent
3. A wrongly awarded goal that has decided a match.
4. A hilarious incident that is more of a talking point than the actual match. No goalposts breaking, no player flipping over the advertising boards. The best so far was the mulitiple attempts by the Croatian medical team to stop Corluka's bleeding head...how many bandages and techniques did they try?
5. The emergence of a player barely known before the tournament started.
6. A really strong, dominant performance from any one team.

And feel free to add to the list.

Quick notes

Day -730. ‪WorldCup2018‬

So many thoughts, so little time. Here's a few quick ones.

Thanks to technology which I try to keep up with, I had a system on the weekend where I watched the Euro pre-match shows online on either BBC or ITV and then the match on Canadian TV. I enjoy the ability to watch Gary Lineker and company, and was amused by ITV's offerings. The first thing I saw was Louis Saha (French, ex-footballer who played for Fulham) and Marion Bartoli (French, retired tennis player, Wimbledon champion) at the fan zone in Paris talking to each other in English. And I can't even remember what they were talking about but it pained me that they couldn't speak French to each other, while they fiddled with their huge wired microphones. Akward, uncomfortable came to mind. I wonder if, in two years, in Russia, Andrey Arshavin and Maria Sharapova will be doing the same thing. Arshavin? You can look him up. Sharapova may be an ex-tennis player in two years, forced into retirement by a drug ban. Or she may be making a comeback after her ban. Or she could have had a wonderful two years, with a successful appeal against her badly handled ban behind her. And the Russian promoter of all great Russian athletes, Vitaly Mutko, will be beaming with delight. Look him up as well.

Brazil and the Copa America Centenario are over, broken up by a Peruvian player who swiped the winning goal into the net so expertly with his hand that none of the refereeing team noticed it. It really was a good one. If Maradona's was the hand of God, this was the hand of "in your face, I'm going to get away with this". It wouldn't be the Copa America in the US without some good comedy. The referee, assitants and 4th officials all conferred for a few minutes to decide whether they could award a goal that the Brazilians seemed so convinced was illegal. "Did you see it?" "No, you?" "Well it looked like his hand, no way it couldn't have been really." "So what do what do?" "I say leave it. Brazil will probably score anyway and I don't feel like upsetting all these Peruvians". Of course, Brazil didn't score against one of the weaker South American teams. The Dunga emergency rescue plan is failing miserably. I reiterate my belief that it is very possible that they don't qualify for Russia 2018. Unless they bring back Big Phil.....

In the Euros today the overrated hipster team, Belgium, were comfortably out-witted by Italy. When did Italy beating Belgium become a surprise? Spain beat Czech Republic with a defender coming to the rescue once again with a late goal. They don't believe in centre forwards in Spain. And The Man (only he thinks that of himself) Zlatan, who was going to win this whole tournament by himself, was thankful to an Irish defender for scoring in his own net for Sweden to rescue a draw against the mighty Ireland.

#Orlando

Day -731. ‪WorldCup2018‬

There definitely will be no happy Sunday World Cup memory from me today after the tragic events in Orlando. While we slept those poor people, 50 of them (50, its incredibly sad) were gunned down while they were out having fun, not harming anybody, not annoying anybody. When Russia 2018 starts I will look back at my daily posts to remind myself of the events that occurred over the 1000 days. And this will be one of those sad ones, which, I hope, we all hope, will have at least contributed to something finally changing that in 731 days we don't have to wake up to news like this again.
I woke up on a Sunday morning to watch football, day 3 of the Euros. And I still watched, while switching back to the news, because it is human nature that recourse to a mental comfort zone is needed when things like this happen that we, who haven't experienced them, cannot fully comprehend.

Maybe it was because of this that the non-football news from the Euros made me angrier than it would have on a normal day. UEFA threatened to kick Russia and England out of the Euros if there is any more violence from their fans. While the English supporters claim they were attacked while merely enjoying a few beers in Marseille bars, the Russians ran at the England sections in the stadium yesterday at the end of their match.

The Russians have history. The Russian FA was fined and warned after the fans' terrible behaviour at the last Euros. While English supporters are mostly drunken louts with a lingering reputation from the dark days of the 1970s and 1980s, the Russians (and Serbs and a few others) are violent, seriously violent.

But no matter the level of violence I say to UEFA, "do it, kick them out". Maybe finally they will learn what idiots they are. Football hooliganism has always angered me, because what is the point? You are idiots. Plain and simple. Yes, there are religious and ethnic divisions that are behind much of the Eastern European fan violence. It is said that the war in Bosnia started because of a fight at a football match. It is true that the match did highlight rivalries between different ethnicities, and probably did nothing to help the simmering tensions. In England and other Western European countries it is attachment to a team and it's representation of a fan's town, city or region and the need to assert supremacy over others representing a different town, city or region that leads to these incidents of hooliganism.

Whatever it is it, it is so dumb. This is football, this is a sport. If you care about what you represent so much, become a politician, an activist. Petition your government for change, protest, take to the streets but keep your violence out of football. Yes, it is a very public way to get your message across but what did the flying of the "Greater Albania" flag over the stadium during the Albania-Serbia qualifying match actually achieve other than more violence.

And when it comes to dumb when are English supporters going to realize that it is not ok to drink and drink and then act like idiots? Idiots who then annoy the locals who did not ask you to be in their town, on their streets throwing bottles and chairs and making them worry for their safety. I don't buy the "it's only harmless fun" brought on by a few beers. They are a menace and should be kicked out of the host country. And if the only way they will leave is by getting rid of the team, then so be it.

I missed most of the late news from Marseille yesterday so I looked it up today and one of the videos I came across was of English fans "enjoying themselves" in Marseille during the day. And there he was. The idiot (yes, I use that word a lot), shirtless and climbing up the street signs. There's always one who thinks he is going to achieve worldwide acclaim by clambering up a pole and leading the rest of his drunken idiot friends in songs about the Germans and the war and the IRA. Now the French police, on the lookout for any sign of any terrorist activity, have to deal with a loser who may lose his balance, fall off his pole and they, the police, have to deal with the consequences and defend their "over the top" policing.

Send them all home: the Russians, the English, the Croats, the Turks, the Hungarians, anybody. Let the rest of us enjoy the football.

Messi, Albania, Switzerland, New Zealand

Day -732. ‪‎WorldCup2018‬

With apologies to my ardent followers. The day has become the next day and the time to write has become limited by my ability to focus on this small screen.

So a couple of quickies. First of all I eat my words about two things: I had the pleasure of watching Argentina-Panama in the Copa on tv last night. I didn't have to navigate any questionable websites. I only found it early in the second half with Argentina up 1-0 and Panama a player down. After watching the Argentinians huff and puff for 10-15 minutes or so, the player I have criticised on numerous occasions for his inability to do anything of use for his national team, Lionel Messi, came on. Not long after he had scored a hat-trick, set up another goal and it was a 5-0 win. Well done Leo. I still have some un-eaten words though. Let's see if he can do it against another team that's not 10-man Panama.

In the Euros the Swiss Kosovar ethnic Albanians played against the Albanians and Kosovar ethnic Albanians and one Swiss Kosovar ethnic Albanian whose brother decided he was more Swiss than him and played for the Swiss against his own brother. By Russia 2018 they may all be playing for Kosovo if Fifa can figure out the legalities of it all. I'll ask my question again. Fifa rules say a player cannot represent more than one country at senior level. But if the one country didn't exist when a player chose to play for a country that did exist can that player be denied the right to represent his country of birth now that it is a country and the option didn't previously exist?

On the other side of the world which everybody has forgotten about, PNG almost pulled off a Tahiti but a couple of missed penalties meant they lost the OFC Nations Cup final to New Zealand after a 0-0 draw. The Kiwis were without their captain, Chris Wood, as he had to attend his sister's wedding. Not very considerate planning on his sister's part, you may think. However, it was planned a year ago to not coincide with the final but the dates of the tournament were changed. And I guess it's easier to alter the logistics of a major continental football tournament than it is to change a booking on a wedding venue and all the extras. So Mr. Wood was out of luck. For his sister's sake at least I hope he wasn't a grumpy brother for the whole day.

Euros start!

Day -733. ‪WorldCup2018‬

This World Cup countdown needs football. I can't watch the Copa America or the OFC Nations Cup without searching for an online stream, and then navigating all the ads that advertise things that I have to be sure to not accidentally click on. But I can watch the third continental championship that started today, the Euros; or, as Michel Platini would like to think, the World Cup 2 and if he had his way (that is if he didn't get caught receiving money that he shouldn't have received) the Real World Cup.

At least I should be able to watch it, and in high definition for the first time in our house. But as is customary with these inconsiderate European sporting events the opening match, and many more to come, happened hours before the end of my work day. So don't expect a play by play description of what happened in today's France-Romania opener. I could tell you about the incredible amount of traffic I encountered on my drive home. I hoped to be in time for the last 15 minutes, or the last 10, maybe the last 5....what, are you really going to let everybody in ahead of you......ok, the injury time (hope there's lots). As it turned out I ran in to a daughter watching Fresh Prince (an education of sorts), grabbed the remote and turned it on at minute 87. And I got to watch the best part. Dimitri Payet scored an absolute belter, a scorcher, a goal worthy of winning any match, doubt we'll see a better goal than that at this tournament. Cliches exhausted, it really was a special one. But as good as that it was, it got better as Payet was substituted in the 90th minute and received the mother of all standing ovations. And what do you do when 80,000 people are chanting your name, and you know you have probably won the opening match for your country at home in your first appearance for your country at a major tournament? (To be almost exact let's say 80,000 minus a couple of thousand Romanians, minus a few thousand neutrals, minus a few thousand guests of UEFA and guests of sponsors who may not even known who Dimitri Payet is.) So what do you do when 63,253 people cheer for you when you leave the pitch? If you are Payet, you let the tears flow and struggle to hold it together.

And at that moment you forget that you are watching players that we very often complain about for earning incredible amounts of money. And you remember they are humans with emotions and that trumps all financial reward. Until the arguments about bonuses start.......

And tomorrow morning Papua New Guinea may have a local hero as they attempt to beat New Zealand in the OFC final.

Uruguay, on the way down?

Day -734. ‪WorldCup2018‬

Venezuela may be a country in financial crisis, with toilet paper and ice cream shortages, but they are not lacking on the football pitch. They just beat Uruguay 1-0 in the Copa America, their first ever win against the Uruguayans in this competition. If Mexico beat or draw with Jamaica later then Uruguay are out in the first round.

Could this be the end of the Uruguay cycle? They were in World Cup oblivion for a while until a less than spectacular appearance in 1986, in the Francescoli and Fonseca years. They then had their big run to the semi finals in 2010, led by Luis Suarez. At the last World Cup they were again formidable opposition beating England and Italy in the first round. But they always seem to be on the edge of slipping into mediocrity. A defeat to Venezuela could lead to more obscurity especially with the South American World Cup qualifying being as tight as it is.

OFC Final set

Day -735. ‪WorldCup2018‬

It will be a PNG-New Zealand final in the OFC Nations Cup. While the hosts are into their first final it is familiar territory for the Kiwis. But it almost wasn't. They were lucky that the New Caledonia goalkeeper made a complete mess of a long distance free kick for the only goal. New Caledonia dominated the match but could not score. As surprising as it was to have Tahiti represent Oceania in the last Confederations Cup, how about PNG in the next one?

Euro 2020 qualifying

Day -736. ‪WorldCup2018‬

Something popped into my head which, as a football fan, I've been trying to ignore thinking about for a while. It's a bit like an exam you had at school in a subject which you hated and you put off studying it forever and when you did think about it you quickly calculated that there were still two more days to go before you had to really start working on it. Maybe it wasn't exactly like that but that thought came into my head which replaced the original issue which I was trying to ignore getting said head around, and I just went with it.

Here it is. A while ago, Michel Platini, in his glory days of president of UEFA announced a innovative new qualifying format for the 2020 Euros which would also have some bearing on the 2022 World Cup qualifying. It sounded very much like the Champions League for countries, but of course UEFA denied the more matches on TV had anything to do with increased revenue. In a nutshell it involves a Nations League split into 4 divisions based on the countries' rankings at the end of the 2018 World Cup qualifying. Then the understanding of it kind of falls apart for me. There are two sets of play-offs, one in June 2019 and another in March 2020, the winners of which somehow join the other teams that will go through the regular group qualifying which is still happening. UEFA's selling point of this is that it eliminates meaningless friendlies (all matches will be competitive) (agreed) and it gives small countries the opportunity to qualify. Apparently the winners of the bottom division will secure a spot at the Euros in 2020. So that's good news for supporters of minnows like Malta and Scotland.

I read through it all again, including on UEFA's website and I have to confess I am none the wiser. I thought writing it out would make it easier for me and I would be able to explain it all for you. But not yet. I've got another two and a half years to go and I'm sure in that time the BBC will have one of their simple "Euro qualifying explained" diagrams. I can’t wait to see how they simplify this. UEFA's diagram has my head spinning.

In other quick news, USA have had enough of these boring 0-0's and 1-0's in their own backyard and have beaten Costa Rica 4-0 in the Copa. There'll be lot of "USA! USA! USA-ing! tonight.
Tomorrow we will know the finalists of the OFC Nations Cup. Will hosts PNG be hosting New Zealand in the final?

Older news but since Kosovo and Gibraltar became members of Fifa in May, they will have to be included in the 2018 World Cup qualifying, the draw for which was made a while ago. There are two groups of 5 (the rest have 6 teams) which they will be drawn into. In the case of Gibraltar it probably won't make much of a difference as they will be the bottom team. But Kosovo could be more tricky opposition, especially if they win what could be a very interesting legal battle to have players born in Kosovo who since played for other countries, because Kosovo wasn't a country, now come back and play for Kosovo.

National Anthem? Any one will do.

Day -737. ‎WorldCup2018‬

Ah well. It's just the wrong bit of music. Who really knows anyway? The people watching on TV? Nah? The fans in the stadium? It's in the US. They probably think the wrong music is all part of some "pre-game show".

Yesterday, before the Uruguay-Mexico match at the Copa America, as the teams lined up for the National Anthems, whoever's job it was to press "Uruguay" on the Anthem playlist hit "Chile" by mistake. Cue bemusement from the players as they readied themselves to belt out their favourite pre-match song. The organisers released a statement and apology today, blaming it on human error. Big discovery there, Sherlock. We didn't think a mouse had escaped from a testing lab, ran across the sound system, saw more coloured buttons to press and thought, "hmm, red looks good".

Now had this happened at the last World Cup in Brazil it wouldn't have been too much of a problem as the fans were always the choir that sang along, no music required.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4WijCK7_26A

OFC and Copa....and Toronto

Day -738. ‎WorldCup2018‬

Every World Cup little booths pop up around Toronto selling flags of every country in the World Cup, plus of course the Canadian flag for those people who seem determined to say, "I a Canadian and am going to stand up to all you Portuguese/Italian/Brazilian/English etc flag waving soccer supporters", even though that Canadian is probably of Portuguese/Italian/Brazilian/English etc. descent. But these parking lot salesman have also popped up this year with the Copa America and the Euros going on this month. And of course there are more countries taking part in both, with it being a special Copa and the Euros having now expanded to 24 teams. More countries, more flags to sell to immigrants from the participating countries and Canadians of descent from said countries. I'm sure Albanian and Icelandic Canadians never thought the day would come when they would be able to participate in the flag-on-the-car fun. And for Hungarian and Northern Irish Canadians, their last participation in a World Cup was before the advent of this enterprising little business.

There are eight country flags missing from all these stalls, those of the participants in the OFC Nations Cup. I may suggest it to my local man in the parking lot, but I do expect him to question whether New Caledonia and Vanuatu are actually countries, and that they play football. "Small islands in the Pacific? Little rocks? How do they have a big enough flat surface to play on?"
One of group of island nations gave another multi-island country a good old hiding at the OFC cup. Hosts PNG walloped Samoa 8-0 and they were in need of a good bumping up of their goal difference. With that win and the draw between Tahiti and New Caledonia, PNG topped their group and moved onto to the semifinals. New Caledonia join them and Tahiti, while eliminated from this competition, will move on to round 3 of World Cup qualifying.

The eight goals that PNG scored were eight times the number of goals scored in all 3 matches at the Copa yesterday. Brazil-Ecuador and Costa Rica-Paraguay were scoreless and Peru beat Haiti 1-0. Exhilarating stuff. I'm sure the Americans are so happy they offered to host this football spectacle. Kissing sister in-laws has been probably mentioned a few times already. So far today Venezuela beat Jamaica.....wait for it....1-0. And Mexico have just gone 1-0 up against Uruguay. It's 10 minutes in so I'm sure there are a lot more goals in that one. Luis Suarez is not playing, so maybe not.

I usually have a funny World Cup memory on Sunday. Today, in honour of the forgotten about OFC Nations Cup it is from the Confederations Cup in 2013. Here is Tahiti's historic goal against Nigeria and the incredible celebrations that followed. It was an amazing moment of glory for them and for the goal scorer, Jonathan Tehau. I shouldn’t remind you that this was Tehau's second goal of the match. He had earlier scored an own goal. It was 3-0 when he scored at the right end and Nigerian ended up winning 6-1. Small details that shouldn’t spoil their fun.

As an interesting side note, Jonathan Tehau was the oldest of 3 brothers in the squad and they also had a cousin on the team.

OFC update

Day -739. ‪WorldCup2018‬

Oh Frank! Fiji lost their final group stage match in the OFC Nations Cup. Vanuatu beat them 3-2 but there is a silver lining for coach Frank Farina. Despite missing out on a semi final spot in this tournament on goal difference to Solomon Islands they did have a better goal difference than Vanuatu and, as the third place team, move on to round 3 of World Cup qualifying. The dream of redemption for Farina is still alive.

In today's other match New Zealand scored an 80th minute goal to beat Solomon Islands 1-0. If New Zealand do indeed make it to Russia it will be amusing to think that while they could be giving teams like Germany and Brazil a hard time, 2 years previously they struggled to beat Solomon Islands.

OFC, Copa snippets

Day -740. ‪WorldCup2018‬

Early Saturday morning , barring any huge upsets, Fiji and New Zealand will have qualified for the semifinals of the OFC Nations Cup. And on Sunday hosts PNG will be hoping that New Caledonia and Tahiti don't draw, thus ensuring they move on with a win against Samoa.

Across the world, Colombia opened the Copa America Centenario with a 2-0 win over the hosts, USA.

And next Friday the Euros will start. It's almost better than having a World Cup. Three separate tournaments happening simultaneously.

In other news, Fifa's newest country, but not the UN's,Kosovo, played their first official match, a friendly 2-0 win against the Faroe Islands.

OFC Nations Cup

Day -741 ‪WorldCup2018‬.

The Copa America, the Euros and the OFC Nations Cup. All happening this summer. The Copa starts on Friday and the Euros next week. The OFC Nations Cup has been going on for a week. The Copa is unique in that it is a special 100 year anniversary edition and has 6 non-South American guest countries taking part. The OFC Nations Cup is the Oceania championship and it's uniqueness is that it is also round 2 of World Cup qualifying.

This is where I admit that with all the things I follow and write about I did know about this but did not remember when I mentioned round 2 of qualifying last week. The other thing about the OFC is that while the world will hear about the Copa and the Euros (because the world cannot go without football for a couple of months) nobody outside the Oceania region will know much about it.

It's in Papua New Guinea and the 8 competing teams are the 8 out of the 11 countries that made it to the second round of World Cup qualifying. The top two teams in each group of 4 move on to the semi finals and the winning team represents Oceania in the 2017 Confederations Cup. The only team other than Australia and New Zealand to win this was Tahiti, last time round. And that's why they were in the last Confederations Cup in Brazil when we all were in awe of the romanticism of the small Pacific nation being thrashed by everybody. Now that Australia are Asian , it really takes New Zealand to be in a trance for them not to win it. They have started off with 2 wins this time and will be determined to not be upstaged and embarrassed by Tahiti or Fiji this time.

The top three teams in each group become the 6 teams who will move on to Round 3 and compete for the one half spot for Russia 2018. A half spot because they will have to win the inter-continental play-off.

Stay tuned here for updates and results from PNG.

Filler day

Day -742. ‪WorldCup2018‬

The world cup qualifying going on now in Oceania is also the OFC Nations Cup. Two for one. More tomorrow.