Ukraine: it's still happening

Day -499. WorldCup2018

We're under 500 days. I've only got to do this for another 499 days. Almost there.

I like the silly side of football, the transfer deadline day stories of yesterday being a good example, simply because those nonsensical stories are easy to get caught up in without any serious repercussions. An argument about whether Andros Townsend will be the most bought-and-sold player in England this year is hardly going to get anybody too worked up, other than getting frustrated at not being able to think of a good humorous riposte. Townsend, by the way, is still a Crystal Palace player and the window is now closed until the summer. Newcastle fans are probably a little unsure as to whether to be happy about that or not.

That lightheartedness contrasts very sharply with an ongoing story that many of us have forgotten: Ukraine. Last year I used to write a lot about Russia, hosts of the next World Cup, and it's questionable military and diplomatic tactics in Ukraine and Syria. If Ukraine qualify for Russia 2018 it is going to be very, very interesting if they have to play against Russia, in Russia. Football may bring people together but politics will trump this match and emotional reactions could reach dangerous levels. The Ukraine-Russia crisis may not be in the news daily anymore But it has not gone away. Russia will always deny that it has any military presence but it's "volunteers" and "off-duty soldiers" are still waging a war against the Ukrainian army. Today was the third day of heavy fighting between the two sides in the eastern region of Donbass that has left an unconfirmed amount of civilians dead and at least eight Ukrainian troops. It has also caused a huge amount of suffering for the residents of a couple of towns who are without electricity at a time when temperatures have plunged to -20C.

It is hard to see that there will be a diplomatic solution before the next World Cup. It is more believable to accept that when Vladimir Putin decides the time is right, he will escalate this war. And if he does it under the guise of ensuring peace before the World Cup that will be pretty disgusting.

Andros Townsend: will he or won't he, again?

Day -500. WorldCup2018

Tomorrow, January 31st, is one of the two craziest days in English football. It is transfer deadline day. The other one, August 31st, is a lot more unbelievable, ridiculous and almost revolting in terms of the amount of money that is spent by football teams on players. It is what huge television revenue has done, allowing clubs to inflate the prices of players on the market and they will out spend each other not to become champions of England but to qualify for the Champions League and earn even more money from UEFA television deals. Football clubs are run by owners who are in the business of making money. Winning is but a useful tool.

One thing I enjoy about transfer deadline day is all the ridiculous rumours that fly around. All the English newspapers and TV stations have constant updates on their websites. In an effort to keep ahead of the competition they publish many reports they receive from questionable sources about certain players, or agents, seen talking to a manager or owner of a club for which they do not play. There is a lot of humour amongst the huge transfer fees.

Of course there are numerous stories leading up to the day. This is my favourite one and we will have to wait to see if it is true. Newcastle want to buy Andros Townsend, the sometime or former England winger, from Crystal Palace. Manager Rafa Benitez has allegedly insisted that the Newcastle cheque-signers do indeed authorise one for £15m. That seems like a pretty reasonable amount for a team at the top of the second tier of English football to spend as they attempt to return to the promised land of the Premier League. Why not add some attacking firepower? Well, this is the same player they sold to Crystal Palace last summer for £13m after they were relegated. They didn't need a luxury player like Townsend in the rough and tough battleground of the Championship. And this is the same player they bought from Tottenham last January to help with their battle against relegation to their Championship, for £12m.

So, £12m for a saviour who didn't work out, a £1m profit to offload the same player who would be of little use in the Championship and a £2m loss to bring him back a year later to be the the star player who ensures they get out of the Championship, where they ended up with him in the team. But I could go round in circles for ever, just like Townsend might keep going back and forth between London and Newcastle.

It adds a, well, added twist to the player loyalty argument.

Afcon:The days before the semifinals

Day -501. WorldCup2018

The African Cup of Nations is down to the final four. Just like with a World Cup this is when you, I, really, start thinking that one of these teams is actually going to win the whole thing. Before that it's a whole bunch of matches between teams hoping to stay in a day longer. And with the days off before the semifinals it adds to the suspense. We are waiting for the best four teams in Africa to show us what they can do to prove they are the very best.

On Wednesday Bukina Faso play Egypt and on Thursday it's Ghana against Cameroon. Ghana beat DR Congo 2-1 today and Egypt scored a very late winner to destroy Moroccan hearts. Essam El Hadary, Egypt's 44 year old goalkeeper, still hasn't conceded a goal.

I watched a little bit of Egypt's match today. It made me long for the World Cup, days of watching football between two countries I wouldn't normally watch. It's a wonderful distraction from the gloom that can be going on in the world. Twenty-two men chasing a ball, with thousands cheering them on. That's my happy place.

Sadio....this is Jurgen.

Day -502. WorldCup2018

It's late and in less than 3 hours the epic, mother of all Australian Open tennis finals between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal will start. I know it's going to be an epic, but that doesn't mean I'll be up at 3.30. When the World Cup was on in South Korea and Japan in 2002 I was up at all hours. Fourteen years later I can't handle the day after a sleepless night.

My point was that I have to keep this short. I won't be up at 3.30 but still early to catch the end of it. The first two Afcon quarterfinals were played today. Burkina Faso beat Tunisia 2-0 and Cameroon beat Senegal on penalties, after a 0-0 draw.

Sadio Mane missed the last penalty for Senegal. I think his Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, texted him just before the penalty shoot-out started and pleaded with him to miss. "We really need you Sadio. These guys are lost without you. They went and lost against Wolves today in the FA Cup. Wolves! Yes, me too, I had never heard of that team before today. But somebody told me just before the match that their manager had won the European Cup with Borussia Dortmund once upon a time in the past. So I had to pretend that I respected Paul Lambert because he is a legend in Dortmund. Damn him. He did what I couldn't do with Dortmund and today he comes to Anfield with a team I'd never heard of and beats us. Please, Sadio, come back. And sorry this was a really long text. You're probably paying a lot of money just to read it. Save your money. Don't reply. See you soon. Please. Penalty miss, ahem, please."

About loyalty and Seinfeld

Day -503. WorldCup2018

A friend's rant today about football players changing clubs for money reminded of comedian Jerry Seinfeld's theory on supporting a team. Players' loyalties are constantly questioned now, and the China factor has added a new dimension. But so too is there a worry that clubs are ready to cash in on their star players when they can. The balance between winning and running a successful, money making business is shifting to the latter. And, it can be argued, if clubs didn't make money there would be no club to support anyway.

The problem of transferring between teams is now also becoming a problem at the International level. I believe the sometimes despised globalisation phenomenon is going to lead to the end of national teams made up of players born in that country. It'll be increasing hard to know where a player is really from. Diego Costa was born Brazilian but became a Spanish citizen and now plays for Spain. He grew up as a Brazilian footballer but Spain now reaps the benefits. Wilfrid Zaha, of Crystal Palace, grew up in England, was given his football opportunities in England, played for England twice in friendlies, but has now decided to play for Ivory Coast, his country of birth. And there are all the Albanian and Swiss players who could play for either team, or even for Kosovo now.

Will players just go to whatever country will take them? Malta found a "Maltese" player in England. Luke Gambin has a Maltese grandfather, but no other connection with Malta. He is now a regular in the team. There are more and more stories like this nowadays.

So Jerry Seinfeld's joke may be truer than it seemed. We may be watching a World Cup in the future made of players who are wearing our country's clothes but are not part of our country. We will be "rooting for the clothes" because we won't know who the players really are.

"Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify. Because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city, you’re actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it. You know what I mean, you are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt, they *hate* him now. Boo! Different shirt!! Boo." (Jerry Seinfeld)

Giovinco to China?

Day -504. WorldCup2018

I've been trying to write this for a while, but there's nothing. It's one of those days.

The only football I sort of followed today was Hull's hard fought 2-1 win against Manchester United in the League Cup semifinal second leg. Hull haven't had much joy this season. And when they do get a win it means nothing. United win on aggregate and go on to the final at Wembley. Such is the joy of aggregate scores over two legs. That would have sounded like a completely foreign sentence to many North Americans a few years ago. Aggregate? Two legs? But thanks to MLS play-offs adopting the same two match system, that football-speak has hit these shores.

Speaking of MLS and TFC (wasn't I?) fans here are worried about superstar player Seba Giovinco jumping on the enough-money-for-my-granchildrens'-lifetime plane to China. His agent says he is happy here, he loves the TFC family but that the league needs to start thinking about spending some serious money if they want to compete for more Giovinco's and less 38 year old Frank Lampards.
Andrea D'Amico: "At the same time, I have my idea of MLS. Now, MLS is just like the Olympic Games with no professional athletes. They need to go forwards in the direction of increasing the market, increasing the number of big players...."

"I think no one in the world has the facilities, the lifestyle, the organization, the marketing that MLS has. It’s a fantastic place to live. So, if North America doesn’t want to commit more... we need that. In my opinion, we have to accelerate this project. I saw more than 150,000 people at the stadiums in the three games against Montreal and Seattle."

Agents, eh? The man is in the business of making more money for himself. Why not? That's his thing and his measure of success. And if he and others weren't around, would the Giovinco's come here? But if Giovinco does go to China, Mr. D'Amico won't be too unhappy with his payday. I think he's still holding out that he could make his big money in the MLS market. He's not ready for China, yet.

Salah! What a goal!

Day -505 WorldCup2018

The last group matches at Afcon were played today. Egypt beat Ghana 1-0 and Mali and Uganda, yes, drew 1-1. Egypt and Ghana move on. Egypt play Morocco in the quarterfinals and Ghana play DR Congo.

Egypt v Morocco. That has the feeling of a classic, a titanic struggle between two teams trying to steal the thunder from their recently more illustrious fellow North African team, Algeria. Or it could turn out to be really boring.

With Egypt moving on the dream is still alive for their third choice, 44 year old goalkeeper, Essam El Hadary, to win his fifth Afcon, the first coming in 1998.

Today's the kind of day that I needed to hear an excited commentator, getting excited about a pretty exciting goal. It was quite the special one from Mohamed Salah, formerly of Chelsea, now at Roma. The goal celebration was fun to watch too, in that it had three elements of a celebration of which a player normally chooses one. Salah went for all three.

First he did the "I've just scored an amazing goal but I'm too cool to acknowledge it." When that was done he quickly jogged off to find some empty grass for a David Luiz-inspired group prayer and thank you to God for bestowing the skill on him to score that goal. He finished off with the long run to the bench for the......wait for it....here it comes....he's still running and smiling....he'll be there soon for the big, tight embrace with his coach, to thank him for having faith in him and allowing him to demonstrate the skills that God gave him to score that goal....there might even be a little kiss...maybe a few words as he grabs the back of his coach's neck and holds him close....here it comes....Oh hold on, who's this guy? He looks like one of the substitutes coming off the bench to meet Salah. He's going to give him the kiss and embrace and the loving words. No. It's more like a "what should I do now moment" for the reserve player. Oh, I'll sort of pick him up/hug him and send him on his way. And off trotted Salah, not sure whether it was even worth part 3 of the celebration.

The quarterfinals are on Saturday and Sunday. They might be coming to a TV near you. Not near me. But I'm sure if you really wanted to, you can find somewhere to watch them. The most competitive continental championship, I say again.

Ivory Coast...gone!

Day -506. WorldCup2018

After every day of Afcon that passes I think it really is the most competitive of all the continental championships. Going into the last round of group matches only one of the 16 teams had been eliminated. And none of the expected favourites were guaranteed qualification for the quarterfinals.
Today the holders, Ivory Coast, were eliminated. They were beaten 1-0 by Morocco. Ivory Coast have been a bit of the glamour team of Africa in the last couple of World Cups, with all their European based stars. Morocco were last at a World Cup in 1998.

DR Congo won the group after beating Togo 3-1. Togo needed a win but their cause wasn't helped when their second-choice goalkeeper was injured and had to be substituted. The reserve 'keeper, Cedric Mensah, was their number 3. Number 1 wasn't playing because he was back in Togo to see what damage had been done to his house by fans who attacked it after they blamed him for their defeat in the previous match against Morocco.

And Algeria's coach, Georges Leekens, has resigned after his team's disappointing showing. Algeria are now looking for their 4th coach in a year. Brazil 2014 and all the fun of watching Algeria seems like a long, long time ago.

Tunisia? Malta can beat them.

Day -507. WorldCup2018

Tunisia avoided the upset and comprehensively beat Zimbabwe 4-2 today to move on to the quarterfinals of Afcon. Senegal and Algeria drew 2-2. Senegal finished top of the group and Algeria, one of the surprise teams of the 2014 World Cup, are out.

I have always had a tough time with Tunisia's success. There are few teams that Malta have a winning record against and Tunisia are one of them: 4 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats. Th last win was in 1988 and the last match between the two was a 1-1 draw in 1994. So when Tunisia qualified for the '98 World Cup I questioned the strength of African football. Watching them play England in their opening match, I couldn't help thinking that this was a team that Malta could beat.

They also qualified for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. And my feeling never went away. And again today when I see they are amongst the top 8 teams in Africa, I still think, "but Malta could beat them." The funny thing is that when I see Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana or Ivory Coast I think Malta wouldn't stand a chance against them.

Maybe Malta are just Tunisia's bogey team. Maybe the Maltese FA need to set up a friendly against them. Malta could do with a morale-boosting win right now.

Not turgid at the Afcon

Day -508. WorldCup2018

The host nation are out of Afcon. Gabon, and their star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, couldn't find a way past Cameroon. The 0-0 draw was described by the BBC as a "poor match" which is about the first time the BBC haven’t tried to play up what have obviously been some less than spectacular matches. I've realised that while they quite easily describe European Championship and World Cup matches as "dour" and "turgid", Afcon matches are "hard fought" and "games of few clear cut chances." A planned strategy or just my perception?

Burkina Faso topped the group after they best Guinea-Bissau 2-0. In what has been a tournament of very evenly balanced teams, first place in the group and a quarterfinal against a second placed team doesn't look like any guarantee of an easier match. Burkina Faso's most likely opponents are Tunisia, unless they lose against Zimbabwe and Algeria beat Senegal tomorrow.

Vamos Chape

Day -509. WorldCup2018

Uganda are out of the Afcon after losing 1-0 to Egypt. Ghana are in the quarterfinals thanks to their 1-0 against Mali. Egypt play Ghana in the last round where a win for Egypt will give them top spot in the group, but a loss and a win for Mali could mean the Malians go through. The goal difference is not too significant.

Uganda didn't have one shot on target, meaning Egypt's record breaking 44 year old goalkeeper, Essam El Hadary, only had to "punch several set pieces clear" (BBC).
I marched in the Women's March in Toronto today. It was a significant, historical moment and I want to remember it 509 days from now.

Chapecoense played their first match today since the tragedy that wiped out almost all of their team. They played a friendly against Brazilian champions Palmeiras. The three surviving players were presented with the Copa Sudamericana trophy before the 2-2 draw. They stopped play in the 71st minute to remember the 71 victims of the plane crash and another rousing rendition of "Vamos Chape."

No favourites, no minnows at Afcon

Day -510. WorldCup2018

The Afcon is a tough tournament to predict. It's hard to see who the favourites are and who the minnows are. But I guess that makes sense when only the best 16 countries in Africa qualify to play in it.

Today Ivory Coast, the current champions, battled to a 2-2 draw against Congo DR. In the other match Morocco beat Togo. All 4 teams are still in a position to make it to the quarterfinals.

With there being a very good chance that there will be all to play for in the last round of group matches (Uganda may be eliminated in Group D tomorrow) this may well be the most competitive of all the continental championships.

Algeria, oh Algeria!

Day -511. WorldCup2018

Group B at Afcon went all win crazy today. Did anybody tell the teams that at least one draw a day is the requirement to maintain the consistency at this tournament?

Senegal became the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals after beating Zimbabwe 2-0. Tunisia put themselves in a good position with a 2-1 win against Algeria. It's hard to imagine that this is pretty much the same Algerian team that was such a joy to watch at the World Cup in Brazil 2 years ago. Maybe a couple of their stars, Mahrez and Slimani, need to step up and do for their country what they are doing for their club team, Leicester. Oh, wait a minute.

Essam El Hadary and his working vacation

Day -512. WorldCup2018

Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Match 1 result 1-1. Match 2 result, 1-1. Match 3, 1-1. Match 4, 1-1 until the 78th minute when Cameroon's Michael Ngadeu-Ngadju scored what turned out to be the winner against Guinea-Bissau. Hosts Gabon are going to have a tough time to qualify for the quarterfinals as they play Cameroon in the final group match while Burkina Faso play Guinea-Bissau.

In other Afcon news Egypt's 44 year old goalkeeper, Essam El Hadary, is their only fit goalkeeper. He replaced Ahmed El Shenawy early in the first match. El Shenawy is now out of the tournament with a hamstring tear. The third goalkeeper, Sherif Ekramy, suffered a hamstring strain just before the tournament started. He is now undergoing "intensive treatment". The tournament rules state that a team cannot call up a replacement later than 24 hours before a team's first match.

Therefore, it looks like Egypt are stuck with a fairytale story in the making. El Hadary has won Afcon 4 times with Egypt, the first time in 1998. So it's not exactly, "goalkeeper comes in at last minute and wins first major tournament at 44". It'll be more like,"44 year old goalkeeper, who thought he was going to Afcon as a gesture because he's a part of Egyptian football folklore, and who expected to be sitting back on the bench and not doing much training, ends up having his semi-vacation/retirement party ruined because the young guys are too fragile (but he did end up with a winner's medal and now he has the final chapter of his biography sorted)."

The Afcon needs some real Trezeguet!

Day -513. WorldCup2018

The first round of group matches at the Africa Cup of Nations were completed today. We complained about the Euros not being particularly exciting. I hope for the African fans' sake, things get a bit better starting tomorrow. Today Ghana beat Uganda 1-0 with the goal coming from a penalty and Mali and Egypt drew 0-0.

Eight matches have been played, five were drawn. 1 and 0 have been very common numbers except in Group B where they've all gone goal crazy: Algeria drew 2-2 with Zimbabwe and Senegal beat Tunisia 2-0. I think the majority of the teams are trying to emulate Italy's group matches in World Cup 1982 on the way to winning that World Cup. Goals and wins were not many, if any.

But there are always stories. Egypt's reserve goalkeeper had to come on in the first half today to replace the injured starting goalkeeper. By doing so, Essam El-Hadary made history as the oldest player ever at an Afcon. The 44 year old was also making his 148th appearance for Egypt, but only had one save of note to make.

The best chance of the match fell to Egypt's Marwan Mohsen but his header was saved. The ball was crossed to Mohsen by Mahmoud 'Trezeguet' Hassan. He is very often simply known as Trezeguet because he apparently bears a striking resemblance to the former France and Juventus player. When the original Trezeguet was asked what he thought about the resemblance he said, "the hair is definitely not the same, and the playing position too.” He also said he will ask his father if he ever went to Egypt!

Matip: for club or country, or neither

Day -514. WorldCup2018

The African Cup of Nations is going to get a reputation for being a "drawn" out affair. A terrible attempt at a joke, I know. But it does "draw" a bit of a picture of the opening six matches of the Afcon. I wish I could watch it but I've been pretty "tied" up. Just like most of the teams in Gabon. There have been four draws out of those 6 matches. DR Congo went wild today and won 1-0 against Morocco. Ivory Coast and Togo kept the draw junkies happy by not scoring any goals against each other.

These major tournaments always have surprise results, happy stories and a couple of odd stories. The best one in the latter category is happening in Liverpool. Joel Matip was selected by Cameroon in the preliminary squad but decided he didn't want to play for the team. Liverpool were happy to not lose another player for a month. But, hold on Houston, we may have a problem. Fifa rules state that a player who was selected to play for his national team cannot play for his club while the period of international duty is active, plus another five days. So even though Matip does not want to play for Cameroon, he cannot play for Liverpool unless Cameroon officially release him. If Cameroon reach the final, Matip will be twiddling his thumbs until February 11th.

It'll be interesting to see how far Cameroon go with this. They have the power over his Liverpool career. Will they make him sit out, out of spite?

This is not the first time Matip has done this. He decided to not play in the 2010 Afcon after being selected. At that time he was still unsure as to what country he wanted to represent. He was born in Germany to a German mother and Cameroonian father. Later in 2010 he decided to play for Cameroon and played for them at the 2010 World Cup.

Liverpool blame Fifa for the confusion. They say Matip retired from international duty with Cameroon in 2015 and hasn't played since. Last season he played for his club at the time, Schalke, 4 days, not 5, after Cameroon played a World Cup qualifier. No action was taken. Even though Cameroon named him in their provisional squad, he wasn't in their final squad. Yet Fifa will not make a ruling despite Liverpool's request.

So it looks as though in order for Matip to play with Liverpool he has to be officially told he is not part of a squad that he wasn't selected for, but provisionally selected to be part of even though he had asked to never be selected again. Are Cameroon enjoying this?

Football weekend

Day -515 WorldCup2018

The African Cup of Nations started yesterday. It was a slow start. Senegal beat Tunisia 2-0 today but the other three matches were all drawn.

Burkina Faso's Portuguese coach, Paulo Duarte, had a good excuse for his team pulling off only half a surprise in their 1-1 draw against Cameroon and not achieving the full upset. His players were confused, not by any time difference, or the weather, or the alignment of the pitch in relation to the sun. No. There was a "tactical problem".

"Unfortunately in the first half my players did not understand the strategy." Ok then. Next they play against the hosts Gabon, who Duarte coached in the past.

"I know the Gabon team very well, I trained them." So I see the confusion. It's the wrong team he knows well.

Tottenham Hotspur were outstanding yesterday in sweeping past West Brom 4-0. It was fun football to watch first thing on a Saturday morning. Everton were good today, not spectacular, even though a 4-0 win against Manchester City is a pretty spectacular result. Their game plan was simple. Let City pass the ball around their own half, give them nowhere to go . Eventually they'll bore themselves, give us the ball and we'll score. Repeat 4 times. Ronald Koeman, Everton's manager, decided to give his new 18 year old player, recently bought from Charlton, a run out for a couple of minutes. Ademola Lookman was supposed to run around for a little bit, get a taste of Premier League action. But he only went and scored the 4th goal, didn't he? He might get 5 minutes next time and it could be an anticlimax.

Kevin Mirallas was one of Everton's best players today and scored what was not an easy goal. Mirallas is one of those players who I always wish plays well and that good things happen for him. He is very talented and seems to be a very intelligent player. He also goes about his business with his head down, not literally, and isn't looking to be the celebrity footballer. Maybe he didn't get on with Roberto Martinez, Everton's previous manager. I'm sure he was the Everton and Belgian player with the most conflicting emotions when Martinez was sacked by Everton and appointed manager of Belgium.

Liverpool and Manchester United also played today. They both scored a goal. The fans were all unhappy, the managers were both unhappy. They all wanted, needed, a win. The players? Maybe they were unhappy too, or maybe they were happy because a win is not what defines their happiness. Who knows?

The Top 4 in England have now become the Top 6. None of them can really afford to lose or they'll be stuck in the Europa League next season. But fear not. I'm sure UEFA will change their rules again soon to allow 6 teams from England into the Champions League.

Juventus lost today which is news these days. Fiorentina were the rare team to beat them. It allows for a glimmer of excitement in Italy. Normal service will probably resume next week. And Roma and Napoli will probably have their usual second half of season collapse and let Juventus stroll to the title.

Real Madrid also lost, their first defeat after a record breaking 40 matches. Sevilla scored a 91st minute winner to send their fans into a wild frenzy of "we beat Real" excitement. The other surprise in Spain is that Barcelona are not second in the standings behind Real. Sevilla are. With Atletico Madrid not having a great season it's refreshing to see another team get in between the two giants.

And then there's football in Malta. In today's match between Hibernians and Floriana, a Floriana player got a little carried away in celebrating his team going ahead and was sent off for "disparaging comments" aimed at the Hibs' bench. The Floriana president, Riccardo Gaucci, took offence to this decision and ordered his players off the pitch and got into an altercation with his Hibs' counterparts. At then end of it Gaucci and a Hibs' official were sent to the stands by the referee. Is it just me who wonders why the club president is on the bench anyway? What does the coach do when the president is yelling out instructions. What did the coach say when his boss ordered the team to leave the pitch? In what kind of country do the club presidents sit in the dugout with the players? Not one that is hoping to be taken seriously, I would think. This is a country where when a team wins the supporters call in to the radio or television (or post on social media now) after their team's win to offer their congratulations "to the committee." Because that's who won the match. It amuses me every time.

In happier Maltese football news, one of the players who has been a great success overseas, Andre Schembri, scored for his club Boavista yesterday. His was the third goal as Boavista went 3-0 up against league leaders Benfica. Unfortunately, Benfica hit back to draw 3-3.

And because the only happier thing on a Sunday evening than watching unbridled joy and celebration that follows a 91st minute winner against a team that hasn't lost for 40 matches, is Ray Hudson having a(nother) commentary orgasm after seeing the goal, I leave you with this......

Hopes and dreams for Villa

Day -516. WorldCup2018

Last year it was the day I finally had to give up hope that Aston Villa weren't going to be relegated. "If they win the next three and everybody else loses they could still make it." Three matches and three losses later : "Maybe they could win the next five." This season it's more of the same. When will that day come when I finally accept that I will be watching the Premier League without Aston Villa?

Another loss today against Wolves today and Villa are a million points out of a play-off spot. Ah well, if they go on a 10 match winning streak, there is hope.....

I wish I had more but I'll be better tomorrow.

Villa for Taylor?

Day -517. WorldCup2018

I've used up all my writing energy on something else today. So this will be short.

Aston Villa play Wolves tomorrow (later today, now). Both teams were managed by Graham Taylor. It will be emotional. Selfishly, I hope the present Villa team can channel those emotions to emulate the 1986-87 Villa team that was in the current team's predicament and with Taylor's coaching and motivation made it back into the old First Division.

Graham Taylor

Day -518. WorldCup2018

I had to think about why I was so sad to read about the passing of Graham Taylor today. I also had to consider how I was going to start writing this, because I knew this was going to be my only topic today. Was I going to open with something about Graham Taylor or me? I ended up starting with an "I" because the sadness came from the "me" part in the news of his death. I also thought about naming Elton John in the first sentence to get more people's attention. It would add to the memory of Graham Taylor but more of that later.

Graham Taylor was best known for the endless amount of ridicule he endured, abuse even, for England's failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. To make it worse, he was filmed looking like a pretty helpless manager, in the documentary, "An Impossible Job", which I remember as the "do I not like that" film. He was not the first manager to suffer this failure . Two did it, or didn't, in 1974 and 1978. And they didn't have their every move filmed.

Graham Taylor should best be remembered for making fans of Watford and Aston Villa dream. Those were his glory days. He was the Pep Guardiola of the late seventies and eighties, the Jose Mourinho, Eddie Howe. And yet he was ridiculed for his terrible time with England, in a job, which by his later admission, he took on too early. As the many Aston Villa fans said today, "What if? What if he had stayed at Villa after leading them to second place in the old First Division in 1990.....?"

All the tributes from fans, players and fellow managers all sounded the same. "He was a true gentleman." Reading all the comments from Aston Villa fans it is easy to see what an impression he had on them, not just as manager of their team but as a person. As the manager he was close to Aston Villa greatness. And the fans loved him. Villa had been relegated in 1986 when he took over. Three seasons later they were runners-up to Liverpool. They ended the 1989-90 season with a 3-3 draw at Everton. As I read through the Villa fans' many comments on the Taylor memories this one struck me: "Goodison Park, May 1990. The greatest ever away day without a trophy at the end of it. Thank you, Sir."

After that match Villa fans sang, "Graham Taylor's Claret and Blue Army " solidly for 40 minutes, with such passion that even the Everton fans applauded them. Graham Taylor coached a team who's attacking players were Ian Ormondroyd and Ian Olney to within a whisker of being champions of England. And he did it with none of the fanfare of Guardiola or Mourinho. Second place was a victory for those fans.

That Villa team also included David Platt, one of Villa's greats, brought to Birmingham by Taylor. He also discovered Dwight Yorke as a 17 year old playing in Trinidad and Tobago when Villa were on a preseason tour. At Watford his coaching skills developed the great talent of John Barnes and Luther Blissett.

It was the unlikely partnership with Elton John at Watford where the Taylor story took off. He had already led Lincoln City to the fourth division championship when Elton John, the chairman of Watford, picked Taylor to make his dream of European football come true for his beloved team. Watford were in the fourth division at the time, 1977. Four seasons later, after three successive promotions, they finished second in the First Division. One of my earliest football memories is a picture in a magazine of a celebrating Watford team with Elton John. Elton John? That was crazy. But he was only half of the story. Graham Taylor made the dream happen. The final words have to go to Elton John. His tribute today:

"I am deeply saddened and shocked to hear about Graham's passing. He was like a brother to me. We shared an unbreakable bond since we first met. We went on an incredible journey together and it will stay with me forever. He took my beloved Watford from the depths of the lower leagues to uncharted territory and into Europe. We have become a leading English club because of his managerial wisdom and genius. This is a sad and dark day for Watford. The club and the town. We will cherish Graham and drown our sorrows in the many brilliant memories he gave us. I love you Graham. I will miss you very much. My thoughts go out to Rita, Joanne, Karen and the whole Taylor family.

Who gets to play in this big World Cup?

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Fifa has said that the decision on World Cup places for each confederation for the 48 team 2026 World Cup will be announced in May. You can imagine that between now and then there is going to be a lot of wrangling, negotiating, some compromising and a few promises made amongst all the confederations. Europe will always want more spots because they feel they offer the best overall quality, and every other continent will quite rightly maintain that finally deserve to be closer to Europe in terms of numbers. And Oceania will hope to finally get a guaranteed spot.

Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Writer at the Times of London, reported today that the expectation is that Europe will get 16 places, Asia 8.5, Africa 9, South America 6, Concacaf 6.5, Oceania 1 and one place for the host nation. Interestingly, the favourites to host the 2026 edition are two of the US, Mexico and Canada as co-hosts. So there's two host nation spots. But does that mean one taken away from Concacaf? So many debatable points already!

There is also lots of talk about South America and Concacaf merging with the joint confederation receiving 14 qualifying spots. The debate, as with many others, will go on and on. The president of the Venezuelan FA said Gianni Infantino indicated this is a strong possibility. But the Concacaf president said it may not be an option.

If South America does indeed get 6 spots, and there is no merger, that's 6 out of 10 teams in South America making it to the World Cup. That's 60% of the teams. If that ratio applied to Europe even Malta could be in with a shot.

A bigger World Cup

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Today would have been a good day to go to the pub, have a few beers and have a good, healthy argument about the merits of Fifa's new 48 team World Cup. Everybody has their idea of fun, right? For some it's a lively discussion with people who share the same passion but different opinions, where no one is personally aggrieved. Today's would have been a good one. Instead, here I am with my one-sided argument...for now, anyway.

No justification, or dismissal, of this new World Cup can be entered into without acknowledging the obvious. It is about money. And I don't blame Fifa. They are in the business of making money, and football. President Infantino pretty much admitted it today: "Every format has advantages in financial terms. We were in a comfortable situation to take a decision based on sporting merit." Read that as, we have lots of money already and when you do It’s easier to make big decisions.

Now that that's out of they way, my reaction is that it's a good idea. I will be challenged and I may be convinced otherwise. There are good reasons for more teams to be at the World Cup.
In 1998 when the World Cup expanded to 32 teams, 174 countries took part in qualifying. So just over 18% of all Fifa member associations qualified. There are now 211 member associations. If no new countries are recognised before 2026 qualifying, 48 teams would be just over 22%. This is not a huge increase, especially when considering my second argument.

Maybe thanks to Fifa's development programs and it's goal of taking football all over the world, the quality of football has improved everywhere. There are now more than 18% of Fifa's members where football is played at a high level. And if there is concern about the dissolution of quality at the Word Cup, surely it is not hard for anybody to see that having 22% of footballing nations take part is a fair gathering of the world's best.

Africa is a good argument for a bigger World Cup. I don't have statistics but football fans know that for many European club teams an African player is the star player. The days of African teams being laughed at for being tactically naive are long gone. Africa, and Asia, have long argued that the talent of their continents is not well represented at World Cups. Africa has 53 teams in Russia 2018 qualifying. Europe has 54. Five teams will qualify from Africa, thirteen from Europe. I have used this example before and here it is again. One qualifying group in Africa is made up of Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria and Zambia. The first three have qualified multiple times and have been strong participants. Only one of these teams will qualify this time.

Then there's the reasons why this expanded World Cup is not a good idea. One, of course is money. It is impossible to not think that Fifa's only motivation is money and that there will be more matches, some possibly meaningless, so that Fifa can sell more television time, more tickets and get more money from sponsors. Will we, the fans, all be blindly paying into Fifa's coffers? Their own research suggest a $600 million increase in revenues.

And, of course, there is the football argument. There will be 16 groups of 3 teams. Infantino has said the exact format will be finalised later but he is in favour of penalty shoot outs to decide winners in the group phase. This will prevent the top two teams playing to an arranged draw to ensure they both qualify to the detriment of the third team that won't be playing. Fair point. But it could be that the third team is eliminated after losing it's two matches. The last group match is then between the top two teams who have already qualified. Yes, they'll be playing for top position in the group but there's hardly the same excitement as knowing it's down to the last match and one team could be eliminated.
And how about seeding? In the 32 team format, all teams are split into four pots of 8 teams each, based on their ranking, and one team from each pot is drawn into each of the 8 groups of four. This normally ensures a pretty even spread of quality throughout the groups. Now, with 16 groups of 3, does that mean there will be 3 pots of 16 teams each. That's a pretty wide spread of levels. There must be a bigger difference between Team 1 and Team 16 in a pot, than there is between Team 1 and 8.

The decision has only just been made an there is still much to be learned. We don't know yet how many teams will qualify from each continent. But I already see the potential for more excitement. If Costa Rica could eliminate England and Italy in 2014 what previously unheralded team could have the opportunity to surprise in 2026?

A bigger World Cup?

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I haven't got much today. It was my first full day back at work and, phew, I'm exhausted! I barely had time to read the football news.

Cristiano Ronaldo was voted Fifa's first best footballer of the year today in the inaugural Best Fifa Football Awards. Claudio Ranieri was voted best coach. Hardly a surprise, both of them.

On Tuesday Fifa will vote on plans to expand the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026. There is also a 40 team option but it is not really being talked about. There seems to be overwhelming support from most of the national football federations. One of Fifa's proposals to go along with the expansion is the merging of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL qualifying, so that Canada and Belize will be competing with Brazil and Argentina. The compromise is that there will be a combined greater number of teams qualifying from the two regions.

I feel like posting my Geoff Thomas story again from yesterday. I liked that one, a feel-good happy ending story.

Geoff Thomas: more than that miss

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Geoff Thomas was a pretty good footballer. I've mentioned him and his infamous miss many times but there is a lot more to him than that, a lot more. He was recruited by the legendary Dario Gradi, manager at Crewe Alexandria for ever and ever, who had a reputation of developing a number of players who went on to play at the highest level in England. Thomas moved to Crystal Palace where he was a vital part of Palace's highest ever finish in the English top division, third in 1991.

He played for England nine times under Graham Taylor in the early nineties. It was a pretty dire England team at the time and his miss against France in 1992 sadly added more fuel to the laughing stock value of the team.

Thomas had a lot more to deal with after his football career ended and his response to it was a greater demonstration of the fighter that he was, greater than any battle won in midfield for Palace or England. He was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in 2003. He was given 3 months to live if he didn't undergo immediate treatment and a further 3 years if he didn't receive a stem cell transplant. Thankfully, his sister was a suitable donor and he has been in remission since. Not content with overcoming leukaemia he set out to do something to raise awareness and money for a cure. In 2005 he cycled all 21 stages of Tour De France two days before the professional riders. Having raised £250,000 he vowed to raise £2million over two years, starting in 2015, for his Cure Leukaemia foundation which he co-founded with the doctor who saved his life. He rode all the stages again in 2015, this time with a bigger support crew and more riders and will do it again in 2017. He was also very influential in getting pharmaceutical companies to release millions of dollars worth of medicines to help with clinical trials.

Here's the video, but Geoff Thomas is now remembered for a lot more than just THAT miss.

Italian football

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I did something today I haven't done for a while. I watched an Italian Serie A match, Napoli-Sampdoria. I've had a feeling recently that I need to do more research for the purpose of this countdown. Research, yes. There was a time when it was easier to watch Italian and Spanish football on TV here, but now I have to either pay a lot more or look for it in other places.

As I watched a number of thoughts came into my head, memories and thoughts. I should have made a list as I watched but that would have been way too organised. So here's what I remember.

The empty Italian stadiums. Juventus moved to a smaller stadium and out of their World Cup 2006 new stadium. The atmosphere was terrible. Now their small stadium is packed and the fans are right there by the pitch. Some of the older, grand stadiums are relics of the days of grand, old stadiums. Napoli's San Paolo is one of them. Napoli are doing pretty well, and have been for a few seasons. Yet, here they were playing a Saturday evening match and the rows upon rows, section upon section of empty seats were more noticeable than the occupied seats. It's the same watching at the San Siro and the Olimpico in Rome. Yes, they are massive stadiums and it would be comparable to Spurs or Arsenal playing at Wembley every weekend. But at the same time I find it hard to imagine Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United or Liverpool playing in front of empty seats.

The next thing was the politeness, and cleanliness of the football. Yes, Sampdoria had a player sent off but the second yellow card was ridiculous. And, yes, there was all the dramatic play-acting in the hope of a free-kick or penalty. But there wasn't the intense, frantic-ness of the English Premier League. Which is better? That's a good argument but whichever it is it was a nice change of style and pace for my football brain.

Ironically, having just finished writing the above, another memory was of watching an Italian match which was one of the most intense, cynical, emotionally charged, almost violent matches I have ever seen. And it was the same two teams, playing the second leg of the 1989 Coppa Italia. It was the time of Maradona for Napoli, and Vialli, Mancini, Cerezo and Vierchowod for Sampdoria. Sampdoria won 4-0 but I remember there being tough tackles and fights all over the place. The fans were loving it. They were loud and seemed to be wishing for blood. Mancini (or was it Vialli?) was arguing with everybody and was eventually substituted before he was sent off. It was a classic.

Geoff Thomas also came to mind. Unfortunately he does anytime any footballer tries to hit the corner flag with a shot rather than the goal. Lorenzo Insigne had the ball inside the penalty area, to the right of the goal. He had lots of space and a great angle to curl the ball into the top corner. Somehow his shot went horizontally away from him and ended up going out on the far touchline. A Geoff Thomas moment. And it made me think that one day I need to explain with video evidence how absolutely terrible Thomas' shot was for anybody who has no idea what I was talking about.

There had to be a Maradona mention. The fans still have Maradona banners: a legend who will forever be so in Naples despite his very spectacular fall from grace and end of his Napoli career. In 2002 (our honeymoon, I can't forget!) we were driving through Naples and I had to stop to ask directions. I went into a small coffee shop where the waiter was happy to come outside to point the way down the street. Part of our route would take us under the San Paolo and as he pointed this out he crossed himself, raised his eyes to the sky and said his thanks to the great Diego.

I'm sure there was more but that will do. It was an enjoyable match which Napoli won 2-1 with a 94th minute goal. My last thought would be that I have to do this sort of research more often.

The magical FA Cup

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The magic of the cup, they say. Bah! I wish it would disappear and the Premier League would make a return this weekend.

The FA Cup is fun to watch, yes: the potential for a surprise, teams from the lower divisions getting to play against the Premier League teams. It must be a great experience for the players. But it takes away from points being won in the league and positions gained or lost.

And it's not on my television......

End of Christmas

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We took down our Christmas tree today. It's always a sad day in our Christmas loving family when that day arrives. It's all over for another year. On the other hand we counter the sadness with the happiness of having the space vacated by the tree back and the house returned to its normal self. We feel everything is in order, ready to start the new year.

Now you knew a football analogy was coming. In the days before the year round football season (not an official thing, but pretty much a done thing) I always had bittersweet feelings when the FA Cup Final was on or the European Cup final. Not that a 12 year old knew what bittersweet was but there was a feeling: happy but oh no at the same time. The Cup finals were an occasion, more than they seem to be now. There was excitement and anticipation just like there was for Christmas. A significant reason for that was probably the knowledge that this was the climax of the football season and there wouldn't be anything like it for a while. I think I even remember hoping the matches would go to extra time and wishing they would never be over. And when they did finish that was it for a few months. No football at all, very little mention of it until the summer was over. Unless it was a World Cup or European Championship year.

Even with a World Cup it seemed like there was a huge gap. It was just a brief interlude in a summer of no football. Nowadays with the Europa League and Champions League qualifying starting the day after the previous season has ended, and the Copa America or Confederations Cup on TV there always seems to be something on. However, the World Cup hangover still exists for me.

The World Cup is a special event. Players moan about having to play so many international matches, fans argue that they care more about the club teams they support and club owners worry about their products being damaged while playing for their national teams. But I still think it is the ultimate. A big part of that must be because my passion started with the 1982 World Cup. I love that all these teams are together playing each other in such unlikely match-ups: Brazil vs New Zealand, Germany vs Saudi Arabia, England vs Cameroon. And it is intense, so many matches in a short amount of time. And the surprises and unusual incidents, and the fans and the colour and the songs. There is a huge build up of excitement in the final week: all the madness has calmed down and now it's down to the serious business of the four best teams battling it out to be in the Final. And then the it's just two; and there are days of no football where there seems nothing else to do but wonder why the Sunday won't come sooner, and what's going to happen: will it be a classic, will there be lots of goals, will there be a new hero or will one of the expected heroes justify their stardom? And in a little corner of the brain there may be a look ahead to the Monday. And a little bit of dread sets in. But the excitement quickly silences that voice.

Within no time it is Monday. All the fun is over. Now what? When does the Tour de France start? Wimbledon? Which club will the new-found stars of the World Cup join? And, as a consolation, when does the new season start?

Christmas comes by again after ten and a half months, if like us you start in November. The World Cup has four years of anticipation. I don't want the house to be back in order. I want it to start all over again. Maybe a countdown 1000 days in advance would keep some excitement going.

Football on silent TV

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Watch football on TV with no sound. Try it. It's fun. This is how I watched Spurs-Chelsea today, not necessarily out of choice.

What it did was free me from the reliance on the technical expert to tell me that Chelsea needed to do something to get back in the match (score a goal?) or that Tottenham's defence were doing an excellent job of closing down and space for Chelsea. I watched, enjoyed and made up my own mind about how Dele Alli did an excellent job of creating two huge gaps in the Chelsea defence to score his two headed goals.

The no sound reminded took me back a number of years to watching football on Italian TV. It was quite common for there to be a journalists' strike in Italy, amongst many other strikes, and this meant that live matches would be shown without commentators. It felt odd. We grumbled about the non-stop chatter normally but when there was silence I missed somebody telling me what was going on, even though I could see it all myself.

I won't be watching in silence on purpose from now on. Listening to the commentators can be a big part of the fun. And I have been known to turn up the volume to listen to the supporters. And that reminds me of a suggestion I have: subtitles for the supporters' songs.

Ryan Fraser, happy footballer

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Ryan Fraser looks like a very happy man when he is playing football. Fraser has been a Bournemouth player since January 2013 when he joined from Aberdeen. He scored his first goal in the Premier League in Bournemouth's incredible come from behind 4-3 win against Liverpool last month. Not only did he score but he played a part in two other goals and was named man of the match, even though he only came on as a substitute.

Today he scored again and had another assist in the 3-3 draw with Arsenal. I may be a cynic about many footballers, their constant moaning and play acting, and the ridiculous amount of money some of them are paid and it is a happy contrast to see Fraser play. He seems to really enjoy what he does and I wish some of the older professionals would take note of the positive attitude of players like him. Football would be a happier game.

Ronald Opus

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I thought of the story of Ronald Opus this morning as I was watching Everton-Southampton. The tale of how Ronald Opus died is an urban legend made famous in the opening of the film Magnolia. Mr. Opus jumped off the roof of a ten story building, intending to commit suicide. As he passed a ninth floor window a man holding a shotgun and arguing with his wife let off a shot which passed through the glass, hit Mr. Opus and killed him before he hit the ground. Was it murder or suicide? There are a few more twists to the story and reasons for why it was told. Google will give you the long version.

What made me remember this was nowhere near as intense as the Ronald Opus story but is probably an entertaining insight into how my mind works when I watch football. Early in the match, Southampton were on the attack. A cross from the right wing reached Jay Rodriguez, completely unmarked right in front of the Everton goal. He scored but very obviously used his hands. An intentional handball which should have meant a yellow card, sometimes even a red. However, Rodriguez was also offside but he probably didn't know it as he punched the ball into the net. The referee had to make a quick decision. Should he still book Rodriguez for trying to gain an unsportsmanlike advantage, or could he decide that the play was dead the moment the assistant referee flagged for offside and therefore whatever happened after that didn't matter? But he should have also considered that the centre forward did not know he was offside when he "scored"?

The referee didn't book him, which is probably correct by the rules. I wouldn't have been surprised if he did yellow card him. Intent to commit a crime existed. Circumstances after the intent started were all that stopped the infringement from happening within the play.

(This is where I feel compelled to add a p.s. that I really don't take my football that seriously. Tongue in cheek is a good phrase right now. Below is another silly example of how I see things. I call it ironic art for my simple brain)

Online football watching

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New year, but just another day off the countdown. I believe a new strategy may be needed to keep this interesting and fun. Any suggestions, comments welcome.

In the meantime I will just bemoan the fact that I have multiple TV channels that advertise a feast of English Premier League football and I have had to spend most of the season watching the packed Christmas schedule of matches online. Tottenham made the laptop perched on the arm of my chair worthwhile today. Buzzing was the word that came into my head watching them today. And, no, I don't say that because they were playing Watford, the Hornets. When would I ever resort to such a cheap line of obvious word play? Not me.

Arsenal were on after Spurs and, well, I admit I couldn't do it for another 90 minutes.