Innholdsfortegnelse for Special Edition - May/June 2020 i Soccer 360 Magazine

“WE FEEL HARD DONE BY, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE WE, AS A CLUB, HAD BIG ASPIRATIONS AND WE WANTED TO BE IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.” FINAL STANDINGS Uefa Champions League: 1st - 3rd Europa League: 4th Relegation: 19th, 20th Paris Saint-Germain were declared champions after the government pushed the French soccer leagues into cancelling their seasons, but deciding who would win the league title was the least of the worries of French soccer clubs. The Prime Minister of France, Edouard Philippe, announced that 2019/20 sporting seasons would not be able to continue until September, prompting the LFP (French football league) to end the current campaign. The leagues were looking to restart in June, targeting a July finish, but this was rendered impossible following Philippe’s announcement, and even games behind closed doors were…

HIS RECORD-BREAKING COLLECTION OF SILVERWARE INCLUDES WINNING 13 LEAGUE TITLES, FIVE FA CUPS AND TWO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TROPHIES, OVERSEEING AN OFTENFLAWLESS TRANSITION BETWEEN TITLE-WINNING SIDES AND TAKING CHARGE OF SOME OF THE FINEST PLAYERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE. The most successful manager in the history of English football, Sir Alex Ferguson brought unprecedented success to Manchester United during a 26-year career at Old Trafford. The football faithful Harry Diamond Breaks it down His record-breaking collection of silverware includes winning 13 league titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League trophies, overseeing an often-flawless transition between title-winning sides and taking charge of some of the finest players in the history of the Premier League. We’ve decided to look back at the players who made the most appearances under…

IT CERTAINLY IS TAKING LONGER THAN EXPECTED FOR SARRI TO GET THIS JUVENTUS SIDE TO PLAY HOW HE WANTS THEM TO. The Maurizio Sarri era was always meant to have a transition period. For a club that has been into playing a more pragmatic brand of football over the previous decade, changing into another extreme was always going to take time. As things stand, it certainly is taking longer than expected for Sarri to get this Juventus side to play how he wants them to. Even though there was always a general acceptance from fans about the need to give the Neapolitan some breathing room, things have been frustrating. The recent defeat to Lyon was a key indication that instead of moving forward, Sarri’s men often look like Massimiliano Allegri’s…

“FANS AND PUNDITS BEGAN TO TRULY NOTICE WHAT PARTEY BROUGHT TO THIS ATLETICO MADRID TEAM WHEN THEY TOPPLED CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNERS LIVERPOOL.” Little more than a footnote in Atletico Madrid's 2016 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid was the fleeting appearance of Thomas Partey, deep into extra-time. Four minutes out of 120 might not seem like much, but still shows a great deal of faith from Diego Simeone in a young midfielder who only made his debut for the club six months earlier. Four years later he is paying back that trust with impressive performances in league and European games this season, accelerating his ascent from squad player to one of Europe's most sought-after box-tobox midfielders. This summer, Partey will become a household name. His rise has been rapid.…

1. HE WASN’T AN IMMEDIATE HIT AFTER JOINING ATLETI He may now be one of the very best goalkeepers in the world and a four-time winner of the Zamora Trophy for LaLiga’s top goalkeeper, but Jan wasn’t a starter from the very beginning at Atlético de Madrid. He started out as a backup to the more experienced Miguel Angel Moya after his €16 million 2014 transfer – a LaLiga record for a goalkeeper at the time – from Benfica. Initially he only played cup matches but cemented his first-team slot after coming on as a substitute for the injured Moya in a Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen in March 2015. He’s never looked back. 2. AS A YOUTH PLAYER HE CYCLED A MARATHON A DAY TO GET TO TRAINING…

FORMER ESPANYOL MAN MORENO LOOKS THE MOST LIKELY TO BREAK ASPAS’ STREAK AND POTENTIALLY CHALLENGE MESSI IN THE 11 GAMES STILL TO PLAY. TABLE SO FAR… Uefa Champions League: 1st - 4th Europa League: 5th, 6th, 7th Relegation: 18th, 19th, 20th THE GOOD La Liga’s top scorer list has been dominated by the Lionel Messi–Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly in the past decade. The sheer goalscoring brilliance of the pair has raised the bar season on season in Spain, with 30 or more league goals scored by one or both of them every season since 2010. This has placed greater attention on the Zarra Trophy, as a rival to the Pichichi Trophy, named after legendary Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra. Where the Pichichi is awarded to the league’s top scorer, the Zarra…

GOALKEEPER: STEFAN FREI While he has started all three MLS Cups in which Toronto FC have featured, all three appearances have been for the opposition Seattle Sounders. Nonetheless, Frei remains a hero in Toronto for his brilliance in the early years of the club. Largely responsible for the first trophy in TFC history – the 2009 Canadian Championship – it’ll always be a mystery as to how much more Toronto would have won had the Swiss-American never left the club. Frei made 96 appearances for the Reds, with a club-record 27 clean sheets. RIGHT-BACK: STEVEN BEITASHOUR The Iran international was the best rightback in the league during his time in Toronto, helping the club reach the MLS Cup final twice in his only two seasons with the club. His ability…

2020 was supposed to be another breakout year for the National Women’s Soccer League. After a year of growth both on and off of the pitch the NWSL was looking to capitalize on their incredible 2019 run with an even better 2020. While the league is still working out the details on exactly how it will return to play make no mistake about it: it is still doing everything it can to make this a breakout campaign. The NWSL, much like the rest of the sporting world, are currently in the ‘wait and see’ phase as to when can be started. But they are perhaps in the most unique position from the rest of the footballing world in that their 2020 campaign has yet to even begin. While players were…

LIVERPOOL 4-3 NEWCASTLE [PREMIER LEAGUE, 1996] NEWCASTLE AND LIVERPOOL WOULD FINISH THE SEASON STILL IN SECOND AND THIRD RESPECTIVELY, AND DO IT ALL AGAIN 11 MONTHS LATER. Some things are indelibly etched in the minds of football fans of a certain generation. Anyone old enough to remember the 1970 World Cup will remember Gordon Banks’ save from Pele, and 16 years later it was Diego Maradona eliminating England with two very different but equally memorable, goals. A decade later and the rise of the Premier League meant domestic football stood alongside the international game, and April 3 1996 was the date of a fixture that resonates as deeply with those of a certain age as any World Cup moment. Newcastle’s trip to Anfield that night was the third contest between…

“For CR7, it must be boring to hear that I am the real Ronaldo. People cannot be compared. Cristiano will remain in football history for the goals and for the continuity he has achieved. He will remain one of the best, like Messi.”– Ronaldo’s response on being called the ‘Real Ronaldo’ when asked by Fabio Cannavaro on an Instagram Live. “We had a week off in January, we returned to work and I swear that 23 out of 25 players were ill. I am not kidding. We played against Radja Nainggolan’s Cagliari and after about 25 minutes, one of our defenders [Skriniar] had to leave the pitch. He could not continue and almost fainted. Everyone was coughing and had a fever…We never did the Covid-19 tests at that moment, so…

THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE The Champions League as we now know it came into being in the 1992-1993 season, replacing the old European Cup, which was a two-legged straight knockout competition that had run from 1955. However, the last edition of European Cup did feature a group stage which saw the two group winners, Sampdoria and Barcelona, face off in the decider. The Catalans won 1-0 in extra-time thanks to a Ronald Koeman free-kick. Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi led the way in the formation of the Champions League. The businessman and future Italian Prime Minister was one of many who had hoped to launch a European Super League, which would expand the revenue streams for his two main investments – the TV channel Canale 5 and his beloved Rossoneri. When Serie…

“FROM CALLING SUPPORTERS TO CHECK IN ON THEIR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING, TO DELIVERING GROCERIES TO FANS WHO ARE UNABLE TO GET A HOME DELIVERY FROM THE STORE OR GO OUT THEMSELVES, ACTS OF KINDNESS HAVE BEEN PROLIFIC AND MUCH-WELCOMED.” TABLE SO FAR… Uefa Champions League: 1st - 4th Europa League: 5th Relegation: 18th, 19th, 20th THE GOOD Rays of light amid the coronavirus pandemic have been hard to find. There’s something to be said for the way communities have come together, but the circumstances are heart-breaking and the aberrations stand out in the most grotesque manner. The Premier League and its clubs have not always covered themselves in glory, and the argument about restarting the competition has been unsavoury. But that’s mostly confined to the boardrooms. The actual players…

Massimo Cellino has once again been in the news, this time for his insistence that, due to COVID-19, the Serie A season should be ended. With Brescia sitting in last place in Serie A, nine points off safety, many concluded Cellino was simply trying to prevent his club from being relegated. The outspoken owner responded to the criticism, saying he would happily go back to Serie B to protect all those involved. Cellino himself would later contract the virus. This is only the latest drama in the colourful football club owner’s career over the last 22 years. CAGLIARI Cellino bought his first club in 1998 — Cagliari Calcio. At the age of 36, he immediately became the youngest owner in Serie A. During his time at Cagliari, there were plenty…

“FROM BREMEN IN THE NORTH TO FREIBURG IM BREISGAU IN THE SOUTH, THE COUNTRY IS AWASH WITH VIBRANT SOCCER, PASSIONATE SUPPORT, AND FAMOUS, STORIED CLUBS.” From Bremen in the north to Freiburg im Breisgau in the south, the country is awash with vibrant soccer, passionate support, and famous, storied clubs. The North Rhine-Westphalia region is packed full of some of the country’s best sides and biggest rivalries, including perhaps the biggest of them all, Dortmund versus Schalke, while to the east in the capital, Union Berlin’s promotion from the 2. Bundesliga last season has given Germany its first top-flight Berlin derby. Then the big hitters. In the southern state of Bavaria lie the giants of German soccer, Bayern Munich. The Rekordmeister, or record champions. The defending champions. The team everyone…

DWAYNE DE ROSARIO Things didn’t exactly end the way De Rosario wanted them to during his first stint with the club, but thankfully he got the opportunity to come back in 2014 to make things right before calling it an MLS career. De Rosario helped TFC secure their first trophy ever, and had it not been for so much competition for a place in the starting line-up, the Canadian icon would have been a lock. JONATHAN OSORIO The hardest player to leave out of the starting line-up. The Canada international has made more appearances for his hometown club than any other player in team history and was a big part in Toronto FC’s resurgence. One of the few holdovers from the real dark days, Osorio has become a symbol of…

THE EAST, SO FAR… THE WEST, SO FAR… THE GOOD MLS Unites is a league-wide effort set up by both Major League Soccer and the Major League Soccer Player Association to help identify the good work the players, coaches, clubs and fans have been doing during the COVID-19 outbreak. The venture was initiated to celebrate and give a platform to the positive stories of the league and bring light to the amazing work carried out by people on the front line to help those in need and the general public. It’s something MLS and all of its member clubs have been keen to showcase. “Bringing together our Major League Soccer community, all while staying apart, is the spirit of ‘MLS Unites,’” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “During this challenging moment…

Analyzing a football team's style of play is not as simple as looking at a few statistics together. For example, if, instead of comparing each team to the rest of the league's sides, we were to carry out an analysis that compares each team with itself, the end result would be what we call a team's identifiability. And Mediacoach, the advanced analysis tool that LaLiga provides to its 42 clubs, has developed a set of indicators that can more accurately section and analyze the teams' brains. How a team thinks in a group way. This is how it is calculated and used: • STEP 1: divide the pitch into several sections: 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on and so forth. Each of the pitch sections represents a matrix. •…

DESPITE LOSING AT ANFIELD, BLACKBURN ROVERS WERE CROWNED CHAMPIONS IN 1995 The prospect of two or more teams competing to the final stages of the campaign makes for enthralling viewing for football fans, as the anticipation and pressure builds in what is now commonly referred to as squeaky-bum-time. We’ve decided to look back at some of the greatest conclusions to a Premier League season, the occasions the destination of the league title has been undecided heading into the final day of the campaign. Here are the eight times the Premier League title went down to the wire: 1994/95 The early seasons of the Premier League era saw Blackburn Rovers emerge as a real force in English football, the Lancashire side backed by the millions of Jack Walker and propelled by…

LAZIO, AND ANTONIO CONTE’S INTER, ARE THE BIGGEST THREAT TO JUVENTUS SINCE MAURIZIO SARRI’S NAPOLI IN THE 2017/18 SEASON. In 2005-2006 footballing giants Juventus were the disgrace of football. The Old Lady, amid the Calciopoli scandal, were forcefully relegated to the second tier of Italian football, leading to a mass exodus of high-profile players. The man that was appointed to kick start their revival back then, is now one of the two biggest threats to their reclaimed nineyear dominance. Lazio, and Antonio Conte’s Inter, are the biggest threat to Juventus since Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli in the 2017/18 season. Back then, Sarri was gaining glowing reviews for Sarriball in Naples, pushing Juventus within inches of the title. Fast forward two years and he is at the helm of Juventus – making…

IN A BOOST FOR HIS FAMILY AND CLUB, PAULO DYBALA REVEALED HE HAD FULLY RECOVERED FROM COVID-19 IN THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY, SEVEN WEEKS AFTER FIRST TESTING POSITIVE FOR THE VIRUS. TABLE SO FAR… Uefa Champions League: 1st - 4th Europa League: 5th, 6th Relegation: 18th, 19th, 20th THE GOOD In a boost for his family and club, Paulo Dybala revealed he had fully recovered from COVID-19 in the first week of May, seven weeks after first testing positive for the virus. The Argentine and his partner, Oriana Sabatini, initially refuted the claims he had contracted coronavirus, but the Juventus ace confirmed the situation March 27 to the Bianconeri’s official YouTube channel. The 26-year-old is in supreme physical condition and detailed his struggles, admitting he suffered with breathing and…

It has been an interesting time for players across the world but in particular for players in the National Women’s Soccer League. After beginning preseason training and the season just weeks away from kicking, play was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With individual training now starting up again across the league players, coaches, and teams are having to kickstart their season again under new circumstances. Our own Sean Maslin spoke with Allyson Chapman of the Houston Dash and the Canadian Women’s National Team about resuming her training with the Dash and her experience in getting ready for the season while at home. Allyson has played professionally for the last nine seasons, joining the Dash in 2018. In addition, she has been capped by CANWNT 68 times, including at the…

THE FORMER NETHERLANDS INTERNATIONAL BECAME FIRST TEAM COACH IN SUMMER 2015 AT FEYENOORD, THE ROTTERDAM CLUB WHERE HE STARTED AND FINISHED HIS PLAYING CAREER. There’s many former LaLiga stars currently using the experience and skills picked during their time in Spanish football in managerial and coaching careers all around the world. The list is almost unrivalled: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Diego Simeone (Atletico de Madrid), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Rafa Benítez (Dalian Pro), Xavi Hernández (Al Sadd), Míchel (Pumas UNAM), ‘Guti’ (UD Almeria), Raúl González (Real Madrid Castilla), Van Nistelrooy (PSV U19), Unai Emery, Mauricio Pochettino, Quique Sánchez Flores, Laurent Blanc, Ernesto Valverde, Mark van Bommel, Aitor Karanka, Clarence Seedorf… but here are five more with very special stories. 1. GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST – FC BARCELONA TO…

There is no better feeling in sport than the joy of winning and throughout Premier League history we’ve seen some dominant teams in England’s top tier, but which players have secured three points on the most occasions? We’ve decided to look at the most successful individual players in terms of victories, though only players to have played over 100 fixtures in the Premier League have been included. Here are the five players with the highest win percentage in Premier League history: MICHAEL BALLACK – 70.5% The Chelsea of the mid-noughties were a formidable outfit as they established themselves as a dominant force in the English game, the billions of Roman Abramovich having attracted a number of Europe’s finest footballers to Stamford Bridge. The Premier League may not have seen the…

MORE SUBS? WORLD - FIFA has proposed a temporary change to the laws for the end of the season which would allow clubs to make five substitutions in a game. Given the amount of games remaining and the short amount of time to finish the season, there will be a compact schedule. Teams will have to play twice a week for several weeks to ensure all games are completed. A high number of matches in a short time frame means there is an increased risk of injury for the players and so FIFA have proposed this new law. In order for this to go into effect it needs to be approved by the International Football Association Board. If approved, it will then be up to the individual leagues to decide…