player to win 100 caps. Eden
Hazard celebrates reaching the
same mark for Belgium with a goal
in a 2-0 win away to Cyprus. Eran
Zahavi gets a hat-trick in Israel’s
4-2 victory over Austria.
NEW ZEALAND: Team Wellington
end Auckland City’s unbeaten run
of 30 games in the Premiership
with a 3-1 win in the play-off
semi-finals.
Monday March 25
EURO QUALIFIERS: England score
five goals in consecutive games for
the first time since 1984, winning
5-1 in Montenegro, while Kosovo
take a point on their Euro qualifying
debut with a 1-1 draw against
Bulgaria. Olivier Giroud becomes
France’s third-top scorer of all time,
getting his 35th international goal
in a 4-0 victory over Iceland.
URUGUAY: Diego Godin becomes
his country’s most capped player,
making his 126th appearance as
Uruguay beat Thailand 4-0 in the
Final to retain the China Cup.
Tuesday March 26
CLUB WORLD CUP: European
Clubs Association chairman Andrea
Agnelli says its members will
boycott the revamped Club World
Cup, but does not rule out a
change of heart in the future
if their needs are accommodated.
ENGLAND: European champions
Germany end England Under-21s’
18-game unbeaten run with a 2-1
friendly win.
EURO QUALIFIERS: At 36 years
and 54 days, Fabio Quagliarella is
Italy’s oldest scorer as they record
their biggest win for almost 57
years, beating Liechtenstein 6-0.
Trailing 3-0 to Switzerland after 84
minutes, Denmark come back to
draw 3-3.
NIGERIA: Making his first start,
Paul Onuachu scores inside 10
seconds to record Nigeria’s fastest
ever goal as they beat Egypt 1-0.
Wednesday March 27
ENGLAND: Gordon Taylor confirms
that he will leave his role as chief
executive of the Professional
Footballers’ Association, after
38 years, at the next AGM.
GERMANY: Bayern Munich agree
to sign Lucas Hernandez from
Atletico Madrid for a Bundesliga
record fee of €80m on July 1.
Thursday March 28
ARGENTINA: Gonzalo Higuain
announces his retirement from
international football.
CONCACAF: Victor Montaglianiequal their biggest ever victory
with a 5-0 win against San Marino.
ITALY: After a six-week exile,
Mauro Icardi resumes training with
Internazionale, along with team-
mates that were not called up for
international duty.
WALES: Bournemouth’s David
Brooks is named both player of the
year and young player of the year at
the FA of Wales Awards.
Friday March 22
AFRICAN NATIONS CUP: Angola
clinch a place in the finals with a
1-0 win away to Botswana.
ARGENTINA: After a six-game
absence, Lionel Messi makes a
losing return to the international
scene as Argentina are beaten 3-1
by Venezuela in Madrid.
EURO QUALIFIERS: Starting the
defence of their European crown,
Portugal fail to score at home for
the first time in 19 games as they
draw 0-0 with Ukraine.
Saturday March 23
ALBANIA: Christian Panucci is
sacked following the previous
night’s 2-0 loss to Turkey.
AFRICAN NATIONS CUP:
Defending champions Cameroon
qualify for the finals by beating
Comoros 3-0. Guinea-Bissau and
Namibia also secure a place in
Egypt, as do Burundi, who will make
their finals debut.
EURO QUALIFIERS: Malta end a
30-game, 12-year wait for a Euro
qualifying win by beating Faroe
Islands 2-1. Edin Dzeko becomes
the first Bosnian to win 100 caps
in a 2-1 win against Armenia.
OMAN: Victory over Singapore on
penalties in the Final sees Oman
claim the inaugural Airmarine Cup.
Sunday March 24
AFRICAN NATIONS CUP: A fan
dies in a stampede before
Zimbabwe’s 2-0 victory over Congo,
which seals their place at Egypt- DR Congo, Benin, South
Africa and Tanzania also qualify.
CONCACAF GOLD CUP: Bermuda
beat Dominican Republic 3-1 to
reach the finals for the first time,
joining fellow debutants Guyana,
who beat Belize 2-1. Haiti, Canada,
Martinique, Curacao, Cuba, Jamaica,
El Salvador and Nicaragua also
secure qualification for the
tournament over the weekend.
EURO QUALIFIERS: Nico Schulz
scores a 90th-minute winner as
Germany beat Holland 3-2, while
World Cup finalists Croatia lose
2-1 in Hungary, for whom Balazs
Dzsudzsak becomes only the third
the efforts of Silas’ team, rendering
the Jamor stadium a cavernous
hollow of empty seats, in stark
contrast to the impressive following
that remained loyal to the new
Belenenses. On January 7, when
Estrela da Amadora hosted
Belenenses, the kick-off had to be
delayed to allow the huge crowd
into the stadium and the encounter
attracted more spectators than five of the nine
fixtures in Portugal’s top division that weekend.
“We are in a district division, but we are not
a district team,” says Carvalho.
But despite losing an appeal to reverse the
court ruling, Belenenses SAD president Rui Pedro
Soares is convinced he will still win the day, insisting:
“This team is Belenenses, Restelo is the home of
Belenenses, so it’s inevitable we will return.”
With both parties firmly entrenched in their
positions, insults and accusations continue to be
traded. In January, Soares accused Carvalho of
“inciting hatred” after Belenenses barred any team
affiliated with Belenenses SAD from using its
facilities, bringing an under-16 game into doubt.
“We’re talking about a training game for kids,”
said Soares. “This is going beyond all limits.”
It’s not exactly turning into a centenary year
to remember.WORLD SERVICEStarting over...
Belenenses under-
19 side train at
Restelo stadium