World Soccer – August 2019

1

PIQUE’S ANDORRA BUY

THEMSELVES PROMOTION

Andorra FC, the club owned by

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, took

the place of bankrupt club Reus in Spain’s

third tier after making a payment of

€452,022 to the Spanish FA.

Andorra played and won promotion

from the regional fifth tier last season but

will now skip a division by jumping to the

third-level Segunda B, where they will

compete alongside Barcelona B.

As federation rules do not allow for

such a move, Pique’s relationship with

RFEF president Luis Rubiales is believed

to have helped the deal to take place.

2

NEYMAR HOSTS FIVE-

A-SIDE JAMBOREE

Neymar may have missed most

of Brazil’s successful Copa America

campaign but he “returned” to action to

entertain fans at the Neymar Jr Five World

Finals, the largest five-a-side football

tournament in the world, organised

by energy drink giant Red Bull.

Over 100,000 players from 40

countries took part in the competition,

which finished at the Instituto Projeto

Neymar Jr, in the Praia Grande

neighbourhood where Neymar grew up.

All the proceeds from the tournament

• which was won by Hungary (men)
  and Slovakia (women) – are spent on
  social causes.

3

HIJAB FREESTYLER

Qhouirunnisa’ Endang Wahyudi, a

Malaysian hijab-wearing teenager,

is the latest freestyler to attract attention

on social media.

The 19-year-old, who studies Arabic

Language at Al Madinah International

University, first started freestyling at

the age of 16.

She is now getting views on YouTube

and her Instagram account has over

72,000 followers.

Football is one of the most popular

sports in Malaysia, but is dominated by

men, despite the national team being

ranked 171st by FIFA.

Qhouirunnisa’ trains four days a week

for up to three hours every session.

“Being a woman is not an obstacle,”

she says, “and the headscarf is not

an obstacle.”

4

SO IT SEEMS THAT YOU

CAN BUY EXPERIENCE...

Former Celtic attacking midfielder

Shunsuke Nakamura, who played for

Japan at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups,

joined Yokohama FC from Jubilo Iwata

at the age of 41 – but he is nowhere

near the oldest player in the Japanese

second-tier side.

Playing alongside Nakamura is 52-

year-old Kazuyoshi Miura, who signed

a new contract with the club in January.

REPORTS WE COULDN’T MAKE UP

Cisse, as both he and Algeria’s Djamel

Belmadi played for the countries that

they now lead but grew up in a suburb

of Paris. Both are the products of

European youth development and

then of European clubs.

After Nigeria’s semi-final exit there

were some grumblings among the

Nigerian media about their German

coach Gernot Rohr not playing “Nigerian

football” but such complaints feel

increasingly old-fashioned now.

The vast majority of players in the

latter stages of the tournament have had

similar experiences to Cisse and Belmadi,

having been developed by and spent

most of their careers at European clubs.

Belmadi, Cisse and Rohr all played

notably modern football. They all, to

an extent, pressed. They all sought

to interchange positions and they all

marked zonally.

The impact Belmadi has had in less

than a year has been remarkable. His

team is exceptionally well-drilled and

extremely well-balanced. They were

capable of adjusting to close off the

space available to Nigeria’s wingers in

the quarter-finals but also – thanks to

the base provided by Adlene Guedioura

and the work centre-forward Baghdad

Bounedjah did in driving the opposing

centre-backs – they had great flexibility

in attacking midfield areas.

And that’s why it’s so frustrating that

when the prize came within reach they

sought to spoil. It’s only one aspect of

their cynicism but, in the Final, Algeria

committed 32 fouls, 15 of them by

Guedioura alone. Referees, perhaps,

need to be encouraged to take a stricter

line on persistent, tactical fouling.

But at the same time, Algeria were

deserved winners and, after a series of

African champions who seemed like

one-offs, it felt like they were ushering

in a new age in which pressing and

tactical flexibility become the norm.

Friends in high

places...FC Andorra

Veteran...

Shunsuke

Nakamura

Freestyle...

Qhouirunnisa’

Endang Wahyudi

This was the first

Final since 1998 to

feature two “local”

coaches

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