“Hungary”
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Callum Styles
in action against
Northern IrelandDisastrous
celebration...
Kiril DespodovREPORTS WE COULDN’T MAKE UP
1
ARASHRED
International friendlies might
have a reputation for being
boring, but we’d defy anyone not
to be entertained during the 69th
minute of Croatia versus Bulgaria
in March. Bulgarian winger Kiril
Despodov was the star of the show,
expertly racing on to a through
ball before calmly slotting past the
Croatian keeper to put his team
in front. He duly celebrated like
Cristiano Ronaldo, tearing off his
shirt and bellowing the Portuguese’s
trademark “siu” shout. Yet his joy
was short-lived; seconds later the
referee showed him a second yellow
card for removing his top, and sent
him off. Croatia then bounced back
to win the game 2-1 in Qatar.2
BANGKOK KNOCKOUT
Scuffles during games are
hardly new, but Bangkok
FC’s clash with North Bangkok
University descended into a Muay
Thai boxing match when Aitsaret
Noichaiboon reacted angrily to a
trip by an opponent. The player
threw an elbow strike at Supasan
Ruangsuphanimit, leaving him
needing 24 stitches. Noichaiboon
was instantly sent off, and had his
contract cancelled after the game.3
“THAT’S NOT FUNNY”
You might not expect to
hear the words “Braveheart”
mentioned so often during a post-
match Bundesliga press conference,
but that’s exactly what happened
after Hertha Berlin’s 3-0 win over
Hoffenheim. “That’s not funny what
you’re saying aboutBraveheart,” s aid
Scottish coach Mark Fotheringham- in fluent German – when asked
whether he had shown his team
the Mel Gibson film. “I’m a serious,
young coach. I’ve learned a lot.
I don’t know what you mean by
that – aboutBraveheartand
so on. What’sthat all about?”
Fotheringham was standing in for
new Hertha boss Felix Magath,
who had contracted COVID-19.4
SNAKES ON A PITCH
There were bizarre scenes
in Guatemala recently, as a
snake interrupted a match between
Nueva Concepcion and Municipal.
According to reports, the reptile was
as long as1.5 metres, scattering
frightened players in all directions.
After police finally forced it down
with riot shields, the snake was
eventually carried off the pitch
and the match continued.5
EXPLOSIVE DERBY
For the players of Rosario
Central and Newell’s Old Boys,
a snake on the pitch would have
been a welcome sight after the delay
to their fixture. The pre-match build-
up ahead of the Rosario derby – one
of Argentina’s fiercest rivalries – got a
little out of hand when a fan threw a
hand grenade onto the pitch. “Kick-
off is being delayed as the referee is
briefed by the Head of Security,” read
a tweet from Newell’s. “A number of
grenades that were thrown onto the
pitch have made holes in the pitch.”6
NEXT BEN BRERETON?
Ben Brereton Diaz made
headlines all over the world
as a lad from Stoke who became
a star in the Chilean national team.
Now, a similar story could be
unfolding in the shape of Bury-
born Callum Styles, who made his
international debut for Hungary in
March. “I only found out that my
grandmother was Hungarian about
two years ago,” he said after his first
call-up. The 22-year-old midfielder
came on for the last 20 minutes
of the1-0 defeat to Serbia, before
starting against Northern Ireland
a few days later. Hungary’s next
game? England at Wembley.GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE
Guardiola was a DNA appointment
at Barcelona. His experience on taking
that job amounted to one season in
charge of the reserves. He was an
illogical choice in any number of ways.
And yet it brought three successive La
Liga titles and two Champions Leagues
and changed the parameters of what
was considered possible in football.
Every club then wanted their own
Guardiola, leading to a string of
dreadful appointments that,
paradoxically, made it easier
for Guardiola to dominate.
In part that’s because Guardiola
is an exceptional coach. But it’s also
because not every club is Barcelona.
Perhaps only at Ajax, which of course
shares much of the Barca philosophy,
is a style of play so deeply embedded
at the club both practically and
symbolically.
Xavi was always a devotee of the
philosophy, so much so that at times
it was as though he saw football as a
battle for what was right, which is to
say the Barcelona way of playing. The
doubt was that he was just spouting the
doctrine, without necessarily having the
wherewithal to reimagine it for this
squad in this age. But that fear is
beginning to recede.
His Barcelona is recognisably
Barcelona, but this is not just a
reheated version of the football of
15 years ago. In his days as a player,
Clasicoswere won in midfield, with
control born in part of pressing but
mainly of possession – which is why
Jose Mourinho tried to combat
Barcelona’s strength in that area by
fielding three holding players, the
notorious “Trivote”. This Barca is much
more direct, frequently playing long
diagonals over the press out to the
wingers, Ferran Torres and Ousmane
Dembele, who tended to stay wide,
which in turn meant more conservative
full-backs. Pressing has changed over
the past decade and a half, and so
must ways of combating it.
TheClasicowas one game. It was just
a step, albeit a major one, in the right
direction. But already Xavi is looking
like the coach who might oversee
this latest Barcelona resurrection.