Heart warming
...Dmytro KedaGutted...
Huracan
goalkeeper
Marcos DiazREPORTS WE COULDN’T MAKE UP
1
VAR DRAMA: FROM
2-1 UP TO 2-1 DOWN
If you think your team has
been the victim of a cruel VAR
decision, then just listen to this
report from a recent clash in
Argentina’s Copa de la Liga
Profesional. With less than three
minutes left on the clock, Huracan
thought they had sealed a dramatic
victory against local rivals Barracas
Central through a Matias Coccaro
header. The jubilant celebrations
were soon stopped, though – not
by an offside, but by a handball by
their own goalkeeper. In springing
the counter-attack that resulted in
the goal, Marcos Diaz was shown
by VAR to have handled the ball
outside of his penalty area – not
only ruling out the winner, but giving
Barracas a chance to score one of
their own with a free-kick on the
edge of the penalty area. Inevitably,
Ivan Tapia stepped up to sweep
the ball home – via a wicked
deflection – though not before
several minutes of arguing. The
drama didn’t end there, with
Barracas full-back Facundo Mater
shown a second yellow card in
the ninth minute of stoppage time,
yet his team held on for a famous
win and the local bragging rights.2
CANINE CAMEO
This won’t be the first time
that this column reports on
a dog interrupting a football match,
and it is unlikely to be the last. The
match in question was the first leg
of Brazil’s Pernambucano State
Championship final between Nautico
and Retro, and the dog – a German
shepherd called Boris – was with
the police. As his handler came
onto the pitch to collect him,
Boris picked up the ball in his
mouth and continued to run
rings around the players, before
finally being put on a lead.3
ELITE CHICANERY
Meanwhile, a match in
Spain was interrupted not
by a dog but by one of the coaches.
Villanueva del Pardillo were drawing
1-1 with Colmenar Viejo when one
of the visitors’ coaches ran onto
the pitch to intercept the ball as
Villanueva launched a promising,
late counter-attack. The coach was
instantly sent off, but the ploy worked
as his side held on for the draw.4
GOING UP, GOING DOWN
Going up and down is
a familiar tale for Norwich
City, as they return yet again to the
Championship after one year in
the Premier League. Yet for their
sporting director, Stuart Webber,
going up and down is an idea that he
is keen to take quite literally, having
set out to climb Mount Everest. After
revealing this ambition toThe Times,
the 38-year-old came under fierce
criticism from fans at Carrow Road
for a perceived lack of commitment
due to its timing. “If we lose I’m
upset, but my life isn’t to appease
Norwich fans,” he said in the interview,
before explaining that he climbed
Kilimanjaro inJanuary and will take
on Chimborazo in Ecuador and Mont
Blanc before tackling Everest next.5
GLOBAL TOUR FOR PEACE
With the Ukrainian league
suspended, Shakhtar Donetsk
have embarked on a series of charity
games around Europe in a “Global
Tour for Peace”. Their visit to Polish
top-flight side Lechia Gdansk was
particularly heart warming, with
12-year-old Dmytro Keda – a
refugee from the heavily bombed
city of Mariupol – brought on to
the pitch for the final moments,
with the scores level at 2-2. After
a kick-around with the Shakhtar
players, Keda was allowed to score
the winner, before celebrating on
the shoulders of the visiting players.GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE
but signing a player in their late 20s
is always a gamble: they command
high wages and are unlikely to have
much resale value. And sometimes
older players or rejects can be
bargains too – as it seemed, earlier
in the season, that Andros Townsend
and Demarai Gray might be. But
picking up expensive cast-offs from
elsewhere makes no economic
sense as a long-term strategy.
It hasn’t worked either, though,
when Everton have gone for players
on the way up. Moise Kean never
looked the player he had occasionally
threatened to be atJuventus. Yannick
Bolasie suffered serious injury.
Yerry Mina has been out most of
this season. Richarlison has been
occasionally devastating but never
consistent enough to justify the
£50m Everton spent on him, nor
the £85m offer from Barcelona
that they reportedly rejected in
- That suggests issues of
fortune and scouting.
And then there has been the
total incoherence of some decisions.
Why move on Lucas Digne and sign
Anwar El Ghazi to comply with Rafa
Benitez’s wishes, only to then sack
him almost immediately? It smacked
of a complete lack of joined-up
thinking, of decisions made on
the hoof with no thought for
the consequences.
But look at the managers Everton
have had under Moshiri: Ronald
Koeman, Sam Allardyce, Marco
Silva, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez,
Frank Lampard...it’s an astonishing
mix of styles, from modern Dutch
to traditional English to ambitious
Portuguese to famous former player.
No wonder the squad is a mess
when, if it has been constructed
according to any plan, it has been
to meet the demands of half a
dozen very disparate managers.
Perhaps Lampard will keep
them up, but if Everton do go down,
it will be because of problems that
long pre-date him. Having money is
one thing, spending it to a well-
devised and consistent plan
something entirely different.