longer stop games for homophobic
abuse from fans, a stance France’s
sports minister calls “wrong”.
PERU: Luis Abram scores the only
goal in Los Angeles as Peru end
Brazil’s 17-match unbeaten run.
WORLD CUP ROUND-UP:
Guinea-Bissau reach the second
round in Africa for the first time,
while Djibouti advance after
avoiding defeat in an away World
Cup qualifier for the first time.
Rwanda set a new record for a
World Cup qualifying aggregate
winning margin in Africa by beating
Seychelles 10-0 over two legs.Wednesday September 11
BELGIUM: Football agent Christophe
Henrotay is arrested as part of an
investigation into money laundering
and corruption in transfers, with
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 2015 move
from Anderlecht to Newcastle United
one of those being looked at.
BRAZIL: A Bruno Guimaraes goal
gives Athletico Paranaense a 1-0
win over Internacional in their home
leg of the Brazilian Cup Final.
SCOTLAND: Fort William end a
29-month run without a win in
the Highland League by beating
Clachnacuddin 1-0.
SPAIN: Valencia sack coach
Marcelino just three games into the
new Liga season and replace him
with Albert Celades.
USA: Minnesota United’s 2-0 loss
at Houston Dynamo means Los
Angeles are Western Conference
champions for the first time and^
will play in the 2020 CONCACAF
Champions League.Thursday September 12
BELGIUM: Former Anderlecht
executive Herman Van Holsbeeck
is the latest person to be arrested
in the ongoing investigation
surrounding player transfers.
KUWAIT: National coach Romeo
Jozak steps down following a 3-0
loss to Australia.Friday September 13
CAMEROON: Samuel Eto’o’s son,
Etienne Eto’o Pineda, is called up
to Cameroon’s initial squad for the
Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.Saturday September 14
ENGLAND: Manchester City lose in
the league for the first time since
January, doing down 3-2 away at
Norwich City.
FRANCE: Booed by his own fans
throughout his first game for Paris
Saint-Germain this season after
trying to engineer a summer
move back to Barcelona, NeymarCONCACAF Gold Cup Final,
Mexico beat the USA 3-0.Saturday September 7
ENGLAND: Watford sack Javi
Gracia and reappoint Quique
Sanchez Flores as manager.
EURO ROUND-UP: Jonathan Ikone
comes off the bench to score on his
debut as France beat Albania 4-1.
Reigning champions Portugal win
4-2 in Serbia, while hosts Turkey
need an 89th-minute goal from
Ozan Tufan to beat Andorra.Sunday September 8
EGYPT: Zamalek beat Pyramids
3-0 to retain the Egyptian Cup.
EURO ROUND-UP: Liechtenstein
achieve a 1-1 draw in Greece, while
Denmark are held to a goalless
draw away to Georgia. Bosnia’s 4-2
defeat in Armenia sees coach
Robert Prosinecki resign.
ITALY: Palermo set a Serie D
record as 17,000 fans watch them
beat San Tommaso 3-2 in their first
home game since bankruptcy.
SPAIN: Sergio Ramos equals Iker
Casillas’ national record with his
167th cap as Spain beat Faroe
Islands 4-0.
URUGUAY: Liverpool win their first
major silverware, beating city rivals
River Plate of Montevideo on
penalties after a 2-2 draw in the
Final of the Torneo Intermedio.
WORLD CUP ROUND-UP:
Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia
and Tanzania go through to the
second round of African qualifiers.Monday September 9
CURACAO: Having fallen ill the
night before, 31-year-old keeper
Jairzinho Pieter dies from unknown
causes in the team hotel prior to
Curacao’s CONCACAF Nations
League match in Haiti.
EURO ROUND-UP: Azerbaijan
claim their first point of the
qualifiers with a 1-1 draw at home
to World Cup finalists Croatia.
Holland beat Estonia to record
back-to-back wins for the first time
under coach Ronald Koeman.
NORTHERN IRELAND: Steven
Davis wins his 112th cap and equals
Aaron Hughes’ national record for
an outfield player as Northern
Ireland lose 2-0 to Germany.Tuesday September 10
CHINA: Brazil-born striker Elkeson
scores twice on his debut to give
China a 5-0 win over Maldives in
a World Cup qualifier.
FRANCE: The president of the
French Football Federation, Noel Le
Graet, tells referees they should nofor concessions in order to give up their 2030 bid.
The stresses between the north and the south
of the continent are apparent in the fight over next
year’s Copa America, an extra tournament held as
part of the transition from odd to even years.
Argentina wanted it as part of the 2030
campaign. Feeling snubbed, Colombia protested,
and as a result the Copa will be co-hosted between
two countries at opposite ends of South America. A
six-hour flight separates Buenos Aires from Bogota;
and Barranquilla, the likely venue of the Final, adds
on almost another two hours of flight time.
The format necessary in such circumstances
borders on insanity. There will be two groups of six
and the finalists, in a 12-team tournament, will play
a total of eight matches. In a 32-team World Cup
they only play seven.
The players, it would seem, are being sacrificed
on the altar of political in-fighting.WORLD SERVICE
Warm-up...James
Rodriguez of
Colombia (centre)
celebrates at the
2011 Under-20
World Cup in
his homeland
It is unclear how an Ecuador-
Colombia-Peru campaign
could be successful. But
maybe that is not the point...