Montenegro and Serbia’s historic meeting, unhappy memories for England and the Republic of Ireland, and Georgi Petkov’s international return – at 42Twelve years after Montenegro achieved independence and 11 years after they were formally recognised by Fifa, they meet Serbia for the first time. The match is, according to goalkeeper Danijel Petkovic, the biggest in the nation’s history. After two games the teams are level on points at the top of Group C4, adding competitive edge to an already spicy encounter. Serbia are far from full strength: Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic is one of several players to have dropped out of the squad since the World Cup after falling out with the manager, Mladen Krstajic, while the captain, Nemanja Matic,...
Football does not value the skill the forward showed against Iran but the World Cup should be an outlet for the unboundThere was a moment on Monday night in Kazan, as Ricardo Quaresma veered in off the right wing towards the Iran goal, shifting the angle of his body with a dinky little half-step, when you knew exactly what he was about to do.José Mourinho must have had an inkling, watching from his shark-tank penthouse high above the Moscow skyline. “Quaresma will have to learn, otherwise he won’t play,” Mourinho had told reporters 10 years ago when Quaresma was one of his players at Internazionale. “I am sure he’ll change and become more tactically disciplined. Right now he likes kicking...
Portugal captain’s hat-trick could jump-start the World Cup on its own but it was one of many subplots in the 3-3 draw with SpainAge shall not wither him nor custom stale his infinite variety. Ruthless Ronnie was at it again, his 51st career hat-trick topped off with a superlative last knockings free-kick hit with a new technique. Alongside that there was the pace he should have lost five years ago, an efficacy of action that bordered on the supreme and the spatial awareness of a quantity surveyor. The Portugal captain gave a display that was enough to jump-start the World Cup in and of itself. But the delight of this match was that his performance was only one of many...
A younger United States team with eyes firmly fixed on the future emerged from the ashes of a thwarted World Cup campaign on Tuesday night in PortugalWorld Cup cycles normally end with the World Cup finals and only then begin anew. But after a disastrous qualification campaign, the theme for the evening in Leiria, Portugal was that the new cycle for the United States started on Tuesday with a 1-1 draw against the European champions. “To get that kind of result against that kind of team is huge,” right back DeAndre Yedlin said in the immediate aftermath. “Obviously the feeling of not making the World Cup is not going to leave, but it’s something that makes it a little bit...
Twenty-three nations have booked their places for the World Cup in Russia, with the holders and Brazil looking in good shape but we rank England in 13th place, below IcelandIf the world champions were frustrated by their failure to win continental honours at Euro 2016 they have certainly taken it out on everyone else since. Germany won 10 qualifying games out of 10 and, even if San Marino’s presence in Group C needs taking into account, a record 43 goals scored suggests things are back in their old working order. So too did their Confederations Cup title in July, achieved with an experimental squad; Joachim Löw can select from an unrivalled depth of talent and, while winning back-to-back World Cups...