The midfielder’s retirement U-turn when a World Cup 2018 qualifier against England looms increases the pressure on his national managerThe intensely tribal nature of Scotland’s football scene means neutral analysis of Scott Brown is about as forthcoming as peace marches before an Old Firm fixture. The combination of Celtic captain and a confrontational playing style that is viewed as being favourably looked upon by referees means Brown is adored by one club’s supporters whereas rivals view the midfielder as an individual they love to hate. This is not a novel concept, as Barry Ferguson, Graeme Souness and Neil Lennon will confirm.On Friday Brown is expected to step back into the Scotland team after a brief absence that only intensified debate...
Even without the background of Donald Trump as president-elect, Friday night’s World Cup qualifier will be played between two teams in transitionWell, that escalated quickly. The preamble to last year’s USA v Mexico clash, for the right to represent Concacaf at the Confederations Cup, seems impossibly quaint at this moment. To pick out a couple of random phenomena, Fox Soccer were forced on the defensive for a video montage that seemed to make light of Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, while on the Mexican side it was possible to walk through the Rose Bowl parking lots before the game, and see Trump piñatas dotted among the portable BBQs. But it still all seemed like so much carnival posturing on both sides.The...
Brazil prepare to revisit the scene of 2014’s infamous defeat with their team resurgent while their rivals’ embarrassment of attacking riches is providing no remedy for a desperate dependency on Leo MessiIt has been 28 months, but finally Brazil will return to the site of their greatest trauma. Their World Cup qualifier against Argentina on Thursday will be their first game in Belo Horizonte since the 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-final. Nothing will ever erase that horror but a victory over Argentina would make the ghosts loom less menacingly over the Mineirão in future – particularly if it adds to the growing fear in Argentina that the country may not qualify for the next World Cup.“There’s...
One of the most ancient and grudging of rivalries will be renewed in World Cup qualifying at Wembley on Friday nightEngland and Scotland, who meet at Wembley on Friday in only the fourth competitive fixture since annual encounters were abandoned in 1989, are the two oldest international teams in the world. They have played each other more often than anyone else, took part in the first ever international fixture in Glasgow in 1872, and enjoy – if that is the word – one of the most ancient and grudging of rivalries.Or they used to. These days the Scots would rather take on the Auld Enemy in a referendum than a football match. The sad decline of Scotland as a force...
How long will Gordon Strachan remain in charge of the Tartan Army after dire performances against Slovakia and Lithuania? Plus, new manager, same old problems for England; and previews of all the weekend’s games in the Premier League, including Liverpool v Manchester United Subscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, AcastOn today’s Football Weekly Extraaaaa, AC Jimbo is joined by James Horncastle, Gregg Bakowski and Michael Cox to wave goodbye to the international break, but not before riffing on the dross put on by England in Slovenia and – even worse – Scotland in Slovakia. Ewan Murray tells us why Gordon Strachan has to go, dagnammit. Continue reading...