With ‘15 or 16 players’ cemented in coach Graham Arnold’s plans for Qatar 2022, the fight is on to be the best of the rest“I’m going to reach out to Panadol as my new sponsor because I’m going to have quite a number of headaches to fit into a 26-man squad,” Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said in the aftermath of his side’s 2-0 win over New Zealand on Sunday afternoon. Delivered with a wry smile, it was a rehearsed gag that spoke to one of the biggest challenges the 58-year-old – and every other coach heading to Qatar 2022 – will face in the coming months.Between now and 14 November, Arnold faces the mammoth task of weighing up a complex...
Achievements had raised expectations, Kieran Tierney was missed – and the manager made some errors against UkraineSteve Clarke seemed slightly irked at entering Hampden Park’s auditorium to strains of laughter. Scotland’s World Cup push had, after all, just been comprehensively halted by the outstanding players of Ukraine. What had been pointed out among journalists was that the sides must meet again on Nations League business. “I forgot about that,” said one. “That’s another couple of humpings to look forward to.”Dark humour used to be essential when following Scotland. Continue reading...
For 94 minutes these bruised and grieving men managed to shut out the world and throw themselves into their sportTrauma can produce a devastating clarity. It paints the world in new and shocking colours, ruthlessly strips away what matters from what doesn’t, dulls the pain with pure adrenaline and primal instinct. Car crash victims talk of calmly strolling away from a burning wreckage. Survivors of dreadful accidents often chat lucidly away to the paramedics while lying in their own blood. When pushed to extremes, humans have a limitless capacity to endure, to carry on, to do the thing that is needed.A lot of the speculation ahead of this game centred on how Ukraine’s footballers would cope with their first international...
Wednesday’s World Cup playoff against Scotland might offer at least some comfort to those struggling back homeA cold night towards the end of 1993. A group of eight men huddled behind a pile of snow at the airport, waiting, anxious. The sprint was only 200 yards. They were professional athletes, physically fit. It should have been easy. On the other side of the airfield, one run through the darkness away, lay freedom and their mission. But they knew they were within range of Serbian snipers.This was Fuad Muzurovic’s grand idea. He was the coach of FK Sarajevo and as the siege of his city dragged on he realised his players had a value beyond taking up arms and fighting on...
Despite the jingoism, Gareth Southgate’s side do not have an easy group at a tournament tainted by Qatari sportswashingSome lessons, it seems, are never learned. Gareth Southgate was characteristically measured in his response to Friday’s World Cup draw but most seemed to follow Kyle Walker’s line that “you’ve got to be happy with the teams we’ve drawn”.The triumphalism was not quite as strident as before the 2010 World Cup, but if other teams really are inspired by the misunderstood ironies of Three Lions, England’s group-stage opponents are going to be raging at some of Saturday morning’s headlines. Continue reading...