World Soccer

▶ Never miss an issue with delivery direct to your door▶ Getting the magazine for less than you’d pay at the newsagent!▶ The definitive authority on the world’s favourite game, delivering the inside-track on domestic and world football▶ Money back gu

The Chinese Super League, set to start on February 22, was postponed indefinitely with many clubs moving training camps to the Middle East. The league is unlikely to restart before May. AFC Champions League group matches in the eastern zone were post

Every week along the way of Liverpool’s formidable streak of winning matches in the Premier League you could hear Jurgen Klopp say it was of no consequence to him. He was adamant about his indifference and swatted away endless questions with casual d

One effect of the coronavirus crisis has been to throw into stark relief the scheduling crisis affecting football at international and domestic level. Swiss Football Association president Dominique Blanc has warned, after a ban on gatherings of more

There is no convincing reason that explains football’s persistently casual attitude to its concussion problem and any complacency there might have been should have come to a screeching halt in 2002 – the year former West Bromwich Albion centre-forwar

After 301 days, Bohemians achieved what no other club in the Czech league had done: they beat Slavia Prague. The reigning Czech champions emerged from the midwinter break with 17 wins and three draws in the first half of the season. Buoyed by Chinese

While Europe’s elite challenge for a place at the top table of the Champions League, the Europa League remains the holy grail for smaller clubs and the fallen giants of domestic leagues further down the food chain. This year’s Final will be staged in

When he was officially presented as a Lazio player in 2016, Ciro Immobile was asked how he thought he compared with previous strikers at the club. Modestly, he said he had seen footage of players such as Beppe Signori and Bruno Giordano but, for the

A migratory flight across the Rhine last summer has worked wonders for the former Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder, who recently underlined his importance to German title-chasers RB Leipzig with an incredible four assists in a 5-0 victory awa

Hoffenheim benefactor Dietmar Hopp has vowed to keep attending games despite visiting Bayern Munich fans targetting him with abusive banners during a chaotic Bundesliga fixture at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, which Bayern comfortably won 6-0. For many Ger

If there was a prize awarded for the most surprising transfer of 2020, Martin Braithwaite would already be on the winner’s podium, celebrating a hands-down victory. Not only did he leave Liga strugglers Leganes for defending champions Barcelona, he m

The death, from an aggressive brain tumour, of former CAF general secretary Amr Fahmy has brought renewed focus to the fact his whistle-blowing on corruption in the African game has yet to be dealt with by FIFA. It includes long-standing allegations

Just when it looked as if progress was being made in tackling racism in the game, the case of Porto’s Malian striker Moussa Marega brought European football crashing back to reality. Marega walked off midway through his side’s Portuguese league win a

UEFA dare not lose its financial fairplay case against Manchester City. Europe’s governing body has already lost one FFP case against a mega-rich, state-aided club – the Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain – on a technicality. A second such failure agai

The first time your correspondent visited Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio football club at their Zingonia training centre, just outside the Lombardy town of Bergamo, I encountered some very interesting folks. The year was 1993 and the club’s coach at the

In a sentence Creative midfielder cut from the Xavi/Andres Iniesta cloth: small of stature yet huge in ability. Sergio Espejo, his coach as a schoolboy at the Unio Jabac club: “What he did when he was young is now being repeated at the Camp Nou. He w

Erling Haaland’s remarkable productivity since arriving at Borussia Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg in January, with 12 goals in his first eight competitive games, has turned the 19-year-old Norwegian striker into a global phenomenon. And his instant

(ATLETICO MADRID) The defensive midfielder, who Atletico acquired from Real Madrid in the close season, has an awe-inspiring family tree. His father Paco featured on the flank for Real in the 1980s and 90s; his great uncle Francisco Gento, another wi

Zambia will compete in the women’s Olympic tournament for the first time this summer after beating Cameroon on away goals following a 4-4 draw on aggregate in the African qualifying Final. Cameroon now meet South American runners-up Chile in a two-le

EURO 2020 PLAY-OFFS PREVIEW | PATH A 1 Memories still burn bright of their Euro 2016 heroics, particularly the sensational round-of-16 victory over England. Thoughts of more continental glory are bound to fire up the hosts. 2 Coach Erik Hamren puts h

AUSTRALIA: At 15 years and 325 days, Mohamed Toure becomes the youngest scorer in A-League history with a goal in Adelaide United’s 2-0 win against Central Coast Mariners. CAF SUPER CUP: Zamalek beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-1 to win the CAF Super Cup

(standings as of 02.03.20)

For most fans, supporting a team means sticking by that club through thick and thin, from cradle to grave. But in Shanghai a large number of supporters opted to desert the more established Shenhua for up-and-coming SIPG. Founded in 1952, Shenhua have