WWW.FIFA.COM/THEWEEKLY
ISSUE 34/2015, 28 AUGUST 2015 ENGLISH EDITION
Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Since 1904
OFC qualification
BAYERN MUNICH THE LONG JOURNEY OF
KARL-HEINZ RUMMENIGGE
SEPP BLATTER FIFA MASTER COURSE
REMAINS VITAL
PARAGUAY CLUB OLIMPIA AND THE HYPERBARIC CHAMBER
DREAMS FROM THE SOUTH SEA
ISLANDS
T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L
North and Central America 35 members www.concacaf.com
South America 10 members www.conmebol.com
The FIFA Weekly app
FIFA’s magazine The FIFA Weekly is published in four languages every Friday and is also available free of charge on smartphone and tablet. http://www.fifa.com/mobile
6 World Cup qualifying in Oceania
The first round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ begins in Oceania on 31 August as the Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga step onto the international stage. Alan Schweingruber, Annette Braun and Peter Smith take a look at the region’s logistical challenges, ambitious coaches and the famous ‘Haka’ dance.
17 Zimbabwe This season Harare side Dynamos are locked in a fascinating three-way battle with Chicken Inn and Triangle United.
23 Sepp Blatter “Football’s core values – discipline, respect and fair play – should also guide our path in our everyday lives. The FIFA Master combines these qualities with academic work,” says the FIFA President in his weekly column.
37 Manuel Pascali The Italian reflects on his love for Scottish club Kilmarnock, how financial considerations drove his decision to return home and making a fresh start at Cittadella.
18 U-17 World Cup England coach Neil Dewsnip has a knack for spotting and training talented youngsters.
16 Italy Udinese opened their Serie A cam-paign with a shock win over champi-ons Juventus (Pictured: Ali Adnan Kadhim, left, and Cyril Thereau).
Dreams from the South Sea IslandsOur cover image shows the Tahiti national team shirt. The photo was taken in Rio de Janeiro in June 2013.
Alex Livesey / Getty Images
Clin
t Hug
hes /
Get
ty Im
ages
, Val
erio
Pen
nici
no /
Get
ty Im
ages
imag
o, L
auri
e Sc
hwab
col
lect
ion
/ Dea
kin
FIFA U-17 World Cup
17 October – 8 November 2015, Chile
FIFA Club World Cup
10 – 20 December 2015, Japan
2 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L
Europe 54 members www.uefa.com
Africa 54 members www.cafonline.com
Asia 46 members www.the-afc.com
Oceania 11 members www.oceaniafootball.com
28 Reg Date A remarkable career far from the spotlight.
24 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge In an interview with The FIFA Weekly, Bayern Munich’s executive board chairman discusses jealousy, lucky coincidences and becoming more relaxed with age.
Clin
t Hug
hes /
Get
ty Im
ages
, Val
erio
Pen
nici
no /
Get
ty Im
ages
imag
o, L
auri
e Sc
hwab
col
lect
ion
/ Dea
kin
3T H E F I FA W E E K LY
© 2
015
adid
as A
G. a
dida
s, th
e 3-
Bar
s lo
go a
nd th
e 3-
Stri
pes
mar
k ar
e re
gist
ered
trad
emar
ks o
f the
adi
das
Gro
up.
# B E T H E D I F F E R E N C E
+140200_FIFA_Beach_Soccer_World_Cup_2015_Ad_BTD_Bale_Oezil_215x289.indd 1 10.06.15 14:59
U N C O V E R E D
There is no need to take your world map out of your office drawer to know more or less what it shows. They all depict the same thing, after all: five or six immense and immediately recognisable tracts of land, with the blue of
the sea providing the backdrop. And it is there in that backdrop that Oceania can be found, an invisible continent lying to the north and east of Australia. The South Pacific is a place where you can spend your life on a boat, venturing from one new island to the next. There are estimated to 7,600 of them in all, 2,000 of which are inhabited.
Figuring among them are Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa and Cook Islands, four nations who are about to embark on their FIFA World Cup™ qualifying campaigns. Though their chances of reaching the world finals in Russia are slim, they are all eagerly awaiting the start of their adventure. Read our report on page 6 to find out more about the Oceania quartet. Å
Alan Schweingruber
The invisible continent
Mar
io W
agne
r / 2
Age
nten
5T H E F I FA W E E K LY
THE JOURNEY IS THE GOALO F C Q U A L I F Y I N G
6 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
THE JOURNEY IS THE GOALO F C Q U A L I F Y I N G
The Oceania Football Confederation is made up of 11 national associations, of which New Zealand are the team to beat in 2018 World Cup qualifying. Alan Schweingruber, Annette Braun and Peter Smith cast the spotlight on the national sides in the South Pacific, where the OFC qualifying campaign is about to begin. Illustrations by Bianca Litscher.
7T H E F I FA W E E K LY
The vast global nature of FIFA World Cup™ qualifying invar-iably offers up the quirky and unexpected. One such nation that fits the bill is Cook Islands, where the logistics of as-sembling an international football team are significant to say the least. The Polynesian nation located at the far east-ern end of Oceania is made up of 15 inhabited islands, and an area which would cover most of western Europe. Yet a tiny population of some 15,000 inhabitants makes Cook Is-lands among the smallest nations to ever compete in World Cup qualifying.
Adding another fascinating layer is coach Drew Sherman, who at just 28, is among the youngest coaches to lead a team during the Russia 2018 campaign. Almost four years since their last international matches during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying, the Cook Islanders, and their young coach, will finally have the chance to test themselves when Oceania matches commence later this month. Tonga will host a four-nation tournament commencing on 31 August – American Sa-moa and Samoa will also be part of the quartet – where one ticket to next year’s second round will be up for grabs.
O F C Q U A L I F Y I N G
Reared in the game Welshman Sherman may be youthful by international coaching standards, but he does boast a lengthy resume for one so young. Despite a spell in the youth team at Swansea City, Sherman decided that a career as a top-flight footballer was not likely, and he turned his attention to coaching.
Football analysis and tactical discussion were a constant for Sher-man as a youngster, thanks in part to the influence of his father – current New Zealand technical director Rob Sherman. “My mum will probably tell you it must have been a nightmare for her whenever football was on TV,” Drew Sherman told FIFA, recalling some of his earlier football mem-ories. “We [Drew and father Rob] would be talking the tactical details, not just the match, and that was from as young as I can remember. So definitely subliminally he was an enormous influence.
“He also has worked in coach education for a very long time, and also with some top players like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey in Wales, so knows his stuff. It is great to have someone there to bounce ideas off and support you. I wouldn’t say he has played a close role in terms of mentoring and being there in person, but he has certainly
Huddle up The American Samoa team fire themselves up. Gre
gory
Boi
ssy /
AFP
Ket
chup
Ent
erta
inm
ent
8 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
O F C Q U A L I F Y I N G
provided a lot of guidance and advice from 12,000 miles away.” Young Sherman had stints at Everton and Wolverhampton Wander-
ers before running the Aldershot Town academy, which was followed by a youth development role at Southampton - a club renowned for its play-er production line. “I guess I have had a ten- to 15-year head start on coaching compared to most people. I went through my badges quite quickly, so had my UEFA A License at 21 and I think made me one of the youngest people in the UK to have that.”
Then came a rare opportunity to work in a remote part of Oceania. “It is a great football opportunity, as well as a great life opportunity,” Sherman says of a lifestyle on the main island of Rarotonga where the sun-kissed Pacific Ocean is rarely further than walking distance away.
He is far from the first aspiring coach to start small. Current Zenit St. Petersburg boss Andre Villas-Boas, who also previously worked in the Eng-lish Premier League, started out at the helm of Caribbean nation British Virgin Islands, where the population size is similar to that of the Cook Islands. Sherman is also following in the footsteps of a growing number of British coaches prepared to take on roles away from the limelight – Guam’s Gary White and India’s Stephen Constantine being two such examples.
Tahitian joy The Toa Aito, or Iron Warriors, a few weeks before their first outing at the 2013 Confederations Cup.
THE ROAD TO RUSSIA (OCEANIA)Round 1: 31 August to 8 September 2015American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga (the four lowest-placed teams based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking) play each other in a league format.
Round 2: May to June 2016The winner of the first round is drawn into one of two groups with the region’s remaining seven associations. The three best teams from both groups then qualify for Round 3.
Round 3: March to October 2017The six remaining teams are drawn into two groups, with the two group winners then contesting a play-off match.
Intercontinental play-offs: November 2017The Round 3 winner plays the fifth-placed side from South American qualifi-cation home and away. The winner of this tie qualifies for the FIFA 2018 World Cup.0.5 qualifying places have been allocated to the OFC for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Gre
gory
Boi
ssy /
AFP
Ket
chup
Ent
erta
inm
ent
9T H E F I FA W E E K LY
en s tar ing open - mouthed at the danc ing New Z ealander s was seen around the
wor ld . I t i s a lways wor th watching New Zealand’s spor t s teams execute the dance on te lev i -s ion. The cameras usual ly zoom in on the w ide - eyed per for mers , and anyone una -ware o f the seemingly innocuous l y r ic s (“S lap your th ighs”, “Push your ches t for -ward”, “Bend your knees and hips”, “Stamp your feet as hard as you can”, e tc) could
A lmos t exac t l y a year ago there was an amus ing scene pr ior to the baske tbal l
Wor ld Cup match bet ween the USA and un -derdogs New Zealand in the Spanish c i t y of Bi lbao. The lat ter per formed the famous ’Haka’, a r i tual is t ic Maor i dance that in -vo lves int imidat ing chant s and equal ly ter -r i f y ing fac ial express ions . The aim is , af ter al l , to scare the opposi t ion. USA went on to win the game 98 -71 but the image of the incredulous Der r ick Rose and James Hard -
THE KIWI PROJECTNew Zealand are favourites to win Oceania’s World Cup qualifying campaign, and the country is already bracing itself for the play-offs in November 2017. They are hoping their young coach and the famous ’Haka’ will help them succeed.
wel l f ee l a pang of fear in the ir own l i v ing room. The mos t impress ive Haka disp lay is
produced by New Zealand’s al l - conquer ing rugby team, the A l l B lacks , who have had p lent y of prac t ice per forming i t .
Waiting for the play-offs In terms of popular i t y, footbal l i s a long way behind r ugby, c r i c ke t and sa i l ing
among New Zealand’s 4.5 mi l l ion inhabi t -ant s , as the countr y is among the wor ld ’s
All Blacks Of all the country’s athletes, New Zealand’s rugby players probably perform the famous Haka the best.
O F C Q U A L I F Y I N G
10 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
Sherman, who is also responsible for the overall development of foot-ball in the archipelago, says the fact that some squad members are older than him has not been an issue. “If you have players keen to learn and develop, and you take a vested interest in helping them do that, they will buy into the fact you are trying to make them a better player. Ultimate-ly that is what developing a team is: maximising individuals.”
From far and wide After six months, Sherman and his charges finally have the chance to test themselves on the international stage. Understandably the logistical challenges of putting together a team, let alone a compet-itive one, have been considerable. The squad are effectively split into three groups, one based domestically, one in New Zealand, plus a handful of players in Australia.
Cook Islands suffers from depopulation with residents seeking work elsewhere, meaning there is a large Cook Islander diaspora. “It is about finding the best Cook Islanders to represent us,” said Sherman. “We have a population of 14,000 people to select from, and we have some 70,000 in New Zealand and 20,000 in Australia, so it makes sense to broaden the net as widely as possible.”
Most players in the squad are from the main island of Rarotonga, with a handful originally from the outer islands. The squad, however, are further hampered by the timing of the domestic league which commenc-es this week, meaning many are lacking match fitness.
O F C Q U A L I F Y I N G
bes t in those spor t s . The A l l Whites , as the footbal l team are known, are a lso we l l versed in the Haka and have taken par t in t wo F IFA Wor ld Cups™ to date . The f i r s t was at Spain 1982, where they were e l imi -nated at the group s tage wi thout p ick ing up a s ingle point . The second was at South A f r ica 2010, where they l ikewise headed home af ter the f i r s t round, a lbe i t w i th
three point s f rom three draws, inc luding a 1-1 s talemate wi th then wor ld champions I taly. Such posi t i ve resul t s even surpr ised the New Zealand camp: coach R ick i Her -ber t had already booked a hol iday wi th his family af ter the group s tage, whi le s t r iker Chr is K i l len had p lanned his honeymoon dur ing the tournament ’s knockout phase.
The A l l Whites’ chances of reaching Rus -s ia 2018 is a much - debated topic among the countr y ’s footbal l communi t y. E i ther
way, the K iwis wi l l have to be pat ient . In a te lephone inter v iew wi th The F IFA Week ly, f o r mer Werder Bremen s t r i ke r Wy nton Rufer, who now runs a footbal l school , said: “Qual i f y ing rounds t wo and three won’t be the problem. New Zealand can beat the Sol -omon Is lands , F i j i and Vanuatu, but then come the p lay - of f s . And jus t l ike las t t ime that ’ l l be agains t a team f rom South Amer -ica . I t ’ l l be ver y di f f icul t for us .” New Zea -land los t to Mex ico dur ing Braz i l 2014 qual -i f y ing and the p lay - of f s for the nex t Wor ld Cup have been set for November 2017.
Playing in Europe In the bui ld - up to Russ ia 2018 the New Zealand Footbal l Assoc iat ion heralded the s tar t o f a new era by h i r ing the l i t -t le - known Anthony Hudson as head coach. The 34 - year - o ld , whose father i s former Chelsea s tar A lan Hudson, was a journey -man footbal le r dur ing h is p lay ing days and hung up his boot s at the age of 27,
hav ing s tar ted tak ing his coaching badges ear l y on . “ I ’d l ike to bui ld a good team that br ings joy to the people of New Zea -land,” he said . Regular f r iendly matches have been scheduled to take p lace in Eu -rope, where the countr y ’s mos t impor tant p layer s , such as capta in W ins ton Re id ( Wes t Ham Uni ted ) , B i l l Tu i loma (Mar -se i l le) and Chr is Wood (Leeds Uni ted) , are located. That would al low European te le -v i s ion v iewers to f ina l l y mar ve l a t the Haka once again .
Alan Schweingruber
Leading the way Cook Islands coach Drew Sherman (l.) on the training pitch.
“Ult imately, developing a team is about maximising individuals.”
Drew Sherman, Cook Islands coach
Jona
than
Dan
iel /
Get
ty Im
ages
, Coo
k Is
land
Foo
tbal
l
11T H E F I FA W E E K LY
O F C Q U A L I F I C AT I O N
READY FOR THE NEXT STEPTonga, Samoa and American Samoa have one goal: to qualify for the OFC Nations Cup. It is a huge challenge, but one they are tackling confidently.
Samoa, Tonga and A mer ican Samoa are separated by jus t a f ew p lace s in the F IFA /C oca - C o la Wor ld Rank ing . T h is should make the encounter s be t ween the i r nat ional s ide s in the f i r s t round o f qual i f i ca t ion for the F IFA 2018 Wor ld Cup in Rus s ia a l l the more in tere s t ing , par t icu lar l y in l ight o f the fac t that the prev ious ed i t ion o f th i s compet i t ion was so c lose l y con -te s ted in 2011. A l though a l l three o f the se South Pac i f i c i s -land na t ions , toge ther w i th the C ook I s lands , have a r i ch t rad i t ion o f r ugby tha t i s t y p ic a l o f Oc eania , the t r io a l so
share a love o f f ootbal l .They wi l l be able to demons trate this enthusiasm once again f rom 31 Augus t , when Tonga wi l l hos t the Wor ld Cup pre l imi -nar y qual i f icat ion compet i t ion. Four years af ter the ir las t ap -pearance on the internat ional s tage, coach T imote Moleni ’s team have set themselves high goals in f ront of their home fans . With one win, one draw and one defeat not enough to take them to the nex t round of qual i f y ing in 2011, they wi l l be out to im -prove on th is per formance on home so i l . A l though they suc -cumbed to a 5 - 0 defeat at the hands of F i j i in a f r iendly ahead
of the four - team contes t , the ir coach saw some encouraging aspec t s on which they can bui ld : “ T he lads p layed a good game,” he said . “ We can learn something f rom F i j i , par t icular ly when i t comes to high bal ls and defending.”
Samoa making historyThe team to beat on the road to the nex t round are Samoa, who emerged v ic tor ious f rom the f i r s t round of qual i f icat ion
in 2011. A ser ies of c lose ly contes ted matches – a 3 -2 win over Cook Is lands , a 1 - 0 v ic tor y agains t Amer ican Samoa and a draw with Tonga – s teered the Samoans to the top of the table and secured the ir f i r s t - ever t icket to the OFC Nat ions Cup, the second s top on the road to the Wor ld Cup. A l though this proved to be the end of the road as they conceded 24 goals
and scored jus t one in a group containing New Caledonia, Vanuatu and eventual w inners Tahi t i , that exper ience on the So lomon Is lands s toked the Samoan p layer s’ hunger to achieve even more.Encouraging them from the sidel ines this year is Phineas Young, who is del ighted with the countr y ’s ar ray of talented youngsters . “I get lot s of emails and contac t requests f rom Samoan football -ers in New Zealand or Austral ia interested in play ing for us,” he explained. With the nat ional U -23 side opt ing not to play at the Pacif ic Games, the associat ion is completely focused on the f irs t round of Wor ld Cup quali f y ing in Tonga.
End of a droughtAlthough Amer ican Samoa have never taken par t in the OFC Na -
t ions Cup, there is one date to celebrate in the countr y ’s football -ing his tor y. On 21 November 2011, the nat ional team won their f i r s t - ever match, beat ing Tonga 2-1 to spark ec s tasy in their homeland. Af ter suf fer ing so many years of defeats and conced -ing so many goals – most notably in their record 31- 0 thrashing at the hands of Austral ia in 2001 – the players could hardly be -
l ieve they had secured their f ir s t three point s in a Wor ld Cup quali f ier. Their coach that day, Dutchman Thomas Rongen, even said that his squad were not even sure how to reac t to their mo -mentous v ic tor y. Amer ican Samoa’s football ing his tor y prov ides
such r ich enter tainment for the spor t ’s romantic s that i t has even been immor tal ised in f i lm. P re s ident o f the c ount r y ’s f oo tba l l as soc ia t ion Fa i i vae Iu l i A le x Godine t i s e xc i ted about h i s team’s upc oming game s ,
conf ident that they have matured and w i l l have oppor tuni t ie s to make i t through th i s round o f qua l i f i c a t ion . “ We’ve go t great conf idence in our team and be l ieve they can take us a s tep fur ther,” he sa id . A f te r prepar ing we l l in Seat t le , A mer -i can Samoa are ready to launch a major coup, and progre s s -ing to the nex t s tage would repre sent another mi le s tone for the c ount r y ’s f oo tbal l deve lopment . Godine t i l lus t ra ted the leve l o f suppor t f o r the team, say ing: “A l l our peop le w i l l be pray ing f o r them.” I r r e spec t i ve o f the pas s ion f o r r ugby in the se par t s , there i s no doubt that f ootbal l ho lds a spec ia l p lace in Oceania’s hear t .
Annette Braun
Hungry for more Tonga coach Timote Moleni.
Coo
k Is
land
s Fo
otba
llC
ook
Isla
nds
Foot
ball
Shan
e W
enzl
ick /
pho
tote
k
12 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
O F C Q U A L I F Y I N G
Despite the limitations Sherman maintains a level of ambition as the nation enters its sixth FIFA World Cup campaign. Indeed, while they finished bottom in Oceania last time, and have yet to win a qualifier against a FIFA Member Association, Cook Islands have come close to claiming continental scalps on several occasions.
“For us, it is about trying to get together the style of play we have been working on, and coming together cohesively,” Sherman says of the upcoming challenge in Tonga. “I’m confident we have a strong group of players, and their attitude has been exemplary. We finished bottom of the group last time and there is certainly no expectations on us, so the challenge is on us to surprise people.
“It is a strong culture, and they are very proud to represent Cook Islands. We want to make people here proud and in a way galvanise the nation. If we give a good account of ourselves and help grow football in this country, then it is a success for us.” Å
Peter Smith
FIFA IN THE COOK ISLANDSAs part of its Goal Programme, FIFA has supported the Cook Islands Football
Association with $2,374,900 USD since 2001. Part of that amount was put
towards building a new headquarters for the association. The objective was
both to improve the quality of the pitches used for matches and training, and
to set up an adequate infrastructure in order to implement specific technical
programmes and activities. A technical centre was also built, with the primary
focus to support and improve the U-17 development programme, which brings
players from outlying islands to live on Rarotonga for 12-15 months.
Furthermore, financing was provided to help carry out local programmes and
activities to support athletes in general and talented young footballers in both
the men’s and women’s game.
Training in Matavera The Cook Islands national team tune up their skills on a small pitch..Coo
k Is
land
s Fo
otba
llC
ook
Isla
nds
Foot
ball
Shan
e W
enzl
ick /
pho
tote
k
13T H E F I FA W E E K LY
O N T H E I N S I D ETA L K I N G P O I N T S
how the use of a hyperbaric chamber is also bringing results in terms of recovery. “The players take in more oxygen, which increases their blood pressure and enables the affected muscles to recover more quickly and efficiently,” added the sports scientist.
In contrast, there is little breathing room at the top of the league table. Olimpia lead the way with 17 points from eight matches, with Cerro Porteno second on 14 with a game in hand, while Sportivo San Lorenzo and Sol de America are level on 12 points in third and fourth place respectively. It is tight at the
Pa r a g u a y : Pr i m er a D i v i s i o n, C l a u su r a
A hyperbaric boost for Olimpia
Sarah Steiner is a staff writer on The FIFA Weekly.
Of the 12 teams who compete in Paraguay’s top flight, seven hail from the capital
Asuncion. Local derbies are therefore a regular occurrence, with none bigger than the Superclásico between Cerro Porteno and Olimpia, the country’s two most successful and thus most popular clubs. Last June, El Ciclón, as the former are known, secured the Apertura title with their Olimpia rivals 17 points back in fourth place.
With eight matchdays now gone in the ongoing Clausura, however, the gap is rather narrower. Indeed, in the last Superclásico, whoever won would have gone top of the league, leaving Olimpia understandably distraught by the resulting 1-0 home reverse – their arch-rivals inflicting on them their first defeat of the season.
Coach Francisco Arce responded to the setback by making several changes to his team, the tweaks paying dividends as his side returned to winning ways with 2-1 victories over both Deportivo Capiata and Rubio Nu. Striker Nery Cardozo was the match-winner on both occasions, scoring the decisive goal against Deportivo Capiata before weighing in with two against Rubio Nu. In performances that were about more than just goals, the 26-year-old also impressed with his outstand-ing technical ability and vision. “The coach has shown faith in me and I train hard every week to try and make sure I’m in the team for the next match,” he said.
Proper preparation is also given a great deal of importance at Olimpia, especially since the recent appointment of Luiz Cesar Martins. The 45-year-old Brazilian is a professor of sports science and is responsible for tailoring the players’ individual preparations before each match. “Based on research we have carried out, we calculate that the players will cover a distance of around 360 kilometres in matches and training up to 12 September. We can then evaluate whether they will be able to complete that without overexerting them-selves,” explained Martins, before outlining
other end of the table too, where Nacional find themselves bringing up the rear on six points but having played a game fewer than General Diaz and Rubio Nu, who are only a point above them. High drama is thus assured at both top and bottom during the second half of the Clausura. Å
Collective joy The Olimpia players congratulate goalscorer Nery Cardozo.Fern
ando
Rom
ero
/ ABC
Col
or
15T H E F I FA W E E K LY
I t a l y : S e r i e A
Juventus take a reality check
Alan Schweingruber is a staff writer on The FIFA Weekly
As well as the Spanish Primera Division, last weekend also saw the start
of the Italian Serie A season. Surprisingly, in the country that invented the ultra -defensive Catenaccio system, not a single 0-0 draw was registered on the opening day. Champions Juventus lost at home on matchday 1 for the first time in the club’s history, while Sampdoria won 5-2 against new boys Carpi having led 5-0 inside the first 37 minutes.
Juventus must have been pleased when the fixture list handed them an opening game
at home to Udinese, whose 16th place finish last term was a major disappointment. The scene was set for a comfortable kick-off to Juventus’ quest for a fifth consecutive title, but things turned out very differently on a balmy summer evening in Piedmont. La Vecchia Signora dominated but failed to take their chances, and on 78 minutes the visitors embarked on a rare attack. The Bianconeri defence left Udinese’s fastest player, Frenchman Cyril Thereau, unmarked at the back post and he confidently prodded home the winner.
There are mitigating circumstances behind Juventus’ false start. The departures of key players Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal left an unbalanced squad. On top of that, injuries to Sami Khedira, Alvaro Morata and Claudio Marchisio mean the Turin title favourites are currently short on quality, even after Colombian midfielder Juan Cuadrado’s season-long loan move from Chelsea was confirmed on Monday. A move for Schalke’s
Julian Draxler is still on the cards with the transfer window remaining open until 31 August.
Juventus travel to AS Roma next, who have strengthened over the summer as they search for a first Scudetto in 14 years. How-ever i Giallorossi will be wary of premature optimism after last season, which started brilliantly with five wins but soon went downhill. First there was the 3-2 defeat in the crunch match with Juventus, before a crushing 7-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League from which Roma never really recovered.
The side from the capital began this cam-paign with an unsatisfactory 1-1 draw at Verona. Luca Toni failed to get on the scoresheet for the home side but after becoming the oldest top goalscorer in Serie A history last season, the 38 year-old said: “I will retire when I only score three goals in a season.” Å
A shock for Juventus Udinese’s Thereau slots home the winner in the 78th minute. Dyn
amos
FC
Vale
rio
Penn
icin
o / G
etty
Imag
es
16 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
Z i m b a b w e : P r e m i e r S o c c e r L e a g u e
Unfamiliar tussle for top spot
Mark Gleeson is a Cape Town-based journalist and football commentator.
Most countries have their gold standard club and in
Zimbabwe it is the popular Harare outfit Dynamos, who have dominated the league for the last four successive seasons and have previously played in a CAF Champi-ons League final. This year Dynamos are on course for a fifth title but with two-thirds of the campaign completed, find themselves in an absorbing four way tie at the top. A defensive error on Sunday saw them lose out on valuable away points at relegation-threatened Tsholotsho as cap-tain Stephen Alimenda miscued an attempt at a clearance and the ball spun viciously back into his own team’s net. The final score was 1-1.
Dynamos therefore moved up just a single point to 36 and sit in third place in the
Premier Soccer League, behind Triangle United on goal difference only and four points off the leaders Chicken Inn.
Despite topping the table, not everything is going to plan for Chicken Inn. The Game-cocks, as they are known, suffered their fourth defeat of the season at the hands of Hwange in front of a home crowd on Satur-day August 22. As a team from Bulawayo, Chicken Inn carry the hopes of the southern part of the country who have a rich rivalry with the capital Harare for honours, but they are now under severe threat after an unex-pected loss of points at a crucial juncture of the season. “We are involved in a succession of big games and they don’t stop coming,” said coach Joey Antipas. “We have to keep our composure and remain focused. Every-body wants to brings us down.” Antipas was the title winning coach with Motor Action in 2010, the last club to win a title before Dynamos’ current streak of dominance.
Chicken Inn now face a derby in Zimbabwe’s second city against Highlanders, who used to be a considerable force but are struggling in mid-table. But it will be later on in the cam-paign when they host Dynamos, that matters might well be settled.
In between sit Triangle United, who are from Chiredzi and backed by a sugar company. They were held to an away draw by How Mine at the weekend but have had a consist-ent run of form in the second half of the season. The club is coached by Zambian Kelvin Kaindu, who stayed on in Zimbabwe after his playing career ended.
Although the other side still with a realistic title bid are FC Platinum, whose haul of 35 points puts them five off the top place, it seems clear who will ultimately hoist the trophy aloft in Zimbabwe. Dynamos’s total of 21 titles in Zimbabwe is three times more than the next best effort of seven league wins for Highlanders. There will be few betting against them making it five titles in a row come the end of the season in November. Å
Staying on the ball Dynamos are in pursuit of their fifth successive title.
Dyn
amos
FC
Vale
rio
Penn
icin
o / G
etty
Imag
es
17T H E F I FA W E E K LY
An eye for talent Neil Dewsnip looks on from the touchline.
F I F A U -17 W O R L D C U P
England building for the futureNeil Dewsnip will coach England’s U-17s at the World Cup in Chile in October. Countless talented footballers have already benefited from his experience.
Clin
t Hug
hes /
Get
ty Im
ages
Stua
rt F
rank
lin /
FIFA
via
Get
ty Im
ages
18 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
When it was announced that Wayne Rooney would succeed Steven Ger-rard as England captain in the sum-mer of 2014, another Liverpool na-tive beamed with pride: Neil Dewsnip, who is in the unique posi-
tion of having played a direct role in influenc-ing the early years of the current and former England skippers.
Before taking a coaching role with Ever-ton’s academy, Dewsnip worked as a PE teach-er at Cardinal Heenan school in Liverpool, where a young Gerrard was a pupil. Dewsnip then played a key part in the development of Rooney in his subsequent role with the Tof-fees, before the then 16-year-old introduced himself to the wider footballing world with that memorable goal against Arsenal in 2002. “It’s been absolutely incredible for me person-ally as a coach to see two young men who I’ve worked with, in Wayne and Steven, both go on to captain the country,” said Dewsnip. “It means an awful lot to me.”
Talent in the spotlightWorking with talented youngsters is second nature to Dewsnip. Despite his current role as the nation’s U-18 coach, he will be taking the age level below to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile in October after the man who guided them there, John Peacock, departed for a first team role at Derby County in the summer. “I’ve met with John and I’m well briefed by what his thoughts on the group were,” the coach said. “I’ve monitored them closely as well over the last year, knowing that I would be picking them up [in his role as U-18 coach].
I’m well down the line in terms of knowing what we’ve got in the group.”
One potential member of the U-17 squad has recently gained wider attention beyond the scouting reports of Peacock and Dewsnip. Reece Oxford, captain of the squad which was successful in qualifying for the global finals, became the second-youngest starter in Eng-lish Premier League history on 9 August. His top flight debut for West Ham United against Arsenal came aged just 16 years and 236 days (Jose Baxter, another Dewsnip apprentice at Everton, is the youngest) and his commanding performance in midfield against Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Co catapulted him into the national spotlight. “First and foremost I’m de-lighted that a young English player can do so well on his first start in a very high profile Pre-mier League game,” Dewsnip said. Oxford cer-tainly seems to have impressed the England U-17 coach, who named the youngster in his final squad for the upcoming tournament in Chile.
“We’re delighted about the draw”On their arrival in South America, England will have to negotiate a tough group after they were handed a fascinating draw in Santiago. Guinea, Korea Republic and three-time U-17 World Cup winners Brazil stand in their way. “I think what we’re about is giving the players at the young ages international experiences which equip them for the day when they hopefully become full internationals,” Dewsnip said. “We’re delighted about the draw. It’s really good in terms of fulfilling our criteria of playing against different cultures and different nations.”
To ensure they are optimally prepared for the upcoming World Cup, Dewsnip and his fi-nal squad will travel to Zeist, near Utrecht, at the start of September to take on the Nether-lands’ U-18 team in two matches.
England’s national training centre at St George’s Park will also play a key role in the youth team’s preparations. A hub of coaching creativity and debate, the national team base sees all coaches, including the senior manager, come together to discuss the future of the English game. “Roy Hodgson has been to a number of our meetings over the last couple of years,” revealed Dewsnip. “He shows an in-
terest and a desire to know about the young players who are coming through. What we’ve got now is a world-leading facility. It’s still in its infancy, so it will be interesting to see where we are in ten years’ time but we feel as though we’re on a positive pathway right now.”
The coach is well aware that this path is not always a smooth one. “We as coaches need to be a little bit braver to allow them to show that creativity, in the right place and at the right time,” said Dewsnip. “Over the last num-ber of years England haven’t fulfilled their potential and I like to think I can maybe play a part in improving our record at all age groups in years to come.”
With Gerrard, Rooney and Barkley among his previous apprentices, it would not be much of a surprise to see some of Dewsnip’s class of Chile 2015 emerge as England’s future leaders. Å
Steve Feekins
F I F A U -17 W O R L D C U P
“It will be interesting to see where we are in ten years’ time.”
Dewsnip’s proteges Steven Gerrard (left) and Wayne Rooney on England duty at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Chile 201517 October - 8 November
Group AChileCroatiaNigeriaUSA
Group CArgentinaAustraliaGermanyMexico
Group ECosta RicaKorea DPRRussiaSouth Africa
Group BBrazilEnglandGuineaKorea Republic
Group DBelgiumEcuadorHondurasMali
Group FFranceNew ZealandParaguaySyria
Clin
t Hug
hes /
Get
ty Im
ages
Stua
rt F
rank
lin /
FIFA
via
Get
ty Im
ages
19T H E F I FA W E E K LY
P l a c e : D o n g o , C o n g o D R
Da t e : 2 4 J u n e 2 0 1 5
T im e : 8 . 4 5 p . m .
Ph o t o g r a ph e r : F e d e r i c o S c o p p a
First Love
AFP
21T H E F I FA W E E K LY
GRASSROOTS
FIFA’s Grassroots programme is the core foundation of our development mission, aimed at encouraging girls and boys around the world to play and enjoy football without restrictions. Grassroots focuses on the enjoyment of the game through small-sided team games, and teaching basic football technique, exercise and fair play.
For more information visit FIFA.com
FIFA inspiring girls and boys to play football
P R E S I D E N T I A L N O T E
Best wishes, Sepp Blatter
FIFA President Blatter, who announced the creation of the Task Force in October 2013, opened the third meeting by saying: “The resounding success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada
shows how far women’s football has come while also demonstrating why it is so important to ensure girls and women have the best possible access to the game, both on and off the field. Women are part of football and need to be given equal opportunities. FIFA is committed to taking a leading role in promoting gender equality and encourages all confederations and member associations to do the same.”
The Task Force proposes that women in football be considered as a priority by the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee. It also proposes that FIFA issue guidelines on gender inclusiveness in football governance and management. The Task Force agrees that FIFA should itself work towards being the role model for those guidelines, which should include: a target of 30 per cent for women’s participation on boards and committees and in senior management roles; women’s football being represented at the highest level and in the decision-making bodies through specialists, ideally women; women’s football being fully integrated in the strategy of every member association and processes, including the club licensing management process, being adapted to the specific needs and situations of women’s football.
The Task Force proposes that FIFA issue a strategy and plan to make football more female-friendly by increasing the number of female coaches, referees and other officials. The Task Force also agrees that, in order to continue to develop competitions, in addition to the creation of a FIFA Women’s Club World Cup (currently a work-in-progress), the number of teams and matches at confedera-tion level for FIFA tournament qualifiers of all age categories should be increased.
The Task Force proposes that FIFA issue a declaration stating that football at all levels should be funded without discrimination as to gender in fair financial proportion to its participation levels and potential, and provide guidelines for all football stakeholders to achieve this. It also proposes the development and implementation of a high-growth commercial strategy for women’s football to make it the highest economically valuable women’s sport in the world. This proposal includes conducting a research programme to analyse the current market value of women’s football and the commercial and public interest in the sport.
Among other topics discussed during today’s meeting were the newly launched Female Leadership Development Programme and the next International Women’s Day conference due to take place in March 2016. The Task Force for Women’s Football will now present the outcomes of this meeting to the FIFA Executive Committee for approval. Å
tfw
W O M E N ’S F O O T B A L L
More integration for womenThe calls to action made at the sixth FIFA Women’s Football Symposium, held during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, were central to the discus-
sions of the FIFA Task Force for Women’s Football which met in Zurich in mid August.
Football is more than a game. With 300 million active players and 1.6 billion people directly or indirectly associated with our sport, it plays a powerful role from an economic, social and spiritual
perspective.Football has the power to bring people together – and to educate them. This was the fundamental idea when we launched the Inter-national Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at Switzerland’s University of Neuchatel exactly 20 years ago. Together with De Montfort Uni-versity in Leicester and the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, we created an offering that enables students to receive sports management training and gain an internationally recognised degree, the FIFA Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport. The programme has been a resounding success, with 20 partner univer-sities on four continents becoming involved since its launch.
The course offers the ideal blend of theory and practice, enabling students to meet leading figures from the world of sport and estab-lish a valuable network of contacts. By providing this opportunity, we are generating the human resources and guaranteeing the exper-tise required to give football an organisational, administrative and logistical foundation for the future.
Football is part of our society, captivating people from every world religion and all ethnic and social groups. Its core values – dis-cipline, respect and fair play – should also guide our path in our everyday lives. The FIFA Master combines these qualities with aca-demic work and, most importantly, reflects the educational power of our sport. Whatever applies on the pitch must also apply beyond the touchline – in families, communities and educational institutions. Football has immense potential to act as a school of life.
I have been asked whether this educational programme will con-tinue after the extraordinary Congress next February. The answer is simple: of course it will! Neither CIES nor FIFA are dependent on individuals. They thrive on ideas, philosophies, passion, hope and emotions. The ball will keep on rolling, no matter who leads FIFA.
The leaders of tomorrow
23T H E F I FA W E E K LY
“I’M NOT SOMEONE WHO GETS JEALOUS” D
anie
l Del
ang
24
After so many years in the shadow of Franz Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeness, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is now the figurehead of Bayern Munich. Roland Zorn interviewed the retired world-class striker.
K A R L - H E I N Z R U M M E N I G G E
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, you turn 60 on 25 September, having now spent more than 34 years with Germany’s most successful club as a world-class player, vice-president and, since 2002, as chairman of Bayern München AG’s executive board. Do you ever marvel at this seemingly inseparable partnership?
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: Good fortune is part and parcel of life. When Bayern Munich called us at home and asked me if I could imagine playing for a club that was already internationally renowned at that point, it gave my mother a wonderful shock. When, as a 19-year-old in 1974, I moved from West-phalian amateur side Borussia Lippstadt to Munich for a transfer fee of 17,500 Deutsch-mark, I sensed that this was my big opportu-nity. As for my second career as one of Bay-ern’s foremost representatives, I can only say that I had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. I've tried to use the chances I’ve been given after hanging up my boots to serve the club as decisively as a strik-er in front of the opposition’s goal.
You were known for being quite shy during your first year as a Bayern player.
That’s not all that surprising when you start your career at 19 in a team of global stars and luminaries such as Franz Becken-bauer, Gerd Muller, Sepp Maier or Uli Hoeness, who had just been crowned world champions in Munich.
What then gave you that all-important boost on your journey to becoming a world-class striker?
The good Lord gave me talent and, after a brief phase of settling in, I felt a duty to make something decent of it. My professional career progressed smoothly after that.
Looking at the titles you have won, it seems impossible to argue with that assessment.
My time as a player was wonderful pri-marily because being a professional always gives you the chance to make an impact. My experiences overseas at the end of my career were also very helpful, particularly at Inter Milan but also at Servette. The years I spent away from Munich inspired me for life. I’m
still benefiting from that experience in my second career, as my colleagues and I need to ensure that financial conditions are right and that the club is being led in a sound and responsible way.
You have been regarded as Bayern’s ‘foreign minister’ for some time now, due to your strong international connections and your role as chairman of the European Club Association in particular. How did this come about?
Football has enabled me to see the whole world, and in this sport, as in many other lines of work, it’s extremely important to have a network. To do that, you have to get out and about a lot and enjoy travelling. You’re constantly seeing and learning some-thing new and establishing connections with people who may be able to help you one day. I did a huge amount of travelling while serving as Bayern Munich vice-president between 1991 and 2002, partly to better understand other clubs such as Ajax, Manchester United or Real Madrid. In doing so, I was able to constantly develop in the slipstream of our then-president Franz Beckenbauer and general manager Uli Hoeness, and I made the most of this opportunity. Back then you could still jump in at the deep end with a lifebelt, whereas in today’s world, where everything you do or fail to do is followed pretty closely by the public, you have to take that leap without any such protection.
As the heart and soul of Bayern for so many years, local hero Beckenbauer and Swabian Hoeness were always more popular than you and constantly seemed to be the main attrac-tion. Did that ever bother you?
I’m not someone who gets jealous. In any case, Franz’s charm and his Bavarian manner are unparalleled, and my friend Uli was always our club’s guiding light. Everyone gets the attention they deserve. As a somewhat less emotional Westphalian, it was always a joy and an extremely pleasant experience to work alongside both of them.
You captained West Germany on 51 occasions, pulling on the armband at a young age just as you did for your club. Is this experience still
“ The years I spent away from Munich, playing in Milan and Geneva, inspired me for li fe.”
Dan
iel D
elan
g
25T H E F I FA W E E K LY
Talented and dedicated
Rummenigge as West Germany
captain at the 1986 World Cup (top
right), as a young Bayern striker in
1981 (bottom left) and today. D
anie
l Del
ang
(2),
Get
ty Im
ages
,imag
o
26
K A R L - H E I N Z R U M M E N I G G E
useful now that you are leading a club with 258,000 members – more than any other team in the world – and annual revenues of 540 million euro?
Undoubtedly. Anyone given such respon-sibility must also act responsibly and do all they can for the good of this great club. I once asked Dr Martin Winterkorn, chair-man of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG and a member of our Super-visory Board, how he leads a group with 600,000 employees, and he simply an-swered: “With good people.” Here at Bayern we also have good people and extremely solid hierarchies. Our club has been set up extremely well, and everyone knows what is required of them.
There has also been consistent and rapid growth at this world-class club...
We have seen some breathtaking in-creases in both members and revenues in the past. Whenever that happens, we have to take care to ensure that everything stays healthy and that we can handle those heady heights without gasping for breath. Failing
that, someone has to be there to bring you back down to earth, because when you’re flying high you always need someone who lets you have the odd rough landing.
Having married your childhood sweetheart Martina and as the father of five grown-up children, have you changed with age?
I’ve got a more relaxed attitude towards my grandchildren than I had towards my own children. I generally try to be as laid-back as possible about everything that comes my way.
Would you have preferred to be a profes-sional footballer in the current era?
I’ve never asked myself that question. I only know that the sport moves faster now than it did during the best years of my career. I once told our captain Philipp Lahm: “You’re better professionals now than we used to be – far more serious and intense.” These days there are far greater demands on players in every respect. Although they earn much more than we did in those days, they’ve got to do far more to earn it. Å
“I once told our captain Philipp Lahm: ‘You’re better professionals now than we used to be – far more serious and intense.’”
Speedy dribbler, thought ful analystIn his playing days as a striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was an expert dribbler whose other outstanding qualities included his speed and powerful shot. He became a star at Bayern Munich, where he scored 162 goals in ten years before moving to Inter Milan in 1984. That transfer creat-ed headlines across the globe after the Italian club agreed to pay a fee of 11 million Deutsch Marks. At the start of the 1980s Bayern’s annual turnover was approximately 16 million Deutsch Marks; nowadays it is 530 million Euro.Rummenigge was voted European Player of the Year in 1980 and 1981 and scored 45 goals in 95 appearances for the German national team. In 1980 he won the Euro-pean Championship with Germany in Italy, and later captained the side at the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World
Cups™, finishing a runner-up each time. The 59-year-old has been a member of Bayern’s executive board since 1991 and chairman since 2002, when the club became a public limited company.After club president Uli Hoeness’ tax affair in 2014, Rummenigge became the new face of Bayern. In contrast to Hoeness, a businessman who often made decisions based on his gut feeling and emotion, Rummenigge is more rational and analytical. In the summer of 2012 it was he who brought in Matthias Sammer as sporting director.Rummenigge is married and has five adult children. He is extremely active in the football community and has presided over the European Club Association since 2008.
sca
Dan
iel D
elan
g (2
), G
etty
Imag
es,im
ago
27T H E F I FA W E E K LY
“A great player and a great bloke, but boy he could drink,” said Marston. “The selectors, they never liked Reg-gie. He was too much of a larrikin. They couldn’t handle him.” Football in that era could be hugely physical, and it was an environment in which the stocky but powerful-ly-built Date thrived.
A real team playerDespite his roguish nature and physically imposing style, Date was renowned not only for his technique and finesse, but as a team man who played with old-fashioned sporting values. “Never did I see a footballer play the game more fairly,” Jack Mathews, sporting editor of the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, said following Date’s retirement. “Never did I see one more brilliant, one more spectacular or dangerous to his opposition than was Date. Date was all those things, yet was always a team man who shunned every chance to shine as an individual.”
This prolific striker reportedly turned down offers to play with Cardiff City and for Glasgow Rangers, in moves that would have pre-dated Marston’s breakthrough move to the mother country by several years. Reg Flewin, captain of an England XI which toured Australia in 1951, said of the local hero: “He’d be a top-liner in an English team.”
Date, who grew up in Newcastle’s outer suburbs, was never coached as a young player. His upbringing was against the backdrop of a working-class city, where the local coal and steel industries were the dominant employers. As a
A charismatic and colourful character off the field, Reg Date’s scoring record was nothing short of astonish-ing. From his debut as a raw-boned teenager in 1937 until his final outing in 1954, Date tallied an incred-ible 664 goals across club and representative matches. “The best Australian player I ever played with or
against,” was how he was described by Joe Marston, Aus-tralia’s football pioneer of the era, who enjoyed a high-pro-file career in England decades before his compatriots did so.
On several occasions, Date has been referred to as the ‘Don Bradman of Australian football’, in reference to the Australian cricketer of the same era who, statistically, is unquestionably that game’s greatest player. Yet the New-castle-born Date, who passed away 20 years ago aged 74, is barely known even in Australia’s football community, let alone further afield.
Partly that is a result of the era in which he played, when – unlike today – media coverage was minimal. During that period Australia’s sporting focus only infrequently turned to football, a situation that largely remained the case until a decade ago.
Partly too it was a reflection on the personality of a man who eschewed the limelight, following his own path. Date worked as a coalminer during the week, and was seemingly happy to play on weekends with the local team. Never one to follow a conservative path, he owned a pub in a tough neigh-bourhood just down from the docks in Newcastle, and was known to enjoy partaking in boxing, even in his latter years.
H I S T O R Y
Australia’s forgotten goalscoring king
The history of football is littered with supremely gifted players who, for one reason or another, never attained the kind of enduring star status that their talent deserved. Australia’s Reg Date is undoubtedly one such player.
Stars Down Under Gordon Nunn, Bob Lawrie, Alan Johns and Reg Date (left to right).
Jack
Pol
lard
’s S
occe
r Re
cord
s
Laur
ie S
chw
ab c
olle
ctio
n / D
eaki
n
28 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
result, Newcastle was arguably the home of Australian soc-cer in the 1930s and ‘40s. Date’s local team, Wallsend, was the epicentre of the game in Newcastle, with their Crystal Palace ground playing host to international matches during that period.
Encouraged by his grandmother, Date practised as a youngster by kicking a tennis ball against the wall of the local power station. This self-taught approach mirrored that of Bradman, in fact, who famously honed his skills by hit-ting a golf ball with a cricket stump against a corrugated -iron water tank.
Date scored hundreds of goals at junior level, and in one season reportedly scored seven or more every time he took to the field. Wallsend soon called and the 16-year-old stepped seamlessly into the rough-and-tumble of senior football in a working man’s town.
His rare on-field ability and off-field magnetic persona quickly made Date a hero. And the local boy-made-good flourished in familiar surroundings. He spent his entire ca-reer at his hometown club, aside from three typically pro-lific seasons with top Sydney side Canterbury. One season in Sydney produced a record 73 goals, a tally that will sure-ly never be surpassed.
Brief taste of glorySadly, though, Date’s international career in the national team colours was brief. While it spanned six years, he only played in five full internationals, all of which came over the
H I S T O R Y
course of a single month during 1947. Date, however, typi-cally displayed his ability for the exceptional by scoring after just four minutes of his debut against South Africa, en route to a tally of eight goals in his five outings.
World War II and the paucity of internationals played by Australia were contributing factors to Date’s limited out-ings in the green and gold. But equally, according to his contemporaries, were his brushes with officialdom.
“He [Date] was the outstanding player of those years, no doubt about that,” Australia forward of the era Frank Par-sons said of his fellow Novocastrian. “[But] Reg was outspo-ken. Reg didn’t make either of those tours to New Zealand [1948] or South Africa [1950] and he should have made both of them. He should have been the first picked to go to New Zealand.
“We had a few nights together in Newcastle and enjoyed each other’s company. He just loved to talk about soccer. Reg was a character and that pub of his... He was a tough hom-bre, Reg – the right man for a hotel.”
Australia has produced numerous headline names in recent years, but the Socceroos’ lineage stretches back to arguably the greatest of them all – a knockabout coalminer with little interest in fame or fortune, simply playing the game he loved. Å
Peter Smith
664 goals Reg Date (right) was considered by many Australians to be the best player in the world between 1937 and 1953.
Jack
Pol
lard
’s S
occe
r Re
cord
s
Laur
ie S
chw
ab c
olle
ctio
n / D
eaki
n
29T H E F I FA W E E K LY
Football builds bridges. It has a unique power to inspire friendship, respect and equality. FIFA’s Say No To Racism campaign is part of our commitment to tackle all forms of discrimination in football. Everyone should have the right to play and enjoy football without fear of discrimination. Say no to racism. For more information visit FIFA.com
Football breaks down barriers
Millions of children across the globe pursue their passion by playing football, although only a few of them will succeed in turning
their hobby into a job. For the vast majority, playing professionally will remain but a dream. As well as having the requisite discipline and being in the right place at the right time, talent is vital. Footballers who have a little bit more than others are therefore truly blessed, and it hardly seems fair for a player to possess other special gifts in addition to their on-field abili-ties. Sometimes such talents are in entirely unexpected areas.
New Manchester United signing Bastian Schweinsteiger, for example, could also have become a professional skier. He has often told the anecdote from his youth of when he beat his friend Felix Neureuther, who is Germany’s best downhill skier, in a race. Schweinsteiger is also a keen basketball player and during his time at Bayern Munich he would regularly watch the club’s basketball team in action.
Andrey Arshavin, who joined Kuban Kras-nodar this summer, is a fashion designer. He once admitted that his decision to study de-sign alongside playing football was primarily to meet women, but now he has his own cloth-ing line. Arsenal striker Theo Walcott, mean-while, is an author and has already published
several children’s books about a boy called T.J whose most fervent desire is to become a pro-fessional footballer.
Another example is Italy international Mario Balotelli, who caused great surprise two years ago by playing the national anthem on the piano for team-mate Andrea Pirlo. Football-ers have long been drawn to music and it is now difficult to imagine the build-up to a match without the sight of players sporting oversized headphones. Occasionally there are also play-ers who take to the microphone themselves.
Kevin Keegan was one of them, having stormed the charts in 1979 with the song Head over heels in love. The German national team did likewise in 1990 when they collaborated with Udo Jurgens on Wir sind schon auf dem Brenner (“We’re raring to go”). Whether or not the players actually had any singing talent is open to debate, but they did go on to win the FIFA World Cup™ later that year. Å
Annette Braun
Hidden talents
The week ly column by our s t a f f wr iters
F R E E K I C K S P O T L I G H T O N
GENERAL INFORMATION
Country:Côte-d’IvoireFIFA Trigramme:
CIVConfederation:
CAFContinent:
AfricaCapital:
Yamoussoukro
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Surface area:322,461 km²Highest point:
Mont Nimba 1,752 mNeighbouring seas and oceans:
Atlantic Ocean
MEN’S FOOTBALLFIFA Ranking:
21thWorld Cup:
3 Appearances 2006, 2010, 2014Best performance:
Group stage 2006, 2010, 2014
WOMEN’S FOOTBALLFIFA Ranking:
67thWorld Cup:
1 Appearances 2015
Best performance:Group stage, 2015
LATEST RESULTSMen’s:
Gabon - Côte-d’Ivoire 0:0 14 June 2015
Women’s:Côte-d’Ivoire - Zimbabwa 3:0
(Forfeit) 19 July 2015
FIFA INVESTMENTSSince 2002:
$ 4,728,279Mar
io W
agne
r / 2
Age
nten
31T H E F I FA W E E K LY
M I R R O R I M AG E
T H E N
Guadalajara, Mexico
1970
West German internationals Siggi Held (left) and Berti Vogts take a break during the FIFA World Cup.
imag
o
Dom
inic
Ste
inm
ann/
Key
ston
e
32 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
M I R R O R I M AG E
N O W
2015
Daniel Hoegh (left) and Marc Janko enjoy some downtime during Basel’s summer training camp.
Crans-Montana, Switzerland
imag
o
Dom
inic
Ste
inm
ann/
Key
ston
e
33T H E F I FA W E E K LY
T H E A R T O F F O O T B A L L Q U O T E S O F T H E W E E K
“I want to kiss him tonight .”Louis van Gaal on Memphis Depay after the
Dutchman’s double against Club Brugge
“I f Lazio have invested that
amount of money, it ’s because it
represents my value.”Sergej Milinkovic-Savic on his transfer to Lazio
“ There’s a real lack of excitement,
a lack of qualit y more than anything.
Newcast le at home, you should be
beating them. I f you’re going to win
the league, you need to be winning
these types of games.”Paul Scholes on his former club
Manchester United
“He lef t through the back door, when
all the doors were open to him and the
red carpet was unrolled.”French coach Elie Baup on Marcelo Bielsa’s
exit from Marseille
“Is Gigi the best in Italian history?
No, but he is the best of his generation.
For the greatest, there’s Zof f. And even
during my era there was Zenga, and
then Peruzzi. But Buf fon is a great
goalkeeper. And he could still be like
Zof f – he could play in the World Cup at
40. He is still in shape and playing well.
I cer tainly hope he makes it to Russia.”Retired Italian goalkeeper Stefano Tacconi
“Why? Some other clubs, they are
disappointed for 15 years and the
manager is the same.”Jose Mourinho responds to being asked if he was surprised Manuel Pellegrini was handed
a new Manchester City contract
What does a bird see when it flies over a football stadium during the final of a European Championship? It sees
things differently to spectators watching at home in front of their television screens, where the match can be experienced with close-up and slow motion replays. Of course, the bird also sees things from a to-tally different perspective to the players themselves, who face each other at eye lev-el down below and can never gain an over-view of the entire pitch. The best way to appreciate a bird’s eye view of such a final is to view the images of photographer An-dreas Gursky, specifically his EM Arena series dating back to 2000. Long before television broadcasters were covering matches from this camera perspective – the first such example was at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2005 – Gursky de-fined this view of the beautiful game as a work of art.
We can now only guess at how exciting this series of photographs must have been to their original audience 15 years ago. Af-ter all, we have since become accustomed to dramatic visualisations enabling us to understand the game by using aerial shots to show specific moves and shifts in play.
Gursky’s view is that of a cold-hearted deity. Players from both sides recede into the background as a series of indistin-guishable individuals with no physical fea-tures or even any star faces recognisable among them. The fact that they can be recognised at all means they simply serve to depict what is unfolding below, reduced to nothing more than individual building blocks in the overall structure of football.
Gursky is well known for capturing photographs in which the individual com-ponents are secondary to the ornamental flatness of the overall subject. His interior views of libraries shrink individual books down to mere pixels, while something sim-ilar happens to the huge quantities of con-fectionery stacked in the aisles of a super-market, the individual apartments that comprise the façade of a colossal residen-tial complex or hundreds of brokers jos-tling on a Chicago trading floor.
What would a bird see if it looked at Gursky’s EM Arena images? It would prob-ably see nothing at all, as it is not trained to have any particular interest in people, let alone footballers, although the bold stripes mowed into the grass might briefly catch its eye. Any human football fan viewing the pictures, however, sees a match frozen in mid-flow – and perhaps that is exactly what makes these photo-graphs so engaging. They awaken the de-sire to step in and press the play button, enabling the game to continue and allow-ing the players to continue a move inter-rupted by the click of a camera’s shutter. After all, everyone knows that football is the most beautiful game in the world – when the ball is rolling. Å
Of birds and menRonald Duker
© A
ndre
as G
ursk
y
35T H E F I FA W E E K LY
Co
ca-C
ola
and
the c
onto
ur
bo
ttle
are
reg
iste
red
tra
dem
ark
s o
f th
e C
oca-C
ola
Co
mp
any.
sharecocacola.com#shareacocacola
Share a
with
NameManuel PascaliDate and place of birth9 September 1981, Milan, ItalyPositionMidfielder / central defenderClubs played for2000–2002 Sant’Angelo2002–2003 Alessandria2003–2005 Pizzighettone2005–2007 Carpenedolo2007–2008 Parma2007–2008 Foligno (loan)2008–2015 Kilmarnocksince 2015 CittadellaMajor honoursScottish League Cup 2012
Seven years. That’s a long time for some-one like me. After all, I’d never spent more than two seasons with the same team before I went to Scotland. But that’s how long my adventure with Kil-lie, Scottish Premier League side Kilmar-
nock, lasted: seven years. Every story must come to an end, though, especially the most beautiful ones.
I arrived in East Ayrshire in 2008, after a wonderful time with Foligno in Italy’s C1, the country’s third tier, helping them achieve promo-tion to Serie B and sharing a dressing room with the likes of Massimo Volta, Marco Parolo and Fabrizio Cacciatore, who all play in Serie A now.
As soon as I arrived in Kilmarnock and Scot-land I felt right at home. Killie will always be my team, though I’ve been more than happy at every club I’ve played for. I pulled on their jersey in more than 200 games and captained the side for my last four years as an Italian abroad, with the highlight being the historic League Cup win in 2012.
The Killie score is the first one I look for when I come back from training on a Saturday. But then last February – when the coach was sacked and our top-flight status was in jeop-ardy after picking up only three points in eight games – they told me there was no longer a place for me in the team.
Even though I was the skipper, they told me that if I wanted to renew my contract I’d have to take a 60-percent pay cut and pay my own rent. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’d have had a job making ends meet and getting to the end of the month.
It wasn’t easy, but in view of all that and the fact that a very close relative of mine was ill back home, I decided to return to Italy. I was scared to begin with. I knew nothing about the new Lega Pro and there were all these doubts in my head.However, I was keen to return to Italy, to a divi-sion I’d never played in and prove – to myself more than anyone else – that I could make the grade.
After a month and a half I can honestly say that I’m having a lot of fun. I know I’ve got a lot of football left in me and I’m itching to achieve something special. I’ve always believed that if you work hard you can achieve big things, and it’s that commitment that’s helped me forge a career I can be proud of. All I want to do is to keep the story going.
Cittadella’s a very close-knit and friendly club and they live and breathe football here. I’d only been here a month when they offered me a contract extension, which just goes to show that I’ve still got a lot to offer in this sport, even to Kilmarnock, where I’m aiming to go back one day, this time as a coach. Å
Manuel Pascali was talking to Emanuele Giulianelli
Manuel Pascali spent seven years playing in Scotland before a drastically reduced contract suddenly forced him to return to Italy.
“Initially, I was scared to return”
In Turning Point , personali t ies re f lec t on a decisive moment in their l ives .
T U R N I N G P O I N TA
.S. C
itta
della
37T H E F I FA W E E K LY
1 Argentina 0 1425
2 Belgium 1 1244
3 Germany -1 1226
4 Colombia 0 1218
5 Brazil 1 1186
6 Portugal 1 1177
7 Romania 1 1166
8 England 1 1157
9 Wales 1 1155
10 Chile 1 1124
11 Spain 1 1110
12 Netherlands -7 1032
13 Croatia 1 1023
14 Slovakia 1 1016
14 Austria 1 1016
16 Italy 1 1001
17 Switzerland 1 997
18 Uruguay -5 988
19 Algeria 0 941
20 Czech Republic 0 933
21 Côte d’Ivoire 0 912
22 Albania 14 888
23 France -1 882
24 Iceland -1 877
25 Denmark -1 876
26 Mexico 14 838
27 Ghana -2 827
28 Bosnia and Herzegovina -2 819
29 USA 5 816
30 Ukraine -3 791
31 Russia -3 782
32 Scotland -3 774
33 Poland -3 769
34 Tunisia -2 768
35 Hungary -4 763
36 Ecuador -1 758
37 Sweden -4 752
38 Costa Rica 3 728
39 Senegal 0 722
40 Northern Ireland -3 721
41 Iran -3 718
42 Cameroon 0 667
43 Congo 4 666
44 Greece 0 661
45 Turkey 3 627
46 Slovenia 3 626
47 Israel 4 620
48 Venezuela -3 617
49 Peru -3 612
50 Cape Verde Islands 2 608
50 Republic of Ireland 2 608
52 Egypt 3 606
53 Nigeria 4 601
54 Korea Republic -2 599
55 Jamaica 21 596
56 Trinidad and Tobago 8 595
56 Japan -6 595
58 Paraguay -2 588
59 Congo DR 1 555
60 Guinea -2 552
61 Australia -2 551
62 Equatorial Guinea 1 546
63 Mali -2 545
64 Gabon 1 544
65 Panama -3 528
66 Serbia -23 523
67 Bolivia -1 515
68 Norway -1 495
69 Bulgaria -1 489
70 United Arab Emirates -1 484
71 Burkina Faso 1 482
72 South Africa -2 478
73 Zambia -2 465
74 Uganda -1 463
75 Faroe Islands -1 456
76 Uzbekistan -1 452
77 Montenegro 4 423
78 Estonia 4 420
79 China PR -2 416
80 Togo 3 415
81 Honduras -1 409
82 Cyprus 3 391
82 Morocco 2 391
84 Haiti -5 387
85 Iraq 1 386
86 Latvia 1 377
87 Sudan 3 375
88 Armenia 1 373
89 Angola 3 371
89 Finland 1 371
91 Rwanda -13 369
92 Jordan 0 357
93 Saudi Arabia -1 351
94 Libya 2 345
95 Qatar 1 344
96 Belarus 4 341
97 Mozambique -2 339
98 Malawi 10 335
99 Ethiopia 2 330
99 Oman 3 330
101 Canada 2 323
102 Niger -6 312
103 FYR Macedonia 2 311
104 Sierra Leone 7 304
105 Antigua and Barbuda 2 303
106 Azerbaijan 2 302
107 Lithuania 3 301
108 Zimbabwe 4 299
108 Guatemala -3 299
110 El Salvador -22 289
111 Namibia 3 284
112 Bahrain 1 282
113 Mauritania 15 273
114 Benin -18 269
115 St Vincent and the Grenadines 0 268
116 Kenya 0 266
117 Syria 0 259
118 Palestine 1 255
119 St Kitts and Nevis 1 254
119 Cuba -15 254
121 Botswana -1 253
122 Madagascar 0 251
123 Belize -5 242
124 Korea DPR 5 240
125 Philippines -1 239
126 Kuwait -3 237
127 Moldova -3 236
128 Lesotho 3 229
129 Dominican Republic -3 224
130 Lebanon 0 223
131 St Lucia -4 220
132 Swaziland 6 218
132 Burundi -1 218
134 Afghanistan 0 212
135 Bermuda 1 209
135 New Zealand 1 209
137 Aruba -2 201
138 Barbados 3 198
139 Thailand 1 197
140 Tanzania -1 194
141 Kazakhstan 1 193
142 Gambia 1 191
142 Guinea-Bissau -9 191
144 Nicaragua -1 188
145 Luxembourg 1 187
146 Guam 8 185
147 Liechtenstein 0 182
148 Curaçao 1 173
149 Turkmenistan 3 172
150 Puerto Rico 0 169
151 Hong Kong 3 168
152 Guyana 7 167
153 Vietnam -10 166
154 Georgia -1 165
155 Singapore -5 162
156 Kyrgyzstan 1 160
156 India 0 160
158 Tajikistan -10 159
159 Malta -1 157
160 Grenada 0 153
161 Liberia 0 150
162 Myanmar 0 142
M E N ’ S W O R L D R A N K I N G
Rank Team +/- Points
163 Timor-Leste 2 130
164 Bhutan 2 128
165 Suriname -2 124
165 Indonesia -1 124
167 New Caledonia 0 118
168 Malaysia 0 116
169 Central African Republic 1 111
170 Bangladesh -1 102
171 Pakistan 1 101
172 Chad 1 100
173 Dominica 1 98
174 Yemen -3 96
175 Maldives 1 90
176 US Virgin Islands -1 88
177 Laos 0 86
178 Montserrat 0 74
179 Chinese Taipei 0 72
180 Cambodia 1 66
181 Mauritius -1 63
182 Sri Lanka 1 62
183 Brunei Darussalam 1 61
184 Nepal 1 57
185 Seychelles 1 56
186 Comoros 1 50
186 Tahiti 2 50
188 Macau -7 49
189 São Tomé e Príncipe 0 48
189 Cayman Islands 0 48
191 Solomon Islands 0 47
192 San Marino 0 40
193 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 33
194 British Virgin Islands 0 27
195 South Sudan 0 22
196 Vanuatu 1 20
197 Samoa -1 19
198 Fiji 1 17
198 Tonga -1 17
200 American Samoa 1 12
201 Papua New Guinea 1 9
201 Andorra 1 9
203 Eritrea 1 8
204 Mongolia 1 6
204 Somalia 1 6
206 Djibouti 1 4
206 Cook Islands 1 4
208 Anguilla 1 0
208 Bahamas -8 0
http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/index.html
Rank Team +/- Points Rank Team +/- Points Rank Team +/- Points
LeaderMoves into top tenMoves out of top tenMatches played in totalMost matches playedBiggest move by pointsBiggest move by ranksBiggest drop by pointsBiggest drop by ranks
Argentina (unchanged)Chile (10th, up 1)Netherlands (12th, down 7)29Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, USA (6 matches each)Albania (up 166 points)Jamaica (up 21 ranks)Germany (down 185 points)Serbia (down 23 ranks)
Last updated:6 August 2015
38 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
P U Z Z L E
5 3 7 6
7 5 3 9
3 7 9 6
9 7 5
1
4 6 8
8 5 1 3
7 3 2 1
1 8 6 4
6 3 7 5
1 3 7
1 9 4
9 6 5 2
1 2
4 2 3 8
7 5 2
3 6 7
4 5 1 2
2 8
8 9 3
1 7 9 8
6 3 8 1 2
9 4
4 5 3 1 9
3 1 5 6
7 2 5
6 3
1
2
3
EASY
MEDIUM
HARD
The objective of Sudoku is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each of the numbers from 1 to 9 appears exactly once in each column, row and 3x3 sub-grid.
Published weekly by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
PublisherFIFA, FIFA-Strasse 20, PO box, CH-8044 Zurich
Phone +41-(0)43-222 7777, Fax +41-(0)43-222 7878
PresidentJoseph S. Blatter
Secretary GeneralJérôme Valcke
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Nicolas Maingot (a. i.)
Chief EditorPerikles Monioudis
Staff WritersAlan Schweingruber (Deputy Editor),
Annette Braun, Sarah Steiner
Art DirectionCatharina Clajus
Picture EditorPeggy Knotz, Andreas Wilhelm (Deputy)
LayoutRichie Kroenert (Lead), Tobias Benz, Susanne Egli
Proof ReaderNena Morf (Lead), Martin Beran, Kristina Rotach
ContributorsRonald Dueker, Luigi Garlando, Sven Goldmann, Andreas Jaros,
Jordi Punti, Thomas Renggli, David Winner, Roland Zorn
Contributors to this IssueSteve Freekins, Emanuele Giulianelli,
Mark Gleeson, Peter Smith
Editorial AssistantsAlissa Rosskopf
ProductionHans-Peter Frei
Project ManagementBernd Fisa, Christian Schaub
Translationwww.sportstranslations.com
PrinterZofinger Tagblatt AG
Internetwww.fifa.com/theweekly
Reproduction of photos or articles in whole or in part is only permitted with prior editorial approval and if attributed
“The FIFA Weekly, © FIFA 2015”. The editor and staff are not obliged to publish unsolicited manuscripts and photos.
FIFA and the FIFA logo are registered trademarks of FIFA. Made and printed in Switzerland.
Any views expressed in The FIFA Weekly do not necessarily reflect those of FIFA. Pu
zzle
s co
urte
sy: o
pens
ky.c
a/su
doku
39T H E F I FA W E E K LY
FOOTBALL FOR HOPE
To fi nd out more, visit the Sustainability section on FIFA.com.
Football for Hope is our global commitment to building a better future through football. To date, we have supported over 550 socially-responsible community projects that use football as a tool for social development, improving the lives and prospects of young people and their surrounding communities
