The right team won

I supported Senegal unapologetically in the CAF final between Senegal and Morocco. No matter what I would have supported a country I have visited a few times and where I have always enjoyed. But their 0-1 victory after extra time was so much sweeter as it happened against a home side that seemed to have all the favours in a final they felt entitled to.

It was towards the end when Senegal had a goal annulled for a very small free kick. In my view it can be defended, those decisions are always bound to have subjectivity, but what happened after this made it more suspicious, as Morocco was awarded a penalty for an equally subjective reason, a fault of those that can or can’t be awarded. I think that it would likely not have been awarded had it not been for a home team in a final…

Things exploded with the Senegalese players leaving the match, but in the end the penalty was finally taken and missed…

Brahim Diaz thought he could pull a Panenka, but it was the worst Panenka in history, arrogant surely, careless perhaps, and Edouard Mendy just caught it easily.

One felt better for Mendy as Moroccans had throughout the match in the most unsportsmanlike way tried to grab a towel he used to dry his gloves, and they could just watch as he saved, the match went into extra time, and Senegal won on a spectacular goal by Everton’s Idrissa Gueye.

Just sometimes there is justice in football, and Senegal winning the CAF was full blown justice.

Too good for Real Madrid

I have always admired Xabi Alonso as a player and manager, and that even though he played and managed a team that I am not fond about: Real Madrid.

But today proved that Xabi Alonso is probably too good for Real Madrid as the club announced that he is leaving "in mutual consent" after 8 months managing the side and following a 2-3 defeat to arch-rivals FC Barcelona in the Spanish Super-Cup final. Rumours swirl about Xabi Alonso being forced out by the players who never really adopted his ideas for the team. It is the example of a manager being too big for a club, as everything seems to indicate from his time in Bayer Leverkusen that Xavi Alonso is a decent and guy whose football ideas can give important results and that he is respected by his players. 

I hope to see Mr. Alonso succeed in a different club.

Another former player, Alvaro Arbeloa, will take over Real Madrid for now. The team is also trailing FC Barcelona in the league, and from what we saw with Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa will be struggling with a team of players who see themselves as the center of the world.

Some history: Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale is where Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami are currently playing until their impressive new stadium is ready in Miami. I have been there to see Inter Miami, but also visited it before it became the center of attention of the Messi-mania; namely when it was called Lockhart Stadium and was home to the now defunct Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. 

Inter Miami fans should know their history, and Ft. Lauderdale Strikers are part of that history, as they are a team that saw another time’s superstars play in the humidity of Florida. 

Originally known as the Washington Darts, Miami Gatos and Toros, the team became Ft. Lauderdale Strikers in 1976 when moving there from Miami as part of the North American Soccer League. At this time entrepreneurs were trying to introduce football in the USA, and Ft. Lauderdale Strikers became one of the teams that took up the mantle. Under English manager Ron Newman the Strikers hired legendary English goalkeeper Gordon Banks, and by 1980 had a roster than included superstars such as the Peruvian Teofilo Cubillas and the German striker Gerd Muller. The legendary George Best also played one short season at the Strikers. 

Despite the incredible players, success eluded the Strikers; they made it to the final of the 1980 NASL where they faced a New York Cosmos side that included Franz Beckenbauer, Pele and other international stars, and lost 0-3. After a few years decline the team relocated to Minnesota in 1983 before the NASL ended in 1984. The side enjoyed a short rebirth from 2006 to 2016 in a new NASL (which is when I went to watch them), but by 2017 had gone bankrupt, and the pieces were picked up by David Beckham and Inter Miami.

2025 Football memories

It has been a bit of a poor year in terms of football as we await next year's big but probably overblown World Cup. Time-difference did not help as I worked too much and was more often than not too tired to watch football.

That said, some footballing memories worth mentioning:

• Cruz Azul-Monterrey: I went to watch my favourite Mexican team, Cruz Azul, a few times, including this match, the debut of Sergio Ramos for Monterrey (he played one season in the side from Nuevo Leon) and the match ended 1-1
• Argentina-Brazil: Watched the match in a local bar in Mexico, and it was a mixture of delight and surprise as the World Champions of Argentina completely dominated their arch-rivals as I had seldomly seen. Argentina won 4-1 and this match qualified them to the World Cup and ensured that Brazil's coach lost his job to be replaced by the great Carlo Ancelotti.
• Independiente Medellin-Once Caldas: I happened to be in Medellin when one of the local sides played a league match against Once Caldas. Not a memorable match but a fantastic atmosphere in the beautiful Colombian city.
•  Crystal Palace-Manchester City: Probably the best result for a neutral in 2025, with Crystal Palace taking their first title ever by winning the FA Cup against mighty Manchester City!
•  Cruz Azul-Vancouver Whitecaps: Cruz Azul took the Concacaf Champions Cup at home by trashing the Canadian side Whitecaps 5-0. Despite the title it was generally not a great year for Cruz Azul against MLS sides, specially as the got trashed by Seattle Sounders 0-7 in the Leagues Cup...
• PSG-Inter Milan: Watched the CL final in a bar in Mexico with some very happy Frenchmen present, with all reason as PSG finally took the coveted title, and in awesome style, playing a fanastic match where the 5-0 victory was none too little. Great for the Manager Luis Enrique.
• PSG-Chelsea: The first club World Cup final was between PSG and Chelsea, and PSG were surely favourites, but were torn apart 3-0 by a highly motivated Chelsea, and sadly PSG, including Luis Enrique, were incredibly sore losers, making it an ugly final instead of the spectacle it should have been from what was surprisingly a great tournament.
• Morocco- Argentina: The two sides faced one another in the u-21 World Cup final, and the African side were by far the better team, and we will look forward to see some of these great youngsters in 2026.
• Denmark-Belarus: with a victory at home, Denmark could have qualified to the 2026 World Cup. But instead poor attitude left them with a 2-2, and in the next match Denmark lost to Scotland, ending second in a group they should have won. As many Denmark fans I was hugely disappointed, and now I doubt that they can take the play-off spot, even if the do, they will play Mexico in the city where I am currently residing...
• Cruz Azul-Chivas: Went to watch this match at the Olympic University Stadium in Mexico, where the home side won 3-2, but only after suffering and the veteran Chivas' striker Javier Hernandez awfully missing a penalty that could have put them in the final.

Wishing everybody a happy new year 2026, for all fans and their teams, to enjoy football no matter who wins and who loses, even for my Cruz Azul-supporting cat:

Trying to get World Cup tickets

Some people think that me living in Mexico makes it easier for me to find tickets for the coming World Cup. Not really; all normal fans, all over the world, are victims to the same FIFA ticketing mayhem that is already causing fan associations to complain.

I do not think it is surprising, as FIFA has for many years been accused of not considering the interests of the fans, and sadly this World Cup appears to confirming the accusation.

I have signed up for the tickets. The dynamic pricing is making them very expensive, and it is easy to argue that this is the nature of market mechanisms, and with an open reselling platform that allows us to resell tickets at any price, it is bound only to increase prices, making it even more inaccessible for the vast majority of people... And FIFA taking up to 15% of reselling price...

I am critical, but admit that I have signed up, and I am hopeful and willing to pay some of the (lower) prices despite it being a large expense. But at the same I am already getting ticket offers from many other platforms, and wonder who is benefiting from these platforms who offer "ticket guarantee" at exaggerated prices, and that on top of this, hospitality tickets are being offered for free to rich elites who seem to be those who could afford the high prices...

While I am open to a policy of dynamic pricing and even grudgingly that FIFA takes its own (high) fee, I would rather question the lack of transparency and equal opportunity access about who gets ticket; because let us face it, some fans are more equal that others...

Sadly, I have stopped having expectations to FIFA as the guarantor of the fans, but still hopeful that I may be able to see a match in the World Cup...