Visiting the tribe of the Arsenal

 When in London I found it appropriate to visit the Tribe of the Arsenal, at their strong home stadium of the Emirates. It happened that the defending English Champions were playing none other than their local rivals of Chelsea, a side that has disappointed last season but have their hopes up with their highly rated new manager, Xabi Alonso, who incidentally is a childhood friend of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

The two friends from San Sebastián facing one another as managers in a London derby is a beautiful football story.

And beautiful is also how I would describe the Arsenal tribe. I have been to many games in my life, in different countries, but never have I seen such variety in the fans. Fans of all ages, genders, nationalities, religiones and ethnicities converged at the Emirates, all with the common goal of seeing Arsenal win. It was refeshing to experience the religión of football bringing so many together, although I have no ilussion about football being peaceful.

Just more tribes.

Arsenal fans had barely sat down when Chelsea went ahead 0-1 by Morgan Rogers. The few Chelsea fans were jubilant but Arsenal fans did not stop their support, and in fact it was massive pressure on the Chelsea goal guarded by Dibu Martinez, another new signing, and very unpopular among English fans. Soon Arsenal had a goal cancelled by VAR for offside, but it was Kai Havertz who equalized on a sharp left footed kick at the near post out of Martinez’ range.

I think people expected more of Alonso’s Chelsea, who have started the season well. But despite the early goal and some good chances from the distance (one hitting the post), they were inferior to Arsenal, who nevertheless only took a narrow 2-1 victory. It was the popular Norwegian Martin Ødegaard who made it 2-1 on a beautiful combination that saw him through.

For Arsenal it is always great to defeat Chelsea, but they are also three wins out of three so far in the defense of their title, and look like a side with confidence and massive international support to defend their title.

It was a great experience to be at the Emirates. Whisky my cat will be jealous.

Gracias Leo

I have been a massive football fan since 1986, the year of Diego Armando Maradona, who still means the world to me. It has been forty years, but for half of that time, and for almost the entire lifetime of this very blog, there has been another Argentine who has dominated world football. '

I cannot deny that I have also been smitten by Lionel Messi. Although in my old nostalgic mind Diego remains the GOAT, I completely understand that young people who have grown up with Lionel Messi will always see him as the GOAT.

His statistics and trophies are undeniable, and he came to the fore at the exact same time as internet moved into the era of mass social media, thus creating a craze that has probably never been greater for any footballer. The narrative was perfect: the small shy kid from Argentina, taken in by one of the greatest teams in the world, where he became the legend amongst other superstars like Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi. Where his rivalry with another genius, Cristiano Ronaldo, became the stuff of epic battles, and where Messi contributed to making the Champions League the best in the world.

For a while success with Argentina eluded him, but in 2022 he carried Argentina to their first title since the one by the great Maradona. As Maradona, he made it to a final to defend the title, only to be defeated by his adopted country in an ugly match that seems not to have tainted his image.

Messi also took the craze to the USA, and Miami has strangely become one of the most popular teams in the world because of him alone. And for the last years of his career, he will only be seen there, as he announced his retirement from the national team.

It was expected, but still special. We are seeing the end of a legendary career.

I have seen Messi play twice: in Barcelona and in Miami. I have written a lot of posts about him on this blog; some very critical - some even angry. In his long career I have changed, just as he has changed. I do not feel I have a connection with Messi, but I cannot deny that I have followed his impressive career, and that he has also been part of my footballing life.

I guess that after all this reflection I just want to say thank you. I have been privileged to see you; privileged to live at the same time as you, one of the Greatest ever.

Gracias Leo. 

The fight for best third

Scotland is in a difficult group and yesterday they lost to Africa's second team (after the champions of Senegal) 0-1 on an early goal by the PSV striker Ismael Saibari. Scotland now have to face mighty Brazil, who will be pushing for a victory to take first place on goal difference, assuming that Morocco will defeat Haiti.

But in a tournament where the best 8 third placed teams go through, it would appear that Scotland has good chances of going through with three points (unless they get hammered by Brazil). Paraguay, who yesterday defeated Turkey, is also in a good position, and with a game left against Australia, they could even take second place. Other sides that are not so attractive even have a chance: Czechia, who tied the South Africans, could in theory pull through with a tie against Mexico, while Bosnia-Hercegovina would appear to have excellent chances by winning against the hapless Qataris in their last match.

I hope Scotland will pull through, even losing to Brazil. They will be fun to watch, not because they play good football, but because of their beer-drinking fans.

First day in Guadalajara

 If Denmark had qualified for the World Cup, they would have played South Corea in Guadalajara yesterday, and let me be blunt: Denmark would have lost bigger than the fighting Czechs, who are also very dangerous on set-pieces.

I was a bit disappointed about the atmosphere which was nowhere as electric as other matches. South Coreans far outnumbered Czechs, and Mexicans far outnumbered everybody in a beautiful Akron stadium that despite it all was not at full capacity…

The first half of the match was somewhat disappointing. South Corea had the ball and the chances, but appeared too elegant to be able to strike against a Czech side that were surely on the defensive, but played with heart. Ten minutes into the second half came the shocker for the Coreans: Ladislav Krejci brought the Czechs on 0-1 on a header, following one of the Czech specialties, namely set-pieces.

The Coreans were not stunned though, and scored a goal based on patience; they passed the ball around, almost making the stadium and Czechs falls asleep, until the explosion came. A pass to Hweong In-beom in the area and he skillfully cheated two defenders and the goalkeeper. 

Corea were the better team, but the Czechs played their chance. They pressed high and was dangerous with long balls, also seeking their dangerous set-pieces, and in fact appeared to have scored on one when the referee gave an apparent free kick to the Coreans. Instead, Oh Hyeon-gyu gave the Coreans the lead on a perfectly timed attack.

The final minutes of the match Czechia pressed and in fact managed to stress the otherwise better team of Corea, and came very close to an equalizer.

But Corea won, just as Mexico had done earlier in the day, 2-0 against South Africa in a sorry to say very poor match, where South Africa were not at any quality level of what you would expect of a World Cup team. So it is basically impossible to say anything of Mexico’s level on the basis of that match, and the real test will come in the next matches.

The World Cup is on. There is no magic; quite on the contrary, and as it has started, I find it hard to be in the slightest excited about it.

It will happen

There are so many doubts about the World Cup right now, due to the complex geopolitical situation. Some weeks ago I bought a ticket for the play-off match between Iraq and the winner of Bolivia/Surinam on March 31st, to take place in Monterrey. I am treating it as an excuse to visit the state of Nuevo Leon, including the iconic BBVA stadium, and see a match that will go into the history books of one of these nations.

But there have been many doubts about Iraq: due to the war in Iran, Iraqi airspace has been closed down, and until today there were doubts whether the team would even be able to make it to Mexico. Today the doubts seem to have been cast aside, and the match will go ahead as the Iraqi team will have chartered a private plane to take them to Mexico.

I am looking forward to my little pre-world cup adventure in Northern Mexico in a couple of weeks, and hope you will be able to read about it here, on this very blog :)  

The Champions League last-16 draw

One of the very few disadvantages of living in Mexico is that I am normally working during Champions League matches, and usually only watch the replays in the evening. But I certainly following a tournament that after its first rather dull format (I really wish they would return to the old format, but of course, it would be less matches and thus less money for the UEFA money-machine) we are now in the more exciting knock-out phase, and after some rather exciting play-off knock-out, have the draw for what will surely be a thoroughly exciting last-16:

• Paris St. Germain-Chelsea: The defending champions are facing the world champions in a repeat of the Club World Cup final, when Chelsea overran the Parisians. THIS is the match to watch
• Galatasaray-Liverpool: A match worth watching just because of the fans of both teams, some of the most passionate in the world (hopefully they will be nice...). Galatasaray eliminated Juventus over two extremely exciting matches.
• Real Madrid-Manchester City: Many people will perhaps say this is the match to watch, and surely two great teams, but real Madrid is always full of scandals, complaints and controversy that it is starting to overshadow its great history and the desire to watch them, while Manchester City to me is more and more becoming a soulless machine (that is not always working) that has lost its working class roots.
• Atalanta-Bayern Munich: Well, this will be exciting. Atalanta is known for its offensive style, and took out another German side, Borussia Dortmund, in style, winning 4-1 at home after losing 0-2 in Germany, and with fantastic goalkeeping. Bayern Munich is... well... just one of the best sides in the world...
• Newcastle-Barcelona: Everyone will be watching and betting on Barcelona, rightfully, against a Newcastle side that seems to be struggling in the PL and only made it here defeating the Azari surprise of Qarabag.
• Atletico Madrid-Tottenham: Don't watch this. Tottenham are as unwatchable as they are bad, and Atletico Madrid may be a strong side, but do not play to entertain, and can be rather destructive.
• Bodø/Glimt-Sporting Lisbon: The Norwegian side are the big surprise of the tournament and the darling of every neutral football fan, who will really want this small side from a small town hardly anyone has heard about, to upset the big sides. They surely have chances against a Portuguese side, who are generally known to underestimate the "smaller" sides, despite the fact that the Norwegians showed both style and discipline in defeating the top team in Italy, Inter Milan with 5-2 over two matches. Would it not be the best to see Bodø/Glimt in the quarterfinals?
• Bayer Leverkusen-Arsenal: Arsenal are favourites against a side that is only on 6th position in the Bundesliga, but at the same time the German's chance is that Arsenal are focusing on the race for the PL title. 

I hope I can take just a bit of time to watch... 

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:

Cruz Azul-Chivas

Last night Cruz Azul faced Chivas Guadalajara at home in the second leg of the Liga MX championship quarterfinals. The first match had ended 0-0 and there was a great atmosphere at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario with at least as many Chivas as Cruz Azul fans in what turned out to be a great match, but which also included the usual suffering that Cruz Azul is so known for.

In fact, Cruz Azul was dreadful in the first half. After only 8 minutes poor marking  following a corner kick gave Cade Cowell a chance he could not miss, and brought Chivas ahead. Only 6 minutes later the home team equalized by the Uruguayan striker Gabriel Fernandez in what was effectively their first attack. Despite this, Chivas continued a high pressure that made the Cruz Azul look shaky and full of mistakes, and Bryan Gonzalez brought Chivas ahead again following poor Cruz Azul defending.

There was not reason to be happy about Cruz Azul's first half, and while they came out with more pressure in the second half one still had the feeling that Chivas stood well as they pulled back. It was only in the 72nd minute, after steady Cruz Azul pressure, that Jeremy Marquez sneaked in the ball via the post and an equalizer that put Cruz Azul in the semifinals (because the team that ended higher in the league phase passes in case of a tie).

Cruz Azul is expert in suffering, and the following 20 minutes were suffering as Chivas put pressure on Cruz Azul. There were some close calls, but the event of the match came in the 86th minutes when Chivas was awarded a penalty. 

The veteran ex-Manchester United player, ex-Real Madrid player, Javier Hernandez ("Chicharito") was selected to take the penalty that would put Chivas with one leg in the semifinals. But as happens to any player, and to the delight of the suffering Cruz Azul fans, Chicharito completely overshot the goal, instead sending the ball into the stars above Mexico City.

Chivas continued attacking as the match went into 7 minutes of painful extra time. But exactly in the 97th minute Cruz Azul caught Chivas off guard, and the experienced Mexican midfielder Carlos Rodriguez lobbed the ball over the Chivas goalie to give Cruz Azul the 3-2 victory.

The semifinals will be interesting. Monterrey eliminated America in an intense match and will be facing the defending champions of Toluca in one semifinal, while Cruz Azul will face another Monterrey team, namely the Tigres of UNAM. Tigres progressed after coming from a 0-3 defeat to Tijuana to win 5-0 at home. 

Probably more suffering for Cruz Azul. 

 

Mexico Exhibition

Mexico is preparing for the World Cup. A World Cup that given its ticket prices is only to be witnessed by the wealthiest people... 

This World Cup is the third one to take place in Mexico, and a beautiful exhibition on Avenida Reforma, alongside the Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, shows this history through images by the outstanding artist Cynthia Saide. 

 

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was historical in many ways, but notably on one technological improvement: it was the first World Cup to be transmitted to the World in colour TV. 

The images of Pele, The King,  celebrating his third World Cup title in the mighty Azteca stadium after thoroughly defeating Italy in the final, were seen in colour across the World, and surely led to more of globalizing football.

But it was not only Brazil, Pele and colour TV (as well as some fantastic matches and a marvelous atmosphere) that made the 1970 World Cup special. The tournament also saw the introduction of one of the rules that we take for granted today: the use of yellow and red cards.

After the violence and questionable decisions of many matches in the 1966 World Cup, the introduction of this system was to try to curve the violence and give the players a warning before being sent off.

The first red card was awarded by the Turkish referee Dogan Babacan to the Chilean player Carlos Caszely in the first round match between Chile and West Germany.

And thus a rule was born on Mexico.

The 1986 World Cup in Mexico was not supposed to have been. The tournament had been awarded to Colombia, but Mexico stepped in when Colombia was unable to go ahead with the organization.

Despite a horrible earthquake barely a year before the tournament, Mexico stepped in to organize what to many people who lived it has been one of the best World Cups ever (and totally subjectively I include myself, thanks to the performances of Argentina and Denmark); many fantastic matches and some of the best collection of players, overshadowed by the most extraordinary of them all: Diego Maradona, who in Mexico reached heights perhaps never seen in a World Cup. At the Azteca Stadium, against England in the quarterfinals, he scored two of the most memorable goals in history (for good and for bad), and was eventually crowned World Champion with Argentina beating West Germany in a very exciting final.

Legends were made in Mexico in 1986.

The exhibition by Ms. Saide includes many other fantastic pieces, and I would recommend anyone in Mexico City to see it.

That said, my last picture, here to the right, has a more personal character. It shows the clock counting down to the World Cup, and in the background you can see a large building, which is a large hotel in Mexico City. In 1986 I was in Mexico as an 11 year old kid before the World Cup, and enjoyed the same type of warm-up to the tournament as I am seeing now, 40 years later, when I am again living in Mexico, and looking forward to what will hopefully be another historic tournament, notwithstanding the fact that it has 48 teams, takes place in three countries, and that ticket prices are completely overblown.

But ok, such is the world of today. 

Cruel to the hopeful one

This weekend was full of hope. After watching the FA Cup final I went to the beach. El Tunco is a surf town with not so nice beach, but a good laid-back atmosphere and plenty of drinks, and I was in a good mood as I enjoyed watching people, reading and cold beers. In the evening I watched the final of the Salvadoran Championship, where my adopted Salvadoran side of Alianza destroyed Municipal Limeño 5-0 to take the Salvadoran title.

For me this was buildup for what I really wanted to celebrate: Brøndby taking the Danish League title! 

The Danish league has been awfully close, but with last day, all Brøndby had to do was win at home against AGF, and they would be champions. In the meantime, FC Midtjylland were playing their rivals of Silkeborg (recent winners of the Danish Cup), and had to win, and hope that Brøndby did not win.

I was perhaps too optimistic, but I felt that Brøndby could not lose this at home, with the support of the best fans in Denmark, and having played a great season.

9 AM I sat in a restaurant by the beach, ordered breakfast, and started watching the match live on the "OneFootball" app.

And it all started so well...

Brøndby went ahead 1-0 on a header by the defender Rasmus Lauritsen, and in the meantime Silkeborg went up 0-2 against FC Midtjylland. The title felt so close!

But then things started falling apart.

The same Rasmus Lauritsen missed a clearing and scored an own goal, making it 1-1, which was the score at halftime. "Ok", I thought optimistically, "FC Midtjylland losing, and second half to score a second, things cannot go wrong!".

But they did.

 Within 8 minutes of the second half, FC Midtjylland had scored 3 goals and were ahead 3-2. The title was now with them if Brøndby failed to score! We were all nervous as the unthinkable happened, and Tobias Bech brought AGF ahead 1-2, and suddenly the title was two goals away.

We were all hoping when Sebastian Sebulonsen equalised for Brøndby with 25 minutes left. 3-2 would give Brøndby the title, and we all pushed the team forward. 

But football is like life: cruel to the hopeful one. Instead of 3-2 for Brøndby, AGF scored a third by Patrick Mortensen. At this point I lost hope, but kept watching, and Brøndby received a penny of hope when Silkeborg equalised for 3-3 in Midtjylland. This meant that if Brøndby managed to get 3-3, they would be champions!

I never really believed in it, even though there were some chances. And as the match ended, thousands upon thousands of Brøndby fans all over the world had our hearts broken. 

What do you do when hope is destroyed? When darkness descends over your life, and you feel there is no way forward? 

There is no shame in crying and expressing your disappointment. Just remember to raise your head, be proud of your team, and look forward to the next season where we will again stand together behind the team!

Forza Brøndby!

And to console myself in this deep pain, I will have beer (gravøl), and make a steak on my bbq.

Being on the blog

 I have not blogged for more than two months. I have before had periods during which I have blogged little, but they were either because of technical problems or because I was simply tired of football.

That is not the case now: I am following football a lot, and so many things have happened: the sad passing of the giants Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer; the (unlikely) Ivorian victory in the Africa Cup of nations; Jurgen Klopp's surprising announcement that he will leave Liverpool (as well as the lead in the Premier League and the League Cup victory over Chelsea); Paraguay's and Argentina's qualification for the Olympic Games; Real Madrid's good run (against Girona in particular) and Xavi's resignation from a very unstable Barcelona side; exciting Champions League matches, and even, closer to home, Messi making El Salvador go crazy when coming with Inter Miami to face El Salvador in a boring 0-0 match.

As I write this, I realize how many posts I have missed! But truth is that maybe the time of Blogs, like this one that I have had over 20 years, are over? Not that I mind that nobody reads it: I have always said it is like a diary, for myself, and in fact, when I read at my nearly 1500 posts, I see many moments of my life!

It is strange to think about, and it is perhaps a little bit of a loss of the discipline and inspiration to write when I see some of the many interesting football news. 

I must continue.

Forever blowing bubbles

 I identify with West Ham's song "Bubbles": fortune is always hiding.

Last Sunday I was at a beautiful beach in El Salvador. After a morning walk on the beach, at 7 AM, I went online to watch the match between my dear Brøndby against our arch-rivals, FC Copenhagen, over a delicious cup of Salvadoran coffee. Brøndby has started the season well and could, with a victory, take first spot in the Danish football league, ahead of the Copenhagen side.

It looked good for Brøndby when they went ahead by Josip Radosevic, but Diogo Gonsalves equalised for FCK following a serious mistake by Henrik Heggheim in defense. It was so frustrating when things looked so good.... Then, I celebrated alone on that beach as Ohi Omoijuanfo scored for Brøndby following a great build-up.

2-1, and it looked as Brøndby could do it, although FCK started putting pressure. They put on the 17-year old Swede, Roony Bardghji, who with six minutes left of the match scored twice for FCK, and gave them a 2-3 victory and myself a big disappointment.

Lately it feels everything has been like this match: sometimes doing great things, but then fucking it up completely by being thoughtless. And when things are going well and you start to think that you may succeed, things just go to hell in the end...

Forever blowing bubbles.

Reflection on the World Cup in Qatar

This World Cup was hard to get excited about: the entire precedence of greed for a host country that had no football tradition and the complaints about human rights (something that has nevertheless never been and never will be of FIFA´s concern) were just part of the tale. Having a World Cup in November and December was also strange, difficult to get excited about amid the usual end of year concerns that permeate our lives. 

Finally my feeling was that this World Cup has been worse than any other in terms of fans: most appear focused on their petty idiotic nationalisms and xenophobia. For most people the World Cup is nothing but an excuse to be petty and hateful, rather than enjoy a friendly contest. 

At least there was beer; as in every World Cup, plenty of beer (except of course if you happened to be in Qatar....).

On the footballing side it was also more positive: it was an exciting tournament, with good matches, surprises (which are nevertheless nothing new in a World Cup) and the excitement of a dramatic final. I am personally happy for Argentina, having reached something that I had hoped for many years.

That said, as I have learnt over the years of passionate fandom, my life is the same shit whether my teams win or lose.

Nothing new there.

But as always, it remains strange to have finished this World Cup. The next one will be in USA and Mexico. Maybe I will not be around, but if I am I could travel there depending on what the world looks like at that time... 

But let us see: four years are a long time!

In my office I had put up a poster from World Football Magazine:

I quite like it, and since it will remind me of this World Cup, I will have it framed.

Burgos CF

As mentioned, I recently participated in the Budapest-Bamako rally. I wasn on the team "Diamond-Child Burgos", since we were bringing materials to a school in Freetown, "Diamond Child School", and because my two team-mates are from the old city of Burgos. 

Known for its UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral, Burgos has never really been known for its football. Burgos CF is in the Spaniosh second division where they have languished for decades. But the last few years Burgos has more ambition, and have the former Oviedo, Swansea and Napoli player as manager. In these years Burgos CF has been constructing a team that is currently vying for a first division spot. In fact, they started the season strongly, beating the all-time record of any Spanish team with a clean sheet, going 928 minutes without conceding a goal. 

The club's prospects are reasonably creating expectations in Burgos. I did not know much about the team, but it was central during the trip across West Africa (alongside the Salvadoran flag), and I will surely be following and cheering on Burgos as they make history!

While I was gone

For the past three weeks I have talked a lot of football, but barely watched any, as I have been participating in the Budapest-Bamako rally. This has of course been a challenging but awesome experience, but in the meantime many things have happened in the football world, as we approach the coming World Cup. 

The most important action happened in the Champions League, where the group stages finalised with some surprising, and some less surprising results. Spanish teams did particularly badly: former finalists of Atletico Madrid ended dead last in Group B, while FC Barcelona and Sevilla made it to third place in groups C and G respectively, and in particular Barcelona was a disappointment, losing 0-3 to Bayern Munich at home. Real Madrid are the only Spanish team through, as winners of group F, ahead of RB Leipzig.

Portuguese teams on the other hand have looked strong: Porto and Benfica are through as group winners, the latter ahead of mighty Paris St. Germain, through goal difference after defeating Maccabi Haifa 1-6 in the last match.

The German Bundesliga and the English Premier League are well represented in the knock-out phases. In the former case, Bayern Munich went through as winners of group C, while Eintracht Frankfurt, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund are all through as runners-up. In the case of the four English teams, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City, all went through as group winners, while Liverpool went through as runners-up in group A, despite defeating the group winners of Napoli in the final match.

Italian teams have been strong, in particular Napoli, winning their group A ahead of Liverpool, but also Inter Milan and AC Milan going through as runners-up of groups C and E respectively. The disappointment was Juventus in group H, who were no match for Benfica and Paris St. Germain.

Finally, one Belgian team went through: Club Brugge as runners up in Group B, behind Porto, after heaviliy losing the final match 0-4 to the Portuguese, but at the same time ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid.

The knock-out matches, scheduled for February next year, looks as follows:

• RB Leipzig-Manchester City
• Club Brugge-Benfica
• Liverpool-Real Madrid
• Tottenham-AC Milan
• Eintracht Frankfurt-Napoli
• Chelsea-Borussia Dortmund
• Inter Milan-Porto
• Bayern Munich-Paris St. Germain

I need not say (but will anyway), that the matches most fans will be watching for are Liverpool-Real Madrid and Bayern Munich-PSG; although all matches will be fantastic!

Most leagues are shutting down this week, as players either go on leave or to joing their national teams for the World Cup. Some exciting weeks are ahead!

Estadio Centenario

 I am visiting Uruguay, a legendary football nation. Unfortunately, due to recent crowd trouble, I was unable to go watch Peñarol, who were playing against Montevideo Torque without spectators (I watched a really boring match in a bar, with Peñarol losing 0-1 to one of the lowest placed teams in the league).

But I was able to visit the site of the legendary Estadio Centenario, site of the very first World Cup final of 1930. Unfortunately I found the museum to be closed on a Sunday, a big disappointment, but I was still able to walk around the stadium, see a statue honoring the Jules Rimet Trophy (including great homages to the Maracanazo in the 1950 World Cup final, which also defines Uruguayan football), and all in all take in the history of this beautiful country and city.

I hope soon to return to Montevideo, and see more of their football.

Champions League 2022-23 draw

Seasons have started and football is on the go. I have nevertheless had busy months, with a lot of things in my head (both good and bad), and football has come a bit in the background, and I have not seen much, although been following the news and the start of the new leagues, interesting changes and discussions.

Sometimes we just go through these stages in life.

But as a warm up to an exciting new season we today had the draw for the Champions league:

Group A: 

• Liverpool
• Ajax Amsterdam
• Glasgow Rangers
• Napoli. 

An exciting group where Liverpool would appear as the favourites, but the English side has not started the season well, while Napoli and Ajax Amsterdam are looking to progress as well.

Group B: 

• Atletico Madrid
• Bayer Leverkusen
• FC Porto
• Club Brugge

Atletico Madrid are the natural favourites in a group where the defending Portuguese champions are favourites to go along with the Spaniards, with Brugge and Leverkusen looking to cause an upset.

Group C: 

• Bayern Munich
• FC Barcelona
• Inter Milan
• Viktoria Plzen

This appears as the group of death, with Bayern Munich and Barcelona looking for another of their many epic clashes, but also with the Italian giants with good options to progress. The Czech champions will not be given many odds by many, so they can only surprise.

Group D:

• Eintracht Frankfurt
• Marseille
• Tottenham Hotspurs
• Sporting Lisbon

Eintracht Frankfurt will look to continue European success from the Europa League in the Champions League in a group where all the other teams nevertheless are ambitious and have options at continuing to the next round. They will all compete.

Group E:

• AC Milan
• Chelsea
• RB Salzburg
• Dynamo Zagreb

AC Milan and Chelsea are the likely winners of the group, but both the Austrian and Croatian champions could create an upset. 

Group F:  

• Real Madrid
• RB Leipzig
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Celtic

The defending champions of Real Madrid have gotten a group that they will surely be happy about. Although there are no easy groups in the CL, the Spaniards are huge favourites, with all three other teams looking to fight for the runner-up position.

Group G: 

• Manchester City
• Sevilla
• Borussia Dortmund
• FC Copenhagen

An interesting group with three giants and FC Copenhagen. The Danes have caused surprise before, but will have to do their best to fight against these three giants. Manchester City may again appear the favourite, but the experience of Sevilla and Dortmund may take either side on the first spot.

Group H: 

• Paris St. Germain
• Maccabi Haifa
• Juventus
• Benfica

PSG are to try yet again ina group where Benfica and Juventus will be difficult teams to face. Nobody will expect anything from the Israeli champions, who will play with no pressure.

Premier League Saturday action!

I have just spent an entire lazy Saturday morning watching some great Premier League action during which Manchester City's apparent hold in the first spot has been weakened, put excitement into the league.

First I watched Liverpool defeat Norwich 3-1. Despite going down 0-1, Liverpool showed the same cool professionalism by which they defeated Inter in the Champions League and came back on a spectacular goal by Sadio Mane, a goal by Mohammed Salah, as well as a cool finish by the new signing Luis Diaz to score his first goal for Liverpool (a shame that he cannot score for his native Colombia). 

Liverpool are on second spot and had six points up to Manchester City before the Manchester side were to face Tottenham at home, who are still fighting for a possible European spot. But everyone knew it would be a difficult match as Manchester City has been looking strong at home, but only after four minutes Tottenham's new Swedish signing Dejan Kulusevski made it 0-1 on a quick buildup by Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min. As Manchester City pushed forward one was expecting an equalizer and it came by the way of Ilkay Gundogan after a mistake by Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham goal.

After this I at least was expecting Manchester City's constant pressure to bear fruit but instead in the second half Tottenham's counterattack proved deadly again as Son splendidly found Harry Kane who first-timed to make it 1-2. 

City continued attacking against a defensive but fighting Tottenham, who continued threatening on the counterattack (and in fact got another Harry Kane goal cancelled for a hair-thin offside). Two minutes into added time City got the equalizer on a well-taken penalty kick by Riyad Mahrez. Anyone would be forgiven to think that that was it, but Tottenham had another attack where a splendid cross by Dejan Kulusevski found Harry Kane's head and 2-3 for Tottenham.

Except for Manchester City, many are probably happy with the result: Harry Kane has not scored many goals this season, but his fourth and fifth season goals came in this crucial game, and he will be needed as Antonio Conte's side tries to get to Europe. Liverpool are surely also happy, as they are one match short with six points up to City, who may be feeling the pressure.

And in the end football fans like myself are happy that the Premier League continues to offer us so much excitement on a lazy Saturday morning in San Salvador!

European World Cup Qualifiers

The last two days have seen some interesting European World Cup qualifiers (which I have unfortunately not been able to watch):

• Denmark is continuing on the way to the the World Cup: a 2-0 victory against Scotland was their fourth straight victory, and with a score of 16-0 they appear to be more and more certain to qualify
  
• Portugal defeated Ireland 2-1 on two goals by Cristiano Ronaldo, which makes him the most scoring player on any national team ever.  (and more to come). Truly a legend.
• Sweden defeated Spain 2-1 in Stockholm to take the first spot in group B and make things more exciting in a group that initially seemed like a walkthrough for Spain
• England defeated Hungary 0-4 in Budapest and with four victories also appear on their way towards the World Cup, although Poland, who defeated Albania 4-1, are right behind them
• The European Champions of Italy played their first match after winning the title, but were disappointing as they only managed 1-1 at home to Bulgaria
• Germany played their first match under their new manager Hansi Flick, and won an unimpressive albeit important victory 0-2 over Liechtenstein. This puts them in second spot behind a surprising Armenia

Let us be frank: the only national teams worth to watch are in Europe, South America, and some in Africa. Today I had a ticket to go to see a CONCACAF World Cup qualifier: El Salvador versus USA at the Estadio Cuzcatlan in San Salvador, but given the chaotic evening traffic it was impossible for me to even get to the stadium. This would have been my first football match for two years, and my only consolation is that it was between a USA side that I will never ever support, and a Salvadoran side whose only claim to fame is having lost 10-1.

So I could care less.

One year late, but it is here

Perhaps it is because of the COVID lockdowns, the lack of sports and excitement, or even the one-year delay, but I have been looking forward to these European Championships. This despite the low expectations on quality and the continued xenophobia, greed and politics that continue to haunt football in general, but very specifically when it comes to national teams.

That said, I will enjoy focusing on football ranting over the next month or so, and delighted to see fans in the stadiums!

The opening match was as much a disappointment about Turkey, as about a warning about Italy. I had certainly expected more from the Turks' young team, but they did not seem like a team that wanted or even believed that they could win , and only one shot on goal throughout the match is only witness of a team that was there to defend. 

And they defended well, but we can thank the Italians that it did not work, and Italy's 3-0 victory was not too big. Italy were deservedly rewarded for their patient pressure and dominance, and should indeed be considered one of the candidates to go all the way.

Who are these candidates anyway?

Let us start by saying that all teams can make it; there are no weak sides in the tournament, and on a good day the lowest ranked sides of Finland or North Macedonia can defeat the highest ranked of Belgium or France. And be certain that we will see surprises from smaller sides, as well as disappointments from some of the so-called "giants". That said, there are certainly some teams that I will personally find interesting to watch (in no particular order):

• France: the defending World Champions have the most complete squad of all, with perhaps the best player in the world, N'golo Kante, as well as super stars as Kylian Mbappe or Rafael Varane, even a returning Karim Benzema, who had been out of the world cup squad. If things work for them as they did in Russia in 2018, they will win
• Belgium: The side continues to be ranked number 1 in the FIFA world rankings, and continue to have a side that can defeat anybody. However, as in 2018, one has a feeling that they lack one last bit of something to go all the way. That said, personally, Belgium will be one of my favourite teams to watch, and as long as they don't face Denmark (which they will), to support
• Portugal: One cannot dismiss the defending champions from 2016, despite it being the most boring final of all time. Portugal are still led by the Great Cristiano Ronaldo, who despite his age is still brilliant and surrounded by hugely talented players. Portugal will go for the repeat for sure, and will be contender, although I hope it will be more entertaining than in 2016....
  
• Germany: The ever-strong German poor results lately have probably weakened expectations, but one would be silly ever to discount the Germans. This will be the end of the Joachim Low era, and no matter how they do, it will be interesting to see how it ends, and whether it lays a foundation for a new era of for German national football; the talented youngster are plenty. Personally I always look forward to watching Germany, but I never support them!
  
• England: I will not support England in any match. That said, any football fan should be excited about their talented young team; after so many years England is managing to get hugely talented youngsters from the best league in the world. After making it to the semifinals of the World Cup they must certainly be considered contenders for the title; expectations from English fans are always huge, but this time they are justified
• Croatia: I always love watching Croatia, simply because no matter what, they put so much passion into the game. After making it to the world cup final in 2018, they are nevertheless an older side, but still led by the Great Luca Modric, and many talented young players. Despite it all, they are unlikely to win the title, but could defeat anyone
  
• Denmark: Of course I am biased, as I will support Denmark, but beyond that, I think that after many years of not having a full first-rate side, Denmark now has a full contingency of solid players, all playing in big clubs in some of the best leagues. In particular defense looks world class (including one of best goalkeepers in Kaspar Schmeichel), and there are many promising young players. The attacking power is still weak, and although they will have to do their best, on a good day they can defeat anyone

Of course, all 24 sides are worth watching, and may I add that Italy (winning today) and Spain should probably also be considered (serious) contenders for the title. Additionally, it will be great to watch and welcome the fans from Finland and North Macedonia to their first international tournament ever, and hope for them that they get some good results and fun on the way!

And last of all: let us enjoy this with respect and friendship centered around our common love for football, and forget all the narrow-mindedness that keeps separating us.