Should the European Championship go ahead?

Horrible terrorist attacks create fear, and the recent attack in Paris has swept fear over Europe, and not least over football, as the Stade de France was also targeted in the last attack. Tonight, Germany-Netherlands was cancelled in Hannover due to a credible terrorist threat.
Can France really hold a European Championship where they guarantee security? (the former great Just Fontaine recently said in an interview that it should be cancelled). Will the continuous threat mean empty stadiums and a prison-like atmosphere in the stadiums and host cities? Will the tightening security mean more harassment and less freedom for football fans...?
Yoda once said that fear leads to anger, and anger leads to suffering. Beyond football, the reaction of Europeans to these horrible attacks is fear and anger, and this may lead to a lot of suffering in Europe and beyond. Football is only an unimportant side event to all this, but if the European Championship is held in a climate of fear and anger, it may be better to cancel it completely. Football is an expression of the society we live in, and there are many things wrong right now, and football cannot and will not contribute in any way to solve them. If anything, football is more something that exacerbates differences. It is not, as many say, a friendly competition between gentlemen, but rather the "gentle" expression of ugly nationalism. Beyond the fear, the anger could erupt into many ugly actions.
I hope I am wrong, but the risk of going ahead should be discussed more openly.

Zlatan to the European Championship

When two teams that are not among the top 20 of European football clash in a play-off match to qualify for the European Championship, one is justified in not expecting much in terms of quality. Denmark and Sweden was one of these play-off matches: two former greats who have fallen low, but with one difference between these two mediocre sides: Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still one of the greatest players in the world, and the one to watch out for in France. He played around a Danish side that was better than the Swedish at times, but who have no striker of any quality whatsoever, justifying Denmark's awful scoring record in qualification.
While Sweden has Zlatan, they will have to improve significantly if they are to have any chance at the European Championship. In the meantime, Denmark will have to work from scratch: Morten Olsen, the manager since 2000, is stepping down. He has been leading Danish football for 15 years, and the transition will not be easy, in particular because Denmark lacks talent in its youth. So it is unlikely to see Denmark in any major tournament for the foreseeable future.

But big congratulations to Sweden and in particular to the fantastic Zlatan!

Liverpool up, Chelsea down

Jurgen Klopp's long-awaited first victory as Liverpool manager came with a 1-3 away win against the defending champions of Chelsea. This will surely put expectations even higher for Liverpool, who looked confident and organized. There is much work to do though, and while I firmly believe that Klopp is the right man to make Liverpool better over the next year, I do not believe in immediate short term success.
As deserved as Liverpool's victory was though, one can only look in wonder at Chelsea and Jose Mourinho. Last season's awesome champions are a shadow of themselves. This was their third home defeat this season, and their third defeat in a week. It is not just that they are losing, but that they are playing dreadful! The commonly strong defense looks insecure and slow (Christian Benteke's third goal for Liverpool was an example of this), while players such as Eden Hazard, John Terry or Diego Costa, who were so strong last season, seem reduced to second-rate players.
Everyone is perplexed (if not a certain "Schadenfreude" at Chelsea). But the one who seems most perplexed is Jose Mourinho, whose normal arrogant confident makes him seem more and more like a man who does not have what it takes to lift his team from below. Perhaps he has been too long at the top, and this should be a test of whether he really is one of the greatest manager in the world.
Rumours of Mourinho being fired abound, although he seems to have the support of the fans and the players. But in Chelsea only Roman Abramovich decides, and he may not have patience with Mourinho, as he has never had patience with any managers. At the same time, this is his most winning coach ever, and it is not clear that there is anyone at his level to replace him.
So expect the Chelsea struggle to continue...

The Euro Qualified nations

20 out of 24 nations are ready for the 2016 European Championship in France. Despite the fact that I am those who think that a European Championship of 24 teams is way too much, I cannot help but notice some notable newcomers among the 20 nations, some of which would even have qualified with 16 nations, showing what is perhaps a power shift going on in European football:

• Group A: The Czech Republic and Iceland qualified. Besides the big surprise of Iceland, ending on second place, the upset here was that the Netherlands did not qualify at all, not even taking the third spot, which gave Turkey direct qualification (and is it really something to be proud of to qualify as third out of six...?)
• Group B: While not surprising that Belgium qualified on first place, it is perhaps a bit more surprising that Wales took second spot to participate in their first major tournament since 1958. That said, the group did not look that strong, with Bosnia-Hercegovina being the other contenders, and taking the play-off third spot.
• Group C: Spain never seemed in doubt as group winners, although Slovakia did threaten them on the way. Ukraine will be going to the play-offs.
• Group D: This was a surprisingly close group for the World Champions of Germany, who despite defeats to Poland and Ireland on the way, took the first spot and were followed by Poland. Ireland will be someone's difficult opponent for the play-off.
• Group E: Perhaps the most surprising thing in this group is that England, as the only side in Europe, won all their matches, and scored a record 31 goals. Switzerland came on second spot with little competition from third placed Slovenia.
• Group F: The big surprise of this group is that the 2004 European Champions of Greece ended in the last place, behind even little Faroe Islands. For a big nation, this is a bigger humiliation than the Netherlands fourth place in group A, and show the crisis Greece is in. The winners were also a surprise: Northern Ireland qualified ahead of Romania, while Hungary will be going into the play-ff.
• Group G: Austria is the new country to watch in the European Championship as they won the group in style and swept aside their opponents. Russia came in second, with Sweden going into the play-offs.
• Group H: One of the few groups with no surprises as Italy and Croatia took the two qualifying spots, and Norway not as unsurprising taking a play-off spot.
• Group I: Portugal won the group with seven victories and only one defeat, to second placed surprise of Albania, who qualified deservedly despite also having been awarded a 0-3 victory after a scandalous match against Serbia. A Danish side which completely lacks the quality of former times took the play-off spot.

Of course, the 20th nation, not among the above, are the hosts of France!
The draw for the play-off matches that will decide the last four participating teams will take place next Sunday. 
We will soon know all 24 participating countries!

Monrovia traffic warning

Last week, at 7 AM, I was on my way to work in Monrovia. I usually pass by the Antoinette Tubman Stadium, but on this day, at that very early hour, the road was closed, causing an enormous traffic jam as cars were being re-directed around the stadium. The same happened in the afternoon, when closed roads led to more chaotic traffic congestions in the narrow pot-holed streets of downtown Monrovia.
The reason? At 4 PM Liberia were playing their first round World Cup qualifier against Guinea Bissau.
The match ended on a disappointing 1-1 for the Liberian fans, and before the away leg, I almost hoped that Liberia would be eliminated in order to avoid another agonizingly frustrating traffic jam.
But fortunately, there will soon be another traffic jam.
To many people's surprise, Liberia took a 1-3 victory in the away match against Guinea Bissau, with three goals by William Jebor, a 23-year old who is currently in the second Spanish Division club Ponferradina. Five goals in five matches for Liberia is not a bad statistic!
Liberia will now be facing none other than the African champions from Cote d'Ivoire! Also their neighbours, this has all the ingredients to be a dramatic match as the Liberians, highly motivated, will go for the upset!
Do not miss it! And plan for heavy traffic in Monrovia for November 12th!