IFFHS NEWS AND STATISTICS OF THE WEEK 34
Picture : Jesus Navas, the captain of FC Sevilla
SEVILLA WIN A RECORD 6TH EUROPA LEAGUE
Sevilla were crowned the UEFA Europa League champions for the sixth time in history after beating Inter Milan 3-2 in the final at the Rhein Energie Stadion, Cologne on Friday.
Antonio Conte’s side started well, winning a penalty within five minutes after Romelu Lukaku was fouled inside the box by Diego Carlos. After the Belgian converted the spot-kick, Sevilla hit back in the 12th minute courtesy of a diving header of Luuk de Jong. The Dutchman doubled his tally and put his team ahead in the 33rd minute with another header. Inter equalized within two minutes as Diego Godin gave Sevilla a taste of their own medicine in the 35th minute — a header from a Marcelo Brozovic free-kick.
In the second half, both the teams had a cagey contest, looking for chances but it was Sevilla who struck the fatal blow in the 74th minute to Inter. Trying to stop a Diego Carlos bicycle kick, Lukaku put the ball into the back of his own net and that proved to be the eventual winner.
The Europa league has now been jokingly referred to as the Europa Sevilla League by many football journalists and fans around the world after Sevilla’s sixth triumph.
UEFA WOMENS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REACHES THE SEMIFINALS
Pernille Harder and VFL Wolfsburg : 9 goals against Glasgow !
Quarter-finals
Friday 21 August
Glasgow City 1-9 Wolfsburg (Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián)
Atlético Madrid 0-1 Barcelona (San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao)
Saturday 22 August
Arsenal 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain (Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián)
Lyon 2-1 Bayern München (San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao)
Semi-finals
Tuesday 25 August
Wolfsburg vs Barcelona (20:00 CET: Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián)
Wednesday 26 August
Paris Saint-Germain vs Lyon (20:00 CET: San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao)
Final
Sunday 30 August
Wolfsburg/Barcelona vs Paris-Saint Germain/Lyon (20:00 CET: Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián)
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CAMEROON 1990 WORLD CUP COACHES SEEK LIKE TREATMENT AS FOR PLAYERS.
Following the decision by the Cameroon Government to catch up on time thirty years after President Biya’s promise to offer each of the players of the stupendous Italia’90 performance some lodging facility, three Cameroonians who were part of the college of coaches headed by Soviet technician, Valerie Nepomniachii, have written to the President of the Republic asking to be given like treatment as for the players as was recently announced and made effective since 24 hours ago.
After the FIFA World Cup Finals, Italia’90, the 22 players of the Indomitable Lions squad and their 4 coaches were promised lodging facility following their stupendous performance when they became the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. To move from promise to fulfillment, the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon ordered the Minister of Housing to work hand-in-hand with the Sports Minister to draw up the list of all 22 players and 4 coaches of the expedition and forward for execution. The latter, for reasons known to him, presented a list of 44, generating a delay in execution for three decades.
With the recent decision to make do on the promise which by the way is the offer of housing facility comprising a sitting room, three living rooms, two toilets, and a kitchen, the Cameroonian trio, Michel Kaham (picture) Jean Manga Onguene, and Jules Nyongha, have written to the Presidency of the Republic seeking the same treatment as for the players. While the reaction from the Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic is awaited, it would be recalled that the same match bonuses on the performance of the squad which were paid each player as the competition evolved, were stalled for the coaches, and only paid them in 2014! Their sums had been paid back into the national treasury, wherefrom to collect again became a veritable jigsaw puzzle.
Cameroon began their 1990 World Cup campaign defeating defending champions, Argentina in the opener, 1-0; beat Romania, 2-1; lost to Russia, 0-4; defeated Colombia in the 8th finals, 2-1; and lost to England, 2-3 in their quarter-final game that went to extra-play time. That performance which brought FIFA to raise the number of African places at the finals from three to five, was deemed worth celebrating in golden fashion. That was why President Biya ordered that the players and their coaches be offered lodging facility in recognition of the feat.
STATS
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored so many goals in his career, it is interesting to know where he scored the most :
- Santiago Bernabeu Real Madrid (Spain) 244 goals
- Old Trafford Manchester United (England) 73 goals
- Allianz Stadium Juve Turin (Italy) 48 goals
- Jose Alvalede Lisboa (Portugal) 13 goals
- Camp Nou Barcelona (Spain) 12 goals
- Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Sevilla (Spain) 12 goals
- Vicente Calderon Madrid Atlético (Spain) 10 goals
CAF FIX CALENDAR FOR CAMEROON 2021, QATAR 2022 QUALIFIERS
The Emergency Committee of the Confederation of African Football, CAF, has fixed the resumption of the stalled qualifiers of the Total AFCON Cameroon 2021, and the debut of the group stage of the Coca Cola FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. It is yet another re-fixing of the dates for the competitions following the effects of the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic which obliged reviews of dates for every sporting event on the globe.
The qualifiers for Cameroon 2021 which will effectively hold in 2022, will resume with Day-3 and Day-4 matches slated for November 9-17; while, Day-5, and Day 6 will be played from March 22-30, 2021.
The race by 40 countries to occupy five openings for the Qatar 2022 World Cup will kick-off over the period, May 31 and June 15 of 2021 for the first two match days. Days 3 and 4 will hold over August 30 and September 7. Days 5 and 6 will be played over October 4-12. And, the play-off matches will be played over November 8-16, 2021.
TRANSFERS
Alana Kennedy (Australia) and Shelina Zadorsky (Canada) joined Tottenham Hotspurs in England, loaned by Orlando Pride (USA)