International Football
Salah among absentees as African qualifying series for World Cup resumes
Africa’s second round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup is set to kick off with some notable absentees – Mohamed Salah, among them – after the refusal of British clubs to release players for various matches.
Premier League clubs have led the way in refusing permission for players to head to countries on the British government’s Covid red list, which would require 10 days of quarantine upon their return.
With Egypt one of 17 African countries on the red list, Liverpool superstar Salah will miss this week’s home match against Angola in Cairo but could play in Gabon, which is not on the list, next week.
Quarantine conditions meant he could have been one of several internationals to miss multiple games, said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
“As clubs we cannot do that – not only because we play games in that time, but because without being positive (for coronavirus) they lose 10 days of training,” he said.
“Without any chance of moving, you lose muscle. It’s a real risk for the boys if they have to then play three, four or five days after 10 days in quarantine.”
Since they are playing in countries not on the red list, Salah’s club colleagues Sadio Mane and Naby Keita can represent Senegal and Guinea respectively in both this window’s matches, which begin on Wednesday and end on Tuesday.
The Liverpool cases highlight the additional selection problems facing coaches as the 40 teams, split into ten groups of four, battle to reach March’s play-offs.
Only the ten group winners will make the two-legged play-offs, whereupon Africa’s five finalists for Qatar 2022 will be known.
This brings added intrigue to Group D, where Cameroon’s 2017 African champions take on Ivory Coast’s 2015 winners in a battle of sides who have ten World Cup appearances between them.
This is one of four groups featuring more than one team with World Cup experience, along with Group F (Egypt, Angola), Group G (South Africa, Ghana) and Group H (Senegal, Togo).
With the strengths of teams likely to be influenced by Covid complications for some time, the campaign has the capacity to throw up some surprise results.
An example of the challenges can be seen by the problems facing Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, who named an expanded 30-man squad to cater for players not allowed to leave the United Kingdom.
While the Super Eagles will be at full strength at home to Liberia later this week, they are set to miss eight players based in the United Kingdom – with Leicester duo Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi – for the trip that follows to Cape Verde, which is on the red list.
Cote d’Ivoire coach Patrice Beaumelle has already lost patience with a process which both the Confederation of African Football and Fifa tried to overturn in vain appeals to the British government.
The 2015 African champions host Cameroon, who took their throne in 2017, in a mouth-watering Group D clash whereupon they can use Premier League duo Eric Bailly and Serge Aurier – but both cannot play in red-listed Mozambique in the Elephants’ first game.
“I’m tired of the whole affair and I think it’s uncalled for because everything is well organised these days with regular testing, safe travel and closed stadiums to minimise risk,” Ivory Coast coach Patrice Beaumelle told Reuters.
“We’ve been under continual pressure from clubs not to select their players. In March, it was the French clubs who refused and now it’s the English.”
While many coaches have to work out new line-ups in the face of such problems, others have to navigate a way through some regional derbies, with South Africa facing Zimbabwe (Group G) while Malawi meet Mozambique (Group D).
Coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredrejovic takes on Kenya in Group E as he faces his first competitive match since rejoining the Cranes, who he led to a first Africa Cup of Nations finals in four decades in 2017, in early August.
“We are expecting good match of football friends that will be opponents for 90 minutes but after 90 minutes, we shall be east African brothers,” he said.
“There is too much at stake and it is very hard to play against friends that you know. This is a test of character for a team in transition, and it will be a very tough match that will show us where we are at present.”
All 40 teams, including African champions Algeria, will hope to improve on Africa’s poor 2018 World Cup, when not one of Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal or Tunisia reach the second round.
This meant there was no African team in the next stage for the first time since 1982.
-BBC
International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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International Football
From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro
“I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro
Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil.
However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.
Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.
Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).
He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.
His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.
These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people. I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,” he insists
The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius.
“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.
‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”
Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: “I want to continue it.”
-Marca
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