International Football
ITALY’S RECORD WINNING RUN ENDS WITH BOSNIA DRAW IN NATIONS LEAGUE
Italy’s all-time record run of consecutive wins came to an end on Friday (Sept 4) with a 1-1 draw in their opening UEFA Nations League match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Roberto Mancini’s side had won their last 11 matches coming into the clash at the all-but empty Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, with their last fixture a 9-1 hammering of Armenia in their final qualifying match for the postponed Euro 2020.
Stefano Sensi levelled for the hosts midway through the second half after Bosnia forward Edin Dzeko had opened the scoring but the ‘Azzurri’ couldn’t find the finishing touch in the League A, Group 1 match to stretch their streak of wins beyond the coronavirus-enforced break in international football.
“We’re disappointed not to win, but there was no sharpness… our winning streak had to end sooner or later, and we’re glad it came with a draw and not a defeat,” said Mancini.
Italy came into the game missing Marco Verratti, Sandro Tonali and Federico Bernadeschi, while Mancini preferred Andrea Belotti to head the attack rather than European Golden Shoe winner Ciro Immobile.
Belotti had very little to work with as the hosts struggled to break down a stubborn if unadventurous Bosnia shorn of their star midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who tested positive for Covid-19 after signing for Barcelona from Juventus last month.
Under new coach Dusan Bajevic, the away side did little more than launch long passes for Dzeko, who plays in Italy with Roma. They didn’t register a single shot on target in the first half.
However after giving Italy a warning seconds after the break when Armin Hodzic clipped the post from a tight angle, the away side struck first through Dzeko.
The 34-year-old scored his 59h goal for his national team by lashing home after a 57th-minute corner which was allowed to be flicked on twice by a dozing Italy defence.
A stroke of luck put Italy back level 10 minutes later, with Stefano Sensi’s shot flying past Ibrahim Sehic thanks to a big deflection off the unfortunate Toni Sunjic.
The equaliser seemed to wake Italy up and Sehic had to be at his best to deny Alessandro Florenzi in the 71st minute when the Roma full-back burst through but couldn’t force his shot past the Konyaspor stopper.
Florenzi’s Roma teammate Nicolo Zaniolo came on for Federico Chiesa soon after and in the 75th minute came within inches of giving Italy the lead when he steered his header from a mishit Insigne shot just wide.
Italy next take on the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Monday after the Dutch beat Poland 1-0 in their match to top the group.
-AFP
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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