International Football
Brazil held by Ecuador in action-packed World Cup qualifier
Brazil had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Ecuador in a remarkable World Cup qualifier on Thursday after Felix Torres’ header 15 minutes from time canceled out an early Casemiro strike.
The incident-packed clash saw both sides have a player sent off inside the first 20 minutes and Brazil goalkeeper Alisson shown a red card on two occasions only for both to be rescinded after consultation with the Video Assistant referee (VAR).
Ecuador had a goal chalked off and two penalty awards rescinded via VAR, including one in second-half stoppage time.
Casemiro had put Brazil ahead after five minutes when he hammered home from close range after a goalmouth scramble.
Ecuador goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez was red carded after 15 minutes for a reckless challenge, and Brazil fullback Emerson Royal was dismissed five minutes later for a second yellow card following a clumsy tackle.
Five-times world champions Brazil have already qualified for this year’s finals in Qatar along with Argentina, who are playing in Chile on Thursday.
Ecuador are third in the 10-nation South American qualifying standings with 24 points from 15 games.
Uruguay moved into fourth with 19 points after beating Paraguay 1-0 in Asuncion, Luis Suarez getting the winner five minutes into the second half to give new coach Diego Alonso a winning start.
The result keeps Uruguay’s qualification hopes alive and dealt a heavy blow to Paraguay, who sit second bottom of the table with 13 points.
Colombia and Peru, who meet on Friday, are on 17 points.
The top four qualify automatically for the World Cup while the fifth-placed side go into a playoff with a team from the Asian confederation.
ENTHRALLING CONTEST
Ecuador’s match against Brazil ebbed and flowed but was enthralling throughout, especially in the opening half hour.
Already a goal down, Ecuador’s keeper Dominguez was shown a red card for a neck-high challenge that felled Matheus Cunha on the edge of the box.
But moments later the numbers were even as Brazil’s Emerson Royal, who was shown a yellow card in the first minute for a firm challenge, got a second for a clumsy intervention.
Brazil goalkeeper Alisson looked like he would be the third player sent off after 25 minutes but following a lengthy delay Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan overturned the decision.
Ecuador, on a home pitch where they had earned 16 of their 23 points ahead of Thursday’s match, thought they might snatch all three points when they were awarded a stoppage-time penalty.
Alisson felled Ayrton Preciado in attempting to punch the ball clear and was again shown a red card, but after consulting VAR the referee overturned both the penalty award and red card.
The draw saw Brazil extend their unbeaten run in World Cup qualifiers to 31 games to match the South American record they set from 1954 to 1993.
Bottom side Venezuela are the only team out of the running to qualify for Qatar, with most sides having four games left to play.
-Reuters
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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