Germany women cancel US tour for second straight year

Berlin (AFP) – Germany’s women’s announced on Tuesday they were postponing a tour to the US for the second consecutive year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Germany had planned two internationals against the World Cup holders in June.

“There were simply too many issues outstanding and we couldn’t ensure that we would actually be able to fly in June,” Germany team manager Maika Fischer told reporters.

In 2020, a similar trip to the US was also cancelled because of the pandemic.

“We had really supported the idea and have been met with a lot of understanding from the USA side,” said Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.

“We have postponed the trip again because it is not the right time for it.”

Germany, World Cup winners in 2003 and 2007, host two matches next month, against Australia on April 10 and Norway three days later.

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Moriyasu hails Japan’s ruthless streak after record rout

Chiba (Japan) (AFP) – Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu hailed his team’s ruthless streak after thrashing Mongolia 14-0 on Tuesday for their biggest-ever World Cup qualifying win.

Japan, who are looking to reach their seventh World Cup in a row at Qatar in 2022, scored five first-half goals to take complete control of the game against the hapless Mongolians.

But the Blue Samurai refused to take their foot off the gas, notching another nine after the break to set a new qualifying record and finish just one goal short of their all-time biggest win.

“You could see from the score that the two teams were at a different level, but it wasn’t about our opponents — it was about how to keep our concentration going into the match,” said Moriyasu, whose team has won all five of its qualifiers so far, scoring 26 goals and conceding none.

“We prepared well and we kept pushing ourselves and never let up,” he added.

Japan had not played a World Cup qualifier since November 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But they showed no signs of rustiness as Southampton forward Takumi Minamino gave them the lead in the 13th minute, before goals from Yuya Osako, Daichi Kamada, Hidemasa Morita and a Mongolian own goal put Japan five ahead at half-time.

Osako made it six 10 minutes after the restart, before substitute Sho Inagaki scored on his debut.

Two goals from Junya Ito and one from Kyogo Furuhashi then sent Japan into double figures.

Furuhashi scored again to break Japan’s previous biggest score in World Cup qualifying, before a late flurry of goals — including Osako’s third of the evening — put an emphatic full stop on the victory.

“It’s good that lots of different players scored and that the players who should score, such as Osako, did score,” said Japan captain Maya Yoshida.

“That was the biggest thing to take from tonight. We kept going to the end without letting up, and we scored quite a few in the dying minutes.”

The game was played behind closed doors in Japan despite Mongolia being the home team, due to virus restrictions.

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Germany rest Neuer, Gundogan set to take over captaincy

Berlin (AFP) – Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will sit out Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia with Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan set to take over as captain.

“Manuel Neuer will stay with the team even though he’s not playing. Ilkay Gundogan will be captain if he starts,” Germany head coach Joachim Loew said Tuesday.

Germany have won their Group J qualifiers against Iceland and Romania with Loew targeting a hat-trick of wins in Duisburg.

With Neuer rested, Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen will make his first Germany appearance since November 2019.

Having named unchanged starting sides for the win over Iceland and Sunday’s 1-0 victory in Bucharest, Loew is looking at his options.

Chelsea striker Timo Werner may start after two appearances off the bench while Moenchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus is pushing for a place in the starting side.

North Macedonia lost 3-2 to Romania in their opening qualifier before thumping minnows Liechtenstein 5-0 on Saturday at home in Skopje.

While Loew insists the Germans are not taking their opponents lighty, he wants to keep the visitors goalless as Germany seek three straight clean sheets for the first time in four years.

Leverkusen teen Florian Wirtz, 17, could make his debut after two games on the bench.

Loew admits Iceland, Romania and North Macedonia are “not the calibre” of teams Germany will face at the Euro 2020 finals.

He knows the ‘Mannschaft’ have “not yet been challenged”, three months before the start of the European championship where they will meet world champions France and holders Portugal.

Before their opening game at the Euro against France on June 15, Germany plan to face Denmark on June 2 and Latvia five days later in warm-up matches.

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UEFA set to approve new Champions League format at April meeting

Lausanne (AFP) – An official announcement on planned radical changes to the format of the UEFA Champions League from 2024 onwards is set to be made on April 19, European football’s governing body said on Tuesday.

Last week European Leagues, a body representing the interests of clubs and leagues in 30 countries across the continent, said UEFA would make a decision on the expected changes at a meeting this Wednesday.

UEFA confirmed it will discuss plans at this week’s meeting of its executive committee but will wait for the next one before finalising the changes.

“The future of club competitions post-2024 will be one of the topics discussed,” UEFA said in a statement.

“However, any official decision in this respect will only be made at the next UEFA executive committee meeting on April 19, in order to finalise ongoing discussions.”

The April 19 meeting is also set to see UEFA confirm how it will organise the delayed Euro 2020, which is due to go ahead in 12 cities spread across the continent but could be modified depending on what venues allow spectators to attend games during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the Champions League changes — which are expected to be radical — will dominate discussions.

The changes are expected to increase the number of clubs involved in the group stage from the current 32 to 36.

The existing group-stage format, consisting of eight groups of four teams, will be completely shaken up.

In its place, UEFA is expected to introduce a single pool and a format known as the ‘Swiss system’, which will see teams playing 10 games instead of the current six.

No team will face anyone else more than once in a system more commonly used in chess.

The teams finishing in the top eight positions of the single pool will advance to the last 16, with the bottom 12 eliminated.

Meanwhile, the sides finishing between ninth and 24th place will go on to play two-legged play-off ties to decide the final eight slots in the knockout phase.

The knock-out stages will then proceed in the same manner as now, but the changes will mean a large increase in the number of matches played, with a team reaching the final playing a minimum of 17 matches compared to 13 in the present format.

The consequences are a huge increase in the overall number of games played, from 125 to 225, with the total number of group-stage matches jumping from 96 to 180.

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Ronaldo’s castaway armband to be auctioned to help suffering baby

Belgrade (AFP) – The captain’s armband that Cristiano Ronaldo flung to the ground in disgust after Portugal were controversially denied a late winner at the weekend in the World Cup qualifier against Serbia was put on auction on Tuesday in a bid to help a sick child.

With the scores level at 2-2 in Belgrade, Ronaldo thought he had scored the crucial goal in stoppage time when the ball appeared to cross the goalline before Stefan Mitrovic cleared.

But without technology in use, the goal was not awarded. 

A fuming Ronaldo was booked for his protests and at the final whistle, as he stormed from the pitch, he threw his captain’s armband to the ground.

One of the stewards at the stadium picked it up and immediately contacted a regional sports channel with the idea of auctioning it for charity.

The man, who requested anonymity, told AFP he suggested raising funds required to treat a six-month-old baby, Gavrilo Djurdjevic, who is suffering from a rare disease.

“He (Ronaldo) threw the armband three metres away from me, and the idea immediately occured to me that this (sale) could be a good opportunity,” the man told AFP by phone.

“I realised we had some attention and could do something nice for Gavrilo”, he added.

After the sports channel Sportklub verified the item’s authenticity by checking post-match photos and videos, they teamed up with a charity organisation and put Ronaldo’s armband up for a bidding contest on auctioning website Limundo.com.

“I hope we will be able to reach Ronaldo himself… so we could help Gavrilo as much as we can,” Branislav Jocic, social media manager of Sportklub told AFP.

The infant is suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which affects about one in 10,000 births, and results in death or the need for permanent ventilation by the age of two in 90 percent of cases. 

His hope is pinned on a one-time gene treatment Zolgensma, also known as the “world’s most expensive drug”, which would cost more than two million euros ($2.35 million).

Fundraising campaigns to help children suffering from SMA have recently taken the poor Balkan country by storm, raising the required amounts for five babies last year alone.

Only hours after being put on auction, early Tuesday afternoon, the armband had reached the price of 360,000 dinars (around 3,000 euros) — donations can also be made direct to the charity.

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Atalanta boss Gasperini wins Serie A coach of the year award

Milan (AFP) – Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini was on Tuesday voted Serie A coach of the year for the second consecutive season.

Gasperini won the Panchina d’Oro (the Golden Bench) following a vote of his coaching colleagues in the Italian Coaches’ Association.

The 63-year-old led Atalanta to a third-place finish in Serie A last season and into the Champions League quarter-finals on their debut in the European competition.

Gasperini has transformed the Bergamo club since taking over in 2016, and they are in the running to qualify for the Champions League for a third consecutive season.

“I dedicate this award to all of Bergamo,” said Gasperini, “to the staff and to the players: to everyone, because it is truly a team victory.”

The northern Italian city was at the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus pandemic a year ago.

And Gasperini praised the team spirit.

“Even in difficulties we managed to be an even more united team.

“We played thinking a lot about the pain that hit Bergamo and the people who cheered Atalanta and who had left us, it was a strong motivation for the team, to always give our best.”

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Chelsea v Porto Champions League tie to be played in Seville

Paris (AFP) – Both legs of the Champions League quarter-final between Portuguese club Porto and Premier League side Chelsea will be played in Seville, Spain, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, UEFA confirmed on Tuesday.

The matches will be played at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, with the first leg on April 7 and the return on April 13.

Portugal was removed from the British government’s list of countries on a travel ban red list earlier this month but anyone entering the UK from there is still required to self-isolate for 10 days. 

It is just the latest European tie this season to be impacted by travel restrictions related to the pandemic.

Ironically the first leg of Chelsea’s last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid was moved from Spain to the Romanian capital Bucharest.

Spain this week eased restrictions on people entering the country from the UK for certain reasons, including participants in high-level sporting events.

Both legs of the last-16 ties between Liverpool and RB Leipzig, and between Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach, were switched to Budapest.

Meanwhile the two legs of the Europa League last-32 tie between Arsenal and Lisbon giants Benfica were played at neutral venues, in Italy and Greece.

Chelsea have already played at the Sanchez Pizjuan this season, beating Sevilla 4-0 in a group game in December.

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