New Uganda coach Johnny McKinstry has revealed that his aim is to qualify the Cranes for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Speaking to reporters after he was unveiled on Monday, the Northern Irishman expressed his delight in taking the post.
Oman manager Erwin Koeman claimed that he was pleased to see his team get a 2-1 victory over India in the first World Cup 2022 qualifying game. It was a difficult test for Oman considering that they were playing away from home against a team that has been showing a lot of improvements under a new management. Things turned out to be bad for Oman at the start of the game, as Sunil Chhetri came up with the opening goal inside 30 minutes. This gave the impetus for India to be on the front foot and the almost held out for a victory.
Rabia Alawi Al Mandhar was able to come up with the equaliser with eight minutes of normal time left, while he completed the comeback in injury time. This led to a stunning silence on the part of India supporters, who almost saw their team get a positive start to the campaign. As it stands,Omanwere able to build on the recent form and get more success. The upcoming match in September forOman is a friendly against Lebanon and this match may be used as a preparation by Koeman for the upcoming game against Afghanistan in October.Omanare up against Afghanistan and Qatar in October.
Legendary Italian footballer Daniele de Rossi has said that he has no plans of retiring from the game after not being offered a new contract at AS Roma. The 35-year-old has made over 600 appearances for the Giallorossi in the past 18 years and he is not prepared to hang up his boots to take up a director’s role at the club.
Speaking to Mediaset, De Rossi revealed that he was aware of the club’s decision in advance but preferred to keep things in private, given the club’s ongoing pursuit of Champions League football, he said: “I realised the decision the club were going to take regarding myself. I'm almost 36 and I know how football is, but I didn't want to distract from our European race.”
Mexico international Javier Hernandez has refused to get carried away after El Tri picked up wins in the first two friendly games under Gerardo Martino. The North America nation endured another difficult World Cup campaign where they were eliminate at the round of 16 stage, and they have since recruited Martino at the helm with Juan Carlos Osorio stepping down from the role.
Speaking to Univision Deportes, Hernandez said that the fans should not make any conclusions from the recent friendly triumphs over Chile and Paraguay. He added that the important task remains to qualify for the 2022 World Cup with the objective of putting in a strong performance, he said: "There's still much to do to make conclusions, they should be [made] when we have the ticket [for the World Cup. If we qualify, we'll be judged on the [whole] cycle. It's not how it begins, but how it ends."
England international Harry Kane is pleased that the Three Lions are now expected to perform at a high level following their progress at the World Cup and the Nations League last year. The Three Lions grabbed the attention of the country’s faithful after reaching the last four of the 2018 World Cup and they have continued with the same momentum to seal their berth in the semi-final stage of the Nations League.
Speaking to reporters, Three Lions captain Kane said that he is pleased that the supporters expect them to do well on the big stage which was not the case before the World Cup in Russia. He added to highlight the team’s showing in the Nations League where they stand a good chance of securing their first silverware since the 1966 World Cup success.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is three years from now and there have been a few changes in the coaching departments for a few national teams ahead of the qualifiers. The latest country to hire a new handler is South American nation Paraguay.
The Paraguay Football Association revealed on Monday that it had appointed former Sevilla boss Eduardo Berizzo as the new coach of the National team. Berizzo takes charge of the team after the departure of Juan Carlos Osorio who left after spending just five months with the National team.
Berizzo is primarily tasked with qualifying the country for the 2022 World Cup Finals with the qualifiers scheduled to begin at the later part of the year.
Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr has said that Victor Moses has the opportunity to return to the national team fold ahead of the African Cup of Nations during the summer. The 28-year-old made the shock decision to retire from international football following the 2018 World Cup as he wanted to spend more time with his family while concentrating on the proceedings at Chelsea.
However, he has since experienced a forgettable period after struggling for game time under Maurizio Sarri and this has strongly linked him with a move to Fenerbahce before the winter transfer deadline. Speaking to reporters, Rohr hailed the qualities of the former Wigan Athletic man and said that the attacker is welcome to return to the international fold.
The Champions League group stage for this season 2018/2019 was a bit lacklustre. This is despite the big names and seemingly exciting matches on paper. It just seems as if the top seeded teams were sure to progress, and the realization slowed the underdogs this time around.
Aside the Liverpool and Napoli late twist on Tuesday, there were rarely any surprises as it seems most of the groups have their affairs sorted ahead of the final round of games. The Tottenham Hotspurs and Inter Milan struggle for the only spot to join group leaders Barcelona wasn’t even as mind blowing as expected. On Wednesday it would be just ShakhtarDonesk and Lyon trying to join Manchester City for knockout spots.
Real Madrid star Luka Modric has said that his Ballon d’Or prize is a victory for football after he managed to end the dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the accolade. One of Messi or Ronaldo had won the award over the past decade but that witnessed a change this time around with Modric claiming the prestigious crown after a superb performance for Croatia at the summer World Cup.
Speaking after receiving the prize, Modric was delighted with the honour and dedicated to the win to those who had narrowly missed out on the title during the Messi-Ronaldo dominance, he told BBC: "It’s a victory for football. Maybe in the past there are some players who could have won the Ballon d'Or like Xavi, Andres Iniesta or [Wesley] Sneijder but people finally now are looking at someone else. I think it's a victory for football tonight. This award is for all the players who probably deserved to win it and didn't. It was a really special year for me. It is difficult to express my emotion and how I feel in words. It is something unique for me. It was very special."