International Football
A round up of Qatar 2022 Round of 16
Just as the crowd is thinning out so is the number of teams. The field of 32 has now waned.
Now there are eight! The remaineder of the over 200 that started the preliminary competition leading to the finals. Games have lived up to expectations so also were teams. There have been upsets here and there, but some big ones recover early enough to remain in the race while others are left wondering what had gone amiss.
In the flurry of upsets, characteristics of competitions of this nature, Aregentina were shocked with a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia. But they recovered to still remain in contention.
So also were their regional rivals, Brazil who lost 1-0 to Cameroon, their first to an African side. Their recovery is underscored with the relative ease they scaled the Round of 16 hurdles against South Korea.
For a second consecutive editions, powerhouse, Germany failed to cross the group stage. But theirs is a shade better than Italy, four-time World Cup holders and current European champions who have twice in a row failed to make it to the World Cup.
A round of 16 that had the best ever continental spread has come to a close. Adios to the teams from the host continents. The defeats of Australia (Geographically in Oceania, but afflialiated to Asia Football Confederation), Japan and South Korea brought the curtain down on Asia’s participation at the Qatar 2022
The two-day break for matches ends today and gradually, the Qatar 2022 is inching to an end.
Here is a reflection of the Round of !6 leading to the final.
Roger Milla rivalled!
When Portugal’s centre-back, Pepe scored with a header in the 6-1 demolision of FIFA’s host country, Switzerland, he became the second-oldest person to ever score at a FIFA World Cup. His feat is achieved at age 39 years and 283 days.
He will need to be active in four years time, at age 43, to upstage Cameroon’s Roger Milla who scored his last World Cup goal at 42 years and 39 days during the 1994 edition.
Out in front
Olivier Giroud’s goal in France’s 3-1 win over Poland saw the striker overtake the legendary Thierry Henry as his country’s all-time top scorer with 52 goals, with his latest strike being his third of the campaign.
Elsewhere for the defending champions, Kylian Mbappe is the tournament’s leading marksman with five goals and Antoine Griezmann has set an incredible record of appearing in 71 consecutive games for Les Bleus.
African and Arabian joy
Like Nigeria did at France ‘98, Morocco delivered killer punch on one of the pretournament favourites, Spain. With the elimination of Spain, Morocco became the fourth African country to get to the quarter finals after Cameroon (Italia ‘90), Senegal (Korea/Japan 2002) and Ghana (South Africa 2010). They are also the first team in the Arab World to get to the quarter-finals.
Will they raise the bar by getting to the semi-final? They are already used to record setting. When Morocco played 1-1 with Bulgaria on 11 June 1970, it was the first time an African team was not beaten at the World Cup.
Eaxactly 16 years later on 11 June 1986, Morocco beat Portugal 3-1 to become the first African team to top a World Cup group and qualify for the next round.
They are most likely to gathered all the local support here in Qatar as they face Portugal in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Young gun
Australia may have reached home now after their Round of 16 loss to Argentina. But they left a mark in the record books.
Garang Kuol, at 18 years and 79 days, became the youngest player to appear in a FIFA World Cup knockout round game since a 17-year-old Pele starred at the 1958 edition in Sweden.
And the Central Coast Mariners forward came so close to taking the game to extra-time when his last-minute effort was expertly saved by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to deny the teenager a headline moment.
Round of 16 misery
Japan thrilled at the FIFA World Cup with stunning come-from-behind victories over former champions Germany and Spain before ultimately falling just short against the 2018 runners-up Croatia in the first knockout round.
The defeat on penalties was the fourth time the Samurai Blue had lost at this stage after Turkey (2002), Paraguay (2010) and Belgium (2018) eliminated the East Asians in the last 16.
Goals galore
With 12 goals apiece, England and Portugal are the top scorers so far in Qatar and each side has had eight different scorers over their four games, more than any other team at the tournament.
The English and the Portuguese have each netted six in a single game – against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Switzerland respectively – while Portugal’s Goncalo Ramos became the first player to score a hat-trick in Qatar when he did so against the Swiss on Tuesday.
Perisic set to overtake Suker
When Ivan Perisic scored against Japan, he equalled the number of goals scored by Croatian legend Davor Suker’. Both are now on six goals to become Croatia’s joint-top scorer at the FIFA World Cup.
Perisic has netted goals at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 editions, while Suker scored all six of his goals – including one against Japan – in 1998 in France when he finished as top scorer, firing his nation to a third-place finish at their first-ever World Cup.
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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