Football Thread!

[Solun]

I'm not into sports. Was I wrong? It's a bit complicated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2020_qualifying

OK I guess if you are not into sports then you can be forgiven for simply reiterating what you hear on the local news. Also makes it difficult for you to recognise any questionable impartiality of what is being aired

[Spirit]

What's the worst they can do Spirit? Cancel your Twitter account? Just create another one.

I’m not really worried about my Twitter account Karposh, in fact I actually abhor social media, I’ve never had Facebook and never will, the only social media I have is Twitter and that’s just to follow news feeds from Macedonia
What I find really funny is that here is a so called President of a country, who as a politician is meant to be thick skinned, yet when called out repeatedly the first thing he does is go and cry to his mummy like the cowardly little traitorous plachi pichka he is

[Risto the Great]

Well done for giving him hell, Spirit.

[Spirit]

Well done for giving him hell, Spirit.

Thanks Risto, I’ve been doing it to Zaev and Dimitrov as well with more vitriol but it’s the Pendarovski tweets that I’ve responded to that the complaints are about

[Soldier of Macedon]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54810392

Diego Maradona: Argentina legend dies aged 60

Football legend Diego Maradona, one of the greatest players of all time, has died at the age of 60. The former Argentina attacking midfielder and manager suffered a heart attack at his Buenos Aires home. He had successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier in November and was to be treated for alcohol dependency. Maradona was captain when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, scoring the famous 'Hand of God' goal against England in the quarter-finals............In a statement on social media, the Argentine Football Association expressed "its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend", adding: "You will always be in our hearts." Declaring three days of national mourning, Alberto Fernandez, the president of Argentina, said: "You took us to the top of the world. You made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of them all. "Thank you for having existed, Diego. We're going to miss you all our lives." Maradona played for Barcelona and Napoli during his club career, winning two Serie A titles with the Italian side. He started his career with Argentinos Juniors, also playing for Sevilla, and Boca Juniors and Newell's Old Boys in his homeland. He scored 34 goals in 91 appearances for Argentina, representing them in four World Cups. Maradona led his country to the 1990 final in Italy, where they were beaten by West Germany, before captaining them again in the United States in 1994, but was sent home after failing a drugs test for ephedrine. During the second half of his career, Maradona struggled with cocaine addiction and was banned for 15 months after testing positive for the drug in 1991. He retired from professional football in 1997, on his 37th birthday, during his second stint at Argentine giants Boca Juniors. Having briefly managed two sides in Argentina during his playing career, Maradona was appointed head coach of the national team in 2008 and left after the 2010 World Cup, where his side were beaten by Germany in the quarter-finals. He subsequently managed teams in the United Arab Emirates and Mexico and was in charge of Gimnasia y Esgrima in Argentina's top flight at the time of his death......

Troubled life. Brilliant talent. Great career. Watching him as kid, he was always my favourite player. RIP Diego Armando Maradona.

[Stojacanec]

Well, that's actually because they have a new rule for all the weakest teams (called 4th category) to have play-offs and one or two of them end up to Euro Finals. That's a weird new policy, the Finals should be for the best... and the hosts.

Why the hell should they not have such a rule? Its called the European Cup not the Italy Germany Spain Cup. Why not give the smaller "weaker" countries a chance to be a part of the tournament?

The FA cup is open to clubs down to level 10, for example.

Naturally there should not be any handicaps once your in. May the best team win!

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Sure everyone has seen it but Macedonia's 2-1 win over Germany for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers will go down in folklore

[Soldier of Macedon]

It was a historic win, but bittersweet. Those words are about as much excitement one can muster given that Macedonia as a state has been robbed of her integrity by domestic traitors. The rest is a movie we've all seen before. Here is the sequence. A convincing performance at a sporting event. A brief but pointless hope that some of the players, given their platform and profile, would use the opportunity to take a firm and consistent stand against the tyrants. Thousands of ventilator-wielding fans who didn't bother coming out in numbers to defend the Macedonian name will pretend to be patriotic by flocking to the streets and bars and chanting "Makedonija". Politicians who sold out Macedonia, like Zaev, will gloat about the victory and pretend to forget the word "severna" for a few days. End of movie. The below exchange between a grkoman and northadonian encapsulates the lunacy. Congratulations on the win are met with appreciation. Use of an insulting name that has been imposed by the government of the person passing on his supposed well wishes are met with respect and acclaimed as decent. There is your northadonian.

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Of course these wins only occur after the name change as well

[Soldier of Macedon]

This is obviously about greed, but characters like Sepp Blatter have treated world football as their own fiefdom and scammed the system for years, so there is little sympathy for FIFA. The biggest losers are obviously the other clubs, most of which will not even have a chance to compete for a piece of this elitist pie, projected to be worth billions. It will be interesting if FIFA follow through on their threats on banning players from participating in the World Cup.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/5679...0Real%20Madrid.

Six English teams have announced that they have agreed to join a new European Super League (ESL). Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are among a group of clubs who are part of plans to form a breakaway league featuring some of football's biggest teams. The ESL has been created as a rival to the UEFA Champions League, which is currently European club football's most important competition. But the move has sparked anger with critics saying it is purely motivated by greed and making more money for the world's biggest clubs.

The plan would mean the same 15 clubs play European football every year and other clubs would find it very difficult to get involved as there would only be five spaces left for everyone else. The Premier League have warned it could mean the clubs involved being expelled and FIFA says players taking part would be banned from the World Cup. The six Premier League clubs will join leading teams from Italy and Spain - AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid......UEFA, the organisation in charge of European football, said players involved would be banned from all other competitions at domestic, European or world level and could be prevented from representing their national teams.

It released a joint statement with England's Football Association, the Premier League, the Spanish Football Federation, La Liga and the Italian Football Federation, as well as Serie A, saying they will "remain united" in trying to stop the breakaway, using "all available measures". UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the plans will be "very damaging for football" and France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomed French clubs refusing to join........In a statement, the ESL said: "Going forward, the founding clubs look forward to holding discussions with Uefa and Fifa to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new league and for football as a whole."

[sydney]

Football fans may be familiar with Panini and its football cards and stickers over the years. The Euro 2020 album is out and obviously “North Macedonia” is represented. An interesting section is the Fans. Here is Macedonia’s fan sticker:

[Soldier of Macedon]

Great picture. Pathetic moniker. Macedonia, the quintessential battleground between good and evil.

[Soldier of Macedon]

That was quick. In the battle of the elites (millionaires who run FIFA vs millionaire club owners for the ESL), the fans have handed the victory to the former, so the status quo wins, like Barnes indicates on the clip in the link. That the fans, smaller clubs and FIFA/UEFA happened to be on the same side is coincidental and for different reasons. Now FIFA can continue with their agenda and exploitation, until the next time.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56824628

The biggest clubs on the continent quit the Champions League, then returned, humiliated and apologetic in fewer than 48 hours. In between they were hit with a whirlwind of vitriol, the anger and criticism coming in wave after wave. Eventually it was too much, and the project crumbled.......Both Ceferin and Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino have emerged stronger by attacking a concept that very quickly failed. Whether that co-operation, first in evidence at the start of the pandemic when football stopped, continues remains to be seen - because Infantino wants to progress with his expanded Club World Cup model. Uefa has been uneasy about that prospect because it could undermine the popularity of the Champions League.

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Violent scenes tonight at the football game between Rockdale Ilinden and Sydney [Croatia] United in Australia:

https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/football-community-condemns-rockdale-v-sydney-united-violence-563786?fbclid=IwAR0UB8K7AAT988lUtVNgk4KGGSeSK1ovXZszQrM1HUXR5c7Dhb9WexL2NOk

https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/three-hospitalised-after-soccer-match-ends-in-wild-brawl/news-story/c4f6476700459040b09c3e0e450379f5

[Karposh]

Not a good look at all to be honest. Shameful behaviour by the Croatian fans. What I find strange and confusing is why this happened at all. Weren't we meant to be on friendly terms with the Croatians in this country (and in general)? Why did they decide to travel to Ilinden's home ground and go out of their way to pick a fight with Macedonians? The police have released photos of three people they are after and, I can tell you, they weren't wearing Macedonian colours or symbols. These guys were dressed in black with, what I assume to be, some kind of Ustasha symbols on their clothing and hats.