MATCH! -julkaisun 23 March 2021 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

MARSHALL DERBY CAPS: 41 Surely the man whose penalty save secured Scotland’s spot at this summer’s tournament deserves to be their No.1? Even if Derby are having a shocker! JUST MISSING OUT… Liam Cooper ★ Leeds Stuart Armstrong ★ Southampton Kenny McLean ★ Norwich Ryan Fraser ★ Newcastle James Forrest ★ Celtic Oli McBurnie ★ Sheffield United Leigh Griffiths ★ Celtic McTOMINAY MAN. UNITED CAPS: 19 The Man. United midfielder played as part of a back three in Scotland’s qualifiers – and he totally bossed it, starting offattacks with his class passing! GALLAGHER MOTHERWELL CAPS: 7 The 30-year-old centre-back has been a crucial member of Steve Clarke’s side since he took over and has been linked with a move to Celtic! TIERNEY ARSENAL CAPS: 16 The left-back is more than…

RONALDO Cristiano scored a hat-trick versus Cagliari to take his career total to 770 goals! STONES The Man. City CB scored his fourth goal of 2020-21 v Fulham – a new personal best! PUKKI Finland’s main man recently scored ten goals in eight games for Norwich! MEUNIER The Belgium RB has struggled with injuries and form this season for Dortmund! WERNER The striker hit just one PL goal in 20 matches recently and has got some stick! BEDNAREK The Poland CB has seen his form fall off a cliff in recent weeks for The Saints!…

WORLD CUP GLORY! The 61-year-old has been in charge of his nation since replacing Jurgen Klinsmann in 2006, and his highlight so far is obviously winning the 2014 World Cup! Germany became the first European winners of a WC hosted in South America and smashed the hosts Brazil 7-1 in easily one of the biggest humiliations in the comp’s history! RECORD-BREAKING SPELL! No gaffer in history has coached more games at the European Championship than Low’s 17, and no manager has won more matches at the Euros than his 11 victories! This summer, he’s going to become the first and only boss to lead the same country out for their fourth consecutive Euros! KLOPP SAYS NO? MATCH spies in Germany have been working overtime after hearing Low’s decision! They thought…

HENNESSEY CRYSTAL PALACE CAPS: 94 It’s not ideal when your first-choice goalkeeper has been bench-warming all season, but that’s the case for The Dragons. Will he be a bit rusty? JUST MISSING OUT… Danny Ward ★ Leicester Chris Gunter ★ Charlton Neco Williams ★ Liverpool Joe Morrell ★ Luton Jonny Williams ★ Cardiff David Brooks ★ Bournemouth Harry Wilson ★ Cardiff ROBERTS SWANSEA CAPS: 22 One player who has been a first-team regular in 2020-21 is right-back Roberts! He’s got nine goals and assists combined for The Swans. Sick! MEPHAM BOURNEMOUTH CAPS: 14 The 23-year-old centre-back is one of the sturdiest CBs in the Championship! He’s been a regular starter for Wales in recent matches! RODON TOTTENHAM CAPS: 10 Even though he’s not been getting much game time under Jose…

SECRET SHIRT KIDS BOX! Secret Shirt Co are giving away one of their Kids Secret Football shirts to one lucky MATCH reader! Get your name in the hat! Visit secretshirt.co for more information and follow them on social media @secretshirtco HOW TO ENTER! www.matchfootball.co.uk Then click ‘WIN’ in the navigation bar on the MATCH website. Full Terms & Conditions are available online…

1 The south Londoner grew up playing street footy in Kennington and supported Chelsea as a kid! 2 Off the pitch, Jadon describes himself as “fun” and “vibey”! 3 He was given the nickname “The Rocket” from a young age! 4 Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson is one of his best mates because they knew each other from childhood! 5 He’s got cool tattoos of The Simpsons, Sonic the Hedgehog and Spiderman on his right arm! 6 He used to study videos of his footballing idol Ronaldinho pulling off tons of epic skill moves! 7 He received an awesome What IF FUT card last month, but recently revealed he doesn’t play FIFA! 8 He wears the No.7 shirt for Dortmund, but also wore the No.18, No.8, No.34, No.11, and No.10 for the…

BELGIUM v WALES Wednesday, March 24, 7.45pm Wales are desperate to qualify for a World Cup – they haven’t managed to do so since 1958! Captain Gareth Bale will be leading the charge against a Belgium side full of top megastars including Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. The Dragons have won their last two clashes against Belgium, including at Euro 2016! ITALY v NORTHERN IRELAND Thursday, March 25, 7.45pm Four-time world champions Italy will be a massive test for Northern Ireland, who last qualified for the World Cup in 1986! Ian Baraclough’s team travel to Parma having only won one of their last ten games, while Roberto Mancini’s Italy went undefeated in 2020 by winning five of eight games. Keep an eye on the in-form Domenico Berardi!…

Arsenal x 424 The Gunners have linked up with vibey US-based streetwear brand 424 to release a limited-edition collection – including a training jersey, a poncho and a hoodie! For more details on the partnership and all the products in the cool collection, head to the adidas website or Arsenal’s official club store now! adidas.co.uk Barcelona x Stance American sock makers Stance have teamed upwith Spanish giants Barcelona to produce three awesome limited-edition designs! The stylish socks celebrate the club’s history and are inspired by their wicked strips of the past. Who said that socks couldn’t be cool?! Price: £16.99 each stance.eu.com…

PICKFORD EVERTON CAPS: 30 This week’s games will give us a better idea as to whether Southgate still trusts Pickford – or whether Nick Pope has a real shot at ousting him! JUST MISSING OUT… Nick Pope ★ Burnley Luke Shaw ★ Man. United Tyrone Mings ★ Aston Villa Jordan Henderson ★ Liverpool Bukayo Saka ★ Arsenal Jack Grealish ★ Aston Villa Jadon Sancho ★ B. Dortmund A.-ARNOLD LIVERPOOL CAPS: 12 Trent has failed to reach the heights of the last two seasons so Trippier, Walker, Wan-Bissaka and James are definitely knocking on the door! MAGUIRE MAN. UNITED CAPS: 30 Playing every week for United means Maguire is nailed on for a starting spot at this summer’s Euros but Coady, Mings and Keane aren’t far off! STONES MAN. CITY CAPS:…

ONLY 11 WEEKS TO GO! PORTUGAL’S PRIZE TO LOSE… Defending champions Portugal have got so much quality in their squad that winning back-to-back Euro trophies actually looks a real possibility! MATCH checks out their chances… THEY’RE GONNA WIN IT AGAIN! ✓ This could be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last-ever international tournament, so he’ll be pumped to go out with a bang! ✓ They followed up their Euro glory by winning the 2019 Nations League – they’ve got a taste for trophieb snow! ✓ They’ve got baller sall over the pitch in Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix! THEY’RE GONNA STRUGGLE! ✘ They were drawn in the “Group Of Death”, a long side France and Germany. It doesn’t get much tougher! ✘ Les Bleus finished above them in…

CZECH REP. v BELGIUM Both nations ended 2020 with wins, but Belgium will take this! MATCH SAYS 1-2 YOU SAY SERBIA v PORTUGAL An on-flames Cristiano Ronaldo will be way too much for Serbia! MATCH SAYS 0-3 YOU SAY ALBANIA v ENGLAND We defo fancy England to maintain their 100% record against Albania! MATCH SAYS 1-3 YOU SAY N. IRELAND v USA The USA have won six of their last seven matches. Impressive! MATCH SAYS 2-4 YOU SAY REP. OF IRELAND v LUXEMBOURG We reckon Stephen Kenny’s side will get back to winning ways! MATCH SAYS 2-0 YOU SAY WALES v MEXICO Wales haven’t lost at home since 2018, but Mexico are dangerous! MATCH SAYS 1-2 YOU SAY GEORGIA v SPAIN Spain will want to continue their epic form after…

TIME AT LINCOLN! PALMER SAYS: “It’s been really good! We’ve got agreat group here who are hard working and honest but with real talent. I’m really enjoying my time here!” PROMOTION RACE! PALMER SAYS: “We’re two thirds of the way through the season and we’ve come through a lot of tests so far. We’ll just concentrate on our selves and make sure we keep hitting our targets and see where that takes us!” MICHAEL APPLETON! PALMER SAYS: “He’s a great guy and manager, he tells us exactly what he wants and what he expects from us and I think that’s all you can ask for as a player!” STAYING SOLID! PALMER SAYS: “It’s a great base for us to have that as a team and one which we pride ourselveson,…

59 Germany’s 6-0 defeat to Spain last November was the nation’s worst loss since 1931. That’s gotta hurt! Spain legend David Villa remains his country’s all-time top scorer with 59 goals! 8 Cristiano Ronaldo is only eight goals away from becoming the top scoring international player in men’s footy history. Legend! 1 Declan Rice became the first West Ham player to score for England since Matthew Upson back in June 2010. Get in there! 7 Lethal Chelsea net-buster Olivier Giroud is just seven goals behind France’sall-time leading goal scorer Thierry Henry. Wow! 11 Republic of Ireland have gone 11 hours without finding the back of the net. Ouch! 17 Inter goal king Romelu Lukaku has scored 17 goals in his last 14 appearances for Belgium! 0 Wednesday is the only…