Innehållsförteckning för August 2018 från Australian FourFourTwo

I was wrong. Russia was amazing. Utterly, utterly amazing. Perhaps it was the low expectations, maybe it was the stereotypes and cliches I had unwittingly bought into. But Russia was pretty much nothing like what I had primed myself for. Let’s get this out the way, right at the beginning though. Politically, Russia still sucks. Its record on human rights is appalling, as is its murderous foreign policy. Its views on same sex relationships and racism are archaic and outrageous. It isolates and vilifies others who stray from its concept of “normal”, even down to largely ignoring the needs of the disabled. And the fact the only beggars I saw were very frail old women makes me wonder what happened to its fundamental beliefs that once sparked a revolution. That…

HIGH: 1990 Joins Parma after impressing at World Cup, scoring against Brazil HIGH: 1992 Shares Euro 92 Golden Boot with Denmark midfielder Henrik Larsen HIGH: 1993 Tastes European Cup Winners’ Cup glory with Parma at Wembley HIGH: 1994 Named in World Cup All-Star Team after helping Sweden to third place LOW: 1994 Spends long spell on sidelines after breaking foot in Euro 96 qualifier LOW: 1996 Dropped by Leeds after clashing with manager Howard Wilkinson LOW: 1998 Calls it quits three months after relegation with Crystal Palace…

Answers 1) Dan Petrescu; 2) Asamoah Gyan; 3) Albert Ferrer; 4) Andre Ooijer; 5) DaMarcus Beasley; 6) Jefferson Montero; 7) Stephane Guivarc’h; 8) Milenko Acimovic; 9) Nelson Vivas; 10) Eduardo Vargas; 11) Teddy Lucic; 12) Nikola Zigic; 13) Carlos Sanchez; 14) Li Tie; 15) Peter Odemwingie; 16) Christian Poulsen; 17) Andranik Teymourian; 18) Abel Hernandez; 19) Antolin Alcaraz; 20) Carlos Salcido JUST LIKE BEING THERE A Mexican fan was barred from going to the World Cup by his wife, so his pals took a lifesize cardboard cutout of him to Russia and then paraded it around the fanzone…

I knew I made it as a player after I signed a six-week injury replacement contract at North Queensland Fury. A couple of weeks into that I was offered the remainder of the season and a further two-year contract. I was happiest as part of three Grand Finals with Brisbane Roar. We all worked towards the achievement, the process of how we got there and the satisfaction at the end. My hero growing up was Paul Scholes. I’ve only truly been playing centre back since I was 26 and prior to that I spent numerous years as a striker and even a central midfielder. I used to think about how clever a player Scholes was. His ability to be able to find and create space, technically unbelievable, link play, create…

When Raul Sanllehi and Sven Mislintat arrived at Arsenal as heads of football relations and recruitment respectively last year, the writing was on the wall for Gunners autocrat Arsene Wenger. Once Sven has identified someone he wants to bring to London, it’s Sanllehi’s job to ensure the deal goes through and finalise details with the selling club and player’s agent. He’s a transfer fixer. The 49-year-old Catalan had done the same role at Barcelona since May 2008 as director of football, 18 months after first moving to Camp Nou, and was the main mediator in sealing mega-money moves for both Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool. Ex-Barça president Joan Laporta knew what he was getting when he promoted Sanllehi to transfer dealings. He headed up Nike’s operations in South…

Hi Michael. Do you believe goalscorers are born or made? I think it’s a bit of both, to be honest. To be a goalscorer you have to be a certain type of person. You’ve got to be selfish and have an obsessive streak, which are both personality traits I believe you’re born with. Improving your goalscoring is all about quality practice and having the chance to work on your finishing in matches over and over again. What’s the best way for a forward to develop their finishing? I have a clear idea about how to create a world-class goalscorer. In the modern game, a lot of young players are moved up an age group in their academies to challenge them. They’ll still be good in that age group, so they’ll…

Gareth Bale Two goals, including an incredible bicycle kick, led Real Madrid to a third consecutive European Cup victory and 13th title overall. Graham Potter The Brummie worked miracles at Swedish minnows Ostersunds and will now attempt to perform his magic at relegated Swansea. Sergei Ignashevich At 38 years and 320 days, CSKA Moscow’s defender became the oldest man to play for Russia, overtaking the great Lev Yashin, who set the record in 1967. Giuseppe Iachini He led Sassuolo away from the Serie A drop zone with two losses in their last 12 games, but still got the sack. Barcelona B While the senior side romped to the La Liga title by 14 points, the reserves will play in Spain’s third tier next term after relegation. Leroy Sané Surprisingly cut…

WE WILL FOLLOW... We drank Kazan dry. We burned up Tinder. We painted Russia 2018 green and gold. We may not have won a game but we won over the world...again. Wherever the Socceroos went, an army of glorious gold-clad fans followed, immersing themselves in the community wth good humour and inflatable kangaroos. From teaching the French to sing Aussie Aussie Aussie to getting Russians to wear Mile Jedinak beards, Australian fans set the bar for the fans of other nations. The Colombians came close, but Australia, take a bow. You won the World Cup of fans.…

1 “BLUE RINSE, PLEASE” England London It wouldn’t be a World Cup summer without David Luiz causing amusement by blowing it in style. Thankfully, this time Luiz wasn’t reliving Brazil’s 7-1 defeat to Germany: he was blow-drying hair in deliberately comic fashion. Luiz tended to a Chelsea fan’s perm to promote the west Londoners’ deal with Hyundai – if it was anything like 2014, he probably looked like he could cut it at first, then got too adventurous and left it horribly short at the back. 2 FELINE LUCKY Russia Saint Petersburg All World Cups need a psychic animal, and Russia didn’t disappoint. It’s unfair to expect any creature to match the feats of Paul the Octopus, very much the Maradona ’86 of clairvoyant beasts, but Achilles the Cat gave…

SPORTING KANSAS CITY Zachary Cobb Police dispatcher, 34 Tim Melia Goalkeeper, 32 Q: Who did Kansas beat to secure the club’s first MLS Cup in 2000? ZC: We beat the Chicago Fire! ✔ TM: Er, I’ll guess DC United. ✖ 1-0 Q: Kansas boss Peter Vermes is the longest serving manager in MLS, but whose record did he beat? ZC: Sigi Schmid, no doubts. ✔ TM: Sigi Schmid. ✔ 2-1 Q: Who holds the club’s all-time appearance record? ZC: That’ll be our captain! Matt Besler. ✔ TM: Matt Besler! ✔ 3-2 Q: Who scored the club’s first goal of the regular 2018 MLS season? ZC: Felipe Gutierrez. ✔ TM: Felipe Gutierrez in a 4-3 win in Chicago. ✔ 4-3 Fan wins…

There aren’t many men who can say they’ve been headhunted by Arsene Wenger, but Darren Burgess is one of them. In June last year, the Australian received a surprise telephone call from Ivan Gazidis. Arsenal’s chief executive proposed a meeting with Wenger and majority shareholder Stan Kroenke to discuss becoming the Gunners’ head of high performance. His then employers, Aussie Rules club Port Adelaide, didn’t stand in his way. Wenger told Burgess he was growing increasingly concerned that his players were picking up too many injuries and falling behind their Premier League rivals physically. It was a big task, but Burgess was all too familiar with the demands of English football – he had already spent two years as Liverpool’s head of fitness and conditioning from June 2010. His work…

THE ATOM MEN BOMB Experiencing the Jasper Carrott gag about Birmingham City (“You lose some and you draw some”) as reality would have been dreamland for Berkshire berks AFC Aldermaston in 2010. The unfortunate Wessex League Division One outfit couldn’t even manage a stalemate over 40 fixtures between May 2009 and April 2010, until they finally scraped a 1-1 with Warminster Town. During a sickening campaign, they conceded more than 150 goals. While the team claimed morale remained pretty high, two key factors had conspired against the side nicknamed The Atom Men: unable to pay players, they’d lost 10 squad members to rivals Tadley that summer, and over a horrible winter their training pitch was decimated. At least gaffer Adie Heath took things with downbeat good grace. “I didn’t know…

1930 Host nation: Uruguay Games: 18 Goals: 70 (3.89 per match) Dismissals: 1 Venues: 3 Winners: Uruguay Top scorer: Guillermo Stabile (8 goals) The inaugural World Cup got off to an inauspicious start, despite hosts Uruguay offering to pay for every participant’s travel and accommodation. The English FA – having already resigned from FIFA in a hubristic huff – said no, while Sweden, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands declined when they were told they’d be off to Uruguay. Romania were forced to go by enthusiastic King Carol II, who picked their squad himself. Jules Rimet harangued the French (bottom) into playing in his own tournament. Ditto Belgium, who suspended star striker Raymond Braine over the heinous act of opening up a café. Egypt, meanwhile, pulled out at the last minute…

JAN VERTOGHEN I played him in an exhibition game and was shocked at his size. A man mountain who made me feel small, he was full of pace and finesse. SHAHROM KALAM I won my only trophy in my career paired with him. Fantastic person and great captain of Selangor at the time. MATHEW LECKIE We lived together for a few years at the start of his career and I’m so happy to see him reach his potential. Blessed with pace and power. YOUR NEXT FOURFOURTWO IS ON SALE AUGUST 9 THE GAFFER TONY POPOVIC He was the best manager I have worked with. His attention to detail and focus on being the best is an obsession. No compromising and accepts nothing less than your full commitment. THE SUBS 01…

“THE ENGLISH PRESS DID THE SAME THING LEEDS WERE DOING – BULLYING. IT’S THE FIRST TIME I’VE EVER SAID IT. I’VE WAITED 20 YEARS” CLUBS 1984-86 Nasvikens IK 1987-89 GIF Sundsvall 1990 IFK Norrkoping 1990-95 Parma 1995-97 Leeds 1996 FC Zurich (loan) 1997 Parma (loan) 1998 Crystal Palace 1998 Hudiksvalls ABK COUNTRY 1990-95 Sweden On the list of weird gifts FourFourTwo has been given down the years, this is definitely up there. Tomas Brolin has just reached into a bag and revealed something very unexpected: a vacuum cleaner nozzle. Even as he hands it over to us, we’re imagining the conversation with airport security as we explain why we’re taking such a bizarre item back to London as hand luggage. “Er, Tomas Brolin gave it to…

FFA Cup Round of 32 With theA-League clubs joining the fray, who are this year’s giantkillers and who are their victims? Perth Glory vs Chelsea Look, it may not be the World Cup final at Luzhniki Stadium – but it’s close enough Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal Unai Emery’s first game as boss is in Singapore against the Gunners’ Europa League conquerors Aberdeen vs Burnley The Clarets’ first European tie for 51 years is a Battle of Britain in Europa League qualifying LAFC vs LA Galaxy The first derby between these two clubs turned into The Zlatan Show – what will he do this time? Man United vs Liverpool Rivals clash at Michigan’s ‘Big House’, where 109,000 saw United play Real Madrid in 2014…

ADELAIDE UNITED 4 MELBOURNE CITY 1 22 April 2016, Coopers Stadium, Adelaide THE LEAD UP This game was extremely important not just for the club but all sporting fans in South Australia. We finished first in the A-League and we knew that winning this game at home would give us a home Grand Final. Something the club hadn’t achieved yet. THE MATCH It was a very intense first-half with both teams not giving much away. The atmosphere was one that only Coopers Stadium can create for a home team, great support, sold out, fans in full voice, it was just electric and the score was goalless at half-time. THE GOAL The goal came very early into the second half, Aaron Mooy tackled Marcelo Carrusca and the ball spilled out into…

Is it still as special as it used to be? In light of Australia’s fourth consecutive World Cup qualification – a fact that would have been unthinkable in 2004 – FFT asked Aussie fans what witnessing Australia on the world’s biggest stage means to them. “You can’t beat is an experience,” Frank Tsianos says. “I’ve loved every one I’ve been to, they all bring their own individual flair and enjoyment. “Germany was the best organised; in typical German fashion they know how to host a party and a host it right. “Brazil was just a great festival and Russia’s the nicest place you could possibly come to. How could you pick?” “You can’t beat watching Australia play in a World Cup,” first-timer Lara Sestanovich says. “It’s been an amazing experience…

There’s an air of mystery around Sven Mislintat, although it’s nothing to do with his demeanour, rather the fact that nobody appears to know exactly what he does. Or more precisely: how he does what he does. When he joined Arsenal at the end of 2017, the German was preceded by his reputation as an unearther of talent, as well as nicknames including ‘Diamond Eyes’ and ‘Pearl Diver’, having advised Borussia Dortmund to sign the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Yet he doesn’t tirelessly trek the globe watching these players. The 45-year-old’s hunting ground is on a computer. He has an eye for numbers and dives for data. Mislintat hasn’t got a bigger database than anyone else, so why did he zero in on a guy from the…

A ll great managers worth their salt have a trademark. Brian Clough had a green sweater, Malcolm Allison had a fedora, Alex Ferguson had a wristwatch. But Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has half a dozen – the hair, the beard, the maniacal grin, the thick-rimmed glasses, shouting the word ‘boom’ seemingly at random, and, of course, heavy-metal football. The Reds’ relentless approach during their barnstorming run to the 2018 Champions League Final earned plenty of praise – including from a man who is joining the band this summer. “I love it,” Brazilian utility man and aspiring rock god Fabinho tells FourFourTwo in his first major interview since completing a reported $75 million move to Anfield in May. “The football Liverpool have played over the last couple of seasons not only…