Football (Soccer) Thread

[Josquius]

Demblebe spotted sitting with the chairman watching Sunderlands game tonight.
Transfer all but confirmed.

[Jacob]

Infantino rewins election as FIFA president. He ran unopposed and was endorsed by more than 200 out of 211 delegations. Apparently he used his acceptance speech to rail against the media, calling it "evil" and "racist".

[Maladict]

On the upside, there are still 11 non-corrupt national associations left.

[Sheilbh]

Jesus Christ. FIFA Congress was held in Rwanda leading "I am a migrant worker" Infantino to another mind boggling comparison:

Rwanda's genocide recovery inspired my first election win, FIFA chief says
'What this country has suffered and how this country came back up is inspiring for the entire world,' Gianni Infantino said in Kigali.
By Ali Walker
March 16, 2023 10:27 am CET
2 minutes read

FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Thursday said his 2016 election win was partly inspired by Rwanda's recovery after the genocide in 1994.

During a speech at FIFA's Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, Infantino said that he was weighing pulling out of the election race — before a visit to Rwanda's genocide memorial changed his mind.

Infantino said that on a previous trip to Rwanda for a football tournament sometime before the 2016 vote an unidentified official told him that, "we really love you, but we're not going to support you."

The Swiss-Italian football boss was on the brink of throwing in the towel when he recalled a visit to the memorial.

"I said, who I am to give up," Infantino said. "What this country has suffered and how this country came back up is inspiring for the entire world."

"So I certainly couldn't give up because someone was telling me something," he added. "I stayed, I attended the match, I continued to campaign ... I was elected FIFA president."

In 1994, an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in a brutal 100-day genocide in Rwanda, carried out by the Hutu majority government and militias.

Infantino was reelected unopposed for a new term as FIFA president Thursday.

Is Sepp Blatter still available?

[Duque de Bragança]

Jesus Christ. FIFA Congress was held in Rwanda leading "I am a migrant worker" Infantino to another mind boggling comparison:

Rwanda's genocide recovery inspired my first election win, FIFA chief says
'What this country has suffered and how this country came back up is inspiring for the entire world,' Gianni Infantino said in Kigali.
By Ali Walker
March 16, 2023 10:27 am CET
2 minutes read

FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Thursday said his 2016 election win was partly inspired by Rwanda's recovery after the genocide in 1994.

During a speech at FIFA's Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, Infantino said that he was weighing pulling out of the election race — before a visit to Rwanda's genocide memorial changed his mind.

Infantino said that on a previous trip to Rwanda for a football tournament sometime before the 2016 vote an unidentified official told him that, "we really love you, but we're not going to support you."

The Swiss-Italian football boss was on the brink of throwing in the towel when he recalled a visit to the memorial.

"I said, who I am to give up," Infantino said. "What this country has suffered and how this country came back up is inspiring for the entire world."

"So I certainly couldn't give up because someone was telling me something," he added. "I stayed, I attended the match, I continued to campaign ... I was elected FIFA president."

In 1994, an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in a brutal 100-day genocide in Rwanda, carried out by the Hutu majority government and militias.

Infantino was reelected unopposed for a new term as FIFA president Thursday.

Is Sepp Blatter still available?

We should ask Michel Platini first. 

[Grey Fox]

Does Gianni thinks he's the messiah?

[FunkMonk]

Do you guys think Conte will stay on at Spurs?

It does seem like he's done with the club. His press conference after dropping points today to Southampton:

Man just goes out there and confirms everything that everyone makes fun of Spurs about. I have to respect that 

[Zoupa]

Well it was pretty bang on lol. Kinda confirms he wants to be sacked...

I like his emotion, I'm not sure I like his tactical setup. If you're not gonna win any trophies, at least give Spurs fans what they want, which is free flowing attacking football.

If they bring back Pocchetino, what the hell were the last 4 years for? No idea who would want the job now...

[Josquius]

Southampton to escape relegation?

In other league news. Championship referees are awful.
Midweek game given a non penalty against us creating a loss and yesterday gaining a non penalty to convert a loss to a draw.

[The Larch]

Apparently Bojan Krkic will announce his retirement from football tomorrow, at 32. I feel like a million years old suddenly. To think that a kid dubbed as "the new Messi" is actually retiring before the Old Messi is somehow ironic. 

Mesut Ozil also announced his retirement today.

[Josquius]

It seems to me these "This kid is destined to be one of the best ever" players never seem to work out. The true top players seem to be quite fringely observed as good but not god-like when young.  Messi is the only big exception that comes to mind for me- thinking of Ronaldo for instance I remember when he was starting out he was regarded as good but not quite best ever.

Still. Checking wikipedia to see what he has been up to Bojan seems to have done better than most. Poor Freddie Adu

[The Larch]

Checking wikipedia to see what he has been up to Bojan seems to have done better than most. Poor Freddie Adu

Bojan ended up having a somehow decent career, but nowhere near the heights that seemd to await him when he started out, as he was scintilating during his first seasons in Barcelona. I believe he ended up admitting at some point later in his career that the pressure he suffered during those early years really took a huge mental toll on him and caused him severe anxiety issues. For instance it was later known that he was penciled in to be part of Spain's squad for the 2008 Euros after his spectacular first season at Barcelona when he was only 18, and he actually asked to be withdrawn for selection alleging fatigue, but that was actually a cover for his mental health issues.

Freddy Adu... his case was an absolute mistery to me. Why was such a young kid (I believe he was 14 when he first burst into the scene) put into such a situation is beyond me. Why was he so overhyped at such a young age is absolutely incomprehensible. He would have been much better served by having a much lower profile that would allow him to develop at his own pace, rather than being put in the spotlight in his early-mid teens.

[Sheilbh]

Sid Lowe did a really good interview with him a few years ago. Particularly on anxiety and the mental pressure:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/18/bojan-krkic-interview-anxiety-attacks-football

[Syt]

Just saw that for the next WC they switched from 3 team groups to 4 team groups again, which also pushes the number of matches to over 100. 

[The Larch]

Sid Lowe did a really good interview with him a few years ago. Particularly on anxiety and the mental pressure:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/18/bojan-krkic-interview-anxiety-attacks-football

Yeah, I think it was around that time (2018) that players' mental health started being discussed. I don't remember when it was exactly but Iniesta also opened up about suffering from depression at the height of his career back in the day and needing professional help to overcome it.

It's still disheartening to read some people in the comments for these news, though. Only yesterday there was somebody talking extremely callously in one of the news about Bojan about how "he didn't have the stuff" and was "lacking in the mental department", and how him not wanting to go to the 2008 Euro Cup was a red flag that should have been a warning for the rest of his career. No sympathy whatsoever, just demeaning him as a player and person.