Global Football Odds & Ends

mauf

mauf

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Anyone else watching the U23 Preolympico tournament on FS2?

They had an announcer for one game who sounded like he was 12 and bounced back and forth between English and Spanish. (I assumed I was just having trouble with his accent, but my son was like, no, that’s Spanish.)
 
Zososoxfan

Zososoxfan

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mauf said:
Anyone else watching the U23 Preolympico tournament on FS2?

They had an announcer for one game who sounded like he was 12 and bounced back and forth between English and Spanish. (I assumed I was just having trouble with his accent, but my son was like, no, that’s Spanish.)
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I'd be curious to hear this. I always cringe when a gringo butchers Spanish names/terms, but it's just as bad listening to color commentary in English with a thick Spanish accent.
 
67YAZ

67YAZ

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wonderland said:
Looks like that Leicester deal fell through. Still, crazy amounts of money.
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You’re right. I lost the thread on that. Looks like Sensi took a medical and everything before it fell apart.

At least he wasn’t on a transatlantic flight.
 
DJnVa

DJnVa

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Jordan on verge of pretty decent upset, up 2-0 over South Korea with about 5 minutes left in the AFC semis. South Korea was -400 to advance.
 
dirtynine

dirtynine

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The end of Iran / Qatar (right now) is very intense. 2-2, Iran dominating possession, Qatar scores against the run of play in the 83' to go ahead, wild atmosphere. This will be 10 minutes of absolute bombardment on the other end.
 
Jake Peavy's Demons

Jake Peavy's Demons

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Did anyone watch the Asian Cup Finals between Qatar/Jordan? Didn't get to see, but Qatar won 3:1, but had 3(!) PKs given (& converted). Of course the cup was held in Qatar, so I am very suspicious. Really wanted Iran or South Korea.
 
Kliq

Kliq

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I've always found Haralabos Voulgaris to be a smarmy douche whenever he'd appear on Simmons podcast, and he just comes across as completely insufferable in this Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/18/castellon-owner-bob-voulgaris-analytics-gambling-interview



“We found this team and fell in love with the community. We calculated the cost to go up, our predicted promotion. People act like we spend a lot but it’s very reasonable. I didn’t have the luxury of patience; we faced bankruptcy. Our first-team budget is around €2.2m (£1.7m). We’ll spend but I won’t throw $350,000 at some 35-year-old. We’re doing it differently. Young players, proper coaches, staff, the right facilities.”
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“I’m overbearing in squad composition,” Voulgaris admits. Is that hard for the sporting director? There’s a smile. “We don’t really have one.” And the coach? Voulgaris admits seeing one starting XI last season and thinking: really? “But,” he says, “the coach does what he wants. I ask questions, like to understand, but don’t interfere.
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Voulgaris discusses contrasting mentalities – north American, north European, Spanish – the influence of agents, and building owner-player relationships, the lessons learned in the NBA and how footballers can be emotional. “There’s a book that’s Buddhist stoicism through tennis – I’ve given that to a couple,” he says, patting Oscar, his secret weapon: “He’s the ultimate ice breaker; he takes the pressure off round here. That human element is the biggest challenge, the most interesting part of the puzzle. You can’t put that on the spreadsheet.”
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There’s a pause. “Well, in the NBA you can,” he says, laughing. “Coaches that aren’t very sharp say: ‘Your models don’t tell you that.’ Actually, they do. Ceiling cameras take 24 photos a second. Everything is captured. I had a conversation with an assistant coach who didn’t believe in data at all. He’s been married 15 years. I said: ‘Who knows you better? Your wife or your Google search history?’ His face …

“You get coaches who are disparaging of analytics. It’s a culture war; that’s why I wanted my own team. Now if I have someone like that – and I did when I took over here – they’re gone. There’s the ‘Americans know nothing’ thing, eye rolling. But now everyone gets it.”
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Voulgaris laughs. “The players were going round going: ‘Prima, prima’ at me and I’m thinking they like me: prima, prime, No 1. Sounds good. But it means ‘bonus’. ‘OK, let’s talk.’ I gave them two options: a promotion bonus, even if via the playoffs, or a bigger bonus but only if you win the league. They chose that, gambled on themselves. I think we’re doing pretty special stuff here. It’s our model so it’s biased, but we’re 53% to win the league.”

Oscar pads across. “When I started, I wanted to buy a basketball team,” Voulgaris says. “They were trading for $200m, $300m and I was like: ‘I can get there.’ Every time I got close, the goalposts moved: $300m, $700m, $1bn. I felt like Sisyphus with the rock. What I didn’t realise when I was young and stupid is that some of the dudes owning NBA teams have nowhere near 100%. If I had known that: different ball game. So I end up in Castellón instead. But I like it. It’s a chance to genuinely affect people’s lives and I wouldn’t change anything. This is perfect.”
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rguilmar

rguilmar

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Yesterday saw the youngest player ever play in the Champions League knockout stages (Lamine Yamal) and the oldest (Pepe). Yamal was born two years after Pepe played in his first UCL knockout game.

On a separate note, Dani Alves is officially a PoS and has been sentenced to four plus years in jail for sexual assault.
 
Jake Peavy's Demons

Jake Peavy's Demons

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Georgia are through for the 1st time in their (independent) history for the Euros!

Defeated Greece 4-2 in PKs after a 0-0 match AET.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was subbed off toward the end, however.
 
Zososoxfan

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Not sure which thread this belongs in, but it needs to be discussed. Everton were docked ANOTHER 2 points this morning:

An independent panel has handed Everton a two-point deduction on Monday for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability (PSR) rules, the second time the club has faced a points deduction this season.

Premier League regulations stipulate that a club can lose no more than £105 million ($132.54m) over a three-year period.

"Over a three-day hearing last month, the independent Commission heard evidence and arguments from the club in respect of a range of potential mitigating factors for its admitted breach of £16.6million, including the impact of its two successive PSR charges," the Premier League said in a statement.

"Having done so, the Commission determined the appropriate sanction to be a two-point deduction, taking effect immediately."

The points deduction means Everton have dropped one place in the Premier League table to 16th, two points above the relegation zone.
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https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39898968/everton-handed-further-2-point-deduction-financial-breaches

There's more at the link, but I have a real issue with point deductions being issued throughout the season and furthermore, being appealed and reduced also within the same season.

This is the kinda shenanigans I expect of Spain, not the EPL. The EPL OTOH has the market cornered on making VAR as useless and maddening as possible.

I like that the EPL is doing more to regulate the sport--it seems like Germany has done best with this, specifically their ownership requirements (RB Leipzig loophole-ing aside), but shifting the table midseason like this and in an iterative way seems really harmful to the competition. I'd argue that they should do all their investigating during an enumerated timeline, and impose any penalties in the summer offseason, including any appeals process.

Paging @OCST for your reaction
 
Zososoxfan

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May as well post this too, because I'm confused about all the claims made by Fenerbahce:

Fenerbahce players walked off the pitch after one minute of Sunday's Turkish Super Cup match against Galatasaray, forcing the game to be abandoned and conceding the trophy.

Fenerbahce, who fielded their Under-19 team, withdrew from the rearranged match in Sanliurfa about 1,000 km from Istanbul after Galatasaray's Argentine striker Mauro Icardi scored.

Media reported the club had requested the game be postponed ahead of their Europa Conference League quarterfinal, first leg at Olympiakos Piraeus on Thursday but were turned down.

Fenerbahçe president Yıldırım Ali Koç spoke of a "rebellion" in a statement on the club's website, where he detailed alleged injustices going back over the years. "It is time for a 'reset' for Turkish football," Koc said.

Two Fenerbahçe players, İrfan Can Eğribayat and Jayden Oosterwolde, were banned for one match by the Turkish soccer federation last week after a Superlig game against Trabzonspor. Trabzonspor fans had charged onto the pitch after the final whistle. Trabzonspor was ordered to play six games without fans as punishment.

"As the largest sports club in the world, with 30 million fans who embody the national values of their respective countries, we'll continue to stand tall today and in the future, just as we did yesterday," Fenerbahce said on social media Sunday.

The Turkish Super Cup was scheduled to be played in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh in December, but was postponed.

Media reported at the time that the two teams would not play the match as Saudi authorities did not allow the players to wear T-shirts featuring the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in the warmup ahead of the evening kickoff.
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https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39895661/fenerbahce-walk-one-minute-forfeit-turkish-super-cup

Apologies for posting the whole article, but A) it's short, B) it's Reuters copy, and C) WTF?

Best I can tell, there are various claims by the club here:

1. Request to postpone match (ostensibly because of a UEL midweek match) was denied.

2. Contentious suspensions of club players after last week's disaster at Trabzonspor (Turkish proper nouns are HARD). If you haven't seen the video, go watch it. Mad enough to make Argentinians blush.

3. Turkish Super Cup was scheduled to be played in Riyadh. Game was postponed because players were not permitted to wear Ataturk warmup shirts.

Can anyone help me sort through this morass?
 
HowBoutDemSox

HowBoutDemSox

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Premiere League adopting semi-automated offside technology for next season:
At a Premier League Shareholders’ meeting today, clubs unanimously agreed to the introduction of Semi-Automated Offside Technology.

The new system will be used for the first time in the Premier League next season, and it is anticipated the technology will be ready to be introduced after one of the autumn international breaks.

The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and will produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters.
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https://www.premierleague.com/news/3962262
 
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