waroffutbol

  Several small teams’ star players made significants contributions to their countries' historic major tournament debuts. Making a debut in a major tournament, whether continental or international, is a significant milestone in national team development. It does not only showcase their team's progress, but also demonstrates their ability to compete at the highest level. Qualifying at the major competition might be easier for the established team but not for the minnows. They only have their one or two star players to count on for reaching that stage. Some of them might have contributed so heavily that they seemed to carry the whole team on their own, while others have been lucky enough to get help from a strong team. Napoli’s Kvicha Kvaratshelia is the most current example of the latter. He did not have to carry Georgia on his shoulder alone to seal one spot in their first major tournament, EURO 2024 next summer, after thumping Greece on penalties last Tuesday, March 26 t...

  Football penalties have been evolving from time to time in terms of rules, technique, and more.  Penalties have been an integral part of football games. It is one crucial moment that could make the difference between the winners and the losers. It can change the game, the team’s confidence, or fortune, especially when it comes to the shootout. The penalty kick was not exactly included yet when the first law of the game was introduced in 1863. Initially, the punishment for handball, including the one near the goal, was an indirect freekick back in 1872. Then, it was changed to a free goal for the opposition side when one team committed a handball in 1882. Yet, it was abolished a year later, as it was unnecessarily and unfairly harsh for such a fault. In 1890, it was actually the Irish FA (FAI) who brought the idea of penalties to the International Football Association Board. The Irish businessman and also a member of the FAI, William McCrum, was the one who invented it...

  Several matches in the UEFA EURO playoffs are worth remembering for their thrilling encounters. The EURO 2024 playoffs are underway. Six teams will be fighting for the remaining three spots in the summer tournament in Germany. They have been seeded in three paths based on their results in the UEFA Nations League 2022/23 as well as the EURO 2024 qualifiers. Robert Lewandowski’s Poland and Ukraine are among those six sides who are set to play in the playoff final next Tuesday, March 26 th . The current playoffs are staged in a final-four format, starting with the semifinals. Since two-legged games were discontinued, more drama, thrills, or even goals galore are expected. Should the games end in a tie, extra time and a penalty shootout will be used to decide the winner. Some remarkable games have occurred over the history of the EURO playoffs, which began in 1995 . Some established teams, such as England, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, previously had to take such a path...

  A few notable players still managed to earn another national team call-up despite being nearly forgotten and their long absence in international fixtures. The international break is back on schedule this week. Some teams will only play friendly matches to prepare for upcoming summer events such as EURO 2024 and Copa America USA 2024, which take place practically in the same period, June to July. Meanwhile, some others will have to go through the playoff rounds to fight for the last berths in both competitions. In this crucial stage, either as a final stage of preparation or the playoffs, the teams that have not been entirely confident with the available players in their national team pool decide to call up veteran figures or even forgotten names to help their international campaign one last time. They can be a handful to boost the team’s form with their long experience in the final round, either as the team’s first choice in the lineup or simply as a substitute on the bench. ...

  Several huge stadiums which belong to the small teams in South America have been surprisingly used for major tournaments frequently. South America's biggest stadiums are not only dominated by huge teams with long histories or a plethora of silverwares, but they also serve as the home base for smaller teams. These venues are not only situated in the three major nations in the region which have been the world cup winners, Brasil and Argentina, but also elsewhere. Unlike the ones in Europe, which have been discussed in the part 1 , those stadiums are mainly owned of the state government, city council or private company instead of solely owned by the local teams. They are merely the tenant of the sites. Some even have to share the venues with the other teams as well. Here are the large venues that have been the minnow's home base yet are frequently used for global or regional important competitions. Mané Garrincha, Brasilia This stadium is one of the most important stadiu...