waroffutbol

  A few short goalkeepers did manage to make their mark at the top level, but not anymore today. A goalkeeper has been a crucial position in football, and height has become a more and more important requirement to be a shot stopper, especially at the top level. In addition, goalkeepers have been pushed to have ball control and reading the game ability as they tend to be integrated in attacking build-up in the modern game. Regarding the height, it is almost impossible to find a man between the sticks who is below 175 cm tall. The shortest goalkeeper in the European top five is still 180 cm tall. He is the current Real Valladolid man, Jordi Masip. Nevertheless, there have been such notable short goalies at the top level in football history. Two of them even got a nod to feature in two FIFA World Cup finals. Here are those distinguished shot stoppers without the height advantage but still managed to be the first choice in his club and earn international caps. Juan Botasso (Argen...

  2024 Copa Libertadores’ all-Brazilian final will be without any Brazilian bosses in the dugout. This year’s Copa Libertadores finally reaches the last stage with once again all Brazilian finals in the summit. Botafogo progressed to their first ever final in the competition history to take on their local contender, Atlético Mineiro, also known as Atlético-MG, the champions in the 2013 edition. Both sides have eliminated Uruguay's Peñarol and Argentina’s River Plate, respectively, in the semifinal. The final will be staged in Estadio Mâs Monumental, Buenos Aires, on November 30. Copa Libertadores is no longer stranger to all Brazilian finals. In fact, it has already been the sixth one in history. The last three ones even took place in the past five years, which demonstrates the dominance of Brazilian clubs in the tournament. What’s more, they have always been the champions since 2019 too. However, there is an anomaly in this year’s all-Brazilian final. Unlike the previous ed...

  Real Madrid have had their humiliating defeats several times in the Champions League's history. Los Blancos has been the most successful club in the Champions League history, with 15 titles in hand. In fact, they have lifted the Big Ear trophy twice in the last three seasons. No wonder that it is unbelievably hard to see them suffer humiliating loss, either at home or on the road. However, it does not mean that they are invincible. Los Merengues have experienced some horrible moments of defeats. This season, Vinicius Jr. and Co. have suffered several embarrassing losses in La Liga and the Champions League. Not so long ago, they were dismantled by their archrival, Barcelona, 4-0 at their home turf. Then, their continental campaign has been unimpressive too, with two unlikely defeats from Lille and AC Milan. Although those negative results aren’t yet considered a humiliation. It does add up more stains to their UCL record of loss. In the European top flight competition, their...

  Several top managers have never had a chance to take charge of their own national team until they retired. The best managers tend to have a chance to take charge of their own national team. Their success at the clubs, especially with continental trophies in their collection, should have given them a nod for the expected job easily, and there is no higher pride than leading their own national team in the dugout. Nevertheless, some legendary names appeared to have never had such a job, despite being linked with it for more than just once! Each name had their own circumstances.  The most well-known example was probably Brian Clough. The former Derby County and Nottingham Forest boss has been tipped as ‘the best manager England never had’. Despite his rare triumphant success in guiding The Tricky Trees to a league title and a back-to-back European Cup, Clough was never named the English boss. He was reportedly under consideration by FA twice, in 1977 and 1982, to lead the ...

 Only very few Asian goalkeepers managed to play and cement their place in the European top leagues.  Asian goalkeepers have been very rare to see in the top five European major leagues. Yet, it does not mean that there are not any. This season, Italian Serie A sees the rise of a new young goalie whose form has been stealing the spotlight. Parma’s Zion Suzuki has slowly but steadily been able to seal his spot in the starting XI and helped his team to sit in the midtable with some impressive wins, including a 2-1 win over AC Milan at the opener and a 2-2 tie on the road against Juventus. Overall, he has made 11 appearances with one clean sheet in the Italian top tier, quite impressive for a 22-year-old shot stopper in his season debut. Suzuki has been part of Japan’s set-up during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He already made an appearance in the 2023 Asian Cup too. The former St. Truiden and Urawa Reds man is likely to be the main shot stopper for The Blue Samurai for m...

  Several Dutch managers have been nearly forgotten despite their notable success and contribution. The Netherlands is undoubtedly one of the elite football nations in the world, which has produced a number of well-known and even legendary football managers from time to time. Dutch football made its mark from the development of Total Football, which rose to prominence in the late 1960s and reached its peak in the 1970s. It lays the foundation of modern football.  Since then, Dutch managers have been on the headlines: Rinus Michels , then his disciple, Johan Cruyff, and Guus Hiddink, followed by Louis Van Gaal, Ronald Koeman, Frank Rijkaard, and Erik Ten Hag today. Sadly, the last one was just sacked by Manchester United due to his team’s poor results recently.  On the contrary, another Dutch boss has stolen the spotlight recently. Liverpool's Arne Slot can be regarded as rather underrated compared to Ten Hag. Yet he managed to guide the Reds to the top of the standi...