waroffutbol

  The FIFA Club World Cup predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup, was once notorious for its dark years involving real violence on the pitch. The FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) might have just been held for the first time in the new millennium back in 2000. Yet, this tournament has a long history with shocking facts on and off the pitch. Its predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup, had an unbelievable tale in the late 1960s and 1970s, once raising concern about its future before being revitalised in the 1980s.  The Intercontinental Cup, not the one with ‘FIFA’ at the front, was once not recognised by the world football governing body despite being endorsed by the two strongest regional football confederations in the world, UEFA and CONMEBOL . It was only considered ‘a friendly match’ by FIFA. Yet, its prestige was still well recognised globally, as it featured the duel of the best clubs from Europe and South America. They are undoubtedly still the ones at the top level of internat...

  The South American clubs are no longer the favourite to end UEFA’s domination in the FIFA Club World Cup. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is set to begin at the end of this week. This expanded edition is expected to bring more competitive games and rekindle heated rivalries at the latter stage between UEFA and CONMEBOL sides. However, the latter reason seems rather out of reach considering the decline of the South American teams. Their dipped performance in the tournament, which was once known in a one-off showdown between the UCL and Copa Libertadores champions, has been quite distressing. The last time CONMEBOL lifted the trophy was in 2012 when Corinthians snatched a scrappy 1-0 victory over Chelsea under Tite. Since then, Copa Libertadores champions have not always reached the final in the competition. In fact, in the past five editions, only three of them advanced to the summit. No wonder that many have doubts they could win again, including in this year’s edition when C...

  English top scorers outside the Premier League are still hard to spot on, especially at the top level. The 2024/25 season has just ended but left a remarkable note for English players abroad. Apart from Harry Kane’s success in lifting his first-ever silverware in his career, the English players also mark a new record by winning the top scorer award in not just one but two major leagues in Europe. While Mo Salah thrived in the Premier League , Harry Kane and Mason Greenwood managed to shine abroad. The former Spurs star was awarded the Bundesliga Golden Boot in two consecutive seasons, whereas Greenwood won the top scorer award in Ligue 1 by notching 21 goals with Olympique Marseille in his season debut. He shared his accolade with PSG’s Ousmane Dembélé. Such is a rare milestone carved in European football, as English strikers are not known to be prolific outside their home soil. Although Kane and Greenwood have had remarkable campaigns with such awards in hand, they are not...

  A few managers have been considered unlucky during their managerial careers at the top level, as they lost more in the finals. The 2024/25 season is finally completed with the unexpected humiliation to Inter Milan in the UCL final last weekend. Nerazzurri, who managed to edge out Barcelona in a goal galore win at the semifinal, were outclassed by PSG five goals to nil. The result was so devastating that Simone Inzaghi opted to leave Giuseppe Meazza. Such a heavy loss marks Simone Inzaghi’s second defeat in the UCL final. The first one was only a narrow one to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the 2023 edition. Interestingly, Inzaghi’s men’s defeat in Munich last weekend was also the third defeat in the summit for the ex-Lazio boss. Does it mean that he tends to have misfortune in the finals? It is still too early to assume, but such may lead to it, should Inzaghi fail to deliver more trophies. As a gaffer, he mainly has clinched the Coppa Italia three times plus the Serie A ...

  Finding managers who have won three domestic titles or more with different teams in the same league proves to be quite difficult. The serial winner managers are always special. Recently, Antonio Conte has stolen the spotlight after clinching Serie A titles with Napoli, his third club in his native country. Such achievement deserves recognition, as the former Chelsea boss appears to be the only one who could do so from across the European top five leagues. Conte did lift the Serie A trophy while taking charge of his former side, Juventus. He was the one who initiated La Vecchia Signora’s dominance in 2010. Conte snatched the title in 2012 and 2014. He then did it again with Inter Milan in the 2020/21 season. His rare record makes him one of the few managers who did so. In Europe’s top to mid-level leagues, only two names made such a similar unique record, whereas in South America’s top-level competition, three names are on the list. Two of whom are from Argentina. Mustafa ...

  Football managers are rarely seen facing off against their old boss in the summit, except for very few of them. Football can deliver strange fates, either for players or for gaffers. It might be more common to see the players facing off against their former boss. Yet, it is rare to find managers head-to-head against their old mentor. In the current campaign, such can be ruled out as Chelsea and Real Betis square off in Wroclaw for the last stage of the UEFA Conference League final. The Blues’ boss, Enzo Maresca, publicly claimed that Betis’s Manuel Pellegrini had been considered his professional father. They have been so close and even still remain in contact ahead of their team’s meeting. Maresca was once playing for Pellegrini’s Malaga in the 2011/12 campaign before working as one of his staff in West Ham. The former Leicester boss stayed in London Stadium from 2018 to 2019 before starting off his managerial career as a head coach at AC Parma in 2021. The duel between ...