WORLD CUP 2022: ARGENTINA, VENEZUELA, BRAZIL, AND ECUADOR BIG WINNERS

 

There were five World Cup qualifying matches played between ten South American teams on Tuesday, with some of them getting close to secure their spot in the next edition of the FIFA World Cup come 2022.


Lautaro Martinez and Nicolas Gonzalez were both on the scoresheet as they helped Argentina secure a 2-0 victory over Peru in their group. The win means they have now accumulated a total of ten points, and they need two more points to secure their qualification.
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Qualification Rounds World Cup 2022 to Commence

 

Qualifications for the 2022 World Cup started in June 2019 with nations of the Asian confederation playing the first round of qualifying matches. Mongolia gained a win over Brunei with a score of 2-1. The overall progress of the qualifying matches has been affected due to the pandemic that started in 2020. Many qualifying rounds were subsequently suspended since March 2020 and are being rescheduled.

UEFA is the main body that looks into the qualifying matches for Europe. A total of 55 nations in Europe are to go through elimination rounds and they are split into ten groups in total. The draws would be done in November 2020 and qualifying rounds would begin in the month of March 2021. An upcoming edition is planned for UEFA Nations which will commence in September 2020. The groups comprise of 6 to 5 teams in the 10 groups. Four teams would move into the finals and will have match days for finals subsequently. UEFA finals of the Nations League are delayed to October 2021 as Euro cup 2020 has also been moved to 2021. Group winners will go to finals directly.

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MAN UTD CONSIDER LEON BAILEY

 

According to reports, Premier League side Man United are in the race to land Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey. Old Trafford have identified Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho as their marquee signing for next season, but they have failed to reach any headway in the pursuit of the England international.


According to several reports Dortmund are holding out for over £100m for the winger. While the Red Devils are adamant, they will not meet that demand due to the financial impact of the Covid19 outbreak. Leaving the two sides in somewhat of a stand-off over a potential mega transfer.
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FODEN EYES ENGLAND CALL UP

Phil Foden believes his impressive performance for Manchester City this season has caught the attention of England manager Gareth Southgate. The England U21 star has been impressive for Pep Guardiola’s side this season. He has been used in Cup matches and the youngster has impressed with assured performances.

He was instrumental as the club won their third Carabao cup. He was named man of the match in the final, and he hopes his display will be enough to convince the watching England manager when making his choices for the European championship selection. The European championship was slated for the summer of 2020, but the competition has been postponed till next summer due to Coronavirus pandemic.
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IRAN LOSE TO BAHRAIN AMID ANTHEM JEERS

The AFC 2022 World Cup qualifiers have been going on with the third round of fixtures played during the international break. On Tuesday Asian giants Iran lost to Bahrain in their qualifier in the filled Bahrain National stadium.

 

 

The ongoing tensions in the Middle East were seen from the start of the game with Bahrain fans jeering the Iran national anthem while their players were smiling to the anthem. This act infuriated the Iranians in what proved to be a testy game.

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SPAIN AND PORTUGAL FLAG OFF WORLD CUP BID

The Federations of Spain and Portugal have officially confirmed that they will promote a joint candidacy to organize the 2030 World Cup, which will follow the already assigned editions of Qatar 2022 and the United States, Mexico and Canada, in 2026.

The two Iberian federations have informed the governments of both countries and they have full support.

Spain and Portugal already presented themselves as venues for the 2018 World Cup, which finally won Russia’s candidacy. 

The Iberian offer was eliminated in Zurich on December 2, 2010, on a day that was then investigated by the FBI as a separate for financial misconduct and the alleged purchase and sale of votes that occurred in the allocation of the headquarters of the World Cup. 

The 2018 and 2022 editions, awarded that day, were the last ones chosen with the votes of the members of the FIFA Executive Committee – then composed of 23 people.Now it is bestowed on all the 209 presidents of the federations of the world.

With their joint plan, Spain and Portugal will compete to host the 2030 World Cup, in which they will celebrate the centenary of the tournament.

They will have as great rivals Argentina and Uruguay, who disputed the first final and have long since announced their intention to attend to host the World Cup.Meanwhile Qatar will offer two training grounds to each team in the 2022 World Cup

The preparations of the training camps for the teams that will participate in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are underway. The natural grass playgrounds will be available to the participants and will be a legacy for the country. Apart from those that are underway, many others will be improved.

New fields are being built in Qatar, while others that already meet the requirements are conditioned. Among the stadiums that are improved are the first and second division clubs. 

Qatar Working on Team to Improve

For the host of World Cup 2022, all Copa America matches will be like the final match. The clash of Sunday against Paraguay at the Maracana stadium is above all. This is because this is probably going to be the best chance of the team to get points in this tournament. Felix Sanchez, the Spanish coach of Qatar in an interview told journalists that his team is trying to participate in high level three group stage matches which will take place against Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay.

Sanchez believes that Argentina and Colombia are the top two contenders of winning the title. This means that the match opposite Paraguayans show the best chance that Qatar, the holder of the Asian Cup to register a win. Sanchez said, “The match will be like the final one, but the match will be the same opposite Argentina and Colombia. Both nations are great nations and know for their love for football.” At the beginning of this month, Qatar, who is making the debut of Copa America lost a friendly match opposite host Brazil with the score 2-0

Tite is the coach of Brazil, said Qatar defense has impressed him and however, the ball possession of team was not as great as it was seen in the Asian Cup. Paraguay, on the other hand, is striving to rebuild its game under its coach Eduardo Berizzo. The team fails to qualify in the last two World Cups.

Berizzo said, “The team’s quality is its counters. They counter well and adapt different tactics for the same. They also have a great offense.” The coach of Paraguay, however, he felt that his team is his favorite and has the potential to become the winner of Rio de Janeiro. He said that this is the time that we have to work on our identity and affirm it.

ENGLAND BOSS AWARDED OBE

England national team have been one of the surprise success stories in the past 12 months as Gareth Southgate has brought the feel-good factor to the team. Appointed in 2017 as the replacement to Sam Allardyce the 48-year-old took charge of the team in the 2018 Wield Cup.

Despite many writing off the chances of the team, Southgate was able to galvanise the team as they made a run to the semis before losing after extra time to Croatia. Last Thursday the former Middlesbrough manager was in Buckingham Palace to receive his OBE (order of the British Empire.

Dressed in his trademark waistcoat the England manager received the award from Prince Charles. After the ceremony, Southgate revealed that it was a unique and proud moment for him. He also thanked his staff and players for their support since he took charge of the team.

Another member of the World Cup team to receive an award was England captain Harry Kane who was awarded an MBE (member of the order of the British Empire).

Southgate has been able to mix and team with old heads such as Kyle Walker and Jordan Henderson alongside key players like Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.  He has also not been afraid to give youth players a chance with the recent debut of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jadon Sancho good examples.

England have continued to impress post World Cup as they are through to the finals of the UEFA Nations League after emerging from a mini group with Spain and World Cup finalists Croatia. The team faces the Netherlands in the semi-final of the tournament in June. 

Southgate men have also begun the European 2020 qualifiers with a quick flourish winning their opening two games against the Czech Republic and Montenegro netting five goals in both matches.

Mengniu Dairy Seeks World Cup Sponsorship

When it comes to the World Cup it is a chance for sponsorship and global promotions for many countries. For the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2022, a Chinese dairy giant is looking to gain sponsorship contract.

Mengniu Dairy from China is a giant in the country and known as the second largest dairy producer for China is looking to gain sponsorship deals with FIFA. They are in talks with the football authorities for this. The forthcoming World Cup would be held in Qatar and it would be an opportunity for the company to boost its image and create brand awareness across the globe.

The company had previously sponsored the 2018 World Cup that was held in Russia. This had been to the amount of 1 billion RMB or 149 million USD. It feels that its brand recognition, as well as revenue, was greatly boosted by that event. The sales of the company grew by 14% which was despite no discounts being offered to the customers. This has been a change as compared to previous years when they have achieved growth rates by offering discounts on different products.

Hence, it makes sense that Mengniu would seek to expand its brand by associating themselves with FIFA world campaigns. Besides the association with FIFA world cup campaign, their foreign sales remain small. The company hopes that they would be able to expand into foreign segments in this manner. The current target of the company is in Southeast Asia. They have already invested in a production plant in Indonesia where operations have started in November last year. They are now looking to expand to markets in Africa and the Middle East.

Indeed, there is much that is being done about the forthcoming World Cup in 2022. The event’s organization has the city planners in Qatar busy while FIFA doles out sponsorship deals.

MARTINO TO LEAD MEXICO TO QATAR 2022

Former Barcelona head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino has been announced as the new manager of the Mexican national team following the departure of former boss Juan Carlos Osorio.

Carlos Osorio led Mexico to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but was left disappointed by the team’s performance at the tournament, eventually deciding to call the quits.

Gerardo Martino has been announced as the man to lead the North American country to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will surely be a very difficult task for the Argentinian manager.

The head coach was presented by the Mexican Football Federation, Federacion Mexicana de Futbol (FMF) last week at an official press conference as Juan Carlos Osorio’s successor.

Speaking at his unveiling, Martino pledged his commitment to the country, revealing his commitment to work with utmost honesty and respect.

He also had words of praise for Mexican players, acknowledging that the country is blessed with so many great players who are plying their trade in various European leagues.

Martino was quick to state his ambitions of playing a beautiful brand of attacking football with his Mexico team as he looks to lead them to the World Cup in Qatar come 2022.

The Argentine boss moves to Mexico following two largely successful seasons in the Major League Soccer with newly formed club Atlanta United. He is leaving the Atlanta-based club on a high, following his league title triumph in December 2018.

Martino brings in a wealth of experience to the Mexican national team, having previously managed a star-studded Barcelona team in the past, even leading them to the Spanish La Liga title during his reign. His major task at Mexico for the time being, will be to secure a spot at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the supporters will be hoping he achieves just that.