LONDON: Former playmaker Andrea Pirlo joined the criticism after Italy’s 1-0 defeat to Sweden on Friday left the four-time champions on the brink of missing out on the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
Italy, whose last failure to qualify for the finals was in 1958, have to beat Sweden by two goals in the return leg tomorrow in Milan to avoid what the head of the federation Carlo Tavecchio has dubbed the “Apocalypse.”
But their toothless performance on Friday — the latest in a series of lacklustre displays — has done nothing to reassure their supporters that Gian Piero Ventura’s side is up to the task.
“Italy looked like a scared team that was playing for a 0-0 draw. In Europe, that is not enough,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia.
The 38-year-old, who confirmed his retirement last week, also had little sympathy for Ventura’s complaints about the referee.
“It’s a red herring,” he said. “Playing in Europe is not like in Italy, where you get a free kick for even the slightest contact.
“In these matches you need to be above all that and give 100 percent; it’s in these matches that you see the real players.
“It will be tough for Ventura to find the right words to say to the group.”
• Anthony Hudson has backed his New Zealand side to get the result they need to make it to Russia after they held Peru to a 0-0 draw in Wellington.
The hosts overcame a lack of possession and territory to get the result against their more fancied opponents, with All Whites’ goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic making a series of impressive saves in the intercontinental playoff first-leg.
Ryan Thomas had arguably the best chance but his 85th-minute shot flashed centimeters wide of the right-hand post and the sides head to Lima all square ahead of the second-leg on Wednesday.
“It is a really strong result for us, big result and we are pleased with where we are at,” All Whites coach Hudson said.
“But our feet are right on the ground. We haven’t achieved anything yet. We still want to get to Russia. All we have to do is score one goal and that puts added pressure on them.
“We are very confident we can go there and score.”
• Australia coach Ange Postecoglou accused the Honduras media of being disrespectful to his team and said his players had used it as motivation before Friday’s 0-0 draw in the first-leg of the playoff.
Australia missed a number of chances in San Pedro Sula but had the better of a scrappy game played on a soggy pitch and will head to the second-leg in Sydney on Wednesday confident of qualifying for the finals in Russia next year.
Postecoglou took exception to a local newspaper that dismissed his team as “11 kangaroos” in a headline and used the post-match press conference to berate the home journalists.
“Maybe you thought we were going to be easy,” Postecoglou said. “I saw in the newspaper you said it was 11 kangaroos out there, but kangaroos can play football, eh?
“We had two players (Aaron Mooy and Mat Ryan) who play in the (English) Premier League, we’ve got players in the first divisions in Europe.
“All I heard was we have a simple game plan and no stars — that was our motivation. We do our talking when the game comes.”
Pirlo predicts tough task for ‘scared’ Italy
Pirlo predicts tough task for ‘scared’ Italy
Jake Paul beats 58-year-old Mike Tyson as hits failed to match the hype
- Downdetector reported that the outage primarily impacted users in major metropolitan areas, including New York, Seattle and Los Angeles
ARLINGTON, Texas: Jake Paul won a unanimous decision over Mike Tyson as the hits didn’t match the hype in a fight between a young YouTuber-turned-boxer and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Friday night.
All the hate from the pre-fight buildup was gone, with Paul even stopping to pay homage with a bow to Tyson before the final bell sounded at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
The fight wasn’t close on the judge’s cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn’t try much else the rest of the way.
Even fewer rounds and shorter rounds couldn’t do much to generate action for a 58-year-old in his first sanctioned pro fight in almost 20 years, facing a boxing neophyte with hopes of fighting for championships somewhere in the future.
Paul was more aggressive after the quickly burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn’t very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses.
Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him, with a few exceptions. It was quite the contract the co-main event, another slugfest in which Katie Taylor kept her undisputed super lightweight championship with a decision over Amanda Serrano.
It was the first sanctioned fight since 2005 for Tyson. Paul started fighting a little more than four years ago.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20 but had to be postponed when Tyson was treated for a stomach ulcer after falling ill on a flight.
Kosovo players walk off in Romania game after ‘Serbia’ chants
Bucharest: A Nations League game between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest was suspended on Friday in injury time after fans in the crowd shouted “Serbia!.”
The Kosovo players left the pitch after the chants, leading to the game to be paused with the score 0-0.
Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.
Kosovo and Serbia do not play each other in UEFA and FIFA tournaments.
Football’s world governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia during the 2022 World Cup after the team hung a flag in their changing room depicting Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Kosovo joined FIFA and European confederation UEFA in 2016.
When Romania played in Pristina, they beat Kosovo 3-0.
Ronaldo shines as Portugal rout Poland to reach Nations League last-eight
PORTO, Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal staged a second-half supershow to crush Poland 5-1 and reach the Nations League quarter-finals on Friday.
Portugal join France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the last-eight while Poland’s hopes of going through from Group A1 were ended.
Having struggled to plant a shot on target in the first half, Portugal stepped on the accelerator after the break.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock in Porto just before the hour mark after starting and finishing the move.
The AC Milan striker raced away and passed to Nuno Mendes whose cross from the left was headed powerfully past Marcin Bulka in the Portugal goal.
Thirteen minutes later, skipper Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after Jakub Kiwior was penalized for a handball in the area.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 80th minute, scoring after a clever run by Vitinha.
Pedro Neto added the fourth three minutes later after Ronaldo’s fine pass which left the Polish defense stranded.
As Polish spirits sank, Ronaldo added his second and Portugal’s fifth in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick before Dominik Marczuk tucked away a consolation goal for the visitors.
Poland had enjoyed the better chances before falling behind but their potency in front of goal was blunted by the absence of record goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski who was sidelined with a back injury.
Moments before Leao’s goal, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa pulled off a fine save to deny Marczuk having also been alert to deny Nicola Zalewski in the first half.
Portugal’s best chance in the first 45 minutes had fallen to Ronaldo who fired a close-range effort over the bar from close range.
Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
- Miura will turn 58 in February
- He intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka
TOKYO: Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura is several generations older than his teammates. His contemporaries retired decades ago. Lionel Messi is 37, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 — mere youngsters compared to Miura.
Miura will turn 58 in February, and the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported this week that he intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka. It will be his 40th season playing in professional soccer.
Miura is widely listed as the oldest active professional soccer player.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.
He has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, a side made famous by Brazilian star Pelé.
Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
- Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round.
- Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have 6 points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with 3
JAKARTA: Japan defeated Indonesia 4-0 on Friday to move seven points clear at the top of Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Two goals in each half mean the Samurai Blue stays on course for an eighth successive World Cup appearance.
After a bright start from the home team, the 78,000 fans at a sold-out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium were silenced after 35 minutes as Daichi Kamada broke down the left and sent a cross which defender Justin Hubner put into his own net from close range.
Takumi Minamino then scored from inside the area off Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to extend the lead five minutes before the break.
Hidemasa Motira took advantage of an errant pass from Indonesia’s goalkeeper to make it 3-0 early in the second half and Yukinari Sugawara rounded out the scoring in the 69th minute.
Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round. Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have six points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with three.
The top two from each of the three groups will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the third- and fourth-place teams progressing to the next stage.
