BERLIN: German soccer fans thought they’d put the days of empty stadiums behind them, but the coronavirus pandemic isn’t letting up.
Record case numbers in Germany mean one top club is back playing without a crowd and others will have thousands of fewer fans this weekend.
Leipzig is on the front line of the latest wave of the pandemic in Germany in the eastern state of Saxony, where infection rates are the highest and vaccination rates the lowest compared to other regions. With intensive care facilities under strain, state authorities have banned crowds from sports events.
That means Leipzig will host the Bundesliga’s first game in an empty stadium for months when Bayer Leverkusen visits on Sunday. That also affects its Champions League game against Manchester City next month. Clubs in other states are increasingly under restrictions, too. Bayern Munich can fill its stadium to only 25 percent capacity against Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.
Just a month ago, the picture was very different.
Germany’s vaccination program was going well and entry rules for games — generally restricted to people who were fully vaccinated, recently recovered from the virus or with a negative test — were being broadly obeyed. Bayern celebrated having a full house of 75,000 for the first time since March 2020 on Oct. 23 when it played Hoffenheim.
Since then, case numbers have continued to hit record levels in German society, and soccer has not escaped.
Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch and goalkeeper Peter Gulasci won’t be at their empty-stadium game against Leverkusen because the club said this week they tested positive. Of the four German clubs playing in the Champions League this week, all were missing at least one player with a positive test.
Leipzig shrugged off the disruption in a 5-0 demolition of Belgian club Brugge on Wednesday, but questions remain over the future of Marsch with the club seventh on the Bundesliga table and unable to qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds.
Bayern’s reduced crowd will see the team attempt to bounce back from a shock 2-1 loss at Augsburg last week which reduced the title lead to just one point. A threadbare Bayern squad clung on to beat Dynamo Kyiv 2-1 on Tuesday but virus cases and injuries mean coach Julian Nagelsmann has few tactical options and can’t rest key players. Against that backdrop, even relegation-threatened Bielefeld becomes a trickier opponent.
Bayern’s woes deepened on Wednesday when midfielder Joshua Kimmich and backup striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting tested positive for the coronavirus. Kimmich became the face of Germany’s debate over vaccine hesitancy last month, and a political talking point in parliament, when he said in a TV interview he wasn’t vaccinated and had reservations about vaccines against the virus.
Other clubs are on a collision course with their own players.
Starting this month, German employers are no longer obliged to pay workers during their quarantine period if they’re unvaccinated and identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive. Several clubs have said they’ll follow this policy and Bayern has been widely reported to be considering this approach.
Elsewhere this weekend, Borussia Dortmund takes on Wolfsburg in a game between teams having similar weeks. Both lost in the Champions League midweek — eliminating Dortmund and leaving Wolfsburg unlikely to qualify — and both are without key players who tested positive for the virus after returning from the Belgian national team. In Dortmund’s case, it’s forward Thorgan Hazard, who had been crucial during Erling Haaland’s injury absence, while Wolfsburg is missing goalkeeper Koen Casteels.
Third-placed Freiburg surprised many by staying in the Champions League places after a strong start to the season but it’s on the slide after losing two in a row. A visit to promoted Bochum offers a chance to turn things around.
Leipzig in empty stadium as virus bites back in Bundesliga
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Leipzig in empty stadium as virus bites back in Bundesliga
- Record case numbers in Germany mean one top club is back playing without a crowd
- Leipzig will host Bundesliga's first game in an empty stadium for months when Bayer Leverkusen visits on Sunday
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.
Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually before he returns from doping ban
- The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back
- “Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said
TURIN, Italy: Paul Pogba will no longer be a Juventus player from next month.
Juventus announced on Friday they came to “a mutual agreement” with Pogba to cancel his contract despite the France World Cup winner having a ban for doping slashed last month.
The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back after his four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 31-year-old Pogba, who will be free to resume his career in March 2025, had said he was ready to give up money to play for Juventus again.
“Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said in a brief statement. “The club wish Paul the very best for his professional future.”
Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August last year and the Juventus midfielder was handed the maximum punishment by Italy’s anti-doping court.
But CAS judges cut Pogba’s ban as they acknowledged a lack of intent and said his positive test was the result of erroneously taking a supplement prescribed to him by a medical doctor in Florida.
Pogba’s contract with Juventus was set to expire in June 2026.
“My time at Juventus has come to an end. It has been a privilege to pull on the shirt of the Bianconeri and to share so many special memories together,” Pogba said in a statement.
“I cherish the memories we made. They live on. Even in the most difficult moments over the past year, your support was crucial and I want to thank Juve fans around the world for their compassion.”
Pogba was the most expensive soccer player in history when he joined Manchester United from Juventus for a fee of 105 million euros ($113 million) in 2016.
He starred in France’s World Cup triumph in 2018 and returned to Juventus as a free agent in 2022. But injuries limited him to just eight Serie A appearances in his second spell at the club before his ban last year.
“I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career and to stepping out on the pitch with my next club,” Pogba added.
