EURO 2012

Belgium v Israel – 13 October Israel slipped to fourth behind Bosnia and Herzegovina after losing at home to Cyprus at the weekend and must now win and hope the Bosnians drop points in Cyprus in order to claim a play-off place. However Belgium have a five year unbeaten record in qualifiers and the young, dynamic side will be aiming to continue to perform going into the Euros after disappointing in Brazil last year. It doesn’t help Israel’s chances that the country is in dire form at the moment – […]

 Czech Republic v Turkey – 10 October The Czech Republic come into their penultimate Group A game secure in the knowledge that they will be playing in the finals. Group A’s surprise package Iceland means that Turkey and the Netherlands have been pushed back to content for a play-off spot, meaning that two of the continents stronger teams may not even make it to France. Turkey can confirm a play-off place with a game to spare if they can extend their two-point lead over the Netherlands. They have the superior […]

Scotland v Poland – 8 October This is a crunch match for Scotland in a group where qualification seemed a distinct possibility for so long only for an unexpected defeat away to Georgia swept the rug from under their feet. However if Scotland can defeat Poland at Hampden and Republic of Ireland fail to beat Germany in Dublin, then there is a very real chance that the Scots would sneak into the third qualifying place in the last round of games thanks to what would be their superior head to […]

Sunderland v West Ham – Saturday October 3rd A defeat here and Sunderland go into panic mode. Dick Advocaat’s side have conceded sixteen, they’re rock bottom, and have just two points. In contrast, West Ham are third, and have looked consistently impressive, especially performances from keeper Adrian. Jermain Defoe goes up against the club which launched his career on Saturday, and has called for his teammates to start getting points on the board now, calling it “a massive game and it is a game we need to win”. Sunderland have […]

Man Utd v Wolfsburg – Wednesday 30th September Man Utd are flourishing right now; top of the Premier League, Wayne Rooney looks to be getting back to his best, the England man is forming a promising relationship with Martial, and Depay has hit 4 goals since his arrival too. The goal in the 3-0 victory over Sunderland will do wonders for Rooney’s own confidence; the striker had previously gone 999 minutes goalless in the Premiership. Juan Mata has warned his teammates that they’ll need to be at their best to […]

Leicester v Arsenal – Saturday 26th September Yet another great display in midweek for Claudio and his Foxes as they saw off West Ham in the League Cup. West Ham’s. Adrian denied both Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez to cap another brilliant performance, or else the scoreline could have been higher. Wenger rested the trio of Walcott, Ozil, and Sanchez for their victory over Spurs which’ll mean they’re raring to go on Saturday. Ranieri however made ten changes of his own, and to win with such style against an in form […]

With Euro 2016 around the corner, this week brings the next round of qualifiers. We take a look at some of the more interesting fixtures below. Cyprus v Wales – Thursday 4th September It’s been awhile since Wales qualified for the finals of a major international tournament. In fact they’ve only done it once, and that was many decades ago. Currently Chris Coleman’s side are sitting pretty at the top of Group B, and they need just two wins from their next four games to see them through. First up […]

A new book on Jews, football and antisemitism in Poland has been launched at an international conference organized by the Anne Frank House at Amsterdam Arena, the stadium of Ajax Amsterdam. The book was written by Dr Maciej Kozlowski, a distinguished historian and diplomat, and published by the Warsaw-based ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. Using the example of Cracovia, Poland’s oldest football club, it discusses the multicultural history of Polish football as well as contemporary issues of antisemitism and racism. The book is published in Polish with an English summary and is […]