MORE THAN A GAME
At 5pm (BST) today, more or less when your daily dose of Fiver Towers football is spread across tens of thousands of spam folders around the world, it will take 173 days and 18 hours to get started. the Human Rights World Cup. in the fire of international football which is Qatar. Fiver is counting down the seconds, looking nostalgically at the official countdown clock on the FIFA website, powered by Hublot, the official timekeeper of the FIFA World Cup ™.
With his extremely friendly fans invariably a big credit to the few international tournaments for which his team has qualified in recent decades, few would normally like Scotland a place at the end of this year. This year, however, the Scots face the daunting prospect of facing Ukraine in their play-off semi-finals tomorrow night.
It is an honor for Scotland to host a country currently under illegal invasion from Russia, in the first competitive match they have been able to play since the declaration of war. No less important because it allows a nation that has historically been besieged by a tyrannical neighbor to show support for its Ukrainian visitors on a global stage. It is also a bit unenviable, as the victory of the Scots will be seen by some as kicking the stick of a blind man or shooting Bambi’s mother.
“We have the utmost respect for his situation, but on Wednesday night for 90 minutes or even beyond, 120, we will do our best to win this match and that is all that matters,” said Scottish midfielder John McGinn, whose officer. the timer is unknown. “I don’t think we can escape the horrible situation and our solidarity goes out to the players, the staff and everyone involved, but it’s important that we don’t get caught up in the excitement of it all. We are here to win a football match and try to make our dreams come true. “
With a tie that the winner takes all against Wales for anyone who emerges victorious from Hampden Park on Wednesday night, it’s important to note that Ukraine coach Oleksandr Petrakov and his proud players don’t even want to they expect special treatment from Scotland. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Petrakov and his wife refused to flee the besieged capital of Kyiv. The 64-year-old even tried to enlist in his country’s territorial defense forces, but was turned down. He and his players have spent the last few weeks coaching in Slovenia, but arrive in Scotland with a desperate lack of training, despite training matches against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Empoli and Croatian Rijeka.
“We want everyone in Europe to know that we want to be part of the EU family,” Petrakov said. “Ukraine is Europe.” In a statement in March, a tearful Petrakov paid tribute to his compatriots fighting Russia’s illegal invaders, saying: “I am the coach of the national football team and I want to kneel before you and thank you for part of all our players. May God protect you and glory in Ukraine “. While it’s not “guys, it’s Tottenham,” one suspects this is the team’s conversation.
APPOINTMENT OF THE DAY
“He seemed unconscious. He told me, ‘We’ve only had three months to organize this, we’ve killed ourselves to get this game going.’ of respect “. Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool city region and Hillsborough survivor, tells Andy Hunter about his meeting with Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin on Saturday at the Stade de France as chaotic scenes unfold in the outdoor.
RECOMMENDED LOOK
David Squires takes a nostalgic look at a night of true Big Cup romance in Paris, with guest points from Camila Cabello, Gérald Darmanin and Carlo Ancelotti.
Pow! Biff! Etc! Illustration: David Squires / The Guardian
FIVE LETTERS
The Beautiful South not only predicted three of this year’s European finalists in Rotterdam (Monday’s letters), in Pretenders to the Throne they mention both Madrid and Paris. [and Hull – Fiver 90s Indie Muso Ed] suggesting that they had begun to predict not only the future winners of the Big Cup, but also the scenario of their triumphs. Although his last single was called Manchester, which suggests that his divination skills were exhausted at the same time as the hits “- Tim Woods.
“It’s good to see that the only thing PSG has learned from this recent period of spending large sums of money from Qatar to desperately chase the Big Cup is that they should give more power to their star players” – Noble Francis.
“Re: KdB moans (five on Monday). You’ve been retired for a long time, son” – Jim Gregory.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our non-prize letter of the day is … Tim Woods.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Listen to the latest Football Weekly. And while we’re at it, Max, Barry and the pod squad are back on tour. Tickets for live shows in June and July are available here.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Craig Farrell, the former England youth striker who played for Carlisle and York among others, has died at the age of 39. “I’m very sorry to hear this news, Craig was such a nice young man,” said Carlisle President Andrew. Jenkins. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this sad time.”
Bad news for the human rights team at the Human Rights World Cup: A report by Carbon Market Watch has raised serious doubts about Qatar’s 2022 “carbon-neutral” claims.
Liverpool have apologized to Gerald Darmanin, the French interior minister, for doubling the blame for counterfeit tickets for the Paris Grand Cup debacle.
Croatian winger Ivan Perisic has reunited with Antonio Conte after joining Tottenham on a two-year deal. And the San Siro revolving door could keep turning, with Romelu Lukaku still eager to return to Inter.
As an overly ambitious couple at Grand Designs, Manchester United are moving forward with their rebuilding. Former academy coach Andy O’Boyle has been added as the new assistant football director, he says here.
The hard work of the Uefa Technical Observer Panel boffins, who have tracked the footage, done the numbers and decided that Karim Benzema was the best player in the Big Cup this season.
Frank Lampard’s Everton coach Frank Lampard has been fined £ 30,000 after getting an improvement from referee Stuart Attwell for a penalty decision at Anfield.
Mick Beale may look like a newcomer to Albert Square, but he’s actually heading west: QPR wants to appoint Aston Villa’s assistant as the new manager.
Mick Beale seems ready to make W12 his new mansion. Photo: David Klein / Reuters
And Ste Howson, a prominent podcaster who has appeared in Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE “digital lifestyle magazine”, has apologized for saying that Ed Woodward’s tenure was “worse for Manchester United” than Munich tragedy. “I should definitely have written this better and apologized for any offense it has caused,” Howson tweeted.
DO YOU WANT ANY MORE?
Given what ends it when he’s not on the roster, we can only hope that Thibaut Courtois is happy with Ben McAleer’s bid on his brilliance in the Big Cup.
Ben Fisher has the inside track of how Steve Cooper managed to turn Nottingham Forest from non-hopefuls in the league into playoff winners.
Adam White takes a look at the limiting totalitarian power that Kylian Mbappé now has at PSG.
And if it’s yours … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. AND INSTACHAT, TOO!