The International Football Thread

[cosmicway 1,333]

Bl**dy Georgians f*ck it up - there goes my treble.

[nyikolajevics 2,697]

Messi just scored 3 and assisted 2 for Argentina. Opponent was Bolivia, but at any age contributing in 5 goals in a competitive game is amazing.

[Vesper 30,164]

Herve Renard emerges as serious candidate to become Saudi Arabia head coach

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5872138/2024/10/25/herve-renard-saudi-arabia-head-coach/

Herve Renard has emerged as a serious candidate to become the new Saudi Arabia men’s head coach.

The 56-year-old has been identified as a potential successor for Roberto Mancini, who left his position by “joint agreement” on Thursday after 14 months in charge.

While no agreement has been reached, a process is ongoing to recruit a new head coach, with three candidates in contention. Renard is leading the way as a potential option and should he be offered the position, it will be the second time he has managed the Saudi Arabia national team.

Renard previously coached Saudi Arabia between 2019 and 2023, guiding them to the 2022 World Cup and a famous 2-1 victory over Argentina — who went on to win the tournament.

Saudi Arabia exited at the group stages with defeats to Poland and Mexico. Renard subsequently left his position the following year to coach the women’s French national team.

Renard took France to the quarter-final stage of the 2023 World Cup before being eliminated on penalties by host nation Australia.

He stepped down from his role after the a quarter-final defeat to Brazil in the 2024 Summer Olympics, being succeeded by assistant Laurent Bonadei.

GO DEEPER

Renard: From cleaner to beating Argentina at the World Cup - via Cambridge United

Renard has enjoyed a two-decade long managerial career with international stints in charge of Zambia, Angola, Ivory Coast and Morocco, alongside spells in charge of French clubs Sochaux and Lille.

Mancini, meanwhile, was appointed as Saudi Arabia’s head coach on a four-year contract in August 2023 following his resignation as manager of the Italian national team.

However, he won just one of his last five matches in charge and the nation are currently third in Group C of the third round of Asia’s qualification process for the 2026 World Cup.

The top two sides from the six-team group will automatically qualify for the finals, which will be played across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, while the third and fourth-placed teams will advance through to the next round of qualification.

Saudi Arabia will host the World Cup for the first time in 2034, with the nation’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) also investing heavily in club football.

PIF funded a takeover of Premier League club Newcastle United in 2021 and has subsequently invested in domestic Saudi Arabian clubs, including Al Nassr, Al Hilal and Al Ittihad.

Players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Neymar, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are among those who are playing their club football in Saudi Arabia.

[Vesper 30,164]

[cosmicway 1,333]

Carsley in Athens with experimental team for Thrusday.
Likely score 2-0 or 2-1 for Greece.

[NikkiCFC 8,317]

 

[Special Juan 28,141]

Harry Kane running his big chiseled chin about country before club, never heard so much shite in all my life

Players are becoming less and less interested in all this nations league shite and that's backed up by players backing out yet will be totally fine come the next PL whistle

[cosmicway 1,333]

England odds lengthen from 1.75 to 2.15.

Edited November 14, 2024 by cosmicway

[Fulham Broadway 17,311]

Great assist by Noni 

Watkins 0-1

[cosmicway 1,333]

Griechenland kaput.

[cosmicway 1,333]

It's Tuchel now in charge. That's Griechenland's problem.

[Fulham Broadway 17,311]

9 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

It's Tuchel now in charge

Not until Jan 1st 2025

[cosmicway 1,333]

Tsimikas the worst player on the pitch they say.

[Fulham Broadway 17,311]

Bubbles cant handle England down the right Bellingham, Noni and Walker

[cosmicway 1,333]

Zwei - nul. Game over.

[Fulham Broadway 17,311]

Jared Bowen hes on fire and hes shagging Dani Dyer

[Special Juan 28,141]

The darts was better than this

[Fulham Broadway 17,311]

Conor got Man of the Match

Noni was back to his best

Bellingham's swagger was also back from the first minute, roaming into dangerous positions to trouble Greece, who found it almost impossible at times to track his movement.

good game

[cosmicway 1,333]

Tuchel won this match by providing advice to Casley.
The Greeks tried but this time they were poor and timid in defense.
Bellingham and Madueke were moving around like as if they had school kids as opponents.

[cosmicway 1,333]

Romania - Kosovo strange ending.
It was 0-0 in the 93d minute and Romania wins a free kick.
It took a little time for the game to restart because the ref was cautioning players and it was the 94th minutr plus, a little after the end of the four minutes of extra time, when Hagi for Romania was about to take it but the ref. blew the whistle for full time.
There were protests because that was premature.
Now livescore says 0-0 and "ToFi" instead of "FT".
What does it mean ?