ISSUE 37/2015, 18 SEPTEMBER 2015
ENGLISH EDITION
WWW.FIFA.COM/THEWEEKLY

T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L
15
6
Borussia Monchengladbach
Even in times of crisis, Monchengladbach fans like to reminisce about the glory days of
Netzer and Weisweiler – but what lies ahead?
Alan Schweingruber paid a visit to the club on the Lower Rhine currently competing in the
Champions League.
Portugal
Mexico’s Jesus Corona made a remarkable debut for Porto by scoring a brace against
Arouca. Fans are now clamouring for a title after years of stagnation.
37 Toni Polster
The former striker reflects upon Austria’s decisive 1989 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against East Germany. “Despite my three goals, a great feeling of emptiness washed over me.”
North and
Central America
35 members www.concacaf.com
South America
10 members www.conmebol.com
17
Iceland
The national team are celebrating success thanks to the Urvalsdeild’s crucial role in developing players.
(Pictured: Patrick Pedersen)
The Evergreen
Our cover image was taken in Borussia
Park’s Nordkurve (North Stand) on
11 September 2015. Monchengladbach lost 3-0 to Hamburg that evening.
Mareike Foecking
The FIFA Weekly app
FIFA’s magazine The FIFA Weekly is published in four languages every Friday and is also available free of charge on smartphone and tablet. http://www.fifa.com/mobile
2 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
FIFA Club World Cup
10 – 20 December 2015, Japan
FIFA U-17 World Cup
17 October – 8 November 2015, Chile

Europe
54 members www.uefa.com
Africa
54 members www.cafonline.com
T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L
Asia
46 members www.the-afc.com
Oceania
11 members www.oceaniafootball.com
28
History
On 10 September 1985,
Scotland coach Jock Stein passed away moments after the final whistle of a crucial
FIFA World Cup qualifier.
18
Stephan Lichtsteiner
“With the qualities we have at our disposal, winning the
EURO is a possibility for us,” says the Swiss international in an interview.
24
Mongolia
The national football association have made a virtue of necessity in this cold country by focusing on futsal.
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 3

# B E T H E D I F F E R E N C E
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U N C O V E R E D
T he number of clubs with a rich history is growing due to the simple reason that football as we know it is getting older. Sheffield Football Club was founded on 24 October 1857 and since then many more sides have formed – and continue to form – across the globe. The teams that existed at the start of this development are now shrouded in an aura of tradition.
Borussia Monchengladbach are one such a club, but not only because of their age. Founded in 1900, the Bundesliga outfit and current Champions
League participants enjoyed one of their most successful eras in the 1970s, when players such as Jupp Heynckes, Berti Vogts, Gunter Netzer and Rainer
Bonhof were influential figures. Back then the ‘Foals’ were on a par with Bayern
Munich for many years.
What happened to that rivalry, and what became of Borussia? Our writer
Alan Schweingruber paid a visit to Monchengladbach to find out. Å
Perikles Monioudis
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 5

B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H
Borussia legends
From left: Berti Vogts, Jupp Heynckes,
Gunter Netzer, Rainer Bonhof and Christian Kulik, pictured in
October 1971.
6
T H E F I FA W E E K LY

B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H
Borussia in crisis
A desolate Tony Jantschke after the 3-0 defeat by Hamburg
in September 2015.
I t can only be a matter of minutes before
Lucien Favre steps tentatively from behind the door and hastily greets one or two members of the assembled throng before taking his seat politely beside director of sport Max Eberl. Once there, he will glance around at the 30 or so journalists and photographers who have gathered here this morning and wait until the press officer signals the start of the conference.
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 7

B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H such details, Lucien Favre might take this idea one step further still, asserting that an entire system can fail to function if even a single element is out of place. After all, this is the approach the Swiss coach has taken with each of the six teams he has coached in his career to date, overseeing Echallens, Yverdon, Servette and Zurich in his homeland before taking the reins at Hertha Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany. While his rise has been a remarkable one, the predictions made about his prospects along the way have occasionally become somewhat overblown. When starting out as a young coach in western Switzerland,
Favre quickly attracted attention with his innovative training techniques. No player ever spent a minute standing around on the pitch without having a clear task to complete.
Everything was coordinated. As word spread around the country, football experts travelled west to see Favre’s renowned training methods for themselves, returning home with tales of a new Ottmar Hitzfeld in the making.
While Favre is not yet the next Hitzfeld, he is heading in the right direction after leading
Borussia Monchengladbach to the Champions
League in sensational style during his fourth season in charge. This achievement is made all the more impressive by the fact that the club were in danger of being relegated to Germany’s second tier as recently as the spring of 2011.
When asked about Favre’s potential, Borussia’s director of sport Max Eberl replies: “None of us are planning to let him go anywhere, but if you’re asking about his qualities as a coach, then yes, he has the potential to coach a worldclass club.” Indeed, Chelsea briefly showed an interest in the 57-year-old before re-enlisting the services of Jose Mourinho in 2013.
Support from above Borussia’s sole fan club, Marientreue 1900, get into position well before each match.
It soon becomes apparent that attending this event at Borussia Monchengladbach on an empty stomach would be a rookie mistake, and that it would be far preferable to get some exercise early in the day and eat a big breakfast before stopping by. As the smell of baked potatoes and roasted meat wafts through the room, those in attendance try to concentrate on devising important questions to ask Lucien Favre during his time on the podium. Are Borussia coming back down to Earth with a bang after their fantastic third-place finish last season?
Can the team snatch anything from a Champions League group in which they face Manchester City, Sevilla and Juventus? Should Gladbach continue to aim for the upper echelons of the table or lower their sights instead?
At that moment, Lucien Favre emerges from the fitness room immediately adjacent to
the media centre. Just as expected, he nods a greeting towards a few waiting members of the press corps as he makes his way to the podium, casts a quick glance around the room, sits down beside the press officer and adopts a thoughtful expression.
It is widely acknowledged that the smallest details can sometimes make the difference in a situation. As a perfectionist obsessed with
Chasing away the gloom
Of course, such speculation is now a thing of the past, and Favre’s key topic of conversation with those gathered in the catacombs of Borussia
Park this morning is upcoming opponents Hamburg. He gazes past the microphone into the distance in his usual quirky way as he reflects on HSV, revealing the extent of his meticulous preparations with each comment. One wonders whether a similar scene is unfolding in a Hamburg press room, and if so, whether it would have been more beneficial for local reporters to travel to Monchengladbach to glean vital information about their own team. It seems there is virtually nothing Favre does not know about his side’s next opponents. “He’s a real artist,” club chairman Rolf Konigs later remarks.
The Gladbach coach seems very relaxed this morning. Although he does not enjoy an informal meal of meat and potatoes with the journalists as
Max Eberl does so well, he seems to enjoy the attention nonetheless. Favre feels at home here, just as Borussia are happy to be able to call upon the services of the man who rid the club of the dreary
8 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Borussia old and new
Coaches Hennes Weisweiler
(top left, 1964-1975) and
Lucien Favre (bottom left,
2011 – present). Borussia
Park (top right) and the
Bokelbergstadion in 1975 with Berti Vogts and
Weisweiler (bottom right).
B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 9

B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H
Something peculiar happened when Bor us sia Monchengladbach f inished training the da y af ter their 3 - 0 def eat agains t Ham burg. F if t y Bor us sia f ans were waiting f or autographs behind a bar r ier at the s tadium c omplex . A lthough the f ans were dejec t ed, the atmosphere was peac ef ul until a blac k minibus pulled up and si x rowdy Hamburg suppor ter s s tumbled out of the ve hic le, thr ow ing their blue sc ar ve s into the air. It was suc h a random and unc alled - f or ac t that even the per petrator s them selve s looked puz zled, as if they did not k now what they were doing there. At that point a secur it y guard tur ned up and re s tored c alm at the Bor us sia - Par k . did not do that af ter a tur bulent season in 1992. Tur bulent in that f ir s t Jupp Hey nc ke s was inexplic ably sac ked and replac ed by the inex per ienc ed S or en L er by, w ho was later r eplac ed by
Er ic h Ribbec k . Tur bulent also bec ause the club ’s management c ame up with some ex traordinar y ways of tr y ing to get the team bac k on trac k , including employ ing a pr ivate detec tive to f ind out whic h player s were spending time at nightclub s (there was a cur f ew f rom 11 o’cloc k).
Spies at Bayern
In time s of cr isis, it doe s not take muc h f or the mood to tur n.
Much of it depends on expec tations. For Bayer n Munich, winning t wo game s in a row in le s s than c onv incing f ashion is c ause f or concer n, and a big cr isis at the club can produce legendar y tale s.
W hile Werder Bremen were satis f ied with f inishing 10 th las t season, f or Bayer n that would have been enough to discus s dis solv ing the club at the nex t general meeting. For tunately, they
Coaches burning kits
C lub s threatened by relegation c an also re sor t to imaginative measure s dur ing dif f icult per iods. 2. Bunde sliga side FS V Frankf ur t enjoye d a p ar t ic ular l y c r e a t i ve t r aining s e s sion in Ma y when c oac h Tomas Oral put the player s through a c ar wash in the hope that it would clear their heads. A nother good example is Rudi Gutendor f in 1968: the f ir s t thing he did af ter tak ing of f ic e at Sc halke 0 4 was bur n the k it s.
Alan Schweingruber
Bayern misery
Troubled Bayern still managed a
3-0 victory over
Monchengladbach in 1991. Pictured are
Munich’s Manfred
Schwabl (left) and goalkeeper Toni
Schumacher, on the right is Martin Max of Monchengladbach.
10 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H
Eberl in the stadium Fans remain unfailingly loyal to the former defender.
Eberl in the office The club’s director of sport sits below an image of Klaus Fichtel and
Jupp Heynckes.
atmosphere that lingered here throughout the
Nineties and Noughties. The senior side seemed to live from hand to mouth for what seemed like an eternity during that period, with eleven coaches taking the helm in a 12-year period before Favre arrived. It is hardly surprising, then, that when club officials announced the appointment of this not entirely conventional coach in February 2011, a significant portion of the Monchengladbach faithful greeted the news with dismay.
After all, at that point Favre was an out-of-work boss from Switzerland who had been dismissed by Hertha Berlin some 17 months earlier. While it would be harsh to blame those Gladbach fans for not seeing the merits in the appointment at the time, the events of the past few years may mean they now regret their initial reaction to the news.
The relationship between Favre and Borussia Monchengladbach over the past four years
Director of sport Max Eberl can be summarised as follows: a little of Favre has rubbed off on Gladbach, and a little of Gladbach has rubbed off on Favre. As director of sport Eberl puts it: “Like any relationship, it has taken time. We have become far better acquainted and learned more about each other. We still bicker every now and again, but that’s normal.
The most important thing is that we come to an agreement and think along the same lines.”
Powerful images in black and white
It is not always easy to be a present-day
Borussia fan. The heady days of the Seventies are still a popular topic of conversation in Monchengladbach, particularly when the team are on the kind of poor run of results they are currently experiencing. The Foals started the latest Bundesliga campaign with three straight defeats, with the fourth loss following just a day after the press conference as Hamburg won 3-0 to leave Gladbach at the bottom of the table. Four days later came another 3-0 reverse, this time to Sevilla in their opening Champions League group match. As ever, the walls of Borussia Park are swathed in powerful images of immortals such as Gunter Netzer, Jupp Heynckes and
Berti Vogts. Tackles, goals and, above all,
celebrations are brought to life in black-and-
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 11

B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H
Talking tactics
Hennes Weisweiler (left) and Bayern’s Rainer
Ohlhauser during a coaching course in 1970. Below,
Lucien Favre’s team at a training session in 2015.
12 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

B O R U S S I A M O N C H E N G L A D B A C H white on almost every level of the arena as if to say: “Look, this is how it’s done! This is how you win matches!” Coach Hennes Weisweiler also appears in many of these images, and the road leading to the stadium is even named after him. With Monchengladbach winning five league titles, two UEFA Cups and a DFB Cup in the Seventies, there is no shortage of photos to choose from.
Defender Tony Jantschke
At times last season it felt as if the club had recaptured the spirit of those good old days. For Gladbach fans, the period between
August 2014 and May 2015 was like a dream but, unlike those that come to an abrupt end just as things get exciting, Borussia’s seemed never-ending. The team picked up points wherever they went and were unassailable at home. The rise of these upstarts was even welcomed by league rivals keen for someone other than just Wolfsburg to provide Bayern Munich with a little competition.
Borussia reinvigorated the Bundesliga and did it with an ease that ultimately took them all the way to Europe’s most prestigious club competition. Now the freshly made flags around the stadium read: “On, on, on to the
Champions League!” While the banners’ upbeat message is well intentioned, it also seems a little hypocritical given the team’s current league position, like someone who feels obliged to enter into the party spirit on New
Year’s Eve despite feeling apprehensive about the year ahead. Which emotion do Gladbach fans feel more strongly: the excitement of a
European adventure or the fear of relegation?
After all, Borussia’s namesakes in Dortmund proved last year that a top-two finish one season cannot necessarily prevent a period in the lower reaches of the table a few months later.
Halfway house
Later the same morning, Tony Jantschke makes himself comfortable under a blackand-white image of Netzer. The right-back was discovered by Borussia scouts at a tournament nine years ago while still playing for
FV Dresden Nord, but as he takes a seat in the club’s communications office, he exudes the air of an old hand who has been defending for this club on the Lower Rhine all his life. “While there’s no doubt that the Champions League is fantastic, we’ve got to adjust
Four matches, zero points Fans leave the stands shortly before the end of Gladbach’s 3-0 loss to Hamburg.
our expectations; things have shifted a little,” the 25-year-old says. When asked where he sees Gladbach in the long term, he replies:
“Somewhere between third and eighth.”
Sporting director Max Eberl shares a similar view. Inspired by the Asterix and Obelix books he read as a child, he says: “I see Borussia as a small Gallic village that always has to stand up for itself against the big boys. We’ve done that so well in recent years that fans have raised their expectations. I knew there was a chance we’d have a difficult start to the season.”
It is not always easy to be a present-day
Borussia fan. Having camped at the summit of the sport for several years in the 1970s, the club have since settled in a picturesque cabin halfway down the slopes where they feel very much at home. All that remains now is for results to pick up again. Å
8. 1. FC Köln
9. FC Ingolstadt 04
10. FSV Mainz 05
11. SV Darmstadt 98
12. Hamburger SV
13. Bayer Leverkusen
14. FC Augsburg
15. TSG Hoffenheim
16. Hannover 96
17. VfB Stuttgart
Bundesliga standings after four matches
Team
1. Borussia Dortmund
2. FC Bayern München
3. VfL Wolfsburg
4. Eintracht Frankfurt
5. Schalke 04
6. Werder Bremen
7. Hertha BSC
18. Borussia Mönchengladbach
MP W D L GF GA P
4 4 0 0 15 3 12
4 4 0 0 12 2 12
4 2 2 0 6 2 8
4 2 1 1 12 6 7
4 2 1 1 6 5 7
4 2 1 1 6 6 7
4 2 1 1 5 5 7
4 2 1 1 8 9 7
4 2 1 1 2 4 7
4 2 0 2 6 4 6
4 1 3 0 4 3 6
4 2 0 2 7 9 6
4 2 0 2 3 5 6
4 0 1 3 2 5 1
4 0 1 3 3 7 1
4 0 1 3 4 10 1
4 0 0 4 5 12 0
4 0 0 4 2 11 0
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 13

0731 �� �� 1P 215x289.indd 1 15. 8. 6. �� 8:50

TA L K I N G P O I N T S
O N T H E I N S I D E
P o r t u g a l : P r i m e i r a L i g a
Annette Braun is a staff writer on
The FIFA Weekly.
Porto are almost unrecognisable from last season.
The majority of the squad left the club over the summer, including
Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, who was the league's top scorer for three consecutive years and now plays for Atletico
Madrid.
However, coach Julen Lopetegui views the wholesale departures in a positive light, as the interest big clubs showed in his players proves that the 2014/15 season was not as bad a campaign as some would think – despite ongoing criticism of the side’s failure to win the championship.
Nevertheless, the only thing that matters in the Portuguese metropolis is lifting the
Primeira Liga title, and they have not done so for two years.
That is not good enough at Porto, a fact not lost on their marquee summer signing,
Iker Casillas. “We haven't won a trophy for two years and the fans only expect the best from the club,” said the goalkeeper, who joined after spending 25 years at Real
Madrid.
Porto have started the new season well, collecting ten points from their first four games to sit at the league summit. In the last round of matches they beat Arouca 3-1 in a game in which Jesus Corona struck twice. The Mexican only joined the club at the end of the summer transfer window, and his brace crowned a successful debut appearance. Porto’s second Mexican recruit,
Miguel Layun, likewise adapted to his new surroundings quickly and had an impressive first outing for the Blue-and-Whites.
Sporting Lisbon and Benfica are hot on
Porto’s heels, however. On Matchday 4
Sporting defeated Rio Ave 2-1 and now also have ten points, while record champions
Benfica are in third place with nine after hammering Belenenses 6-0. Kostas
Mitroglou and Jonas each scored twice before Nicolas Gaitan and Talisca added gloss to the scoreline.
The first heavyweight showdown of the season will take place on Matchday 5 when
Porto host Benfica: the champions from
2011-2013 against the 2014 and 2015 winners.
Could the match set an early course for the
2015/16 title race?
Portugal is gripped by “O Classico” fever regardless, with the northern Dragons from the traditionally blue-collar city of Porto determined to get the better of the southern
Eagles from the glamorous capital. Whenever these two arch-rivals meet, there is always far more than just three points at stake. Å
Celebration time
Jesus Corona scored twice to fire Porto to a
3-1 win over Arouca.
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 15

Unwavering support
Enyimba fans have a reason to celebrate.
Nigeria: Professional Football League
Mark Gleeson is a Cape Townbased journalist and football commentator.
Pillars finds themselves 12 points adrift of the leadership and down in sixth place.
Instead it is Enyimba who are on course to mark a landmark of their own by extending their record number of league titles to seven. Sunday’s 2-0 derby win over struggling Dolphin from nearby Port Harcourt kept Enyimba well clear at the top of the standings as they remain on course for their first title since 2010.
Premier League championships in a row.
Iwuanyanwu Nationale were, at the height of their prowess, a powerful force, not only in the country and region, but also in the pan-African club competitions. The Owerri-based club were champions from 1987 to
1990 but those halcyon days have long gone, the club having since changed its name to
Heartland FC.
Only once before has a
Nigerian club won four
After three successive titles in 2012, 2013 and last year, Kano Pillars had a chance this year to also go into the record books by matching Iwuanyanwu Nationale’s past dominance but as the current campaign heads towards its conclusion, it looks likely
Iwuanyanwu’s feat will remain unique. With nine games left, previously all-conquering
The club from Aba, who have enjoyed healthy state support and boast a passionate fan base, have won six championships since their first in 2001 and are the only
Nigerian club to win the continent’s top club prize, the CAF Champions League.
Their latest league win last weekend was executed with the efficiency that has marked their entire season and keeps them four points ahead of second-placed Warri
Wolves, seven clear of third-placed Wikki
Tourist and eight points ahead of fourthplaced Sunshine Stars. It is Enyimba’s title to lose.
The return of veteran Kadiri Ikhana, who in his first stint with the club took them to the
Champions League title in 2003 and was named Africa’s best coach, has characterised the return to winning ways. The former international, now in his mid-60s, has had a colourful career on the bench with a myriad of jobs over the last two decades across the
Nigerian club spectrum but seems to have a
Midas touch when it comes to Enyimba.
Pillars are still hoping to challenge but their season was blighted in mid-stream when the team was attacked by armed robbers, with national team striker Gambo Mohammed shot in the shoulder. They were travelling to a domestic match when their bus was held up in a roadside hijacking and were also stripped of valuable belongings. The shock of the incident has weighed heavily since and taken much of the spirit out of the squad. Å
16 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

I c e l a n d : U r v a l s d e i l d (E l i t e L e a g u e)
Perikles Monioudis is chief editor of The FIFA Weekly.
Icelandic football is at an all-time high after the national side recently secured a maiden qualification for a major tournament, UEFA EURO 2016 in France, with two games to spare. This is the sort of story often described as a fairytale, yet
Iceland’s success has few elements of fantasy about it, coming rather as a result of the players’ hard work and performances in every training session and match.
The overwhelming majority of the Iceland team ply their trade abroad. Forwards
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (Nantes), Johann
Gudmundsson (Charlton) and Alfred Finnbogason (Olympiacos), midfielders Birkir
Bjarnason (Basel), Aron Gunnarsson (Cardiff
City) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City), and defensive stalwarts Ragnar Sigurdsson
(Krasnodar), Kari Arnason (Malmo) and
Ari Skulason (Odense) are all key figures for top sides in major European leagues.
The effect of this exodus is a transformation of the country’s domestic league into a production line aimed at helping talented players to take the next step, yet unable to hold onto its finest prospects. Nonetheless, that does not mean the Urvalsdeild has little to offer. Quite the contrary, in fact: in its
104th season, the league has delivered a thrilling title race. Having garnered 45 points after 19 games, Hafnarfjordur are now within touching distance of winning the league for the first time since 2012, although second-placed Breidablik on 37 points and the country’s record champions, thirdplaced KR Reykjavik on 36 points have pushed them every step of the way.
With three games left, six-time champions
Hafnarfjordur, who finished second in 2013 and 2014, are able to start dreaming of the
UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds that come with the title, although their pursuers Breidablik and KR are not yet assured of UEFA Europa League qualification. Valur Reykjavik in fourth on 32 points and Fjolnir in fifth on 30 points are snapping at the latter pair’s heels. Valur are already sure of a place in the Europa League after victory in the domestic cup final crowned an impressive campaign for the side from the capital, whose 23-year-old
Danish striker Patrick Pedersen is currently the league’s top scorer with 12 goals.
Pedersen netted his side’s first two goals in last weekend’s 3-2 win over Keflavik – the second a crucial penalty after the bottom side had taken a 2-1 lead. For their part,
Fjolnir could only draw 1-1 at home to Stjarnan after Gudjon Baldvinsson scored a
77th-minute equaliser for the visitors. It was a first goal of the season for the veteran striker who won the league with KR in 2011 and returned to Stjarnan a month ago from
Danish top-flight side Nordsjaelland. Despite lifting the first title in the club’s history in
2014, Stjarnan have found it tough going this season and sit mid-table. Their efforts in the
UEFA Champions League also ended in disappointment after they suffered a 6-1 aggregate defeat to Scottish champions
Celtic in the second qualifying round. Å
Goal getter
Valur striker Patrick Pedersen (centre) has been proving his natural goalscoring instincts.
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 17

T H E I N T E R V I E W
First of all, many congratulations on being named Swiss Footballer of the Year. Just how much does it mean to you to win this award?
Stephan Lichtsteiner: Well, it’s obviously an individual accolade. In a team sport like football, winning an award like this is not as big a deal as a title, which you win as a team.
Even so, the award is great recognition for my performances last year and in previous years. It’s always more difficult for a defender to win awards like these, which makes me even happier. It’s a great honour.
You’ve been playing in Italy for seven years now, enjoying plenty of success along the way. The Italian way of life seems to suit you perfectly.
Italy is one of the nicest countries in
Europe and has everything you could wish for. You’ve got the ocean, the mountains, the lakes, great food and a fantastic lifestyle. I’m also a big fan of the mentality of the Italian people. They’re open and relaxed, perhaps more so in the south than in the north.
They’re also extremely passionate about football, which is more of a tactical game in
Italy. The emphasis is placed on perfection and that doesn’t always result in the sort of spectacle we’re used to seeing in other leagues. But you can feel how much the
Italians love their football. Everyone has an opinion which they’re eager to put across.
Another country that’s incredibly passionate about the game is Brazil, where Switzerland played great football during the 2014 World
Cup. Would you say this ‘new’ Switzerland side has grown in confidence under the guidance of Ottmar Hitzfeld and Vladimir
Petkovic?
Definitely! The Swiss national team has a lot to be proud of. Apart from EURO 2012, we’ve qualified for every major tournament since 2004. For a small country like Switzerland that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
We’re on the right track and have plenty of talented players in our squad. Hitzfeld got the ball rolling when he took over, assembling a very young squad. That group of players has largely remained intact and continued to develop. When you know each other so well it gives you confidence and self-belief. In the national team you only see each other two or three times a month, which makes it difficult to work on some of the most important aspects of the game. But if you’ve known each other for so many years, these things go a little more smoothly.
It makes everything a little easier.
Is it fair to say the team has developed a new identity?
We express our identity through the quality of our game. The youngsters play without fear and with plenty of enjoyment.
In terms of our technical ability we’re at a very high level, but as a team I feel we still have a lot to learn.
What has Vladimir Petkovic changed since he took over?
We’ve been working a little more on the tactical side of things than under Hitzfeld.
The team has improved in that area. He’s a very good coach who prepares us a little differently for games, but he’s also enjoyed plenty of success with us and I’m sure that’ll continue.
What do you think is in store for Swiss football in the coming years? Would you say there’s still room for improvement at major tournaments?
That’s difficult to predict. It always depends on who you’re playing against.
Personally, I don’t think we had a great tournament in Brazil. There were many games where we weren’t able to play our best football. We were excellent against
Argentina, but apart from that I don’t think we played to our full potential. Our objective should always be to reach the last 16 at a major tournament, if not the quarter-finals.
It’s possible, but in order to do that we need a level of composure and a winning mentality that we have yet to fully develop. We need to improve and mustn’t settle for what we’ve managed to achieve so far.
If you compare the Swiss team with world champions Germany or European champions
Spain, what would you say is missing from the Switzerland side?
Well, Germany and Spain are huge footballing nations with very big clubs. They have greater resources and even more quality in their ranks. They’re under pressure to win every game, which isn’t the case in Switzerland. We often go into games as underdogs, but we need to emerge from the shadows and set ourselves a new, even greater target. The
EURO is a good chance to do just that. Smaller footballing countries like Denmark and
Greece have already shown that lesser fancied teams are capable of winning the tournament. With the qualities we have at our disposal, it’s also a possibility for us.
Can you see yourself taking part at the 2018
World Cup in Russia?
I’m obviously just focusing on the EUROs at the moment. I’ll be 32, which is a ripe old age in football. Having said that, I’m in great form, I love training and feel I can continue playing at a high level. Psychologically I’m still highly motivated. My desire and enjoyment is as great as it ever was. Å
Stephan Lichtsteiner was speaking to
Trix Hammer
18 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Name
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Date and place of birth
16 January 1984,
Adligenswil, Switzerland
Position
Right-back
Clubs played for
2001–2005 Grasshoppers
2005–2008 Lille
2008–2011 Lazio since 2011 Juventus
Switzerland national team
77 caps, 5 goals
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 19

20 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

Presse Sports
P l a c e : I t e n , K e n y a
D a t e : 1 2 M a r c h 2 0 1 5
T i m e : 2 . 1 3 p . m .
P h o t o g r a p h e r : J u l i e n G o l d s t e i n
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 21

P R E S I D E N T I A L N O T E R U S S I A 2 0 18
F IFA World Cup™ winners Lothar Matthaus and Gianluca Zambrotta will be in Moscow on Friday 18 September together with Fernando Hierro and Alexey Smertin to attend the celebrations marking 1,000 days to the start of Russia 2018. The footballing stars will be among the guests of honour at an international tournament for youngsters under the age of 16. The event will kick-off in Red Square at 11.45am and will bring together representatives of the national teams from the last three countries to win the FIFA World Cup™;
Italy, Germany and Spain, as well as Russia, the next Host Country.
Matthaus, Zambrotta, Hierro and Smertin will also be attending the ceremony to launch the Russia 2018 countdown clock, scheduled for 1.00pm on Manezhnaya Square. “Russia and its football fans deserve to host the World Cup,” said Matthaus. “I’m extremely
excited about 2018 as I know and appreciate this country, its mentality and people. I’m sure that all efforts will be made to guarantee that supporters and visitors will be warmly welcomed in Russia.”
The retired stars will also be signing autographs and putting on masterclasses at the Football Park which will be opening its doors in Red Square on the day the 1,000 day countdown begins, an event which particularly excites Zambrotta. “I’m curious to see football played in such an unusual and amazing place as Red Square,” he smiled. “It’s a brilliant idea!”
The Football Park is set to provide fans with an unforgettable journey through the world of football. Visitors will be able to study the history of the World Cup, learn about Russia’s plans for 2018 and take part in football-themed interactive games. While the park is open, the 2018 FIFA World Cup Trophy will be on display to the public. Å tfw
T he images of refugees streaming into Europe are dumbfounding and deeply moving, especially when one considers their fates as individuals, rather than viewing it as a political issue. It is impossible to turn a blind eye.
Football can play a very important role in this situation. I do not mean the financial donations the football community has made over the past few weeks as much as the sense of hope our sport can restore, the solidarity it fosters and the joy it provides. Clubs and associations, among others, have demonstrated that by inviting immigrants to their games and even getting them to join in. My compliments!
For instance, this summer the football pitches at the Home of
FIFA in Zurich were used by ‘FC International Zuri’, a local initiative to help integrate asylum seekers, in preparation for the Swiss Street
Soccer Championship. In Valais the Sepp Blatter Foundation is supporting the ‘Forum Migration’, through which immigrants are given the opportunity to play football. The idea behind it is a simple one: together we can build a better future, but everyone must start with themselves.
Ultimately, these measures only fight the symptoms and are, geopolitically speaking, a drop in the ocean. For all the charity and emotional, urgent action being taken, problems are shifted by migration but not solved.
The most sustainable help takes hold where the causes lie – in the affected countries themselves – and in this regard FIFA is carrying out pioneering work. We have made 800,000 USD available to the Jordanian association in order to construct football pitches for Syrian refugees in camps. Above all, our Goal Programmes and diverse development projects all over the world ensure that football offers people support even in times of crisis and war. Every day we give approximately 600,000 USD back to the game in the form of social aid, both on and off the pitch. Programmes such as ‘Football for Hope’ and ‘Football for Health’ only really take effect where football stops and real life begins. In other words: football’s impact extends far beyond the boundaries of any playing field or stadium walls – provided we continue to live with solidarity, togetherness and respect away from the pitch too.
1990 world champion German football legend Lothar Matthaus.
Best wishes, Sepp Blatter
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 23

F U T S A L
Focused Mongolia’s futsal national team
(in red kits) are preparing to launch their qualifying bid for the Asian Championship.
24 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

F U T S A L
O ne of football’s most formidable adversaries is of course the climate, and there can be few better examples than Mongolia. Landlocked between China and Russia in central-east Asia, its winters can last up to seven months and generate temperatures as low as -45 C°. In fact, Ulan Bator has a lower annual mean temperature than any other capital city in the world.
Strategic planning
However, these climatic challenges have not discouraged the Football Federation of Mongolia (FFM), which has been working diligently since its re-establishment in 1997 to develop the game in its country. The project has at its core a long-term strategic plan, in which futsal has a key role for the simple reason that it can be played all year round.
Futsal in Mongolia was given a significant boost in 2011, when, with the assistance of FI-
FA’s Goal Projects 3 and 4, the country’s first futsal arena was inaugurated. Since then, and with the continued backing of FIFA and the
Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the FFM has held six futsal courses in Mongolia, laying the foundations for both the organisation of tournaments and the national team infrastructure.
“Developing football and futsal in a measured way is one of the priorities of our strategic plan for 2012-2022,” said Mongoljingoo Sodgerel, a member of the FFM’s Department of Development and International Relations. “With this goal in mind, it would be immensely beneficial if we could compete at a Futsal World
Cup. And while we envisage a good performance in the qualifiers for 2016, we expect to see the results for the 2020 edition. We have a generation of talented youngsters, and we’re doing everything in our power to ensure they continue developing.”
Historic moment
In that context, Mongolian futsal will celebrate a very significant milestone this November, when it hosts the Eastern Zone Qualifiers of the Asian Futsal Championship. At the tournament, China PR, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and Korea Republic will vie with the hosts for two berths at the final phase of the continental championship, which in turn will decide the
AFC’s five representatives at the FIFA Futsal
World Cup Colombia 2016.
Sustained development
The national team was still in its infancy in
2011 when Mongolia first participated in the preliminary round of qualifiers for a Futsal
World Cup. On that occasion they lost their two games against Korea Republic (5-1) and Hong
Kong (3-0), finishing bottom of their group on the road to Thailand 2012. The decision not to take part in the qualifiers for the 2014 Asian
Championship was not so much a step backwards as a means of allocating resources with a view to the future.
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 25

F U T S A L
I n August a FIFA delegation conducted a four-day inspection visit of
Ibague, Bucaramanga, Medellin and Cali, the four cities that are expected to host the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016. “Generally speaking, the inspection was very satisfactory and productive,”said FIFA
Event Manager Jaime Yarza, adding: “We were able to take a detailed look at the plans, both on the table and in visits to the arenas. As a result of this, we are confident that the host cities are committed and are making the modifications needed for an event of this scale, especially in
Bucaramanga, Medellin and Cali.” The delegation also included a working group from the Local Organising Committee. Headed by LOC Chairman Rodrigo Cobo, the group closely followed every instruction given by
FIFA, and the general feeling ahead of the key meeting of FIFA’s Futsal
Committee on 23 September – the agenda for which includes the naming of the host cities – is positive.
Ibague keen to keep promises
The visit began in the city of Ibague, where a new mini stadium is being built for the event, with Yarza commenting: “I would like to thank the
mayor for all the efforts being made, but work needs to be carried out at a faster rate to ensure that the city can host the event. I am sure that
Ibague will do everything it can to step up construction work and have everything ready in time for the deadline on 1 June. It is very important for FIFA to have Ibague – and not just the country’s major cities – as a venue for the Futsal World Cup.”
Making a pledge to FIFA, the city’s mayor, Luis Rodriguez, said: “Despite only having a short period of time in which to complete the arena, we are not going to pass up this opportunity to host an event of this importance. We have already secured the resources we need to fulfil our commitment and we will do so by conducting a very professional job on behalf of the people of Ibague and Colombia.” The delegation then moved on to Bucaramanga, where it received a warm welcome from a group of young players from Deportivo Real Bucaramanga, the reigning national futsal league champions. “A city that is home to a team that has won the league champion ship twice deserves to host this World
Cup,” said Yarza, raising a smile on the faces of those present.
Following a visit to El Coliseo del Bicentenario, the FIFA Event Manager voiced his praise for the work being undertaken: “We have made a few changes in operational areas, the kind of modifications that need to be made for a tournament of this importance. We are very pleased, nevertheless, and we congratulate Coldeportes (the Colombian Ministry of
Sport) and the mayor’s office for taking steps to ensure that the process for upgrading El Coliseo is under way.”
A positive overall verdict
Yarza was also impressed by what he saw in Medellin and
Cali, stating: “We saw that there is a lot of interest in the cities, that the people are doing a professional job and that the facilities are of a high quality. Obviously, some modifications need to be made and work carried out at the stadiums in terms of timber work, lighting, dressing rooms and in the TV and media areas. Let’s not forget that the image and name of the Colombian host cities will be promoted in more than 200 countries for a whole month during the competition.”
Asked about the situation with regard to El Pueblo
Arena, LOC Chairman Cobo revealed his understanding of the main points of the inspection visit. “It’s understandable that expectations and requirements should be higher there than at the other arenas. After all, it is the venue for the final of the World Cup, it will be the home of the national team and there will be two groups based there, which means there will be eight teams playing there in all.” Yarza offered a message of optimism as he bade farewell to Colombia: “We sensed it before we came, but thanks to this visit we are even more secure in our minds that Colombia is perfectly well equipped to stage the Futsal World Cup and has the right structures in place for the participating teams and for the fans.” Å
Diego Zandrino
Satisfied Jaime Yarza believes Colombia’s host venues are on the right track.
26 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

F U T S A L
Centrepiece The futsal arena in
Ulan Bator was constructed with the help of the Goal programme.
One aspect of that plan was a series of courses and seminars aimed at training referees and coaches. With these in place, it was then possible to organise futsal tournaments at school level for all age categories, including girls. At the same time, the FFM began staging its two official annual competitions, the Futsal
Cup, featuring eight professional clubs, and the
City Cup, for which 12 amateur teams compete.
In this way, the federation began to see an increase in the number of players practicing the sport outside of winter.
Rising to the challenges
At national level, the FFM have continued the process began in 2011, culminating in Erdede
Ochi, the then assistant coach, being promoted to head coach. Looking ahead to the November qualifiers, Ochi was frank and realistic: “The overall standard in the region is very high, and it’d be great if we got to compete with such powerful teams as Japan, Iran, Thailand, Kuwait and Uzbekistan. In my opinion, Japan are even contenders for the world title. However, we know it’ll be very difficult to get a chance to face them, but we’ll give it everything.”
A Milestone
For Sodgerel, hosting the Eastern Zone Qualifiers will leave a legacy beyond that of the team’s results: “We’re very proud to be organising the event, not just because of everything we’ve had to do to get to this point, but because the public will get to see the national team play important matches in their own country. This will have a significant impact on football in general and futsal in particular, at all levels.” Å
POPULATION: 2,953,190 (July 2014 estimate)
CAPITAL: Ulan Bator
PRESIDENT: Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
FUTSAL NATIONAL TEAM COACH: Erdene Ochir
FIFA: Since 2001 FIFA has invested $ 2,149,843 in Mongolian football projects as part of its Goal programme. This financial support has been used for projects including the construction of a futsal hall.
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 27

H I S T O R Y
National service Jock Stein was in charge of Scotland’s national team from 1978 until his death in 1985.
weight.
I n the 1960s and 70s, as Scotland’s clubs conquered Europe and its national team reached the first of five successive FIFA
World Cups™, Jock Stein had come to symbolise everything that enabled this small country to consistently punch above its
Certainly, by winning the European Cup in
1967 with a team comprised entirely of players born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park – just one of many personal triumphs – this former miner had shown his fellow countrymen that absolutely anything was possible.
Yet it was the stresses and strains of the beautiful game that on a chilly night in Cardiff were to deal another blow to the famous assertion about life, death and football by Stein’s close friend, Bill Shankly.
The background
By 1985, Scotland had become almost blasé about reaching the FIFA World Cup finals. The
Tartan Army had, after all, marched to the global showpiece in 1974, 1978 and 1982, when
Stein’s team came within goal difference of
advancing to the latter stages at the Soviet
Union’s expense.
However, the Scots arrived in Cardiff on the brink of elimination. Ian Rush’s solitary, match-winning goal in the corresponding fixture at Hampden meant that Wales stood within two points of securing second spot behind
Spain, and a place in a UEFA/OFC play-off.
Shorn of stars such as Kenny Dalglish, Steve
Archibald, Alan Hansen and his captain,
Graeme Souness, Stein knew that his side went into the match as clear underdogs.
The match
Sir Alex Ferguson, Stein’s then assistant, recalled noting the strain visibly etched on his mentor’s face as kick-off approached. There was to be further fraying of nerves when, with just 13 minutes played, Wales’ early dominance was rewarded in the form of a clinically-taken goal from a future protege of Ferguson’s, Mark
Hughes. The situation hardly improved at halftime when goalkeeper Jim Leighton, who had
28 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

H I S T O R Y performed hesitantly in the first half, dropped the bombshell that he had lost a contact lens during the action and had no replacement.
Nevertheless, while the enforced introduction of Alan Rough restricted his tactical options,
Stein’s words roused Scotland to a fightback that quickly had their hosts on the defensive.
With an hour gone, he also took the bold decision of replacing Gordon Strachan with
Davie Cooper, entrusting the talented but unpredictable Rangers winger with unlocking a resolute Welsh defence.
Ultimately, it was from the penalty spot that Cooper was given the chance to justify his manager’s faith, and though the tension was palpable, he coolly slotted his kick low to Neville Southall’s left to haul Scotland level with nine minutes remaining.
A mourning Scotland fan
Unforgotten Celtic fans pay tribute to Jock Stein.
As the final, fateful seconds ticked down,
Stein was seen to remonstrate angrily with photographers who had surrounded his dugout in anticipation of the full-time celebrations.
Then, mistakenly thinking the referee had brought proceedings to an end, he clambered to his feet to shake the hand of his Welsh counterpart and suffered a massive heart attack.
Within minutes, one of Scotland’s greatest heroes had been pronounced dead in the Ninian
Park treatment room.
The star
Cooper’s composure may have set Scotland en route to Mexico but for the umpteenth and final time, Scotland’s star was the man who introduced him to the fray. Dedication to his job had ensured that, on the day he died, Stein opted not to take the diuretics he had been prescribed for his heart problems, as he felt they prevented him carrying out his full duties. The
Scotland manager and his loved ones were to pay the heaviest of prices for his devotion.
They said
“It’s not a night I want to remember,” said former Scotland midfielder and current national team manager Gordan Strachan shortly after
Stein’s death. “I had thought at the time that he wasn’t at his bubbly best. He wasn’t as sparky as usual at the dinner table. He was still able to make big decisions, though. He started out making great decisions and he went out with a great decision - taking me off! We were 1-0 down and the man he replaced me with went on to score the equaliser. Some say people worshipped big Jock, but it’s better than that. People loved him.”
“I didn’t shed a tear until I had flown from
Cardiff to Glasgow and set out on the drive to
Aberdeen,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, former
Manchester United manager and Jock Stein’s then assistant. “On the way up, I pulled into a lay-by and just broke down... For people like myself, Jock was the precursor of all the deeds and challenges we needed to aim at. He would never take the praise himself. It was always about the players and how great the team were.
That magnanimity tells you everything about him. For any man seeking to further his education in football, Jock Stein was a one-man university.”
What happened next ...
A band of 12,000 Scottish fans had travelled to
Cardiff and, as news spread and Ferguson broke the news to a disconsolate dressing room, these same fans stood silently, disbelievingly, outside the doors of Ninian Park. One supporter, interviewed on television, summed up the prevailing emotion. “We’d rather be out of the World
Cup and have big Jock back,” he said quietly to the camera.
Yet Scotland did go on to Mexico, Ferguson leading the team to a 2-0 play-off win over Australia before stumbling at a familiar first-round hurdle in the finals. Back in Glasgow, thousands lined the streets to bid a fond, tearful farewell to a national icon and bona fide legend whose name and remarkable deeds will live on forever. Å
Stephen Sullivan
Date and venue: 10 September 1985, Ninian Park, Cardiff
Match: Wales 1-1 Scotland
Background: Decisive game to determine who would face Australia in the play-offs en route to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Scorers: Hughes 13’ (Wales), Cooper 81’ (Scotland)
Wales: Southall, Jones, Van Den Hauwe, Ratcliffe, Jackett, James
(Lovell, 80'), Phillips, Nicholas, Thomas (Blackmore, 83'), Rush,
Hughes
Scotland: Leighton (Rough, 46'), Gough, Malpas, Aitken, McLeish,
Miller, Nicol, Strachan (Cooper, 61'), Sharp, Bett, Speedie
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 29

F R E E K I C K S P O T L I G H T O N
N obody wishes injury upon anyone, but the sight of footballers getting hurt and having to be substituted is hardly a rare one, despite all their training and the preventative measures taken. Football is a contact sport after all.
Unfortunate incidents can affect referees too, be it with or without third-party interference. There was one such instance at the end of August in an English Continental Cup match between Arsenal Ladies and Reading
Women, when one of the referee’s assistants was forced to withdraw. With no replacement immediately available an announcement was subsequently made on the PA system, addressing the 873 spectators present: “If there is a qualified assistant referee in the stadium, please can they make themselves known.”
Northumberland native Michael Oliver happened to be at the stadium, home to Boreham Wood FC, not only to watch the action but also his wife Lucy, who was refereeing the game. Oliver is the youngest person ever to have officiated a Premier League match after taking charge of the tie between Birmingham
City and Blackburn Rovers in August 2010.
The 30-year-old FIFA referee promptly volunteered his services and helped his wife by running the line in the second half, prompting chants of “There’s only one Michael Oliver” from the stands.
After the game Reading coach Kelly Chambers, whose side lost 2-1, said: “It was nice of him to step in and help us.” Indeed, the elite level referee was not above helping out where needed – the sign of a true sportsman. Besides, who wouldn’t willingly run to their spouse’s aid? Å
Country:
Papua New Guinea
FIFA Trigramme:
PNG
Confederation:
OFC
Continent:
Oceania
Capital:
Port Moresby
Surface area:
462,840 km²
Highest point:
Mount Wilhelm 4,509 m
Neighbouring seas and oceans:
Pacific Ocean
FIFA Ranking:
205th
World Cup:
No appearances
FIFA Ranking:
50th
World Cup:
No appearances
Men’s:
Philippines -
Papua New Guinea 5:0
12 October 2014
Women’s:
Papua New Guinea -
New Caledonia 1:0
16 July 2015
Since 2001:
$ 3,926,179
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 31

T
M I R R O R I M A G E
H
Manchester, England
E N
32 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
1960
Shay Brennan (third from left) and John Aston (second from right) test their strength at
Manchester United’s training ground.

N O
Toronto, Canada
M I R R O R I M A G E
W
2015
John O’Shea pictured at the KIA Training Ground during Sunderland’s tour of North America.
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 33

Share a
with

N E T Z E R K N O W S !
Morning training in Gladbach Gunter Netzer in September 1966.
W ell, no-one saw it coming but it has to be said that Iceland’s qualification for the 2016 UEFA European Championship has felt completely routine. I watched their
1-0 victory over the Netherlands on TV and there was nothing special about Iceland’s performance, yet with good organisation and spirit they have achieved something very significant.
This team has earned its place in France.
The players know each other well and many of them were part of the U-21 side that beat a German side with the likes of Mats Hummels and Benedikt Howedes in it 4-1 en route to qualifying for the 2011 UEFA Under-21
Championship. I cannot see the Icelanders progressing to the knockout stages of EURO
2016, but just taking part in such a tournament will be a great experience for the players and a proud moment for the country’s people.
On the other hand, it is a worrying time for the Dutch national team. Things have not clicked for them in recent matches and there is a very real prospect that the Netherlands will not be at next summer’s tournament.
They will be hoping to finish in third place and qualify for the play-offs but that position is currently occupied by Turkey, whose impressive 3-0 win against the Netherlands showed that they should not be taken lightly.
What has gone wrong for the Dutch? It is difficult to judge from the outside, but what is most baffling about their sudden decline in form is the fact that the team has barely changed from the one that finished third at the FIFA World Cup™ last year. I don’t suppose the team itself knows where the problem lies Å
Q U O T E S O F T H E W E E K
PSV Eindhoven coach Phillip Cocu on Memphis Depay
Victoria Azarenka, the former women’s world
No 1 tennis player on Lionel Messi
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany on Kevin de Bruyne
Jay-Jay Okocha, Nigerian former professional footballer
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola
Barcelona forward Neymar
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 35

T U R N I N G P O I N T
W hen referee Piotr Werner blew the final whistle on the deciding qualifier between Austria and East Germany on 15 November 1989, I fought back a deluge of emotions. For a
3-0 victory would take us to Italy for the start, there was the joy that the
FIFA World Cup.
At the same time, however, a great emptiness overcame me. Against Iceland in Salzburg a few months earlier the fans had whistled me. Back then I was the only foreign-based player in the team and I could not always live up to the high expectations placed on me. In fact, before the game against East Germany, our coach Josef Hickersberger was threatened with what would happen if I were chosen in the starting line-up. There was a bomb scare and we had to be evacuated. The pressure on me was enormous and when the final whistle went I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
I also felt a measure of satisfaction that
I had dealt with the criticism and, with my hat-trick, had contributed to our ultimate qualification for the World Cup. I had fulfilled the expectations placed on me, but the whole episode got me thinking. When your own fans boo you, it hurts. I have been a football fan since childhood and as a little boy I often went to games with my dad. Whistling or booing had never occurred to me; I always wanted to support my team so they would win.
It was a strange situation. If the game at
Vienna’s Praterstadion [now known as the
Ernst-Happel-Stadion] had not ended well then I don’t know if my career with the national side would have continued. As it was, I ended up captaining my country to two
World Cups, being chosen as Austrian Footballer and Sportsman of the Year and setting a new goalscoring record.
When Piotr Werner blew the final whistle on 15 November 1989, however, I only had one thought: I wanted out. I could hardly stay on the field and I certainly could not go into the stands with the team to celebrate alongside the fans. I just looked up and thanked God for his help. Then I made for the dressing room where it was a bit calmer. There, I had the chance to get my emotions under control and digest what had happened. Eventually my team-mates began to come in and congratulate me. I gave a few interviews and then just left the stadium. It wasn’t an easy time for me but with hindsight I can safely say that it made me stronger. Å
Toni Polster was speaking to Annette Braun
Name
Anton “Toni” Polster
Date and place of birth
10 March 1964, Vienna, Austria
Position
Striker
Clubs
1982–1987 Austria Vienna
1987–1988 Torino
1988–1991 Sevilla
1991–1992 Logrones
1992–1993 Rayo Vallecano
1993–1998 Cologne
1998–2000 Borussia Monchengladbach
2000 Austria Salzburg (Loan)
Clubs as coach
2010–2011 LASK Linz reserves
2011–2013 Wiener Viktoria
2013 Admira Wacker
2014–present Wiener Viktoria
Austria national team
95 appearances, 44 goals
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 37

Leader
Moves into top ten
Moves out of top ten
Matches played in total
Most matches played
Biggest move by points
Biggest move by ranks
Biggest drop by points
Biggest drop by ranks
Rank Team
1 Argentina
2 Belgium
3 Germany
4 Colombia
5 Brazil
6 Portugal
7 Romania
8 Chile
9 Wales
10 England
11 Spain
12 Netherlands
13 Austria
14 Croatia
15 Slovakia
16 Italy
17 Switzerland
18 Uruguay
19 Algeria
20 Czech Republic
21 Côte d’Ivoire
22 Denmark
23 Iceland
24 France
25 Albania
26 Mexico
27 Ghana
28 USA
29 Ukraine
30 Bosnia and Herzegovina
31 Scotland
32 Russia
33 Tunisia
34 Ecuador
34 Poland
36 Sweden
37 Hungary
38 Senegal
39 Costa Rica
40 Iran
41 Northern Ireland
42 Congo
42 Cameroon
44 Greece
45 Slovenia
46 Israel
46 Turkey
48 Peru
49 Egypt
50 Venezuela
51 Republic of Ireland
52 Jamaica
53 Nigeria
54 Trinidad and Tobago
38 T H E F I FA W E E K LY
M E N ’ S W O R L D R A N K I N G
Argentina (unchanged) none none
15
Cambodia, China PR, Fiji, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic (2 matches each)
Rwanda (up 57 points)
Fiji (up 17 ranks)
Northern Ireland (down 34 points)
Seychelles (down 7 ranks)
77 Montenegro
78 Rwanda
79 Togo
80 Estonia
81 Honduras
82 Iraq
83 Armenia
84 China PR
85 Morocco
86 Cyprus
87 Haiti
88 Angola
89 Sudan
90 Latvia
91 Jordan
92 Finland
Rank Team
55 Paraguay
56 Cape Verde Islands
57 Korea Republic
58 Japan
59 Panama
60 Mali
61 Australia
62 Equatorial Guinea
63 Gabon
63 Guinea
65 Congo DR
66 Serbia
67 Bolivia
68 Bulgaria
69 Norway
70 United Arab Emirates
71 Uganda
72 South Africa
73 Burkina Faso
74 Zambia
75 Faroe Islands
76 Uzbekistan
93 Saudi Arabia
94 Qatar
95 Mozambique
96 Malawi
97 Belarus
98 Libya
98 Guatemala
100 Oman
101 Niger
102 Canada
103 Ethiopia
104 FYR Macedonia
105 Antigua and Barbuda
105 Sierra Leone
107 El Salvador
108 Zimbabwe
-1 731
1 716
-1 687
1 671
0 671
0 657
1 653
1 635
1 789
-1 780
1 774
2 764
-1 764
1 756
-2 740
1 734
-1 635
1 628
3 619
-2 613
-1 605
3 602
0 599
2 594
1 894
-1 893
-3 878
0 848
0 827
1 823
1 812
-2 811
-1 1013
0 1012
0 1011
0 1002
0 955
0 940
0 924
3 901
0 1176
2 1149
0 1146
-2 1143
0 1122
0 1054
1 1038
-1 1037
+/- Points
0 1442
0 1269
0 1248
0 1224
0 1209
0 1186
Last updated:
3 September 2015
147 Georgia
148 Curaçao
149 Turkmenistan
150 Liechtenstein
151 Hong Kong
152 Vietnam
152 Puerto Rico
154 Guyana
155 Kyrgyzstan
155 India
157 Singapore
158 Grenada
158 Tajikistan
160 Liberia
160 Malta
162 Myanmar
Rank Team
109 Lithuania
110 Azerbaijan
111 Namibia
112 Bahrain
113 Cuba
114 Mauritania
115 Benin
116 Kenya
116 St Vincent and the Grenadines
118 Botswana
119 Palestine
119 St Kitts and Nevis
121 Madagascar
121 Syria
123 Dominican Republic
124 Moldova
125 Philippines
126 Korea DPR
127 Kuwait
128 Lesotho
128 Belize
130 Afghanistan
131 St Lucia
132 Bermuda
133 Lebanon
134 Burundi
135 Swaziland
136 New Zealand
137 Thailand
137 Aruba
139 Nicaragua
140 Tanzania
141 Luxembourg
142 Guinea-Bissau
143 Gambia
144 Barbados
145 Kazakhstan
146 Guam
0 350
1 347
2 340
2 336
-1 335
-4 333
10 333
-1 329
-3 391
-4 386
-3 385
1 381
-2 377
-4 366
1 356
-3 351
1 326
-1 319
-4 313
-1 305
0 304
-1 304
3 300
0 298
0 430
13 426
1 418
-2 405
0 404
3 399
5 394
-5 393
-1 496
0 484
3 478
0 469
-2 468
-1 464
0 459
0 453
0 548
0 546
1 535
-3 535
-6 529
0 528
0 521
1 503
+/- Points
3 592
-6 589
-3 574
-2 570
6 551
3 550
7 180
0 178
0 172
-3 171
0 169
1 166
-2 166
-2 165
5 198
0 195
4 194
0 191
-1 189
-6 186
-4 184
0 182
1 160
1 160
-2 159
2 155
0 155
1 154
-1 154
0 142
0 222
3 220
-3 219
-2 218
-3 213
-1 209
2 201
0 201
6 248
3 245
0 241
-2 237
-1 235
0 227
-5 227
4 226
-1 269
0 268
-1 268
3 266
-1 256
0 256
1 251
-4 251
+/- Points
-2 294
-4 291
0 284
0 281
6 280
-1 273
Rank Team
163 Timor-Leste
164 Bhutan
165 Indonesia
166 New Caledonia
166 Suriname
168 Central African Republic
169 Malaysia
170 Pakistan
171 Chad
172 Dominica
173 Bangladesh
174 Laos
175 Yemen
176 US Virgin Islands
177 Maldives
178 Montserrat
179 Chinese Taipei
180 Cambodia
181 Fiji
182 Tahiti
182 Brunei Darussalam
184 Sri Lanka
185 Mauritius
185 Nepal
187 Macau
187 Cayman Islands
187 Solomon Islands
190 Comoros
190 São Tomé e Príncipe
192 Seychelles
193 San Marino
194 Turks and Caicos Islands
195 British Virgin Islands
196 Samoa
197 Vanuatu
198 South Sudan
199 American Samoa
199 Tonga
201 Eritrea
202 Mongolia
202 Andorra
202 Somalia
205 Djibouti
205 Cook Islands
205 Papua New Guinea
208 Anguilla
208 Bahamas http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/index.html
-4 56
-1 56
1 49
2 49
4 49
-4 48
-1 48
-7 43
-2 82
0 74
0 72
0 66
17 64
4 61
1 61
-2 59
-1 115
1 105
1 100
1 98
-3 95
3 92
-1 90
0 88
+/- Points
0 130
0 128
0 121
1 120
-1 120
1 118
-4
0
0
1
1
-1
2
2
2
-1 40
-1 33
-1 27
1 25
-1 23
-3 22
1 17
-1 17
4
0
4
4
0
6
6
8
6

P U Z Z L E
Published weekly by the
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1
EASY
2
MEDIUM
3
HARD
The objective of Sudoku is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each of the numbers from 1 to 9 appears exactly once in each column, row and 3x3 sub-grid.
9
5
8
2 6
8
3
9
9
5
9
1
1 7
5
8
6 7
2
5
4
2
6
5
3
6
1
4
5
8 2
4
2
7
1
2
6 5
8 5
7
8
1
3
6
3
3
2
6
8
7
1
2 9
7 5
8
9
5
9
6
5
1
8
3
6
7
5
3
4
2 4
8 5
1
2
9
3
6
8
7
4 1
2
8
7
3
8
3 7
2
1
T H E F I FA W E E K LY 39