Four take-aways from first leg
After the first leg of the Euro 2012 play-offs, there were a wide variety of results to compare and analyze before the second leg on Tuesday. Some ties already look finished, while some are still very much alive. We take a look at one thing we learned from each match. Croatia remain world class A...
Spurs defender: It’s not about revenge
Tottenham Hotspur right-back Vedran Corluka has dismissed suggestions that vengeance for Croatia’s defeat in the Euro 2008 quarterfinal will be the primary motivation as Slaven Bilic prepares to lead his men in the Euro 2012 qualification playoffs against Turkey. Croatia qualified for that tournament in style almost four years ago, winning an unforgettable encounter at...
Your friendly neighborhood UEFA NextGen report
If one is the loneliest number, what does that make zero? After Ajax drew away to Fenerbahce they joined the imperfect mass that constitutes this year's NextGen field. Sporting and Tottenham remain unbeaten, but perfection is now a thing of the past fo...
Your friendly neighborhood UEFA NextGen report
The four groups of the NextGen Series are getting serious. Everybody's still alive just past the midway point of the competition. Well, almost everybody. Manchester City and Celtic met knowing their match was a do-or-die affair unless they played ...
Warning to Ireland: Estonia fans are delighted to have drawn you too | Rob Bagchi
Critics of Giovanni Trapattoni's ultra-pragmatic tactics for the Republic of Ireland will have a field day if he fails to defeat Estonia in the Euro 2012 play-offsGiovanni Trapattoni's luck as the Republic of Ireland's manager is thriving after his sid...
Warning to Ireland: Estonia fans are delighted to have drawn you too | Rob Bagchi
Critics of Giovanni Trapattoni's ultra-pragmatic tactics for the Republic of Ireland will have a field day if he fails to defeat Estonia in the Euro 2012 play-offsGiovanni Trapattoni's luck as the Republic of Ireland's manager is thriving after his sid...
Your friendly neighborhood UEFA NextGen report
The best keep getting better, or so the saying goes. Unilaterally applying that logic to Europe's premier youth club competition tells us that the worst, in theory, keep getting worse. Nothing supports such a conviction more than the latest events in t...
Turkey 1-0 Azerbaijan | Euro 2012 Group A qualifier match report
Turkey secured a play‑off spot for Euro 2012 after Burak Yilmaz scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan in their final qualifier.Turkey took advantage of Belgium's 3-1 loss against the group winners, Germany, to finish second in Group ...
Turkey 1-3 Germany | Euro 2012 Group A qualifier match report
Germany, who have qualified for Euro 2012, beat Turkey 3-1 to maintain their perfect record of nine wins and dent their hosts' chances of qualifying.Mario Gomez fired in from inside the box following a fine solo effort after 35 minutes, with Thomas Mü...
Fenerbahçe to set up women-only spectators’ area
Turkish football club that staged match in front of 42,000 women and children praised 'amazing atmosphere'The Turkish football club that played a recent match in front of a crowd consisting entirely of women and children is to set up a women-only spect...
Why Turkey’s women and children directive is good for football | Ally Fogg
The days when matches were an all-male domain are thankfully a thing of the pastThere are three things I vividly recall about the first football match I attended without an adult chaperone. It was sometime around 1980 at Muirton Park, watching St Johns...
Does Turkey’s decline mean Guus Hiddink has lost his golden touch? | Amy Lawrence