SoccerNews Issue # 7, 20th November 2015

Continental/Division Tires Alexander Bahlmann Phone: +49 511 938 2615 Head of Media & Public Relations PLT E-Mail: [email protected] Buettnerstraße 25 | 30165 Hannover www.contisoccerworld.de Soccer News # 7/2015 2

We won’t let the News ted in a major tournament for the last time at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. A well-known player in Germany, who also terrorists win. played in England, proved the backbone of the Hungarian suc- cess: Gabor Király, who has played with Hertha BSC Berlin, la- All 24 European ter with 1860 Munich and with Burnley and Fulham in England, The cowardly terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday struck the ensured the victory with a series of great saves. The goalkee- heart of the free world. We mourn the deaths of more than per is only the second player with 100 caps for Hungary. He 130 innocent victims. Our thoughts are with all those af- Championship partici- will turn 40 on April 1 and could be the first player of that age fected: the dead and the many wounded; their families and to compete at a European Championship finals next summer. friends. At the same time we also feel for and mourn with pants now known our colleagues at Continental in France and wish them the Király, whose trademark has been grey jogging trousers for strength to overcome such a terrible shock. Hungary, Ireland, Sweden and Ukraine won years, can help the coaching team with his language skills. Just one day after reaching the 2016 European Championship But on this dreadful night the targets of the terrorists were their respective play-off encounters. Thus finals, Hungary’s football president Sandor Csanyi went the not the fans at a football match, the audience at a concert whole hog: The German coaching trio of boss Bernd Storck, or the patrons of bars and restaurants. The targets were all the field of 24 teams to compete at the 2016 assistant coach Andreas Moeller and goalkeeping coach Hol- of us, together with our values and our freedom. That’s why UEFA European Championship is complete. ger Gehrke will remain responsible for the Hungarian national our sense of loss at the suffering of the victims in France team until after the tournament in France. Former German transcends national borders. That’s why we stand side-by- After 268 matches the qualification for the 2016 UEFA Euro- international Moeller, who gained a World Cup title in 1990, side with them and their country in the defense of values pean Championship was completed on Tuesday, November knows from experience how to play a successful European that are stronger than the destructive force of bullets and 17. In the play-off round Hungary, Ireland, Sweden and Ukraine Championship tournament. He was in the German team that bombs can ever be. ascertained the last four places in the finals to be held, for the won the 1996 title in England. Boss of the coaching crew is first time with a total of 24 nations, between June 10 and July Bernd Storck, former defender with VfL Bochum and Borussia We will not bow to the tyranny of terrorism. We will stand 10. Dortmund. He will stay with Hungary even longer as his con- up for our values. Because these values are the foundations tract as sports director was extended until 2018. of our free societies, our democracies, and our lives. They A 2-2 draw with Denmark in Copenhagen was sufficient for nourish all our institutions and organizations – of which Sweden to win this Scandinavian encounter, after a 2-1 win in Ibrahimovic leads Sweden into the finals – Denmark coach Continental is one. And that’s why it’s so important to live the first leg. Ukraine was finally successful in a play-off round. Olsen retires these values every day and everywhere. Now more than After their 2-0 victory at home the 2012 European Champion- ever; today and in the future. ship co-hosts only needed a 1-1 draw with Slovenia in Maribor A crowd of 50,500 watched in Dublin as Ireland qualified for to put behind them the nightmare of previous failures in five a European Championship finals for the third time since 1988 The qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 are over and the list of relegation rounds. Prior to EURO 2000 Ukraine had lost to and 2012. The “Boys in Green” defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina the 24 finalists is complete. Following the Final Draw on Slovenia. In addition the Eastern Europeans have failed in four 2-0, after a 2-2 draw in the first leg. Ireland’s star striker Jon December 10, when the six groups of four teams are drawn, play-off rounds for World Cup finals. Walters defeated the Balkan dragon with his brace, thus initia- we will be focusing on the individual teams and their rising ting a big “green” party in the Irish capital. or shining stars. Until then, keep that sporting spirit alive. Hungary reached the finals for the European title for the first time since 1972, when just four teams played. With a 2-1 win in Superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic once again provided the sporting Alexander Bahlmann Budapest against slightly favoured Norway, plus an earlier 1-0 highlight for Sweden. His goal for 2-0 with a sensational direct Publisher, Continental SoccerNews away in Oslo, the Magyars achieved victories in both play-off free kick in the 76th minute opened the door to France for the matches. The team of the 1954 World Cup runners-up compe- Three Crowns team. Ibrahimovic had also scored the first goal, Soccer News # 7/2015 3

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right), who contributed three goals towards Gabor Kiraly is a goalkeeping legend who always plays in grey jogging trousers. The 39-year-old was the backbone of Hungary’s play-off Sweden’s 4-3 overall score, battles in the air with Denmark’s Thomas victories against Norway. Photo: Imago Delaney. Photo: Getty Images and he had netted in the first leg. The Paris Leipzig, and Jannik Vestergaard of Werder The 66-year-old was the head coach of his Belgium (Cercle Brugge, Molenbeek, Ander- St. Germain striker will effectively have home Bremen could not prevent their overall defeat. home country’s national team for 15 years. lecht), with 1. FC Cologne, and in 102 internati- matches at the European Championship finals Previously he worked as club coach with the onal matches. in France next summer. Though the Danes Afterwards the era of one of international Danish traditional club Broendby, with 1. FC fought back from 2-0 down, goals from Yussuf football’s greats ended: Denmark’s national Cologne and Ajax Amsterdam. As a player Poulsen, of German second division club RB coach Morten Olsen retired after the match. Olsen was an outstanding libero with clubs in Soccer News # 7/2015 4

News the title. The two best teams of the six first Here are the four drawing pots for the round groups as well as the four best third- solemn ceremony with the UEFA ratings Draw for the European finals on placed teams qualify for the knock-out stage. The finals will kick-off with the opening match December 12 featuring hosts France at the Stade de France Germany (40,236) on June 10. The same venue will also host the Spain (37,962) The 12th of December is an important date final on July 10. Further venues are Bordeaux, England (35,963) prior to the 2016 UEFA European Champion- Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris with the Portugal (35,138) ship. On that Saturday the draw for the six Parc de Prince Stadium, Saint Etienne and Belgium (34,442) groups will take place at the Palais des Con- Toulouse. France (hosts 33,599) grès in Paris. Six nations are seeded and will Despite massive security measures the internation- form the first pot in the draw. They are World Pot 1 al match between Germany and the Netherlands Cup champions Germany, host France, title News was called off in Hannover on November 17. holders Spain as well as England, Portugal Photo: Imago and Belgium. Italy (34,345) Intensified security during the belt, but was prevented by an attentive stew- Russia (31,345) It is not the FIFA world rankings, currently led European Championship finals Switzerland (31,254) ard. The terrorist then committed suicide by by Belgium followed by Germany, which is Austria (30,932) blowing himself up. Altogether three people decisive, but the system established by the The 2016 European Championship finals will Croatia (30,642) lost their lives in front of the stadium during Ukraine (30,313) European Football Association (UEFA), into take place with even stricter security measures the match. which of the four pots a team is placed. Vari- than originally planned. This was stressed by Pot 2 ous sporting performances are considered in the European Football Association (UEFA) and The play-off matches for the European Cham- its evaluation, such as the results in the qualifi- France’s Sport Minister Patrick Kanner after the pionship as well as numerous friendly matches cation and at previous tournaments. Older re- terror attacks during the international friendly were completed although being aware of the sults are less valuable than more recent ones. between France and Germany at Saint Denis Czech Republic (29,403) terrible attacks. Two encounters were called off. near Paris on November 13. “After the traumatic Sweden (29,028) The match between Belgium and Spain was Poland (28,306) As teams in one pot cannot be drawn into the events in Paris last Friday UEFA and the Euro cancelled about 20 hours before the sched- Romania (28,038) same group, many media as well as coaches Governance Board want to affirm their obliga- uled kick-off in Brussels after the terror alert Slovakia (27,171) and players are considering possible options. tion to put security at the centre of the organ- Hungary (27,142) had been raised. The match between Germa- Opponents such as Italy, Poland and Wales isational planning”, UEFA announced. ny and the Netherlands in Hannover was called would probably be considered a tough group Pot 3 off just 90 minutes before kick-off on Tuesday by World Cup champions Germany or Eng- Shortly after the kick-off a series of deadly at- (November 17), when many spectators had land. Opponents such as Ukraine, Hungary tacks took place outside the Stade de France, already arrived at the stadium or were on their and Albania would be a somewhat easier where, among others, the opening and the way, due to concrete information suspecting a Turkey (27,033) group. final match of the European Championship further attack. The evidence collected meant Ireland (26,902) will be held, resulting in more than 130 people Iceland (25,388) these decisions at short notice were totally Five nations will make their debut at these being slaughtered by terrorists. One man had Wales (24,521) necessary said security forces. Albania (23,216) European Championship finals: Slovakia, tried to enter the stadium with an explosive Northern Ireland (22,610) Wales, Northern Ireland, Iceland and Albania. The finals were held with 16 teams (previously Pot 4 with eight or four) from 1996 to 2012, but next year for the first time 24 teams will fight for Soccer News # 7/2015 5

ALLEZ BOOM! In the light of recent events

Our author is struggling to find words. He’s found one or two, but he’s far from sure that they’re the right ones.

By Freddy Boom

Dear regular readers of SoccerNews, you know me as the guy who can’t keep his mouth shut, an ambassador of the Funny Old Game, sitting at a desk on the virtual outskirts of the glo- bal village known as Football; someone who makes a living by shedding a humorous light on events taking place on and off the pitch. Today, for instance, I would normally have found something funny to say about the match ball for the France v. Germany game being driven onto the field in a Volkswagen. But who wants light-hearted or facetious comments in the light of recent events? Obviously at some point we are all go- ing to start laughing again, because that’s human nature. Even when the fabric of civilization seems to be unraveling before echoes of the explosion in the 21st minute of the match at What on earth is going on? Yesterday evening I watched a talk our eyes, everyday life still goes on. Actually, I laughed this the Stade de France. So many people lost their lives, are in show. Talk shows aren’t normally my cup of tea. I don’t want morning at the breakfast table when my little daughter, clut- mourning for friends and loved ones, or have suffered phy- to be told for the umpteenth time that we have to bail Greece ching her beloved cuddly lamb and with furrowed brow, asked sical or mental scars. In my mind’s eye I keep seeing reruns out, or that the loud-mouthed bigots in the various right-wing me why kids have cuddly toys. I soon realized what a difficult of the footage from Friday or the intervening days: wobbly movements are one banner short of a demo. I don’t need a question that is – why do children have cuddly toys? What camera-phone videos of the scenes in the alleyway behind talk show to tell me that. But yesterday was different: I despe- function does that lamb, teddy or whatever it might be, worn the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, either uploaded to YouTube rately wanted answers, because there are some things I don’t threadbare by years of cuddling, actually perform? What does by eyewitnesses or shown later in sanitized versions on prime understand. Why do young people who did not grow up in a it do for us or to us? Oops, I seem to be off-topic already, and time TV. And then the cancellation of the Germany v Nether- cave on some inhospitable planet light-years from Earth, but we’re still in the first paragraph. lands friendly on Tuesday, with the footballing action replaced down the road in France or Belgium – even if it was in some at short notice by flashing blue lights as alternative viewing. bleak banlieue like St. Denis or Molenbeek – spend weeks Please bear with me if my thoughts are a bit muddled today. Then today, as I write this, the news bulletins are dominated by carefully constructing suicide vests, march through Paris gun- It’s hard to get my head round what’s been happening lately. reports of more shooting in Paris, and on Spiegel Online I’ve ning down innocent bystanders and then blow themselves My ears can still hear, and my heart can still feel, the terrible just read the headline “Woman blows herself up”. up with explosives strapped to their own bodies? How can Soccer News # 7/2015 6

Quotes of the day The answer to violence is even Saying ‘freedom rules here’ more democracy. Even more is either a mistake or a lie, humanity. But never naivety. because it is not in freedom’s nature to rule.

The then Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in 2011, after a right-wing terrorist attack in Norway Erich Fried, Austrian poet (1921 – 1988) left 77 dead, most of them children or young adults.

someone pull the trigger or press the deto- it achieve? I can’t even begin to understand it. top of the charts as a statement against terror. friendship. Who always comforts you; who nator face-to-face with fellow humans sitting My tears and sympathy are with the relatives Then there was that account of the man who, never gets mad at you, even when you spill a outside a café enjoying a crêpe, or dancing to of the victims. amid a hail of bullets, reached out his hand to mug of hot cocoa all over their nice clean fur. music at a concert? OK, maybe you don’t like save the life of a pregnant woman. You hear A friend who is never jealous of your other crêpes or think that dancing is sinful – then Next question: will I go to watch my favorite so many stories in these turbulent, confusing cuddly toys, and who loves you just the way you’re at liberty to avoid cafés and dance club play its next match in the Bundesliga, times. Some of them are about good deeds you are. Who doesn’t want you or anyone halls. Why do cafe-goers relaxing on a Friday Premier League, Ligue 1 or elsewhere? I don’t that bring tears of empathy to your eyes; else to become a cuddly toy, too, and whose evening represent such a threat that terrorists know. I’m scared. I read that we’re at war and some of them induce fear and doubt. So will reaction to a temper tantrum is simply to be want to kill them – and end their own lives in tell myself we’re not. These were not acts of I be going to the Euro 2016 finals in France? I there, a calm and dependable presence. A the process? The talk show offered an expert war, they were cowardly attacks. I read that certainly want to. friend who doesn’t even complain when, one for every aspect of terror: a jihadist expert, a we mustn’t allow ourselves to be intimidated. day, a teenager packs them away in a card- Salafism expert, a political expert, an expert I tell myself that this is the right attitude, but PS: Perhaps some of you will be asking your- board box and leaves them there for years on Syria, an expert on Paris, even a football I’m scared all the same. I read that we mustn’t selves if I’ve found the right words here. Is it and years – until that same person, now an expert. They only helped to confuse me more. allow the terrorists to take away our way of right to talk about cuddly toys in the wake of adult caught up in a wave of nostalgia, opens Perhaps there are certain structures within life and our culture. That’s right too, but lives such terrible events? I’m absolutely sure that the box again… Perhaps you understand what terrorism that we can understand in our have been taken away, and several bands it is. Cuddly toys aren’t talked about enough. I mean. If not, it really doesn’t matter – we live minds – but certainly not in our hearts. How have already cancelled their gigs in Paris. But Coming back to what I said earlier, the answer in an age when some things are beyond com- can such a microscopic minority of human then again, I read that the fans of the Eagles to my daughter’s question is that children prehension. society really, truly and deeply believe that it is of Death Metal, the band at the concert where have cuddly toys because a cuddly toy is a OK to force everybody on Earth to adopt their there were so many senseless deaths, have friend. A friend who’s always there when you way of thinking? Why kill people? What does launched an appeal to get themselves to the need them and never doubts you or your Soccer News # 7/2015 7

Did you know ... “the rapid whirlpool” (chwyrn drobwll) “of St. Tysilio’s” (llantysilio) “by the red cave” (ogo … that the place with the world’s goch). The name is said to have been inven- ted by a local 19th century cobbler (some longest name is in Wales? say it was a tailor) who wanted to make the village more attractive and encourage the railway company to build a station there. Croeso i Gymru – that’s Welsh for “Welcome He was successful, for to this day, rail tra- to Wales”, the land of dragons, druids and velers arriving at the station are greeted by the mythical magician Merlin. There is no the 6-meter long road sign displaying the town, village or rock in Wales without its own 58-letter name in white letters on a light blue legends and mystical tales. No other part of background. the British Isles is as famous for the popula- rity and richness of its traditional stories as But believe it or not, there is a topographical Wales, which even holds its own annual saga feature with an even longer name in New festival, known to the natives as Eisteddfod. Zealand, where you can climb the Taumata- And now Wales has even qualified for Euro whakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipuka- 2016 – the first time the national team has 58 letters that make up the longest – and least pronounceable – place name in Europe: kapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitana- played in the finals of a major tournament Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Photo: Raphael Frey tahu. This hill, 305 meters high, is a holy site since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Ho- of the indigenous Māori people – and has wever, you should be prepared for a few the longest official name (85 letters) of any linguistic obstacles when you get together hill or mountain in the world. The translation to celebrate or commiserate with Welsh fans of the name runs as follows: “The summit after a match. If you ask a Welshman in the where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, pub where he comes from, he might say: the climber of mountains, the land-swallower “I’m from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwy- who traveled about, played his nose flute to rndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch”. You could be his loved one”. forgiven for thinking he must have had a few pints too many, but he hasn’t: this apparent- People are a little more economical with ly random jumble of letters is actually the their letters in the Netherlands, where there name of a village with a population of 3,000 is a town named Ee. And the French go one on Anglesey, north-west Wales. The name better (or shorter) with Y, a community with contains 58 letters, making it the longest of- 90 inhabitants in the Picardy region. Inciden- ficial one-word place name of any settlement tally, both places are twinned – not with each in the world, and can be translated as “St. other, but with Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogery- Mary’s church” (Llanfair) “in the hollow” (pwll) Small hill, big name: the hill, which rises to just 305 meters, is a holy site of the Māori, the indigenous people chwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales! “of the white hazel” (gwyn gyll) “near to” (ger) of New Zealand. Photo: Matgrosso Soccer News # 7/2015 8

Danish scurvygrass is, as the name suggests, a native of Scandinavia. But these little flowers also thrive Highway biotope: on the main B17 road near Augsburg, plants are flourishing that sprang from seeds alongside German autobahns. Photo: John Crellin brought to Germany in tire treads. Photo: Omnidom

Did you know ... strip or central reservation i.e. the green area parently also thrives in the saline soil of the hypecoum imberbe, a member of the poppy that separates the paved roadways. Here median strips, refreshed every winter by the family, also thrive here – although they are … that tires help to promote you will find plants normally associated with salt from gritting trucks. The car was doub- native to the shores of the Mediterranean. thriving roadside biotopes? the Mediterranean, the fjords of Scandinavia tless instrumental in helping to spread the Here too it was tires, above all on the trucks or the mudflats of the North Sea that have plant, which is otherwise largely restricted that thunder along Europe’s main roads somehow managed to flourish in the unli- to seaside mudflats. The tires and wheels of every day, that enabled the seeds to travel Motorways or freeways are not normally kely environment of Germany’s fast-track vehicles heading south from the North Sea such distances and create new biotopes far environments known for their biodiversity arterial roads. One such example is coch- coast first carried then deposited the seeds, from home. So thanks to long-distance road – unless you count speed merchants, tailga- learia danica or Danish scurvygrass, which which found a new home amid the speeding traffic, Europe’s landscape is thriving – even ters, dawdlers and lane-hoggers as protec- was discovered by botanists researching cars. And it’s not only the white petals of Da- along the highways. ted species. Yet the German autobahn is a the flora of Germany’s median strips. This nish scurvygrass that are brightening up the habitat rich in unexpected life forms. To be unassuming flower is normally only found periphery of the autobahn; the aptly named precise, these creatures inhabit the median on salt marshes near the coast, but it ap- stinkwort – often classed as a weed – and