Saudi Arabia Appoint Juan Antonio Pizzi as New Manager

Saudi Arabia have received a major advantage with regard to preparations for the World Cup 2018, as they have appointed Juan Antonio Pizzi as the new national team coach. Juan Antonio Pizzi is known for winning the Copa America 2016 with Chile. This was the first title success in Chile’s history, but he did not stay at the national team for long. Chile had a major disappointment after failing to qualify for the World Cup 2018 despite being one of the top teams from South America. Immediately after signing, Saudi Arabia did not waste a lot of time in getting him on board.

Saudi Arabia have promised that they would be supporting the manager with everything in order to get a good World Cup 2018 out of the national team. Saudi Arabia have been able to reach the World Cup after finishing ahead of Australia and UAE. The team were able to finish only one point behind Japan in the group B of the third round of World Cup qualification for Asian teams. The top two teams were able to reach the World Cup while Australia have also qualified for the competition by a play-off. Juan Antonio Pizzi will be delighted at working with some of the players like Nawaf Al Abid, who came up with five goals to help Saudi Arabia reach this stage.
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Thiago Alcantara Not Ready to Discuss Catalonia Issue Ahead of World Cup Qualifiers

Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara claims that the focus of the national team is only on the upcoming World Cup 2018 qualifying match against Albania and not on the Catalan issue.

Catalonia have been coming up with various protests regarding the independence and there have been violent clashes back at Barcelona. As a result, the recent match between Barcelona and Las Palmas had to be played behind closed doors at the Camp Nou. A number of Spain players who are based in Catalonia – like Gerard Pique – have come in support of the independence issue, but Thiago Alcantara refused to get politics into football.

The Barcelona defender has even threatened with the possibility of retiring from Spanish football if the demands of the Catalonia people are not met. Thiago Alcantara says that Spain are only focused on finishing top of the group and reaching the World Cup 2018 in style. Continue reading “Thiago Alcantara Not Ready to Discuss Catalonia Issue Ahead of World Cup Qualifiers”

Chris Coleman Ready to Hand Ethan Ampadu a Debut

Wales have decided to make a surprise inclusion for the upcoming World Cup 2018 qualifying matches against Austria and Moldova, as a youngster Ethan Ampadu is one of the names in the 25 man squad.


He is one of the latest young talents to make the switch to Chelsea, as he has decided to make West London his home from Exeter. The 16-year-old is not done 17 until September, but this will not prevent him from being one the sidelines for Welsh national team, according to Coleman. He says that every player capable of representing the national team will get a chance with Wales.

Coleman also denied that the inclusion of Ethan Ampadu is primarily in order to make him available for the Welsh team in the future. The centre back had been with Exeter throughout his career, but he is also capable of representing for England. The defender is also capable of playing as a defensive midfielder. He has signed a contract with Chelsea until the summer of 2019. Continue reading “Chris Coleman Ready to Hand Ethan Ampadu a Debut”

Deschamps on France chances

France coach Didier Deschamps believes that his team has a great chance in Russia, but they need to still work hard in order to improve.


He believes that there is enough quality in the squad and that it is up to him to find the best system that will accommodate each player.

He said that he had seen some good things during the friendly match especially the game that saw France beat Paraguay. Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud managed to get a hat-trick in this game.

Deschamps said that it was a difficult game and that the players had to work hard in order to score these goals. He said that the players have been listening to him and this is why they managed to win this game by this scoreline. Continue reading “Deschamps on France chances”