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MANCHESTER NEWS. § Italy and Juventus defender, Giorgio Chellini has claimed that Manchester City Manager, Pep Gaurdiola‘s interchangeable, attacking style has made a mess of the traditional Italian defending. § Paul Pogba has raised hopes of a return against Benitez’ Newcastle United after he stepped up his recovery this week. § Pep Guardiola remains intent on bringing Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City in the January transfer window. § Manchester United have reportedly received a big boost in the chase of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. LONDON CITY NEWS · Danny Drinkwater is fully committed to England and has not given up on his dream of playing in the World Cup next summer. · Heung-min Son got the better of Tottenham team-mate Davinson Sanchez with two goals for South Korea to beat Colombia on Friday. · Roy Hodgson has shot down reports linking Crystal Palace with a move for Jack Wilshere in January. LIVERPOOL NEWS · Liverpool new boy Naby Keita has revealed how he is looking forward to being reunited with "big brother" Sadio Mane at Anfield. · Javier Mascherano has been linked with a surprise return to Liverpool in the summer - thanks to Lionel Messi. · Former Everton boss Roberto Martinez has waded into the Everton managerial debate, giving a positive word for David Unsworth. · Speaking in his column this week, Everton's most-successful captain Kevin Ratcliffe believes that the Blues should pull out all the stops to try and get Diego Simeone if he is indeed Farhad Moshiri's number one target to become the next permanent manager. OTHER NEWS Newcastle United are due another sizeable chunk of the Premier League's centralized prize pot in January in a move that should help to shore up Rafa Benitez's transfer fund if there is no movement on a takeover. Sam Allardyce says Sunderland were "destined" to be relegated from the Premier League last season but has backed David Moyes to succeed at West Ham. Ross McCormack has refused to rule out the possibility of a long-term switch to Melbourne City. Members of Albion's board have been praised for 'fronting up' at a meeting with angry fans and fielding questions about under-pressure head coach Tony Pulis. Wolves have been linked with a move for Walsall's on-loan Albion striker Tyler Roberts, who used to play for West Brom. Asmir Begovic says he will not take his starting spot for granted at Bournemouth with Artur Boruc pushing the goalkeeper for a starting spot at the club. Eddie Howe believes criticism of England under Gareth Southgate is unfair and says he thinks international managers are on a hiding to nothing due to a lack of preparation time. Ian Holloway has admitted he is concerned about Massimo Luongo playing twice for Australia before QPR's next game. QPR captain Nedum Onuoha is yet to hold talks about his long-term future at Loftus Road. Brighton are keeping close tabs on Davy Propper after their midfielder suffered a minor injury setback. SOURCE:http://www.dabbsports.com/2017/11/latest-football-gists-around-globe.html |
Last night heralded the second leg of the play-off between the Northern Irish (NIR) team and the Swiss national team. It was indeed a dramatic night and 90 minutes of a pulsating encounter. O’ Neill’s men’s draw in Basel, Switzerland last night was not enough as Switzerland progressed to the finals thanks to a controversial penalty in the first leg. Northern Ireland finished second in their qualifying group behind group leaders, Germany. "There's a devastated group of players in there and I couldn't be more proud of them," said O'Neill. "I could name them all - they were fabulous. We don't always have top-level players but we have top-level characters. "What these players have done to be at this stage - to take a team like Switzerland right to the last minute of the play-offs over two legs - is an amazing achievement." It was a typically determined display in Basel from Northern Ireland, who rode their luck at times but gave it their all in pursuit of a first World Cup appearance since 1986. Haris Seferovic was woeful on the night as he missed numerous chances to end the tie in favour of an increasingly nervous home side and Jonny Evans came agonizingly close to taking the game to extra time when his injury-time header was cleared off the line by Ricardo Rodriguez. It left Northern Ireland to reflect on what might have been and a first leg in Belfast that was decided by a controversial penalty, awarded when Corry Evans was judged to have blocked Xherdan Shaqiri's shot with his hand in the box when it clearly hit his back. They were also aggrieved by a late sliding tackle, early in the game, on Stuart Dallas by Fabian Schar, for which the defender was booked but could easily have been sent off. O'Neill's achievements during his six years as Northern Ireland boss, which includes leading them to their first European Championship in 2016, has led to him being linked with a number of club jobs in England and the vacant Scotland managerial post. However, he refused to comment on his future after Sunday's game. "I'm contracted until 2020 and tonight am here for my players. That's it, I'm not looking any further than that," he said. The 48-year-old did have some advice for the experienced members of his squad, who may be considering their own international future after this defeat. "I've told them not to rush in to any decisions," he added. "They should discuss that with Aaron Hughes, who retired five years ago but was here tonight. This isn't the time to think about that." Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis is hoping O'Neill remains as national team boss. "He has been integral in terms of everything we have done right. Everybody loves working with him," said the Southampton midfielder. "It is only natural that there will be other parties interested in him because he has done so well, but from a selfish point of view we would love to continue this journey with him at the helm." In the other play-off game between Croatia and Greece, it was too little, too late for the Greek side as their outcome of the first leg results (4 -1) haunted them, hence making it impossible for a possible comeback so as to secure a ticket for Russia 2018. Croatia was the favoured team, hence booked a place at next year’s World Cup billed for Russia. SOURCE:http://www.dabbsports.com/2017/11/switzerland-books-place-in-russia-2018.html
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