It’s really no surprise. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a Manchester United fan. What else would you expect from a man as successful as the Supreme Leader? The two are a perfect match.
Manchester United won the first Premier League title in 1993. Kim was able to drive a car by age 3.
Manchester United has won three Champions League titles. Kim won a yacht race at age 9.
For the first time since 2006, Saudi Arabia will be in the World Cup. The Green Falcons, having missed out on the last two tournaments, will return to the world stage after a 1-0 win over already qualified Japan on Tuesday.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Saudi Arabia become the fourth Asian team to reach the #WorldCup, joining Iran, Japan and Korea Republic! pic.twitter.com/vQQylx8GyU
Syria needed a win or a tie Tuesday against Iran to keep its World Cup hopes alive. Down 2-1 going into stoppage time, it looked like the dream was dead.
And then it wasn't.
Absolute scenes. 93rd minute equaliser to keep Syria's World Cup dream alive. Pitch invasion. The works pic.twitter.com/Uk4hIlZebh
— Chris Deeley (@ThatChris1209) September 5, 2017
Syria’s 3-1 victory over Qatar in World Cup qualifying on Thursday was remarkable for two reasons: 1.) Syria are now in third place in Group A heading into the final matchday, a finish that would see them improbably qualify for the fourth round playoff. 2.) Defeat for Qatar means that they’ve been mathematically eliminated from the 2018 World Cup, so they’ll be the first nation since Italy in 1934 to host the tournament without having ever taken part.
Japan joined hosts Russia, Brazil and fellow AFC side Iran as the only countries to have booked their places at next summer’s World Cup finals after defeating Australia 2-0 in front of over 60,000 delirious supporters. This will be Japan’s sixth straight World Cup finals appearance.
Takuma Asano gave the Samurai Blue the lead in the 41st minute, and 21-year-old midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi secured the victory with this stunning goal in the 82nd. With only one matchday remaining in AFC qualifying, Australia’s road to Russia just got a lot more complicated.
The fourth season of the Indian Super League doesn’t begin until November 17th, but the quasi-big-name signings are starting to create a real buzz here within The18 office.
Back in August, Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) announced that they’d come to terms former LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane. The 37-year-old Irishman will take the pitch for his new club after a year off.
It never ceases to amaze me that with a 23-year-old Lionel Messi entering the height of his powers as a footballer, the Argentine Football Association decided to put Diego Maradona in charge of the national team for the 2010 World Cup. In his previous managerial experience, Maradona had collected three wins, eight draws and 12 losses, good for a win percentage of 13%.
Uruguayan forward Diego Forlan rose to prominence when he joined Manchester United as a 21-year-old in 2002. He never made the mark at Old Trafford, but he found immediate success after transferring to Villarreal and then Atletico Madrid for $25 million.
Thinking about the Chinese Super League is something like remembering Y2K, the year time turned 2,000 years old (fact). Worries built up ferociously directly before the turn of the century, but the dropping of the ball confirmed that everything would be okay.
The CSL, for a few months, seemed capable of its own global disruption, and the belief that China would simply buy anyone and everyone for exorbitant sums hit its peak when Shangong Luneng made Graziano Pelle the fifth-highest paid footballer on the planet in 2016.