IFFHS NEWS AND STATISTICS OF THE WEEK 26
Picture : Liverpool FC , Premier League Champion 30 years after the last title !
THE 2020 CONCACAF LEAGUE HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
CONCACAF announced on Tuesday, June 24 that the 2020 Concacaf League, which was scheduled to begin on July 28 has officially been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The news has implications for Canadian Premier League side Forge FC, who won the 2019 CPL championship last November qualified to represent Canada in this year’s Concacaf league.
Forge FC would have joined 21 other club teams from various North and Central American countries in the tournament, which provides a qualification pathway to the more prestigious Concacaf Champions League.
The 2020 Concacaf league was supposed to run from July to November this year, but with many leagues and competitions similarly postponed due to the pandemic, it currently has not been decided when or how the tournament will begin and be completed.
Last year’s Concacaf league champions were Costa Rican club, Saprissa, who qualified for this years Concacaf champions league along with five other participants from the competition (all four semifinalists plus the two strongest quarterfinalists based on their tournament results).
Concacaf, which also suspended the 2020 Concacaf Champions League in March after it had begun, indicated in its statement that it will be considering various proposals for resuming its club competitions, but n=that no decisions have been made.
YOUNGEST PLAYER RECORD
Real Mallorca forward Luka Romero became the youngest player to make his La Liga debut after the 15-year-old came off the bench in his side’s 2-0 defeat at Real Madrid last Wednesday. Aged 15 years and 229 days, Romero came on in the 83rd minute to break a record lasting over 80 years held by former Celta Vigo player Francisco Bao Rodríguez, known as Sanson, who made his first La Liga appearance in 1939 aged 15 and 255 days. Romero had been an unused substitute in Mallorca’s three previous matches since the season resumed this month after a three-month pause due to the new coronavirus pandemic. The son of Argentine lower league player Diego Romero, the forward was born in Mexico but represents Argentina at youth level and has been at Mallorca’s academy since age 10, having moved to Spain aged two.
WOMEN WORLD CUP 2023 IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Australia and New Zealand will serve as co-hosts for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, FIFA announced Thursday, sending one of its two biggest tournaments — and its first 32-team women’s championship — to two nations that have embraced the women’s game. FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, announced its decision after its governing council held a vote by videoconference. It also announced that the council had approved $1 billion in investment in women’s soccer over the next four years, funding that could prove vital in developing enough competitive national teams to fill the 32-team field.
The council’s vote was 22 to 13. A bloc of European and South American members voted for Colombia. The United States member, the former U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, voted for the Australia-New Zealand bid. As it did with the vote for the 2026 men’s World Cup two years ago, the first since reforms were
The joint bid from Australia and New Zealand, the first from two countries from two separate confederations, had been considered the leading contender to land the tournament for months. Several other contenders had dropped out earlier in the process. By Thursday, its only remaining competition was a bid from Colombia. The winning plan proposed using 13 stadiums in 12 cities — seven in Australia and five in New Zealand. Two of the stadiums would be in Sydney, including the 70,000-seat facility built for the 2000 Summer Olympics.
LIVERPOOL 30 YEARS LATER !
Thirty years of hurt came to an end for Liverpool when they were confirmed as Premier League champions on Thursday courtesy of second-placed Manchester City's 2-1 defeat by Chelsea. The result at Stamford Bridge means Liverpool have an unassailable 23-point lead over City with seven games left. Liverpool were last champions of England when they won the old First Division title in 1989-90 after which a decline in fortunes saw Manchester United and Arsenal, then Chelsea and Manchester City seize power. Inspirational manager Juergen Klopp has rekindled the Anfield flame though and delivered the club's 19th top-flight title, one behind arch-rivals United's record of 20, after finishing runners-up to City in a thrilling race last season.
In the last 12 months Liverpool have won the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and World Club Cup, but something that was almost a given in the 1970s and 1980s, was the priority. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a three-month suspension of the season and delaying Liverpool's coronation, they have won the title with a record seven games to spare.
They eclipsed the mark jointly held by Manchester United (2000-01) and Manchester City (2017-18), who sealed their respective titles with five games left. Had it not been for the unprecedented stoppage Liverpool were on course to smash the record for the earliest clinching of the league title. Instead, they are now the first team to lift the coveted trophy as late as June.
Liverpool finished last season with nine straight league wins and, after claiming the Champions League by beating Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid, began the new campaign in relentless fashion to leave rivals trailing in their wake. With 28 wins and one defeat in 31 games, Liverpool have set a record-breaking pace and were 25 points clear in February -- the biggest lead in Premier League history. When they beat West Ham United that month it was their 18th successive top-flight win, matching Manchester City's record, before their hopes of an unbeaten season were dashed by a 3-0 defeat at Watford, a result that was merely a blip. Leading the charge has been Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian forward who is the first Liverpool player to score at least 20 goals in all competitions in three consecutive seasons since Michael Owen at the start of the millennium. City were the first team to breach the 100-point barrier in the Premier League two seasons ago but Liverpool are on course to shatter that mark, as well as records for most points at home (55) and most wins in a season (32).
RECORDS , RECORDS …
The German Bundesliga has finished yesterday with the 30th title for FC Bayern München and a lot of records in the BUNDESLIGA History (since 1963) :
- 21 assists for Thomas Muller (FC Bayern) in the season
- 100 goals for FC Bayern in 34 matches (second total after the 101 goals for FC Bayern 1971/72)
- 34 goals for Robert Lewandowski (4th Total in History)
- 25 consecutive matches unbeaten for FC Bayern
- 16 victories and 1 draw in the 17 matches (second phase) !