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Italy Confirms Place In World Cup Playoffs

UDINE, Italy: Italy secured at least a place in the World Cup playoffs after defeating Israel 3-0 at home with two goals from Mateo Retegui and a late goal from Gianluca Mancini, early this morning.

The victory brought relief to Gennaro Gattuso’s squad, who failed to qualify for the previous two editions of the World Cup, both after losing in the playoff round.

Now, a similar path is expected to be their main hope as Norway leads Group I with 18 points, three points ahead of the Azzurri who have collected 15, with two matches remaining.

Italy is now six points ahead of Israel, who only have one match left and no longer have a chance to overtake.

Next, Italy will travel to Moldova on November 13 before awaiting the visit of Norway three days later, an action that is expected to be the group decider.

The group winners will automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the runners-up will have to go through a playoff.

“We played as we should have today. We knew everything could be lost if we made a mistake. But the players came out with their best performance,” Gattuso said after the match in Udine.

“We all remember the match against Israel a month ago, they really made us struggle,” he said, referring to the thrilling 5-4 win last month.

“We are building a strong team, not only offensively, but also defensively,” Retegui said after the match.

The match was also shrouded in tension when incidents broke out between police and pro-Palestinian protesters in the city centre of Udine, with authorities having to use tear gas and water cannons to control the situation.

About 10,000 spectators were present at the 25,000-seat Friuli Stadium, including a small group of Israeli supporters carrying their country’s flag.

Although they still have a chance to overtake Norway if they record two wins, Italy is expected to have to go through the playoff route next March as the goal difference advantage favors the Scandinavian team.

“Now we just have to pray that no players get injured and they continue to excel with their respective clubs,” said Gattuso.

Tuchel Fears Decline In Number Of English Players In EPL

LONDON: England manager Thomas Tuchel has expressed concern over the sharp decline in the number of English players in the Premier League (EPL) this season.

Less than a quarter of the players in the starting eleven so far have qualified for the Three Lions squad – with just 23.2 per cent, the lowest figure ever recorded in the league’s history.

The percentage is much lower than during the Gareth Southgate era, which at that time recorded between 30 and 33 percent, although it is considered low compared to the previous decade.

“I just found out about that statistic,” said Tuchel.

“Of course I would like to see more English players in action.

“The more, the better, but I also understand the reality of club football, no one stops anyone. If they deserve to play, they will play. Quality will always shine through.”

Southgate has previously expressed concern several times about the dwindling number of local players and now the situation is seen to be getting worse.

Ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Latvia, Tuchel explained that England still have key players on international duty.

“Don’t forget we have Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Fikayo Tomori, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek outside the Premier League. Some of them are even performing brilliantly in France,” he said.

“We still have enough players to compete at the highest level.”

Despite his squad beating Wales 3-0, Tuchel continues to face selection questions after not recalling Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish in this camp.

“I still believe the players in the previous camp deserve to be here. They proved their quality against Wales but the team’s door is always open to everyone.”

Southgate, who will step down after Euro 2024, has previously warned about the issue of a lack of homegrown players in England’s top flight.

Chelsea’s Squad Is The Highest In The World

LONDON: Chelsea now have the most valuable squad in the world after a study by the CIES Football Observatory revealed that Enzo Maresca’s team is worth 1.56 billion pounds.

The figure puts Chelsea at the top, ahead of Real Madrid in second place by around 100 million pounds, in a list that also sees seven English Premier League clubs in the world’s top 12.

Since Todd Boehly’s takeover in 2022 – after Roman Abramovich sold the club – Chelsea have spent almost 1.5 billion pounds on bringing in new players.

This summer alone, Stamford Bridge has seen the arrival of names like Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian, Alejandro Garnacho, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens.

Although some of the spending was offset by player sales, the overall value of the squad increased by 315 million pounds.

The financial strength of the English Premier League is also evident when all 20 clubs in the league are listed in the top 60 teams in the world in terms of squad value.

Manchester City is in third place with a value of £1.28 billion, followed closely by Arsenal in fourth with £1.27 billion. Liverpool is also in sixth place with £1.21 billion — one place below European champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Barcelona are seventh with a value of over £1 billion, while Tottenham Hotspur are eighth with £907 millions. Bayern Munich and Inter Milan complete the top 10.

Despite their luxurious status, Chelsea are currently seventh in the Premier League after seven matches, but a 2-1 win over Liverpool last weekend, courtesy of a late goal from Estevao Willian, has given new confidence to the fans at Stamford Bridge.

Palace Create Sweet History By Defeating Dynamo Kyiv

LUBLIN, Poland: Crystal Palace started their first full European campaign in style by beating Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in UEFA Conference League group action earlier this morning.

Colombian winger Daniel Munoz opened the scoring with a combined header in the first half in Lublin, where Dynamo played host to the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.

England striker Eddie Nketiah then added a second goal just before the hour mark, denying Yeremy Pino’s cross to seal the win and a new club record – 19 games without defeat.

However, Palace were forced to play the last 15 minutes with 10 players after Borna Sosa was shown two yellow cards in a row.

The English Premier League club qualified for the European stage after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final last season, before being relegated to the Conference League for violating UEFA’s club ownership regulations.

Prior to this, Palace’s only European experience was two Intertoto Cup reverses in 1998.

The Eagles are now among the favourites to win the title and will face Cyprus’ AEK Larnaca in their next match on October 23.

They were also drawn against AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Strasbourg (France), Shelbourne (Ireland) and KuPS (Finland).

Liverpool Stunned, Real Madrid Wins In Style

ISTANBUL: Liverpool were shocked by Galatasaray 0-1 in Champions League action when Victor Osimhen’s penalty kick in the 16th minute was enough to give the Turkish giants victory.

The English champions were punished for another insipid performance in Istanbul, while recording two successive defeats under Arne Slot.

Liverpool previously lost for the first time this season to Crystal Palace but a couple of late wins saved their less than convincing start to the season after major changes to the squad that won the Premier League (EPL) last season.

Slot acted to rest Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak on the bench with three more changes to the starting lineup.

Galatasaray were previously hammered 5-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt in their Champions League opener but the Turkish champions were much stronger at home and took advantage of Liverpool’s defensive weaknesses.

In that action, Osimhen converted the penalty kick after Dominik Szoboszlai’s arm struck Baris Yilmaz in the face