Earlier this week, UEFA took time out from its 24/7 money-grab and expanding the Champions League to 197 teams while simultaneously restricting the winners to only Bayern, Juve, Madrid, and Barcelona (and pimp-slapping Man City for its own enjoyment/revenge) to actually make a solid decision. That was to move Euro 2020 to 2021. Some decisions are just so plainly obvious that even an unwieldy and evil organization as this one can’t help but make them. It’s clearly a no-brainer. First, it’s unclear that any kind of sport will be able to be played even in mid-June or early July. Second, the domestic leagues are going to need a lot of room to finish their seasons if they’re allowed, and it most certainly will be when the tournament would have taken place, if not later. Third, this is the unique summer tournament that wasn’t being held in just one country, but in 12 different stadiums across Europe. Which would make it far easier to move back a year as you’re only talking about stadium use for the most part instead of one country’s entire infrastructure for a tournament such as this. No single place is ready to welcome hundreds of thousands of tourists and supporters for up to a month. As stupid and corrupt as the whole Qatar, Thanksgiving-to-Christmas World Cup of 2022 is, even it provides more of a cushion as there isn’t a worry that players will be playing for two straight summers. Though COMNEBOL didn’t seem concerned about that by scheduling back-to-back Copa Americas (for the second time) to get on the same summer tournament schedule as UEFA. They also have pushed back this upcoming Copa America (somehow held in both Colombia and Argentina, which don’t exactly share a border) to 2021. Euro 2020 has been moved to 2021. credits: Getty But from one season to the next, outlooks for national teams can change. Fuck, we don’t even know the total field for Euro 2020 (now 2021) because the playoffs for the last four spots had not been completed yet. It does open up the possibility of currently injured or wayward stars to shine in the tournament that they would have missed this summer, but the reverse is true as well. For instance, Norway is one of those playoff teams, and they’re in possession of maybe the hottest striker on the planet. But will Erling Haaland still be opening up fissures in the time/space continuum in a year? Will a full year in the Bundesliga at 20 char him a bit? Remember, Christian Pulisic lit the world on fire at 18 at Dortmund, but he suffered in form and health at 19 to open a door for Jadon Sancho before moving to Chelsea, where fitness has still evaded him. Time moves quickly for teenagers in football. Tournament favorite France might have gone into this without Paul Pogba, if he even thought the tourney was worth his time, as he would have missed the rest of the season with Manchester United. France also gets a year to find a way to keep Jose Mourinho from attacking Tangay Nnbombele with a mace and find him a happy home. On the flip side, it’s another year of mileage for Antoine Griezmann ( between half-assed LeBron ripoffs), though when you have Kylian Mbappe at the ripe age of 22, no one gives a shit. England will get a reprieve from trying to find a replacement for Harry Kane, though his days of being HARRY KANE are probably over. Still, heading into a tournament where the semis and final will be on home soil and white-knuckling through games with Tammy Abraham, Danny Ings, or Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading the line didn’t seem a tantalizing prospect. Especially with Marcus Rashford having also been very touch-and-go this summer. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will get another season to take an axe to his back. While it’s unlikely that Cristiano Ronaldo will suddenly become useless at 36 when the tournament rolls around, Portugal will get another season to try to buttress around him and his increasingly one-dimensional game On the flip side there, England won’t get Jordan Henderson in player-of-the-season form, though it’s another year for Dean Henderson to displace the sometimes wavy-inflatable-arm-guy ways of Jordan Pickford. Another tournament favorite, Belgium, would have likely entered EU 2020 with captain and best player Eden Hazard on the sidelines, or half-fit at best. Spain will get another year to find an actual forward, though considering they won three major trophies in a row basically without one, maybe it’s not something it has to worry about. Previous World Cup darlings Croatia will have to wonder if it can nurse warhorses Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, and Ivan Rakitic through another year without needing all the king’s horses and men. While it’s unlikely that Cristiano Ronaldo will suddenly become useless at 36 when the tournament rolls around, Portugal will get another season to try to buttress around him and his increasingly one-dimensional game to defend the trophy with the younger generation like Joao Felix, Goncalo Guedes, Ruben Neves et al. We can still be sure their style will be a violation of the Geneva Convention, which is how they ended up winning the thing in France in the first place. Now that the Netherlands has finally returned to a major tournament, they’ll have to wait a year to see if Virgil van Dijk can return to World Player of The Year finalist form, which he’s fallen from this season, and whether Frankie de Jong and Matthew de Ligt can get back to what made last year’s Ajax so entertaining. Whatever year the tournament is held, Memphis Depay will continue to think he’s four times better than he is, making him the new Nicklas Bendtner. Will Gareth Bale actually be playing somewhere in a year? Will he care? (The answer to both is clearly no.) Obviously, anything can happen in a year’s time. Players in sparkling form now could get hurt or fall off the map or transfer to clubs where they never get off the bench, along with a hundred other possibilities. But it’s always fun to see how much things can shift by changing from one summer to the next. Especially when we don’t have much else to do.
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German football great Uwe Seeler has died at the age of 85.
Seeler spent his 19-year playing career, spanning from 1953 to 1972, with Hamburg and is considered the greatest player in the German club s history.
He also earned 72 caps for West Germany and played in their 1966 World Cup final defeat to England.
The news of Seeler s death was confirmed by Hamburg, where he also worked as president for three years in the 1990s, in a statement on their official website.
Uwe stands for everything that characterises a good person: down-to-earthness, loyalty, joie de vivre, plus he was always approachable, said HSV board member Jonas Boldt.
He is the epitome of HSV. I personally have special memories of our get-together on his last birthday. He talked sh…
Declan Rice s West Ham contract is due to expire next year and he has rejected fresh terms, prompting interest from rival English clubs.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have all been linked with the 24-year-old England international midfielder.
But the Hammers have rated Rice at £100million, which would be close to a British-record transfer fee.
TOP STORY – CITY TAKE POLE POSITION FOR RICE
Manchester City are leading the pursuit to sign West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, reports TEAMtalk.
The report claims City have come into contention with a probable trio of off-season departures paving the way for the English champions to afford the move.
Kalvin Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are all potentially on the way …
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed a dominant first-half performance from Manchester United against Tottenham, describing it as his side s best display for a long time .
United were winless in three in all competitions coming into a first meeting with Jose Mourinho since his sacking as their manager at Old Trafford.
But Solskjaer s men ended Mourinho s winning start at Spurs with a 2-1 success, scoring early in both halves through the inspired Marcus Rashford.
Dele Alli scored a wonderful equaliser six minutes before half-time, which Solskjaer acknowledged was tough to take after controlling the game to that point.
Especially first half, that s probably the best we ve played for a long time, he told Prime Video. We dominated the game and could have, should have…
Didier Deschamps insisted pleasing Kylian Mbappe played no part in his decision to make the Paris Saint-Germain star France captain.
Hugo Lloris retirement vacated the France captaincy, with Mbappe named as the new skipper earlier this week ahead of Euro 2024 qualifiers against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.
Mbappe revealed on Thursday that Antoine Griezmann, one of France s longest-serving players, was disappointed by the decision, though Deschamps refuted the suggestion he made the call to appease the 24-year-old, who won the Golden Boot at last year s World Cup.
It s not a choice to make him happy, but because I am convinced that he has all the qualities to do so, Deschamps said in a press conference.
I m not going to go into details. Y…
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea claims he is unaware of reported interest from Real Madrid, insisting he is very happy at Old Trafford.
De Gea was poised to return home to the Spanish capital last year until his proposed contract was reportedly eaten by a faulty fax machine on deadline day, with the Spain international going on to sign a four-year extension and help United to FA Cup glory.
Madrid have been linked with another bid for De Gea, despite Keylor Navas helping the club to Champions League glory in 2015-16, however, the 25-year-old has no plans to depart Manchester.
I know nothing about Madrid wanting to sign me. I m calm. I have three more years in Manchester, De Gea told Cadena Ser as prepares for Euro 2016, which kicks off in France on Fr…
Chelsea midfielder Jon Obi Mikel has turned down the chance to move to Fenerbache, .
The Nigeria international is currently playing in his tenth season with the Blues, having signed from Norwegian side Lyn in 2006.
Fenerbache were keen on signing the twenty-nine year old, and fellow Turkish side Galatasarary have also been linked though he has no desire to move on.
During his decade in England, Mikel has racked up over three hundred-seventy appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals and winning a host of trophies along the way.
He has two Premier League winners medals to his name and has also tasted success in the FA Cup on four occasions, the League Cup twice and in both the Champions League and Europa League.
Internationally, he ha…
Scottish goalkeeper Craig Gordon says a knee injury may force him to retire at the age of 30.
Gordon was signed by Sunderland for nine million pounds in 2007 at the time the highest fee ever paid by a British club for a goalkeeper but was released at the end of the 2011/12 campaign.
A 40-cap Scotland international, Gordan has been without a club since his departure from the Stadium of Light and, while he is not prepared to give up on making a return to playing just yet, Gordon has already begun planning for his future by taking up a coaching role with Dumbarton.
I m not ruling out playing again but as it goes on, increasingly it gets harder, Gordon told the Daily Record.
I ve had a couple of surgeries on it, but it s definitely not back to 100 percent…
Netherlands attacker Arjen Robben says his team s clash against Germany is make or break for their Euro 2012 campaign.
Having lost their opening Group B game to Denmark 1-0 on Saturday, the Dutch need a positive result from their second match or risk suffering elimination.
Robben, 28, is well aware of the seriousness of the game but is remaining optimistic about his side s chances against Joachim Loew s men.
Against Germany it is make or break, he told AD.nl.
But we are still confident. We will, can and should win. If that happens, everything will be good and we can rise again.
In a separate interview with De Telegraaf, Robben praised Wednesday s opponents: They were third at the World Cup and the team are still young, fresh and fit. The Germa…
The Premier League s muddled priorities on an action-packed deadline day were borne out at the bet365 Stadium as Stoke City introduced their brand-new signing amid the dismal distraction of a 0-0 draw against Watford.
Badou N Diaye is the new man for the Potters, having signed in a €16million deal from Galatasaray, and it may be hoped that the midfielder can provide a spark after this soporific contest.
The Hornets sacked Marco Silva, accusing him of being distracted by interest from Everton, but Javi Gracia s arrival does not appear to have inspired them on the evidence of their FA Cup elimination to Southampton and this match, in which they created next to nothing.
Not that Stoke were any more free-flowing. The introduction of Peter Crouch briefly sent pangs…
All eyes will be on Wembley Stadium Saturday lunchtime as matchday twenty-seven in the Premier League kicks off with the North London derby.
Both sides aims are to finish the season in the top four though they are currently in fifth and sixth place, with Tottenham Hotspur four points ahead of Arsenal.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side can move, if only temporarily up to third place with the win while victory would see Arsene Wenger’s men move to within a point of their rivals and two of the Champions League qualification places ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.
Spurs are favourites ahead of the game and they are set to welcome back Harry Kane, after the divisions top scorer was rested for the 2-0 FA Cup fourth round replay win over Newport County on We…