Mexico 1 Honduras 0
July 2 – The question on the lips of pundits and fans at Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, was “would tonight be business as usual or unusual business?” as Mexico and Honduras met for the right to face the United States in the Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Sunday in Houston.
Spain 5 Portugal 0
July 3 – With an imperious display, world champions Spain waltzed past neighbours Portugal at the Wankdorff Stadion in Bern, winning 5-0 to back up their status as tournament favourites.
January 7 – The tickets were quickly snapped up but the game never took place. When tiny Accrington Stanley, dubbed in England as the club that would never die after being saved from extinction, had a chance to play mighty Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup, tickets sold out in 36 hours.
January 7 – Scottish giants Rangers, striving to edge slowly back to the top flight of domestic football after being totally revamped and starting again in the lower leagues because of soaring debts, have assured the authorities and their followers that they are not heading back into the abyss despite ongoing financial troubles.
By Mark Baber
January 7 – Ahead of the African Cup of Nations a sense of optimism prevails in Ghana as Ghana National Bank (GN Bank) confirms a new sponsorship deal with the Ghana Football Association, national team manager Avram Grant professes satisfaction with the squad’s preparations and the players insist rows over bonus payments are in the past, with the team “willing to die” for the cause.
January 7 – In a move that will re-ignite the club versus country debate and be monitored with interest across Europe, Turkish football authorities have radically reduced limits on overseas imports and will soon allow teams to play with entirely foreign line-ups.
January 7 – Mexico will host the 2016 FIFA Congress in a year which is increasingly becoming of huge importance for the country and its regional confederation CONCACAF.
January 7 – Oceania Football Confederation President David Chung says obtaining direct entry into the World Cup instead of his region being forced every time into an intercontinental playoff will be a major priority after he was re-elected unopposed to run FIFA’s smallest regional bloc, in terms of footballing stature at least.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 7 – FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne insists he will not pull out of the contest as a result of Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein’s decision to run – and has called on the Jordanian to reveal the actual changes he wants to implement.
By Paul Nicholson
January 7 – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US has appointed Jeff Plush as its new Commissioner. Plush has a background in soccer having been managing director of Colorado Rapids in the MLS from 2006 to 2011 and a board director of English Premier League club Arsenal with specific overview of the global media business.
January 6 – With the January transfer window starting to warm-up the player market, the CIES Football Observatory has released its latest ranking of the 120 big-5 league players with the highest transfer values.
January 6 – An A-League clash between Perth Glory and Adelaide United, which reportedly left a number of players suffering the symptoms of heat stroke, has reignited the debate over the temperatures it should be considered acceptable for matches to be played and whether player welfare is being sacrificed in the interests of television.
By Mark Baber
January 6 – On the eve of Palestine’s participation in the Asian Cup finals, a FIFA delegation arrived in Gaza on Monday to witness at first hand the long struggle of Palestinians to realise their right to play football, in the face of the conflicts with Israel and the bombing of playing fields and stadiums.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 6 – German football clubs VfB Stuttgart and Hannover 96 have extended their technical sponsorship deals with sports apparel makers Puma and Jako, respectively.
January 6 – The off-the-field crisis at Barcelona has deepened with the news that the Catalan giants have sacked Andoni Zubizarreta (pictured) as director of football.
A courageous and defiant move by FIFA’s most principled young reformer or a foolhardy risk that could backfire? Reaction to Prince Ali’s overnight announcement that he has decided to take on Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency looks certain to move into overdrive in the coming days.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 6 – After months of speculation, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan has announced he will stand against Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA in May, bringing to three the number of candidates vying for the top job in world football. His likely challenge was first revealed by Insideworldfootball last October.