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England were pitted against old rivals Poland in their World Cup qualifying group on Monday after a draw which left Europe’s top sides with apparently straightforward routes to the 2022 tournament in Qatar. |
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Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia and England all avoided each other thanks to the seeding system and, barring major upsets, should qualify comfortably for the tournament in Qatar. * South East Asian football officials have rescheduled the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship for a second time, pushing the competition back to the end of 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. * The Bundesliga’s 2020/21 season will see a drop in turnover of about €1 billion (US$1.21 billion) if fans have to stay away throughout the campaign, some 20 per cent below the last regular season in 2018/2019, the German Football League (DFL) has said. * Germany’s leading soccer league, the Bundesliga, plans to start an auction for a stake in its overseas broadcasting rights in February, managing director Christian Seifert said on Monday. The deal would bring outside investors into one of the game’s biggest leagues, whose revenue has plummeted during the pandemic with matches being played in empty stadiums. * Breakdancing, surfing, skateboarding and sports climbing won a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics when the International Olympic Committee ratified their inclusion on Monday, IOC President Thomas Bach said. The Paris 2024 organising committee had last year proposed the four sports for inclusion and was waiting on a final review by the IOC’s Executive Board. * Toronto FC Spanish midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo was named Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Most Valuable Player for the 2020 season on Monday. The 29-year-old from Seville tied for the MLS lead in assists with 10 this season, finished joint eighth in the Golden Boot race with nine goals and showed his durability as the only Toronto player to start every game this year. * Florian Grillitsch scored twice as Hoffenheim beat visiting Augsburg 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Monday to earn their first league win since September. * New Zealand’s twice Rugby World Cup-winning captain Richie McCaw was named Men’s 15s Player of the Decade by World Rugby on Monday. McCaw, who led the All Blacks to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015, saw off competition from former team mates Dan Carter, Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and Beauden Barrett, as well as France’s Thierry Dusautoir, Ireland’s Johnny Sexton and South African Pieter-Steph du Toit. * Southampton came from behind to beat traditional south coast rivals Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 in the Premier League on Monday as Jannik Vestergaard and Danny Ings cancelled out a Pascal Gross opener for the home side. Source: Nhan Dan Online |
