Sports Poets Society

https://www.oasport.it/2017/06/confederations-cup-2017-la-russia-igor-akinfeev-e-yuri-zhirkov-sono-i-veterani-del-gruppo-fedor-smolov-e-la-bocca-da-fuoco-dellattacco/ mauro.deriso@oasport.it La Russia si accinge a disputare la sua prima Confederations Cup con la consapevolezza di non aver compiuto quel salto di qualità che la Federazione si auspicava in vista del Mondiale che ospiterà fra un anno, ma nello stesso tempo ha intenzione di sfruttare questa vetrina per mettersi alla prova e accrescere il bagaglio di esperienza dei propri giovani talenti.  Le defezioni hanno ridotto la rosa a disposizione del ct Stanislav Cherchesov, che non potrà disporre degli assenti Alan Dzagoev, Roman Zobnin e Artyom Dzyuba .  La storica coppia centrale composta da Vasily Berezutsky e Sergei Ignashevich non farà più parte del gruppo in seguito all’addio alla Nazionale dei due difensori, ma il ricambio generazionale non è stato corposo e il commissario tecnico è stato costretto a ri...

http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/06/15/confederations-cup-preview-australia/ Ten seconds, that’s all it took for Brazil to score their first of four goals against Australia in a friendly at the MCG.  Luckily for Aussie fans, it was only a pre-Confederations Cup friendly. The Socceroos in all fairness were missing some of their star players such as captain Mile Jedinak, who is also ruled out of the Confederations Cup entirely to recover from a niggling groin injury.  - What is the Confederations Cup you ask?  Each year before the World Cup, the host nation invites champions from each zone of the world and the current world Champions.  The eight participants are as follows: Russia (Host Nation) Germany (2014 World Cup Winners) Australia (2015 Asian Cup Winners) Chile (2015 Copa America Winners) Mexico (2015 Concacaf Winners) New Zealand (2016 OFC Nations Cup Winners) Portugal (UEFA Euro 2016 Winners) Cameroon (2017 African Cup of Natio...

http://futbolgrad.com/ultimate-guide-2017-confederations-cup/ This will be the last set of competitive games for Russia before the World Cup kicks off in earnest in the summer of 2018.  Stanislav Cherchesov took over the Sbornaya after a poor showing at the 2016 European Championships in France .  Cherchesov has bloodied a few new players, but results have been far from convincing. The Sbornaya drew Turkey 0-0 in Cherchesov’s first match, and then beat Ghana 1-0. The Russian national team then lost in spectacular fashion to Costa Rica (3-4), and then completely embarrassed itself when they lost 2-1 to Qatar . The Sbornaya redeemed themselves somewhat when they beat Romania 1-0 in their latest friendly . The matches highlighted the fact that that Cherchesov still has a mountain to climb when it comes to building a team that can be competitive at the 2018 World Cup. Players to watch out for: Zenit’s forward Artem Dzyuba is the squad’s biggest star . The sizeable ...

http://futbolgrad.com/ultimate-guide-2017-confederations-cup/ Australia qualified for the Confederations Cup by hosting and winning the 2015 AFC Asian Cup . Australia defeated South Korea 2-1 after extra time .  The country made the switch from the OFC to the AFC in 2005 , hoping that playing in the more competitive Asian Football Confederation would help to develop football in the country . The results have been positive, as Australia managed to qualify for the 2006, 2010, and 2014 World Cup, and were runners-up of the 2011 AFC Cup, and then won the 2015 edition.  Finally, this is the third time that Australia participates at the Confederations Cup—they were runners up in 1997, and finished third in 2001. Players to watch out for: Massimo Luongo won the player of the tournament award at the 2015 AFC Cup . The 24-year-old midfielder plays for Queens Park Rangers in England’s Championship .  Another player to look out for is Bayer Leverkusen’s Robbie Krus...

Sydney triumph after dominating all season by SIMON HILL, World Soccer, June 2017  Although they dominated the regular season, Sydney had to rely on penalties to see off a dogged Melbourne Victory in the Grand Final in a brutal finale that saw nine yellow cards issued and more than 50 fouls committed. Besart Berisha’s fifth Grand Final goal had given Victory the lead , but an equaliser from Rhyan Grant took the game into extra-time and then spot-kicks.  After Carl Valeri and Marco Rojas missed for Victory it was left to Milos Ninkovic to stroke home the winning kick to give Sydney a third title, and their first in seven years.  It was a fitting reward for Graham Arnold’s team, who set the tone for the campaign right from the opening weekend when they hammered rivals Western Sydney Wanderers 4-0 in front of an extraordinary crowd of nearly 62,000 at ANZ Stadium. They would go on to break records aplenty on their way to winning th...

http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/news/y=2017/m=5/news=aussies-name-squad-for-june-2891054.html (FIFA.com)  31 May 2017 Australia name squad for crucial World Cup qualifier/Confederations Cup Three uncapped players included  Squad features ten veterans of 2014 World Cup in Brazil Australia have announced a 23-man squad for a packed June schedule that incorporates a potentially decisive 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ qualifier against Saudi Arabia, a high-profile home international against Brazil and the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017.  Australia’s squad is a strong one and includes 10 players who competed in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.  The squad contains just 3 uncapped players:  midfielder Ajdin Hrustic,  defender Dylan McGowan A-League championship-winning goalkeeper Danny Vukovic.  Evergreen forward Tim Cahill is the lone survivor from Australia’s last appearance at the Confederations Cup in 2005....

http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/teams/team=43976/profile-detail.html FIFA Confederations Cup history Australia have featured at three previous FIFA Confederations Cups, enjoying two strong two performances in the process.  The Socceroos reached the final in 1997 – their best performance in a senior FIFA tournament – and came third four years later.  Their 2005 showing, however, ended disastrously with three straight defeats.  Saudi Arabia 1997 remains the highpoint with the likes of Mark Viduka, Mark Bosnich and a 19-year-old Harry Kewell helping the side to wins over Mexico and Uruguay, only to slide to a 6-0 defeat against Brazil in the final, having drawn with the same opponent in the group stage.  Four years later Australia claimed a dose of revenge by defeating Brazil in the third-place play-off.  The Socceroos claimed one of their most famous results earlier in the tournament with a 1-0 win over world champions and eventual 2001...

http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/news/y=2017/m=6/news=russia-s-new-generation-ready-to-step-up-2894999.html (FIFA.com) 14 Jun 2017 Russian team has undergone significant changes since EURO 2016 This spring has seen the best performances of Alexei Miranchuk’s career   Leonid Slutsky: "[Aleksandr] Golovin is Russia’s brightest young star" Looking at Russia’s squad for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017, many football fans may not recognise some of the new faces, as there have been significant changes since UEFA EURO 2016.  Veteran stalwarts Sergei Ignashevich and Vasily Berezutsky have both retired from international football, Roman Shirokov has hung up his boots entirely , and striker Artem Dzyuba has been ruled out of the Tournament of Champions due to a knee injury . Luckily, head coach Stanislav Cherchesov has a number of talented young players at his disposal, who are ready to fill the shoes of the retired leaders of the national team. The r...

La vittoria in Coppa d’Asia del 2015 è valsa per l’Australia il ritorno a disputare la Confederations Cup dopo dodici anni , era infatti dall’edizione del 2005 disputata in Germania che i Socceroos non centravano questo obiettivo. Il Ct Ange Postecoglou ha spesso cambiato modulo e ha dovuto fare i conti con l’inesorabile invecchiamento di Tim Cahill, probabilmente il talento più puro mai prodotto dal calcio australiano, ma che con 37 anni sulle spalle non può più essere il fulcro della formazione .  Tra i pali Matthew Ryan, portiere del Valencia in prestito al Genk nella seconda parte di questa stagione che è affidabile .  In difesa ci sarà spazio per Trent Sainsbury , nonostante l’unica presenza con l’Inter sia arrivata all’ultima giornata di campionato , che farà reparto con Ryan McGowan e con Miloš Degenek jolly per passare dalla difesa a 3 a quella a 4.  A centrocampo attenzione a Jackson Irvine  (dieci reti in Championship) e ad Aaron Mooy , ...

http://www.spaziocalcio.it/calcio-internazionale/guida-alla-confederations-cup-la-presentazione-del-gruppo/ I tempi della semifinale a EURO 2008 sono lontani. Passati Fabio Capello e Leonid Slutsky ora tocca a Stanislav Cherchesov guidare la Russia verso il 2018, fra i convocati il solito mix di esperti e nuovi talenti della Russian Premier League, con tre reduci dal 2008 : Igor Akinfeev (portiere titolare), Vladimir Gabulov (secondo portiere) e Yury Zhirkov (esterno sinistro ora allo Zenit).   La speranza si chiama Fëdor Smolov, attaccante del Krasnodar capocannoniere in campionato con diciotto gol, mentre mancherà,  per infortunio,  Artëm Dzyuba .  La difesa (alternata fra tre e quattro) poggia su Viktor Vasin del CSKA Mosca ma non è imperforabile, il centrocampo è il reparto buono col prolifico esterno destro Aleksandr Samedov e il centrale Denis Glushakov , da non sottovalutare il trequartista Aleksey Miranchuk .  Ultima chiamata per l...