Welcome to a new feature on THE COLD END called WORLD FOOTBALL WEDNESDAY where we will feature some news and statistics from World Football that hopefully you'll find of interest. There's always lots written about the big clubs around the world so I thought I'd shine a light on some of the clubs and players you might not read about all the time. Let me know what you think about this new feature?
AFOLAYAN DOING GOOD THINGS IN THE 2.BUNDESLIGA
One of the biggest stories of the summer has been Harry Kane's move from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich but there has been another English player with International caps and non-league experience has moved to Germany in 2023. Dapo Afolayan, who has one England C Cap to his name when he was playing for Solihull Moors, joined 2.Bundesliga side FC St Pauli from Bolton Wanderers in January for an undisclosed fee. He had been with The Trotters since 2021 and was with The Moors for the 17/18 season. Since moving to Germany he has played 20 league games and one cup game scoring 3 goals.
ROBBIE FOWLER IN CHARGE OF AL QADSIAH
Lots of headlines have been written about the millions of pounds being spent by the Saudi Pro League clubs but did you know Robbie Fowler is currently in charge of Yelo League (Saudi First Division) club Al Qadsiah. He was appointed in June and has since signed English midfielder Max Power from Wigan Athletic who is currently club Captain. Some other players with experience in England have also signed - Senegalese forward Mbaye Diagne who spent time on loan with West Bromwich Albion in 2021 has joined along with Peruvian striker Andre Carrillo who spent the 17/18 season on loan at Watford. Former Everton and Leeds United goalkeeper Joel Robles has joined along with Argentian Luciano Vietto who was with Fulham in the 18/19 campaign.
It's been a good start to the season for 'Fares Al Sharqiya' ('Knights of The East') who have won all three of their league games so far with Diagne and Carrillo both scoring goals. Their next game is on Saturday against Al Ain who are managed by Romanian Valeriu Tita who is the former coach of the Syrian National Team.
Since 2001 Al Qadsiah have had 36 coaches/caretaker coaches including Aleksandar Ilic (currently head coach of Lebanon), Ivaylo Petev (currently in charge of Ludogorets) and Helio Dos Anjos who is currently boss of Brazilian third tier side Paysandu.
BOTAFOGO TOP OF THE BRAZILIAN SERIE A
The 2023 Brazilian Serie A league is well underway with teams playing 20 or 21 games at present. Botafogo are currently top by eleven points and are on course for only their third Brazilian championship having previously won in 1968 and 1995. Former Wolverhampton Wanderer's boss Bruno Lage has been in charge since July who replaced Luis Castro who moved to Saudi Arabia to coach Al Nassr. Former Wolverhampton striker Diego Costa recently signed and scored his first two goals in his third game for the club in their league game against Bahia in which he was also booked.
Botafogo's next game is Copa Sudamericana Quarter-Final second Leg tonight at 11pm. They travel to Argentinian side Defensa y Justica with the score finely balanced at 1-1 after the first leg.
FC CARTAGENA AWAITING THEIR FIRST POINTS IN LA LIGA HYPERMOTION 23/24 SEASON
In the Spanish second tier only one club are awaiting their first points of the season after three games played. FC Cartagena, who finished ninth last season, have lost 0-1 to Eldense, 3-2 at Andorra and 0-1 against Levante. Former Real Madrid player Victor Sanchez who has also been managed of Malaga, Betis and Deportivo La Coruna in the past joined the club in June.
They get another chance to get points of the board on Saturday against Villareal B who have one win (at home to Eldense) and two defeats to Zaragoza and Elche.
WUXI WUGO AWAITING THEIR FIRST WIN OF THE CHINA LEAGUE ONE SEASON
Wuxi Wugo are in their debut season in the Chinese Second Tier having been promoted from the China League Two last season. They are still awaiting their first league win of the season after 20 games played. The club parted company with Manager Wei Xin in June who was replaced by Li Yianan who had been in charge of fellow China League One side Shanghai Jiading Huilong. After a run of eight defeats in a row they have drew their last two games which were 2-2 at Yanbian Longding (9th) and 1-1 at home to Nanjing City (5th). The three goals scored put them to ten goals scored for the league season! Wuxi currently have two foreign players in their squad both being from Serbia - Midfielder Bogdan Mladenovic joined from Maltese Premier League club Balzan and Striker Milos Gordic recently joined and both made their debuts in July. Their next game is away to Guangxi Pingguo Hailiao who are in third place just three points off of top spot.
SPANISH THIRD TIER AND FOURTH TIER SEASON'S KICK OFF THIS WEEKEND
The Primera Federacion (Third Tier) and Segunda Federacion (Fourth Tier) Spanish seasons start this weekend. In Group 3 of the Segunda Federacion their are four clubs playing in the Balearic Islands. Penya Independent and Pena Deportiva on Ibiza and Andratx on Mallorca. Sociedad Deportiva Formentera represent the Island of Formentera and travel to Barcelona to play CE Europa for their first game of the season. Formentera most famous result came in the 17/18 Copa Del Ray last 32 second leg when they won 0-1 at La Liga side Athletic Bilbao after a 1-1 draw in the first leg - the winning goal was scored in added time by Alvaro Muniz. CE Europa are a club with lots of history having been formed in 1907 and being founder members of La Liga in 1929 where they stayed for three seasons and haven't returned since! Their Nou Sardenya ground which has a capacity of 7,000 in just under 4 miles from the more famous Camp Nou.
No comments:
Post a Comment