Category: Football

The last couple of years have shown why Rodri is perhaps the most consistent footballer of this generation. The Spaniard was awarded the 2024 Ballon d’Or to the surprise of the sports betting odds, with many believing Vinicius Junior did enough for Real Madrid to become the first Brazilian recipient since 2007, however, it was Manchester City’s midfield maestro that was victorious in Paris.

Indeed, Vini and the rest of the remaining Madrid contingent chose to boycott the award, but even the missing European champions didn’t overshadow the praise shown to Rodri, who since 2023 had been the best player in world football until his injury against Arsenal earlier this season.

City are expected to be without Rodri for the rest of the season, but the 28-year-old’s influence on Pep Guardiola’s side was immediately apparent – the Premier League holders losing five games in a row in his absence.

He has been sidelined with an ACL injury since September, but even that did not manage to dampen spirits on a wet day at the Etihad Stadium, where Rodri was finally able to parade the trophy in front of the home fans.

“What can I say? The first City player to win it and on Saturday I will be with them and I will enjoy this with them,” he said. “I felt their love everyday and they love, they want me to show them and it will be a great moment for me on Saturday to share with them.

“Because we are a family and from the first minute I joined this Club they showed me their love.”

Big moments, important goals, and an ability to lead a team of winners showcased why Rodri lifted the famous golden trophy in France’s Théâtre du Châtelet. The most prestigious award an individual can receive, the decision from journalists to vote for Rodri over the likes of Vini Jr and Jude Bellingham, shows that being a part of a team is still valued.

As well as scoring the winning goal in the 2023 Champions League final to complete an unprecedented treble, Rodri won a fourth consecutive Premier League title, as well as the European Championship with Spain.

In Germany, the midfielder’s presence was felt massively in La Roja’s success. He was named in the team of the tournament as the Spanish steamrolled their way to the trophy.
While he was subbed off in the final against England in Berlin, throughout the Euros he proved massively influential, completing 92% of his passes in six games and being the glue that connected Spain’s midfield and attack, giving the likes of Dani Olmo the freedom to get up the pitch.

The question now remains – will Rodri hit the same heights when he returns to the pitch? In recent years, the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Marco Reus have recovered from ACL injuries to rediscover their top form, and with the Spaniard in the same position as players like Eder Militão, the road to recovery will be long but well worth the wait.

Rodri was never blessed with breathtaking speed or athleticism, but his ability to read the game and dictate play has shown why he is regarded as one of the best players in the world. Only time will tell if he receives the award again, or if Vini or another Madrid player will finally win another Ballon d’Or.

According to the website of Guinness World Records, which bears the legend, ‘All records listed on our website are current and up-to-date’, the record for the fastest hat-trick in football history still belongs to the late Tommy Ross, who died in May, 2017, aged 71. As an 18-year-old, Ross scored three goals in 90 seconds for Ross County against Nairn County at Dingwall, in the Ross and Cromarty area of the Scottish Highlands, on November 28, 1964. Later in his career, Ross played for Peterbrough United, Wigan Athletic, York City and Brora Rangers. He also managed St. Duthus Football Club, based in the Royal Burgh of Tain, also in the Scottish Highlands.

However, as reported in the ‘Daily Mirror’ on May 4, 2013, Alex Torr, a 20-year-old student at Sheffield Hallam University, scored four goals, including an even faster hat-trick, for Rawson Spring during a 7-1 victory over Winn Gardens in the Meadowhall Sunday League One. According to referee Matt Tyers, Torr scored his first goal after 11 minutes, his second after 11 minutes and 30 seconds and his third, straight from the kick-off, when Winn Gardens lost possession, after 12 minutes and 10 minutes. Think of the odds of this happening, it’s enough to make a bookie quake in his boots. Of his apparently record-breaking third goal, Torr told the Sheffield Star, ‘We were on the attack and I passed the ball to my mate, his shot was stopped and I scored the rebound.’ He added, ‘It was a great feeling.’

Torr was reportedly planning to register his 70-second hat-trick with Guiness World Records but, while the official Twitter account for Rawson Spring Football Club proclaims that they are ‘World record holders for the fastest hat-trick ever scored’, no reference to the player or the club can be found on the Guinness World Records website.

On August 9, 2024, Lee Carsley was appointed interim head coach of the England men’s senior national football team following the departure of Gareth Southgate. Although not guaranteed the position on a permanent basis – the Football Association (FA) is apparently considering the likes of Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard – Carsley has made a perfect start to his tenure at the helm of the Three Lions, albeit against modest opposition. A 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on September 7 was followed by a similar result against Finland at Wembley Stadium three days later and the caretaker manager has four more UEFA Nations League fixtures in which to impress the powers that be.

A defensive midfielder as a player, Carsley, 50, was encouraged to take his coaching badges during his time at Everton by then-manager David Moyes. He had his first taste of senior football management during two caretaker spells with Coventry City in 2012/13 before, briefly, becoming assistant manager to former Everton teammate David Weir at Sheffied United in 2013/14. Spells on the senior coaching team at Brentford, as manager, caretaker manager and assistant manager, followed, in the latter case in combination with a role as assistant manager to England under-19s, alongside Aidy Boothroyd. Fast forward to 2018/19 and Carsley was reunited with Boothroyd as assistant manager to England under-21s. He succeeded Boothroyd as manager in 2021/22 and held the post for three years until his most recent, possibly temporary, promotion.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) exists to govern and develop the game of football around the world. Since December 1992, FIFA has calculated a ranking for all its affiliated men’s national teams, based on points accumulated in recognised matches. Nowadays, the ranking is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company and hence known, for sponsorship purposes, as the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

All told, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking includes 211 men’s national teams, of which just one, Eritrea, is unranked. The Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF) has been beset by various problems, not least the number of players refusing to return home and seeking asylum following away matches. Consequently, the national team has failed to play a match, of any description, since a 1-0 defeat in friendly against Sudan in Asmara on January 25, 2020 and has no FIFA ranking.

Bottom of the pile of the remaining 210 FIFA-affiliated national teams remains San Marino. To be fair, the tiny, landlocked country has the population equivalent to that of a medium-sized British town and the national team did not play its first “official” match until November 14, 1990. Nevertheless, that initial 4-0 defeat by Switzerland in a Euro 92 qualifying match at San Marino Stadium in Serrvalle rather set the tone for the next three and a half decades. Barring a 1-0 win against fellow European minnows Liechtenstein in a friendly match at the same venue on April 28, 2004, San Marino has won just one other match, by the same scoreline, against the same opponents, at the same venue, but in a competitive UEFA Nations League clash, on September 5, 2024.