World Cup Diary-part 4-May 31st, 2018 (T minus 14 days)

A New addition for the duration of the World Cup.

Diary:

Team News:

-England Manager Gareth Southgate has requested an Asian referee to officiate their upcoming friendly with Costa Rica. The reason is that he wants his players to be accustomed to different styles of refereeing at the World Cup. Japan’s Hiroyuki Kimura will be the referee. (Source Daily Mail Online)

-Panama Manager Hernan Dario Gomez’s  23 man squad for the World Cup.  (Source RTBF.be Online)

Full squad:

Goalkepers (3): Jaime Penedo (Dinamo Bucarest/Rou), José Calderon (Chorrillo), Alex Rodriguez (San Francisco)

Defenders (8): Felipe Baloy (Municipal/Gua), Harold Cummings (San Jose/USA), Éric Davis (Dunajska Streda/Svq), Fidel Escobar (New York/USA), Adolfo Machado (Houston/USA), Michael Amir Murillo (New York/USA), Luis Ovalle (Olimpia/Hnd), Roman Torres (Seattle/USA)

Midfielders (7): Edgar Barcenas (Cafetaleros de Tapachula/Mex), Armando Cooper (Universidad de Chile/Chl), Anibal Godoy (San Jose/USA), Gabriel Gomez (Atlético Bucaramanga/Col), Valentin Pimentel (Plaza Amador/Pan), Alberto Quintero (Universitario/Pér), José Luis Rodriguez (La Gantoise U21/BEL).

strikers (5): Abdiel Arroyo (Liga Deportiva Alajuelense/C-R), Ismael Diaz (Deportivo La Corogne/Esp), Blas Pérez (Municipal/Gua), Luis Tejada (Sport Boys/Pér), Gabriel Torres (Huachipato/Chl).

-Japan Manager Akira Nishino’s 23 man squad for the World Cup.  (Source Kicker.de Online)

Full squad:

Goal: Eiji Kawashima (FC Metz), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka) 
Defense: Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Reds), Yuto Nagatomo (Galatasaray), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Hiroki Sakai (Marseille), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburger SV), Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers), Wataru Endo (Urawa Reds), Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers) 
Midfield: Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe), Keisuke Honda (Pachuca), Takashi Inui (SD Eibar), Genki Haraguchi (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Takashi Usami (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Ryota Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund) 
Striker: Yuya Osako (1st FC Cologne), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz 05), Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City)

-There was some controversy when on the DfB homepage the final 23 Germany players were shown (when the Final squad still has not been selected). The players missing were the likes of Trapp, Rudy, Petersen among others. Team Manager Oliver Bierhoff called it a “breakdown” and will be looked over. (Source Sport Bild online)

-Karim Benzema has hit back at French Federation President Noel Le Graet, who had stated that Benzema could not return to the National Team. Benzema said that he has now “seen his true face”. (Source L’Equipe Online)

-France Manager Didier Deschamps was asked about Zinedine Zidane’s resignation at Real Madrid. He stated that at some point Zidane will surely be the National Team Manager. (Source La Gazetta dello Sport Online)

-Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa accused the local media for stirring up controversy and unrest within the squad and continous demands to replace Manager Juan Carlos Osorio . (Source Sport Bild Online)

-Iran’s proposed friendly with Kosovo, scheduled this Sunday at Istanbul, has been cancelled as Iran did not want to have fans present and preferred to play behind closed doors. (Source @kosovanfooty Online)

-Peru Captain Paolo Guerrero has been authorized to play in the World Cup. The court has temporarily lifted the suspension, while considering his appeal . (Source BBC Football Online)

May 31, 2018

Preparatory matches:

Luxembourg 0-Senegal 0

Venue: Luxembourg-Stade Josy Barthel  

Attendance: 3,800

Referee: Estrada Fernández (Spain)

Luxembourg: 1-Anthony Moris, 7-Lars Gerson, 4-Kevin Malget, 8-Christopher Martins Pereira (21-Aldin Skenderovic 83), 13-Dirk Carlson (19-Mathias Janisch 80), 18-Laurent Jans, 17-Mario Mutsch (9-Daniel Da Mota 56) (5-Florian Bohnert 90+3), 16-Leandro Barreiro, 11-Gerson Rodrigues, 20-David Turpel, 22-Aurelien Joachim (3-Enes Mahmutovic 90+4),

Coach:

Booked: Martins 74, Da Mota 87

Other Substitutes: 2-Marvin Martins, 24-Olivier Thill, 12-Ralph Schon, 10-Vincent Thill, 23-Youn Czekanowicz, 15-Jan Ostrowski, 14-Daniel Sinani

Team Captain:

Official Kit Supplier/Designer:

Uniform Colors: ?? Shirts, ?? Shorts, ?? Socks

Senegal: 16-Khadim N'Diaye, 3-Kalidou Koulibaly (9-Mame Diouf 46), 8-Cheikhou Kouyaté, 2-Saliou Ciss (21-Lamine Gassama 46), 22-Moussa Wagué, 19-M'Baye Niang, 5-Idrissa Gueye (6-Salif Sané 46), 13-Alfred N'Diaye (11-Cheikh N'Doye 69), 14-Moussa Konaté, 20-Keita Baldé (17-Badou Ndiaye 46), 18-Ismaïla Sarr (15-Diafra Sakho 64).

Coach:

Booked: M’Baye Niang 90, Badou N’Diaye 90

Other Substitutes:  7-Moussa Sow, 1-Abdoulaye Diallo, 23-Alfred Gomis, 4-Kara Mbodji, 12-Youssouf Sabaly

Team Captain:

Official Kit Supplier/Designer:

Uniform Colors: ?? Shirts, ?? Shorts, ?? Socks

Morocco 0-Ukraine 0

Venue: Geneva-Stade de Geneve, Switzerland

Attendance:

Referee: Urs Schneider (Switzerland)

Morocco: 12-Mohamedi, 4-Mamnuel Da Costa, 6-Romain Saiss, 3-Hamza Mendyl (21-Sofyan Amrabat 82), 14-Mbark Boussufa, 13-Khalid Boutaib (18-Amine Harit, 46), 10-Younes Belhanda (20-Aziz Buhaddouz 64), 7-Hakim Ziyah, 8-Karim El Ahmadi (15-Youssef Ait Nennasser ), 16-Nordin Amrabat (11-Faycal Fajr 70), 5-Mehdi Benatia  (2-Ashraf Hakimi 46)

Coach: Hervé Renard (France)

Booked: Mbark Boussoufa (61)

Other Substitutes: 17-Nabil Dirar, 23-Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez, 1-Bono, 24-Oualid El Hajjam, 22-Ahmed Tagnaouti, 26-Noussair Mazzaoui, 19-Youssef En-Nesyri, 25-Badr Banoun, 9-Ayoub El Kaabi

Team Captain: Mehdi Benatia 

Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas

Uniform Colors: Red Shirts, Green Shorts, Red Socks

Ukraine: 12-Andriy Pyatov, 20-Oleksandr Karavaev, 28-Sergey Krivtsov, 5-Mykyta Burda, 4-Mykola Matviyenko, 6-Taras Stepanenko (8-Ruslan Malinovsky, 64), 10-Yevhen Konoplyanka (16-Serhiy Sydorchuk, 75), 22-Viktor Kovalenko (40-Mykola Shparenko, 46), 17-Oleksandr Zinchenko, 7-Andriy Yarmolenko (11-Marlos, 46), 9-Yevhen Seleznev (41-Artem Besedin 46)

Coach: Andriy Shevchenko

Booked: Oleksandr Zinchenko (61), Mykola Shaparenko (75)

Other Substitutes: 1-Denys Boyko, 2-Bohdan Butko, 14-Eduard Sobol, 19-Pavlo Lukyanchuk, 18-Artem Shabanov, 99-Andriy Lunin

Team Captain: Andriy Pyatov

Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Joma

Uniform Colors: Yellow Shirts, Yellow Shorts, Yellow Socks

Note: In bold, teams participating in the World Cup