Scottish football – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

THE LAST eight of the DFB Pokal this season features four Bundesliga 2 sides, all of whom have been drawn against each other. St. Pauli, who are top of the German second tier, face Fortuna Düsseldorf, while Hertha Berlin are up against Kaiserslautern. Bundesliga 2 is full of big names, including Hamburg, Hannover and those great underachievers, Schalke 04. Little wonder the division has an average crowd of over 28,000 – Schalke are still attracting 60,000 gates and there are seven clubs with an average of 35,000-plus. St. Pauli are currently filling their 29,000 capacity Millerntor-stadion. They play second-placed Fürth on February 3. Bundesliga 2 is the best supported second tier competition in Europe, some 5,000 more than the Championship and three times the attendances in the Spanish second league.

Egypt’s disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign ended against DR Congo, who beat their highly-rated opponents on penalties. The game ended 1-1 and the extensive shoot-out saw DR Congo keeper Lionel Mpasi scoring the deciding kick. DR Congo went ahead when Meschack Elia headed Yoane Wissa’s cross into the net on 37 minutes. Their lead lasted nine minutes before Mostafa Mohamed scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time. Egypt finished with 10 men after left-back Mohamed Hamdy was shown a second yellow card seven minutes in extra time for a lunge on Simon Banza. In the absence of Mohamed Salah, Egypt ended the tournament winless.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has ruled out any plans for a Europe-wide salary cap. Ceferin is concerned that implementing a cap would possibly drive players to seek money from elsewhere. That said, he is not over-concerned about the threat of the Saudi Pro League. Caps exist in the US, acting as a form of leveller among clubs. UEFA has constantly avoided such discussions, but introduced rules stating that by 2025, clubs’ spending on transfer fees and salaries must be no more than 70% of overall revenue. He told the Guardian there were hurdles to attempting to curb players’ earning potential: “One point of view is the legal part, where the EU is quite complicated about it. The second is that, with money now coming out of Europe, if you limit European clubs significantly it’s a question of competitiveness in the future.”

English club owners seem to have developed an appetite for Scottish football club. Bill Foley, the owner of Bournemouth, is set to buy a minority stake in Hibernian. “We’re not going to be a controlling shareholder,” said Foley. “We’re going to be an investor, but we certainly want to coordinate acquisition and disposition of players with Hibs and I know they can use the help.” The Hibs deal is not the only one in play at the moment. Tony Bloom, the Brighton owner, is known to considering an investment in a Scottish club. Burnley’s owner, ALK Capital, has confirmed a partnership with Dundee. “The Scottish Premiership is an excellent proving ground to progress young and emerging talent, as well as providing a potential gateway to European competition,” said Burnley chairman, Alan Pace. As for the Hibs deal, some fans are enthused by the possibilities and hope that it will enable the Edinburgh club to reduce the massive gap with Celtic and Rangers.

THE CHAMPIONS League just got that little bit more serious. The competition, which changes format in 2024-25, moves into the knockout phase, arguably the most interesting part of the Champions League. The last 16 comprises four clubs from Spain, three apiece from Italy and Germany, two from England and one each from Portugal, France, Denmark and the Netherlands. Most of Europe’s big guns are involved, notable exceptions being Manchester United and AC Milan, who failed to get beyond their groups. There are eight past winners of the competition and a further three clubs who have been runners-up. Only five, Real Sociedad, FC København, Napoli, Lazio and Leipzig, have never experienced a final. The draw did not throw up any sensations; the stand-out games include Porto versus Arsenal; Napoli versus Barcelona; and Inter Milan against Atlético Madrid. Paris Saint-Germain, who play Real Sociedad, and Manchester City, who meet FC København, are probably the happiest clubs, while Bayern Munich have a tricky tie with Lazio. Real Madrid should have enough to cope with RB Leipzig.

The FIFA Club World Cup is in progress in Saudi Arabia, with Fluminense of Brazil playing Egypt’s Al-Ahly and Urawa Red Diamonds up against Manchester City in the semi-finals. Urawa beat Mexican club Leon in the previous round. The final is on December 22. Meanwhile, FIFA have unveiled their plans for the 32-club version for 2025. Nineteen clubs have already qualified, including Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City, as well as Palmeiras, Flamengo and Seattle Sounders. The competition will be played in the United States. FIFA’s ambitious idea will not go down well with everyone. Pep Guardiola has already said holding a 32-team tournament held at the end of a season will give players little time to rest.

German football fans are never slow to let the authorities know how they are feeling. Last weekend, a protest was organised across the Bundesliga in response to the league’s aim to secure private equity investment, a move that was rejected earlier by the clubs. On December 11, 24 of the 36 Bundesliga clubs voted in favour of selling a stake in the league’s international TV rights on a similar basis to transactions involving Ligue 1 and La Liga. This could result in a cash injection of up to € 1 billion. The protests involved a period of silence up until the 12^th minute of games (symbolising the fans’ 12^th man status) and objects being thrown onto the pitch, including chocolate coins and tennis balls. At the Paderborn versus Hertha Berlin game, protests got a little out of hand, with fans and police getting hurt and around € 100,000 worth of damage.

Ross County manager Derek Adams has put a few noses out of joint with his declaration that the standard of Scottish football is “shocking” after his side lost 1-0 to Dundee. Adams rejoined Ross County in November from League Two club Morecambe and he believes his previous employer was a far superior club despite having the lowest budget in the division. “If I am a paying customer, I don’t come to watch this football match,” he said. Some Scottish football folk say Adams has overstepped the mark and his comments are not only a sign of disrespect towards his club and players but they are a sacking offence. Since joining Ross County, Adams record is two wins and a draw in five games.