True Colours, Qualifiers and Hazard's End
"We're about more than football," said England manager Gareth Southgate famously
He had meant it sincerely, claiming that the popularity of the national team could be used to promote good causes and positive behavioural models in a fractured society.
But this willingness to engage with the world beyond the pitch has its pitfalls.
The Football Association's decision not to bathe the Wembley arch in Israeli colours for England's friendly with Australia on Friday, when it had previously been illuminated in honour of suffering nations such as Ukraine, put it in a no-win situation: Use Israeli colours and be accused of taking one side, refuse to fly their flag and stand accused of taking the other's side.
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| The Wembley arch showed France solidarity |
Parliament and Downing Street had seen the Star of David projected in the aftermath of Hamas' bloody raid, but as Israel retaliated heavily against Gaza, the global atmosphere changed.
Given the highly contentious and seemingly unsolvable issue of Israel and Palestine, England's public solidarity with the Jews who died last weekend was limited to black armbands for the players and a minute's silence for all the victims of the conflict in the Holy Land.
In an invidious position, the F.A. probably made the right choice, although Rabbi Alex Goldberg, chair of the F.A.'s Faith in Football group, resigned after 20 years of collaboration, citing his "profound disappointment".
South America
South American qualifiers for the next World Cup reached their third round, with world champions Argentina leading the field with a perfect nine points.
Second-placed Brazil however surprisingly drew 1-1 at home to Venezuela, where a 50th minute header from Arsenal's Gabriel was cancelled out by a golazo of a bicycle kick five minutes from time by Venezuela's Eduard Bello, a 28 year-old winger for Mexican. side Matzatlan.
Venezuela, a country where football has traditionally lived in the shadow of baseball, are the only South Americans never to have made it to a World Cup but sit currently sixth in CONMEBOL standings, which would mean a ticket to 2026.
Uruguay, managed by the mercurial Marcelo Bielsa, also rescued a point five minutes from time away to Colombia in Barranquilla with a Darwin Nunez penalty, after James Rodriguez had scored for Colombia in probably the best match yet of the campaign.
Euro 2028
It has been a big week for the European Championship, with Euro 2028 confirmed for the British Isles and Euro 2032 for Italy and Turkey.
While only two host nations qualify automatically, Euro 2028 will take place in five UEFA countries. Of England's eight Euro '96 venues, only Villa Park in Birmingham and St James Park in Newcastle remain, with the new Wembley, Tottenham, Everton and Manchester City stadia now on the list. London's Olympic Stadium misses out however.
Wales offers Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Scotland Hampden Park, Eire the Aviva and Northern Ireland the yet to be built Casement Park.
Eden Hazard
How sad to see Eden Hazard announce his retirement from football at the age of 32, which seems premature when Cristiano Ronaldo was scoring for Portugal in World Cup qualifiers the same week at the age of 38.
I remember seeing him as a young player for Lille and was dazzled by his balance and ball skills, reminding me of Gianfranco Zola, whom he went on to replace at Chelsea. Like many before him though, a move to Real Madrid stunted his career when it should have made it stratospheric and like other Belgian stars of their golden generation, his international career stalled at the World Cup semi-final stage.
Still, 446 league appearances and 33 goals in 126 games for your country is a good innings.
(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile