Fired Spain coach Julen Lopetegui rallies his former players before leaving Russia ... Soccer legend Deco doesn’t like Portugal’s chances ... Messi still the greatest of all time
MOSCOW — Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui was spotted hugging players and staffers Thursday morning before exiting team camp for the airport.
Football publication
MARCA reports the incoming Real Madrid bench boss told his players to keep going in his absence after Spain’s FA dismissed him for agreeing to a pre-contract with Los Blancos.
“Win the World Cup and let this make you stronger,” Lopetegui told his players, according to MARCA.
Fernando Hierro took charge 36 hours ahead of Spain’s opening clash with rivals Portugal.
PORTUGAL ‘NOT FAVOURITES’
Ahead of his country’s massive Group B opener on Friday against Spain, Portugal legend Deco says the defending European champs enter this tournament level with England and France.
“Germany, no question, will be one of the favourites,” Deco told Express. “We understand that Portugal are not favourites, but it’s good.
“We weren’t favourite (to win the 2016 Euros) but I think Portugal has a good team.”
He didn’t mention Spain in his list of top World Cup contenders — which included Brazil and Germany.
Asked if this could be Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup, he said: “With Ronaldo you never know. It depends how fit he will be at the next World Cup,” Deco added.
“It’s complicated because there is a time for everyone, even those super fit like him.”
GERMANS JEERED
A pair of high-profile Germans are expected to hear jeers on Sunday when they open this World Cup against Mexico.
Germany’s Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan — both of Turkish descent — remain under fire after cozying up to Turkish president Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in a photo that reverberated across the country.
Die Mannschaft fans contend Erdogan’s politics and actions don’t reflect German values.
“They will possibly be accompanied by some whistles.” German coach
Joachim Low said, according to Reuters.
“OK, it is what it is. I cannot influence the whistles. I would have liked it differently but my job is to get them into the flow and help our team.”
Ozil hasn’t addressed the photo and didn’t appear in Germany’s previous two warm-up fixtures.
Gundogan took to Instagram, writing he still enjoys playing for the defending champs despite being booed in a recent friendly win over Saudi
Arabia.
LOOKING AHEAD
As the 2018 World Cup kicked off here in Moscow on Thursday night, European media were looking ahead to 2030.
FIFA Council representative
David Gill, of England, says the World Cup needs to return to UEFA following Qatar 2022 and United 2026.
Specifically, whispers here are that a “United” UEFA bid could be in the cards whenever FIFA gets around to awarding 2030.
England was in the running to host this year’s tournament before Russia swooped in and controversially won the right to host the competition.
“It does give us great confidence that the voting procedures now in place are appropriate and relevant,” Gill commented, according to the Daily Mail.
The English FA could look to form its own United Kingdom bid with Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland was mentioned.
“You look at the assets that we’ve got in England or the U.K., in terms of grounds,” Gill added. “Some of the best grounds in world football, the best training grounds. So why not? It would be fantastic.”
A “United” U.K. bid would likely face opposition from a Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay joint bid.
England, which hasn’t hosted since 1966, might also face opposition from another African bid after Morocco lost out to Canada, the U.S. and Mexico this week for the right to host 2026.
THIS AND THAT
It looks like football wasn’t discussed when Donald
Trump met with Kim Jong-un earlier this week. The North Korean football association voted for Morocco to host the 2026 World Cup … It doesn’t matter what Argentina’s
Lionel Messi does or doesn’t do at this World Cup. He’s still the best the world has ever known. Players’ careers should be examined in totality —not by what their team accomplishes once very four years … With a World Cup typically comes a Confederations Cup. However, Canadian Soccer Association brass tell me they’re not so sure what will become of the pre-World Cup tuneup in 2025 … If you’re against the use of video review at this World
Cup, make sure you catch yourself when you inevitably start to complain about a call … Ex-Canadian international
Josh Simpson was listed as an “expected guest” by the Russian Federation ahead of Thursday’s opener.