Following the recent Champion’s League draw the English clubs, with the possible exception of Tottenham Hotspur, can be reasonably optimistic about progressing.
Manchester United have already eliminated the so-called “favourites” by beating PSG so Barcelona, over two legs, shouldn’t hold any fears.
Liverpool have the “easiest” draw and should be able to find their way past Porto whilst, as we said, Spurs have the most difficult draw and could even see themselves exiting the competition from their new stadium! Now wouldn’t that be poetic justice?
Of course, it is also entirely possible that their totally mis-managed and shambolic move doesn’t happen before that game and they will be eliminated whilst Wembley is still their “home” ground. It doesn’t really matter either way as they’re going out.
So the semi-final line-up will be as follows:-
Manchester United v Liverpool
Manchester City v Juventus
You just see if we’re wrong!
Meanwhile, in the literary world…..
We here at WSA have always tried to cover a reasonably wide range of football at the top level. However, it hasn’t entirely escaped our notice that some teams have to exist on considerably less of a budget with which to operate.
To this end we are pleased to promote a recently released book by an ambitious adventurer called Justin Walley. We deliberately resisted the temptation to use the description “author” as Justin is many things and this book merely proves that writing is just another string which can be added to his already overburdened bow.
“One Football, No Nets” is the story of his “rise” from third tier football in Eastern Europe to international management in Africa.
The book itself is not a “couldn’t put it down” potential bestseller. It is, however, a very good and very interesting read and will certainly fit nicely into any spare time available which has been put aside for things such as reading.
Here is the description of the book from the book:
In September 2017, amateur British football coach Justin Walley became the National Team Manager of Matabeleland, an obscure international team in Zimbabwe.
Before him lay the seemingly impossible task of taking his group of unknown amateur footballers from an impoverished region of Africa to the “alternative World Cup” – the CONIFA World Football Cup in London, the following summer. All that stood in bis way was the small matter of no money, no resources, no salary, no visas and no sponsors. There was one football though,……….but no nets.
One Football, No Nets tells the story of one man’s leap of faith into the unknown, swapping life with his girlfriend and a third division football team in Eastern Europe for international football management in Africa.
It was to be a journey that would take Walley through the toppling of President Robert Mugabe, a collapsing financial system and travelling to away games in rural Africa with 17 players in ONE pick-up truck. And, oh yes, Liverpool legend Bruce Grobelaar becomes Walley’s goalkeeping coach after a meeting at an M6 motorway service station.
And just when Walley thought his adventure could not get stranger or more surreal, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of playing international football at the age of 47, was accused of being a Kremlin spy, became a minor celebrity on Russian TV and was announced as the new foreign brand commissioner for Tatarstan.
You couldn’t make it up and, even if you could, it probably wouldn’t be quite as interesting!
One Football, No Nets is available to our readers at the following link:
http://www.bennionkearny.com/book/one-football-no-nets-justin-walley-matabeleland-conifa/
Don’t miss this great opportunity to read an excellent book and also help to promote the game wherever necessary.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 