Mario Mandzukic has completed his move from Juventus to Qatari side Al-Duhail.
The 33-year-old forward, who has not played a competitive game for Juventus since Maurizio Sarri was appointed head coach in June, made 117 appearances for the club scoring 30 goals.
He previously played for Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.
Welcome To #AlDuhail ❤️@MarioMandzukic9 ?? https://t.co/ocuPxnB8Lq
— نادي الدحيل الرياضي (@DuhailSC) December 24, 2019
Al-Duhail are top of the Qatar Stars League.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp says it is wrong that managers and players are asked to make judgments on the suitability of a country for hosting global tournaments.
Klopp is currently in Qatar for the Club World Cup, where his team are already in the semi-finals.
The European champions will play Mexico’s Monterrey at the Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday in the semi-final of the FIFA tournament which ends on Saturday.
Asked at a news conference about whether it was right to play in a country where rights for homosexuals are restricted, Klopp said that was for others to address.
“This is a real serious thing to talk about I think and the answers should come from people who know more about it. I have to be influential in football but not in politics,” he said.
Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022 when fans from 32 nations will flock to the gulf state for a month of football action.
“Anything I say wouldn’t help, it would just create another headline, positive or negative. I like you (to) ask the question but I think I am the wrong person,” he added.
As in a number of majority Muslim countries, homosexual acts are strictly prohibited in Qatar although the law is rarely enforced.
During the preparations for the competition, Qatari officials had met with Liverpool supporters groups, including the LGBT group ‘Kop Outs!’ to discuss their concerns about attending the tournament.
Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said the club were given assurances by Qatari authorities that their LGBT supporters would be welcomed in the Gulf state.
Klopp said decisions on where to host events were not matters for sportspeople themselves but the administrators.
“We arrived here, we were very welcomed. Everything is organised as it should be. Organising the competition wherever it is they have to think about it. Athletes shouldn’t,” he said.
“We represent Liverpool, we are invited so we should go there. If sportsmen make a decision about competitions wherever it is in the world, that is not right.
“My personal opinion, I have one, of course. I think we should all be treated equally, that is clear.”
The German said fans visiting Qatar should respect the country, as they would anywhere else.
“I don’t think anyone has to be concerned to come here if they do the normal stuff. You have to respect the rules of different countries, I have to respect the rules of England when I am there, it is only
cultural but that’s how it is,” he said.
The Fifa Club World Cup kicks off on Wednesday in Qatar.
The champions of each continent and hosts Qatar meet over 10 days in a knockout competition to decide who is crowned the world’s top club side, with Liverpool going in at the semi-final stage.
Why you should watch:
He may not have set the world alight at Inter Milan, but Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa – commonly known as Gabigol – is always worth a watch.
If you watch the November’s Copa Libertadores final, you will know what we mean.
The 23-year-old, who has won five caps for Brazil, scored twice in a dramatic final five minutes as Flamengo came from a goal down to beat River Plate 2-1 and win their first Copa Libertadores title since 1981.
Then he got sent off for sarcastically applauding a refereeing decision.
He even managed to tempt fate – and then beat it – by touching the trophy on the way out on to the pitch, a move generally considered to be bad luck.
What if we told you there is a team at the Fifa Club World Cup who played in this season’s French Cup, from a land more than 10,000 miles away?
Hienghene Sport are only the second team from outside Australia or New Zealand to win the Oceania Football Confederation Champions League and qualify for the Club World Cup. They beat fellow New Caledonian side Magenta in the final.
For some context on the quality of that tournament, the runaway top scorer Ross Allen – who scored 11 times for Team Wellington – now plays for Guernsey FC in the eighth tier of English football.
New Caledonia is a French overseas territory in the Pacific – who voted no to independence in a referendum last year – but have been a full member of Fifa since 2004.
As a result of their special status, the New Caledonia Cup winners qualify for the Coupe de France, with Hienghene Sport losing at the first hurdle in 2013, 2015 and last month – all halfway across the world.
Liverpool have the chance to be crowned champions of the world for the first time.
The Reds, despite winning six European Cups, have never won a world final. They lost the 1981 Intercontinental Cup to Flamengo and again in 1984 to Independiente – and refused to take part in 1977 or 1978.
They have played in one Fifa Club World Cup – losing 1-0 in the final to Sao Paolo in Japan in 2005 after beating Costa Rican club Saprissa 3-0 in the semi-finals.
Their semi-final next Thursday – the day after a different Liverpool team face Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup in England – could be against Mexican side Monterrey, who won this year’s Concacaf Champions League.
Liverpool will then play again on Sunday, in either the final or the third-place play-off.
The Club World Cup trophy has gone to Europe in each of the past six years, with Real Madrid winning the past three finals. The holders do not automatically qualify, so Real cannot defend their title.
The only European team to fail to win in the past 12 years was Chelsea in 2012. Manchester United won the tournament in 2008.
The (actual) World Cup will be in Qatar three years from now – also in December. So this is a chance to see how the tiny country can cope with hosting a tournament with fans coming from around the world.
Qatar will host next year’s Club World Cup too, with even Fifa describing these as “valuable test events” for 2022, “allowing for testing under similar climatic conditions”.
The temperature in Doha on most days in early-mid December last year reached 26C.
Liverpool’s two games will take place at the 48,000-seater Khalifa International Stadium – which is a 2022 World Cup venue. They were meant to be at the Education City Stadium in Doha but the new ground has not been signed off in time, so the games were moved at late notice.
BBC
Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic turned down a huge £7million-a-year offer to play in Qatar as he has not given up on his dream move to Manchester United.
United are struggling for goals and could re-open negotiations for the Croatian veteran in January.
Mandzukic appeared destined for Old Trafford in the summer along with fellow star Paulo Dybala but the move collapsed when the Argentine refused to move to the Premier League.
Ole Gunnar Solskajer’s side did not sign a replacement for Romelu Lukaku, who has got off to a flying start at Inter Milan.
Marcus Rashford has been billed with the striker’s role but has netted just three times in the league and suffered a groin injury in last weekend’s dismal 2-0 loss at West Ham.
Now rekindling interest in Mandzukic would represent a last throw of the dice to ease the attacking burden
The Turin giants are looking for an £11million fee for Mandzukic and will not accept a loan bid.
The 33-year-old believes he still has something to offer at the top level and has not yet featured under new Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri.
He shunned the mega-money deal on offer in Qatar for a last chance at starring in a top league, concerned at the lack of first-class football facilities in the Middle East.
![[BREAKING] Poland 2019: Nigeria draw USA, Qatar, Ukraine](https://thenewsguru.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/flying-eagles.jpg)
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria have been grouped alongside Ukraine, Qatar and the United States of Nigeria at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.
The tournament will begin on May 23, 2019 and end on June 15, 2019 and will be held across six venues in Poland.
Details Later…
Asia’s qualifying competition for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019 came to a close on Sunday, with Saudi Arabia edging past Korea Republic 2-1 in Cibinong, Indonesia to claim their third continental title.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the Saudis maintained an unblemished record heading in to the final, including a 3-1 win over Australia in the quarter-final clash which sealed their passage to Poland.
Korea Republic also went unbeaten en route to the final. They got past a resilient Tajikistan side in the last-eight to book their place at next year’s global showpiece.
Elsewhere, AFC U-19 Championship holders Japan started the tournament with three wins in a row before downing hosts Indonesia 2-0 to complete their qualifying mission.
Despite losing narrowly to the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the opener, Qatar bounced back to win their next three outings as they sealed their return to the U-20 World Cup.
Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will now represent the Asian continent at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.
The expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams could be brought forward from 2022 to 2026, says Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
The change would require Qatar to share 2022 hosting duties with other countries in the region.
The decision has already been taken to expand the tournament in 2026, when it will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, and Infantino is now considering doing the same for 2022.
“If it is possible, why not?” he said.
“We have to see if it is possible, if it is feasible. We are discussing with our Qatari friends, we are discussing with our many other friends in the region and we hope that this can happen.
“And, if not, we will have tried. We will have tried because we always have to try to do things in a better way.”
Speaking at the opening of the Asian Football Confederation’s new headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Infantino also reiterated his plans to expand the Club World Cup.
He said he wants to make it a “real competition” that “every club in the world can target”.
Former African Player of the year and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o has signed for Qatar Sports Club.
The Qatari top-flight club announced the signing on their Twitter account, saying they would hold a “press conference to present the international star Samuel Eto’o” on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old moves to Qatar after leaving Turkish club Konyaspor by mutual consent earlier this month.
He joins ex-Spain international Xavi and former Netherlands player Wesley Sneijder in the Qatari league.
Eto’o, a four-time African footballer of the year, played with Xavi at Barcelona, and Sneijder at Inter Milan, winning the Champions League with both teams.
He has also played in England – for Chelsea and Everton – and Russia.
The FIFA World Cup in Russia is still not over and the football’s governing body has revealed the dates of the next FIFA World Cup that will take place in Qatar, four years from now.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed the dates for the FIFA 2022 World Cup and will be played in less than a month time in 2022 between November 21 and December 18 of the same year.
“The World Cup in 2022 will be played from November 21 to December 18: the idea is to involve 48 teams,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said at a Press conference.
32 teams or more. “We have agreements and a contract with Qatar.
“For now, anything is possible. With 48 teams, many ‘regional’ tensions would be solved, “FIFA president Gianni Infantino added.
The 2019 Copa America in Brazil will include Japan and Qatar but no teams from North America will participate.
South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL confirmed the two guest sides were included in the 12-nation tournament because of close links with the Asian Football Confederation.
Japan have previously played in the Copa America, in 1999, while Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup.
Brazil were originally due to host the 2015 Copa but swapped its organisation rights with Chile, who went on to win the trophy that year after defeating Argentina in a penalty shoot-out.
The same sides also met the following year in a special edition of the tournament to celebrate 100 years of the tournament (originally known as the South American Championship), with Chile again proving victorious on penalties after another goalless draw.
The Copa America will be played between June 14 and July 7 next year.
sky sports