JUVENTUS GO TO WASHINGTON
While Football Daily didn’t get where it is today by performatively flip-flopping over various issues depending on which way the prevailing political wind is blowing, it would be fair to say Football Daily did get where it is today by performatively flip-flopping over various issues depending on which way the prevailing political wind is blowing. Like Groucho Marx, the world’s most daily football email has its principles and if you don’t like them … well, we have other ones. Those familiar with its work will be aware that Fifa is no different, but has still come as something of a surprise that having for so long publicly (if a little hollowly) purported to be against injustice of any kind, world football’s governing body abandoned its planned campaigns against racism and discrimination across the opening three days of the Copa Gianni being staged in the USA USA USA. Following a backlash, some pithy slogans were rolled out on Wednesday, albeit seemingly on the proviso that this token gesture would be for one day of this month-long jamboree only.
While the dimwits who think politics should have no place in football will view Fifa’s non-stance as a victory, it is difficult to imagine what they made of Wednesday’s delegation of Juventus representatives at the Oval Office, where assorted players, staff and suits were forced to stand behind Donald Trump as he briefed his favoured correspondents on a possible attack on Iran, a bizarre soliloquy regarding the bodycount in the American Civil War and how “bigly” the crowd at Juve’s Copa Gianni match against Al Ain would be a few hours later. With Gianni Infantino gazing adoringly from his basket in the corner, the 47th president of the United States of America also tried unsuccessfully to bait some or all of his visitors into making transphobic comments.
Showing all the enthusiasm and joie de vivre of captives in a hostage video, a group of players including USA USA USA internationals Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah looked on with a mixture of thinly veiled contempt and … no, just thinly veiled contempt. Speaking after Juve’s win over Al Ain later that evening, Weah stated that he and his teammates had been forced into participating in this tawdry photo op by their employers. “It was all a surprise to me, honestly,” he sighed. “They told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go. I was caught by surprise, honestly. It was a bit weird. When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it’s kind of like … I just want to play football, man.” Previously an outspoken critic of Trump’s disregard for black people among his myriad other shortcomings, McKennie stayed silent on this occasion but, if looks could kill, the midfielder would almost certainly have been bundled out of the office by the president’s secret service detail.
Elsewhere in Copa Gianni, Manchester City got their campaign off to a winning start against Wydad AC despite losing Rico Lewis to a late red card that simultaneously looked very harsh and entirely justified, while Merseyside’s most famous Hispanophone made his eagerly awaited debut for his new side in their draw with Al-Hilal. “It’s an incredible day for me to make my Real Madrid debut,” cheered Trent Alexander-Arnold in his post-match interview, speaking in his native tongue on this occasion, presumably out of fear any Ice goons lurking nearby would be so impressed by his proficiency in Spanish that he might end in the back of a van being ferried to a detention centre.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Many question why our national team is in this situation and why there is a lack of talent, one reason being the losses due to piracy. All the money that is lost every year is not invested in the youth teams and in the growth of our young players, a major issue that has led our national team to face many difficulties … We are already far behind the Premier League and La Liga. If we continue like this, we will finish behind the Germans and we will end up being at the bottom of the table [of Europe’s top five leagues] together with the French” – Serie A chief suit Luigi De Siervo reckons pesky Italian fire sticks are the reason for the Azzurri’s decline, along with sticking in a drive-by on Ligue 1. In other news, Gennaro Gattuso has been presented as the national team’s latest manager.
I struggle to see how Burnley could have been dealt a rough hand by the giant super-computer at Premier League HQ (yesterday’s Football Daily). Admittedly I’ve not counted up every fixture next season, but I’m pretty sure they’ll play the other teams twice just like everyone else” – Simon Riley.
I’m a bit behind on reading Football Daily so I’ve only just seen the photo of Phil Parkes from Monday’s Memory Lane (full email edition). It’s quite the throwback to a simpler time – you’d never catch any club, let alone one as well-versed in C0ckney rhyming slang as West Ham, letting one of their players pose with a pony, in case anyone saw it as the perfect analogy for how they’ve been playing under Graham Potter” – Ed Taylor.
Re: yesterday’s Quote of the Day. Daniel Levy says: ‘We’ve won a European trophy but it’s not enough.’ Turn his TV off. Few solid players left but it’s not enough. Few leaders that’ll really step but it’s not enough. Say Spurs bigger than myself but it’s not enough. Am I getting on Mr Levy’s … Yeah, somebody gotta do it” – Daniel Stauss.
Please send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our letter o’ the day competition is … Daniel Stauss, who gets some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Welcome back to hell, and listen to Emma Powell read Rob Smyth’s Forgotten Story of Manchester United v Galatasaray in 1993.
