FootballSKy: 2017

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUP - Best Goals & Moments

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United have taken part in this summer's ICC, which has been played in the United States, China and Singapore

The fifth edition of the International Champions Cup is winding to a climax after Barcelona were crowned champions with a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Zinedine Zidane's men conquered the Champions League and La Liga last season, but Lionel Messi and Co. got revenge with the first of at least five Clasicos in 2017-18 (two Supercopas and two league games to come).

With a footprint in both Asia and the United States, the annual pre-season ICC tournament involving Europe's top clubs taps into the huge fanbases that exist for those teams outside of their local markets.

It has drawn huge crowds and sees the clubs involved pocket significant appearance fees - rumoured to be worth up to $20 million - in addition to the longer-term commercial benefits of engaging with supporters across the globe.

The downside is the amount of travel involved, with many Premier League managers bemoaning their inability to hold a more focused training camp in one location due to their new international commitments.

With the ICC getting underway, here is everything you need to know about the latest competition.

WHAT IS THE ICC?

The International Champions Cup is a pre-season tournament that has been held every summer since 2013. For the past two years, the ICC has been split into three different regions; the United States, China and Australia. In the two years prior to that, it was held exclusively in the USA.

This year, Australia has been replaced by Singapore. China and Singapore will host seven games in total, while the USA section has 12 games on the schedule.

Bayern Munich and Inter will play in both the China and Singapore tournaments but all three are unrelated, with a separate 'champion' emerging from each one. In reality, those league tables mean very little as not all teams will play each other and some will play more games than others.

In short, the ICC is a series of exhibition matches in three countries played in large stadiums. It begins on July 18 and ends on July 30, getting everyone back in Europe by the start of August as the competitive campaign looms.

WHO ARE THE TEAMS IN THE ICC 2017?

United States	China	Singapore
Paris Saint-Germain	Milan	Inter
Barcelona	Inter	Bayern Munich
Real Madrid	Bayern Munich	Chelsea
Manchester City	Borussia Dortmund
Manchester United	Arsenal
Tottenham	Lyon
Roma
Juventus

Roma, Lyon and Arsenal are the only teams entering the competition this year who were not involved in 2016, while Atletico Madrid, Celtic, Liverpool and Leicester City - as well as Melbourne Victory, who played on home turf in last year's Australian section - drop out.

Having played in Asia or Australia last year, Tottenham, Juventus and both Manchester clubs will visit the United States this summer while Chelsea, Bayern Munich and the two Milan sides will switch over to Asia.

Top 10 Goals of International Champions cup.

WHICH PLAYERS WILL BE AT THE ICC 2017?

The ICC forms the bulk of most of the participating clubs' pre-season schedules, and as a result you can expect to see some of the world's biggest players take to the pitch.

The most notable absence, however, will be Cristiano Ronaldo. The Ballon d'Or holder has not travelled to the United States with Real Madrid and is not expected to play any part this year having featured at the Confederations Cup and then welcomed newborn twins into his family.

Exclusive interview with Mario Gotze

Neymar, Luis Suarez and a newly married Lionel Messi are all in Barcelona's squad, however, while Alvaro Morata was on Madrid's flight across the Atlantic despite speculation linking him with a summer transfer.

Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, like Ronaldo, played at the Confederations Cup and has been given an extended break by Barca. It has not yet been confirmed whether the same will apply to new signing Nelson Semedo, who featured for Portugal.

Manchester United, meanwhile, will have new signings Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof to show off. Lukaku was holidaying in America with Paul Pogba and joined up with the rest of his new team-mates once his move from Everton was confirmed.

By turning down Manchester City in favour of Paris Saint-Germain, Dani Alves has set up a swift reunion with former club Juventus in Miami on July 26.

ICC 2017 FIXTURES

Due to the time difference between the USA and UK, many of the games played across the Atlantic Ocean will kick-off late at night in Britain or even in the early hours of the following morning.

Both local and UK times are listed below. Manchester United against Manchester City, for instance, will be played at 20:30 local time in Houston on July 20, which makes for a 02:30 start on the morning of July 21 in the UK.

United States:

Date	Match	Time (local / BST)	Venue
Jul 19	Roma 1-1 (3-5 pens) PSG	19:00 / 00:00	Comerica Park, Detroit
Jul 20	Man Utd 2-0 Man City	20:30 / 02:30	NRG Stadium, Houston
Jul 22	Barcelona 2-1 Juventus	18:00 / 23:00	MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford
Jul 22	Tottenham 4-2 PSG	20:00 / 01:00	Camping World Stadium, Orlando
Jul 23	Real Madrid 1-1 (1-2 pens) Man Utd	14:00 / 22:00	Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara
Jul 25	Tottenham 2-3 Roma	20:00 / 01:00	Red Bull Arena, Harrison
Jul 26	Barcelona 1-0 Man Utd	19:30 / 00:30	FedEx Field, Landover
Jul 26	PSG 2-3 Juventus	20:30 / 01:30	Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
Jul 26	Real Madrid 1-4 Man City	20:00 / 04:00	Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Jul 29	Tottenham 0-3 Man City	17:00 / 23:00	Nissan Stadium, Nashville
Jul 29	Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona	19:30 / 00:30	Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
Jul 30	Roma 1-1 (4-5 pens) Juventus	16:00 / 21:00	Gillette Stadium, Foxborough

China:

Date	Match	Time (local / BST)	Venue
Jul 18	Milan 1-3 Borussia Dortmund	19:20 / 12:20	University Town Centre, Guangzhou
Jul 19	Bayern Munich 1-1 (2-3 pens) Arsenal	19:20 / 12:20	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Jul 22	Bayern Munich 0-4 Milan	17:35 / 10:35	Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre, Shenzhen
Jul 24	Inter 1-0 Lyon	20:05 / 13:05	Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, Nanjing

Singapore:

Date	Match	Time (local / BST)	Venue
Jul 25	Chelsea 2-3 Bayern Munich	20:35 / 13:35	National Stadium, Singapore
Jul 27	Bayern Munich 0-2 Inter	21:35 / 14:35	National Stadium, Singapore
Jul 29	Chelsea 1-2 Inter	19:35 / 12:35	National Stadium, Singapore

WHO WON ICC 2017 TROPHY?

Barcelona were crowned winners after defeating Champions League winners Real Madrid in a Miami Clasico.

Earlier in July they had defeated Europa League holders Manchester United 1-0 and Serie A champions Juventus 2-1.

WHAT ARE THE ICC VENUES?

Comerica Park (Detroit, Michigan):

NRG Stadium (Houston, Texas):

MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, New Jersey):

Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida):

Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California):

Red Bull Arena (Harrison, New Jersey):

FedEx Field (Landover, Maryland):

Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida):

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles, California):

Nissan Stadium (Nashville, Tennessee):

Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Massachussetts):

Tianhe Stadium (Guangzhou, China):

Shanghai Stadium (Shanghai, China):

Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre (Nanjing, China):

National Stadium (Singapore):

WHO WON THE ICC LAST YEAR?

The ICC has one winner in each location, but the 2016 International Champions Cup only had winners in two of the three regions due to the fact that the game in China between Manchester City and Manchester United was cancelled.

Juventus were the 2016 ICC Australia champions due to the fact they picked up an extra point for their penalty shootout defeat to Melbourne Victory, and therefore edged out Atletico Madrid for top spot.

Best Goals of International Champions Cup

A perfect record of three wins from three games meant that PSG were the 2016 ICC United States and Europe champions with nine points, finishing ahead of Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid, who all won two of their games. Celtic finished bottom of the United States and Europe table with one point from their penalty shootout defeat to Leicester.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

James Rodriguez Vs Arsenal - Int. Champions Cup - July 19th 2017 - HD

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Isco - The Rising Star for Real Madrid

Isco has dependably had a wonky walk. "Odd," he has called it: feet contorted, legs bendy, hips moving, rear threw low – and still totally responsible for the ball, never a long way from his foot. It was Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos who initially called him "Magia" yet soon everybody in the Real Madrid changing area took after – and you need to have something somewhat extraordinary in the event that they are calling you enchantment. Or, on the other hand if Zinedine Zidane, that ballet artist in boots, says "he can do things not very many players can do".

Francisco Alarcón figures neighbors knew him as the child that ran wherever with a ball. "My football originates from the avenues," he says; played in the square by his home with his more established sibling and his mates and on the rock pitches of Atlético Benamiel.

Isco: the bandy-legged mystical performer who is at long last ready to walk tall for Real Madrid

Isco Skills and magic

In Benalmádena, they affirm it. One discusses how notwithstanding when alternate young men were nowhere to be found, he would be out there doing kick-ups all alone. Another says: "He was constantly equipped for doing enchantment: it didn't make a difference on the off chance that it was on the pitch or strolling back home from school, there was dependably a ball at his feet." There, in any event, very little has changed: "What I need is the ball," Isco revealed to El País when he was first called to the Spain squad in 2013.

Not that his advance to that point was smooth, and his advance since has not been either. "As far back as we were kids, we used to state to ourselves: 'In the event that he doesn't make it, we'll never know any individual who does' – you could see he was exceptional," a companion says. "The entertaining thing was, at the time there were scouts always watching him however nobody used to call him, [people] used to state on account of the bandy legs, [or] he's too moderate. All things considered, I don't believe he's done too gravely."

On the off chance that that was truly was the reason, it shouldn't have been. "I couldn't care less how somebody strolls not far off, I couldn't care less what he looks like when he's out with the puppy; I mind how he plays," says Antonio Fernández, the donning executive who marked Isco for Málaga from Valencia, similarly as he was turning 19.

At €5m he was costly, a child from the third division who had played just a modest bunch of first-group amusements, and there were questions. He had been given couple of chances at Valencia, at that point instructed by Unai Emery, where his style did not fit. Some scrutinized his approach: all ability, insufficient demeanor.

Isco

Isco praises scoring for Málaga against Porto in the Champions League last 16 against Porto. Photo: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

Fernández, however, knew Isco from the Spain youth set-up and was certain. "He was a decent child with stupendous ability. I realized that with tolerance it would work." With the correct group, as well: Manuel Pellegrini's Málaga played with ownership and persistence, amassing men inside. Before the second's over season, in which they were seconds from a Champions League semi-last, that €5m progressed toward becoming €30m. Pellegrini needed him at Manchester City, however Isco conceded later "Madrid will be Madrid" – and that from somebody with an affection for Barcelona and a Labrador called Messi. "I called him that since Leo Messi is the best on the planet as is my canine," he clarified.

Promotion

Isco's questions at the time concentrated on circumstance. At Madrid, the requests were immense and the opposition was furious, he knew, however openings would be less than he envisioned. His begin was great, Carlo Ancelotti soon saying that one day later on Isco could be "close" to Zidane. Yet, for that to happen, he would require a progression that never truly came.

Isco's introduction function included him remaining on a seat and singing the babble pop tune Aserejé (otherwise known as The Ketchup tune) by Las Ketchup before his partners. "I nailed it," he would later smile however there's something in the way that that night Gareth Bale gave a version of Yellow Submarine. His essence with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo added to constraining Isco's chances. It was not that he needed ability, nor that he once in a while began and positively didn't get congruity; it was that the No10 part he pined for, not far behind the advances, did not in any case exist.

It does now, three years on. For the present, at any rate. Bundle's damage gave Isco an open door and he took it. With the work force change came a move in arrangement as well, an additional man in midfield, more noteworthy control, an altogether different look. For Isco there is an altogether different viewpoint: he had been uncertain about restoring his agreement at the club, quick to play all the more, yet after the last session of the season when Madrid won the association at Málaga, where he was pulled back to an overwhelming applause, he demanded: "Unwind, I'm remaining."

Marcelo and Dani Alves make Champions League last a clash of the full-backs

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Unwind was the word, as well. Spanish and simple to like, engaging to watch, Isco has dependably been prominent with the fans, and additionally ensured by some in the press, yet his help had developed and the individuals who supported him had been legitimized. Nobody needs to lose him now, and they had begun to fear they would. "I began the season with questions yet with trust of the chief and partners, it's done in the most ideal way," he said. "I feel good. I've had greater coherence." Over the most recent two months he has ostensibly been Spain's exceptional player, his effect huge.

Prior to the semi-last against Atlético, Dani Carvajal portrayed Isco as "immaculate dream", however there is more. On the off chance that those are words that could even have been held against him once, no more. In the harvest time, he demanded: "I'm not moronic: on the off chance that I have not been a starter with Ancelotti, Benítez and Zidane, it's my blame." There is sweat to run with motivation now, a genuine reason; control, profitability and authority, something of those days, where one partner reviews him "strolling round everybody" and another says: "It didn't make a difference how the diversion was going, we never used to freeze; however troublesome it was, he generally needed the ball, never gave in, and made things that no one but he could.

In February a year ago, the previous Real Madrid player Iván Helguera stated: "Isco doesn't give helps, he's bad noticeable all around, he doesn't win the ball back. He could give a great deal more, however the Bernabéu acclaims him for doing a "croqueta" [a bit of expertise in which you switch the ball quickly from one foot the other and back again]. What do his moves wind up as?"

Isco has 11 objectives and eight helps this season: of those, five objectives and three helps have come in his last seven begins. In addition, the appropriate response is a La Liga title and a Champions League last. On the last day, he gave the help that took Madrid to the title and it was his objective that prematurely ended Atlético's rebound in the European Cup semi-last, adequately securing their section to Cardiff.

That he even had the possibility was a change: on the eve of the quarter-last second leg with Bayern Munich, 21 players in Real Madrid's squad had played a greater number of Champions League minutes than Isco – even Fábio Coentrão. From that point forward, he has begun each of the three matches; at the Calderón, he completed it. Hardly any uncertainty that he will begin in Cardiff. It will be his third Champions League last, having entered Lisbon and Milan – where his additional time execution was remarkable and essentially vital as well, keeping and moving the ball for a depleted group.

With Bale battling for wellness, there was a level headed discussion about whether he would begin this one or whether he would be forgotten, until the point that the Welshman himself successfully finished it, conceding not just that he would acknowledge it on the off chance that he started on the seat yet proposing he expects it as well.

Isco Goals

Notwithstanding a noteworthy amazement, the kid from Benalmádena will exit with 10 others at the Principality Stadium – a little wonkily, maybe, yet he will. "Isco has been fabulous and I'm cheerful for him," Bale said. "On the off chance that he begins, I'll be rooting for him."