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CONOR WHELAN says inter-county players would need to be given more than two weeks of collective training before returning to action.

And given the uncertainty over when games will resume, the Galway hurling star does not believe it is unthinkable to even see the Championship run off in the last quarter of the year.

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He said: I do think the Championship is going to be played. I think a lot of it depends over the next two weeks, how this pandemic goes.

Right now the country is shut down, if they shut down the country for another two or three weeks after the cut off date next week then thats going to have a big impact.

But I can see it being feasible playing it later on in the year. Obviously youd have an issue with club championships then and different things like that.

But you know, I think we do have a lot of floodlit venues around the country and I think we do have our headquarters in Croke Park which is also under lights and Croke Park could take games most of the year round.

So I dont think it would be out of the question to play it later on in the year. Look, ideally everyone wants this pandemic to pass and just to go back to the way things were.

Hopefully that would be in July, in an ideal set of circumstances, but currently all we can do is kind of speculate and guess.

But I dont think it wouldnt be feasible to play it later on in the year.

I think that is something that probably will be talked about, if this pandemic draws on longer.

But whenever games do resume, Whelan reckons players will need to be afforded more than two weeks of preparation beforehand.

He added: To be honest with you, I dont think two weeks is adequate time.

Like, if you are telling me in two weeks that were going to be playing our first round championship game whether its round robin a straight knockout you can probably take the week before the game out of it.

"You are not going to get any level of training done the week of a game, because obviously you need to bring back down the intensity and the load that week.

So really you are talking one week of collective training.

What can you do in a week? Three sessions.

And then you are going out playing in a knockout game, hypothetically speaking, or if you are playing a round-robin game, if you lose your first game you are under serious pressure.

"So I dont think two weeks is adequate, I think four weeks in the current circumstances would probably be ideal at the moment.

Obviously wed all like to get a bit longer, but I think four weeks would be adequate time, wed have three weeks of good hard training together and then the week of the game wed be able to bring the load back down.

I think its not even about collective training, I think its just about getting the group back together, getting everyone on the same wavelength and everybody pulling in the same direction.

We broke up two weeks ago and I suppose for players it is difficult to be training away on your own, youre probably not able to do the same level of training as you would be able to collectively.

I suppose four weeks would afford you an opportunity to get sharper and maybe get up to a certain level, that two weeks definitely wouldnt.

Whelan is currently teaching English and History in Ballygar and while he is teaching his students remotely during the shutdown, the Kinvara man admits it can be tricky.

He added: Im teaching in Microsoft Team there at home so that is fairly difficult, some students are having issues with IT and no access to internet in some homes and in others through a lack of either wanting to do it or finding it difficult to do it, isolated on their own.

Thats extremely difficult for teachers to be able to manage all that but were just trying to do the best we can and hopefully well get the chance to pick it up again.

But you definitely wouldnt be satisfied with the level of teaching that youre able to do online but I suppose you just have to do the most with what you have.

Im extremely fortunate that I dont have any exam years. I have fifth years all right so thats fairly important that they get a high level of education in regards to doing their exams next year.

The number one priority in the school at the moment is exam students.

Leaving Cert students, obviously its a very difficult time for them. Theyre kind of left in the unknown I suppose really.

Whelan tries to keep himself busy during the days by working and keeping as active as possible.

He said: Just trying to keep a consistent routine, really. Probably getting up at 8.15 or 8.30 every morning, make myself breakfast, a smoothie and an omelette or something like that and maybe going into Kinvara and getting a coffee.

Then, coming out home and giving a hand around the house and doing a few chores, trying to get a gym session done then tearing into the schoolwork.

So I spend about two or three hours on the schoolwork because they all submit their work.

They take a photograph of the work theyve done because theyve written it into their copy and submit it online, so I have to try and download that and print it out and look over it and review it and write back some feedback for the students.

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And then if they are any students who havent submitted work I have to try to track them down and see whats going on so thats a very tedious process and it takes a fair chunk out of my day.

And then I try to get some activity in the evening whether thats going to the ball wall or going for a run, just trying to stay fit and healthy at the same time adhering to the distancing guidelines.

l Conor Whelan was speaking at the launch of Patrick Bourke Menswear Kings of the Game campaign.

See more here:
Galways hurling ace Conor Whelan says teams would need four weeks to prepare for a return to Championship - The Irish Sun

Pele once called football the beautiful game, but it isnt always as attractive to watch as that famous line makes it out to be.

Many games of football dont adhere to that adage. Some matches are so ugly, violent and dirty that they enter the history books, gaining notoriety for their hideousness.

A bit of physicality is expected, indeed sometimes encouraged, in football, but it can go too far. A rush of blood to the head, a lust for revenge, a mistimed tackle or a referee who is simply out of his depth can lead to a match that embodies only brutality and savagery.

Often we are grimly fascinated by these events, but they are rarely spectacles worth watching. Sometimes we wish they had never happened at all.

Quite possibly one of the worst World Cup spectacles of the past 30 years, Portugal and Netherlands last-16 encounter stands as one of the most unwatchable matches in the competitions history, even if it wasnt allthat violent. Rather, this knockout game was an ugly contest that featured very little actual football, plenty of fouls and a card-happy referee.

The backdrop to this was FIFAs attempt at stamping out violent and cynical fouling before the tournament began, which amounted to ordering the officials to yellow card just about everything. The flaw in this strategy should have been obvious from the moment it was suggested: if everything is a booking, then you just end up with more bookings, inadvertently punish good tackles, and are still no closer to solving the problem.

This match exposed the failings of this approach in the cold light of day, as referee Valentin Ivanov issued a record 16 yellow cards and four red cards. Naturally it was Mark van Bommel who set the ball rolling, receiving a yellow for a cynical foul inside the first two minutes, while Costinha was the first to get his marching orders for a second bookable offence a completely brainless handball just before half-time.

The second-half descended into pure chaos. Luis Figo headbutted Van Bommel, which led to Luis Felipe Scolaris famous line, Jesus Christ may be able to turn the other cheek, but Luis Figo is not Jesus Christ. Khalid Boulahrouz received a second caution in the 63rd minute, Wesley Sneijder was booked during a touchline brawl, and Deco also received his second yellow with 12 minutes remaining.

Giovanni van Bronckhorsts injury-time sending off was the icing on top of an extremely bitterly tasting cake that finished with nine men apiece and a 1-0 win for the Portuguese. The famous image of Van Bronckhorst, Deco and Boulahrouz sitting on the steps of the stand as the game played out was described as the bad boys corner by commentator Gary Bloom.

Tino Asprilla: The mercurial Colombian who charmed Newcastle

An ill-tempered First Division affair that led to the first ever abandonment of an English Football League game, Sheffield United versus West Bromwich Albion has its own special place in the annals of football history.

The match did display at least some sense of fine football before descending into absurdity, with splendid goals from Scott Dobie and Derek McInnes giving the Baggies a 2-0 lead. The game got off to a wretched start for the Blades, however, as goalkeeper Simon Tracey was sent off for deliberate handball in the ninth minute. Peter Ndlovu was the sacrificial substitute to get a new goalie on the field.

After conceding the second goal, United manager Neil Warnock made a double substitution in the 64th minute, but in a matter of moments both subs were back off the pitch. George Santos committed one of the worst two-footed lunges youll ever see, a tackle that was surely revenge for the shattered cheekbone Johnson had inflicted on him a year previously. Fellow sub Patrick Suffo was sent off in the subsequent melee for headbutting McInnes. Unsurprisingly neither ever played for the club again.

Dobie made it 3-0 with 13 minutes remaining, before the real farce began. Michael Brown limped off soon after, before Robert Ullathorne went off with injury five minutes later. With United down to six men, the referee had no other option to call a halt to proceedings.

The Football League awarded West Brom the win and the three points, while Sheffield were fined 10,000, Suffo given a six game ban and a 3000 fine for violent conduct, Santos a six game ban and Warnock fined 300 for improper conduct towards the fourth official.

Albion manager Gary Megson was spot on in his estimation of the match, referring to it as all that crap.

Peter Ndlovu: The Premier Leagues first ever African footballer

When Chelsea faced Leeds United in the 1970 FA Cup final, the match finished 2-2 after extra-time and both sides engaged in a lap of honour around the Wembley pitch. The field was in such a rotten condition afterwards, though, that the replay had to be played at Old Trafford, and the atmosphere was considerably less good-natured.

Dave Sextons London outfit were considered as flashy and flamboyant southerners, while the Peacocks had gained a reputation as Dirty Leeds under Don Revie for their negative and cynical approach. The contrast in styles and geography added spice to this encounter and the return fixture became one of the most iconic matches in English football, for good and bad reasons.

The two teams were later praised for competing in such a determined manner in a highly competitive match, but were also criticised for being so overtly physical. Chelseas Ron Chopper Harris lived up to his name by kicking Eddie Gray in the back of the knee, while Eddie McCreadie completed a flying kick on Billy Bremners head.

And those were only the most notable incidents in the game; Hutchinson and Norman Hunter also traded punches and Jack Charlton kneed and headbutted Peter Osgood, with plenty more niggle throughout the decider as well.

Modern-day referee David Elleray reviewed the match in 1997, according toWikipedia, and concluded that the sides would have received six red cards and twenty yellow cards between them, in the modern era of football. And yet, Chelseas Ian Hutchinson was the only one to get booked through the 90 minutes.

The Blues won the replay 2-1 to secure their first ever FA Cup win having only lead the tie once across both matches.

The now defunct Intercontinental Cup saw the winners of the European Cup and Copa Libertadores face off in a two-legged tie every year. The most infamous edition of the competition came in 1967 when Glasgow Celtic faced Racing Club from Argentina.

The Hoops won the first leg at home 1-0 in an encounter fraught with cynical fouling and spitting, but the second leg was no better, ending 2-1 to Racing. With the tie level at one win apiece, a play-off had to be played to decide the winner, with Uruguayan capital Montevideo chosen as the neutral venue.

It was an utter disaster as a game and spectacle, as Racing set out to cynically foul their way through the match. Paraguayan referee Rodolfo Perez Osorio lost complete control of proceedings, while Celtic lost their cool and composure, retaliating to their opponents incitements.

Its a bad sign when riot police have to intervene on the pitch, as four Celtic and two Racing players were sent off. The Argentine outfit won the tie 1-0 in the end.

Juninho overcame the monstrous cold to become a 90s Boro legend

Everyone thinks back to Netherlands versus Portugal when it comes to the dirtiest World Cup matches, but the most violent of them all happened in 1962 when Italy took on Chile and not a single card was dished out.

Prior to the group stage encounter, the Italian press had some unsavoury words for the host nation, which amped up the animosity ahead of kick-off. The contest was more of a precursor to MMA fighting than a football match with filthy tackles, flying kicks and punches being thrown right throughout the 90 minutes.

The game remarkably reached a conclusion without the need for it to be abandoned, as Chile ran out 1-0 winners, but it would have a far-reaching effect on the sport. Referee Ken Aston was officiating that day and he was appointed Head of Refereeing for the 1966 World Cup in England, and following another tournament replete with nasty challenges, he came up with a solution.

While driving his car one day he stopped at some traffic lights, inspiring him with an idea that would change the game forever: red and yellow cards. The 1970 World Cup was the first tournament to introduce cards, giving referees a new means to stamp their authority on the game.

Read: The Battle of Oriel Park When The Troubles and football collided

See Also: The English clubs with the most points gained since 1888

Excerpt from:
Five of the most brutal, violent matches in football history - The Football Faithful

Lionel Messi is Number 3 in 90min's Top 50 Greatest Footballers of All Time Series

Lionel Messi has broken football.

Over the last decade or so, since the Barcelona treble season of 2008/09, Messi has broken football down to its fibres and rebuilt it in his own image. He's done it in front of everyone. In full HD. On Twitter. On Facebook. On TikTok. Probably. Does anyone know if they do football on TikTok? Not sure.

Messi isn't the first player to be brilliant. He's not the first player to dominate a decade of football. But he's the first one to do it with everyone, all around the world, from Abkhazia to Zaire, watching every kick.

Pele did things that nobody before him had done. Maradona did too, and at a time when some big domesticgames were being broadcast overseas. They may and we're getting to the point of splitting hairs have even done it slightly better. But for impact, for being on every screen at every time, for being by far the best player in the world at a time when everyone in that world can know it without a single shadow of a doubt?Messiis different.

There aren't many new Messi stories; everyone's heardthem. He's the most written-about footballer on the planet, so reminiscing about his origins (plucked from Rosario at 13, a contract offered on a napkin, treated for a growth hormone deficiency, etc) is pass. Listing his numbers is asinine and, besides, misses the essence of what makes Messi Messi. For the greatest footballer of the 21st century, Leo Messi is harder to write about than you'd expect.

So we don't talk about Messi directly. We skirt around his talents andtalk about the aura around him (captivating), or the power he holds at his club (complete, although he's careful ever bring its full brunt to bearpublicly), or how he compares to his contemporaries (he doesn't).

We talk about how, in the first half of his career, he seemed like a footballer out of time. His long, unfashionable mop of hair, his diminutive stature, the quietness that seemed to come from some silent, intense determination but simple shyness. Against the bleach-blonde surfer cool of Fernando Torres and the sheer Cristiano Ronaldoness of Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi would fade into the background like an anxious kid at a school disco. Until he got the ball at his feet.

We talk about his rivalry with Ronaldo, and whether either of them would have reached the heights they have without the other whether having that constant nagging reminder that they had someone to beat drew ever-more extraordinary things out of them. It's not hard to imagine that the modern Messi, with the beard and the tattoos, who makes the best part of half a million pounds per sponsored Instagram post, also came from that internal comparison with Ronaldo. He couldn't just be the quiet genius, not when he had to beat the showman.

We talk about how much he means toBara, institutionally, symbolically and on the pitch, and the state of the team without him. How he helped them survive Xavi leaving. Iniesta leaving. Eto'o leaving. Neymar leaving. How he might be the only person who can help them survive Neymar returning.

In our less generous moments, we might also talk about the fact that, dating back to the 2011/12 season, he's scored nine goals in 24Champions League gamesfrom the quarter-final stage onward. In ties where Barcelona have been knocked out in that span, he's scored two goals in 13 games both against Liverpool last season. How his habit of not stepping up in those biggest of games has cost Bara trophies on the European stage. Whether or not that's his fault; whether he's too integral to the club, whether the blame should fall on the players around him for not providing the support.

The World Cup will come up. Not once in eight attempts, acrossfour World Cups, has Messi scored a goal in a knockout game. Three Copa America finals, no goals. Three defeats. No trophies. Unless something big happens at next summer's Copa America (Messi'll be 34) or the 2022 World Cup in in Qatar (a 35-year-old with over 1,000 competitive games on the clock), one of the greatest careers of all time have a huge, stonking great asterisk next to it.

Or...it won't. For so many, the lack of international success nothing more than a crutch for people who need to niggle, to complain, to ask 'but wouldn't he have been better if...?' Some of the blame for Argentina's failures can be laid at the feet of coaches, of a weak crop of defenders, of strikers and other creatorswho failed to make the most of the space and chancesprovided by opposition teams' monomaniacal focus on stopping Messi.

We talk about all of these things, because we have to talk about Messi and we don't have the words to do it directly. Because Messi has redefined what excellence is in the modern era, scoring at a goal per game for a full decade and providing more assists than any other player in the world. Doing it all with a left foot that could pick the locks on the front gate of Fort Knox. Doing it all for us to see, and see again, and pore over for every single second of his career.

Lionel Messi has broken football. We'll never look at the game the same way once he's gone.

For more from Chris Deeley, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209!

90min's 'Top 50 Greatest Footballers of All Time' can be found here.

Number 50: Luka Modric

Number 49: John Charles

Number 48: Hugo Sanchez

Number 47: Jairzinho

Number 46: Omar Sivori

Number 45: Paolo Rossi

Number 44: Paul Breitner

Number 43: George Weah

Number 42: Kaka

Number 41: Lev Yashin

Number 40: Gunnar Nordahl

Number 39: Kevin Keegan

Number 38: Hristo Stoichkov

Number 37: Gianluigi Buffon

Number 36: Johan Neeskens

Number 35: Xavi Hernandez

Number 34: Luis Suarez

Number 33: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Number 32: Andres Iniesta

Number 31: Rivelino

Number 30: Bobby Moore

Number 29: Socrates

Number 28: Sandor Kocsis

Number 27: Lothar Matthaus

Number 26: Ronaldinho

Number 25: Ruud Gullit

Number 24: Bobby Charlton

Number 23: Giuseppe Meazza

Number 22: Raymond Kopa

Number 21: Romario

Number 20: Eusebio

Number 19: Marco van Basten

Number 18: George Best

Number 17: Zico

Number 16: Franco Baresi

Number 15: Cristiano Ronaldo

Number 14: Ferenc Puskas

Number 13: Paolo Maldini

Number 12: Gerd Mller

Number 11: Man Garrincha

Number 10: Alfredo Di Stefano

Number 9: Roberto Baggio

Number 8: Michel Platini

Number 7: Ronaldo

Number 6: Zinedine Zidane

Number 5: Johan Cruyff

Number 4:Franz Beckenbauer

See the rest here:
Lionel Messi: By Far the Best Player to Never Win the World Cup - 90min

Ulster's Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final in Toulouse has been handed another major blow after the French Federation de Rugby (FFR) suspended all rugby in the country.

he governing body announced the suspension on Friday morning, which was then followed by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) confirming that the Top 14 has been suspended.

The double blow only furthers the ever-strengthening belief that the knockout game will be suspended.

The FFR's ruling means that rugby at all amateur and schools levels have been suspended to try and negate the spread of the coronavirus in France.

FFR president Bernard Laporte insisted the decision had been made in the "very high national interest".

"We ask our entire network to scrupulously respect these instructions," said Laporte.

"All championships, of all categories without exception, are suspended, as well as all activities of the Rugby Schools, in order to effectively combat the spread of Covid-19."

Ulster's season has already been suspended, with the Guinness PRO14 suspending the remainder of their season yesterday, while all domestic rugby in Ireland has been suspended until the end of March too.

Should, by some miracle, their game against Toulouse go ahead, it would be Ulster's first game in six weeks having seen their recent game against Benetton postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in northern Italy.

The Top 14 suspension from the LNR forbids any teams from training, meaning Toulouse would also be coming into the game severely short on match fitness.

Belfast Telegraph

View post:
Coronavirus: Ulster's European quarter-final in Toulouse in severe doubt as FFR suspend all rugby activities - Belfast Telegraph

Breel Embolo hit his first-time shot sweet and true, the ball curling past Cologne keeper Timo Horn to keep Borussia Mnchengladbach in the Bundesliga title race.

The Swiss striker wheeled around and cupped his hands to his ears, but no one was listening apart from a handful of teammates and club officials. The fans weren't there to share his joy and the emotion evaporated.

After the last few days viewing football matches played in front of empty stadiums, it's clear this can't be European football's definitive answer to the global coronavirus outbreak.

European leagues should be immediately postponed, international friendlies canceled, and the upcoming European Championships rescheduled for 2021.

Continuing in this current form is senseless. Match-going fans are the lifeblood of the game, no matter where you travel in the world.

No fans, no fun

This isn't football. One or two matches behind closed doors is palatable, at a stretch,but the remainder of the season? No, thank you.

DW's Janek Speight

The Bundesliga's Matchday 26 is due to be played entirely behind closed doors, joining Italy's Serie A in shutting out fans. From a health perspective, this makes sense, but without the fans, what's the point in playing at all?

Dortmund's derby with Schalke will be without fans, and Union Berlin fans won't have the chance to celebrate their first home Bundesliga game against Bayern Munich.It's weird for match-going fans, TV viewers, and players.

Furthermore, it's already clear that playing behind closed doors won't guarantee that fans won't gather in large crowds regardless. Gladbach fans celebrated their team's derby win afterwards outside the stadium, while PSG fans lit plenty of flares as the team bus made its way to the stadium.

"It's very hard for the players to bring everything onto the pitch without the fans," former Bundesliga coach Friedhelm Funkel said on Sky Germany.

But it makes no difference to business, particularly in regards to television broadcasting contracts. And that's where football's governing bodies, from national to international level, are getting blinded from taking appropriate action that is bordering on highly irresponsible.

UEFA must stand up

Football is certainly not the most important thing to consider in the conversation around the coronavirus, but given it's important position in society, particularly in Germany where fans have a say in how their clubs arerun, missing out on a beloved hobby on a weekly basis becomes unthinkable.

But postponing leagues, in the hope of replaying them in the months to come, is just common sense. It would reduce the immediate risk of the virus spreading through large sporting crowds and would also ensure the emotions so intrinsic with football aren't cast away like needless commodities.

PSG fans still gathered en masse to lend their support outside the stadium.

After all, who really wants to see their team win a big derby, a Champions League knockout game or even a trophyin front of an empty stadium? Some probably couldn't care less, but they are unlikely the ones turning up week in, week out to support their club.

Halting leagues, with the view of restarting in a month, or two, pending advice from health authorities, is the sensible decision. Canceling the European Championships and playing it out in 2021 would helpmake that happen.

It's time for UEFA to take a stand. Otherwise football will lose its connection with the one thing that makes it so special around the world namely its fans. And where's the fun in that?

See the rest here:
Opinion: Cancel Euro 2020, football is nothing without fans - DW (English)