Brazil became the first country to qualify for the 2018 World Cup on Tuesday (Mar 29) after Uruguay crashed to an upset 2-1 defeat against Peru.

Football Soccer – Brazil v Paraguay – World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – Arena Corinthians stadium, Sao Paulo, Brazil – 28/3/17 – Brazil’s Neymar velebrates his goal. photo source: REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

The Brazilians had moved to the brink of qualification after defeating Paraguay 3-0 in Sao Paulo earlier Tuesday.

But Uruguay’s surprise loss in Lima and results elsewhere mean Brazil are guaranteed one of the four automatic qualifying berths from South America.

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Manchester City have been fined £35,000 (US$44,000) by the Football Association for failing to control their players against Liverpool earlier this month.

Liverpool’s English midfielder James Milner (2nd R) scores the opening goal from the penalty spot during the English Premier League football match against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on Mar 19, 2017. (Oli SCARFF/AFP)

City pleaded guilty to a misconduct charge last week after several players were seen protesting against the award of a penalty to Liverpool in a Premier League match at Eastlands on Mar 19.

They continued to complain even after James Milner had scored from the spot to give visitors Liverpool the lead in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw.

“Following an independent regulatory commission hearing, Manchester City have been fined £35,000 after the club admitted an FA misconduct charge,” said a statement issued by the FA, English football’s governing body, on Monday.

“City breached FA Rule E20(a) in that in or around the 50th minute of the game against Liverpool on 19 March 2017, the club failed to ensure that its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.”

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Italy kept pace with Spain in European World Cup qualifying as goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon played his 1,000th professional match in a 2-0 victory over Albania on Friday.

Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon greets fans at the end of the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification football match between Italy and Albania on Mar 24, 2017 at Renzo Barbera stadium in Palermo. (Photo: AFP/Alberto Pizzoli)

A first-half Daniele De Rossi penalty and late second from Ciro Immobile was enough to earn the Azzurri three points but they remain behind Spain on goal difference at the top of Group G after La Rioja downed Israel 4-1.

Manchester City forward David Silva and Chelsea’s Diego Costa were on the scoresheet alongside Vitolo and Isco, while Lior Refaelov netted Israel’s consolation.

In Palermo it was a day for Buffon to savour as he won a European record 168th cap and helped Italy extend their unbeaten run in qualifiers to 55 matches (41 wins, 14 draws).

De Rossi converted the spot-kick on 12 minutes after Migjen Basha, one of six Albanians plying his club trade in Italy, brought down Andrea Belotti.

Albanian fans threw flares onto the pitch in disgust and when they did so again just before the hour mark, the game was suspended for five minutes.

Immobile made the game safe 10 minutes from time by heading home a Davide Zappacosta cross. “At the start, there was too much tension, we tried to do too much and missed some fluidity,” said Italy coach Giampiero Ventura. “But we were never in danger.”

Spain had their game wrapped up by half-time in Gijon as Silva drove home a pass from Jordi Alba before Vitolo’s shot in first half injury time squirmed under Israel goalkeeper Ofir Marciano.

Diego Costa headed home a Thiago Alcantara corner on 51 minutes.

Refaelov gave the visitors something to cheer with a left-foot effort on 76 minutes, just moments after Rami Gershon had struck the post with a header. But Iago Aspas teed up Isco to put the gloss on a comfortable win two minutes from time.

Defeat saw Israel slip four points behind the two Group G heavyweights with five games left to play and only the pool winners guaranteed a place at Russia 2018.

“I am very happy with my goal, but the victory is the most important thing,” said Silva. “We needed to win to stay ahead of the rest.”

In the other group game, Macedonia got their first points of the qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win at Liechtenstein, who remain pointless.

HORRIFIC INJURY

Captain Seamus Coleman suffered a broken leg as the Republic of Ireland and Wales drew 0-0 in Dublin in Group D.

Neil Taylor was shown a straight red card for the scything challenge that left Irish defender Coleman clutching his shattered lower leg and screaming in pain as Shane Long tried to comfort him.

“It’s been confirmed by our doctor that he’s broken his leg,” said Ireland boss Martin O’Neill. “It’s a big, big loss.”

It was a costly game for Wales who saw their captain Gareth Bale booked for a high boot on John O’Shea meaning he, like Taylor, will miss the next qualifier away to Serbia in June.

Serbia moved top of the group after coming from behind to win 3-1 in Georgia.

Nika Kacharava gave the hosts a fifth minute lead but Dusan Tadic equalised from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time.

Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Serbia the lead before Mijat Gacinovic sealed the victory late on.

Serbia now lead the Republic on goal difference with Wales and Austria, 2-0 winners over Moldova, four points behind.

Croatia went three points clear at the top of Group I with a 1-0 victory over Ukraine courtesy of Nikola Kalinic’s goal seven minutes from half-time.

Iceland moved up to second with a 2-1 win at Kosovo, whose wait for a first competitive victory goes on.

Bjorn Sigurdarson gave the visitors a 25th minute lead before Gylfi Sigurdsson doubled the advantage from the spot 10 minutes later after Benjamin Kololli had brought down Birkir Saevarsson.

But seven minutes into the second period Atdhe Nuhiu headed home a Herolind Shala corner to give Kosovo a lifeline – although it wasn’t enough.

A brace from Cenk Tosun kept Turkey’s qualifying hopes alive as they beat Finland 2-0 to stay fourth, five points off Croatia.

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UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin vowed on Wednesday (Mar 22) to reform the transfer system to stem the talent flow towards the richest clubs.

“We’ll develop something akin to tax on luxury goods or limits on squad size,” Ceferin said on the sidelines of a UEFA congress in Portugal.

“This would be done to stop one or two clubs gathering all the best players to their team,” he added. “We cannot allow the size of a few clubs to drown out the smaller ones.”

In a January report UEFA said there had been a dramatic shift of talent and finance towards richer clubs over the past six years.

Figures in that report said the top 15 clubs in Europe had seen their financial turnover increase 148 percent in that time while for the other 700 clubs this increase had been just 17 percent.

Ceferin has also vowed that there will be no European super league formed under his watch.

The UEFA chief added that football officials should not be afraid to embrace technology and that lessons can be learned from big business.

“We should approach Silicon Valley and understand the strategies of the big technology innovation companies,” he said.

“We cannot live in fear of them, or fail to understand them because we ourselves do not. They must be our ally, because they are already our children’s ally.”

“UEFA has the greatest football on earth – and why not allow everyone to maximise their experience and taste of it? We can bring our fans into the game.”

The proposed reforms over good governance will be voted upon by Europe’s national associations at next month’s UEFA Congress in Helsinki.

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Manchester United confirmed on Monday (Mar 20) they will tour the United States during pre-season.

Jose Mourinho’s side, currently fifth in the Premier League, will play in five American cities including Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Santa Clara and Washington DC.

Dates and opponents for the matches have not been announced, but some of the games are likely to form part of the International Champions Cup friendly tournament.

“Visiting North America will give the team the best possible preparation for the new season, using top-class training facilities and playing in some great stadiums,” said United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward in a press release.

“We have witnessed first-hand the passion and support for the club in the US in recent years, so naturally it is something that everybody is very much looking forward to this summer.”

Reports suggest Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus could also feature in the International Champions Cup.

City recently revealed they will also tour the United States prior to the 2017-18 season, but no further details have been announced.

Source AFP