INTERNATIONAL RESCUE?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the international break but that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t have some fun. There are, of course, crunch playoffs for the Geopolitics World Cup \u2013 if anyone actually wants to be there \u2013 in Europe and over in Mexico. But for the rest, this is a chance to rip up the rulebook and play whoever the hell they like. Those heading to North America in the summer have to keep things semi-serious. England have got Wembley friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. Fine. Brazil are in the USA USA USA to play France and Croatia. Check. The defending champions, Argentina, had their Finalissima against Spain in Qatar cancelled because of the threat of rogue missiles and have scheduled friendlies against anyone that was available, namely Mauritania (115th in the world) and Zambia (a lofty 91st). Spain clearly had a better agent and have booked Serbia and Egypt. But these are a mere sideshow to the Fifa Series 2026, a set of village fetes dotted across the globe, pitting nations from different continents against each other in four-team tournaments.<\/p>\n
This is the second edition of the Fifa Series \u2013 how can it live up to 2024, eh? \u2013 which Gianni Infantino himself has deigned to say \u201cis about unlocking development potential for players, coaches and fans, while promoting football\u2019s universality and diversity through meaningful matches\u201d. Finally, the development potential us fans have been crying out for. Fortunately none of these mini-tournaments are being hosted by a country that is bombing one of its fellow participants. Puerto Rico is the stage for the Fifa Series curtain-raiser as the US Virgin Islands take on American Samoa on Tuesday. Puerto Rico, coached by the Gainsborough Trinity legend Charlie Trout, get their tournament under way against Guam later in the evening. Spot the link there. Focus then turns to Rwanda on Wednesday with the blockbuster double-header of Aruba v Macau and Tanzania v Liechtenstein in Kigali. \u201cWe want to have more extended spells in possession,\u201d cried the Liechtenstein skipper Nicolas Hasler this week, so hopefully it\u2019s worth the flight, vaccination checks and anti-malaria medication for a bit of keep-ball on the edge of the Tanzania box. Estonia are also on their way to Kigali to renew their age-old rivalry with Kenya. Grenada or buoyant hosts Rwanda await in the final.<\/p>\n
And if you like big lists of fixtures there\u2019s so much more the Fifa Series has to offer. There\u2019s China v Cura\u00e7ao in Sydney. Don\u2019t forget the Solomon Islands v Bulgaria in Jakarta. Auckland\u2019s Eden Park will host Cape Verde v Chile. Set your clocks for Venezuela v Trinidad & Tobago in Uzbekistan. We\u2019re not making these up. In the space of a few days, St Kitts and Nevis\u2019s Ruben Freeman will swap Sporting Club Inkbarrow\u2019s Sands Road (1,000 seats) in England\u2019s eighth tier for the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (77,000 seats) in Indonesia. \u201cBy connecting nations through competition, the Fifa Series aims to strengthen the game at every level \u2013 bringing local communities to the global stage,\u201d gushes Infantino about his latest creation. Kuwait and Oman have had to pull out of their trips to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan because of, in (large) part, the consequences of the actions of Fifa\u2019s peace prize winner. Away from Fifa-sanctioned mix-and-matching, Haiti and Iceland are an unlikely couple in a Toronto friendly. The void caused by the absence of Genoa or Sampdoria fixtures at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris can be filled by going along to Algeria v Guatemala on Friday night. Have you had enough now?<\/p>\n
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE<\/p>\n
Join Luke McLaughlin at 8pm (GMT) for updates on Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea in the first leg of the Women\u2019s Bigger Cup quarter-final at the Emirates.<\/p>\n
QUOTE OF THE DAY<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel it\u2019s an injustice, not just for us but all the others as well. I just feel really sad about it. I feel helpless and hopeless\u201d \u2013 Manchester United fan Tony Riley, 76, reacts to news that he is among 1,100 supporters forced to move<\/a> from his Old Trafford seat his family have held since just after the second world war because of cash-boosting corporate plans overseen by Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe.<\/p>\n Tony Riley leafs through an old programme. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n double quotation markAfter reading Peter Harris\u2019s letter about his walk home from the football (yesterday\u2019s Football Daily letters<\/a>), I was inspired to find out more. I phoned up my local rambling society \u2026 but the guy just went on and on\u201d \u2013 James Vortkamp-Tong.<\/p>\n double quotation markI take it Peter has not enjoyed the pedestrian pathway from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to Seven Sisters underground. Two hours of woe followed by a race walk\/jog down to closest tube station. Stunning\u201d \u2013 Chris Brown.<\/p>\n double quotation markRe: football\u2019s capacity for generating Shakespearean quotes (yesterday\u2019s letters<\/a>). Presumably more than one striker, when bearing down on the Liverpool defence back in the late-2000s\/early-2010s, would ask himself: \u2018Is this a D Agger which I see before me?\u2019\u201d \u2013 Andy Korman.<\/p>\n double quotation markIn King Lear Act 1 Scene 4, the Bard remarks: \u2018Nor tripped neither, you base football player.\u2019 Clear proof that diving took place as early as 1605\u201d \u2013 Max Maxwell.<\/p>\n If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com<\/a>. Today\u2019s prizeless letter o\u2019 the day is \u2026 Max Maxwell. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED LOOKING<\/p>\n Here\u2019s David Squires on \u2026 the Milk Cup final<\/a>, featuring bonus appearances from Reg Holdsworth and Sol Campbell.<\/p>\n Illustration: David Squires\/The GuardianRECOMMENDED VIEWING<\/p>\n Good sport of the day: Claudia Morelli of Parma Women\u2019s second team, who deliberately missed her penalty<\/a> against Hic Sunt Leones after it was wrongly awarded by the referee. Parma went on to win 9-1, completing an unbeaten season and clinching the league title.<\/p>\n Hic Sunt Leones get their complaints on. Photograph: Parma fotball clubBOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA V BR\u00d8NDBY?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been wondering how Steve Cooper is getting on in Denmark then it\u2019s your lucky day. The former Swansea and Nottingham Forest manager is at Br\u00f8ndby these days in case you haven\u2019t been keeping up, and he\u2019s been having a rocky time of it. Having overseen a nine-game winless run he could have been forgiven for having painful Leicester flashbacks, with flak being flung his way from all directions. But even he must have been taken aback when he received criticism from Bosnia-Herzegovina\u2019s manager on Monday. Yep, Sergej Barbarez used his press conference to accuse Cooper of dropping midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic to benefit Wales in Thursday\u2019s World Cup playoff. You see, bright spark Barbarez has seemingly worked out that Cooper is from Pontypridd and joined two very random dots.<\/p>\n Steve Cooper overseeing some Br\u00f8ndby action, earlier. Photograph: MIchael Barrett Boesen\/Alamy<\/p>\n \u201cBenjo has told me some things that are hard to believe. It has something to do with his coach\u2019s origin,\u201d he blathered. \u201cWhen your coach wishes you, but not your national team, good luck, it leaves room for thought. He [Cooper] has told him that everything will return to normal after the national team season. I am not like that, I love and value sport and competition more.\u201d Br\u00f8ndby\u2019s communications director was quick to hammer out a club statement in response. \u201cThis is quite a far-reaching speculation,\u201d parped S\u00f8ren Hangh\u00f8j. \u201cSteve has publicly stated the considerations behind the decision \u2013 and none of them have the slightest connection with either national team. That goes without saying. It is a club decision that has been made jointly by an entire coaching team and the sporting management. And there are not that many Wales fans in Br\u00f8ndby after all.\u201d Cooper has since received a grovelling apology from Barbarez and is clear to focus his mind on how to get Br\u00f8ndby winning games again.<\/p>\n MOVING THE GOALPOSTS<\/p>\n The latest edition of our sister email looks at the emergence of<\/a> the Brazil women\u2019s blind team and their fourth-place finish at the world championship.<\/p>\n NEWS, BITS AND BOBS<\/p>\n Football Supporters Europe has filed a formal complaint against Fifa over \u201cexcessive ticket prices\u201d at this summer\u2019s Geopolitics World Cup.<\/p>\n Sebastian Coe has warned that London\u2019s bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championships could be scuppered<\/a> by West Ham\u2019s refusal to allow their stadium to be used in September.<\/p>\n J\u00fcrgen Klopp has poured a big glass of cold Erdinger over rumours linking him with Real Madrid. \u201cThat\u2019s all nonsense,\u201d he roared. \u201cThey haven\u2019t called even once \u2013 not once. My [Mr 15%] is there, you can ask him. They haven\u2019t called him either. Right now I\u2019m not thinking about that. Luckily, there\u2019s no reason to.\u201d<\/p>\n J\u00fcrgen there, meeting fellow GWC pundits Thomas M\u00fcller and Mats Hummels at a Magenta TV shindig. Photograph: Alexander Hassenstein\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Lens are feeling fresh and funky after PSG\u2019s request to postpone their potential Ligue 1 title decider on 11 April to allow for better preparation for their Bigger Cup quarter-final with Liverpool. \u201cA worrying sentiment is taking hold: that of a French league gradually being relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of certain parties\u2019 European imperatives,\u201d roared a Lens statement. \u201cOn its own turf, the league sometimes seems to be relegated to second place behind other ambitions, however legitimate they may be.\u201d<\/p>\n USA USA USA boss Mauricio Pochettino says he misses England. \u201cI love the country, its culture, the football culture,\u201d he sniffed in an interview with L\u2019Equipe. \u201cFor anyone with a competitive spirit who wants to measure themselves against others and test their abilities, it\u2019s the ideal place.\u201d Would he still miss it if Spurs were relegated, though?<\/p>\n And Atl\u00e9tico Madrid\u2019s Antoine Griezmann, 78, is moving to Orlando City this summer, baby! \u201cI look forward to making Orlando my new home, meeting the supporters, feeling the energy at Inter&Co Stadium, and giving everything,\u201d whooped Griezmann.<\/p>\n STILL WANT MORE?<\/p>\n Alessia Russo gets her chat on<\/a> with Suzanne Wrack about feeling happy and calm going into Arsenal\u2019s Women\u2019s Bigger Cup tie against Chelsea.<\/p>\n Alessia Russo gets her pose on. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Louise Taylor casts a critical eye over the state of Newcastle\u2019s increasingly dampening squib of a season<\/a> after their derby defeat by Sunderland.<\/p>\n David Hytner on how the stars have aligned for Ben White<\/a> to end his long England exile.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing I don\u2019t have a job at the moment\u201d: Luke Entwistle reports on the fantastical World Cup journey of New Caledonia\u2019s players<\/a> as they prepare for a GWC playoff against Jamaica.<\/p>\n