World Soccer July 2021 is now available to buy both online and in shops…
FROM THE ASSISTANT EDITOR
Even fans of Atletico Madrid, Lille, Internazionale and Villarreal, who have all seen their teams achieve great success, might have been forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief at the end of the 2020-21 domestic season. Empty stadiums, combined with a relentless schedule that pushed players to their absolute limits, meant that for large parts of the season, it just didn’t quite feel the same.
And yet, in such a bleak year, football often found a way to shine a light through the gloom; whether as a distraction from depressing news stories by injecting a rare thrill of excitement, or even just providing a sense of routine as the days stretched on from one lockdown to the next.
So yes, in many ways it was a miserable season, but to borrow an expression from Father Ted‘s Mrs Doyle: “Maybe we like the misery.”
As usual, we’ve asked our best people to summarise Europe’s major leagues, as well as the Champions League and Europa League finals (pages 32-49). Thanks in particular are due to our resident French football expert Howard Johnson, who is hanging up his World Soccer boots. Howard was a terrific servant to the magazine for the last 20 years, and will be difficult to replace.
Thanks also to you, the reader, for sticking with us throughout the last year. This issue completes a full cycle of issues since World Soccer joined the Kelsey Media family, and from a personal perspective it has been a pleasure and privilege to be a part of. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the magazine as much as we’ve enjoyed working on it.
Jamie Evans, Assistant Editor
Here’s a look inside the latest issue of World Soccer.
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Contents
World Soccer July 2021
FEATURES
26 Super League special report What next for the “Dirty Dozen”?
60 Turn back the clock Zinedine Zidane’s finest hour
76 Copa America Ones to watch
THE WORLD THIS MONTH
People in the news both on and off the pitch
4 In pictures
12 Keir Radnedge Super League origins
14 Jonathan Wilson Pep Guardiola
16 Ins & Outs People on the move
18 Euro 2020 squad watch
HEADLINERS
20 Austria Vienna
21 Dinamo Bucharest
22 Sergio Aguero
23 Paik Seung-ho
24 Girondins de Bordeaux
25 Cambuur
SEASON REVIEW
32 Champions League
34 Europa League
36 England
38 Spain
40 Germany
42 Italy
44 France
46 Portugal
48 Netherlands
50 Rest of Europe
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
54 Champions League review
SPECIAL FEATURE
56 History of Panini Euro sticker albums
FACE TO FACE
66 Phil Foden
70 Luis Suarez
72 Neymar
MY BIGGEST GAME
98 Gary Lineker
WORLD SERVICE
81 Tuvalu Fighting hard for acceptance
82 Copa Libertadores group stage review
84 Africa CAF Champions League update
86 Myanmar Playing amid the protests
PLUS
80 The month in numbers
88 New global diary
89 ESM
90 Results, tables, fixtures
