- NBC Sports
Confederations Cup: Scenarios before final group matches
Seven of eight nations remain alive for the knockout rounds after two-thirds of the group stage at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. The cynic will note that the tournament’s location could help the Russians beyond simple home-field advantage, while a bigger cynic may not that Mexico has been the beneficiary of plenty of officials’ whistles and non-whistles in recent years.
- USA Today
Sochi club withdraws from league in blow to World Cup plans
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — The Russian city of Sochi's only professional soccer club says it is withdrawing from the league, in a move which calls World Cup legacy plans into question. FC Sochi says in a website statement that it's "taking a break" to rethink its strategy but plans to return in the 2018-19 season. "This does not mean that FC Sochi will cease to exist," the club added. It didn't mention any deal with Russian football authorities, who would need to approve any return. FC Sochi, which played in the Russian third tier, had been due to move into Sochi's World Cup stadium after the tournament. It held a single league game there in April, its 6,000 fans vastly outnumbered by empty seats in
- ProSoccerTalk
Celtic’s Griffiths tears into Rangers chairman after “gulf” comments
Celtic star Leigh Griffiths took the Old Firm bait and promptly swallowed the fisherman. If you missed it, Rangers chairman Dave King said Celtic should’ve been even further ahead of their rivals given the setbacks handed to Rangers, who finally climbed back to the Scottish Premiership this season. Celtic went unbeaten, drawing just four of 38 matches and finished 39 points ahead of Rangers on the table. If Celtic won all 38, they could’ve finished 47 points clear of Rangers. So, we guess the gulf could be bigger. Here’s what Griffiths had to say: “What was the gulf? 30-odd points. How does he expect that to be bigger? They were touting at the start of last season that they were going to win
