Hello there! Between the on-field drama at the Asian Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations and a fresh new managerial vacancy, the soccer world is keeping busy. I'm Pardeep Cattry with the latest.
📺 Footy fix
All times U.S./Eastern
Monday, Jan. 29
🏆 AFCON: Cape Verde vs. Mauritania, 12 p.m. ➡️ beIN Sports
🏆 AFCON: Senegal vs. Ivory Coast, 3 p.m. ➡️ beIN Sports
Tuesday, Jan. 30
🏆 Asian Cup: Uzbekistan vs. Thailand, 6:30 a.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏆 Asian Cup: Saudi Arabia vs. Korea Republic, 11 a.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏆 AFCON: Mali vs. Burkina Faso, 12 p.m. ➡️ beIN Sports
🏴 EPL: Nottingham Forest vs. Arsenal, 2:30 p.m ➡️ Peacock
🏆 AFCON: Morocco vs. South Africa, 3 p.m. ➡️ beIN Sports
Wednesday, Jan. 31
🏆 Asian Cup: Bahrain vs. Japan, 6:30 a.m. ➡️ Paramount+
⚽ The Forward Line
🔵🔴 Another manager bids farewell
A day after Jurgen Klopp surprisingly announced an end-of-season exit at Liverpool, Xavi did the same at Barcelona but under very different circumstances. Xavi made his announcement after Barcelona's shock 5-3 defeat to Villarreal on Saturday, the latest in a string of poor results that marks a downward turn from last season's La Liga-winning performances. Barcelona also run the risk of not winning a trophy this season since they were bounced from the Copa del Rey and currently sit 11 points behind first-place Girona in the league, though they are still in the Champions League. The outgoing manager alluded to the team's on-filed direction as the reason for his departure in his brief post-match remark.
- Xavi: "I want to announce that on June 30 I will no longer continue as the coach at Barça. I think the situation needs to change course, and as a culer, I cannot allow the current situation."
While Xavi aims to finish out the season, chatter around who his successor might be has already kicked into high gear. Several well-known candidates are already being name-dropped and have already begun the process of quelling speculation around their futures, including Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and Bayern Munich's Thomas Tuchel. The former took the chance in his pre-match press conference on Monday to flat-out deny the link, but acknowledged that contract negotiations with Arsenal are yet to begin with one year left on this current deal.
- Arteta: "These fake news about me leaving in June make me upset. I'm immersed in a beautiful journey with my players, the staff, our beautiful people… these's still a lot to do here at Arsenal. I always said I'm in the right place. … I've got a strong relationship with the board. We're not discussing new deal now but it will come in a natural way. We've always done it that way and we've done it really well."
Bayern, meanwhile, denied the Tuchel connection on the manager's behalf in a statement issued by CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and sporting director Christoph Freund.
- Bayern: "Our head coach Thomas Tuchel was asked by supporters on Sunday as part of a fan club visit about his coaching career and his previous experiences abroad at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, and naturally provided information about this during the discussion. He also answered general questions from fans about Spain as a footballing country. He never spoke about Xavi Hernández and his successor, as was falsely claimed afterwards. We will no longer accept such non-factual statements directed against our coach, which always come from the same source."
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🔗 Midfield Link Play
🏆 Asian Cup, AFCON reach the knockouts
A thrilling group stage has given way for the round of 16, which are so far delivering just as much entertainment at both the Asian Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations. Here's a quick check-in on the latest at the continental championships.
Favorites advance
Australia and Nigeria are the biggest teams so far to advance to the quarterfinals in the Asian Cup and AFCON, respectively, and did so in fairly routine fashion. It's a particularly notable result for Nigeria, who struggled at times to score during the group stage but picked up a 2-0 win over Cameroon on Saturday that bolsters their credentials as one of the favorites to win the whole thing, as journalist Mimi Fawaz noted on Morning Footy.
- Fawaz: "We saw Victor Osimhen really putting a lot of pressure on the Cameroon defense, and he's faced a lot of criticism for not scoring enough goals but he's really done a lot for the team in terms of his importance. Putting that pressure on defense, opening up for other players such as Ademola Lookman, who got the brace and an assist from Victor Osimhen."
Penalty shootouts, red cards, and more
Nigeria's win was the only round of 16 match at the AFCON so far that did not have a red card, which frequently preceded elimination for the teams on the receiving end of the punishment. Angola beat Namibia 3-0 in a match that saw both teams go down to 10, while Equatorial Guinea picked up a red card in their 1-0 loss to Guinea. Most notably, though, a Mohamed Salah-less Egypt went down to 10 and then were ousted from the competition in a penalty shootout by DR Congo.
The theme carried over at the Asian Cup, where Jordan eliminated Iraq today in a thrilling 3-2 matchup in which both sides had a player sent off, while first-time knockout round participants Tajikistan pulled off the upset over the UAE in a penalty shootout.
Coming up
The remaining matchup to watch is tomorrow's faceoff between Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic -- the latter are coming off of a disappointing group stage, and will need to dramatically improve to stick around at the tournament. Meanwhile, at the AFCON, the likes of Morocco, Mali, and Cape Verde have the chance to continue their strong starts to the competition but all eyes will be on today's matchup against Senegal and Ivory Coast. Reigning champions Senegal have the chance to put the final nail in the hosts' coffin after their group stage campaign came to an abysmal end with a 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea. Ivory Coast will also hit the pitch with interim manager Emerse Fae after Jean-Louis Gasset was fired last week.
🔗 Top Stories
🔵🔴 Xavi to leave Barcelona: More on Xavi's potential successors at Barcelona, and whether or not he'll actually make it to the end of the season.
🔴 Liverpool's new era: Liverpool might have to live life without Jurgen Klopp and Mohamed Salah starting next season, plus thoughts on Klopp's next move.
🤝 Deadline day latest: Here's when the transfer window closes across several top leagues, plus a look at the biggest storylines heading into deadline day.
🏴 FA Cup recap: Manchester City's fullbacks shone in their win over Tottenham, Manchester United were unimpressive in their victory over Newport, Wolves beat rivals West Brom in a match marred by crowd trouble, and non-league Maidstone pulled off a huge upset over Championship side Ipswich.
🇫🇷 PSG struggles: Paris Saint-Germain relinquished a two-goal lead and saw Bradley Barcola sent off in their 2-2 draw with Brest yesterday.
❓ Osimhen on the move?: Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis admits he sees star striker Victor Osimhen at Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or an English club sooner rather than later.
🦩 More Miami injuries: Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi will miss two to three months after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia, adding to Inter Miami's injury list with weeks to go until the MLS season begins.
💰 The Back Line
💵 Best bets
- Asian Cup: Saudi Arabia vs. Korea Republic, Tuesday, 11 a.m.
💰 THE PICK: Teams to draw (+280) -- Korea might be the oddsmakers' favorites in this one but after two disappointing draws with Jordan and Malaysia in group stage action, they aren't exactly positioning themselves as regional heavyweights. Their poor run of form provides the perfect opening for any team to take advantage, so expect a steady Saudi Arabia side to keep things level -- and maybe take this to a penalty shootout. - Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs. Arsenal, Tuesday, 2:30 p.m.
💰 THE PICK: More than three goals scored (+115) -- All of Forest's last six games have seen three or more goals scored, win or lose. Expect the hosts to be ready to continue that streak tomorrow, as well as Arsenal's talented offense to be up for the challenge.
📺 What's on CBS Sports Golazo Network
☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.
📦 Box 2 Box (Weekday afternoons): The news-driven show quickly recaps all the latest headlines from around the world with panelists previewing the top matchups of the day. Catch Box 2 Box on CBS Sports Golazo Network on the CBS Sports app, PlutoTV and Paramount+.
3️⃣ Attacking Third (Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening): The leading women's soccer podcast and social brand is now a live studio show. Just because the NWSL season is over doesn't mean that our coverage of the women's game is going anywhere. Our analysts will be breaking down the USWNT. NWSL offseason and European domestic season all winter long.
👟 Kickin' It (Tuesday, 7 p.m.): CBS Sports Golazo Network's new unfiltered interview show returns Tuesday Hosted by Kate Abdo, Clint Dempsey, Mo Edu and Charlie Davies, the group chat candidly with the biggest names from the Beautiful Game and share their stories from on and off the pitch.
⚽ Call it What You Want (Monday night): A weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Jesse Marsch and Charlie Davies cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States.
🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the newest place for fans to catch up on all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the top soccer competitions and all the can't-miss goals from the day's action, starting Thursday and airing seven days a week.
📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel exclusively dedicated to offering unparalleled coverage of all the top soccer competitions worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports app, Pluto TV and Paramount+.
