Norway blocked from playing in Romania

Latest headlines

• Norway blocked from playing in Romania
• Birthday contract for Reyna
• Glasner, Wolfsburg clear the air

November 15

Norway blocked from playing in Romania

Norway are reportedly trying put together a second squad in an attempt to complete their Nations League campaign. The Norwegian government told the local FA that travelling to Bucharest for the game against Romania would serve as a breach of the country’s coronavirus restrictions after a squad player had tested positive for the virus earlier this week, resulting in the match being called off and the whole squad being put in quarantine.

On Saturday night, Germany’s game against Ukraine in Leipzig had been called into question due to five COVID-19 infections in Ukraine’s camp. Unlike Norway's game in Romania, the game between Joachim Löw’s side and Ukraine did go ahead after receiving the authorities’ approval, resulting in criticism.

November 13

Birthday contract for BVB's Reyna

Borussia Dortmund youngster Gio Reyna is set to receive a contract extension to keep him with the Bundesliga giants until 2024, according to reports in Germany.

American teenager Reyna (above), who turns 18 today (November 13), has established himself in Lucien Favre's starting XI this season, scoring two goals and setting up five more in just 12 games. This week, he made his international debut for the USMNT against Wales.

His new contract is reported to be worth €2.5 million a year.

Business as usual after air cleared in Wolfsburg

Oliver Glasner is set to remain head coach of Bundesliga club Wolfsburg despite having criticized the club over its transfer activities in the last transfer window. The club said in a press release on Friday that there had been a "constructive exchange" of ideas in a meeting involving Glasner, sporting director Marcel Schäfer and the board member responsible for sport, Jörg Schmadtke. Further details were not released, but the statement did say that "at no time" was a possible termination a topic of discussion. 

Last week, Glasner had complained publicly that the club had failed to sign another offensive player during the last transfer window. Schmadtke struck back, describing Glasner's wish as "unrealistic," leading to speculation that the 46-year-old Austrian coach could soon be out the door.  

November 11

Hungary round off Germany's group for Euro 2020

Hungary qualified for next year's European Championship in spectacular fashion, completing a remarkable late comeback to beat Iceland 2-1 in their qualification playoff in Budapest.

The Hungarians spent most of the game behind after RB Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi fumbled a free kick from Iceland captain Gylfi Sigurdsson 11 minutes in. But substitute Loic Nego equalized for the home side in the 88th minute before Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winning goal in second half stoppage time.

With their qualification, Hungary join a group that includes Germany, world champions France and defending European champions Portugal.

Meanwhile, North Macedonia qualified for their first European Championship after defeating Georgia 1-0.

The competition, set to take place in 12 European countries, was postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but organizers decided to keep the Euro 2020 name.

Entire Hoffenheim team in quarantine due to positive COVID-19 tests 

Hoffenheim have announced that their entire squad have been placed in quarantine after three more positive tests for the coronavirus at the Bundesliga club. Sebastian Rudy, Ishak Belfodil and a member of the coaching staff all came up positive on Wednesday. This comes a day after Israel's Munas Dabbur and Robert Skov of Denmark both tested positive for COVID-19 while with their national teams. Earlier this season, Andrej Kramaric and Kasim Adams tested positive while on duty with Croatia and Ghana respectively, while Pavel Kaderabek had to quarantine following a case in his family.

Hoffenheim sporting director Alexander Rosen said: "We can't explain the sudden increase, we've been sticking to the hygiene concept rigidly for months."

He added that Hoffenheim are in close consultation with the local health authorities. Their next match is against VfB Stuttgart on November 21.

Israel friendly with Norway called off 

In light of Munas Dabbur's positive coronavirus test while with the Israeli national team, the Norwegian authorities ordered the friendly between Israel and Norway in Oslo to be called off at short notice. Dabbur and a teammate with whom he had eaten dinner on Tuesday have been placed in isolation.

Sweden, Hungary coaches test positive for coronavirus 

Sweden coach Janne Andersson has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Swedish Football Association has announced. It said Andersson had been self-isolating since last week after a member of his family had tested positive and did not travel to Denmark for Wednesday's friendly.

Meanwhile, after testing positive for the virus, Hungary coach Marco Rossi has been separated from his team a day before their crucial Euro 2020 playoff match against Iceland, according to a statement from the Hungarian FA. 

Kroos slams FIFA, UEFA for too many competitions 

Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has sharply criticized FIFA and UEFA for expanding tournaments and creating new competitions. 

Kroos criticized the creation of the UEFA Nations League in 2018 as well as FIFA's expanded Club World Cup, which was set to take place in 2021 before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"With the invention of all these new things we seem to be just the puppets of FIFA and UEFA," Kroos said on a podcast which he presents with brother Felix, who plays for Bundesliga 2 side Eintracht Braunschweig. "These competitions are created to suck everything out of every single player physically and to suck out as much money as possible," he added.

Kroos' national team coach Joachim Löw has also warned of the physical burden being placed on players.

Groenwegen handed 9-month suspension 

Cycling's world governing body, the UCI has banned Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenewegen from racing for the next nine months for causing a sprint-finish crash at the Tour of Poland that left his compatriot, Fabio Jakobsen severely injured. Groenewegen, who has four Tour de France stage wins in his career, veered right in a sprint to the finish line on August 5, forcing Jakobsen to crash into roadside barriers. Jakobsen was awarded the stage win after Groenewegen was disqualified. He was treated in a medically induced coma and left needing reconstructive surgery on his face and jaw.

November 10

Bellingham promoted to senior England squad

Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham has received his first call-up to the senior England squad.

The 17-year-old midfielder was originally named in England's Under-21 squad, but injuries have created an opportunity for Bellingham, who has made 11 appearances for Dortmund this season, including in the Champions League.

Bellingham, who has impressed in Germany since his move from Birmingham City, will now link up with his compatriots ahead of the games against Ireland, Belgium and Iceland.

November 9

Kimmich's knee surgery a success

Joshua Kimmich will be out of the lineup until at least January after undergoing knee surgery, Bayern Munich announced late on Sunday. 

"We're glad that Joshua will probably be available again in a matter of weeks. We'll support him in his rehabilitation as best we can,'' sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said in a statement.

Kimmich had to be helped off the pitch after damaging the meniscus in his right knee in a challenge on Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland during Bayern's 3-2 win on Saturday.

The injury has also ruled the midfielder out for Germany's upcoming friendly and Nations League matches. 

Germany coach Joachim Low said he was happy that the surgery had gone well and that "the most important thing is that he will get the time and peace he needs now in order to recover completely."

Löw not ruling out Götze comeback

Germany coach Joachim Löw has said he is not ruling out a return to the national team of Mario Götze. Löw said he was in regular contact with the attacking midfielder, who has scored two goals in his first five matches with PSV Eindhoven. 

Löw told the "Sportbuzzer" website that Götze's move to the Netherlands was "exactly the right decision." Löw added that the 28-year-old former Dortmund and Bayern player looked "fresh and agile and you can see he's having fun. " 

Götze has scored 17 goals in 63 appearances for his country, including the one that won Germany the 2014 World Cup. His last callup to Löw's squad was three years ago.  

Klopp, Guardiola complain about strain on players

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp and his counterpart at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola have complained about a congested Premier League schedule, which they say is placing what they feel is an unfair burden on their players. 

"I understand the need of television 100%, but the Premier League needs to fulfil the position of unity among the players as well. The 12:30 (kick-off) is the killer," Klopp said. 

Guardiola agreed.  

"LeBron James won the NBA title and now he is on holiday for one or two months," the City boss said. "Our guys had eight days. It's games, games, games, because TV decided to do it." 

Klopp also bemoaned the fact that at the start of the campaign, the Premier League reverted to the three-substitute rule after being allowed five due to the coronavirus when play restarted behind closed doors to finish last season. The decision came after the Premier League's top teams lost a vote on the five-sub rule, with smaller clubs concerned that this would have benefited those with bigger squads. 

"It's the only big league with only three subs," Klopp said. "Big surprise. It's a lack of leadership. If 14 teams do not agree that five subs should happen then at least let the top six sub five times when we play each other." 

The two teams battled to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.