FOOTBALL DAILY: Rovers take on Ararat | Spain's Palestinian support | Argentina to face possible disciplinary action
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Hello and welcome along to Tuesday's Football Daily. I'm Phil Egan. Coming up today, Shamrock Rovers are in Armenia for their Champions League qualifier. Argentina could face disciplinary action for their conduct after Sunday's World Cup final. And is Pep Guardiola the man to turn things around with Italian football? But first up, Shamrock Rovers are in Yerevan for their latest Champions League qualifier. Rovers play Ararat, Armenia in the second qualifying round, a stage the Premier Division champions haven't gone beyond since 2011 when Michael O'Neill was in charge and that season they went on to reach the group stage in the Europa League. Stephen Bradley said no, a win would set up a meeting with either Slovenian champions Celja or Ignatia of Albania in the next round.
Rovers are already guaranteed a place in the third qualifying round of the Europa League. Ararat won a third Armenian Premier League title last season and they beat Riga 4-3 in aggregate in the first qualifying round. Rovers captain Pico Lopez says it's a big chance for the club in the Champions' path.
Yeah, it's huge. It's massively important to say. Winning that first round opens up so many possibilities and that's what we want. We want to try and go one better than we did last year and that has to be Europa League. So that's our goal. I think everyone's pretty clear on that. So by getting that first round win, we've opened up a massive opportunity. It's a big test to get through first and we're looking forward to it.
Kick-off in Yerevan is 5 o'clock. Elsewhere in the Champions League qualifiers, Hearts are in Austria to face Sturm Graz. Niffel Premier Division champions Larn are at home to Red Star Belgrade in the first leg. FIFA has confirmed that Argentina will face an investigation into the ugly scenes at the end of the World Cup final. FIFA's disciplinary committee has appointed a disciplinary and ethics prosecutor to assess what happened after the final whistle in New Jersey yesterday. Any player or coach involved could face suspension, while the Argentine FA may also be fined. Shortly after Spain's 1-0 win on Sunday, members of the Argentina squad and backroom team were involved in altercations with Spain players as they started to celebrate their World Cup success.
Nahul Molina, Leandro Paredes, Thiago Almada and assistant coach Roberto Ayala all appeared to be involved. It was incorrectly reported on FIFA's commentator information though that Paredes had been sent off by the referee Slavko Vincic for pushing Spain's Eric Garcia. Paredes' red card was deleted shortly afterwards and FIFA has confirmed no disciplinary action was taken at the time. FIFA had already started the process of potential disciplinary action against Argentina after their players held a banner in support of their country's claims to the Falkland Islands after they had beaten England 2-1 in the semi-finals. Writer and broadcaster Marcela Mora y Araujo joined Michael McCarthy in the football show last night to speak about the World Cup final and she spoke of the Lena Messi fairy tale.
Everybody, well, not everybody, but the vast majority of people wanted the Messi fairy tale and wanted this incredible once-in-a-lifetime, probably once-in-many-lifetimes player to finish his international career in the best possible way and have the fairy tale moment. But it was counterpointed by... let's say a rough and ready team who had moments throughout the World Cup but also were physical and aggressive and I think people could get behind that and then there's a moment or there's a visible line that they cross and it seemed last night as the game went on People were just turning against Argentina. And I suppose the less Messi was involved, the more that became a factor. And it is something that seems to be always within the psyche of an Argentinian team is that it's fight and grit and determination.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–6:01
2
What is the preview for Shamrock Rovers' Champions League qualifier in Yerevan?
6:01–10:23
3
How does Pico López describe Rovers' ambitions in the Champions' Path?
10:23–12:11
4
Which other Champions League qualifier fixtures are mentioned and why do they matter?
12:11–13:10
5
What disciplinary action is FIFA opening over Argentina's World Cup final conduct?
13:10–14:33
6
Which Argentina players and staff are reported to be involved in the post‑final altercations?
14:33–16:11
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from OTB Football
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