Summary: Nearing the end of an international break in which many surprises began to emerge both in Europe and in Africa for continental qualification, all the midweek attention soon descended upon the matter of Serbia-Albania where once again conflict and political agenda swept football aside for a moment to remind football that all cannot be solved by simply competing on a pitch. Stepping up at this critical juncture with Anto are Phil Brown and Nicolino DiBenedetto of the BTP team to discuss the matter of surprising results in Europe, starting with Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales, along with the troubling signs from the Balkans and the continued blind spot the UEFA tends to use when applying political reasoning to which teams can compete and which national teams are considered too risky for its competitions. We also touch on the matter of Roy Hodgson and Rahim Sterling and add a finishing touch of Roy Keane to close a week in which the former Manchester United hardpan continues to dominate the sports newsday quite like no other figure in the sport. Then up next Nicolino Di Benedetto who helps us untangle the Donovan and Klinsmann dynamic as the US Soccer icon prepares to leave the sport professionally, and how is legacy seems to be defined by the same ideological expectations that surrounded his career. Unfortunately, his failure to make the last cut for Brazil 2014 will always arouse thoughts about what his addition could have meant and serves to reaffirm just how linked Landon Donovan will be with Klinsmann as his career comes to a close. Then in part three, Claudia Ekai of SuperSport in Africa joins us for the first time to explore AFCON 2015 qualification from the top performers to the surprises and how a number of African players are stepping forward to express their recognition of how the European marketplace assesses their value to the game and why CAF needs to step up and deliver the goods with respect to marketing African football in a different light. We also explore calls from Morocco to postpone the tournament due to the Ebola virus gripping the continent and whether the CAF Champions League needs the same marketing push that the players need so importantly.
