⚽️ Belgium/Sweden Match Marred by and Abandoned Due to Terrorist Attack

Good morning. We make this newsletter bounce when we can. Most of the stories we tell trend to the lighter side of The Beautiful Game and The Greatest League in the World. But English soccer is no stranger to tragedy, and any story involving people who did something so joyous and innocent as attending a soccer match and never making it home is nightmare fuel.

In the email today:

There is no value in a cutesy intro paragraph here, and we’re not doing one. Here’s the story.

• A number of Premier League players were involved in the abandoned match between Belgium and Sweden after two Swedish football fans wearing shirts were shot and killed in Brussels before the match.

• Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku, on loan at Roma, equalized for Belgium from a penalty kick.

• Other notable players for Belgium in the game included Fulham's Timothy Castagne, Nottingham Forest's Orel Mangala, former Tottenham player Jan Vertonghen, and Leicester defender Wout Faes.

• Manchester City's Jeremy Doku was listed as a substitute for Belgium, along with Luton Town's Thomas Kaminski and former Chelsea player Michy Batshuayi.

• For Sweden, Aston Villa's Robin Olsen played as the goalkeeper, and Nottingham Forest forward Anthony Elanga was among the substitutes.

Our take: We don’t have one. This is a tragedy. We follow soccer in large part to forget about the darkest parts of life. Sometimes, though, the darkest parts won’t let us forget them.

2) 🎥 VAR Blundering Match Officials from Spurs/Liverpool Debacle Go Back to Work

Liverpool fans, never short on axes to grind, will surely cry foul about the reinstatement to active duty of the match officials who cost the Reds a crucial goal in their September 30 match with Tottenham Hotspur.

• Darren England and Daniel Cook are set to return to Premier League officiating.

• England and Cook were the VAR and assistant VAR when Luis Diaz's goal for Liverpool was wrongly disallowed for offside in 2-1 Spurs win.

• After the error, the pair was temporarily removed from officiating duties for subsequent matches.

• On Saturday, England will serve as the fourth official in the Brentford vs. Burnley match, while Cook will act as an assistant referee in Sheffield United's game against Manchester United.

• Howard Webb, the chief of referees, has implemented measures to prevent a recurrence of such controversies.

Our take: This was inevitable. England and Cook were never going to be, for instance, banished to the Championship or League One. Bringing them back after an international break is sort of the “same church, different pew” move as the classic Friday afternoon bad news dump. People are going to be so excited to have Premier League soccer back on Saturday (raises hand) they won’t care who is working the matches. This story has reached its terminus.

3) ❌ of the Day: Buy the Dip?

Bad day? Try bad year:

4) Which International Match Are You Most Interested in Today?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Links Roundup:

• 🔴 Erik ten Hag’s job at Manchester United may not be under immediate threat as Sir Jim Ratcliffe buys into the club.

• ⬇️ Kalvin Phillips’ unhappy stay at Manchester City may be nearing an end.

• 📆 Jonny Evans had considered retirement prior to his return to United.

• ⬇️ For every club academy darling who makes the big time, there are dozens who don’t.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil @philkeidel on X.

Thanks for reading!