The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast TOB Sports Media

EURO 2024 is just around the corner and we have put the tournament under the spotlight in typically Sweeper style in Part 1. How did Austria’s Maximilian Entrup go from a third-tier amateur/PE teacher to a place at EURO 2024 in the space of a year? Does Georgia’s Budu Zivzivadze harbour any regrets about choosing football over chess? Who is the only player at the tournament currently on the books of a third-tier European club? And where does Latvia’s 0-0 draw with Germany in 2004 rank among the all-time biggest EURO shocks?



Part 2 is dedicated to the rest of the international football news. Was San Marino’s recent friendly against Slovakia at a stadium with a water slide behind the main stand in Austria's ugliest town our most random live game to date? Why have FIFA ruled that AFCON top scorer Emilio Nsue has actually been ineligible to play for Equatorial Guinea over the past 11 years? And why did everyone think that Syria had beaten North Korea 1-0 when it was actually the other way around?



You can join us for Part 3 over on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod as we reflect on some international news from the Caribbean and a selection of other stories. What did the Cayman Islands players fear they might lose ahead of their recent World Cup qualifying trip to Cuba? Why did Bonaire contest a recent friendly against a ninth-tier team from the Netherlands? And why has Spanish goalkeeper Miguel Guerreiro given up on his Only Fans dream and made a return to football with Velez in the fourth tier?



RUNNING ORDER

00:00 – Intro

01:05 – EURO 2024 alternative career paths

09:28 – EURO 2024 players outside the top tier

14:17 – EURO 2024 underdogs & outsiders

21:20 – Mystery shirt guessing game

24:36 – San Marino’s water slide away day

33:46 – Emilio Nsue’s Equatoguinean ineligibility

39:02 – North Korea’s secret Syria score

Greenland tops the agenda in Part 1 following the news of their CONCACAF application and their friendly against Turkmenistan – the Arctic island's first game against a senior men’s national team since 2013. But what are their odds of making it into the governing body of North and Central America & the Caribbean? Where will they play their home games? And how did they engineer a friendly against the national team of one of the world’s most repressive countries?

In Part 2, we look at some more headlines from across the football world. Why are the Afghanistan women’s national team in exile in Australia and how are Melbourne Victory supporting them? How did inspirational amputee footballer Marcin Oleksy turn personal tragedy into incredible success? Why has a Hungarian U14 regional league made headlines across the football world? And could an Italian footballer’s touchline fight with a ball boy end his career?

Join us for Part 3 at patreon.com/SweeperPod as we discuss further international and club football stories. What can we expect from the CONIFA Women’s World Cup in Bodø, Norway? Why was Cameroon FA president Samuel Eto’o forced to reinstate coach Marc Brys? What non-footballing factor led to Columbus Crew’s downfall in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final? And how will new
Fenerbahçe boss José Mourinho fare in Türkiye?

RUNNING ORDER
00:00 – Intro
00:57 – Greenland’s CONCACAF application
10:56 – The friendly vs. Turkmenistan
17:53 – Random friendlies involving CONCACAF nations
21:19 – The Afghanistan women’s team in exile
26:48 – Crutch fight at the AFCON for Amputees
30:42 – A 41-goal swing in an U14 league
34:02 – A suspicious fight with a ball boy
VIDEO: The crutch fight at the AFCON for Amputees: x.com/AfricaFutbolera/status/1795194203619647904
VIDEO: Marcin Oleksy’s Puskas Award-winning
goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNJhcsMfWeg&ab_channel=FIFA

Part 1 contains an international round-up of European minnows inside and outside of UEFA. In which version of football has Gibraltar become a European champion? Why has Corsica recently hosted their counterparts from Sardinia, Sicily & St. Martin? Will we watch San Marino vs. Slovakia from the top of a water slide? And which football stadium straddles an EU/non-EU border?

Up next in Part 2 are a series of records and achievements from across the football world. What remarkable feat did Attack Energy Herat accomplish en route to winning the Afghan Super League? Why did a goalkeeper recently take three penalties in Israel? And is Turkmenistan's dictator partly responsible for the longest winning run in football history?

Join us for Part 3 on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod as we look at Pas de la Casa's run to the Andorran Cup final without winning a game, hear about the world's ugliest building in the Kosovan capital Pristina, play a UEFA Conference League-themed game of 'Pointless' and discuss the collapse of a goal frame in the USA.

RUNNING ORDER:
00:00 - Intro
01:10 - Gibraltar's walking football triumph
06:20 - The return of the Corsica Cup
15:03 - San Marino vs. Slovakia & quirky football grounds
21:54 - Attack Energy Herat's perfect Afghan season
24:56 - A 22nd consecutive Bosnian title for SFK 2000
26:54 - The longest penalty shootout ever in Israel
29:06 - Ascent Soccer U21s' remarkable feat in Malawi
32:36 - 47 straight wins for Arkadag in Turkmenistan

VIDEO: The annual All-Priests Over 75s Five-a-Side Football Challenge Match from Father Ted: https://bit.ly/FatherTedVideo

VIDEO: The longest penalty shootout in football history in Israel: https://bit.ly/IsraelPenaltyShootoutVideo

Part 1 brings you a full round-up of all the news from the Benelux countries. What controversial actions recently earned a Dutch referee a lifelong ban from football? Why are two storied Belgian clubs facing an existential threat? And what strange series of events could lead to European football being played on a Luxembourgish campsite this summer?

Next up in Part 2 is a round-up of all the action from the rest of Europe. How have Sturm Graz finally managed to dethrone Red Bull Salzburg and does it mark a turning point for Austrian football? How did a marriage proposal mentally unsettle a goalkeeper in the Albanian Cup final? And why have Finnish club SJK Seinäjoki started giving away free sausages to fans?

Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod
for Part 3 to find out how Baltika have managed to reach the Russian Cup final despite already being eliminated, why Poland wins our award for the most unpredictable country in Europe in the 2023/24 season and how a raccoon managed to evade capture for 161 seconds in a recent MLS fixture.

RUNNING ORDER:

00:00 - Intro

00:58 - The Dutch referee who celebrated

10:00 - The two Belgian clubs on the brink

15:08 - Surprises and campsites in Luxembourg

20:40 - Party time for Sturm Graz in Austria

33:11 - Egnatia's Albanian double bid & a proposal

38:02 - Free sausages at SJK Seinäjoki in Finland

Part 1 of the latest Sweeper sees Lee & Paul profile three clubs from around the football world: Italians Como, Australia’s Central Coast Mariners & Petrocub of Moldova. Join us to find out where Italy’s richest club might be playing their Serie A home games next term, why the Central Coast Mariners have flown 100,000km in economy class this season and how a Ghanaian takeover has propelled Petrocub to Super Liga success.

In Part 2, the team swap the serious journalism for a selection of silly stories. Why did a Dinamo Bucharest player refuse to show the club his driving license? What outlandish claim did the Lion City Sailors social media admin recently make on Twitter? Why has an untimely toilet break in the Swedish fifth tier prompted furious calls for a replay? And what led a club doctor in Brazil to take over the coaching reins at half-time in a recent game?

The bonus segment includes Lee’s desperate attempt to zoom across Austria on Sunday morning in the hope of seeing Sturm Graz lift the Bundesliga, a story from Paul about an unusual Italian football auction & the tale of the Vatican team docked points for guarding the Pope. You can join us for that and plenty more benefits besides at patreon.com/SweeperPod. Your support is appreciated and all proceeds are reinvested into the podcast.

RUNNING ORDER:

00:00 - Intro

01:05 - Como's meteoric rise

07:15 - Central Coast Mariners' Asian odyssey

13:40 - Petrocub's first-ever title

20:06 - Romania's twin identity saga

23:45 - A social media slip-up in Singapore

26:57 - Sweden's controversial 'toilet goal'

30:24 - Brazil's club doctor turned head coach

32:43 - The Thimphu City competition draw

Is this the best-ever Sweeper line-up? In Part 1, Lee & Paul discuss stories from the lower tiers in Spain, Germany & the Netherlands. How has a team from a Spanish village
of 100 people gained promotion? What are the smallest European settlements with a football team? Why did a German footballer hire a plane for a derby on a neighbouring island? And how can the longest journey in Dutch football be between two towns that are 4km apart?

 

Part 2 contains more stories from across the European continent. What mistake did a Dutch stadium announcer recently make to cause a pitch invasion? Which second-tier club might we see in European competition next season? Why did a Polish football fan hike 100 kilometres to meet a goalkeeper who scored on April Fool’s Day? And why do Oslo-based YMCA club KFUM Kameratene have to go across a Zebra crossing to reach their pitch?



If you want scintillating stories from other continents, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod as we travel to Argentina, Canada & the Philippines. Why has an Argentinian football coach spent 24 years living at club headquarters? Is Canada’s Frostbite Cup really the coldest competition in world football? And why has the Philippines allowed non-professional teams to compete with pro clubs in its top flight?



RUNNING ORDER:

00:00 - Intro

01:03 - Subiza's rise to Spanish fourth tier

03:51 - Smallest football towns in Europe

06:17 - The island derby in East Frisia

09:59 - The island derby in West Frisia

14:00 - The sorry plight of Vitesse Arnhem

17:57 - The Roda JC stadium announcer

20:45 - Second-tier Wisła Kraków's cup win

24:57 - A 100km hike to meet scoring keeper

26:49 - The goal-kick that took out a seagull

28:08 - Cringe rap & Zebra crossings in Oslo