Thursday, March 28TRUSTED FEARLESS INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS PORTAL

Tag: Soccer

Sports

Not Lionel Messi’s American Dream, America’s Messi dream

Lionel Messi would not feature in Inter Miami’s next fixture, against Philadelphia Union on June 24. His contract with PSG ends only a week later, and he is expected to make his Major League Soccer debut later next month. But MLS has been buzzing in anticipation in what is dubbed as the league’s biggest moment since Pele descended in New York and changed the game in the country forever, four-and-half decades ago. Even before Messi has worn the Inter Miami shirt, the delirium has soared into the pristine skies of the Sunshine State. The tickets for Miami’s games have been sold out, despite a spike of 1000 percent for certain games. The cheapest for Inter’s Leagues Cup encounter against Mexico City’s Cruz Azul on July 21, assumed to be his first match with the club, leapt from $29 to $45...
Sports

Karim Benzema’s Real exit ‘surprise to everyone’, says Carlo Ancelotti

Karim Benzema’s decision to leave Real Madrid after 14 trophy-laden years was a surprise, manager Carlo Ancelotti said, but insisted that the Ballon d’Or winner has earned the right to choose. The 35-year-old striker will exit Real as a free agent in the close season, with the Frenchman linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad. “His departure has come as a surprise to everyone, but it has to be understood. It was a last-minute decision,” Ancelotti told reporters after Real’s clash against Athletic Bilbao. “Yesterday, he trained normally, and today he’s taken this decision. We have accepted it. I spoke to him this morning, and he said he was leaving, and I understood. “He’s thought it through and his decision forms part of the transition of this club, which continues...
Sports

Jordan’s ‘friendly’ derby ends in ugly clashes in Palestinian territories

An ill-tempered derby between Jordanian rivals Al-Wehdat and Al-Faisaly as part of a four-team friendly tournament held in the Palestinian territories ended on Monday with clashes between players and fans rioting, causing the game to be suspended. The opening match of the “Jerusalem and Al-Karama friendly tournament” in the Faisal Al-Husseini stadium in the Israeli-occupied West Bank was level at 1-1 going into stoppage time before a mass brawl broke out after a foul by an Al-Faisaly player. Fans threw bottles onto the pitch and some entered the field of play, causing the match to be ended early. Al-Faisaly’s Twitter account said “our team left the stadium to go to our residence in preparation for departure… to Amman”. Two Palestinians clubs, Hilal Al-Quds and Jabal Al-Mukaber, were due...
Sports

Harry Maguire has decision to make about Manchester United future, says Erik Ten Hag

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said he is happy to have Harry Maguire in the squad but the centre back will have to make a decision about his future after losing his spot in the side. The England international has fallen down the pecking order behind Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof, with even left back Luke Shaw having played in central defence, leaving Maguire with eight starts in the league this season. Maguire became the world’s most expensive defender when United signed him from Leicester City for 80 million pounds ($100.97 million) in 2019. His contract is due to end in 2025. Asked about Maguire’s future, Ten Hag told the Times newspaper: “Let’s say I’m happy he’s here and when we needed him he did his job. But it’s also a decision he has to make.” The...
Sports

Victor Osimhen double but champions Napoli held by Bologna

Napoli forward Victor Osimhen scored in each half but the Serie A champions were held to a surprise 2-2 draw at Bologna on Sunday. Napoli missed out on the opportunity to surpass their club record of 91 points in a season, set in 2017-18, and now have 87 with one match remaining. The league’s leading scorer Osimhen struck after 14 minutes and doubled Napoli’s lead nine minutes into the second half. The 24-year-old Nigeria international has netted 25 times in Serie A this season. Bologna fought back strongly, however, with Lewis Ferguson scoring after 63 minutes and Lorenzo De Silvestri equalising with a header six minutes from time. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n....
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AIFF looks to increase teams in I-League, number of foreigners in squad to be reduced

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is looking to increase the number of teams in the I-League, and has also received recommendations from its league committee to cap the number of registered foreign players in the squad at five, and three in the playing XI. The recommendations were passed during the league committee meeting through video conferencing on Monday. “The first thing on the committee’s agenda was to increase the number of teams in the I-League, for which, it was recommended by its members that bids be invited in a triple-tier system in order to provide opportunities to aspiring clubs and/or investors from various socio-economic backdrops,” the AIFF said in a press release. New Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, and Noida have been id...
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Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged by another ex-Man Utd forward Odion Ighalo

Cristiano Ronaldo was upstaged by another former Manchester United forward in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as Al-Hilal’s Odion Ighalo scored twice from the penalty spot in a 2-0 win over Al-Nassr. Portugal striker Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr on a lucrative deal last January and scored eight goals in his first five games but he has been unable to sustain that pace. In Al-Nassr’s first game since the departure of coach Rudi Garcia, Ronaldo drew a blank while Ighalo, who had a loan spell at Manchester United in 2020, scored twice to hand Asian champions Al-Hilal the win. Ronaldo was yellow carded in the 57th minute after he tangled with Gustavo Cuellar and things only got worse from there. The 38-year-old had a goal disallowed for offside in the 77th minute and after he was awarded a penalty six ...
Sports

UCL 2023: Manchester City aim to finish off Bayern in Champions League

Manchester City and Bayern Munich’s seasons are each defined by one signing — for better or worse. As City prepares to finish off Bayern in the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday after beating the German champions 3-0 in the first leg, Erling Haaland has redefined the role of a modern striker. Haaland has scored 47 goals in 40 games in all competitions, and has a possible 13 more games to play this season. The Norwegian scored against Bayern in the first leg after demolishing another German team, Leipzig, with five goals in the previous round. Then there’s Sadio Mané. The Senegal forward was supposed to reshape Bayern’s attack into a fluid, flexible threat less reliant on a traditional striker when he joined from Liverpool last year as Robert Lewandowski left. However, Mané has...
Sports

Premier League to withdraw gambling sponsorships from shirts

Premier League clubs have collectively agreed to stop featuring gambling sponsorships on the front of soccer kits from the 2026-27 season, the English top-flight league said on Thursday. Eight of the 20 clubs in the league currently have betting companies as shirt sponsors, including Newcastle United (Fun88), West Ham United (Betway) and Everton (Stake.com). The UK government is expected to publish a white paper – a proposal for future legislation – on gambling regulation. According to a report in The Times, ministers have signalled that the white paper will not include shirt sponsorship restrictions if the voluntary agreement was reached. The report added that sleeve deals are still permitted. “Premier League clubs have today collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from th...
Sports

India rout Kyrgyz Republic again; enter AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 Bishkek

The Indian women’s team registered their second successive win, defeating hosts Kyrgyz Republic 4-0 at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium to seal qualification for Round 2 of the 2024 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Having defeated the hosts 5-0 in their first match earlier this week, India exerted their dominance over the Kyrgyz Republic once again, with Sandhiya Ranganathan netting a brace, and Anju Tamang and substitute Renu scoring a goal each on Friday. The Blue Tigresses got off to a good start, and it did not take them long to get the lead as Sandhiya scored in the 18th minute, beating two defenders before tucking her shot past the rival goalkeeper. A few minutes later, India suffered a setback when Karthika Angamuthu was sent off for an off-the-ball challenge on Kyrgyz capta...