Brazil got the better of a gritty United States team, running out 2-0 winners at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Friday night. The U.S. started a very young lineup, with 25-year-old Bobby Wood the oldest player in Dave Sarachan’s XI, against a Brazil side that was eliminated from the World Cup in the quarterfinals by Belgium in Russia. Brazil wasted no time opening the scoring as Douglas Costa beat Antonee Robinson on the right flank and curled in a perfect cross for Roberto Firmino to side-foot home past Zack Steffen in the U.S. goal just after the…
Author: David Folami
Paris Saint-Germain attacker Timothy Weah told Sirius XM radio that he has grown close with Neymar and the rest of the team’s Brazilian players. “I just want to point out Neymar, because he is one of the players that I did look up to,” said Weah. “He was my idol a few years ago and now he is one of my closest friends on the team — he even invited me to come to Brazil. To see that from such a high-level player, a guy that I look up to, and he is now inviting me to Brazil himself, we…
Gareth Southgate indicated that he would be interested in extending his contract as England manager beyond Euro 2020. Reports in August claimed that the Football Association are confident of keeping Southgate in charge of the national side through to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Speaking at the time, FA chief executive Martin Glenn said all parties shared a desire to reach an agreement over a new deal, hinting that talks would begin as soon as Southgate returned from his post-World Cup holiday. “There is a lot for everybody to think about,” he said when asked about the possibility of…
Real Madrid said they have enjoyed their largest increase in revenue in 18 years, raising a total of €750.9 million for the 2017-18 financial year as their net worth increased to €494.5m. The club sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus in July for €100m, and they signed Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius Jr., Mariano Diaz, Alvaro Odriozola and Andriy Lunin for nearly €150m. In a statement, Madrid said their success in several sporting departments has led to increased revenues but also greater expenses because of bonuses paid to personnel. Meanwhile, the club would like to explore renovations to the Santiago Bernabeu, with the…
Leroy Sane has left the Germany squad because his girlfriend is due to give birth, sources have said. Sane was recalled by manager Joachim Low after being surprisingly left out of the squad for the World Cup in the summer. He was an 83rd-minute substitute in the 0-0 draw with France on Thursday in the UEFA Nations League and will now miss Sunday’s friendly with Peru. “Following discussions with head coach Joachim Low, Leroy Sane has left the team hotel in Munich for private reasons and will not be available,” the German FA said in a statement. Sane last started…
David De Gea appears set to remain Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper after new coach Luis Enrique insisted he “never had any doubts” about the question of who should be No. 1 for the national side. Luis Enrique included both De Gea and Kepa in his first 23-man squad to face England and Croatia in the UEFA Nations League, but appeared to back the United goalkeeper when the issue was raised in a news conference on Friday. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future but that’s a position I haven’t had any doubts about,” the Spain coach said. “Never.”…
Luis Suarez scored twice and added an assist as Uruguay beat Mexico 4-1 in Houston on Friday. Both teams started lineups that featured several veterans from their campaigns at the World Cup that saw Mexico reach the round of 16 and Uruguay bow to eventual champions France in the quarterfinals. Mexico dominated early play in front of an El Tri-friendly crowd before Jose Maria Gimenez headed in Uruguay’s first goal off a corner kick in the 22nd minute. Mexico quickly responded three minutes later after Hirving Lozano was brought down inside the penalty box, with Raul Jimenez converting to briefly…
Manchester United will have to bide their time before discovering whether defender Luke Shaw will opt to sign a new contract amid continuing interest from Tottenham. Left-back Shaw, who has re-established himself in the first team this season, is out of contract at the end of the campaign, and the Sun says United “are keen to avoid losing him for nothing.” Although the 23-year-old England international will be offered a hefty increase on his current wages, “he is in no rush to make a decision.” Shaw was criticised by Jose Mourinho last season, but the Sun says the Old Trafford…
Thibaut Courtois admitted he is saddened by the hostility he has experienced from Chelsea supporters since leaving Stamford Bridge to join Real Madrid. A large section of Chelsea fans turned against Courtois when he refused to report for preseason training in an attempt to force through the move, which in turn forced the Blues to scramble in search of a replacement No. 1 goalkeeper before the Premier League transfer deadline. Kepa Arrizabalaga’s arrival at Stamford Bridge as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper in a £71.5 million move from Athletic Bilbao eventually paved the way for Courtois to return to the…
Angel Gomes has refused to get carried away amid the hype of a promising future at Manchester United, saying that he knows maintaining his focus will help him succeed long-term at the club. The forward is among United’s top bracket of prospects, joining Tahith Chong, Ethan Laird, James Garner and Mason Greenwood. “I’ve got to put that [expectation] to one side,” Gomes said. “The best players get to the top because they have stayed level-headed. I’ve got to carry on working hard and keep putting everything in to training and games.” Speaking after United’s under-23s defeated Stoke City 1-0 at…
Kevin-Prince Boateng has said he understands why Mesut Ozil withdrew from international competition amid growing tensions in German society and football “because I have been there.” A German pundit said in 2009 that Boateng “was not able to be reintegrated into society” after a foul on Wolfsburg’s Makoto Hasebe, and after the Ballack incident, he was referred to as the “bad boy” of German football. Boateng switched allegiances to play for Ghana, the home country of his father, amid the backlash. “To be honest, I was shocked, because I never expected it,” Boateng told Bild when asked about Ozil’s withdrawal.…
Thomas Tuchel has emphasised his “love” for working with Adrien Rabiot but the Paris Saint-Germain coach also admitted that he has “no influence over the rest” as the midfielder is chased by Barcelona, Manchester City and Liverpool. Rabiot, 23, is into the final 12 months of his contract and sources have said that the France international’s mother and agent Veronique has been in contact with Liverpool as talks involving PSG sporting director Antero Henrique and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi are yet to prove fruitful. “I really like Adrien, really,” Tuchel told RMC. “I appreciate him. “There was a difficult situation after…
Toby Alderweireld said he was not interested in leaving the club this summer amid reports he was set to join Manchester United. Sources have said that United made a £50 million bid for Alderweireld, £20m less than Tottenham wanted, and negotiations over the Belgium international continued until the Premier League transfer deadline on Aug. 9. “Everyone was saying everywhere that I absolutely wanted to leave Tottenham,” Alderweireld said at a news conference ahead of Belgium’s UEFA Nations League game against Iceland on Tuesday. “That’s not true. This summer, I quickly understood Tottenham wanted to keep me. So, I had to…
Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic has said international teammate Luka Modric is the outstanding player over the last year but reiterated his belief that Lionel Messi remains the best in the world. Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid last season and helped Croatia reach the World Cup final, where they lost to France, and Rakitic backed his Croatia colleague over his Barca teammate. “Messi is the best player in the world and in the history of the game [but this year] Luka deserves everything,” Rakitic told reporters. “Everyone in Croatia is delighted for him [winning the UEFA award] because it’s…
Marcus Rashford went into the international break under a cloud, after being red-carded for rashly lowering his head into Phil Bardsley’s face during Manchester United’s 2-0 win at Burnley, but he emerges from it as one of the few players to have scored points — and the only one to have scored any goals — for England. The 20-year-old was England’s goal scorer in their 2-1 loss to Spain in their Nations League opener at Wembley, and he was the match-winner for Gareth Southgate’s men against Switzerland, ghosting in at the back post to apply a crisp volleyed finish to…
Brazil coach Tite opened a news conference on Monday by responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of his team’s World Cup performance, holding up his left hand to signify the five titles Brazil has won over the history of the competition. Trump joked with a reporter during a ceremony at the White House last month that Brazil “had a little problem” in the World Cup, referring to the national team’s quarterfinal loss to Belgium in July. But Tite, whose team will face El Salvador at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, on Tuesday, began his news conference after a…
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said the team’s No. 10 is “exclusively” reserved for Lionel Messi until their star player decides his international future. Messi, who captained Argentina to the round of 16 at the World Cup, has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the national team. However, speaking at a news conference ahead of Argentina’s friendly against Colombia in New Jersey on Tuesday, Scaloni said: “Most of the players that went to the World Cup have kept their numbers. “In this case, Argentina No. 10 belongs to Messi until he says whether or not he will continue. In principle,…
Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration will ensure judicious utilisation of recovered stolen public funds to address the nation’s socio-economic problems. He said that his administration would not allow the wanton diversion and embezzlement of public funds into private pockets. According to him, the Federal Government will continue to take all necessary measures to deprive looters of public assets access to the fruits of their crimes. “It is in keeping with the anti-corruption policy of this government, and in line with global best practices that this Committee was set-up to review our asset recovery and management practices in order to…
Lai Mohammed has said that President Buhari’s administration has reduced the killings arising from the Fulani herdsmen crisis in Nigeria. The minister made this known at a Special Town Hall meeting on security in Gusau, Zamfara State, on Monday, September 10, 2018. According to reports, he said the “drastic fall in the killings resulted from concerted and committed actions by the Federal Government to curtail the farmers-herders clashes, cattle rustling and other acts of banditry. ”Let me say straight away that the killings, resulting from farmers-herders clashes, cattle rustling, trans-border crimes and banditry, among others, have fallen drastically. Unfortunately, this…
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, says President Muhammadu Buhari, will lead Nigeria’s delegation to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, which begins Sept. 18, 2018. The 73rd UNGA will begin Sept. 18 at the UN Headquarters, New York, while the General Debate will hold from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, 2018. Onyeama, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a news conference on the 73 UNGA, said Mr President would use the opportunity to assert Nigeria’s position on global issues. “It an opportunity for him to assert Nigeria’s position globally and to put forward…