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Tag: World Cup

  • Ronaldo did not ask to leave Portugal camp in Qatar, Santos says

    Although Cristiano Ronaldo has never requested to leave the Portugal World Cup team, manager Fernando Santos did acknowledge that the veteran striker was unhappy about being benched for the match against Switzerland.

    The 37-year-old was not included for Portugal’s 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the round of 16 to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup with Morocco.

    It was categorically refuted that Santos and Ronaldo had a huge falling out and that the latter had threatened to leave.

    Santos said: “We had a conversation. I don’t do that with all the players but he’s the captain of the squad. You know what he represents for Portuguese football, for the Portuguese people and for the national team.

    “It was on the day of the match after lunch. I explained to him why he would not play and said in terms of our strategy ‘I think it would be better if you did not start. I think the game will be difficult and I will save you for the second half’.

    “Cristiano was obviously not very happy as he has always been a starting player. But we had a normal conversation in which I explained my points and he accepted them.

    “He never told me he wanted to leave the national team.”

    Santos frequently has a frustrated expression, but the persistent inquiries about the former Manchester United and Real Madrid great really baffled him.

    “It’s high time we stopped with this conversation and look at what he did in the match,” he added.

    “He warmed up with his colleagues, he celebrated all the goals and he was the one who invited the players to applaud the fans at the end. It’s time for you [the media] to leave Cristiano alone.

    “Ninety per cent of the questions are about Cristiano.”

    Ronaldo’s replacement against Switzerland, Goncalo Ramos, scored a hat-trick as part of a team that displayed more verve and attacking threat than in previous games in Qatar.

    Santos refused to confirm whether Ramos would keep his place against Morocco or if Ronaldo would return.

    “Just because a team wins doesn’t mean you can’t change it,” he said. “The team we play on Saturday will present different challenges, they are a very different team to Switzerland.

    “They are well-organised with many players who play for the biggest clubs in the world. This will not be an easy game.”

    Playmaker Joao Felix was another who shone against the Swiss, arguably playing his best game of the tournament. Asked if he felt the shackles had been released with Ronaldo absent, he said: “I don’t think it’s mandatory to pass to Cristiano. We try to pass to the player that’s available.

    “Independent of Cristiano being on the field, we have the same tactics, the ones we’ve been using for all four games. He has skills that other players have and vice-versa. We, as a team, have our own identity and we focus on that.”

     

  • Messi’s legacy to be intact even without World Cup trophy, Guedioura says

    According to Adlene Guedioura, Lionel Messi does not require a World Cup victory to establish his legacy.

    Messi, a seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, has eight league championships and four Champions League trophies to his name.

    Messi hasn’t had much luck with Argentina’s international teams, though he did win the Copa America last year after three previous runners-up finishes.

    Messi came very close to winning the World Cup in 2014, but Mario Gotze’s extra-time winner ended up being La Albiceleste’s final heartbreak.

    Some have claimed that the 35-year-failure old’s to win international football’s greatest honor will damage his legacy in comparison to players like Pele and compatriot Diego Maradona.

    Messi may have one more chance to win the World Cup at the current tournament in Qatar, where his Argentina team will play the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Friday.

    Guedioura is of the opinion that Messi’s legacy will not be damaged even if Argentina fails in their quest to win a third World Cup in Qatar.

    Asked if he feels the potential gap in Messi’s trophy cabinet will impact how he is remembered, the former Algeria midfielder told Stats Perform: “Not at all. We’ve enjoyed him for such a long time with [Cristiano] Ronaldo.

    “I think, of course, a title with Argentina will put him on the top of everything. But watching him in Barcelona and with Paris Saint-Germain is something special.”

    Argentina came into the tournament on a run of 36 matches unbeaten, but that streak came to a stunning end when they were beaten 2-1 by Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener.

    La Albiceleste have steadied the ship, though, finishing top of Group C and beating Australia in the round of 16 to set up the meeting with the Netherlands.

    Despite Argentina’s improvement, Guedioura highlighted rivals Brazil as the team more likely to take the trophy back to South America, explaining: “Argentina started poorly with Saudi Arabia.

    “Maybe, it was a little accident or a little warning for them. But compared to Brazil, I feel Brazil they are stronger than Argentina.”

    Guedioura played for Algeria at the 2010 World Cup, and though his nation failed to qualify this year, fellow African sides Senegal and Morocco made it to the knockout stages, with the latter set to face Portugal in the last eight.

    The Al-Duhail midfielder thinks African nations pull together at tournaments in a way that is not replicated across other regions of the world. “This is maybe a difference when you have England or Scotland,” he observed.

    “When Scotland is not qualified, it’s like they don’t want England to do well. For us, I don’t think it’s like this. Any team that does well, all of Africa support them because they are the hope for the country and for the continent really.”

     

  • Luis Enrique receives tributes from Azpilicueta, others after Spain exit    

    Following Luis Enrique‘s resignation as head coach on Thursday, a number of Spain players paid tribute to him.

    Luis Enrique lost his job as a result of Spain’s shocking elimination from the World Cup round of 16 by Morocco on Tuesday.

    As his contract was slated to expire at the conclusion of the competition, the Royal Football Federation said on Thursday that it would not be extending it. Later, it was reported that Luis de la Fuente, who had previously been in charge of Spain’s Under-21 team, would take over.

    After the announcement, Luis Enrique’s former players thanked him, with Cesar Azpilicueta posting his congratulations on social media.

    “We had all imagined another ending after months of work, passion, dedication and commitment,” Azpilicueta posted on Instagram.

    “Thank you very much for the trust, Luis Enrique, and all the coaching staff I wish you the best in the future.”

    Luis Enrique gave Gavi his Spain debut last year, making him the youngest player in the history of La Roja at just 17 years and 62 days old.

    “I wish you luck and success in the future, you gave everything for the team and we will always be grateful to you!”

    Pedri also enjoyed his maiden international outing under the stewardship of Luis Enrique and is one of the young stars that look to have given Spain a promising future, despite the disappointment in Qatar.

    “Thank you very much for everything, Luis,” Pedri added on Instagram. “For your trust and support from the very beginning, and for always believing in and caring for this group.

    “We haven’t gotten where we wanted in this World Cup, but I’m sure the future will bring you new successes.”

  • Luis Enrique no longer Spain manager after World Cup last-16 exit

    Following Spain’s shocking World Cup elimination against Morocco, Luis Enrique has resigned from his position as manager.

    The 52-year-old took over in 2018 and led Spain to the Euro 2020 semifinals.

    The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said a “new initiative” should begin but did not specify when a new manager would be named.

    “We would like to thank Luis Enrique and his entire coaching staff,” the RFEF said in a statement.

    The former Spain midfielder took a brief leave of absence from his position in 2019 due to the diagnosis of bone cancer in his late daughter before returning for the team’s great performance at the Euros in the competition that was postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    The eventual champions Italy eliminated Spain from the Euros after their semifinal match ended in a penalty shootout.

    They defeated Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening World Cup group match, but after drawing 1-1 with Germany and losing 2-1 to Japan, they were criticized for playing a “boring” possession-based style of football.

    Spain was held to a scoreless draw by Morocco on Tuesday before losing once more in a penalty shootout and being eliminated.

  • World Cup: Sterling to return to England camp

    Raheem Sterling will re-join England’s World Cup team on Friday before the quarterfinal match against France following a quick trip home.

    After what appeared to be a break-in at their home, during which several priceless items were taken, the Chelsea forward traveled to be with his family.

    With manager Gareth Southgate stating that Sterling was leaving for home, the 28-year-old was not a part of England’s victory over Senegal in the round of 16 on Sunday.

    Following the raid’s report on Saturday, Surrey Police opened an inquiry.

    The force said there had been “no threat of violence… as the items were discovered stolen retrospectively”.

    The Football Association said in a statement on Thursday: “Raheem Sterling will return to England’s World Cup base in Qatar.

    “The Chelsea forward temporarily left to attend to a family matter but is now expected to rejoin the squad in Al Wakrah on Friday ahead of the quarter-final with France.”

    Given that he has missed three crucial training sessions, it might imply that Sterling’s comeback is too late for him to have any chance of starting Saturday’s match against the reigning champions.

    In 81 senior appearances for England, Sterling, who turned 28 on Thursday, has 20 goals to his credit. His only goal at the World Cup thus far came in the opening 6-2 victory over Iran.

  • We will advance if we keep this team together- Salis Abdul Samed

    Salis Abdul Samed wants the Black Stars‘ new coach to stick with the present lineup despite the team’s World Cup group stage elimination.

    After falling to Uruguay 2-0 on Friday, the four-time African champions were eliminated from the competition.

    Ghana finished bottom of Group H with three points after losing to Portugal and Uruguay, having beaten South Korea in between.

    “It was a good experience for us. We learnt many things from it [World Cup].”

    “We don’t know one another much but if we continue to keep this group we will get better,” Samed told Daily Graphic.

    “We need to work together and be more compact when we’re defending and help each other as we did against Portugal – the first half they got zero chance, but scored in the second half through counter-attacks when we had more spaces between us.”

    Otto Addo will leave his post as Ghana coach at the end of December 2022.

  • World Cup 2022: Fifa ‘deeply saddened’ after reported migrant worker death

    Fifa expressed its sorrow over the alleged death of a migrant worker at a World Cup facility in Qatar.

    The organisation says it is “deeply saddened” following the reported death of a migrant worker at a World Cup facility in Qatar.

    The Filipino national fell to his death while carrying out repairs at a resort used as a training base by the Saudi Arabian team, The Athletic reported.

    Football’s world governing body said it had been made aware of an accident, without giving details of the incident.

    It added it was in touch with the local authorities to request more details.

    “Fifa is deeply saddened by this tragedy and our thoughts and sympathies are with the worker’s family,” it said.

    “Fifa will be in a position to comment further once the relevant processes in relation to the worker’s passing have been completed.”

    Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers has been one of the main controversies overshadowing the build up to the World Cup.

    A report by the Guardian newspaper last year said 6,500 migrant workers had died in Qatar since the country was awarded the World Cup in 2010.

    That figure has been rejected by the Qatari authorities, who say there have been three work-related deaths in construction related directly to the tournament and a further 37 non work-related deaths.

    World Cup officials say a number of reforms to improve the health and safety standards for migrant workers have been implemented in recent years, and that they are “committed” to making more improvements as a legacy of the tournament.

    Human rights organisations and a number of football associations whose countries are involved in the tournament say they will “continue to press” Qatar and Fifa to establish a compensation fund for migrant workers and their families, as well as the establishment of a migrant worker centre in Doha.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • World Cup: Halilhodzic watches Morocco success from afar

    Vahid Halilhodzic believes he was left “out in the rain” as he watched Morocco advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.

    With a 5-2 overall victory over the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the third round of CAF qualifying in March, Halilhodzic ensured Morocco’s qualification for the finals in Qatar.

    Halilhodzic, however, was fired in August, which was his third firing from a national team position prior to a World Cup after guiding a side to qualification.

    The Bosnian lost to Japan in 2018 and Ivory Coast in 2010, although he did guide Algeria to the round of 16 in 2014.

    Halilhodzic came under fire for not picking enough locally based players and leaving out Hakim Ziyech, who did not feature in the qualification campaign.

    “When you arrive in a country, you don’t know all the good players. So we have to look for them,” Halilhodzic added.

    “How many tapes I watched in Morocco! At least a thousand. I updated 80 per cent of the team. We have to find them, the players who can play for the national team.

    “What makes a coach credible are the results. And never has the Moroccan team got better results than with me in the World Cup qualifiers. Seven wins, one draw having scored three goals per game on average.

    “What I didn’t appreciate were the smear campaigns, to create animosity between supporters of different clubs, between locals and Moroccans abroad, that locals would be prevented from playing for their country.

    “This pressure from the federation had already been going on for a long time. They wanted me to take three-four players, while the team had achieved results without them. I did not give in, because you lose your credibility when the players feel that we decide for you.

    “Some refused to play for Morocco because they had entourages who preferred them to play for Spain, Italy or France. And afterwards, they change their minds when there is a World Cup!

    “I felt that with the Moroccan team that I had built, we could do something at the World Cup. I would have liked to end my career with a successful World Cup and say enough!”

     

  • World Cup: Konate anxious for Mbappe-Walker battle

    When France plays England in the World Cup quarterfinals, Ibrahima Konate is eager to get a close-up view of Kylian Mbappe and Kyle Walker’s struggle.

    Following their victory against Poland, Didier Deschamps’ team will now face one of the few remaining unbeaten teams in Qatar 2022 when they face Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions.

    The tournament’s top performer thus far has been forward Kylian Mbappe, who leads the Golden Boot standings with five goals.

    But in England right-back Walker, he will likely have his biggest test to date. Konate is eager to watch the two clash.

    “Walker and Mbappe are two very great players,” he said. “Walker is one of the best right-backs in the world, I cannot wait to see this battle.

    “[But] it’s complicated [to defend against Mbappe]. Kylian is impressive. Each year, he evolves and becomes even better.

    “I don’t know where he will stop. We are lucky to have him in our team and not against us.”

    Mbappe missed team training on Tuesday, instead completing routines inside away from the rest of the squad, sparking fears of a potential injury knock.

    But Konate shut down such talk, suggesting instead it was a preordained decision as part of his post-match recovery process.

    “It was a little recovery session, the day before we had a day off,” he added. “I think he decided to stay indoors with the coach.

    “There is nothing to worry about. We are counting on him as on all the players in the group. Everyone must be in good health to face England.”

     

     

     

  • ‘Best group stage of a FIFA World Cup ever,’ Infantino says

    FIFA President Gianni Infantino has asserted that the 2022 World Cup has been a “fantastic success,” pushed along by the best group stage in the competition’s history.

    Speaking on the first rest day of the World Cup, Infantino said: “I have seen all the matches, indeed, and put very simply and very clearly, this has been the best group stage of a FIFA World Cup ever.

    “So, it’s very promising for the remainder of the FIFA World Cup.

    “The matches have been of great, great quality in beautiful stadiums – we knew that already. However, as well, the public who was there was incredible. Over 51,000 on average.

    “Record-breaking figures on TV – we already had over two billion viewers, which is really incredible.

    “Two and a half million people in the streets of Doha and a few hundred thousand every day in the stadiums, all together, cheering together, supporting their teams, fantastic atmosphere, great goals, incredible excitement and surprises.”

    Following an unprecedented opening address in which he disregarded several critiques and controversies surrounding the finals, FIFA president Infantino was under fire as Qatar 2022 got underway.

    Even though there have been more of these incidents during the tournament, most notably the controversy surrounding the OneLove campaign, Infantino thinks the product on the field has improved.

    No side finished the group stage with nine points out of a possible nine, since there were several surprises, most notably Argentina’s defeat to Saudi Arabia and Germany’s early exit.

    These surprises have continued into the round of 16, with Morocco eliminating Spain on Tuesday via penalties.

    “For the first time as well, national teams from all continents going to the knock-out phase, for the first time in history. This shows that football is really becoming truly global.”

    Infantino expects the finals to conclude in a similarly entertaining manner.

    “We hope that the FIFA World Cup continues and concludes as it has started – a fantastic success,” he said. “I am sure that we will reach the five billion viewers around the world.

    “When it comes to stadium attendances, the stadiums are sold out, full practically at every match. The fan festivals, the different fan zones, are also very crowded with people celebrating and enjoying [themselves].

    “And at the end [of the day], we simply want to give some joy and some smiles to people all over the world. That’s what football is about, that’s what the FIFA World Cup is about, and that’s what should also happen from now until the end.”

  • World Cup: Switzerland player apologises after worrying defeat to Portugal

    Xherdan Shaqiri expressed regret for Switzerland’s performance in their 6-1 defeat to Portugal, giving credit to their opponents while emphasizing that his team needed to improve.

    Switzerland was humiliated by a Portugal team that started Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and was eliminated from the World Cup in the last-16.

    Ronaldo was substituted by Goncalo Ramos, who scored one of the game’s two goals in the first half before completing a hat trick in a raging second half.

    The only time Murat Yakin’s team managed to get back into the game was when Manuel Akanji bundled in from a corner to make it 4-1.

    “We are all disappointed, the whole team,” Shaqiri said afterwards. “I just want to apologise to all the people in Switzerland, because we were not at our best today.

    “We lost the game already in the first half against Portugal, who are a very good team. You saw the kind of goal they can score. With all respect, we have to do better.

    “We have to learn from our mistakes, and if we are behind 2-0 against Portugal, it’s always very, very difficult to come back. We just were not at our best today, from everybody.”

    Yakin had altered his tactics, beginning with a three-man defense, but he did not think this was the cause of his team’s difficulties.

    “We had a clear plan, we have practised it, we also had test games, the team was familiar with the system,” the Switzerland coach said. “We tried to put pressure on using the flanks, but unfortunately it didn’t work.

    “Ronaldo or not, our players are able to play in every position. Yes, our opponents got a good start in the game, we saw many things not work out for us. There’s nothing we could’ve done today.”

    Shaqiri showed the breadth of skill Portugal has available by not dwelling on Ronaldo’s exclusion.

    “It’s the whole team,” he said. “You saw today: he was on the bench, and they scored a lot of goals, too. The quality is there from the whole team, and we saw this today.”

    The winger added: “Portugal is for me a favourite and also was before the tournament. They have a good team, a quality team, and we will see in the end how far they’re going to go.

    “You saw today, in the offensive, they are very good. They can go very far.”

  • World Cup: Ronaldo elated over Portugal’s last-16 victory 

    Cristiano Ronaldo praised Portugal’s “historic” World Cup victory over Switzerland on social media.

    Ronaldo, 37, came off the bench last night as the Selecao defeated the Swiss 6-1 to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup with Morocco.

    After leaving Manchester United, the Portuguese superstar became a free agent, and he was the center of attention before the game.

    But Goncalo Ramos, who took his spot in the starting lineup, made headlines with a hat-trick and an assist in the round-of-16 match.

    Ronaldo, who had a goal disallowed for offside, said on Instagram: “Amazing day for Portugal, with a historic result in the biggest contest in world soccer.

    “Luxury display by a team full of talent and youth.

    “Congratulations to our national team. The dream is alive! To the very end! Come on, Portugal!”

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

  • World Cup: Mbappe ahead of Messi for the Golden Boot

    The competition to score the most goals during the World Cup is definitely in full swing.

    The eight teams who are still in the running will be aiming to win the renowned Jules Rimet trophy, but individuals can make history by taking home the Golden Boot.

    We examine the contenders for Qatar 2022’s most effective shooter ahead of the quarterfinals, with one star out in front and a sizable group of others trailing behind.

    Kylian Mbappe (France) — Five goals, two assists

    Kylian Mbappe, a sensation in France, is unquestionably in the lead heading into the final eight after scoring five goals in his first four games.

    The Paris Saint-Germain attacker has been in incredible form, scoring the opening goal for Les Blues against Australia before registering a spectacular match-winning double to defeat Denmark in the group stage.

    In their round of 16 match against Poland, the 23-year-old struck again, scoring their opening goal before skillfully curling in his fifth of the year late in the game.

    Lionel Messi (Argentina) — Three goals, one assist

    Lionel Messi has spearheaded Argentina's charge to win a first World Cup since 1986
    Lionel Messi has spearheaded Argentina’s charge to win a first World Cup since 1986

    Lionel Messi’s hopes of finally delivering a World Cup triumph are still alive and no Argentina player has done more than the diminutive magician to help them get to this stage.

    The 35-year-old got off the mark from the spot only 10 minutes into his first game at the 2022 showpiece, though that match ultimately ended in a shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia.

    With La Albiceleste facing a disastrous early exit, Messi struck home a crucial effort from distance against Mexico on their way to a 2-0 win.

    Having reached the last 16 by beating Poland by the same scoreline, their talisman came to the fore yet again as his delightful finish broke the deadlock in a 2-1 victory over a resolute Australia side.

    Goncalo Ramos (Portugal) — Three goals, one assist

    Goncalo Ramos netted a superb hat-trick for Portugal in his first World Cup start
    Goncalo Ramos netted a superb hat-trick for Portugal in his first World Cup start

    Not many expected 21-year-old striker Goncalo Ramos to feature in Portugal’s last-16 clash with Switzerland, but he grasped his opportunity in blistering style.

    An extraordinary performance saw the youngster beat Yann Sommer at his near post with a vicious strike after 17 minutes before two further finishes made him the first hat-trick scorer of Qatar 2022.

    Having also provided the assist for Raphael Guerreiro, Ramos now finds himself second alongside Messi in the scoring charts.

    Marcus Rashford (England) — Three goals

    Marcus Rashford scored an exceptional free-kick for England against Wales
    Marcus Rashford scored an exceptional free-kick for England against Wales

    Leading a group of five players tied on three goals still in contention to surpass Mbappe’s tally, England forward Marcus Rashford is next on this list thanks to his superior ratio of 2.05 strikes per 90 minutes.

    The Manchester United attacker only recently won back his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad after a difficult period since his penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final shootout defeat to Italy.

    He netted just minutes into his international return against Iran before playing a starring role from the start against Wales with two goals — the first an excellent free-kick past Danny Ward.

    Bukayo Saka (England) — Three goals

    Bukayo Saka nets England's third goal against Senegal in the last 16
    Bukayo Saka nets England’s third goal against Senegal in the last 16

    Rashford’s Three Lions team-mate Bukayo Saka also has a trio of goals to his name, after dinking a neat finish in England’s 3-0 last-16 win over Senegal.

    The Arsenal starlet, 21, is a key component of Southgate’s side and made himself an early contender for the prize with a lovely brace in his World Cup debut against Iran.

    If Saka is selected for the quarter-final clash with France, he will be a key man for Didier Deschamps’ world champions to watch out for.

    Olivier Giroud (France) — Three goals

    Olivier Giroud has become France's all-time top scorer at Qatar
    Olivier Giroud has become France’s all-time top scorer at Qatar

    There is every chance Olivier Giroud would have barely kicked a ball for France had Karim Benzema been fit for this World Cup.

    Now Les Blues’ all-time top scorer with 52 goals, it would be foolish to discount the 36-year-old centre forward out of the race at this stage.

    A brace against Australia was followed by an important opener in the last-16 encounter with Poland and now the former Arsenal and Chelsea man will hope to end England’s run in Qatar.

    Richarlison (Brazil) — Three goals

    Tottenham striker Richarlison finished off a delightful Brazil team goal against South Korea
    Tottenham striker Richarlison finished off a delightful Brazil team goal against South Korea

    Brazil outlined their credentials to go all the way with a superb 4-1 win over South Korea in the last 16, with Tottenham striker Richarlison finishing off a fine team move to score arguably the pick of the bunch.

    The Selecao No9 can also lay claim to another contender for goal of the tournament with an exceptional touch and scissor-kick effort in the South American’s opener against Serbia.

    Having netted both of Brazil’s goals in the 2-0 win that night, he is likely to stay in the Golden Boot conversation as the tournament favourites target their first World Cup title in 20 years.

    Cody Gakpo (Netherlands) — Three goals

    Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo's transfer value keeps rising with his World Cup displays
    Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo’s transfer value keeps rising with his World Cup displays

    PSV Eindhoven ace Cody Gakpo was already one of Europe’s most sought-after forwards before the World Cup — and his performances for the Netherlands have shown exactly why that is.

    The 23-year-old nodded home six minutes from time to help the Oranje overcome Senegal in their opener, before netting against both Ecuador and Qatar in an impressive group-stage showing.

    Interest from the likes of Manchester United will only hot up if he can inspire his country past Argentina into the semi-finals.

    Source: Livescore

  • World Cup 2022: King of Morocco commends team for reaching quarter-finals for first time in history

    The King of Morocco Mohammed VI praised the senior national team for achieving World Cup history by defeating Spain on penalties to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time.

    After 120 minutes, there was no way to separate the two teams, and Spain’s three penalties—two of which goalie Bounou expertly saved—went unconverted.

    That left Hakimi to win it for the North Africans with his nerveless spot-kick and spark jubilant scenes in the stands at the Education City Stadium.

    The King hailed the historic performance of the members of the national team who have lived up to the expectations and aspirations of the large and valiant Moroccan public that supports them in Morocco, Qatar and around the world, calling on them to stay the course in this competition, to continue to honor the national soccer and to carry high the flag of the Kingdom.

    V

    Several Heads of State have congratulated King Mohammed VI for this great performance.

    The King thus received phone calls from the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, and the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba. The Sovereign also received a phone call from Prince Hassan Ibn Talal of Jordan.

    They all expressed in these calls their warm congratulations to the King following this historic achievement.

    Morocco are the last African side following the exit of African champions Senegal, Ghana, Tunisia and Cameroon.

    Coach Walid Regragui’s side are also only remaining Arab team left in the tournament and will face Portugal in the quarterfinals in Qatar.

  • World Cup: Van Dijk hoping for clash with Argentina superstar Messi

    Virgil van Dijk asserts that Lionel Messi will pose a threat to the Netherlands even when he is “chilling” and that the Dutch must have a “good plan” to deal with Argentina’s great player.

    In a match with a long World Cup history, the Dutch and La Albiceleste will renew their hostilities on Friday in Qatar.

    The Netherlands fell to Argentina in the 1978 championship game, but Louis van Gaal will get the chance to exact retribution because he was in command when his team lost to Messi and co. on penalties in the semifinals eight years ago.

    When Liverpool overcame Barcelona in the 2018–19 Champions League semifinals, Van Dijk faced off against Messi, who has already scored three goals in Qatar, including one in the 2-1 last-16 victory over Australia.

    So, naturally, he knows the Paris Saint-Germain star and seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is a player you can never take your eyes off.

    “The difficult thing about him is when we are attacking, he is chilling somewhere in a corner or something,” Van Dijk said.

    “You have to be so very sharp in terms of defensive organisation. They always looked for him to try to make it difficult for us on the counter.

    “It is an honour to play against him. It is not me against him, or the Netherlands against him, but the Netherlands against Argentina.

    “No one can do it on his own, we will have to come up with a good plan.”

     

  • Quarter-final draw, dates and venues for World Cup

    In the final round of 16 match, Goncalo Ramos scored a sensational hat-trick to secure Portugal‘s place in the World Cup quarterfinals as Switzerland was trounced 6-1.

    The 21-year-old striker for Benfica only recently made his debut for his country in November, but he took advantage of the chance presented by his unexpected call-up to score the first triple-goal haul at Qatar 2022.

    Morocco, who earlier in the day defeated Spain in a nail-biting penalty shootout, will be the Portuguese’s next opponent.

    Spain struggled to score any of their three penalty kicks after extra time had failed to yield a goal, but Morocco scored three out of four to earn the victory.

    Netherlands kicked off the knockout phase, cruising to a 3-1 victory over the United States.

    Louis van Gaal’s men will face Argentina in Friday’s late game after Lionel Messi inspired the South Americans to a 2-1 win over Australia.

    Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time top scorer as they overcame Poland 3-1, while England saw off Senegal 3-0 following some hairy moments in the first half to set up a clash with Les Bleus on Saturday.

    Croatia booked their place in the last eight with a penalty shootout win over Japan, following a 1-1 draw.

    Their reward is a quarter-final clash with Brazil, who looked majestic as they swept South Korea aside 4-1.

    Qatar 2022 round of 16 results

    Saturday, December 3

    Netherlands 3-1 United States (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan)

    Argentina 2-1 Australia (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan) 

    Sunday, December 4

    France 3-1 Poland (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha) 

    England 3-0 Senegal (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor) 

    Monday, December 5

    Japan 1-1 Croatia (Croatia won 3-1 on penalties, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah) 

    Brazil 4-1 South Korea (Stadium 974, Doha)

    Tuesday, December 6

    Morocco 0-0 Spain (Morocco won 3-0 on penalties, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan) 

    Portugal 6-1 Switzerland (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail) 

    Quarter-final draw

    Friday, December 9 

    Croatia vs Brazil (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, 3pm, BBC)

    Netherlands vs Argentina (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail, 7pm, BBC)

    Saturday, December 10

    Morocco vs Portugal (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, 3pm, ITV1)

    England vs France (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, 7pm, ITV1)

    Semi-finals: Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14

    Third-place play-off: Saturday, December 17

    Final: Sunday, December 18

    All kick-off times are GMT.

     

  • World Cup 2022: Despite exiting the round of 16, Senegal has not failed – Macky Sall

    Even though Senegal exited the World Cup at the round of 16 stage in 2022, President Macky Sall commended his team’s performance.

    At the knockout stage, Africa’s champions lost 3-0 to England without their key players.

    England opened the scoring through Jordan Henderson before Harry Kan scored his first goal of the tournament to double their advantage. Bukayo Saka put the icing on the cake after converting Phil Foden’s cross in the 57th minute to seal a comfortable win for Gareth Southgate’s side.

     

    In a tweet, Senegalese President Macky Sall expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance at the tournament.

    He said: “Dear Lions, You have not failed. And you played without Sadio [Mane], [Cheikhou] Kouyate and [Idrissa] Gana. You are among the top 16 teams in the world and England were a strong opponent.”

    Morocco are now the last African side following the exit of African champions Senegal, Ghana, Tunisia and Cameroon.

  • World Cup 2022: Round of 16 draw, dates and results

    Only two positions remain in the World Cup quarterfinals after the booking of places by the Netherlands, Argentina, France, England, Croatia, and Brazil.

    The round concludes this evening when Cristiano Ronaldo will try to motivate Portugal to victory over Switzerland. Group G winners Morocco will face off against Spain today.

    The knockout phase got under way with Netherlands cruising to a 3-1 victory over the United States.

    Louis van Gaal’s men will face Argentina in the last eight after Lionel Messi inspired the South Americans to a 2-1 win over Australia.

    Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time top scorer as they overcame Poland 3-1, while England saw off Senegal 3-0 following some hairy moments in the first half to set up a clash with Les Bleus.

    Croatia booked their place in the last eight with a penalty shootout win over Japan.

    Their reward is a quarter-final showdown with Brazil, who looked majestic as they swept South Korea aside 4-1.

     

     

     

    Qatar 2022 round of 16 fixtures and results

     

    Check out the key information for all the last-16 fixtures below.

    Saturday, December 3

    Netherlands 3-1 United States (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan)

    Argentina 2-1 Australia (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan) 

    Sunday, December 4

    France 3-1 Poland (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha) 

    England 3-0 Senegal (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor) 

    Monday, December 5

    Japan 1-1 Croatia (Croatia win 3-1 on penalties, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah) 

    Brazil 4-1 South Korea (Stadium 974, Doha)

    Tuesday, December 6

    Morocco vs Spain (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, 3pm, ITV1) 

    Portugal vs Switzerland (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail, 7pm, ITV1) 

    Quarter-finals. Friday, December 9 

    Croatia vs Brazil (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, 3pm)

    Netherlands vs Argentina (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail, 7pm)

    Saturday, December 10

    Morocco or Spain vs Portugal or Switzerland (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, 3pm)

    England vs France (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, 7pm, ITV1)

    Semi-finals: Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14

    Third-place play-off: Saturday, December 17

    Final: Sunday, December 18

    All kick-off times are GMT.

  • World Cup 2022: Uruguayan Football Association intends to extend coach Diego Alonso’s contract

    President of the Uruguayan Football Association Ignacio Alonso has reiterated his intention to maintain Diego Alonso as head coach of the Uruguay team

    He revealed this in an interview on Radio Oriental, when asked about Diego Alonso’s contract.

    “the agreement remains as from day one. We talked a year ago and we’ve kept talking. The link ended and you have to sit down to talks in a few days when the anger passes,”

    “You have to talk between the parties and we will see what the aspiration of each one is,” he said and was forceful: “ours is that he continue in office, we said it to covered letters before the World Cup,”

    “We raised it with Diego and we will have to have a definition in the next few days,”

    On Uruguay’s early exit from the tournament, Ignacio Alonso said: “it is a tremendous pain because we narrowly missed the classification, we could have arrived, but it did not happen. Korea’s goal came late on and there we had a chance to convert the third. It was a negative and painful outcome,”

  • Ghana’s penalty miss in 2010 haunts them 12 years on

    Ghana’s attempts to forget the painful World Cup memories of their last match with Uruguay failed on Friday as they were forced to revisit the trauma by being eliminated from the tournament in Qatar.

    The South Americans let a big lead slip and finished last in the standings due to another missed penalty against them and a 2-0 loss in their last Group H match.

    Friday was supposed to be a chance to not only extract revenge but also book a place in the next round — and set a new mark for African football, which has never had three teams advance past the first round at a single World Cup.

    But where Morocco and Senegal succeeded in reaching the last 16, Ghana did not, even after being in second spot in the standings going into the final round of group games.

    The country remains fixated on the drama of the 2010 quarter-final against Uruguay, when they came within a whisker of being the first Africans to reach the World Cup last four.

    Back then they were about to score a last-gasp winner in extra time, on a bitterly cold night in Johannesburg, when a goal-bound effort from Asamoah Gyan was stopped on the line by the hand of Uruguay forward Luis Suarez.

    While Suarez was sent off, Gyan hit the resultant spot kick, that would have put Ghana through, against the crossbar, taking the tie into a post-match shootout, which Uruguay won.

    PENALTY HEARTACHE

    The penalty heartache was revived all over again on Friday at the Al Janoub Stadium as Ghana were given a chance to take the lead when Mohammed Kudus was brought down.

    But skipper Andre Ayew, the lone survivor of the 2010 squad, hit a feeble effort which was saved by Sergio Rochet and after that the Black Stars’ challenge visibly deflated.

    To make matters worse, Uruguay scored twice not long after the botched penalty to leave Ghana the difficult task of fighting their way back, which proved beyond them.

    Ghana had always been expected to struggle at this World Cup after an unconvincing qualifying campaign in which a Nigerian goalkeeping howler saw them win a fortunate place in Qatar.

    They had also been humiliated by the tiny Comoros Islands at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in January, exiting early after which they fired their coach.

    The appointment of German-born former international fullback Otto Addo in February raised eyebrows as his only previous coaching experience was with the youth teams of Hamburg and Borussia Dortmund.

    Addo made it clear he was only staying on for the World Cup and Ghana must now look to start afresh, again having to make a decision on whether to go with a local or bring in a coach from Europe or Latin America.

    Whoever takes charge has lots of promising talent to mould. Ghana had the youngest average squad age at the tournament of 23.5 years old and the World Cup experience will stand them in good stead, however bitter it might taste right now.

     

  • FIFA dismisses France’s appeal over disallowed Griezmann goal

    FIFA has rejected France’s appeal about the disqualification of Antoine Griezmann’s goal in the shocking 1-0 World Cup loss to Tunisia last week.

    In the eighth minute of stoppage time at Education City Stadium, Griezmann volleyed home, believing he had neutralized Wahbi Khazri’s goal.

    Griezmann’s goal was disallowed by referee Michael Conger for an offside violation after the cheers subsided and the game reached its conclusion.

    A Tunisia defender assisted Aurelien Tchouameni’s ball into the path of the Atletico Madrid forward, who was deemed to have been offside when he fired in.

    However, the French Football Federation (FFF) believed that the goal should have been allowed because play had temporarily resumed when VAR intervened, which is against the rules.

    “We are writing a complaint after Antoine Griezmann’s goal was, in our opinion, wrongly disallowed,” the FFF said last Wednesday.

    The result would have changed to 1-1 if France had been successful in their appeal, but the group D standings would not have changed.

    FIFA stated in a statement on Monday that they will not be looking into the situation any further.

    “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has dismissed the protest submitted by the French Football Association in relation to the Tunisia v France match,” the statement read.

    Khazri’s superb strike ended reigning world champions France’s nine-game unbeaten run in the competition stretching back to the 2014 quarter-finals.

    Les Blues went on to beat Poland 3-1 in Sunday’s last-16 tie and will now face England in the quarter-finals on Saturday.


  • Saka brushes off comparisons with Mbappe

    Before England’s match against France, Bukayo Saka rejected comparisons between his performance at the 2022 World Cup and Kylian Mbappe’s breakout campaign four years prior.

    In Sunday’s last-16 match, England overcame a shaky beginning to defeat Senegal 3-0, setting up a heavyweight quarterfinal matchup with Les Bleus. Saka scored his third World Cup goal as England advanced.

    The next time England plays, Saka would be expected to help limit Mbappe after the Paris Saint-Germain star moved onto five goals for the tournament in his side’s 3-1 victory over Poland. Saka started three of England’s four games in Qatar from the right.

    Saka does not want to contrast his own rookie season with that of the Frenchman, Kylian Mbappe, who became just the second youngster to score in a World Cup final in 2018 after Pele.

    Asked whether he could follow in Mbappe’s footsteps by being named young player of the tournament, Saka said: “Thank you for the compliment, but there’s only one Kylian Mbappe.

    “At the same time, there’s only one of me. I just want to be myself and help my team in the best way I can.

    “There are many young players in this tournament, I can name so many.

    “Even in our team, alongside me there’s another young player doing unbelievably well in Jude Bellingham. I’m just happy that we’re all here and doing well.

    “The priority is to try to win the tournament, rather than to be the player of the tournament or young player of the tournament.”

    Asked about Bellingham’s displays in the England midfield, Saka added: “He’s a special player. I don’t really know the words to describe him.

    “I just hope he can continue to keep progressing because, for sure, he has a massive, massive future.”

    Saka’s previous major tournament campaign ended with him missing the decisive penalty in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy, but the Arsenal winger believes his World Cup displays have gone some way to helping him banish that memory.

    “Personally, I feel like I’ve tried to move on from that moment,” Saka said. “I know I can never really forget about it, it’s going to be history, but at the same time, coming out here and scoring those three goals has lifted me a lot.

    “And of course, the love from the fans that I keep receiving lifts me a lot as well. It gives me a lot of confidence and I love to see it.”

    With the prospect of taking part in another penalty shoot-out if the France match is a tight one, Saka insisted he would have no qualms about stepping up once again.

    “I have matured and progressed a lot since that moment – I wouldn’t have stepped up the number of times I have for Arsenal if I was not confident,” he said.

    “If the moment comes and I am selected to take it, I will be more than happy to.”


  • Luis Enrique refuses to focus on the negatives ahead of Morocco meeting

    Coach Luis Enrique of Spain is choosing not to dwell on the shortcomings of his team’s defeat to Japan and is instead emphasizing how brilliantly La Roja performed throughout their World Cup group stage matches.

    Japan defeated Spain 2-1 on Thursday to win Group E, sending Germany home early and securing a matchup with Croatia in the round of 16.

    In comparison to Japan’s 228 passes, Spain attempted 1,058 passes, had 82.3% of the possession, and had 12 shots—five of which found the target.

    However, Japan’s six attempts totaled out to a combined anticipated goals (xG) of 1.45, with Ritsu Doan and Junya Ito scoring in the span of three second-half minutes, compared to Spain’s 1.04 total.

    If media allegations in Spain are to be accepted, Luis Enrique, a former coach of Barcelona, may not remain in charge of Spain after the World Cup, but he is fully confident in his strategy going into Tuesday’s match with Morocco.

    “We are talking about 270 minutes if I’m not wrong, plus added time [in the group stage],” Luis Enrique said in a press conference when he was asked if his team failed to recover from setbacks during matches.

    “Out of 300 minutes in total, you focus on 10 minutes that you didn’t like. As far as we progress, you will see more of these minutes.

    “We are footballers and the opponents also play. There are things to be improved, and I’m sure we will be bitten by Morocco in some moments of the game.

    “We can’t take blows? What about them? Did Germany take it well when we scored? We are in a competition where the score dictates the risk you are willing to take.

    “Other teams pull back but we keep attacking and of course we need to improve that.”

    Asked if his team lacked the experience required to see out spells of pressure, Luis Enrique replied: “It’s such a cliche, we have to try and get rid of this idea.

    “I don’t believe they lacked experience. Experience in what? Being builders, carpenters? When you lose, people talk about issues and if you win, they don’t.

    “I don’t share this analysis. This team will be recognised by the way we play, analyse our matches, our philosophy but not these sorts of issues.

    “Mistakes happen, we are talking about a very complex, unfair sport, 11 players on a huge field, it’s impossible to control all the aspects.

    “At the end of the day the ones making the decisions are the players, I want them to implement my idea and I want them to buy the whole package when they lose, it’s not fair to only buy it when we win.”

    Spain have only made it beyond the round of 16 once at the last four World Cups, when they went on to win the trophy in South Africa in 2010. This record, though, is of no concern to Luis Enrique.

    “This is not our usual trend, to look at everything from a negative perspective,” he said.

    “I am not concerned about those results. I want to control the things I can control as a coach. I want my team to play in a certain way, I want my players to forget about the result.

    “Football is not fair but if you have more merit you usually win the game. I am convinced we will have more merit than Morocco. Our objective was to play seven games, so we want to play seven games.”

  • Mohammed Kudus: Ghana ace set for £40m move to England after impressive World Cup

    Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus is attracting interest from English Premier League clubs ahead of the winter transfer window.

    The 22-year-old increased his stocks after a magnificent debut World Cup, scoring two goals and providing an assist in three matches.

    His performances has seen him pop up on the radar of several clubs including Spanish giants Barcelona, but the Catalans wont make a move for the player in the transfer window.

    Ajax will be demanding $40 million pounds for the midfielder, who has been used as a striker this season.

     

    GHANASoccernet.com can reveal that Liverpool sent scouts to watch the player during Ghana’s World Cup opener against Portugal.

    Chelsea have been keeping close tabs on the versatile midfielder following his impressive display at the tournament in Qatar.

    Kudus was in contact with Everton during the summer transfer window, but the Right to Dream Academy graduate will only join a club that plays in the UEFA Champions.

    During the summer pre-season, Tottenham sent scouts to watch Kudus but failed to make a move for the player.

  • World Cup 2022: Nigerians react as Ghana coach Otto Addo steps down

    Football fanatics in Nigeria have reacted to Otto Addo’s decision to step down as coach of the Black Stars after the World Cup exit.

    The Black Stars were eliminated after the first round of the tournament following a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay.

    After defeating South Korea in their second group game, the Black Stars needed a draw or win against Uruguay to advance to the last 16 stage.

    But the team failed to negotiate for points against their ‘enemies’ Uruguay.

    At the post-match conference, the Germany-based trainer announced he has stepped down as coach of the Black Stars to concentrate on his role as the talent development coach of Dortmund.

    “It was always clear that I would stop after the World Cup. My family and I see our role in Germany. I like my life at (Borussia) Dortmund (where he works as a talent coach, and wants to carry on there.” he said.

    Source: Ghanaweb

     

  • 2022 World Cup: Otto Addo has not done better than Kwesi Appiah – Dan Kwaku Yeboah

    Ghanaian sports journalist, Dan Kwaku Yeboah believes that Otto Addo has not done a better job with the Black Stars than coach Kwesi Appiah did in 2014.

    Although Kwesi Appiah was the first Ghanaian coach to lead the Black Stars to the World Cup, he never won a match with the team but Otto Addo led the Black Stars to their first victory under a Ghanaian coach at the World Cup.

    However, Dan Kwaku Yeboah argues Otto Addo cannot be said to be a better coach than Kwasi Appiah.

    He argued that Kwasi Appiah faced harsh treatment during his time which he believes Otto Addo wouldn’t have survived.

    “My primary teacher taught me that the best way to compare two things is to give them the same platform. In 2022 Nana Addo’s government never assured that players would be paid during their training tour neither did he say they would be paid in Doha so there is no need to compare,” Dan Kwaku Yeboah said.

    “I have read posts from people saying that Otto Addo has done better than Kwasi Appiah, but if Otto Addo experienced what Kwesi Appiah went through maybe we would have conceded 20 goals. Government made every provision available” he added.

    Both Kwasi Appiah and Otto Addo were unable to qualify Ghana out of the group stages at the World Cup.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Qatar 2022: Black Stars will be back hungrier than ever – Elisha Owusu

    Ghana international, Elisha Owusu, says the Black Stars will look to play with more hunger in their next assignment following their elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

    The Black Stars suffered a group-stage exit in Qatar following their 2-0 defeat to Uruguay in their final group game at the Al Janoub Stadium on Friday, December 2.

    Ghana needed a draw to stand a chance of progress from the group heading into the final game but that result proved a difficult task as they succumbed to defeat.

    Reacting to the exit, Owusu, who was one of six not to have gotten any minutes from the three games, said the team will be back better than ever while also thanking the fans for their support.

    “First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge and thank our great fans for their consistently amazing support throughout the tournament,” he wrote on his Instagram page.

    “Although we were not able to qualify, I am proud of my teammates for the hard work they put in on and off the pitch. I am sure with this determination and fight, that we will be back to give the wonderful fans of Ghana the performances they deserve.

    “On a personal note, I am very thankful to have experienced the World Cup as this has always been a dream of mine. This would not be possible without God, which is why I am always grateful. I will continue to put in the hours off the pitch to ensure the future is bright.

    “The Black Stars will be back stronger and hungrier than ever!” he added.

    The exit from the group stage now means Ghana has suffered back-to-back exits in the first round of the World Cup in their last two apearances.

    Source: myjoyonline

  • England silencing pre-tournament critics with World Cup performances – Rice

    England have “silenced” their pre-tournament critics with “faultless” performances on their way to the World Cup quarter-finals, says Declan Rice.

    Gareth Southgate’s side comfortably beat Senegal 3-0 on Sunday to set up a quarter-final against reigning world champions France.

    England have won three and drawn one of their four matches in Qatar.

    “I don’t think we get the credit we deserve in our performances,” said West Ham midfielder Rice, 23.

    “If you look at other teams, like the Netherlands and Argentina, they win their games comfortably and they get called ‘masterclasses’.

    “With us, it always gets picked off. The negative things always come that way. If you look at the last couple of games, it’s been faultless. I think countries should be starting to fear us now because we’re a great team.”

    England have scored 12 goals in four matches in Qatar – the country’s joint-most at a major tournament, level with their 12 goals at the 2018 World Cup.

     

    They have also kept a clean sheet in their past three games at the World Cup – their best run of games without conceding a goal in the competition since 1982.

    “Going into the tournament, there was a lot of talk that we don’t score enough goals. That’s another one we’ve kept people quiet on,” added Rice.

    “There was a lot of scrutiny around the defence and conceding goals, but it’s been solid. We’re going to keep building and pushing.”

    Faced with the prospect of coming up against Paris St-Germain and France superstar Kylian Mbappe in Saturday’s quarter-final (19:00 GMT kick-off), Rice said England have nothing to fear.

    “These are the games we want to play in. They only come around once. England versus France, quarter-final – it doesn’t get bigger than that,” he added.

    “I’m sure the world will be watching. We really want to progress. There’s no point buzzing [about victory over Senegal] if we can’t push on and beat France.”

    Tottenham defender Eric Dier added: “When you get to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, everyone is going to be very good. It is to be expected.

    “No-one will fear anyone. They’re a great team with very great players – but so are we.”

     

  • Sterling misses England game after armed intruders raid family home

    Raheem Sterling reportedly missed England’s World Cup match against Senegal because he had to return to England after an armed intruder raid on his home.

    In Sunday’s 3-0 victory over the winners of the Africa Cup of Nations, Gareth Southgate’s team was without the Chelsea forward.

    It is uncertain whether Sterling will return to Qatar in time to play against France in the quarterfinals next Saturday after England officials explained it to be “a family concern” before the game.

    The BBC stated that on Saturday night, a break-in took place at the London house of 27-year-old Sterling.

    Manager Gareth Southgate said after England‘s victory: “Raheem is having to deal with a family situation. He’s going back to England.

    “We have to give him time to try to resolve that, or be there for his family. That’s the most important thing. We are going to give him that space.

    “It didn’t impact team selection. I spent a lot of time with Raheem this morning, so you have days where events happen and you have to deal with them.

    “He’s on his way home. We are obviously mindful of him being allowed space and respect his privacy, so we don’t want to talk about it in too much detail.

    “It’s not ideal for the group ahead of the big game, but it pales into insignificance – the individual is more important than the group in these moments.”

    England’s opening goalscorer Jordan Henderson told ITV: “I hope everything’s OK with Raheem’s family at home and I hope he goes back and can sort everything out.

    “Hopefully he can then come back, but I suppose he’ll have to assess when he gets there. All our thoughts and support is with him.”

    England defender Eric Dier added: “We all wish him and his family well. We hope everyone’s OK.

    “I just found out before the game. I don’t know more than that, just wish him all the best.”

    Midfielder Declan Rice indicated the day had begun as any other, with Sterling in camp.

    He said: “I literally saw him at breakfast this morning and then the manager said he’s had some difficulty with his family at home.

    “We’ll send him a message and wait to hear more.”

    Sterling’s Chelsea team-mate Kalidou Koulibaly, who captained Senegal tonight, was unaware of the reports.

    He said: “Really? I didn’t know. I really didn’t know, I’m really surprised.

    “I hope that his family is good. Now I will call him and see what happened, I just hope he is good and his family is good.”

  • Neville claims Bellingham is close to the complete player

    Since Jude Bellingham ignited a World Cup triumph over Senegal, veteran England defender Gary Neville believes the midfielder is nearly a complete player.

    Another outstanding performance by the teenager helped Gareth Southgate’s team win 3-0 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals in Qatar.

    The midfielder Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund has emerged as a vital player for the Three Lions during this competition and appears to have cemented his spot in the starting lineup.

    Neville claimed the 19-year-old has earned his spot and added that he appears to already possess a mastery and maturity in an England jersey that few others possess.

    “It’s very rare you see a midfield player as comfortable in his own half as in the attacking half,” he told ITV. “He looks like he can do absolutely everything.

    “Is he a holding player, an attacking player? He’s everything in one. He’s fantastic, [and] so young, but it’s the composure, maturity and fearlessness I can’t get my head around.

    “I watched players play for England for many years, the weight of the shirt was enormous. He just doesn’t feel it at all, he looks like he belongs out there, like he wants it and needs it in his life.”

    Bellingham and England will face holders France in their quarter-final tie, with the pair set to meet on Saturday in the concluding match of the last eight.

  • World Cup 2022: Round of 16 draw, dates and venues

    Four last-16 games remain, but Netherlands, Argentina, France, and England have already secured their places in the World Cup quarterfinals.

    On Monday, Brazil will face South Korea and surprise package Japan will play Croatia.

    The round concludes later that day when Cristiano Ronaldo will try to motivate Portugal to victory over Switzerland. On Tuesday, group G champions Morocco face off against Spain.

    Qatar 2022 World Cup round of 16 fixtures

    The elimination round began with Netherlands easily defeating the United States 3-1.

    The South Americans defeated Australia 2-1 thanks to Lionel Messi, and Louis van Gaal’s team will now play them in the round of eight.

    In addition to France’s victory over Poland and England’s 3-0 victory over Senegal, which came after some tense first-half moments, set up a matchup with Les Bleus. Olivier Groud became France’s all-time leading scorer.

    Check out the key information for all the last-16 fixtures below.

    Saturday, December 3

    Netherlands 3-1 United States (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan)

    Argentina 2-1 Australia (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan) 

    Sunday, December 4

    France 3-1 Poland (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha) 

    England 3-0 Senegal (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor) 

    Monday, December 5

    Japan vs Croatia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, 3pm, BBC One) 

    Brazil vs South Korea (Stadium 974, Doha, 7pm, ITV1) 

    Tuesday, December 6

    Morocco vs Spain (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, 3pm, ITV1) 

    Portugal vs Switzerland (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail, 7pm, ITV1) 

    Quarter-finals: Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10

    Semi-finals: Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14

    Third-place play-off: Saturday, December 17

    Final: Sunday, December 18

    All kick-off times are GMT.

  • Senegal ‘have not failed’ at World Cup – president

    It was a night of disappointment for Senegal at the World Cup in Qatar on Sunday after they lost 3-0 to England at the knockout stage.

    The Teranga Lions were without their key players which proved to be a blow to them as the England midfield dominated play.

    England will meet France in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

    In a tweet, Senegalese President Macky Sall expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance at the tournament.

    He said: “Dear Lions, You have not failed. And you played without Sadio [Mane], [Cheikhou] Kouyate and [Idrissa] Gana. You are among the top 16 teams in the world and England were a strong opponent.”

    Talisman Sadio Mane expressed similar sentiments on Twitter.

    “The people are very proud of your journey which has warmed the hearts of the supporters, defending the national flag with dignity.”

    He added: “The learning continues. We will go in search of other trophies.”

    Source: BBC.com 

  • Messi primed for World Cup glory after ‘liberating’ Copa America triumph – Aguero

    Former teammate Sergio Aguero says Lionel Messi is enjoying his pivotal role in Argentina’s World Cup ambition after feeling liberated by last year’s Copa America victory.

    Argentina defeated Australia 2-1 on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals against the Netherlands thanks to a goal from Messi, who scored his ninth World Cup goal and first in a knockout match.

    With his goal, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner surpassed Diego Maradona’s record of eight World Cup goals for Argentina. He finished with his trademark left foot after cutting inside from the right. Only Gabriel Batistuta (10) now contributes more to the nation.

    Messi highlighted his “beautiful” bond with Argentina’s supporters after the win, but Aguero believes that is a recent development, one which came about as a result of the Albiceleste ending a 28-year wait to win the Copa America last July.

    “Leo is going to do everything possible to achieve the goal that we all want,” the former Argentina international told ESPN.

    “Leo is happy and content. The Copa America changed his life, it gave him life. After the Copa America, he was happy again in the national team, like when we were in the under-20s.

    “He lived with criticism and lost finals for a long time. The Copa America was liberating for him.”

    Messi had the disgrace of losing four important international finals before to Argentina’s victory over the hosts Brazil last year, failing to carry his team to victory in the 2014 World Cup or the 2007, 2015, or 2016 Copa Americas.

    Aguero suggested Brazil, who might face Argentina in the World Cup semifinals, would not enjoy a rematch after that victory in Rio de Janeiro.

    “If we made it to the quarter-finals, let me be excited,” Aguero said. “Do you think that Brazil wants to meet Argentina in the semi-finals?

    “Brazil has just lost the Copa America final, I think they don’t want that match.”

  • Wenger suggests ‘political demonstrations’ contributed to Germany’s shock World Cup exit

    Germany’s decision to participate in “political demonstrations” in Qatar, according to Arsene Wenger, may have contributed to their early exit from the World Cup.

    Germany failed to bounce back from a shocking 2-1 loss to the Samurai Blue on matchday one, exiting the group stage for the second time in a row as Japan and Spain advanced.

    Before the match, Germany’s players protested FIFA’s decision to forbid captain Manuel Neuer from donning the OneLove armband, which was meant to spread a message against discrimination in Qatar, where homosexuality is prohibited. The players covered their mouths in the team photo.

    A statement from the team said “denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice”, but some – most notably Belgium winger Eden Hazard – claimed the protest may have distracted Germany’s players.

    Wenger, the head of FIFA’s Technical Study Group for the tournament, agreed with that suggestion, saying: “When you go to a World Cup, you know you can’t lose the first game.

    “The teams who have the experience to perform in tournaments like France and England played well in the first game.

    “The teams who were mentally ready, with a mindset to focus on competition, and not the political demonstrations.”

    Speaking after the defeat to Japan, Germany coach Hansi Flick insisted his players were “not at all” distracted by their decision to take a stand on the OneLove debate.

    Germany were one of several European teams to initially commit to wearing the armband, but each backed down ahead of the World Cup after facing the apparent threat of sporting sanctions.


  • Neymar in line to return for Brazil against South Korea

    Neymar has resumed training in preparation for Brazil’s World Cup match against South Korea, and if the team’s medical staff gives him the all-clear, he will play.

    Since the Selecao’s 2-0 victory against Serbia in their opening Group G match, Brazil’s talisman has been absent from action in Qatar.

    Neymar left that game early due to an ankle injury, making him unavailable for the remainder of the group stage.

    The 30-year-old posted images from his return to training on social media on Saturday, along with the caption “I feel good, I knew that I would now”, and it was confirmed in Brazil’s pre-match press conference that Neymar will be available as long as he comes through a session unscathed on Sunday.

    “Neymar’s going to practice today,” Brazil coach Tite said.

    “If he practices okay then he will be playing. There’s a specific training today. He will practice and if everything is okay, he will play.”

    Tite insisted, however, the final call will be with Brazil’s medical experts.

    “We play a price to be the best, we want to be at our most competent but we never put health at risk,” Tite added when asked if Neymar would start if he came through the training session without any issues.

    “Neymar being in the line-up depends on the medical department clearing it.

    “I prefer to use my best from the start. Myself, as a head coach I have to take that responsibility, and that is my preference.”

    Tite also confirmed Danilo is available for selection, though Alex Sandro is not. Gabriel Jesus and Alex Telles, meanwhile, have been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.

     

  • Reduce continuous dependence on devt partners to fund capital expenditure – SEND Ghana to gov’t

    A social advocacy group focused on enabling local communities to engage the government and ensure they benefit from national policies and programmes, SEND Ghana, has advised government to slow down on its dependence on development partners to fund its capital expenditure.

    In a press statement released on Thursday, December 1, 2022, the group noted that government’s contribution to the country’s capital expenditure continues to dwindle year after year.

    The report reveals that in the 2023 budget, government funds amounted to 1.8 percent, while development partners contributed to 92.22 percent of the total allocations.

    “Our analysis of the national budgets (2019-2023) shows that the government still relies heavily on Development Partners (DPs) to fund its capital investments for some major ministries. Investments in the provision of Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) services in the last four years have largely been donor driven. In the 2019 budget for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, 70.26 percent of projected allocation was sourced from DPs. In 2020, it increased to 82.39 percent,” part of the release read.

    “This trend continued in 2021 with projected funds from DPs, for purposes of capital expenditure, constituting 75 percent, while the GoG, Internal Generated Funds (IGF), and the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) collectively make up just about 25 percent. In the 2023 budget, a whopping 92.22 percent of the total allocation is expected to come from DPs while GoG’s contribution reduced from 8.48 percent in 2022 to 1.8 percent in 2023,” it added.

    SEND Ghana acknowledged that while a massive contribution by development partners to the capital expenditure was essential for economic growth, over-reliance on external supports may hinder government’s agricultural modernization and industrialization initiative.

    “While investment in CAPEX is critical in stimulating growth, over reliance on donor support, which is characteristically unpredictable, puts at risk the government’s drive in pursuing agricultural modernization and industrialization,” it added.

    Parliament is expected to debate the 2023 budget in the coming week.

     

  • Messi and Maradona tied for two World Cup stats

    Messi has surpassed Diego Maradona in terms of World Cup appearances and goals.

    The Argentina number 10 has drawn level with his predecessor on two critical metrics that highlight their respective creative talents.

    Argentina advanced to the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Australia on Saturday, with Messi scoring the tenth goal of his World Cup career to give Lionel Scaloni’s squad a 1-0 lead in the first half.

    With those two goals, Messi moved up to 23 World Cup appearances this year, two more than the previous national team record held by his late compatriot and fellow number 10 jersey wearer Maradona, who finished his career with eight goals.

    The fact that Messi is one goal short of Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 10 World Cup goals for Argentina may be on his mind as he prepares to face the Netherlands on Friday.

    The Paris Saint-Germain forward is breaking records as he goes during this tournament, and in that match against Louis van Gaal’s club, he will undoubtedly surpass two more Maradona records.

    This is due to the fact that in terms of chances produced and opportunities presented during an open play during the World Cup, Messi and Maradona are currently exactly equal.

    According to Opta data, they have both generated 67 opportunities, 48 of which have resulted from open play for each player.

    In total, Messi produced four chances for Argentina against Australia, one of which was a fantastic opening for replacement Lautaro Martinez, who wastefully blasted it late in the game as Argentina sought to defeat their valiant opponents.

    When it comes to goal assists, Maradona tops Messi. Compared to Messi’s total of six assists since making his World Cup debut at the 2006 finals, Maradona’s eight from 1982 to 1994 are superior.

    Maradona led Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and later served as the team’s coach, most notably at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

    At the age of 60, he passed away in November 2020.

    Messi played his 1,000th match for club and country on Saturday against Australia.

  • De Ligt not disturbed by World Cup selection snub

    As he is “expected to play nothing” in this World Cup, Matthijs de Ligt says he has no complaints about not being included in Louis van Gaal’s starting lineup for the Netherlands’ last three games.

    De Ligt entered the game in the 93rd minute of the Netherlands’ 3-1 victory over the United States on Saturday.

    The 23-year-old made his first appearance for the Oranje in that match after being benched by Van Gaal for the following three matches after starting in their 2-0 victory over Senegal in the World Cup opener.

    “It’s not so frustrating, honestly,” De Ligt told The Athletic. “Every player wants to play but we are a group of 26 players.

    “Honestly, I have played more than I expected to play at this World Cup. I expected to play nothing. I’m quite okay. We won together and we are in a quarter-final.”

    The defender, who has established himself at Bayern Munich since his off-season switch from Juventus, has seen Ajax 21-year-old Jurrien Timber take his place alongside Nathan Ake and Virgil van Dijk in Van Gaal’s back three.

    “No, it’s just the way of playing,” De Ligt replied when asked if injury was behind his non-selection. “Maybe the coach doesn’t put me in the team and I am okay with that. I expected it.

    “So for me it’s fine. I know my role and I train hard every day to be important for the team.”

    Van Dijk supported Cody Gakpo, a 23-year-old teammate from the Netherlands, in taking the next step in his career.

    Gakpo, who scored in each of the three victories the Netherlands had during the World Cup group stage, has been linked to both Manchester United and Real Madrid.

    “Are Manchester United and Real Madrid the same level at this moment? No disrespect, not at all,” Liverpool defender Van Dijk told The Athletic.

    “I think he definitely has a next step in him. I definitely feel like it could happen. Whether it happens in the winter or next year, time will tell.

    “But he’s a great boy. Works hard, is very talented and there’s definitely more in him. We are very pleased he’s doing so well and long may it continue.”

    Gakpo would not be drawn on his future after the win over USA, while United defender Tyrell Malacia backed him to step up should an opportunity arise.

    “He’s good enough for the top, there’s no doubt,” Malacia said.

  • Depay teases Barkley after Dutch down USA

    Following the Netherlands‘ 3-1 victory over the United States in the World Cup round of 16 on Saturday, Memphis Depay took a shot at former NBA player and American TV analyst Charles Barkley.

    Depay got things going in the triumph, which came after Barkley started yelling at teammates prior to their matchup in the elimination round.

    Barkley said on NBA on TNT: “We’re going for the Netherlands. We opening up a can of whoop-a** ’cause I guarantee the Netherlands is in trouble.”

    The official Dutch team Twitter account responded with a hype video of Barkley’s quotes shortly prior to kick-off with Barcelona attacker having the last laugh.

    “Lotta bark, no bite,” Depay posted on Twitter only a few hours after the game, with an image of a forlorn-looking Barkley under the 3-1 scoreline.

    The victory means the Netherlands will take on Argentina in the quarter-finals, while the USA’s World Cup is over.


     

  • I have a contract with Dortmund – Otto Addo cites as basis for resignation

    Otto Addo says he left his position as coach of Ghana in order to continue working for Borussia Dortmund as a talent developer.

    The 47-year-old made his resignation known after the Black Stars were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup in the group stage following their 2-0 loss to Uruguay on Friday.

    After Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac was fired following a terrible performance at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Addo took up the Ghana post in February.

    “It has not got to do with the outcome of the result [Ghana’s World Cup elimination]. It would have ended if we were world champions. I have to respect the contract. I have to respect the club I am working for.” Addo told the media in Doha.”

    “Surely maybe one day I will get the chance to work with the GFA again but for the next two and half years, I have a contract with Dortmund and I have to respect that,” he added.

    After the Black Stars defeated Nigeria in the play-off round in March, Addo led them to the 2022 World Cup.

  • World Cup: Magic Messi guides Argentina past Australia

    Argentina beat Australia 2-1 on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals, and Lionel Messi scored his first goal in the World Cup elimination stage to commemorate his 1,000th career appearance.

    At Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Australia was content to delay their opponents, but as halftime drew near, Messi used his signature style to split the Socceroos open, picking out the bottom-left corner to score.

    As exquisite as Argentina’s first goal was, their second goal almost bordered on the ludicrous as Australia goalie Mathew Ryan sent the ball to Julian Alvarez, who scored the game-winning goal with ease.

    When Craig Goodwin’s shot bounced off Enzo Fernandez and past Emiliano Martinez, Australia cut the deficit in half, but Argentina never looked like they would be beaten as they set up a quarterfinal matchup with the Netherlands.

    Argentina found it difficult to advance early on due to Graham Arnold’s team’s staunch defense, but La Albiceleste can credit their seven-time Ballon d’Or winner for helping them take the lead with their first significant attack.

    After 35 minutes had passed, Messi ducked inside from the right flank to grab Nicolas Otamendi’s pass before putting a brilliant side-footed finish over Ryan’s helpless dive.

    As Argentina sought a second goal after the break, Messi had a shot ricochet into Ryan’s arms. However, Ryan was at fault when Argentina extended their lead after 57 minutes.

    When pressured by Rodrigo De Paul and Alvarez, Ryan puzzlingly attempted to dribble his way out of difficulty, and the Manchester City striker executed the easiest of finishes after seizing the ball.

    When Fernandez unintentionally deflected Goodwin’s long-range shot into the bottom right corner, Australia unexpectedly cut the lead. Lisandro Martinez then made a superb last-ditch block to stop Aziz Behich from scoring a dramatic equalizer.

    As Argentina clung on to secure their advancement, substitute Lautaro Martinez came close on three separate occasions until Emiliano Martinez stopped Garang Kuol from close range at the end.

    Messi surpasses Maradona, chases Batistuta

    On the day Messi brought up 1,000 career appearances – 169 of them for Argentina, he also inched closer to making another piece of history for his country.

    Messi’s opener saw him surpass Diego Maradona and Guillermo Stabile’s tallies of eight World Cup goals. Only Gabriel Batistuta (10) has now outscored Messi when representing the country at the tournament.

    Alvarez impresses once more

    While Messi stole the headlines on Saturday, his 22-year-old strike partner also demonstrated his worth with another energetic performance.

    Alvarez’s goal may have owed much to the poor decision-making of Ryan, but it made the City striker just the sixth Argentina player to score on each of his first two World Cup starts, and the first since Hernan Crespo did so in 2006.

  • World Cup: Dede Ayew’s daughter reportedly collapsed after he missed penalty

    Reports have it that the daughter of Andre Dede Ayew, the captain of the Black Stars of Ghana, fell unconscious after her father missed a penalty against Uruguay on Friday.

    Dede Ayew missed the opportunity to put Ghana in the lead in the first half of the game.

    Apparently, the missed penalty had a more adverse effect on his daughter than many Ghanaians who hoped Ghana would beat Uruguay.

    According to GTV Sports, Dede Ayew quickly dashed off to the hospital where his daughter had been admitted to after the match ended.

    It is said that she is doing fine and not in any danger.

    Andre Ayew says the penalty miss against Uruguay in the final Group H game is difficult to accept.

    “We had the opportunity to get to the next stage, I missed the penalty. It’s difficult to take’’ Andre Ayew told the media in a post-match interview.

    Despite the defeat, Dede Ayew is hopeful of a better Black Stars ahead of future tournaments.

    ‘’We did not get it right but I am very optimistic for the future.”

    “I am sad but we will try and make it better’’ he added.

    Uruguay beat Ghana by two goals to nil, sending the Black Stars packing home.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • Gakpo, Kudus and the breakout prospects of the World Cup group stage

    Once every four years players from across the globe get a chance to perform on the world stage and force their way into the football zeitgeist.

    Whether it is a young midfielder from Ghana who has been battling injuries the past couple of seasons, or a mercurial Dutch forward trying to push his way out of the Eredivisie, it is the perfect launchpad to alter the course of a player’s career.

    Stats Perform has identified four players who have lit up Qatar and, in turn, have seen their profile and transfer stock skyrocket, opening the door to a new world of possibilities come the January transfer window.

    Take a look at these young leading lights…

    Cody Gakpo, the Netherlands

    Cody Gakpo has perhaps been the breakout star of the tournament, finding the back of the net in all three of the Netherlands’ group matches.

    Having spent his entire career with PSV, the 23-year-old six-foot-four forward took a huge step forward in the 2021-22 season when he shattered his best goal return, following up his 11 goals in the 2020-21 campaign with 21 last time out.

    While those in the Netherlands set-up were waiting to see if he could replicate his terrific 12 months, he has taken another leap, with 12 goals and 14 assists in 19 combined Eredivisie and Europa League contests this term.

    There were rumours in the most recent transfer window that Leeds United were among the clubs looking to lure Gakpo away from PSV for a fee in the range of €30million, but he opted to reject their contract offer in the hope of landing at one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

    That bet on himself has proven to be a masterstroke, with his performances on the Qatar stage well and truly putting him on the radar of Champions League sides including Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, per Dutch journalist Marco Timmer.

    He became the first player from any European nation since 2002 to score in each group match, while he also became only the second player to put his side 1-0 up in all three group fixtures.

    Enzo Fernandez, Argentina

    Just over six months ago, Enzo Fernandez was playing for River Plate back in Argentina, but just half a season after arriving at Benfica for a deal worth up to €18m, the attacking midfielder could be moving on to greener pastures.

    Fernandez, 21, broke into the Argentina squad while still with River Plate, but did not receive his senior debut until September 24 this year.

    His lead-up to the World Cup was strong enough to book his ticket to Qatar, and after coming off the bench in Argentina’s first group-stage loss to Saudi Arabia, he came on and scored against Mexico, forcing his way into the starting XI before contributing an assist against Poland.

    His rapid rise has not gone unnoticed, and Marca is reporting Benfica have slapped a €100m fee on their new star if any team wants to pry him away while his contract still has another four seasons locked in.

    Real Madrid are one side said to be accepting of that figure, with Marca claiming they now view him as an alternative option to Borussia Dortmund and England prodigy Jude Bellingham.

    Mohammed Kudus, Ghana

    Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus had begun to break out at the club level this season heading into the World Cup.

    The 22-year-old central midfielder scored four goals – including one each against Liverpool and Napoli – while adding two assists in six Champions League fixtures.

    After being awarded his first senior international cap for Ghana back in 2019, he was spotted at Danish side Nordsjaelland and brought over to Ajax for a €9m fee in 2020.

    He missed extended stretches of both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns through injuries, and still has not been used as a guaranteed starter this season, but his emergence on the World Cup stage has been undeniable.

    Against South Korea, Kudus delivered Ghana their only win of the group as he found the back of the net twice in a 3-2 triumph, and it was a performance that is said to have caught the eye of European powerhouses.

    Fichajes named Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain as interested parties, and Sports Illustrated believe his price will be around £90m.

    Harry Souttar, Australia

    Australia have now qualified for five World Cups in a row, but after not winning a game at both the 2014 and 2018 editions, they had centre-back Harry Souttar to thank for finally taking three points against Tunisia.

    Souttar, 24, stands at a towering six-foot-six and showed off an impressive ability to cover ground in a hurry when he was called upon for a potentially game-saving, last-man challenge to defend Australia’s 1-0 lead.

    It was one of the most spectacular defensive efforts of the tournament so far and one that will go down in Australian football folklore, and it is even more significant when taking into account his recent history.

    Tipped as a potential £20m transfer target late in 2021, Souttar then tore his ACL and missed 12 months of action, returning to the field in time to get three games under his belt with Stoke City before jetting off to the World Cup.

    While he could be forgiven for needing time to work his way into form, he has instead started all three group games and been the Socceroos’ top performer, including his stellar efforts in a second clean sheet against Denmark to help his side through to the knockout stage.

    Clearly back to the player he was before his injury – at least – Souttar’s showings on the world stage have been the kind that can take a career to a new level.

    Source: Livescore

  • ‘We need a proper coach with technical know-how’ – Sam George reacts to Black Stars Word Cup exit

    Sam Nartey George, the representative for Ningo-Prampram, has expressed regret over Ghana’s senior men’s national team, the Black Stars, leaving the 2022 Qatar World Cup early.

    The MP claimed in a tweet that the Black Stars’ loss to Uruguay in their final World Cup group match in Qatar in 2022 proves they require a qualified coach.

    He continued by saying that GFA authorities have to stop meddling in the team’s player selecting process.

    “Four lessons learned from this defeat; We need an experienced coach.
    Parts of the MP’s tweet read, “The GFA Executives need to quit meddling in team selection.

    The MP, however, indicated that Ghanaians can find some solace in the fact that Uruguay has also exited the tournament.

    “Even if we lost, we are going home with Uruguay,” Sam George said.

    The Black Stars were eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup after losing by 2-0 to Uruguay in their final match of the group stages.

    Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s two goals for Uruguay were not enough to get them through to the next round of the tournament as South Korea beat Portugal 2-1.

    The Black Stars had a slow start in the game as Uruguay was on fire from the blast of the whistle.

    However, Ghana’s first chance in the game which fell to Jordan Ayew nearly saw him score but Sergio Rochet pulled a good save which saw Kudus go in for a rebound.

  • Brazil waiting on Neymar news as Tite dismisses idea of ‘easy’ draw

    Tite advised Brazil to use extreme caution during the World Cup’s knockout round, when they would like Neymar to return from injury.

    The Selecao finished first in Group G after losing 1-0 to Cameroon on Friday. As a result, they will play South Korea rather than Portugal in the next round.

    Brazil would now play the winner of Japan’s match against Croatia in the quarterfinals after Spain’s defeat the day before appeared to further open up the draw.

    Neymar has not yet exercised with a ball after his matchday one injury, but Brazil will feel more at ease regardless of their opponents once he returns to play.

    Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar added: “With 72 hours before the next match, we have time on our side. We still have possibilities.”

    With or without his star man, coach Tite certainly will not become complacent, explaining: “Brazil lost to Cameroon. Portugal lost to South Korea. France lost to Tunisia. Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia. I think the results speak for themselves.

    “I think these are very strong, very tough matches. I don’t think we can think any prior situation makes it easy. We need to be very careful.

    “We were very careful with the match against Cameroon. We were. We had all of those cares, we took them. They had their merits, played vertically very well. They have merit for the victory like Tunisia and the others.

    “We can’t say it’s easier and we have an advantage. We can’t say that.”

    Tite had made nine changes to his Brazil team, selecting an entirely different XI to that which started their finals opener.

    But he said: “Who lost? All of us. Our preparation is joint preparation, our wins are joint wins, our losses are also joint losses.”

    The coach called on Brazil to “feel the loss”, saying: “The World Cup doesn’t give you a second chance, but this time it did.

    “We have to concentrate for 24 hours, suffer for 24 hours, and tomorrow we start getting ready.”

    Aside from Neymar’s development, there was conflicting news on his injuries, with Alex Sandro continuing to rehabilitate alongside the striker while Danilo is expected to practice regularly on Saturday.

    This is a timely boost because Alex Telles and Gabriel Jesus’ knee injuries from the match against Cameroon will soon be subject to scans.

  • World Cup: Historic Brazil win fails to save Cameroon

    Despite being the first African team to defeat Brazil during the tournament, Cameroon was eliminated from Group G, and after their first two World Cup performances, Rigobert Song voiced sadness.

    In order to have any chance of joining the pre-tournament favorites in the round of 16, Cameroon needed to defeat them on Friday.

    They did it in thrilling fashion thanks to a goal from Vincent Aboubakar in stoppage time, which he celebrated by taking off his shirt.

    However, Murat Yakin’s team finished two points ahead of Cameroon thanks to Switzerland’s stunning 3-2 victory against Serbia, sending them home after the World Cup’s group stage for the sixth time in a row.

    By breaking Brazil‘s unblemished World Cup record against African teams (previously played seven, won seven), the Indomitable Lions at least left on a good note, but Song believed Cameroon might have done better.

    “I didn’t even realise that this was such a historic victory. We are one of the African countries who have played more World Cups than most, and now we’ve beaten Brazil,” Song said.

    “My players deserve to be congratulated. They showed tonight they could have done better in the first two games [a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland and a 3-3 draw with Serbia].

    “I think we do have a feeling of regret. Now we realise we could have done better. But we need to look on the positive side as well.

    “I’m trying to get across a team spirit, that lion’s spirit, which needs to be the key to Cameroon teams.

    “We realise now we could have done better in this tournament. We’re a young team and today we’ve seen our young team getting stronger and stronger.”

    Cameroon began 2022 by finishing third at the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, and with just over a year to prepare for the next edition of that tournament – which was pushed back to January 2024 due to weather concerns in Ivory Coast, Song is backing them to improve further.

    “There’s another tournament in 2024 and we’ve built up some momentum now,” Song added.

    “I’m satisfied with tonight’s performance. I took over the national team not too long ago and I think we are progressing and improving, so I’m proud of this team.”

  • We look forward to what lies ahead – Kudus after World Cup exit

    Mohammed Kudus says the team has learnt valuable lessons from their participation in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 finals.

    The Ajax Amsterdam man who caught the eye of hundreds of thousands football fans across the globe scored two goals in the tournament and was also adjudged the Budweiser Player of the match against South Korea on Monday.

    ‘’It’s very disappointing but we stick together as a team and look forward to what lies ahead. This has given us a lot of lessons in this tournament but the feeling now is a big disappointment but we look forward to what lies ahead’’ he spoke the media after the game.

    ‘’Right now, it’s more about the team, we lost regardless of my performance so the disappointment is still there but we will reflect about my performance later after everything has settled down emotionally’’.

    ‘’For almost ninety percent of the guys, it’s our first World Cup and I think it’s a big lesson for myself and a lot of the guys and I know this will really make us tough and help our progress”

    ‘’I don’t think the penalty miss by Andre Ayew was the key moment in the match, the easiest thing we can do is to blame one person’’.

    ‘’In the second half I also got chances that I could have scored, it qualified as a penalty also so we all had chances to have an effect in the game so I don’t really think the penalty had an effect on the whole performance’’.

    ‘’Andre is a great leader and a great captain. After the penalty miss, he was still in the game and stood up for the team like everyone did but the result went the other way so we learn from it and stay positive’’.

    ‘’I think what happened in the past we can’t really change it, the focus was to get out of the group, that was the main thing’’ he added.

    Source: GFA COMMUNICATIONS

  • World Cup: Penalty miss difficult to accept – Dede Ayew

    Black Stars captain Andre Ayew says the penalty miss against Uruguay in the final Group H game is difficult to accept.

    “We had the opportunity to get to the next stage, I missed the penalty. It’s difficult to take’’ Andre Ayew told the media in a post-match interview.

    The Al Sadd forward missed a penalty in the 21st minute as his kick was saved by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet following a foul on Mohammed Kudus.

    The two-time World Champions went on to win the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Giorgio de Arrascaeta in the 26th and 32nd minutes of the game.

    Despite the defeat, Dede Ayew is hopeful of a better Black Stars ahead of future tournaments.

    ‘’We did not get it right but I am very optimistic for the future.”

    “I am sad but we will try and make it better’’ he added.

  • World Cup: We are sorry for not progressing to the knockout phase – GFA to Ghanaians

    The Ghana Football Association has apologised to Ghanaians for the Black Stars’ inability to progress to the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar.

    “We regret our inability to progress to the knockout phase of the competition and offer our profound apologies to the government, the people of Ghana and all stakeholders across the globe,” part of its statement read.

    The Authority, shortly after Ghana was dazed by Uruguay by two goals to nil on Friday, released a statement reacting to the disappointing performance exhibited by the Stars.

    According to the GFA, “valuable lessons have been learnt from our qualification and participation in the tournament and aim to continue with the positives going into the future.”

    They expressed gratitude to the government, the Ghanaian people, the football family, corporate Ghana, esteemed sponsors and supporters for their “unflinching, unwavering and unalloyed support during the Black Stars FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 campaign.”

    Meanwhile, the GFA has announced that it would in due course inform all stakeholders about any further developments concerning the Black Stars.

    This has become imperative as the Black Stars are without a coach following the resignation of Otto Addo, who will now be focusing on Borussia Dortmund.

  • How Otto Addo’s blind loyalty cost Ghana a sweet revenge and World Cup knockout dream

    Otto Addo’s devotion to underwhelming players ultimately lost Ghana a sweet retaliation and qualification for the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup.

    The warning signs had been there, and if the disastrous performance against Brazil wasn’t enough to convince Otto Addo that certain players, regardless of their pedigree and reputation, needed to be benched, then the exhibition match against Switzerland and Portugal in the first Group H match should have.

    It makes sense for a coach in charge of a young club to place his faith in the few seasoned players on the roster, but Otto Addo’s trusted players have consistently disappointed, especially when it counts the most.

    There is the excuse of leadership and inspiration to be made for Andre Ayew but the obvious truth is that when it comes to what matters most which is producing performance worthy of satisfactory remarks, Andre Ayew has failed, not once, not twice, countless times in the last three years.

    There is the curious case of Thomas Partey. Elegant at Arsenal, average in Ghana jersey.

    As far as the Black Stars and most national teams are concerned, this is not a new phenomenon but this is where a coach is expected to be bold, overlook the stardom and pick less-popular players who deliver in national colors.

    The Switzerland game should have provided the blueprint for how Otto Addo was going to deal with the Partey situation.

    To be honest it is not an easy move to make and it is one which if not handled properly could upset the dressing room but after that performance by Salis and Elisha Owusu against Switzerland and Partey’s underwhelming performance against Portugal, Otto Addo should have drawn the line. Instead he remained loyal to a global star who once again delivered the opposite of his Arsenal form against Uruguay.

    And Baba Rahman.

    There is the conspiracy theory that he gets into the team because of his association with some key members within the Ghana Football Association but assuming without admitting that it is the truth, such influence, regardless of who it is coming will not be enough to get him into the starting team unless the coach himself is party to whatever scheme there is.

    So regardless of what you think, Baba Rahman presence in the team is the sole decision of coach Otto Addo and the fact that he was drafted into the team after Gideon Mensah’s telling performance against South Korea shows the loyalty and faith Otto Addo had in him.

    In return of Otto Addo’s loyalty, the Reading player has persistently displayed disastrous football which once again came alive in the game against Uruguay.

    Baba Rahman’s was exposed and the Uruguayans had a field day cooking their attacks from that side. Unfortunately for him, his wing partner Jordan Ayew after that headline-grabbing performance against South Korea went back to default settings.

    Inaki Williams came into the team with so much promise and it was understandable as the Black Stars lacked a player of his stature in the attacking area but in three games played at the World Cup where he played mainly in two positions, the Athletic Bilbao forward who switched allegiance from Spain to Ghana failed to deliver.

    In all three games, two of which he played as a striker, not once did he hit a shot that was saved by the goalkeeper. Inaki had no shot on target in three games for the Black Stars and he was Otto Addo’s lead striker. How ridiculous.

    The Ghana team showed so much promise and there is enough reason to be positive about the future but the undeniable truth is that Otto Addo’s blind loyalty led us into this ditch.