Monte Azul · Defender · #0 · Brazil · 23 yrs
Fifa president has prostrated the organisation before Donald Trump and lost control of his own tournament as a resultEven the Nazis tried to tone things down a bit. Before the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, acutely conscious of how it might be perceived by foreign visitors, the Third Reich tried to soften some of its harder, more intolerant edges. Antisemitic signs and images were removed from shops and other public places. Der Stürmer was removed from newspaper kiosks. Paragraph 175, the country’s strict anti‑homosexuality law, was temporarily suspended.By contrast, the 2026 men’s World Cup is being co-hosted in a country utterly indifferent to what a foreign visitor might think of it. In this respect, the US of Donald Trump is tonally different to any host of a major sporting event that has preceded it: a country that actively wants you to see the darkness in its heart, the inhumanity at its core, that gets off on your revulsion. Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Liew and Philippe Auclair to preview Groups I-LRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.On the podcast today; our third and final World Cup preview. Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson, Paul Watson and Sid Lowe to preview Groups E-HRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.On the podcast today; the second of our World Cup previews. Continue reading...
In what will be their final pre-World Cup showdown this weekend, Canada will welcome Ireland to Montreal in the early hours of Saturday for what could be a cagey affair. With the 2026 World Cup officially getting underway in just a matter of days, there are a string of eye-catching betting promotions and bonuses available. […] The post Prediction: Canada vs Ireland appeared first on SoccerNews.
The origin of PSG’s largesse and the effect it’s had on their domestic game can’t be ignored, even as we appreciate the team’s stunning qualitySign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletterSince 1990, only one side had ever successfully defended the Champions League – Real Madrid, who won three in a row between 2016 and 2018. Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the final on Saturday elevates them to a new tier of the pantheon. No bad side has ever won the European Cup or Champions League, but only great sides have ever retained it.Arsenal pushed them much closer than Inter had in losing in the final the previous year, and there is always something slightly unsatisfying about a victory on penalties, but the quality of this PSG cannot be denied. They put six past Bayern in the semi-final – their superiority far greater than the one-goal aggregate margin would suggest. It was a similar story in the quarter-final, in which a 4-0 aggregate victory didn’t really reflect how much better they were than Liverpool. And while Chelsea may think they were slightly unlucky to lose the first leg of their last-16 tie away to PSG 5-2, the 3-0 result in the second leg was a devastating assertion of authority: three goals scored by an almost bored opponent apparently just as they felt like it.This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email [email protected], and he’ll answer the best in a future edition. Continue reading...
Is the French Open Novak Djokovic's time to finally win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam? "It could be, but only if the unthinkable happens to world No 1 Jannik Sinner," claims Sky Sports' lead commentator Jonathan Overend.
De Zerbi did the job he was brought in to do – now he has helped Tottenham avoid an unfathomable relegation, his task for next season is not so clearAlmost half a century ago, Matthew Engel had a line in this newspaper about Sheffield United going top of the Fourth Division being like hearing a friend had been made head of the prison library: you wanted to congratulate them but really you were wondering what on earth they were doing there in the first place. It was a similar story at Spurs today: for all the understandable glee and relief, even to be in danger of relegation is evidence of things having gone badly wrong.It may be that the future has this as the first day in the new history of Tottenham. Roberto De Zerbi is clearly a manager of great promise – 11 points in seven games may not be earth-shattering, but it is a lot, lot better than what came before – and the injury crisis surely can’t be this bad for a third straight season. Perhaps coming so close to the brink will startle them into decisive action in a way that last season’s fourth-bottom finish, mitigated as it was by the Europa League success, did not. Perhaps there really will come a bracing clarity of vision and they will rise again. The world can change very quickly. It’s only four years ago that Spurs were, for the sixth season in succession, finishing above Arsenal. A season out of Europe, while it will have a negative impact on revenues, can have a remarkable rejuvenating effect. Continue reading...
⚽ News, discussion and buildup before the day’s action⚽ Fans’ verdicts: the season review | And email us hereThe Premier League may end today. But football never really does as the World Cup looms ever closer.Read Jonathan Wilson’s column on Brazil and Carlo Ancelotti’s selection of Neymar in their World Cup squad. Continue reading...
The crowd that gathered late into the night to celebrate on the streets reflected an idea of London where all are welcomeThe mounds of detritus pile up outside Finsbury Park station, like an offering to a vengeful deity. A deity gone rogue for the evening, demanding tribute specifically in the form of empty food cartons and abandoned Lime bikes. A deity that has finally decided to break the habit of 22 years.They approach via the familiar sidestreets, Gillespie Road, Benwell Road, Hornsey Road, the little shortcut past The Plimsoll pub. The night is cool and calm and still, the air rumbling with adoration and freedom, the sensation of chains being broken. As they reach the stadium, perfect strangers grip each other by the shoulders, bound by shared memory, shared trauma, a shared hymnbook. What do you think of shit? Tottenham! Thank you. That’s all right! A firework is let off, and then another. People are FaceTiming their relatives. People are getting selfies with Ian Wright. The crowd is hundreds, and then thousands, a lawless melee that in classic Arteta-ball tradition features plenty of jostling but no free-kicks awarded. Meanwhile, in the digital wilds beyond, the celebration police have laid down their truncheons and riot shields. Continue reading...
The shadow of spygate hung over the playoff final but Middlesbrough’s defeat averts the possibility of legal actionA freezing night in Berlin. Silence. Mist. Breath steams above a gaggle of grey-faced men, collars upturned. An unbearable tension in the air. Binoculars trained across the River Havel from Wannsee to Potsdam. An officer reaches into the pocket of his greatcoat to take a bite of schnapps. Another smokes nervously. Then, at last, a light on the east side of the Glienicke Bridge.The exchange is on. There is almost a sense of relief as the action begins. This is the moment in the spy film after the espionage is over, the mole exposed and the agonising denouement can begin. Continue reading...
