Trump, Juventus and thinly veiled contempt
While the dimwits who think politics should have no place in football will view Fifa's non-stance as a victory, it is difficult to imagine what they made of Wednesday's delegation of Juventus representatives at the Oval Office, where assorted players, staff and suits were forced to stand behind Donald Trump as he briefed his favoured correspondents on a possible attack on Iran, a bizarre soliloquy regarding the bodycount in the American Civil War and how 'bigly' the crowd at Juve's Copa Gianni match against Al Ain would be a few hours later. With Gianni Infantino gazing adoringly from his basket in the corner, the 47th president of the United States of America also tried unsuccessfully to bait some or all of his visitors into making transphobic comments.
Showing all the enthusiasm and joie de vivre of captives in a hostage video, a group of players including USA USA USA internationals Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah looked on with a mixture of thinly veiled contempt and … no, just thinly veiled contempt. Speaking after Juve's win over Al Ain later that evening, Weah stated that he and his teammates had been forced into participating in this tawdry photo op by their employers. 'It was all a surprise to me, honestly,' he sighed. 'They told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go. I was caught by surprise, honestly. It was a bit weird. When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it's kind of like … I just want to play football, man.' Previously an outspoken critic of Trump's disregard for black people among his myriad other shortcomings, McKennie stayed silent on this occasion but, if looks could kill, the midfielder would almost certainly have been bundled out of the office by the president's secret service detail.
Elsewhere in Copa Gianni, Manchester City got their campaign off to a winning start against Wydad AC despite losing Rico Lewis to a late red card that simultaneously looked very harsh and entirely justified, while Merseyside's most famous Hispanophone made his eagerly awaited debut for his new side in their draw with Al-Hilal. 'It's an incredible day for me to make my Real Madrid debut,' cheered Trent Alexander-Arnold in his post-match interview, speaking in his native tongue on this occasion, presumably out of fear any Ice goons lurking nearby would be so impressed by his proficiency in Spanish that he might end in the back of a van being ferried to a detention centre.
'Many question why our national team is in this situation and why there is a lack of talent, one reason being the losses due to piracy. All the money that is lost every year is not invested in the youth teams and in the growth of our young players, a major issue that has led our national team to face many difficulties … We are already far behind the Premier League and La Liga. If we continue like this, we will finish behind the Germans and we will end up being at the bottom of the table [of Europe's top five leagues] together with the French' – Serie A chief suit Luigi De Siervo reckons pesky Italian fire sticks are the reason for the Azzurri's decline, along with sticking in a drive-by on Ligue 1. In other news, Gennaro Gattuso has been presented as the national team's latest manager.
I struggle to see how Burnley could have been dealt a rough hand by the giant super-computer at Premier League HQ (yesterday's Football Daily). Admittedly I've not counted up every fixture next season, but I'm pretty sure they'll play the other teams twice just like everyone else' – Simon Riley.
I'm a bit behind on reading Football Daily so I've only just seen the photo of Phil Parkes from Monday's Memory Lane (full email edition). It's quite the throwback to a simpler time – you'd never catch any club, let alone one as well-versed in C0ckney rhyming slang as West Ham, letting one of their players pose with a pony, in case anyone saw it as the perfect analogy for how they've been playing under Graham Potter' – Ed Taylor.
Re: yesterday's Quote of the Day. Daniel Levy says: 'We've won a European trophy but it's not enough.' Turn his TV off. Few solid players left but it's not enough. Few leaders that'll really step but it's not enough. Say Spurs bigger than myself but it's not enough. Am I getting on Mr Levy's ... Yeah, somebody gotta do it' – Daniel Stauss.
Please send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today's winner of our letter o' the day competition is … Daniel Stauss, who gets some Football Weekly merch. We'll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.
Welcome back to hell, and listen to Emma Powell read Rob Smyth's Forgotten Story of Manchester United v Galatasaray in 1993.
Sheffield United without Chris Wilder? Even when he was managing Middlesbrough or Watford, and Paul Heckingbottom was in charge, the club still felt like Wilder's. His second spell, including a relegation battle fought in vain, and May's Championship playoff final lost so narrowly to Sunderland, was not as successful as the first, but the 100% Blade departs as club legend, a manager on the level of a Neil Warnock, a Dave Bassett, a Harry Haslam. One of the final straws came when the club's new, Stateside consortium owners asked Wilder to use AI scouting methods. That was always unlikely to fly. The end soon came. 'Leading this team over 300 times will remain an incredible part of my life,' sobbed Wilder. The new man? Rubén Sellés, who you may remember as the manager of crisis clubs Southampton, Reading and Hull. 'We need to embrace data and new technologies, but the most important thing is not to forget the football essence,' he roared.
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé has been admitted to hospital with acute gastroenteritis, where the club say he will 'undergo a series of tests and follow the appropriate course of treatment'.
The Tripoli derby between Al-Ahly and Al-Ittihad in the Libyan Premier League has had to be suspended after fans stormed the pitch, with the referee and other supporters being injured. Al-Ittihad's bus was set on fire, the club said in a statement, while Al-Ahly blamed what it called a 'provocative act' by one of Al-Ittihad players for the trouble.
The presence of banned performance-enhancing substance meldonium, found in Mykhailo Mudryk's system, and confirmed by a B sample, could lead to a four-year ban. 'As this is an ongoing case, we are not in a position to comment further at this time,' tooted an FA statement.
England's brave boys are through to the quarter-finals of the European U-21 Championship, despite losing 2-1 to Germany. Slovenia's defeat to the Czech Republic means Lee Carsley's kids limped through to face Spain on Saturday.
Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson has revealed her 23-strong lineup for Euro 2025 on top of Yr Wyddfa in Snowdonia, and it includes Sophie Ingle after she recovered in time from ACL-knack.
Hernán Crespo is back in the game, baby, as São Paulo coach for a second time.
Gerhard Struber is back in the game, baby, as Bristol City head coach.
New Chelsea striker Liam Delap and Arsenal teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly lead the list for the PFA young player of the year award. Bournemouth full-back Milos Kerkez, former Cherries defender Dean Huijsen, Arsenal winger Ethan Nwaneri and Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers complete the six, with Phil Foden and James Milner cruelly overlooked for this year's gong.
New Spurs boss Thomas Frank intends to build on Ange Postecoglou's Bigger Vase triumph and turn them into 'serial winners'.
And to the Fun and Games in South America Dept, where Brazilian Série D outfit Humaitá have set a new club record after just seven paying fans turned up for their 2-2 draw against Manauara.
There's a treat for you in the latest edition of our sister email, a big interview with Netherlands midfielder Jill Roord courtesy of Tom Garry.
Get it launched! Football Daily's campaign for real football is happening. Get it in the mixer, feed off the knock-downs? Sadly not. We're going to see longer passing mostly, writes Ali Tweedale, because teams have worked out that playing out from the back gives opponents more chances.
A proper plan is needed for those left behind as Copa Gianni gifts its riches, writes Nick Ames.
How the USMNT values diversity, even in the Trump era. By Sanjay Sujanthakumar.
And the Rumour Mill picks over the latest gossip, including chatter relating to the future of Viktor Gyökeres.
Gabriel Batistuta skips clear of a sliding Lizardo Garrido during Argentina's final-round stalemate with Chile during the Copa América in July 1991. The rain poured and poured in Santiago, where Argentina returned two days later to beat Colombia 2-1 and top the standings, sealing glory.
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