Latest news with #AngeldiMaria
Metro
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Metro
Enzo Maresca fumes after Chelsea suffer major injury blow at Club World Cup
Chelsea have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup but appear to have lost a player to injury following the 4-1 win over Benfica. The Blues were cruising to victory on Saturday night after Reece James put them ahead with a sublime free-kick, only for the game to be suspended in the 86th minute due to adverse weather conditions. After a two-hour delay the match resumed, only for Benfica to win a last minute penalty which Angel di Maria converted to send the match to extra-time. But after Gianluca Prestianni was sent off, Chelsea ran riot with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall securing the win. They'll face Brazilian side Palmeiras in the last-eight but will have to do so without Benoit Badiashile who appears to have picked up a nasty injury. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. The centre-back was subbed off after 70 minutes after going down seemingly with cramp and was replaced by Tosin Adarabioyo. However, as players left the Bank of America stadium in Charlotte, Badiashile was pictured on crutches, suggesting a more serious injury has occurred. The 24-year-old has missed 40 games through injury since moving to Stamford Bridge in 2023 for around £32m, with his future at the club uncertain. While Enzo Maresca likes the defender, reports from France claim that Marseille are interested in signing him this summer but this injury could now scupper any transfer plans. Weather conditions in America, including severe thunderstorms and extreme heat, have been constant issues at the Club World Cup, with Chelsea vs Benfica the sixth match to be halted because of it. Players and managers have also criticised the poor condition of the pitches, while Maresca unleashed a furious rant following Saturday's game that didn't finish until the early hours of Sunday morning. 'The game was very good for 85 minutes. Then we had an hour and a half, two-hour stop,' the head coach fumed. More Trending 'Then it started completely different. It's not the same game. It's not the same game because you break the tempo. 'So two hours inside; people speak with the family outside, if they were good, the security. People eating, people laughing, people talking on the mobile. It's two hours. That's why I said it's not football. 'It's something that you struggle to understand. But we tried to go out, continue in the same way, knowing that it was difficult. 'It's not random that for 85 minutes, we didn't concede nothing and then for five minutes, we conceded a few chances. Why? It's because it started a completely different game. It's not normal. It's not football.' For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Joao Pedro chooses next club after Chelsea and Newcastle transfer offers MORE: Benfica boss singles out 'very strong' Chelsea star for praise after Club World Cup defeat MORE: Chelsea agree £55m deal and make decision over Emiliano Martinez transfer
Otago Daily Times
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Thrashings continue for outmatched Auckland at cup
Auckland City suffered a second humbling defeat at the World Club Cup when they were trounced 6-0 by Benfica on Saturday. The Navy Blues capitulated in the second half after trailing the Portuguese side 1-0 at the interval, in a performance which followed up a 10-0 thrashing from German giants Bayern Munich in their opener. The result means Auckland City have no chance of qualifying for the knockout stage, and will only be playing for pride in their final match against Argentina side Boca Juniors on Wednesday morning (NZ time). Saturday's game featured a delay of more than two hours at halftime due to a heavy storm, at which stage Auckland trailed 1-0. They initially defended more stubbornly than they did in the the rout against Bayern Munich, led by a series of quality saves by goalkeeper Nathan Garrow. The dam burst on the stroke of halftime when former Manchester United star Angel di Maria converted from the penalty spot. The lengthy halftime delay may have affected semi-professional Auckland's focus as Benfica's mountain of attacking raids started to find cracks in the defence. Vangelis Pavlidis and Renato Sanches added goals soon after the break, before Leandro Barreiro scored in the 76th and 78th minutes and Di Maria converted a second goal from the spot to round out the scoring. In other games on Saturday, Harry Kane opened the scoring for Bayern Munich in their 2-1 win over Boca Juniors, Chelsea suffered a 3-1 loss to Flamengo, and Esperance de Tunis beat LA FC 1-0. Yesterday, Valentin Carboni scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to complete Inter Milan's rally to a 2-1 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds in Seattle. Carboni's strike rescued all three points for Inter, 14 minutes after Lautaro Martinez's brilliant, volleyed 78th-minute equaliser from a corner kick. Against the run of play, Ryoma Watanabe had put Red Diamonds in front in the 11th minute. Takuro Kaneko created the opportunity with a wonderful slaloming run from the right into the penalty area that split two Inter defenders, before dragging a cross back toward the penalty spot. Watanabe met it with a first-time, side-footed shot that deflected off another defender, wrong-footing goalkeeper Yann Sommer on its way into the bottom right corner. Jobe Bellingham, brother of England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham, scored for German club Borussia Dortmund in their 4-3 win over gutsy South African side Mamelodi Sundowns, and Fluminense beat Ulsan Hyundai 4-2. In the final game of the weekend, Argentina's River Plate and Mexico's Monterrey battled to a nil-all draw at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Despite dominating the match with 18 shots to Monterrey's three, all River Plate had to show for its efforts was a red card for midfielder Kevin Castano, who received his marching orders in stoppage time after a second yellow and will now miss his side's crucial final group match against Inter on Thursday . — RNZ/Reuters/Field Level Media
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Di Maria to return to boyhood club despite previous threats
Benfica winger Angel di Maria will return to his boyhood club Rosario Central - 10 months after death threats forced him to backtrack on the same move. The 37-year-old began his career at Rosario in 2005 and the Argentine top-flight club announced his return on Thursday. "Our history together has more pages to write. Welcome home," the Rosario-based club said alongside a video posted on X. The 2022 World Cup winner spent two seasons with Rosario before moving to Europe with Benfica. He went on to play more than 700 games in Europe for Benfica, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris St-Germain and Juventus. Di Maria was close to rejoining Rosario as a free agent last summer but increasing drug-related violence in the region and a number of threats against him and his family ended his plans. Speaking last July, Di Maria said: "There was a threat at my sister's business, a box with a pig's head and a bullet in the forehead, and a note that said that if I returned to [Rosario] Central, the next head was that of my daughter Pia. "Those months were horrible. We could only sit there and cry each night over not being able to carry out that dream return." Di Maria has won 30 trophies in Europe - including league titles in three countries and the 2013-14 Champions League with Real - as well as the World Cup and two Copa America trophies with Argentina. He rejoined Benfica for a second spell in 2023 and will leave the club after next month's Club World Cup campaign in the United States.
Business Recorder
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Business Recorder
Di Maria says he will not return for Benfica next season
Angel di Maria will not return for Benfica next season, the Argentine forward said after the club failed to win the Liga Portugal following a 1-1 draw at Braga on Saturday, finishing two points below champions Sporting. The 37-year-old, who retired from international soccer last year after making 145 appearances for Argentina, has spent five years at Benfica in two spells, having re-joined the club in 2023 after playing for Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris St Germain and Juventus. 'It hurts a lot to end this way after such a long year. It was my last championship match with this shirt and I'm proud to have been able to wear it again,' Di Maria wrote on Instagram. Copa final was dream farewell says Di Maria 'There's still a final on Sunday and we're going to go there with all our desire and joy to win it. Together as always. Thanks for your support, Benfica fans.' Benfica play Sporting in the final of the Portuguese Cup on May 25, before kicking off their Club World Cup campaign on June 16. Di Maria, whose contract runs until June 30 according to media reports, did not say if he will play in the Club World Cup.
The Sun
18-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Di Maria says he will not return for Benfica next season
ANGEL DI MARIA will not return for Benfica next season, the Argentine forward said after the club failed to win the Liga Portugal following a 1-1 draw at Braga on Saturday, finishing two points below champions Sporting. The 37-year-old, who retired from international soccer last year after making 145 appearances for Argentina, has spent five years at Benfica in two spells, having re-joined the club in 2023 after playing for Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris St Germain and Juventus. 'It hurts a lot to end this way after such a long year. It was my last championship match with this shirt and I'm proud to have been able to wear it again,' Di Maria wrote on Instagram. 'There's still a final on Sunday and we're going to go there with all our desire and joy to win it. Together as always. Thanks for your support, Benfica fans.' Benfica play Sporting in the final of the Portuguese Cup on May 25, before kicking off their Club World Cup campaign on June 16. Di Maria, whose contract runs until June 30 according to media reports, did not say if he will play in the Club World Cup.
