Latest news with #CopaGianni
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Wenger loves the Club World Cup, but does anyone agree with him?
The inaugural Copa Gianni jamboree reaches its end game on Sunday as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, two lavishly-backed super clubs based a short Eurostar trip apart, battle to be kings of the global game. PSG have undermined their rivals' complaints about packed schedules and player fatigue by flying in after Bigger Cup final and destroying better-rested teams. Chelsea, meanwhile, have benefited from a tournament that allows you to simply buy more players as you go – including those on opposing teams – in order to freshen things up. Whatever happens, football will be the winner, but has Copa Gianni been any good? Asked at the end of June, Jürgen Klopp was unequivocal in his criticism, calling it the worst idea ever implemented in football (and it has some serious competition – Football Daily Ed). Almost two weeks later, Arsène Wenger has bitten back. 'I am going to give a very boring answer to a very interesting question,' Wenger told salivating hacks. 'Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I don't share the view of Klopp at all.' With a full fortnight to prepare his riposte, we were expecting a Bielsa-esque PowerPoint takedown, but instead got the kind of unsubstantiated guff that may have earned Wenger the gig as Fifa's chief of global football development. 'If you make enquiries to all the clubs who were here, 100% [would say] they would want to do it again.' If by clubs, Wenger means the boardroom bean-counters and PSR plate-spinners who oversee things, he may be right. But what about managers, so often the public face of the team? We would ask Botafogo's Renato Paiva and Porto's Martín Anselmi what they thought, but they were both sacked for their Copa Gianni failures (which, in Paiva's case, included beating PSG). How did Pep Guardiola enjoy Manchester City's daring run to the last 16? 'Maybe [in winter] it will be a disaster, we are exhausted and [Copa Gianni] has destroyed us,' trilled Guardiola. Well, at least his players enjoyed it, right? 'My teammates are not exactly overjoyed about the tournament,' said Manuel Akanji, who joined the rest of City's back line in downing tools against Al-Hilal. Wenger also took on the issue of low fan turnout, saying 'we believe the attendances were projected as low and in reality were much higher,' while squinting up at an empty stand as invisible to him as a contentious decision in Arsenal's favour. 'We shouldn't underestimate the quality of the permanent pitches,' he added, rubbing a scorched blade of grass between forefinger and thumb. 'The grass is a bit harsher here. The pitches were flat. But once we watered the grass, everyone was happy.' Apart from PSG's Luis Enrique, of course, who complained of playing surfaces 'full of holes' that made the ball 'jump around like a rabbit'. And what about the heat, which made it 'almost impossible to train,' according to Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca? Well, it turns out he was doing the training wrong. 'I asked our analysts to analyse the impact of the heat,' Wenger added, while stuffing party packs of ice cubes inside his extra-long puffer jacket. 'We found heat of over 35C had an impact on high-speed running, so sprints, not distances.' So, it's simple – to succeed in this tournament, or next year's Stay Away World Cup, players need to stop running. After all it's not like this is an elite competitive sport, right? Wenger's verdict may be good news for Cole Palmer, but it also proves the Copa Gianni – recently described as a 'wake-up call' for player welfare – is a marathon, not a sprint. It's the final round of Group B fixtures, with Portugal needing to gain three points and several goals to overhaul Italy in second place. Join us for Italy 1-4 Spain and Portugal 3-1 Belgium to see how it all shakes down (both 8pm BST kick-offs). It is great to see and it's proof that women's footballers are great, and that is the way that game is going, so long may that continue' – England's Lauren Hemp weighs in on the news that Arsenal will make Canada forward Olivia Smith the first £1m signing in the women's game, as revealed in a Big Website exclusive on Thursday. Re: John Terry's revelation in yesterday's Daily that he would not have played against his old muckers at Chelsea left me pondering the eternal existential question with JT. Would he have sat on the bench in his full Aston Villa kit regardless?' – Justin Kavanagh. Sir Alex Ferguson was not afraid to dispense with David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo to rebuild Manchester United. Xabi Alonso has a similar task if he is to take Real Madrid back to the lofty heights that they are used to. Will he?' – Krishna Moorthy. Perhaps David Mack (Thursday's letters) should also have told Bryan Evans, Frankie Dodds and Barry Glendenning that the M1 (Republic of Ireland version) only starts at the Turnapin Interchange [OK, that's enough of that – Daily Ed]' – Frank Derwin. Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Justin Kavanagh. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here. Switzerland are into the quarter-finals of Euro 2025 after a stereotypical show of excellent timing. Riola Xhemaili's stoppage-time leveller sent the hosts through at Finland's expense, setting up a likely quarter-final against … oh, Spain. Elsewhere in Group A, Norway maintained their 100% record in style with a 4-3 win over Iceland, with Signe Gaupset and Frida Maanum bagging a double each. The Southport manager, Neil Danns, has been handed a suspended six-month ban after admitting placing 65 bets on football matches during his 15-year playing career. Jordan Henderson is poised to wear the famous red-and-white stripes of Sun, er, Brentford next season, signing a two-year deal after leaving Ajax. Another player swapping Amsterdam for London is Borna Sosa. The Croatian left-back has joined Crystal Palace for a cut-price £3m fee. Tottenham have sealed the signing of Mohamed Kudus from West Ham but their move for Morgan Gibbs-White is on hold after Nottingham Forest alleged that an illegal approach was made. Yikes! And Copa Gianni's ref cams could be coming to the Premier League, with a potential trial pencilled in for the upcoming Summer Series of friendlies in the USA USA USA. The Athletic Bilbao defender Yeray Álvarez has provided an unusual explanation for his provisional doping ban – claiming that he inadvertently used a hair-loss treatment which contained a banned substance. Álvarez, who failed a drug test after Athletic's Bigger Vase semi-final, first leg defeat to Manchester United, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016 and said he had been taking the medicine as part of his treatment for alopecia. 'After studying the case, we have established that I tested positive because I unintentionally took a hair loss prevention medicine containing a banned substance,' Álvarez wrote on social media. Finally, a footballer that we can truly relate to at Football Daily Towers. Winning a major tournament takes work, both on the pitch and back at the training camp, writes Emma Hayes in her latest Big Paper column. Xabi Alonso has got a job on his hands to rebuild Real Madrid and find the right formula for Kylian Mbappé, writes Spanish football doyen Sid Lowe. How will the Stay Away World Cup and Big Sports Day thrive in a country that is increasingly hostile to outsiders? It's Emma John on the USA USA USA. Tactical tweaks and keeping faith with Georgia Stanway: how Sarina Wiegman turned England's fortunes around against the Netherlands, by Tom Garry. And are Bayern set to swoop for Luis Díaz, with Alexander Isak replacing him at Liverpool? The Rumour Mill knows. The 80th edition of the Scottish League Cup kicks off tonight, with 40 teams playing four group games each across the dog days of summer. It's been more than 30 years since a team from outside the top flight lifted the trophy, when Raith Rovers stunned Celtic with a win on penalties in the 1994-95 final at Ibrox. Victory earned Kirkcaldy's finest a place in the Uefa Cup, where they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Bayern Munich.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Paris mismatch at Club World Cup as Real Madrid fail to turn up again
When Real Madrid refused en masse to turn up for last year's Ballon d'Or ceremony because they knew their man on the shortlist hadn't won the main award, their snub was widely and correctly perceived to have been an act of the most extreme petulance. And while their players and coaching staff did deign to attend last night's Copa Gianni semi-final at the MetLife EnormoDome, they certainly didn't turn up in any meaningful sense of the word and were duly humiliated by Paris Saint-Germain, the Bigger Cup holders Kylian Mbappé famously abandoned last summer to pursue his dream of … winning Bigger Cup. Subjected to the footballing equivalent of being attacked by a swarm of angry bees, Real simply had no answers for PSG's terrifyingly energetic onslaught across 90 minutes. By the time nine of them had elapsed, Thibaut Courtois had already made two world-class saves but was helpless to prevent Fabián Ruiz and Ousmane Dembélé spanking two shots past him after capitalising on some comically slapstick defending by Raúl Asencio and Tony Rüdiger. As the German was harried into an embarrassing air-hoof in the face of mild pressure from Dembélé, Football Daily could only hazard a guess at the thoughts going through the famously self-aware Mbappé's mind. Perhaps a blissfully unironic: 'Why weren't they this tenacious when I played for them?' In the end PSG booked their place in the final courtesy of a 4-0 win that, if anything, flattered their exalted opponents. As the hoary old saw goes, Real Madrid always find a way … even if, on this occasion, it was one that made themselves look like a set of stationary white cones laid out for a PSG training session. 'I leave here with lots of certainties and next year will be different,' said Xabi Alonso, who after just six games in charge of Real knows that in Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior he is both blessed and cursed with two extraordinarily gifted players who steadfastly refuse to do their share of the grunt work. Compare and contrast with each and every member of the PSG squad, who never have to be reminded to clip the hedge, do the laundry or put the bins out. 'We didn't put the brakes on but of course with the heat, with the final in three days' time, with cramp and the risk of tiredness, you act,' said Luis Enrique after the game, as he appeared to simultaneously confirm and deny that his team had actually taken it easy on Real in the second half. Asked to explain the key to his team's success, he highlighted its 'insuperable' play. And while it's not often that the post-match musings of a football manager prompt Football Daily to reach for its trusty Oxford English Dictionary, it came as no surprise to see the definition in question illustrated by a swarm of angry bees. The Spaniard went on to laud the manner in which his players 'give everything at the service of the team', in praise as pointed as a tungsten needle. In a fairytale final pitting two of Europe's pluckiest underdogs together, PSG must now beat Chelsea to complete an impressive and unprecedented quadruple. 'We are going to try,' said Luis Enrique. 'One more step against a good team like Chelsea. They perform the whole competition and now it is time for us to prepare, try to recover. [We are] almost there. We want to make history in our club and then take our holidays.' Having consigned so many elite teams to the beach in the past couple of months, it seems only fair PSG get their turn on the deckchairs. Euro 2025 continues at pace, with Group A coming to a close tonight. Join Michael Butler for Finland 1-2 Switzerland and Sarah Rendell for Norway 3-0 Iceland (both kicking off at 8pm BST). Chelsea did offer me another contract, but I decided to go to Aston Villa because they were in the Championship. And I had an agreement with Villa that if we got promoted that year – we lost in the playoff final to Fulham – that I wouldn't play against Chelsea the following year in the Premier League. So the two games I would have missed the next year would have been Chelsea, it just wouldn't have felt right' – Plain Old John Terry tells TalkSport that his Aston Villa contract included a 'won't play against Chelsea' clause. 'Re John Muller's story, I was the first head coach of the USL's Columbus Xoggz in 1994. That year Fifa experimented with the game's laws and decided that each regional division in the USL would play with its own two modified laws. We played 1993 USL champs Atlanta, at their place, where all throw-ins were now kick-ins! With no offside for throw-ins, we unsurprisingly thumped every one into their box. I believe the final score was 4-2 to the good guys' – Christophe Brown. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion 'Luis Enrique denied that PSG took their foot off the gas as his side schooled Real Madrid in the art of attacking football. But it seems someone may have been inclined to spare Real from further punishment. We saw 10 substitutions in the second half. That ought to mean a few minutes of added time (not to mention more time being added for injury stoppages and a cooling break). Yet the referee blew his whistle right on the 90-minute mark. I hope it wasn't aimed at preventing Madrid's brand from suffering further embarrassment' – Mark McFadden. 'Perhaps Bryan Evans should also have pointed out to Frankie Dodds and the aforementioned Mr Glendenning that the M1 (Republic of Ireland version) does not 'become' the A1 at the border but terminates several kilometres to the south, near the village of Ballymascanlan. From there, the road to the border is officially the N1' – David Mack (and no others). 'Re Wednesday's Memory Lane [full email edition], Ray Parlour was not being a plonker, he was justly proud that he could afford a waterproof watch (the 1993 equivalent of a Lamborghini and an apartment in Monaco)' – Robert Blanchard. Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Christophe Brown. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Paris mismatch at Club World Cup as Real Madrid fail to turn up again
When Real Madrid refused en masse to turn up for last year's Ballon d'Or ceremony because they knew their man on the shortlist hadn't won the main award, their snub was widely and correctly perceived to have been an act of the most extreme petulance. And while their players and coaching staff did deign to attend last night's Copa Gianni semi-final at the MetLife EnormoDome, they certainly didn't turn up in any meaningful sense of the word and were duly humiliated by Paris Saint-Germain, the Bigger Cup holders Kylian Mbappé famously abandoned last summer to pursue his dream of … winning Bigger Cup. Subjected to the footballing equivalent of being attacked by a swarm of angry bees, Real simply had no answers for PSG's terrifyingly energetic onslaught across 90 minutes. By the time nine of them had elapsed, Thibaut Courtois had already made two world-class saves but was helpless to prevent Fabián Ruiz and Ousmane Dembélé spanking two shots past him after capitalising on some comically slapstick defending by Raúl Asencio and Tony Rüdiger. As the German was harried into an embarrassing air-hoof in the face of mild pressure from Dembélé, Football Daily could only hazard a guess at the thoughts going through the famously self-aware Mbappé's mind. Perhaps a blissfully unironic: 'Why weren't they this tenacious when I played for them?' In the end PSG booked their place in the final courtesy of a 4-0 win that, if anything, flattered their exalted opponents. As the hoary old saw goes, Real Madrid always find a way … even if, on this occasion, it was one that made themselves look like a set of stationary white cones laid out for a PSG training session. 'I leave here with lots of certainties and next year will be different,' said Xabi Alonso, who after just six games in charge of Real knows that in Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior he is both blessed and cursed with two extraordinarily gifted players who steadfastly refuse to do their share of the grunt work. Compare and contrast with each and every member of the PSG squad, who never have to be reminded to clip the hedge, do the laundry or put the bins out. 'We didn't put the brakes on but of course with the heat, with the final in three days' time, with cramp and the risk of tiredness, you act,' said Luis Enrique after the game, as he appeared to simultaneously confirm and deny that his team had actually taken it easy on Real in the second half. Asked to explain the key to his team's success, he highlighted its 'insuperable' play. And while it's not often that the post-match musings of a football manager prompt Football Daily to reach for its trusty Oxford English Dictionary, it came as no surprise to see the definition in question illustrated by a swarm of angry bees. The Spaniard went on to laud the manner in which his players 'give everything at the service of the team', in praise as pointed as a tungsten needle. In a fairytale final pitting two of Europe's pluckiest underdogs together, PSG must now beat Chelsea to complete an impressive and unprecedented quadruple. 'We are going to try,' said Luis Enrique. 'One more step against a good team like Chelsea. They perform the whole competition and now it is time for us to prepare, try to recover. [We are] almost there. We want to make history in our club and then take our holidays.' Having consigned so many elite teams to the beach in the past couple of months, it seems only fair PSG get their turn on the deckchairs. Euro 2025 continues at pace, with Group A coming to a close tonight. Join Michael Butler for Finland 1-2 Switzerland and Sarah Rendell for Norway 3-0 Iceland (both kicking off at 8pm BST). Chelsea did offer me another contract, but I decided to go to Aston Villa because they were in the Championship. And I had an agreement with Villa that if we got promoted that year – we lost in the playoff final to Fulham – that I wouldn't play against Chelsea the following year in the Premier League. So the two games I would have missed the next year would have been Chelsea, it just wouldn't have felt right' – Plain Old John Terry tells TalkSport that his Aston Villa contract included a 'won't play against Chelsea' clause. 'Re John Muller's story, I was the first head coach of the USL's Columbus Xoggz in 1994. That year Fifa experimented with the game's laws and decided that each regional division in the USL would play with its own two modified laws. We played 1993 USL champs Atlanta, at their place, where all throw-ins were now kick-ins! With no offside for throw-ins, we unsurprisingly thumped every one into their box. I believe the final score was 4-2 to the good guys' – Christophe Brown. 'Luis Enrique denied that PSG took their foot off the gas as his side schooled Real Madrid in the art of attacking football. But it seems someone may have been inclined to spare Real from further punishment. We saw 10 substitutions in the second half. That ought to mean a few minutes of added time (not to mention more time being added for injury stoppages and a cooling break). Yet the referee blew his whistle right on the 90-minute mark. I hope it wasn't aimed at preventing Madrid's brand from suffering further embarrassment' – Mark McFadden. 'Perhaps Bryan Evans should also have pointed out to Frankie Dodds and the aforementioned Mr Glendenning that the M1 (Republic of Ireland version) does not 'become' the A1 at the border but terminates several kilometres to the south, near the village of Ballymascanlan. From there, the road to the border is officially the N1' – David Mack (and no others). 'Re Wednesday's Memory Lane [full email edition], Ray Parlour was not being a plonker, he was justly proud that he could afford a waterproof watch (the 1993 equivalent of a Lamborghini and an apartment in Monaco)' – Robert Blanchard. Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Christophe Brown. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here. Spain have scored 11 goals in two Euro 2025 games and their star player, Aitana Bonmatí, isn't back up to full speed yet. Is there any hope for their title rivals? Sophie Downey looks at how Montse Tomé's side could, in theory, be undone. Jordan Henderson has ended his Ajax contract a year early, leaving the England midfielder a free agent. In a short statement, the 35-year-old said he would provide an update on his future 'when the time feels more appropriate'. England's Beth Mead said she would give her partner Vivianne Miedema 'a little time to cool off,' after the Lionesses comprehensive win over the Netherlands. 'You obviously want your partner to do well but not when you're playing each other,' Mead told the BBC. 'I think obviously it's a tough day at the office for her.' Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Christian Nørgaard from Brentford, agreeing a deal worth an initial £9m. Next, the Gunners are expected to step up their attempts to sign Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace. Lucy Bronze has given some effusive praise to Lauren James, after the Chelsea forward's double against the Netherlands: 'We know we just need to get LJ the ball in dangerous positions and there could be a goal from anything. She's probably the best player in this entire tournament for being able to create something special.' In St Gallen, Louise Taylor got to witness Jess Fishlock make history for Wales at Euro 2025, even if France eventually proved too strong. Lorenz Ferdinand is on course to be the latest member of his family's footballing dynasty. The 18-year-old goalkeeper, who is the son of former England defender Rio Ferdinand, is one of 13 academy graduates to sign professional terms at Brighton. And in a worrying development, impeccably tailored Italian FA suits have given the green light to playing Milan's February fixture against Como … in Perth, Australia. Crystal Palace? Never heard of them, mate. John Textor is trying hard to play down his influence in south London, with Uefa yet to confirm whether the FA Cup winners will get to live out their Bigger Vase dream. Textor, a serial club collector who has stakes in Palace, Lyon and Botafogo, told ShoutSport: 'If I had a decisive influence, then those Brazilian players that just beat PSG in the Club World Cup, half of them would be coming to Crystal Palace next year. But you don't see one single player from our network of clubs that's made its way onto the Palace roster, which is the source of my frustration with the lack of collaboration that we've been able to have.' With Lyon restored to Ligue 1, Palace are still waiting to discover if they can play in Bigger Vase next season – an issue the American admits was on his mind on their big day at Wembley. 'Oh sh1t, is what I thought. I was very happy, but I felt the gravity of it,' Textor trilled. 'And I was concerned holding the cup next to Prince [William].' 'The England we've been waiting for': fans of the Lionesses are suitably geed up by their 4-0 rout of the Netherlands, as Nasra Abdi and Ervin Ang can attest. Atlético Madrid hero and Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Arda Turan got his chat on with Nick Ames and told him in no uncertain terms that 'when Real and Barcelona were going to the US in pre-season with their sunglasses and everything, we [Atlético] were taken running in the mountains'. Did Real Madrid buy the wrong France forward from PSG? Jacob Steinberg spent 90 minutes watching Kylian Mbappé get outshone by Ousmane Dembélé. Check out today's Rumour Mill, featuring Jordan Henderson's potential Premier League return and Alejandro Garnacho possibly heading to Serie A. And catch up on all the transfers that have happened across men's and women's football in the summer window. Enjoy a Venn diagram of listening with two exceptional pod squads today, as Football Weekly Extra covers Copa Gianni and transfer news, Women's Football Weekly reflects on the Euro 2025 action, and both wax lyrical about a 'proper England' win. Back in October 2005, Big Website's award-winning snapper, Tom Jenkins, spent the day with Premier League referee (and now Chief Refereeing Officer for the PGMOL) Howard Webb, following his every move for Portsmouth v Charlton. Here, Webb can be seen sharing a jovial post-match moment with the player of the match, Charlton's Darren Ambrose, who was earlier booked for diving in the penalty box. Charlton ran out 2-1 winners, with Ambrose scoring to send the Addicks second in the table.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Two seasons in a day: the Champions League and Club World Cup overlap
Football Daily would prefer not to have to think about Copa Gianni at all but we have a certain professional obligation to do so and have never knowingly been found shirking in the face of our responsibilities. To keep things simple, we prefer to view the tournament as a stand-alone competition that's taking place between the end of the last season and the beginning of the next one, but the fact that it's being contested by clubs instead of countries leaves plenty of room for debate. Watching Kingsley Coman 'sprint' on to a through-ball from Harry Kane during Bayern Munich's defeat by PSG as if he was running in knee-deep wet cement, we were presented with the sight of a player in next season's kit who was quite clearly exhausted by the exertions of the one that may or may not have ended before the tournament in which he was playing started. Does the goal he didn't score go down in the official xG column of last season, next season, or neither? If as seems likely, Copa Gianni goes down in the official record books as part of last season, then it will overlap with European football's next season, which officially starts … on Tuesday! Designed in part by Fifa to disrupt and devalue the gleaming jewel in Uefa's crown, it will go down as a matter of historical record that last season's Copa Gianni will conclude at the end of the same week next season's Bigger Cup began. Over the next two days no fewer than 28 teams will line up to play in Bigger Cup qualifiers, with The New Saints, Shelbourne and Linfield representing Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively. And while it would be little short of a miracle for any of the three sides to make it to Bigger Cup proper, at least one of Shels and Linfield will make it into the next qualifying round because they've been paired against each other. Until very recently managed by Damien Duff, who won the League of Ireland Premier Division with them last season before resigning a couple of weeks ago following a typically forthright but extremely coruscating public take-down of his players, Shels will be managed by Duff's former assistant turned replacement, Joey O'Brien. 'He made his call and then it was up to me to make my call and I did,' said the former Bolton Wanderer of his decision to take over from his pal. 'Hopefully we can write new memories again. With the players, we have a great squad. Great lads. That's why I wanted to hang around.' While fans of both Shels and Linfield had almost certainly hoped for a more exotic Bigger Cup away trip than a two-hour coach trip up and down the M1 to Belfast or Dublin respectively, the good news is that the winners can look forward to an away day in Baku, Azerbaijan. Qarabag await the victors and are a team the Northern Irish side and their manager, David Healy, have faced before in what is now known as Bigger Vase. Meanwhile in Wales, they'll be dancing on the streets of The New Saints if the famous side formerly known as Total Network Solutions can see off North Macedonia's Shkendija to tee up what looks certain to be a second qualifying round tie against FCSB, the even more famous side formerly known as Steaua Bucharest. While TNS are well aware Shkendija is a tough place to go having lost there 5-0 seven years ago, their manager Craig Harrison is hopeful they can exact some revenge. 'It's going to be a really tough game out there,' blathered the former Middlesbrough defender. 'It's going to be really hot and humid and it will be like it was in Montenegro against Decic.' Decic, of course, being the team TNS beat at this stage of Bigger Cup at the start of last season. Unless, of course, it was the end of the season before. Join Sarah Rendell for Euro 2025 updates on Spain 4-0 Belgium at 5pm (BST), while Will Unwin will be on hand at 8pm for Portugal 1-1 Italy. There's me being able to walk down the stairs after I've played 90 minutes of football, there's me in the future when I have children being able to walk around properly, being able to bend down and pick up toys, there's me being able to do normal life things like put on socks without being in pain and, for the first time in a long time, I genuinely didn't think about the response of the public because that just wasn't a priority' – Millie Bright reveals how she is feeling better in her mind after taking the decision to miss Euro 2025 and prioritise her recovery from a knee injury. Sometimes Mauricio Pochettino wants it to be a penalty, sometimes he doesn't. There's just no pleasing some people. Extra moaning points for Poch insinuating that the officials were swayed by the pro-Mexico crowd for a game that USA USA USA were playing at home. P.S. A doff of the cap to Mexico for that uber cool black and gold kit …' – Noble Francis. With a tip of the cap to The Usual Suspects … the greatest trick Infantino ever pulled was turning me into a Chelsea fan for two hours rooting against Infantino's home team making the finals' – Harry Webb. I can't have been your only reader who paused between Friday's tea time email and big website's MBM coverage of the Jurassic reunion opening gig, to turn the dial of my retro digital transistors to the political satirical radio broadcast, Deadringers. I – and what I suspect to be 1,056 others – nearly choked on my fermented tofu when I heard a repeat of your dinosaur banter about the aforementioned group of monobrows. I assume the requisite phone calls were made – i.e. your people calling their people, etc – and payment made (four pack of budget Tin) before Tom Baker's closing remarks' – Nicholas Tipple. Please send your letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day competition is … Noble Francis. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. The Football Weekly podcast has a tribute to Diogo Jota. As transfer stories go, West Brom winger Mikey 'Jinky' Johnston to Flamengo is pretty wild. A signing to soothe Fla fans now that bitter rivals Fluminense have gone further in the Copa Gianni? Perhaps not: Johnston's move is reported to be off after fan protests in Rio de Janeiro. Still, the Irishman has got the game's cognoscenti talking in Brazil, so much so that Vampeta, the 2002 World Cup winner, phoned up old Internazionale teammate Robbie Keane for the skinny on Jinky. The pair bonded on the San Siro bench – Vamps playing just eight matches, Robbie six – and the former midfielder, now a radio host, dialled up his old mate on air. 'The fans will like him because he is really fast and skilful,' replied Robbie, descending into that weird accent English speakers use when speaking to foreign friends. 'Roberto Carlos is here,' announced the programme's host, Thiago Asmar. 'My best friend, I love him,' cooed Robbie. 'Keane, I love you too, man,' cheered Vampeta, hanging up. Despite such love-in and Robbie's Kitemark of quality, Mikey will not be moving to Rio. Trent Alexander-Arnold has described his former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota as 'someone who lit up a room'. The defender, now at Real Madrid, added: 'It goes without saying he will never be forgotten by anyone. He will live long in all our memories for the amazing man and player he was.' In scenes that could have been avoided had there not been an extra tournament slap bang in the middle of the summer break, Bayern Munich have announced that Jamal Musiala has 'sustained a fracture of the fibula [a bone in the lower leg] associated with a broken and dislocated ankle' after a collision with PSG's Gianluigi Donnarumma at the Copa Gianni. Lauren Hemp has backed the Lionesses to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat against France in their absolutely must-win group game against Netherlands on Wednesday. 'This team, a lot of the time, we thrive under pressure,' she said. ' Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Euro 2025 roundup: Switzerland have kept their tournament alive after Géraldine Reuteler and Alayah Pilgrim scored to knock out Iceland, while Caroline Graham Hansen's late winner downed Finland and put Norway into last eight. Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Viktor Gyökeres, which is all well and good apart from the fact that they haven't agreed a fee with Sporting. Arsenal are hoping to strike a deal for less than the £68m asking price. Crystal Palace have agreed a deal to sign Borna Sosa from Ajax for about £3m, with the Croatia defender due to cough for the doctor on Monday. And it has taken Jhon Durán just six months to realise that moving from Aston Villa to Al-Nassr in a £71m deal might have been good for the bank account, but probably wasn't so beneficial for career development. He's joined Fenerbahce on a year-long loan, where renowned nurturer of youth José Mourinho will get him back on track. Forget Black Friday in November, the best time and place for super-discount deals is right now in New Jersey, baby. Yep, you can get a bumper 97% off the price of entry for Tuesday's semi-final between Chelsea and Fluminense after tickets were slashed from $473.90 to $13.40. Fifa has used 'dynamic pricing' for the 63-game wheeze in the hope that the USA USA USA had a fever over football like the one marketing genius Gianni experienced when he dreamed up the bloated thing. Pity the saps who have paid full whack to attend. Sid Lowe on Arsenal's shiny new signing, Martín Zubimendi, and why 'there is no one like him'. Luke Taylor explains how a Colombian podcast shed light on Bobby Moore and the 'bracelet of Bogotá'. Max Rushden writes on why transfer news has lost its sense of wonder and surprise. Crystal Palace are in the dark over whether they have qualified for Europe next season. Ed Aarons untangles the details and the web that John Textor has woven around the London club. And click here for today's Rumour Mill, which features a fetching picture of Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the 2022 Milan fashion week (the striker is linked with a move to Manchester United). And check out all the latest men's and women's moves in the summer window. 5 November 2000: former Tottenham midfielder Micky Hazard poses in his black cab, having taking up work as a taxi driver five years after retiring as a footballer.
The Guardian
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Infantino awaits his ‘big bang' as Club World Cup refuses to slide away
Like Dr John Hammond and his scientists in Jurassic Park, Gianni Infantino and his fawning Fifa lickspittles have spent recent years so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should. The upshot is that a preposterously lucrative tournament described by its creator as 'a big bang' has been crowbarred into an already jam-packed calendar. And the largesse of its in-no-way unethically sourced prize-money for those participating now threatens to destroy several already under-threat footballing ecosystems around the world. Excessive heat, often sparse crowds, overambitious stadium bookings, concerns over immigration raids, exhausted players, that Juventus video from the Oval Office, Saudi money, individual player walk-ons, discordant mismatches, lengthy weather delays – the list of snags that need to be ironed out in the inevitable future editions of Copa Gianni goes on and on. But if you can see past the Fifa overlord's self-aggrandising and disingenuous bombast, this brain-fart of his is a wheeze that's not entirely without merit. And with the quarter-finals upon us, the tournament might finally live up to the garrulous hype with which Fifa's equivalent of The Simpsons' monorail guy Lyle Lanley has long been trying to sell it to us marks. First up are Al-Hilal and Fluminense in Orlando, the stuff of lurid Infantino fantasies that will ensure either a Saudi Pro League side or a Brazilian team will make the final four. One of two remaining Brazilian sides left in the competition, Fluminense have thoroughly enjoyed their stateside sojourn and are favourites to see off the self-styled plucky Saudi underdogs who have spent just £412m on transfers over the past two years. While most of their fans will be in bed, Chelsea take on Palmeiras, but may have to make do without one of their players of the tournament, Pedro Neto, who is mourning the sudden loss of his great friend Diogo Jota. 'In terms of Pedro, he is very sad,' said Enzo Maresca. 'Probably more than sad. I had a chat this morning with Pedro. We support him. Any decision he will take is the correct one.' In what would certainly have been billed as the Bellingham Brothers derby if Jobe hadn't gone and earned himself a spell on the Naughty Step, Dortmund play Real Madrid at the MetLife Stadium in Noo Joyzee, while Bigger Cup winners Paris Saint-Germain go toe-to-toe with Bayern in Atlanta. 'We feel that when we're at our best, we can beat anyone,' chirruped Harry Kane, reading from his Big Book of Pre-Match Platitudes. 'We'll approach this match with the same feeling.' As for the plodding dinosaurs who've been brought back from extinction? Well, their eagerly-awaited reunion tour kicks off later in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and, unlike at Copa Gianni, the dynamically priced tickets are sold out. Join Barry Glendenning at 5pm (BST) for Euro 2025 updates on Denmark 0-0 Sweden and Scott Murray will be on hand at 8pm for Germany 0-0 Poland. I want to talk about my mate. My buddy. The bloke I loved and will miss like crazy. I could talk about him as a player for hours, but none of that feels like it matters right now. It's the man. The person. He was such a good guy. The best. So genuine. Just normal and real. Full of love for the people he cared about. Full of fun. He was the most British foreign player I've ever met. I can't believe we're saying goodbye. It's too soon, and it hurts so much. But thank you for being in my life, mate – and for making it better' – Liverpool's Andy Robertson remembers his friend, Diogo Jota. And Miguel Dantas reports on how the deaths of Jota and his brother André Silva have shaken Portugal, where mourners are gathering in Gondomar for the funeral on Saturday. Diogo Jota, an opponent that you'd have in your team in a heartbeat, and that's from a Toffee' – Ian Taylor. Regarding Chinese third-tier club Changchun Xidu and the superstitious paper charms (yesterday's News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). Are they effective if you want to put off a co-worker competing for the same promotion? Asking for a friend' – Steve Mintz. Please send your letters to This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
