Category Archives: Football

Brazil football star Neymar backs far-right Bolsonaro days before election

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Paris Saint-Germain forward posts video in support of far-right president, who is trailing badly in polls ahead of Sunday’s vote

The Brazilian football star Neymar has come out in support of President Jair Bolsonaro, three days before the far-right leader looks set to lose a bitter re-election race against his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Lounging in a gaming chair, the Paris Saint-Germain forward recorded a video singing along to a Bolsonaro jingle and making V signs with both hands to signify 22, the number of Bolsonaro’s party as it appears on Brazil’s electronic ballots.

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Qatar ‘calling diplomats home’ for military service at World Cup

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Hundreds of conscripted civilians to operate checkpoints, source says, showing challenge faced by tiny state

Qatar has called up hundreds of civilians, including diplomats summoned back from overseas, for mandatory military service operating security checkpoints at World Cup stadiums, according to a source and documents seen by Reuters.

The deployment of conscripts, some of whom would normally defer national service because their work is considered vital, highlights the logistical challenge faced by the tiny Gulf Arab state hosting one of the world’s biggest sports tournaments.

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Harry Styles stadium show falls foul of football fans in Bogotá

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Bid to move pop star’s Colombian tour date to capital’s biggest venue has united supporters of clubs who play there

Rival Colombian football fans, more used to hurling insults at each other on the terraces, have united against a common enemy: Harry Styles. At stake is what takes place at Bogotá’s football stadium on 27 November: either the Colombian football championship final, or the latest leg of the British pop star’s world tour.

Styles had been scheduled to play in the car park of an amusement park in the capital city, but fans started a social media campaign for the concert to be moved after pop star Dua Lipa’s show there last weekend was plagued by logistical and technical problems.

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‘It’s special to be here’: David Beckham joins queue to pay tribute to Queen

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Ex-England captain recalls receiving his OBE as he waits with thousands of mourners in central London

The former England football captain David Beckham joined the queue for the Queen’s lying-in-state on Friday, saying it was “special to be here”.

He joined other high-profile figures to have been seen waiting to pay tribute this week, including the former prime minister Theresa May, This Morning presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield and the Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid.

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Australia 1-2 Canada: international football friendly – as it happened

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Out come the two sides onto a dramatically lit Allianz Stadium pitch. There’s firework smoke haze, spotlights, and the feel of a pop concert.

The new Allianz Stadium is resplendent tonight, all shiny and new and filled with fancy lights and noise from the PA system, which is alternating between loud pop music and interactions with fans.

With 20 minutes to go before kick-off, fans are still making their way in (and risking missing the firework display), possibly stopping off for a quick cheeseburger spring roll or two from one of the many concourse outlets (disclaimer: I have not seen a cheeseburger spring roll and know not what they are, nor can I vouch for their tastiness and/or health benefits).

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Australia slump to second defeat to Canada after early promise fades

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  • Olympic champions beat Matildas 2-1 at Allianz Stadium
  • Adriana Leon double cancels out Mary Fowler’s early opener

Three days ago the Matildas were in crisis. There were 320 days until a home World Cup and a 1-0 friendly loss to Canada indicated – once again – that getting anywhere near the trophy was basically an insurmountable task. Tony Gustavsson, the man appointed to steer an underperforming Australia to said trophy, was starting to be seen as less like a nice-natured, slightly quirky man with a very good plan and more like a slick corporate type who delivers interesting TED talks but whose advice is not quite working for those he was hired to help.

On Tuesday night, with 317 days to go, he emerged for the rematch at Allianz Stadium wearing a hospital-white hoodie and white trainers, Matildas merchandise around his neck and an earpiece that had him looking every bit the new-age life coach. He had just told media the previous day that he still had the backing of Football Australia and pleaded with external forces to trust in his process.

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Matildas face World Cup race against time after friendly defeat to Canada

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  • Australia lose 1-0 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane
  • Matildas left to rue missed chances in World Cup warm-up

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson believes his squad is in a race against time to complete preparations for next year’s Women’s World Cup but that home-field advantage can help push the team towards success.

Australia will co-host the 32-team finals in July and August with neighbours New Zealand, and Gustavsson warned against complacency ahead of his side’s latest preparation matches.

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Inflation pushes average cost of filling Panini 2022 World Cup sticker album to £870

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Five-sticker packs for football tournament in Qatar are 12.5% more than for Russia 2018

Inflation has come for the football sticker album. Collecting and completing the official Panini Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 album will cost fans an average of about £870.

Panini, which first produced a World Cup sticker album for the 1970 tournament in Mexico, has priced five-sticker packs for the Qatar 2022 album at 90p each. That is a 12.5% increase on the 80p cost of a five-sticker pack for the Russia 2018 album. For Euro 2016 a pack cost 50p.

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Amid the grandstanding, Sydney’s new stadium leaves same issues unresolved

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The Allianz Stadium has been rebuilt at a cost of $800m but the harbour city still lacks the right grounds in the right places

Walking into Sydney’s new Allianz Stadium feels a bit like walking into an old house with new fixtures. Everything is a bit brighter and works a little better – the couch somehow feels closer to the TV and that pesky leak in the roof has stopped – but the foundations are much the same.

That isn’t all that surprising given the architectural firm that designed the old 42,500-capacity venue is the same firm that designed the new 42,500-capacity venue. But it does prompt a query: if a stadium is demolished and rebuilt to look strikingly similar, was it rebuilt at all? If the New South Wales government had not spent $828m on it, could we say it had really happened?

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Stake.com told not to use Everton branding in $5,000 betting offer

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Club’s shirt sponsor criticised for offering $10 free bet to anyone who wagers large amount in a week

Everton FC has told its sponsor Stake.com to stop using its imagery in an international promotion offering a $10 free bet to anyone who wagers $5,000 in the space of a week.

Football fans and campaign groups had criticised the marketing scheme and questioned Everton’s apparent involvement.

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Hope not hate: England women football team enjoy positive social media posts

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Study shows female Euro players got 125 positive posts for each hate one – in contrast to abuse directed at England men

The vast majority of social media posts directed at England women’s triumphant Euro 2022 football players across a three-month period were positive, research has found.

The study of 78,141 posts on Twitter, Reddit and the imageboard website 4chan identified more than 50,000 positive posts – roughly one “hate” post for every 125 “hope” ones.

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Female footballers deserve equal pay, says German chancellor after Euro run

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Germany’s women would have received €60,000 each if they had won European Championships, while the men would have received €400,000

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has made a push for equal pay for female international footballers after the team made it to the final of the recent European Championships.

“My position on this is clear,” Scholz said after a meeting on Tuesday with the German Football Association (DFB) to discuss the issue. “We talked about how we can continue to help more girls and women get excited about football. Of course, the wages at such tournaments play a major role in this,” he said.

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Lionesses’ legacy at risk as school PE fails girls, experts warn

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In the past 10 years alone, 42,000 hours of PE lessons have been lost in UK secondary schools – and girls are the worst hit

Twelve years of Tory government have had a disastrous impact on girls’ sport in schools, experts have said, warning that last weekend’s women’s Euro victory will be squandered unless drastic action is taken.

In the past 10 years, 42,000 hours of PE lessons have been lost in secondaries – with girls the most affected – and the situation is getting worse, according to the Youth Sport Trust.

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‘Sad … proud’: disappointment in Germany over loss to Lionesses

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After stunning run ends with defeat at Wembley, German team receives praise for inspiring nation and winning new fans

Germany reacted with disappointment after being beaten by England in a nail-biting and historic final at Wembley.

“A hundred and twenty minutes of pure passion and pure struggle weren’t enough today,” tweeted the official account of the German team, after their 2-1 defeat. “Respect and congratulations to the Lionesses.”

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Bolivia’s Morales keeps up comeback hopes as Copa Evo kicks off

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Some see youth football tournament as former president’s latest attempt to remain in running for 2025 elections

Politics and football have long mixed in South America, but not perhaps to this extent. On Sunday the Copa Evo, an international youth football tournament arranged by and named after Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales, kicked off in the country’s coca-growing tropics.

The buildup was dominated by political scraps, with the opposition questioning the involvement of the national football federation in a tournament that bears Morales’s name.

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Women’s Euros final set for a female flypast and a full house at Wembley

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Famous fans get behind England for a gripping contest against Germany that is expected to set records

An all-female RAF flypast will grace the skies above Wembley on Sunday in celebration of a women’s football team that this weekend received good-luck messages from the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and the royal family before the Women’s Euro 2022 final against Germany.

“Your passion for the game, your tenacity in tricky spots and above all your astounding talent on the pitch have already created a summer of fantastic memories for millions of us,” Boris Johnson wrote in a letter to the England team.

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Final whistle for the ‘pink ’un’: British football’s last-surviving matchday newspaper closes

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After 119 years, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail has printed its last issue. A dedicated reader bids this singular British institution a fond farewell

It’s been the slowest of deaths, but yesterday the “Saturday final” edition of a singular British institution will be just that. While in the last 20 years beloved pink ’uns and green ’uns (and the occasional blue ’un and buff ’un) have disappeared from towns and cities across the country, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail, 119 years old, held out as the last remaining dedicated matchday newspaper. It was first closed down in 2012 but quickly resurrected at the impassioned demand of fans of Pompey, the island city’s club. This time, the obituary is to be believed.

With it goes a century of a particular collective memory: that Saturday evening ritual of heading up to the local newsagent at 5.30 or 5.45 to await the mundane miracle of a stack of fat papers slung from the back of a van reporting from all across the city what had ended only an hour before, ink still smudgeable on banner headlines.

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How England Lionesses’ coach Sarina Wiegman developed a ruthless, winning formula

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Wiegman has transformed the fortunes of the women’s football team and got them to the Euro semi-finals – with no fear of making tough calls along the way

For any of the 7.6 million BBC One viewers who tuned in to watch England’s dramatic extra-time defeat of Spain in the quarter-finals of the Euros on Wednesday night, the sight of an animated blond Dutch woman on the touchline will not have gone unnoticed.

Sarina Wiegman, England’s manager, is fast becoming a talking point. Less for her antics – although watching her being lifted aloft in a bear-hug from centre-back Millie Bright after the full-time whistle was a treat – and more for the 11-month transformation of the Lionesses from disjointed and confidence-drained to contenders on the biggest of stages.

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AC Milan player Tiémoué Bakayoko speaks out after police held him at gunpoint

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The French midfielder and a male passenger were stopped by Italian police in Milan after he was mistaken for someone else

AC Milan footballer Tiémoué Bakayoko has spoken out against Italian police who held him at gunpoint after mistaking him for someone else.

The French midfielder and a male passenger were stopped as they drove in the Porta Garibaldi area of Milan on 3 July as police searched for suspects involved in an alleged shootout the night before.

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US Soccer condemns supreme court abortion ruling as UWSNT beat Colombia

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  • US win 3-0 in Utah despite missing two penalties
  • Megan Rapinoe had spoken out against Roe v Wade decision
  • USWNT’s home unbeaten streak stretches to 68 games

Sophia Smith scored twice in the second half and the US women’s national team beat Colombia 3-0 on Saturday night to extend their home unbeaten streak to 68 games, but many of the players had a seismic legal ruling on their minds.

Smith scored her first in the 54th minute off a pass from Rose Lavelle when Colombian goalkeeper Catalina Perez came out of her goal. She added her second in the 60th minute. Smith, who plays for the Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League, has six international goals.

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