29, December 2022
Football: Two-goal Haaland returns to haunt Leeds in Man City win 0
Erling Haaland lamented not scoring five times in the city of his birth as the Norwegian struck twice in Manchester City’s 3-1 win at Leeds to lift them back up to second in the Premier League.
Haaland spent his early years in Yorkshire as his father Alfe Inge played for Leeds, but showed no mercy as City got their title challenge back on track.
Pep Guardiola’s men moved to within five points of Arsenal at the top of the table as they bounced back from a shock defeat to Brentford before the World Cup.
Haaland now has 20 Premier League goals in just 14 appearances since joining City, but was still left unsatisfied after failing to beat Illan Meslier with three one-on-ones.
“I could’ve scored five, that’s the truth,” Haaland told Amazon Prime.
“We win, that’s the most important thing. You see Arsenal at the top now, we have to hunt them, but for me as a striker, I could’ve scored a couple more.
“That’s life, I have to practise more.”
Haaland should have made his mark inside 45 seconds as he was denied by a fine save from Meslier when clean through.
That set the tone for a first half of frustration for City as a series of glorious chances came and went.
Meslier won another battle with Haaland, while two glaring misses from Jack Grealish left Guardiola with his head in his hands.
However, Leeds crucially failed to hold out until half-time on level terms as the visitors finally made their dominance count in first half stoppage time.
Kevin De Bruyne opened up the Leeds defence for the opener and when Riyad Mahrez’s shot was parried by Meslier, Rodri swept the rebound into the net.
Grealish made some amends for his earlier misses by creating the second with a smart interception and unselfish pass for Haaland to roll into an empty net.
The City star acknowledged his Leeds past by refusing to celebrate, but it did not stop him adding a second on the night from another Grealish cutback.
“I have to say, it’s a really special moment in my career,” Haaland said of playing at Elland Road.
“It was in my craziest fantasy I could think of to be at Elland Road and score for Manchester City against Leeds.”
Leeds remain perilously poised just two points above the relegation zone, but did at least get a goal to show for their efforts when Pascal Struijk headed in from a corner 17 minutes from time.
Haaland did at least spare the home side his fourth Premier League hat-trick with an uncharacteristically weak finish with just Meslier to beat once more.
At the other end Joe Gelhardt’s curling effort was inches away from setting up a grandstand finish.
But a two-goal margin of victory was the very least City’s display deserved as they leapfrogged Newcastle into second in the table.
Source: AFP
29, December 2022
Brazilian football legend Pelé, who won a record three World Cups, dies at 82 0
More than six decades after he first wowed the world on the football pitch, Pelé is no more. The superstar Brazil nicknamed “O Rei” – the King – and winner of three World Cups died on Thursday at the age of 82 after a battle with colon cancer. His death caps a storied life as one of the greatest footballers the game has ever known.
Pelé’s daughter Kely Nascimento announced his death on Instagram. “We love you infinitely, rest in peace,” she wrote. His agent, Joe Fraga, confirmed his death.
The standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. He had been hospitalised for the last month with multiple ailments and died of organ failure.
“Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pelé, who peacefully passed away today,” read his official Instagram account.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born to a poor family in Três Corações in southeastern Brazil on October 23, 1940. Nicknamed Pelé as a schoolboy, his first football was reportedly a sock stuffed with rags. The first man to have ever scored 1,000 career goals, Pelé’s dizzying exploits on the pitch brought him to 1,281 goals in 1,362 matches between 1956 and 1977 – including more than 1,000 for fabled Santos FC.
It was wearing that club’s famous white shirt that Pelé achieved some of his most glittering successes, not least winning two Copa Libertadores (1961, 1962) and a Recopa Sudamericana (1968).
But Pelé, who also won 11 regional championships, was far more than just a club player. Selected 92 times by his country, Pelé’s international play was, too, the stuff of legend. He won three World Cups with Brazil (1958, 1962 and 1970) – a feat that remains his alone.
Pelé was blessed “with speed, balance, control, power, and an uncanny ability to anticipate the movements of his opponents and teammates”, according to the Bleacher Report sport news site. While leading his clubs to new heights, he also made an impression with his “gentleman-like behavior both on and off the pitch”.
A precocious talent
Pelé’s legend was forged starting with his earliest appearances, a precocious talent deploying his remarkable skills for all to see. He was just 15 in September 1956 when he first took the field for Santos, a baptism of fire against FC Corinthians that would see the young hopeful score his first goal.
Pelé would step up to football’s biggest stage two years later and shine for all the world to see. In 1958, the 17-year-old already had 100 goals under his belt in Brazil, winning him a place on the national squad for the World Cup in Sweden. The teenager was left on the bench for the Seleção’s three group matches to begin the tournament. But with the backingof his teammates, Pelé was in the starting 11 for the knock-out stages.
Given that chance, the teen phenom was nothing short of a revelation. Pelé scored in the quarter-finals, giving Brazil a 1-0 win over Wales. In the semi-finals, he went on to score three consecutive goals to knock out France. And in the final against the tournament hosts, Pelé netted another critical two goals as the Seleção beat Sweden 5-2 to take the World Cup home.
Honours and accolades
The Brazilian prodigy’s effort and talent would lay the groundwork for an extraordinary career punctuated by sky-high numbers. On six occasions, Pelé managed to score five goals in the same game, but he also notched 30 quadruples and 92 triples over two illustrious decades. In 1964, he infamously destroyed the Botafogo defence with eight goals in a single match.
After a successful turn with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, “O Rei” retired in 1977, having collected 27 team trophies alongside myriad individual honours and memories galore. Of the latter, perhaps none were to rival the feverish atmosphere at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro during the 1969 match that saw Pelé score his 1,000th career goal.
Even after hanging up his cleats, Pelé continued to shine. After retirement he dedicated much of his time to causes close to his heart, and his humanitarian work with UNICEF earned him the 1978 International Peace Award. He made occasional appearances on the silver screen – he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine in 1981’s Victory – but also briefly entered politics, serving as Brazil’s minister of sport from 1995 to 1998. He also served as a United Nations ambassador for ecology and the environment as well as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNESCO.
The sporting honours also continued to roll in. Péle was inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1993 and named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999. FIFA gave him an honorary Ballon d’Or in 2014. Football’s highest authority also designated Pelé as FIFA Player of the Century, an honour he shared with Argentina’s Diego Maradona (a joint prize that always rankled the diminutive Argentine, who felt he alone deserved the title).
Some 45 years after Pelé stepped off the professional pitch, such accolades helped establish his status as a legend with new generations.
Now, after a long reign crowned with successes, Pelé has taken his leave. O Rei is dead … Long live the King!
Source: France 24