Sports

5, September 2020

Tennis: Serena headlines day six at the US Open ⁰

Serena Williams takes on 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens for a place in the last 16 at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.

The third-round match is the drawcard event on day six at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

Stephens dumped Williams out of the 2013 Australian Open during her sensational run to the semi-finals as a 19-year-old.

“She’s a great competitor,” Williams said of her fellow American, who is seeded 26th.

“It’s an incredibly interesting match, because she’s actually a US Open champion. She’s a great player. You can’t win a Grand Slam and not be really, really, really, really, really good.”

Williams, the tournament’s third seed, is seeking a 24th singles Grand Slam title that would equal Margaret Court’s record.

It has been more than three years since Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open — when she was already pregnant with daughter Olympia.

The 38-year-old has come close since, reaching four major finals only to come away empty handed.

A tournament victory next week would also see her break away from Chris Evert, on six titles, as the most decorated US Open champion of the women’s game in the modern era.

In the men’s draw Saturday, second seed Dominic Thiem takes on 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic for a place in the last 16.

And third seed Daniil Medvedev appears against American wildcard J.J. Wolf in a last-32 match.

Source: AFP

2, September 2020

Football: Neymar and two other PSG footballers test positive for Covid-19 ⁰

Three Paris Saint-Germain players have tested positive for coronavirus, the French club announced on Wednesday, in a setback to their preparations for the scheduled start of their Ligue 1 campaign next week. According to multiple AFP sources and French daily l’Équipe, football star Neymar is among them.

French sports daily L’Équipe reported the players in question were Neymar, Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes, but PSG did not reveal any names.

“Three Paris Saint-Germain players have confirmed positive Sars CoV2 tests and are subject to the appropriate health protocol,” PSG said in a statement. “All of the players and coaching staff will continue to undergo tests in the coming days.”

The French champions, who last month lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich, had already said on Monday that two unnamed players had reported back with coronavirus symptoms following a holiday.

L’Équipe reported the players in question were Argentinian duo Di Maria and Paredes. Now it claims Neymar is the other squad member to test positive.

The three were among several PSG stars who travelled to the Spanish Mediterranean island of Ibiza last week for a holiday in the aftermath of their Champions League campaign, mixing with friends and family after spending the previous weeks isolated in a secure bubble with teammates in Portugal.

Postponed match

That trip was after the controversial decision was taken to postpone a league game away at Lens, initially scheduled for last Saturday, in order to give the PSG squad a break after their Champions League ‘Final Eight’ exertions.

The match at Lens has been rescheduled for next Thursday, September 10, with PSG due to entertain Marseille three days later.

Strict French league rules stipulate that collective team training sessions must be cancelled if a club has at least four positive tests over an eight-day period, with match postponements possible.

The cases raise questions about why the French league decided to postpone PSG’s match in Lens, only for so many of their players to travel abroad on holiday during a pandemic.

The postponement was granted in order to give PSG players a rest after their European run, despite France’s richest club having only played five competitive games in six months.

The last French season was ended early, with 10 rounds of matches unplayed, because of the health crisis, and the start of the new French season has already been impacted.

In recent weeks, several Ligue 1 clubs have reported positive tests, including Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, Nantes and Montpellier.

Marseille’s game against Saint-Etienne on August 21, which was set to be the season opener, was postponed.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

31, August 2020

Football: Arsenal beat Liverpool in 5-4 in shootout ⁰

Arsenal have overcome Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties to secure the Community Shield after a 1-all draw at an empty Wembley Stadium.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the Gunners in front after just 12 minutes of play with a brilliant finish, following a sweeping move.

But, the Merseyside Reds got the equalizer after the break when Japanese striker Takumi Minamino slotted home in the 73rd minute to send the match into a penalty shootout.

Rhian Brewster missed his spot kick, allowing Aubameyang to step up and seal the victory for the Gunners as they clinched their 16th Community Shield trophy.

This is also the second time Arsenal have defeated Liverpool this year.

31, August 2020

Football: Clinton N’Jie on target as Dynamo Moscow hold FC Ufa ⁰

The Cameroon international scored his second goal of the season to help the White and Blues avoid defeat at Neftyanik Stadium

Clinton N’Jie found the back of the net to inspire Dynamo Moscow to a 1-1 draw against FC Ufa in Sunday’s Russian Premier League game.

The forward teamed up with the White and Blues last summer from French side Marseille but did not have the best time in his debut season in Russia.

The striker only scored one goal in 19 league appearances but has hit the ground running in the 2020-21 season.

N’Jie was handed his fifth start in this campaign by manager Kirill Novikov against Vadim Evseev’s side and made the most of the opportunity.

The centre-forward shone in the encounter to ensure his side avoided defeat and stretched their unbeaten run to two games after securing victory over Zenit last time out.

N’Jie opened the scoring in the 43rd minute for the White and Blues after both sides had failed to convert the few chances that came to their ways.

Timur Zhamaletdinov then levelled proceedings moments before the hour mark after he was set up by Aleksandr Sukhov.

The draw is Dynamo Moscow’s second this season, having also won three games and lost one in six outings so far.

N’Jie featured for 78 minutes before he made way for Vyacheslav Grulev while Nigeria international Sylvester Igboun was a second-half substitute for the White and Blues.

The Cameroon striker has played for French side Lyon and Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur before he signed for Marseille permanently in 2019 after impressing while on loan with the side.

N’Jie has been a key member of the Cameroon national team since he made a scoring debut for the West Africans against the Democratic Republic of Congo in September 2014.

The forward has featured 32 times for the Indomitable Lions, scoring seven goals and was part of the side that won the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations title.

N’Jie will hope to continue his fine start to the season when Dynamo Moscow take on Rubin Kazan in their next Premier League game on September 12.

Source: Goal.com

29, August 2020

Yaounde: Captain Stephen Tataw going home to rest ⁰

Stephen Eta Tataw 57, the renowned Southern Cameroons footballer who captained the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will be buried today Saturday, August 29, 2020, at 1 p.m. at the Catholic cemetery at Mvolyé, located in the 3rd district of the French Cameroun capital, Yaoundé.

The late captain of the 1990 Cameroon team will be accorded final tributes during a ceremony scheduled at the Yaounde Sports Palace, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi and a so-called personal representative of the Head of State.

In addition to the Requiem Mass, the late Javion as he was popularly known will receive a posthumous decoration after testimonies from his family, former teammates, FECAFOOT and the Biya regime.

Yesterday’s ceremony at the Yaounde Central Hospital was very popular, despite measures to limit gatherings because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several generations of the Indomitable Lions, including Samuel Eto’o and Roger Milla answered present. French Cameroun political and sports authorities also took part notably the Minister of Sports, Mr. Mouelle Kombi and Seidou Mbombo Njoya, the President of FECAFOOT.

Winner of the 1988 African Cup of Nations in Morocco, the man with 43 caps went down in history as captain of the mythical team that reached the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

26, August 2020

Football: From Ballon d’Or to abject humiliation: why Messi seeks pastures new ⁰

When Lionel Messi won an unprecedented sixth Ballon d’Or in December last year, the speculation had already begun over his career at Barcelona.

The 33-year-old Argentine footballing genius was increasingly unable single-handedly to rescue his imploding club, as he had done so often in the past.

Barcelona, despite lifting the La Liga title, had collapsed at the end of the 2018-19 season, losing a 3-0 semi-final lead, including two Messi goals, to Liverpool in the Champions League.

They then dropped the Copa del Rey final 2-1 to Valencia, where the Argentine was again on the scoresheet, this time though just a late consolation.

But all that paled in comparison to Barca’s barren 2020, capped by a shocking humiliation in Lisbon.

– Bayern embarrassment –

The abject 8-2 quarter-final embarrassment against Bayern Munich in Lisbon 12 days ago meant a first season since 2007 without a trophy for Barcelona.

It marked the first time Barca had conceded eight goals in a game since losing to Sevilla 8-0 in the 1946 Spanish Cup.

But far more significant than that, it convinced the twinkle-toed talisman his final footballing years lay elsewhere.

The fallout was immediate. Coach Quique Setien was sacked after barely six months in charge while sporting director Eric Abidal was also dismissed.

Even the appointment of former Camp Nou fan favourite Ronald Koeman as head coach last week could not convince Messi to stay.

The Dutchman has indicated he will embark on a clear-out and, at 33 years old, Messi must feel he doesn’t have time to wait until Koeman’s rebuilt Barca are able to challenge Europe’s elite.

On Tuesday, Messi informed Barcelona he wanted “unilaterally” to terminate his contract by triggering a release clause, sending shockwaves across the world of sport.

There will be no shortage of clubs eager to employ Messi, who could be snapped up on a free transfer, but the favourites look to be Manchester City, led by his former Barcelona mentor Pep Guardiola.

They were close to European glory again this season, and the addition of four-time Champions League winner Messi could give the Guardiola the X-factor he needs to win the one trophy missing from the Manchester City cabinet.

The growing turmoil enveloping Barcelona has been reflected in Messi’s diminishing statistics.

Though he managed 31 goals in all games during the virus-interrupted campaign just ended, it was his lowest return since 2007-08, when he was just 20.

– Irreplaceable –

Barcelona have insisted in the past they had plans for coping with Messi’s retirement, whenever it came, but the truth is their number 10 is irreplaceable.

He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, winning a club-record 33 trophies, including 10 La Ligas, four UEFA Champions Leagues, three Club World Cups and six Spanish Cups.

Equally effective as a mesmerising playmaker or lethal goalscorer, Messi holds the records for most goals and most hat-tricks in La Liga and has scored more than 700 senior goals for club and country.

But his greatest year was long ago. In the 2011-12 season, under Guardiola, he became Barcelona’s all-time top goalscorer at just 24 years old, breaking Cesar Rodriguez’s 232 goal mark which had stood for 57 years.

That year Messi netted a Liga record 50 goals on the way to a European all-time record season tally of 73, breaking Gerd Mueller’s 67 goals scored in the 1972–73 German season.

Almost a decade on, Messi still harbours unfulfilled ambitions, including another Champions League crown and an elusive major trophy with Argentina to add to his 2008 Olympic gold.

With time running out on a career that has seen a record six Ballon d’Ors and six Golden Shoes, those are major factors in convincing him to end his playing days away from the club that has been his home since he arrived as a 13-year-old.

Source: AFP

26, August 2020

Choupo-Moting: PSG gave everything in Champions League final defeat against Bayern Munich ⁰

The Parisians lost the European title by a slim margin and the Cameroon international believes his side did all they could in the encounter

Eric Choupo-Moting revealed it hurts to lose the Champions League final to Bayern Munich but feels his side can be proud of their effort after giving their best in the game.

The Parisians lost 1-0 to the German Bundesliga side at Estadio da Luz to narrowly miss out on the European trophy on Sunday.

Kingsley Coman’s strike made the difference in the encounter, heading home from Joshua Kimmich’s cross moments before the hour mark.

Choupo-Moting featured six times in the competition for PSG and scored the winning goal against Atalanta that propelled them to the semi-final of the tournament.

The Cameroon international also made a cameo appearance in the final, replacing Angel Di Maria and contributed his effort in the game.

Choupo-Moting has taken to the social media to express his feelings on losing the final to the Bundesliga champions.

“It’s difficult to find the right words right now, because it still hurts a lot,” Choupo-Moting posted on Instagram.

“But even if we lost the game yesterday, we keep our heads up and comeback stronger! It was a long journey, we can be proud of our way.

“We gave everything on and off the pitch, like our supporters to whom I want to send a big thank you and big respect .We worked hard to come so far and we made history for such a big club.”

Source: Goal.com

25, August 2020

Ronaldinho released after five-month stay in Paraguay penal system ⁰

Former Brazil star Ronaldinho was released Monday by a Paraguayan judge after five months in detention over a forged passport.

Judge Gustavo Amarilla also released Ronaldinho’s brother Roberto de Assis Moreira, who also had been held for a month in jail and another four months under house arrest in a hotel in Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion, for the same charge.

The 40-year-old former World Cup winner “is free to travel to whatever country in the world he wants but he must inform us if he changes his permanent residence” for a period of one year, the judge said.

“He has no restrictions except for the fulfillment of reparations for damage to society.”

Dressed in jeans, a black beret and black shirt, Ronaldinho accepted the terms of his release, which include payment of $90,000 damages. His brother, who is also Ronaldinho’s business manager, must pay $110,000.

The pair are also expected to appear before a judge in Brazil every three months — Ronaldinho for a year and his brother for two.

Amarilla accepted a recommendation by four prosecutors to avoid the need for an oral trial.

“There is no indication that he has any personal characteristics or criminal behaviour that … would put society at risk,” the prosecutor said prior to Monday’s trial.

Prosecutors did not believe Ronaldinho took part in the plan to manufacture the fake Paraguayan passports but believed de Assis Moreira was aware that the passports were false.

The brothers arrived in Paraguay on March 4 without any issues, with Ronaldinho, the 2005 Ballon d’Or winner, due to take part in an event in support of disadvantaged children.

However, two days later, the pair were taken into police custody when investigators raided their hotel following the discovery they had fake documents.

After being held in a police station in Asuncion, where Ronaldinho celebrated his 40th birthday on March 21, the two men had been under house arrest for more than four months in a luxury hotel in the capital, on bail of $1.6 million.

The investigation has since expanded into a case of possible money laundering.

Some 18 people have already been arrested in connection with the case, most of them immigration officials or police officers.

Ronaldinho, considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, was crucial in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win.

He played for European giants such as Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain during a hugely successful 10-year stint in Europe.

He won the Champions League and two La Liga titles with Braca and Serie A with Milan.

After returning home to Brazil he won the Copa Libertadores — South America’s equivalent of the Champions Legaue — with Atletico Mineiro.

Source: AFP

23, August 2020

Football: Bayern win Champions League as Coman goal defeats PSG ⁰

Bayern Munich won the European Cup for the sixth time on Sunday as Kingsley Coman’s goal gave them a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in an engrossing Champions League final in Lisbon, completing a fantastic season for the German giants and leaving their opponents still searching for the trophy they covet more than anything.

It was often a cagey final, with a bit of needle between the teams, but chances too, especially before Coman appeared at the back post to head in Joshua Kimmich’s inviting 59th-minute cross and wrap up a treble for a team who had already won the Bundesliga and German Cup.

Hansi Flick’s team will feel they deserved their victory, yet PSG will regret not taking any of the chances that were offered up to them on a surreal occasion at an empty Estadio da Luz.

Kylian Mbappe in particular should have done better than shoot straight at Manuel Neuer right on the stroke of half-time.

The France World Cup-winning forward had spoken of his determination to go down in his country’s history by helping PSG become just the second French winners of European football’s greatest prize.

But they will have to wait for the chance to match Marseille, who won the inaugural Champions League in 1993.

PSG’s Qatari owners spent a combined 402 million euros ($474m) on Neymar and Mbappe in 2017 to win this competition, not just reach the final. However, in the end it was one who got away from Paris who denied them.

The 24-year-old Coman was born in Paris and started his career at PSG, only to leave in 2014 for Juventus, sensing he wouldn’t get the regular football he desired if he stayed put.

He had been on the bench in the semi-final against Lyon but was promoted to the starting line-up for the final, replacing Ivan Perisic on the left wing.

Now he may not be welcome back in his home city again.

But at Bayern he will always be remembered as the man who won them this trophy in 2020, in the club’s 11th final and seven years after they were last European champions.

– Mbappe’s big miss –

Flick’s team have ended this season with 21 straight victories and unbeaten in 30 matches. They deserved to be crowned in a full stadium.

However, only a few hundred lucky invitees were inside the cavernous home of Benfica to see the denouement of the ‘Final Eight’, at the end of a competition so long delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The strangest of finals pitted together two clubs who have taken very different routes to becoming part of Europe’s elite, with Bayern’s status as Germany’s most successful and powerful side long established and PSG having left the rest of the French game behind following the Qatari takeover of 2011.

But if this was a mismatch in terms of history, on and off the pitch right now they are almost perfectly balanced.

That translated into the kind of proper match-up on the field that neither side often experiences these days.

Bayern came desperately close to opening the scoring midway through the first half when Lewandowski — looking for his 56th goal of the season — took down an Alphonso Davies cross, turned and struck a shot against the post.

The Pole also came close with a header that was saved by Keylor Navas, PSG’s goalkeeper who won the Champions League three times with Real Madrid and who was returning after injury ruled him out of the semi-final against RB Leipzig.

But Bayern take risks by playing with such a high line, and PSG should have punished them in the first half.

Neymar was denied by an excellent Neuer save after being set up by Mbappe, while Mbappe himself contrived to fire straight at the goalkeeper after David Alaba gited him the ball in the Bayern box.

Alaba had earlier seen his central defensive colleague, Jerome Boateng, limp out seemingly with a recurrence of the hamstring problem that forced him off against Lyon.

Niklas Suele replaced him and helped contain the Paris attack as Bayern held onto their lead.

Bayern had broken the deadlock just before the hour mark in a move that began with a sprayed Thiago Alcantara pass forward, and ended with Coman arriving to head in Kimmich’s perfect delivery.

Neymar ended the game with a yellow card for chopping down Lewandowski, and a runners-up medal, while Bayern celebrated.

Source: AFP

23, August 2020

Football: PSG take on Bayern Munich in first-ever Champions League final ⁰

Kick-off starts at 9pm today Sunday in a historic Champions League final, played behind closed doors in Lisbon due to Covid-19.

French champions PSG are hoping to win club football’s most prestigious tournament for the first time – but Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and teammates face formidable opponents in Bayern Munich, led by striking juggernaut Robert Lewandowski.

France 24 is providing live coverage