4, May 2022
Football: Real Madrid beat Man City after extra time to reach Champions League final 0
Real Madrid fought back from the brink of elimination to beat Manchester City 3-1 after extra time and 6-5 on aggregate in an enthralling and dramatic Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
City led 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate when Riyad Mahrez scored after 73 minutes but Real substitute Rodrygo equalised in the last minute of normal time and headed home one minute later to level the tie at 5-5.
Five minutes into extra time Karim Benzema converted a penalty awarded for a foul on him by Ruben Dias and Real, the record 13-times European champions, held the shell-shocked English side at bay to reach the final.
Real will play Liverpool on May 28 in Paris, a repeat of the 2018 final in Kyiv which the Spanish team won 3-1.
Source: AFP
7, May 2022
Eto’o says Indomitable Lions can win World Cup with Mourinho mentality 0
Samuel Eto’o has suggested how Cameroon can do wonders at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar if they follow what Jose Mourinho achieved with Inter Milan when winning the Champions League trophy in 2010.
The 41-year-old, who is currently the President of the Cameroonian Football Federation, was part of the Inter squad under the Portuguese tactician that won the treble in the 2009-10 season – the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia, and their first Champions League title in 45 years.
With Cameroon heading to the World Cup in Qatar where they have been drawn in Group G alongside Serbia and Switzerland, the former Barcelona and Chelsea player believes they can leave a mark at the tournament.
Asked if coach Rigobert Song can lead Cameroon to World Cup glory, Eto’o, who is currently in Italy to announce a charity game in San Siro on May 23, said as quoted by BeSoccer: “I don’t see why he can’t win it.
“I believe that in order to win the World Cup you don’t need to be monsters or aliens, you need good preparation, a strong mentality, and a pinch of madness.
“I won a bit in my career and to do it I gave everything. I always take Inter as an example: no one at the beginning of the 2009-10 season thought we could win [the Champions League] and instead, Mourinho did something crazy, with a group of men and warriors.
“I would like something like that for Cameroon too.”
Cameroon have appeared in the finals of the World Cup on eight occasions, the first being in 1982 where they drew all three group games. In 1990, Cameroon reached the quarter-finals before being defeated 3-2 by England.
The Indomitable Lions will make their eighth appearance at the finals in Qatar 2022.
Source: Goal.com