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Germany lost their last warm-up game for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup at home to Zambia despite retrieving a two-goal deficit in added time.
Racheal Kundanaji’s long ball saw Barbra Banda open the scoring past Merle Frohms three minutes into the second half, with Kundanaji herself netting shortly afterwards.
Carolin Simon hit the crossbar, before Lea Schüller reduced the arrears just after the 90 minutes by heading in Simon’s corner.
Ten minutes into stoppage-time, Alexandra Popp turned in Svenja Huth’s cross to equalise, only for Banda to lob Frohms from 20 yards for a dramatic winner.
Elsewhere, Portugal defeated Ukraine 2-0 with Jessica Silva scoring both goals in the first half.
USA host Wales at 9pm UK time on Sunday 9 July, live on BBC One Wales, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
[shekicks]
Jurgen Klopp ‘requests’ €60m Liverpool raid on European giants for final cog of midfield rebuild
AdminAccording to reports, Jurgen Klopp has asked Liverpool to sign Inter Milan standout Nicolo Barella, who was pursued by Newcastle earlier this summer.
As expected, Liverpool have been busy in the transfer market already this summer. They moved quickly to sign World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton for £35m.
They then turned their attention to Dominik Szoboszlai, who has joined Liverpool after the Premier League giants activated the £60m release clause in his contract at RB Leipzig.
The Reds could sign one more midfielder before the transfer window closes, with a defensive midfielder likely to be preferred by the club’s hierarchy.
Barella was involved in 19 goals across all competitions during the 2022/23 campaign and he was heavily linked with Newcastle before they signed Sandro Tonali from AC Milan.
The Italy international has also been linked with Liverpool and while it has rightly been assumed that they are no longer interested in him following the arrival of Szoboszlai, but Spanish outlet Fichajes are reporting that they are ‘seeking to add’ him to their squad following a ‘request’ by Klopp.
Inter Milan are ‘willing to sell Barella if they receive an offer of 60 million euros’ and Liverpool ‘could be willing to pay’ this amount.
It is said to be one of Klopp’s ‘great desires’ to make Barella the third and final cog of his summer rebuild in midfield.
This should be taken with a pinch of salt, as it is being widely reported by more reliable outlets that Southampton teenager Romeo Lavia is actually their main midfield target for the rest of this summer.
Football Insider are reporting that ‘Southampton are holding out for top money for their best players as Liverpool continue to negotiate a possible deal for Lavia. They add.
‘A well-placed source has told Football Insider that midfield duo Lavia and James Ward-Prowse are “fully expected” to return to the Premier League with a move away from St Mary’s Stadium.
‘However, it is believed Liverpool are only currently willing to offer around £40million for Lavia as negotiations continue – while Southampton are believed to be holding out for a figure closer to £50million.
‘A host of other Premier League giants, including Chelsea and Arsenal, have also been linked with the 19-year-old.
‘Southampton are keen to maximise the Belgium international’s value as Man City will be entitled to 20% of any fee received for his services. That clause was negotiated as part of the reported £10.5million deal which brought Lavia to Southampton last summer.’
[football365]
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are not in negotiations with any club over the sale of Andrey Santos. The player has recently returned from his loan spell at Vasco da Gama and has been attracting a lot of interest.
Barcelona were among the clubs keen on securing the services of the youngster this summer. Although the Catalans were interested in Santos even during the January transfer window, Chelsea beat them to the chase and loaned the player back to Vasco da Gama until the end of last season.
With Chelsea undergoing many changes this summer, Barcelona have re-ignited their pursuit of Santos, hoping that the youngster might consider leaving Stamford Bridge in favour of a more sporting prospect in Catalonia.
The club’s new sporting director Deco is a great admirer of Santos, while Xavi Hernandez himself had given the approval for the move. Barcelona had even started negotiations to sign the youngster this summer, reports Lucas Pedrosa.
Chelsea, though, appear to have no desire to negotiate with any clubs. Their new coach Mauricio Pochettino wants to assess the 19-year-old youngster during pre-season. The club also believe he is the future of the team.
Following the departure of Sergio Busquets, Barcelona are desperate to sign a replacement this summer. Barça’s late pursuit of Santos hinted that the club are looking for alternatives to top target Oriol Romeu, who is set to cost €8 million in the market.
Given his age and the potential he has shown in his native Brazil, Andrey Santos fits the bill well. But with Chelsea unwilling to sanction an exit, Barcelona must continue to look at other options in the transfer market.
The Blaugrana have been recently linked with a move for former youth team player Gerard Gumbau, who is currently a free agent. But the Spaniard does not have much experience at the highest level, which makes him a risky target for the club.
[barcauniversal]
Sandro Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso has reflected on his client’s record-breaking move to Newcastle United.
Just under a fortnight after the deal was first agreed, Tonali was officially confirmed as a Magpies player on Monday for an undisclosed fee - believed to be £52million plus add-ons - to make him Italy’s most expensive player of all time.
Tonali put pen to paper on a five-year contract - which includes an option of a sixth year - before making a flying visit to Tyneside on Wednesday, where he visited St James’ Park and the club’s Benton training ground before travelling back to Milan a day later.
Upon his return to Italy, Tonali and his agent Giuseppe Riso were questioned by Italian journalists at the airport. While Tonali spoke of the difficult decision to leave his boyhood team, Riso showed his delight.
Riso said: “The operation will go down in history, we are happy and proud. I see him calm. When clubs like Newcastle or others from the Premier League appear, which is the NBA of football, it is right for all parties to sit down and discuss it.”
When asked how satisified he was to get the Tonali deal over the line, Riso paid tribute to super agent Mino Raiola, who passed away aged 54 last year.
“A lot,” he said. “I say one thing: I would like to take the opportunity to remember Mino Raiola, he’s missed so much and that’s felt. He changed our way of working and improved it. He created the show. I would like an award or a day to remember him. He deserves it.
Tonali will enjoy a short break before linking up with his new teammates as they prepare for the 2023-24 Premier League campaign.
[newcastleworld]
Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia continues to be linked with a move to a number of Premier League clubs this summer.
According to Florian Plettenberg, the 19-year-old defensive midfielder is a target for Liverpool and manager Jurgen Klopp is a big fan of the player.
However, he might face competition from Barcelona for the talented young Belgian.
Barcelona are reportedly keeping tabs on the youngster as well but they are unlikely to be able to pay the asking price. They need a quality long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets.
The midfielder is valued at £50 million and it will be interesting to see if Liverpool are willing to shell out that kind of money for him.
Liverpool have already signed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai this summer.
Although there is no doubt that Lavia is a prodigious young talent with a massive future ahead of him, £50 million does seem like a steep asking price.
Southampton will probably have to lower their demands in order for the transfer to go through.
Liverpool need to bring in a quality defensive midfielder who can compete with Fabinho for the starting spot. The Brazilian regressed massively last season and competition for places will help the squad improve.
The opportunity to join a big club like Liverpool will be an attractive proposition for Lavia who has recently been relegated to the Championship with Southampton.
If the two clubs can agree on a fee, it is fair to assume that the move will go through. Agreeing on personal terms with the player should not be a problem for the Reds.
[caughtoffside]
French football star Kylian Mbappe on Thursday arrived his home country Cameroon.
He was met by jubilant fans as he visited his father’s village and the school for deaf children while in the country.
Mbappe, 24, was met by hundreds of admirers, many of whom were wearing Paris Saint-Germain’s jerseys as he commenced his three days stay in Cameroon on Thursday, July 6.
A troupe of roughly 100 traditional dancers performed in his honor. Afterward, the police escorted him off in an SUV with tinted windows as the footballer waved to the crowd.
Kylian Mbappe is expected to stay in the hotel complex run by the Yaounde-based family of former French tennis champion Yannick Noah.
The France national team captain and Joakim Noah, a former NBA player, are expected to play in a basketball game. Later, they will participate in a match against second-tier FC Vent d’Etoudi of Cameroon.
Fans trying to touch Kylian Mbappe as he visits Cameroon on Thursday.
Mbappe will then visit a school in Douala, the financial hub of the country, on Saturday before heading to Djebale, the village where his father Wilfried Mbappe was born.
His father left the village for France when he was a young man. While in France, he worked as a football coach and developed Mbappe’s football career.
Mbappe will get the opportunity to visit two schools in Yaounde and Douala that are funded by his charitable foundation, Inspired by KM.
The French footballer will also meet with many government officials, including Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, to discuss initiatives he wants to launch in Cameroon, according to a statement from his management team.
Media
NFF Didn’t Pay Me For 14 Months, Players Are Also Owed Bonuses - Super Falcons Head Coach, Waldrum Speaks
AdminThe Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has revealed that he is owed salary by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
The Super Falcons coach spoke in a recent chat with ‘On The Whistle’ podcast.
Waldrum said he was owed 14 months salary until three weeks ago when the NFF paid for seven months.
He said some players are owed “per diem and bonuses” from two years ago.
“Up until about three weeks ago, I had been owed 14 months’ salary, and then they paid seven months salary,” the American said.
“Before that, a year and a half to two years, I had been owed for months before I was paid a little bit of it. Starting July, I’ll be eight months behind in salary.
“We still have players that haven’t been paid since two years ago when we played the summer series in the USA. It’s a travesty.”
Waldrum also claimed that FIFA had disbursed $960,000 to all the teams that qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup to prepare for the tournament.
The coach demanded accountability from the NFF regarding the money that was meant to fund the Falcons’ preparation for the World Cup.
“I have a close contact in the US that is very connected to some of the boards at FIFA, and this person told me that in October, every country was given $960,000 from FIFA to prepare for the World Cup. Where’s the money?” he said.
“If we had that money, why did we not build a camp in November?
“FIFA allows your staff to have up to 22 people, but we have only 11. We don’t have scouts to watch the teams in our group or potential opponents.
“In the two-and-a-half years that I’ve been here, I have never had one time that the federation came to me and asked, “What do you need, coach?”
“What keeps me going is the players. Otherwise, I would have walked away from this job a long time ago.”
The development is the latest in the exchange of words between Waldrum and the NFF over the past week.
On June 29, the Falcons’ head coach condemned the NFF over its “lack of support” for the team ahead of the World Cup.
He said the team is “not prepared the way we need to be” for the tournament.
Responding, Ademola Olajire, NFF communications director, said Waldrum was “shooting his mouth off” instead of “admitting to the glaring deficiencies” he displayed in the list of players invited to participate in the tournament.
The women’s World Cup will be hosted by New Zealand and Australia from July 20.
The Falcons are scheduled to play Canada in their first match on July 21 before facing Australia six days later. The team will play Ireland in their last group game on July 31.
Victor Osimhen has demanded a salary of €7m annually to extend his current deal with Napoli, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Napoli, who have already opened talks to extend Osimhen’s contract, are keen on inserting a hefty €200m release clause in the new deal, Get Italy football news stated.
The Nigeria international helped the Partenopei win their first Serie A title in 33 years, and emerged the leading scorer in Italy’s topflight with 26 goals in 32 games in 2022/23.
His impressive form has seen him linked with moves to PSG, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Bayern Munich.
“A solution for the issue could be that Napoli will go close to meeting the wage demand of about €7m and will add a release clause of around €200m in his (Osimhen’s) deal,” the report stated.
“Shared image rights could also bring the parties close. Work is already going on in the right direction for this, with both parties trying to close a deal as quickly as possible.”
Sky Italia reports that a second meeting regarding Osimhen’s renewal has taken place between the club and the Nigerian’s representative, Roberto Calenda.
Calenda revealed Osimhen’s desire to renew his deal at Napoli, with both parties now keen on making sure that the 24-year-old stays for at least another season.
“There is still a lot of gap between the club’s offer and what the player demands, but Napoli know that they can’t lose more assets after the exits of Cristiano Guintoli, Luciano Spalletti and Kim Min-Jae,” Calenda said.
Meanwhile, Osimhen is Paris Saint-Germain’s main target if Kylian Mbappe leaves the club this summer, Football-Italia reports.
The 24-year-old Frenchman was set for a switch to Real Madrid last year, only to snub Carlo Ancelotti’s side and agree a new two-year deal at the Parc des Princes with the option of an additional 12 months.
The French champions have been left aghast after receiving a letter from Mbappe confirming that he would not take up the option to extend his contract until 2025, meaning that he could walk out of the door for nothing this time next year.
Despite his refusal to trigger the clause, Mbappe has insisted that he wants to stay put in Paris for the 2023/24 season, and he plans to make a decision on his future next summer.
On the other hand, PSG are reportedly working to sell the France international this summer, and a “shocked” and “disappointed” Al-Khelaifi has ruled out the possibility of Mbappe departing for nothing in 2024.
Osimhen joined Napoli from Lille in 2020 in a deal worth €75m. He has scored 50 goals in 83 Serie A matches adding seven in 11 Champions League appearances.
His current contract at the Stadio Maradona expires in June 2025.
World number four Casper Ruud crashed out in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday at the hands of British wildcard Liam Broady. Broady held his nerve when trailing two sets to one against the French Open finalist, rallying to win the Centre Court clash 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Norway's Ruud, who has been runner-up at Roland Garros in the past two years, was also the beaten finalist at the US Open last year.
The 24-year-old has never gone beyond the second round at the All England Club. Broady, 142 in the world rankings, took a medical time out at the end of the fourth set to change some bandaging on his wrist.
But the 29-year-old came out fit and firing in the evening sunshine, demolishing Ruud 6-0 in the decider before soaking up the applause from the partisan crowd.
"I would have liked to have played him back home, but Centre Court of Wimbledon will do," said Broady. "When I went to bed last night, I was having a think of what I'd say if I won the match, but now I'm here I don't know what to say.
"I said to my mum this morning, she doesn't like watching, but I said I've already won £80,000 ($102,000) this week so she can chill out a bit."
The British player will play Canadian 26th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round. "Denis is a mercurial talent, he's one of the best players in the world as is Casper," he said. "He's won junior Wimbledon. He's an amazing player. With a crowd like this then why not have a go again."
Teen power
Meanwhile, Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva reached the third round of a Grand Slam for a second successive time at Wimbledon on Thursday. Andreeva was leading Czech 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 4-0 when the former French Open champion retired with an injury.
Just as she had done at the French Open, the teenager came through qualifying for Wimbledon and next faces either compatriot Anastasia Potapova or Kaja Juvan of Slovenia. Making her main draw debut, Andreeva, ranked at 102 in the world, saw off China's Wang Xiyu in the first round in a match that finished late Wednesday.
In Paris last month, it took world number seven Coco Gauff to stop her in three sets in the last 32.
[sports]
British journeyman Liam Broady has sent Centre Court into raptures with a stunning defeat of world No.4 Casper Ruud at Wimbledon.
Ruud, who was in the French Open final three weeks ago, lost 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-0 to the world No.142 in three hours, 27 minutes.
Norwegian Ruud has never looked comfortable at Wimbledon, winning once in three previous appearances in SW19. He has, however, reached three grand slam finals in 14 months and this was by a distance the biggest win of Broady's career.
"When I went to bed last night, I had a think about what I would say if I won and now I don't know what to say!" the 29-year-old said.
"It was a pretty terrifying, exhilarating experience coming out at Centre Court on Wimbledon, but it's been my dream since I was five years old."
"I said to my mum this morning, she doesn't like watching, I've already won PS80,000 ($A152,000) this week so she can chill out."
Three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka turned back the clock, defeating seeded Argentine Tomas Etcheverry to set up a first grass-court meeting with Novak Djokovic.
The 38-year-old defeated the No.29 seed, 15 years his junior, in four sets as Wimbledon finally enjoyed a sunny day.
It is the first time Wawrinka has reached a grand slam third round for three years. "It's a long time that I didn't win too much at grand slams," the Swiss said. "I've been working hard to get back to a better level and I'm happy with the way I'm coming up."
Wawrinka, who won every major except Wimbledon, has beaten Djokovic six times in 26 meetings, including the 2015 French Open final and 2016 US Open final.
He said of facing the defending champion on Centre Court on Friday, "I'll enjoy it if I don't get killed. It's a big challenge but hopefully I can come to a higher level and be competitive."
A trio of Italians won, though one knocked out a compatriot. Eighth seed Jannik Sinner coasted into the third round with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 victory over Diego Schwartzman, while Lorenzo Musetti, seeded 14, outclassed Spain's Jaume Munar 6-4 6-3 6-1 to set up a third-round clash against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.
Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 runner-up, recovered from a slow start to beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 in a match which had begun on Tuesday.
Berrettini, who arrived at Wimbledon undercooked having not played much due to injury, now meets Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur.
Alexander Zverev, who finally got a chance to play his first-round match on the fourth day of the tournament, moved into the second round with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) victory over Dutchman Gijs Brouwer.
The 19th seed Zverev, a former world No.2, suffered a bad ankle injury at the 2022 French Open.
"I missed it last year so just to be on this court I'm happy to be here with 10,000 people," he said.
"I play again tomorrow and the day after, well if I win of course. It's going to be a tough few days with back-to-back matches and it is never easy physically - I'm just happy to be playing tennis now," Zverev said.
Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev advanced to the third round at Wimbledon for the second time defeating compatriot Aslan Karatsev.
[thewest]
More...
Arsenal are, according to reports by David Ornstein and others, close to completing deals for Declan Rice of West Ham and Jurrien Timber of Ajax. If the Gunners are successful in getting both deals across the line then their summer spend will reach £210mil after the earlier addition of Kai Havertz.
Arsenal’s Rising Optimism Following Last Season
Big-name signings excite fans, and Arsenal fans entered the transfer window in optimistic moods after their side’s 2nd placed finish in last season’s Premier League. The Gunners are on the up, and they are splashing the cash. But are they getting better?
Havertz’s Potential Role: A Fitting Replacement for Xhaka?
Let’s start with Havertz, who seems like a replacement for the now-departed Granit Xhaka. There is no question that Havertz is a better footballer than the Swiss midfielder, but is a better fit for that role? He can definitely offer more in the final third, but Xhaka is coming off a season where he contributed 9 goals and 7 assists across all competitions. Havertz has averaged 11 goals and 5 assists in his three seasons at Chelsea, but those came predominately while playing as a striker.
Havertz and Defensive Contribution: Matching Up to Xhaka
And then there’s the question of whether Havertz can match Xhaka’s defensive contribution. The German is a hard-working player, but not one noted for his defensive output. Xhaka provided vital balance for Arsenal in sharing some of the defensive workload with Thomas Partey to enable Arsenal’s attacking brand of football to flourish.
Assessing Timber’s Position: Backup or Starter?
What about Timber? Is he a starter for Arsenal? If so, where? Arsenal fans will insist that they needed additional depth in defense, but is Timber the right fit as a backup to William Saliba? Or will be he the backup to Ben White? Perhaps both. Perhaps he replaces White, and White becomes a utility squad player who can offer cover at right-back, centre-back, and in defensive midfield.
Evaluating Timber’s Role: Improvement or Expenditure?
Timber is a better defender than White and a better dribbler, but he doesn’t have White’s passing ability or decision-making in the final third – things that have been vital to the development of Arsenal’s attacking patterns down the right side of the pitch.
Rice’s Big Move: What Position Will He Play?
Finally, the biggest outlay of them all, Declan Rice. The Gunners are paying a guaranteed £100mil plus £5mil in add-ons to bring in the West Ham captain, and the question here is what position will he play?
Rice’s Potential Impact: An Upgrade or Downgrade?
If he is the Xhaka replacement and not Havertz, then it’s a home run for Arsenal in terms of a player-for-player upgrade. Rice is a significantly better player than Xhaka. He won’t offer the goal contributions that Xhaka did this past season, but his passing, pressing, counter-pressing and ball-carrying will be an improvement. Defensively he can offer more than Xhaka as well with his ability to cover mammoth amounts of ground.
Rice in the Defensive Role: Is He Up to the Task?
But what if he’s coming in to replace Thomas Partey? Rice is a flawed number 6, who gets drawn to the ball far too often and leaves big spaces behind him. That was somewhat ok with Thomas Soucek to cover him for West Ham but if he’s partnering Odegaard and Havertz in midfield? Arsenal could have avery soft centre. Rice’s strengths all involve his ability to cover ground, as a ball-winner and a ball-carrier. Putting him in a box and asking him to shield a defense? Not something he has excelled at.
Comparing Rice’s Performance: International Vs. Club Football
Some people will point to his form with England, but international football is a different sport played at a much slower tempo against vastly inferior opponents, and Rice largely had Kalvin Phillips sitting in to help out anyway. Rice is not as good defensively as Thomas Partey in the number 6 position, nor is he as good a passer as the Ghanaian.
Assessing Rice’s Price: Is It Justifiable?
The price is outrageous, Rice is not a £100mil footballer, but if he’s the Xhaka replacement he will improve the team and it might not matter. If he’s the Partey replacement then it’s a downgrade, at least in the short term, and a massive overpay.
Arteta’s Spending: Massive Expectations
Mikel Arteta’s spending as Arsenal manager will cross the £575mil threshold with these signings, and having had no pressure placed on him in his three and half years to date, he will surely go into this season with high expectations. The Kroenke’s will want silverware in return for their outlay.
Evaluating Arteta’s Impact: Has the Team Improved?
Has he improved the team since arriving? Of course, without question. Has this summer’s spend, which has been driven by his demands, taken them closer to the title? Possibly not.
[eplindex]
Cesar Azpilicueta is headed back to Spain.
The 33-year-old defender joined Atletico on Thursday after 11 years at Chelsea.
"I’d like to say so many things, but I’m going to keep it short," Azpilicueta said in a farewell message. "I want to say every time you are part of this club, you give your best. That’s how I learned to be part of Chelsea. The demands are really high, the commitment to the club, to the fans, every single day, even in tough moments when maybe it’s easier to go down a different path. That’s the moment to show the personality, the soul of the club, all together, pushing in the same direction. I know Chelsea will be back where it should be."
Azpilicueta joined the Blues in 2012 from Marseille. He went on to make 508 appearances across all competitions for the club, seventh-most all-time in club history, winning two Premier League titles, two Europa League titles, a League Cup, an FA Cup and the 2021 Champions League title.
Internationally, Azpilicueta has been capped 44 times by La Roja and was a member of Spain's squad at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
[tsn]
Not for the first time, Kylian Mbappe has been linked with a transfer to Liverpool.
On the face of it, this is not a link that makes a great deal of sense from the Reds' perspective. While not short of money, their transfer kitty is not limitless and Jurgen Klopp must prioritise other areas of his squad ahead of strengthening his attack.
Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo ensure there are no shortage of options and variety to play in Liverpool’s front three. Furthermore, the Reds have signed attack-minded midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig and Brighton’s Alexis MacAllister.
However, Sport Witness cites reports from Spain that Liverpool have made a £170million move for French superstar Mbappe. The veracity of this may be doubtful, but there is clearly a strong mutual respect between the club and the Paris Saint-Germain frontman.
Mbappe's PSG exit stance
Image:
Getty Images)Mbappe will not sign the one-year contract extension in his PSG contract meaning that his deal will expire in 12 months. Mirror Football understands that the French club’s priority is to ensure he does not leave without a transfer fee, meaning they are prepared to cash in on the superstar this summer.
The French superstar has confirmed that he intends to remain at the Ligue 1 champions beyond this summer but it is understood that PSG will push for his exit as they are aware that the alternative is missing out on a landmark transfer fee entirely.
On Wednesday, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi set an ultimatum of two weeks for Mbappe to either decide to leave the club this summer or sign a new contract. However, the striker is well within his contractual rights to do neither and wait it out until next summer. Real Madrid's interest in signing Mbappe is long-standing and well-documented.
What Mbappe and Klopp have said
Mbappe and Klopp have a history of publicly complimenting each other – which has, predictably, played into suggestions that the two may work alongside each other one day.
Speaking in 2020, the Frenchman claimed: 2020: "This season, Liverpool have been a machine in the Premier League. They have made winning look easy but the truth is that it is never easy. Performances like they have been having don't just happen.
Mbappe didn't stop there and had some compliments for Klopp as well, adding: "To be as ruthless as they have been would come from lots of hard work in training and from having a very good manager."
Speaking before Liverpool faced PSG back in 2018, Klopp told RMC Sport: "I love him, to be honest. What a player he is and a nice lad as well, so he's a really good kid. What a player, what a player.
"Everyone knows him since he was 16, 17 when he impressed in Monaco's youth teams, and I saw videos of him when he was 17 and he destroyed defensive lines as he is doing now.
"He's at an unbelievable level of consistency at that age. He's an outstanding player, that's clear, but he can deliver, deliver and deliver, which shows he's really good educated boy and he knows what he is doing.”
[mirror.co.uk]
Swiss federal judges dismissed FIFA´s appeal against a ruling that overturned its life ban for the former president of Haiti´s soccer federation for alleged sexual abuse of women´s national team players.
A verdict from Switzerland´s supreme court released on Thursday rejected FIFA´s request filed in March to annul a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that lifted Yves Jean-Bart´s expulsion from the sport.
The federal court can review CAS decisions on limited procedural grounds and rarely overturns the sports court´s verdicts. FIFA argued that CAS judges failed to evaluate some evidence.
The decision by three Swiss Federal Tribunal judges was dated June 28, less than a month before Haiti makes its debut at the Women´s World Cup against England in Brisbane. Haiti's group includes China and Denmark.
The Haitian women progressed through qualifying for the July 20-Aug. 20 tournament, being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, while long-time federation president Jean-Bart was banished from the sport.
FIFA´s ethics committee banned Jean-Bart in November 2020 after hearing allegations of multiple sexual offenses against women and girls who were in national team squads. Witnesses in Haiti were alleged to have been threatened not to give evidence.
Jean-Bart denied the allegations, and at his appeal the judges decided "none of the testimonies heard by the CAS were sufficiently precise and convincing to establish (his) guilt," the sports court said in February.
FIFA was ordered by federal judges to pay 15,000 Swiss francs ($16,740) in court costs and 17,000 Swiss francs ($19,000) to Jean-Bart.
[dailymail]