International Football
Fever Over Ronaldo at El Clasico Miami
Soccer fans in Miami, US are hoping Cristiano Ronaldo will feature in Saturday’s highly anticipated El Clasico, a clash of the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in Miami.
According to a report Sports Village Square has gathered from Miami Herald, the burning question on the lips of avid soccer followers had been: “Ronaldo show up?”
Until now, it was initially unclear if Ronaldo would be returning to Manchester United. But he has now confirmed he would be staying with the La Liga giants. Fans are awaiting another potential struggle for supremacy between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as their clubs clash in what is dubbed “El Clasico Miani” at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Madrid superstar, who has 107 million Instagram followers and many fans in South Florida, was not in Santa Clara, California, with his team on Sunday for their International Champions Cup opener against Manchester United.
Some speculated that his absence was either to avoid playing against his former club, Manchester United or he was preparing to return to the Premier League side. He is also not expected for Wednesday’s game against Manchester City in Los Angeles.
But ICC officials are in contact with Ronaldo and his handlers, and they remain optimistic that he will make it to Miami for Saturday’s game.
“We are doing everything we can to get him here,” said Daniel Stillman, the CEO of the ICC. “We are still hopeful that he will make it.”
Ronaldo, 32, has been on an extended summer vacation after a long season with Real Madrid, the June 8 birth of his twins, and a run to the June 28 semifinals of Confederations Cup in Russia with Portugal’s national team. He also is scheduled to testify July 31 at a tax fraud hearing in Spain, leading to rumors that he would not be able to fit El Clasico Miami into his schedule.
Ronaldo spent this past weekend in Asia, fulfilling commercial obligations. He was in Singapore on Friday meeting with friend and billionaire Peter Lim, who owns Spanish club Valencia and also owns Mint Media, which owns Ronaldo’s non-Real Madrid image rights. On Saturday, he went to Shanghai for an endorsement event, and also visited Beijing.
He was reportedly back in Madrid on Monday, but his plans the rest of the week are unknown. The Real Madrid and Barcelona teams and their entourages are due to arrive in Miami on Thursday, after playing games in California on Wednesday night. They will be staying within blocks of each other in downtown Miami.
The Barcelona roster for the U.S. tour includes Argentine megastar Lionel Messi (76.4 million Instagram followers), Brazilian star Neymar (who is being wooed by Paris Saint-Germain), Uruguay standout Luis Suarez, and Spaniards Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta.
Among the Real Madrid stars due to be at the game Saturday are Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas, Wales star Gareth Bale, Crotian Luka Modric, Karim Benzema of France, and Toni Kroos of Germany.
A sellout crowd of 64,767 is expected at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday for the match. A few thousand tickets remained as of Monday afternoon.
More than 40,000 are expected for Wednesday’s game between French club Paris Saint-Germain and Italian team Juventus. PSG has been based in Miami for a week, and held an autograph session Sunday at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which was attended by 300-400 fans, and open training session Monday morning at Barry University.
A crowd of 25,000-plus is expected at the stadium Friday night for Barcelona and Real Madrid training sessions, with tickets ranging from $20-$30. Barcelona is practicing from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and Real Madrid trains from 8 to 9:30 p.m.
Casa Clasico, a free fan fest at Bayfront Park downtown with live music and soccer interactive activities, is open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
International Football
Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
International Football
Soon Cisse ceases to be Senegal’s Coach
After 107 matches spanning nine years, Aliou Cisse will not have his contract renewed as Senegal coach, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Of the 107 matches, Cisse’s team won 70, drew 24 and lost 13.
But the impressive scorecard is not enough to impress his employers.
Thus, the end beckons for Cisse’s successful nine-year spell in charge of the side that included a first Africa Cup of Nations title and two World Cup qualifications.
He had been under increasing pressure after Senegal’s surprise last 16 exit at the 2023 Cup of Nations when they lost on penalties to hosts Cote d’Ivoire.
Senegal are unbeaten in six matches since then, but home draws with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso, and criticism from certain quarters over their style of play, made up the mind of the country’s sports ministry, who fund the salary of the national team coach, that a change was needed.
“The FSF would like to thank Aliou Cisse for his good collaboration and his brilliant results at the head of the various national selections that he has managed since his arrival in 2011 and wish him every success for the future,” the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said in a statement.
FSF added Cisse’s exit stemmed from a failure to fulfil the targets in his last contract, which expired at the end of August, which included victory at the 2023 Cup of Nations and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
They also said the “regression of our national team in the FIFA rankings and the risk of disaffection between our national team and the Senegalese (public)” had played a role.
The FSF will appoint an interim technical team to lead the side in Cup of Nations qualifiers against Malawi at home on Oct. 11 and away four days later.
Cisse, 48, was captain of Senegal when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup with what is heralded as a golden generation of players.
He briefly had a spell as caretaker coach of the national team in 2012, but took over full time three years later.
He led Senegal to 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualification, making the last 16 in the latter before losing to England. They were beaten in the final of the 2019 Cup of Nations by Algeria.
The side made up for that disappointment when they beat Egypt in the final two years later to be crowned African champions for the first time.
International Football
Why FIFA banned Samuel Eto’o
Always in the news for bad reasons, Samuel Eto’o has again made global headlines. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned the former striker and the current president of the Cameroon Football Federation.
He is banned from attending Cameroon’s matches for the next six months for violating conduct rules during the recent U-20 Women’s World Cup, where his national team faced Brazil in the round of 16.
According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, Eto’o was found to have breached articles 13 (“Offensive behaviour and violations of fair play principles”) and 14 (“Misconduct of players and officials”) of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code.
The sanction stems specifically from the match between Brazil and Cameroon, held on September 11 in Bogotá, Colombia. As a result, Eto’o will be prohibited from attending any matches involving Cameroon’s national teams, both male and female, across all age groups.
“Mr Eto’o has been notified today, the date on which the sanction comes into force,” stated the FIFA press release.
This is not the first time Eto’o has faced controversy. He previously drew attention for his behavior towards players and national team coach Marc Brys, whom he allegedly threatened in front of cameras if his directives were not followed.
During the Qatar World Cup, the former Real Madrid, Mallorca, and Barcelona player made headlines again after assaulting a fan who filmed him outside a stadium after a match.
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