SERIE A
CRISTIANO RONALDO’S FATHER-IN-LAW DIES IN ARGENTINA PRISON
This is another heartache too much for the world’s renowned footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo who has recently been going through off-field issues of rape allegation and tax evasion.
Now the convicted drug trafficker father of his girlfriend has
reportedly died in his native Argentina after a long battle against illness.
According to UK’s Daily Mail, the football star’s partner Georgina Rodriguez posted a birthday photo on her Instagram earlier this week from Buenos Aires and wrote: ‘Coincidences of life. I land in the country I was born in at the same time and the day of my birth 25 years ago.’
She gave no hint of the reason for her trip, thought to be her first to Argentina since her dad was kicked out of Spain in 2013 and banned from returning after doing ten years jail for two drugs trafficking offences.
Celeb Spanish magazine Hola reported on its website on Friday that the pretty brunette had flown to Buenos Aires following the death of Jorge Eduardo Rodriguez Gorjon at the age of 70.
He is said to have suffered from complications related to a stroke he had two-and-a-half years ago.
No-one from Cristiano Ronaldo’s agency Gestifute, which rarely comments on the footballer’s private life, was available early Friday.
Fans of the footballer and his partner, who gave birth to their one-year-old daughter Alana Martina in November 2016, have taken to social media to offer their condolences.
One, writing on
the Instagram page of Georgina’s sister Ivana, said: ‘My sincere condolences.
‘I hope you find comfort in God. I am very sad for you. Be strong. We are all with you.’
Another messaged Georgina to say: ‘I am very sorry for your loss. We are thinking of you.’
Buenos Aires-born former footballer Jorge was jailed in 2003 and released in 2013 after receiving sentences of 11 years and two years, although he was on licence for part of that time and not behind bars 24/7.
He is thought to have been kicked out of the country and banned from returning to Spain after completing his sentence in August 2013.
It was known he was seriously ill and being cared for by a relative, believed to get by with money former shop worker Georgina and her older sister Ivana sent them.
Jorge, who met Georgina’s mum after moving to Spain in the eighties, was found guilty of trafficking with cocaine and cannabis resin in separate trials at Madrid’s top criminal court the Audiencia Nacional.
Judges there deal with the extraditions of British criminals and have also tried some of Spain’s most dangerous terrorists including the men responsible for the 2004 Madrid train bombings which killed 193 people and injured around 2,000.
His cocaine trafficking conviction, set out in an 18-page document dated July 28 2003, shows how he masterminded a failed attempt to smuggle more than £100,000 of cocaine from Spain to France using a bolthole where he was in hiding from outstanding arrest warrants.
Two accomplices were stopped by police near Madrid on January 26, 1999 as they drove towards the French city of Nice to deliver the drugs to an Italian nicknamed ‘Espaguetti’ – ‘Spaghetti’ in English.
The passenger tried to avoid arrest by throwing the drugs – just over three kilos of 83 per cent pure cocaine – out of the window of their Fiat Tipo.
Georgina’s dad failed to get incriminating phone taps rejected as evidence at his trial which linked him to a Colombian that paid for the drugs.
Prosecutors wanted him jailed for 13-and-a-half years but the three trial judges decided on an 11-year sentence and £106,500 fine, ruling he had carried out ‘coordination tasks.’
He received his second sentence on November 22, 2010.
A different Audiencia Nacional judge handed him a two-year jail term for smuggling cannabis resin from Morocco to Spain with six accomplices.
Martinez was convicted of organising a boat drugs drop in the Costa Tropical holiday resort of Roquetas de Mar in December 2008 during a brief early release on licence.
Police discovered nearly a tonne of cannabis resin valued at more than £1m during a raid on a nearby warehouse the drugs were taken to after being smuggled into Spain.
Two guns and six bullets, described as being ‘in perfect working order’ and provided by two gang members who were also convicted of weapons possession, were found in the same warehouse.
Prosecutors demanded a four-year, six-month jail sentence for Rodriguez but he was let off with a lighter punishment because he confessed.
Juventus striker Cristiano, who will turn 34 next Tuesday, forged his relationship with Georgina during lock-ins at the upmarket clothes store where she used to work.
The former Real Madrid striker, facing a new US police investigation over Kathryn Mayorga’s claims he raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 which he has denied, met Georgina at a Gucci store in central Madrid in June 2016 when he was shopping for summer clothes.
She soon became his first serious girlfriend since he broke up with Russian beauty Irina Shayk at the start of 2015.
He moved her into his luxury home on a gated estate on the outskirts of the Spanish capital before setting up home with her in Turin.
Last year the footballer’s mum said of Georgina during a magazine interview about her son’s love life, children and his alcoholic dad Dinis who drank himself into an early grave in September 2005: ‘She is the mother of my grand-daughter. She is a future daughter-in-law. She’s not my daughter-in-law yet. She’s a future daughter-in-law. She’s a very calm person.’
Paul Pogba can return to competition with the end of his 18-month doping ban on Tuesday, with the 2018 world champion hoping to leave behind three cataclysmic years also marked by injuries and a kidnapping case of which he was the victim.
The long penance of the French international (91 caps), one of the biggest stars in the world of football, is coming to an end and the midfielder will be able to draw a line under what seems like a slow descent into hell.
Suspended for four years after testing positive for non-endogenous testosterone metabolites (DHEA) at the end of the Juventus-Udinese match on August 20, 2023, Pogba saw his sanction reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the CAS considering that the “ingestion” of the substance “was not intentional and resulted from taking a food supplement prescribed by a doctor in Florida.”
Based in Miami, the native of Lagny-sur-Marne, east of Paris, is now ready to bounce back, his Instagram account still very popular (62.7 million followers) multiplies photos of intensive training, with a few fashion shots, another of his passions. Sign of his return, at least in the media, while waiting to be able to resume the thread of his prestigious career.
His ultimate dream remains the 2026 World Cup, but he would first have to find a club. La Pioche (32 years old on March 15), whose contract with Juventus Turin that ran until 2026 was terminated last November, “is training 1000%, he is in good spirits, he has received many offers”, assures a member of his entourage. He is also in regular contact with the coach of the Blues Didier Deschamps, “one of his advisors for sporting decisions”, according to one of his close friends.
But who could be interested in a player whose last match was on September 3, 2023 with Juve?
During one of his rare public appearances, on AmineMaTue’s Twitch channel in January, he explained that he had received ” proposals, not very interesting stuff”, such as “going to play in Russia, but that’s not the goal “.
A contract, he admitted, ” doesn’t depend on me, but on many other things.”
– Strength of character –
David Beckham’s Inter Miami could be a solution. Pogba lives in the Florida metropolis where he bought a house, he was in the stands for the Roses’ first MLS match of the season, against New York City (2-2), on February 23, and he is fine-tuning his fitness with the fitness coach of Lionel Messi, the team’s star.
Olympique de Marseille also sounded him out, and football director Medhi Benatia played with him at Juventus. But OM did not want to take the risk of signing a player whose fitness is surrounded by too many questions.
In any case, morale seems to be at its highest, with Pogba having always maintained his legendary strength of character even in the worst of storms.
“I ‘ve had a difficult year, so I have this rage, this desire to play football and enjoy it until the end of my career,” he said on Al Jazeera channel, just before his positive test.
Also badly affected by the kidnapping case of which he was the victim in 2022, he can now also try to forget this sordid episode with the end of the trial of his attackers at the end of 2024, his brother Mathias and five of his childhood friends having been sentenced to terms of up to eight years in prison.
“I can finally turn the page on this extremely difficult period. This conclusion is an opportunity for everyone to focus on the future. Now that the judgment has been delivered, I can fully concentrate on my return to professional football ,” he wrote to AFP after the verdict.
” That he can rediscover the pleasure of playing on the pitch, that’s all I wish for him because humanly he’s really a good person ,” said Didier Deschamps in 2024.
–Le360/AFP
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Ademola Lookman was again on target as Atalanta stunned Juventus in a 4-0 away win on Sunday to strengthen their grip on third place in Serie A while snapping the hosts’ five-game winning streak in the league.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side moved to 58 points, three behind leaders Inter Milan, while Juventus remain fourth on 52.
It was Juventus’ first home defeat in Serie A by a margin of at least four goals since 1967, leaving frustrated fans at the Allianz Stadium jeering their team after a night to forget.
“This is football. You go from victories to defeats, you have to consider the whole journey, Juve were coming from a series of victories,” Gasperini told DAZN.
“It was an unimaginable result for many, but it was the perfect performance from us.”
Both teams had chances to break the deadlock early on, as Khephren Thuram shot just over the crossbar with the hosts’ clearest chance after eight minutes and Atalanta’s Davide Zappacosta fired wide a minute later.
But it was Serie A’s top scorer Mateo Retegui who opened the scoring with a clinical penalty for his 22nd league goal this season following a handball by Weston McKennie just before the half-hour mark.
Atalanta took control of proceedings and could have increased their lead before the break when Ademola Lookman’s effort hit the woodwork before home goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio pulled off a series of vital saves.
Marten de Roon pounced on a rebound off Juve defender Lloyd Kelly to fire the ball into an open net early in the second half, before Davide Zappacosta made it 3-0, scoring from close-range after a brilliant back-heel pass from Sead Kolasinac in the 66th minute.
Juventus substitute Dusan Vlahovic slipped and lost possession to Lookman, who sealed the rout, netting 13 minutes from time after his shot took a deflection off a Juventus defender before beating Di Gregorio.
“I think today we were up against a team that was eager to capitalise on our mistakes,” Juventus coach Thiago Motta said.
“We gave players like Lookman the chance to take advantage of counter attacks. After a defeat like that, we are certainly sad and disappointed. We will no longer be talking about fighting for the title.”
-Reuters
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Third-placed Atalanta cruised to a 5-0 win at lowly Empoli with Ademola Lookman scoring a brilliant double with a goal in each half on Sunday to reignite their bid for the Serie A title.
A month ago the battle for the Scudetto looked like becoming a two-horse race between Napoli and Inter Milan but indifferent results for both sides have allowed Atalanta to narrow the gap.
Atalanta now have 54 points, three behind leaders Inter and two off Napoli with 12 rounds of matches remaining.
With Napoli suffering a surprise 2-1 loss at Como earlier on Sunday and Inter losing twice in four matches, Atalanta had the chance to keep the pressure on and dominated from the start.
The visitors broke the deadlock in the 27th minute with an own goal after Davide Zappacosta delivered a cross from the edge of the box which deflected off Empoli striker Emmanuel Gyasi and looped into the corner of the net.
Atalanta then began to dominate the match with Mateo Retegui doubling the lead six minutes later before Lookman made it 3-0 in the 43rd when he latched onto a through ball, deftly rounded goalkeeper Marco Silvestri and put the ball into the empty net.
Ten minutes after the break Lookman got his second, latching onto a through ball from Marten de Roon, evading the offside trap and firing an angled shot past the keeper after a step-over. Zappacosta completed the rout in the 74th minute.
Zappacosta was hesitant to talk about the title race.
“There’s no point right now thinking of long-term objectives. We have to take it one game at a time,” he told DAZN.
“A victory that gives us fuel and morale after a difficult last week,” he added, referring to being knocked out of the Champions League with a 3-1 defeat by Club Brugge on Tuesday.
LOOKMAN RESPONDS
Lookman’s performance showed the right response following his recent spat with coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who said the Nigeria striker was one of the worst penalty takers he had ever seen after he missed one against Brugge.
Gasperini later downplayed the comment saying he never intended to offend the 27-year-old, who also scored against the Belgian side after coming on at halftime.
Against Empoli, Lookman caused chaos for the home defence, playing a pivotal role in the build-up to Retegui’s goal, and was a stand-out performer in Atalanta’s dominant victory.
Sky Sport Italia asked if he had forgotten Gasperini’s criticism, but Lookman was reluctant to comment.
After a shrug and a glance around, he replied, “Finished?” before shifting the discussion to Atalanta’s display.
“The team won 5-0 today, we put in a good performance, everyone was at a high level and we showed quality,” he said.
The result leaves Empoli third-bottom in the standings on 21 points, two points below the safety zone.
-Reuters
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