CELEBRITY
Pressure on Pochettino to deliver with PSG ‘galacticos’ after Messi arrival
Lionel Messi’s arrival Paris Saint-Germain has left the club with the most frightening front line in the sport, but now coach Mauricio Pochettino is under pressure to deliver the glory on the pitch that their Qatari owners covet more than anything.
That means winning the Champions League, a competition in which PSG have reached the final and then the semi-finals in the last two seasons.
It also, of course, means reclaiming the French title after Lille beat them to it last season – how could a team containing Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe not win Ligue 1?
“We don’t hide that it’s our objective,” PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said at Messi’s unveiling when asked about the Champions League.
However, he later told sports daily L’Equipe “it is not an obligation”, despite the arrival of the six-time Ballon d’Or winner on a reported salary of €35 million (S$55.8 million) a year.
“We have a great team, but we have not won anything yet,” he added.
PSG quickly emerged as the only obvious destination for Messi after the collapse of his new deal with Barcelona, and the player himself admitted the presence of Pochettino on the bench helped sway him.
“Once the negotiations started I spoke with him. I have known him for a long time,” he said of Pochettino, who like Messi is Argentinian and started his career at Newell’s Old Boys in the city of Rosario.
“The fact he is from Argentina means there is a closeness. I chose to come to Paris because of the technical staff and the squad that’s here.”
Messi and Neymar, old pals from Barcelona, are delighted to team up again but there is speculation that Mbappe – with just a year left on his contract – is not happy about having to share even more of the limelight.
PSG do not want to let him go though, and Pochettino will have to ensure that fielding that all-star front three, as well as Angel di Maria, does not overly imbalance the team.
That is why PSG’s other summer signings are crucial.
The arrival of Georginio Wijnaldum from Liverpool adds much-needed quality in midfield alongside Marco Verratti, while Achraf Hakimi was just what they required at right-back.
Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma are luxury options in defence and in goal.
PSG won their opening game of the league season 2-1 at Troyes last weekend and now host Strasbourg on Saturday (Aug 14), when Messi is set to be paraded before the crowd.
The Argentinian, who has not had a pre-season to speak of, will have to wait a while yet for his debut.
It also remains to be seen if Neymar will feature this weekend following his late return to pre-season training after playing for Brazil in the Copa America.
Ramos is not expected to make his PSG debut at least until next week, but Mbappe will play against Strasbourg amid ongoing talk of a move to Real Madrid.
-AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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