Chido Obi lands 'special prize' at La Tournoi
Away from the Club World Cup, CONCACAF Gold Cup and European Under-21 championships, there are a few other football tournaments going on.The prestigious Under-20 Tournoi Maurice Revello concluded in France yesterday, with the host nation beating Saudi Arabia in Sunday's final.Manchester United striker Chido Obi missed out on the main prizes as Denmark finished third in the competition and France's Steve Ngoura won the player of the tournament.However, Chido's two goals in the group stage were enough for him to win the organiser's 'Special Award', which is pretty good for a 17-year-old.United boss Ruben Amorim wasn't expecting Chido to make the progress he did last season, which is why he wasn't picked in the Europa League squad for the knockout rounds when it was submitted in February.Chido ended up making eight senior appearances, seven as a substitute - and while he didn't score then, he did find the net on the post-season trip to Hong Kong.With United determined to strengthen their striking department, it will be fascinating to see what 2025-26 has in store for the former Arsenal youngster.
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The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Boca let slip two-goal lead as Benfica claim late point at Club World Cup
Well, that was different. On a violently hot Monday night in Miami Gardens, day three of Fifa's sport-style entertainment event, something unexpected happened. A football match broke out. And not just the styling, the outlines, the aesthetic sense of a football match. As Boca Juniors tore into a 2-0 first half lead against Benfica, as the stadium interior was transformed into a sustained static field by the Boca fans, as the coaching staff on both benches leapt up in random rotation, like the world's angriest improv night, this already felt like the real thing, blood, vim, borrowed life. The final score was 2-2 thanks to a late equaliser scored by Nicolás Otamendi, who hovered powerfully before butting the ball into the Boca net from a corner. At which point the air seemed to shoot out through the powder blue gap in the stadium roof, as the entire Benfica squad leapt up to caper about on the pitch, an impressive feat in itself given the overall effect of the afternoon heat is like trying to walk across the surface of the planet Mercury in a Victorian diving suit made from loft insulation. There were three red cards by then, one for each set of players, one for a furious Ander Herrera on the Boca bench. And Boca will be hugely disappointed to let slip a 2-0 lead having played with a sustained, bruising fury for most of the first half. This was the opening game in Group C for both of these teams, and a crunch moment too, a chance to slipstream Bayern Munich towards the knockout phase. For all that this felt like a self-contained event from the start as the Boca fans took ownership of the day and the space, parking themselves like a mobile city state in the home of the Miami Dolphins and putting on a kind of faux-clasico in south Florida. The three hours before kick-off had seen the blue and yellow shirts streaming in across the vast sunken surrounds of the Hard Rock, all sandy scrub and baked tarmac, and decorated now with names like Riquleme, Cavani and Carlitos. The day before had seen a mass gathering in Miami beach, the Boca fans drinking fernet and coke, grilling great flapping skirts of meat, and subjected also to a flying banter banner reading, in Spanish, 'RIP YOU DIED IN MADRID 9/12/18', arranged by some extremely prescient and well organised River Plate fans, and a reference to defeat in the 2018 Copa Libertadores final. The stadium was three quarters full at the start, and packed in the Boca section, which also helpfully drowned out the absurd WWE-style practice of announcing the players one by one, finishing with an ear-shredding field of white noise as Otamendi, a Vélez Sarsfield man, appeared with the Benfica flag. This was always an interesting basic premise, a meeting of yawningly opposed extremes. Boca are connection, collectivism, passion, an acme of the legacy football world. This club is all rootsy culture, history, legend, Diego-scale iconography, the Argentina of Argentina. And in the black corner, well, we have something else entirely. Authenticity: meet the Fifa Club World Cup, the most plasticised, commodified football competition ever devised. There was something a little uncomfortable about this spectacle. Here is Fifa saying lend us your edge, your colour, your clout, your stamp. Make us feel real. In the build up to this game Fifa's reliably unctuous website had described Boca as 'a nomadic passion'. And this is the business plan in one handy phrase. Instant reality, bolt-on culture. On the other hand, why not if it pays well? The thing about Boca and the other non-European teams is that they genuinely want to be here. And for obvious reasons too, finally offered a piece of the global broadcast pot that doesn't involve acting as a talent plantation. This what Gianni Infantino is getting at with his boilerplate chat about diversity and inclusion. Look. South America is getting a cut. Don't you want to share? This is also a little misleading. Boca will now have a cash boost, via Fifa/Dazn/Saudi, which means they can buy again, come back again, fed by this new stream of income. In effect Fifa is creating client clubs, a mini-elite to staff the show. For now Boca brought some authentic World Cup energy to this pop-up stage, as they were always going to do. This is a vast sporting enterprise with its own global reach. And after a slightly dozy start they began to play with some real fury. Boca's tactics were not complex. They kept a low block, challenged fiercely, broke at speed. The energetically squat Alan Velasco had their first shot at goal, veering into space and skimming the ball just over the bar. With 11 minutes gone we had the first mass vibration of the Boca fans leaping in unison and making even this vast mound of concrete and steel throb delicately. And 10 minutes later Boca scored, the goal made by Lautaro Blanco, who shimmied his way inside and crossed low for Miguel Merentiel to nudge the ball on into the far corner. The bodies seethed and writhed in the stands. And shortly afterwards it was 2-0, Rodrigo Battaglia heading in after a flick back across goal from a corner. This time the bench was cleared, the bibbed players streaming on, the stands in uproar, a noise that seemed to have many layers, hitting you in the chest, ears, teeth. Watching Boca defend in that period was like watching a group of hugely energetic construction workers demolishing a bungalow in formation, all hungry, rotational collisions. It was fun to see this kind of defending, not pressing or denying space or shutting down angles in the European style, but going straight for the man, rushing from the block to attack the ball. Benfica looked a bit unprepared for this. But they were awarded a soft penalty before half-time, beautifully rolled into the corner against a fury of whistles and boos by Ángel Di María, who has heard this stuff before. The second half brought more of the same, both sets of players running themselves into a state of desiccated exhaustion. With 72 minutes gone Andrea Belotti was sent off for a high boot into the head of Ayrton Costa. Jorge Figal got an instant straight red at the death for a targeted assault on the shins of the nearest man to the ball. And that was pretty much that. No doubt some will see an endorsement of Fifa's vampire show in the sheer vivid life of this game. But it felt like an act of defiance too, evidence of a culture and an energy that exists undiminished outside of all this.
Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Boca Juniors still in the mix at Club World Cup but may rue Benfica draw
MIAMI, June 16 (Reuters) - Boca Juniors are still in the hunt for a place in the Club World Cup knockout rounds after their 2-2 draw with Benfica on Monday but their task would have been so much easier had they not squandered a two-goal lead against the Portuguese side. Boca next face Group C favourites Bayern Munich, who thrashed Auckland City 10-0 in their opener, and the race to finish second behind the German champions could come down to goal difference. While Boca were competitive and showed they deserve to share the stage with a strong side like Benfica coach Miguel Angel Russo believes there is still a gap between South American and European teams. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Thousands of hardcore Boca Juniors fans are bringing extreme passion to the tournament and should the team exit before the knockout stages it would deal a heavy blow to the atmosphere at the event. On Monday, Boca Juniors fans turned the Hard Rock Stadium into a sea of blue and gold. KEY QUOTES: Boca Juniors captain Miguel Merentiel: "It's a strange feeling, to be honest. It leaves a bit of a bitter taste, and now it's about moving forward. Now, we'll focus on believing in ourselves, in our own tools, and we'll come out in the next match to give our best." Boca Juniors coach Russo: "Benfica suffered at times ... because Boca played a game they weren't expecting. "I think, at least for us Argentines, the gap is still very big with European teams. Maybe someday it'll close but not yet. We have to keep working, fighting, looking for ways." Benfica coach Bruno Lage: "We started the game well, we were the better team but we conceded two goals and it's difficult to accept. "Our first goal was important, then we made more runs into the box and we could have won the game."
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Sam Kerr's fiancee Kristie Mewis posts revealing update after hitting a post-pregnancy milestone
US football star Kristie Mewis had fans in stitches after posting about reaching a post-pregnancy fitness milestone just weeks after welcoming her son, Jagger, with Matildas captain Sam Kerr. On Tuesday, the West Ham midfielder shared a photo to Instagram to let her fans know she was back on the football field. 'First football session back, might of been my last,' she wrote alongside a snap of her looking absolutely exhausted. The Postpartum Return to Play Guide from soccer's FIFA governing body recommends players wait at least six weeks before doing any exercise, and at least twelve weeks before any serious high-performance competition. Mewis gave birth on May 8, so the footballer is doing very well to be back kicking a ball again so soon. Meanwhile, Kerr has had a recent injury setback on her return to football, though the exact nature of the situation is still unclear. The Aussie skipper has undergone more surgery, though it's believed the new injury isn't related to her existing knee issues. It comes as a huge blow for the Aussie superstar who has not played for club or country in 16 months after she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) back in 2024 during a training camp with Chelsea. She would later undergo surgery on the ACL tear and, at the beginning of the year, was seen back training on grass with Sonia Bompastor's side. Following the official confirmation of his appointment earlier in the month, new Matildas coach Joe Montemurro stated he won't be making an official call on Kerr's future as Australia captain until she returns to play. Bompastor had also refused to be drawn on when Kerr might return, with the Blues boss stating that her injury time frame was still unclear. However, the former Lyon manager has explained that Kerr is now back training on grass, having undergone the surgical procedure while revealing that her knee injury was much better. 'Look, I think there were some complications and I've only caught up with the scenario in the last 24 hours,' he explained to Channel 10 News when pressed for an update on Kerr. 'There was a subsequent intervention, but I do believe she is now back running. 'I think it was something completely different (to the existing knee injury). I think the knee is fine. 'I think there was some other issues, but again I've only been briefed in the last 24 hours.' The Matildas have a busy few weeks coming up. They are playing friendlies against Slovenia on June 26 and 29, followed by friendlies against Panama on July 5 and 8, with the first of those clashes marking the first time Montemurro will be in charge of the national team.
