Boss Lage urges belief in Benfica as they stun Bayern to top Club World Cup group
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Benfica v Bayern Munich - Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. - June 24, 2025 Benfica coach Bruno Lage talks to his players during a break in play REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Benfica v Bayern Munich - Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. - June 24, 2025 Benfica coach Bruno Lage talks to his players during a break in play REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Benfica manager Bruno Lage urged fans to have more faith in his team after they pulled off a surprise 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Tuesday to secure top spot in Group C at the Club World Cup.
Andreas Schjelderup's 13th-minute goal sealed the win to put Benfica top of the group with seven points, one ahead of the Bundesliga champions.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
After a 2–2 draw in their opener against Boca Juniors and a shaky first half in a 6–0 win over Auckland City, Benfica earned their first win in 14 official matches against Bayern Munich.
With their first-place finish at the revamped FIFA tournament, the Portuguese league runners-up are set to face either Chelsea or Esperance de Tunis in the round of 16.
KEY QUOTES
Lage: "We went into this game with a lot of confidence. The first half was very good, we created the best chances to score. We wanted to be aggressive and we finished first in the group and the feeling is good.
"We finished first and it means a lot for us. People need to believe more in the work we are doing. They were speaking about Boca needing to win by a lot of goals (to advance) and they forgot about this game. No one believed we were going to win against Bayern.
"We have a very good group, we are evaluated every three days by the result, but when we win we are not the best and when we do not win we are not the worst.
"Now we have to stay humble, recover, rest as much as possible, understand who our opponents will be and go into the game with the same ambitions." REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Chase ready to lead much-changed Windies as Australia look to the future
FILE PHOTO: Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 14, 2025 Australia's Pat Cummins and teammates walks out of the Lord's Pavilion to mark the beginning of Day 4 Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo REUTERS Chase ready to lead much-changed Windies as Australia look to the future Change will be a key theme for both the West Indies and Australia in their upcoming three-test series in the Caribbean with the visitors set to field a remodelled batting line-up and the hosts being led out for the first time by Roston Chase. Pat Cummins suggested Australia were due a top-order reset after their loss to South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this month and the skipper said their line-up to face West Indies shows they are looking to the future. Australia have brought in teenager Sam Konstas to open the batting with Usman Khawaja and added Josh Inglis to the line-up, while they will be without the dropped Marnus Labuschagne and injured veteran Steve Smith for a series which marks the start of both teams' new WTC cycle. Both Konstas and Inglis have played only two tests, the former opening the batting against India in Melbourne and Sydney last season, and the latter batting in the middle order in Sri Lanka earlier this year. Australia could lose as many as half a dozen test regulars to retirement after this year's Ashes series with the likes of Khawaja, Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all in their mid to late 30s. When asked about the changes ahead of the first match beginning in Bridgetown later on Wednesday, Cummins told reporters: "You look forward to what the next couple of years are going to look like. "I think part of that's a keenness to get Sam and Josh into the squad, into the playing 11. You start looking at what the batting order might look like for the next couple of years. I think that's part of the reset. "And your goals change a little bit obviously. We're starting on zero points, so it's a bit of a mental reset. You block out the last couple of years and then start again." Cameron Green has retained his place at number three despite scoring only four runs and facing just five balls in the WTC final, with Cummins saying he viewed the 26-year-old all-rounder as a long-term option in the slot. "He had a test match where it obviously didn't go to plan," he added. "Think he only faced three or four balls, so the message is not to look into that too much. We're really happy with where his game's placed and I dare say we'll get a decent run of number three." SCARS Spin-bowling all-rounder Chase, who last played a test match in March 2023, will have his work cut out for him as he takes charge of a much-changed West Indies side who finished second bottom in the previous WTC cycle. "You can expect positive cricket from us," Chase, who succeeded Kraigg Brathwaite as captain in May, told reporters. "We're looking to play with a bit more flair and bring back that Caribbean style to the game, and we're looking forward to making the Caribbean nation proud. "It's still test cricket, so you still have to have some type of patience, so it'll (be on) the guys to mix their aggression with that patience." The sides last met in a two-test series in January 2024 which ended all square after West Indies claimed a shock eight-run victory in the second test in Brisbane - their first test win over Australia since 2003. "I hope there are some scars," Chase said. "If they're still thinking about that match going out there on Wednesday, that would be very good for us – that will be part of the job done for us." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Australian teen sensation Gout betters his own 200m national record
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - Australian teenage sprinter Gout Gout crushed the 200 metres field in his first senior race abroad on Tuesday, bettering his own national record by two hundredths of a second to finish in 20.02 seconds at the Ostrava Golden Spike. The 17-year-old ran a textbook race in his European debut at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event in the Czech Republic, crossing the line 0.17 seconds ahead of Cuban Reynier Mena, while Briton Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (20.60) was third. "I feel good. New personal best, new national record in my first European race," the Queensland schoolboy told reporters. "I don't feel any pressure. Because as soon as I step out on that track, it's just me by myself and what I've got to do — my favourite thing, and that's to run. "So, I just go out there and run and nothing stops me from doing that ... Get some more races in me and (the 20-second barrier) will drop for sure." Gout has drawn comparisons to Jamaican great Usain Bolt and he made headlines in December when he broke Peter Norman's national record that had stood for 56 years in 20.04. He ran a 19.84-second 200 and 9.99 seconds in the 100m at the Australian national championships in Perth in April but a strong tailwind rendered both illegal. His performances were strong enough, however, to earn him a spot on Australia's team for the World Championships in Tokyo in September. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Liam Delap off mark as Chelsea ease into Club World Cup last 16
Chelsea's Liam Delap celebrates scoring their second goal with Christopher Nkunku in the 3-0 Club World Cup win over Esperance. PHOTO: REUTERS PHILADELPHIA – Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said he had 'no doubts' about Liam Delap, after the striker scored his first Blues goal in a 3-0 win over Tunisian champions Esperance on June 24 which took the team into the last 16 of the Club World Cup. A game played in sweaty conditions at the end of a blisteringly hot day in Philadelphia was decided by two goals in first-half stoppage time by Tosin Adarabioyo and then Delap. Tyrique George added the third in injury time at the end of the game in front of 32,937 fans at Lincoln Financial Field as Maresca's side bounced back from a 3-1 loss to Flamengo. Chelsea clinched second place in Group D behind the Brazilian giants while Esperance were eliminated. Asked about Delap's first goal on his third appearance, Maresca said: 'Against Flamengo he had three clear chances to score goals so that means he is there, in the right position, he is doing well. 'We know Liam is going to score goals with us, we don't have any doubts about that. The process quite quick with Liam, and the reason why is because we know him, and he knows us in the way we want to play.' One of the summer's most-wanted young strikers, Delap looks like he can give Chelsea the spark they were missing with his excitement and energy. The Premier League outfit will now travel to Charlotte to face Benfica on June 28, with the Portuguese club having earlier beaten Bayern Munich 1-0 to top Group C. That will be a first meeting of the clubs since Chelsea beat Benfica in the 2013 Europa League final, and the winner of that tie will play either Palmeiras or Botafogo of Brazil in the last eight. 'Benfica is a top club with a top manager and top players and it is going to be tough, but from 32 we are now in the last 16 and the next target is to try to be in the last eight,' added Maresca. Chelsea only needed a draw to advance as Maresca made eight changes to his starting line-up following the Flamengo defeat. Delap, Enzo Fernandez and Malo Gusto kept their places while Josh Acheampong was among the lesser-seen faces to get a chance. Maresca explained the heatwave in and around Philadelphia, where Chelsea have been based, made squad rotation unavoidable. 'I said yesterday that it was impossible not to rotate players because playing every three days in these conditions is not possible,' the Italian said. 'The ones who played were good... it is important now to recover energy and try to win the next game. 'Thirty-two clubs were in this tournament, now 16, they are clubs who in the last five or six years have been in Champions League finals, like Atletico Madrid who are already (back) in Spain, so we need to be proud and be happy.' With temperatures still hovering close to 30 degrees C late into the evening, conditions remained far from easy. Both teams made changes, with Mamadou Sarr and Andrey Santos getting their first Chelsea minutes since joining from Strasbourg. 'We came up against a team from the very highest level and were dominated, but we didn't disgrace ourselves,' said Esperance coach Maher Kanzari. AFP, REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
