logo
Emailed job application supposedly from Xavi was bogus, Indian soccer federation says

Emailed job application supposedly from Xavi was bogus, Indian soccer federation says

Washington Post26-07-2025
India's soccer federation has dispelled speculation Xavi Hernández had applied to coach its national team, saying the job application it apparently received from the former Barcelona player was bogus.
The All India Football Federation said Saturday that it had received emailed job applications from senders claiming to be Xavi and Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, but that neither was genuine.
Indian media reported that Xavi had applied for the role.
Xavi has been without a team since being let go by Barcelona in June 2024.
Guardiola, one of the top coaches in the sport, is under contract with City through June 2027.
India is looking to replace Spanish coach Manolo Márquez after he left the position by mutual consent earlier this month following just one win in eight games, and less than a year in the job.
The federation said Saturday that it has narrowed a group of 170 applicants to three unnamed finalists.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Pep talks - how Klopp's ex-assistant is shaping Man City
Pep talks - how Klopp's ex-assistant is shaping Man City

Yahoo

time34 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Pep talks - how Klopp's ex-assistant is shaping Man City

Manchester City have spent more than £150m on five new players this summer but Pep Guardiola's biggest signing did not cost a penny - and he will not play any football, either. In early June, the second-most important figure of Jurgen Klopp-era Liverpool became Guardiola's right-hand man at Manchester City. Really, it should have been a bigger news story, not least because hiring Pep Lijnders - a man credited with most of the day-to-day training under Klopp, as well as a substantial part of the German's tactical evolution post-Borussia Dortmund - suggests Guardiola is considering a major tactical overhaul. But what's even more remarkable is that those tactical changes will be navigated with the substantial input of a coach who worked with Klopp on concepts like counter-pressing and attacking in vertical lines; on concepts that served as the antidote to Guardiola's famous positional play. That contrast is often overstated, mind. Guardiola and Klopp borrowed from one another, and their shared peaks at Liverpool and Man City almost seem to merge into one perfect blend of Klopp's dynamism and Guardiola's control. On the one hand Klopp's 'heavy metal' football was tamed by an appreciation of territorial dominance, on the other Guardiola used Klopp's ideas to adapt to the rough-and-tumble of Premier League life. Nevertheless Lijnders, like Klopp, is far more concerned than Guardiola with aggressive, high-octane attacking football and the opportunities that open up when the ball changes hands. Until now. Because from the outside looking in, Lijnders' appointment appears to confirm Guardiola thinks modern Premier League football is moving in the direction of the old Kloppites. And he's right. It used to be the case that Guardiola's territorial suffocation would pin back inferior opponents but, as the middle-class teams got better, those who were bold enough to press hard and disrupt the build-up play started to see rewards. They quite literally pushed back, until pressing hard and maximising transitions spread across the division and even Guardiola struggled to control things with slow passing and rigid positioning. "Today, modern football is the way Bournemouth, Newcastle, Brighton and Liverpool play," Pep Guardiola told TNT Sports a few months ago. "Modern football is not positional. You have to ride the rhythm." That's a huge statement from the man whose 'positional play' tactical philosophy pretty much defined the past 15 years of the sport, but it's spot on. Over the past five years fast breaks and direct attacks are on the rise, while PPDA - a measure of pressing frequency and intensity, where a lower score means greater pressure - is going down. When Guardiola made those comments about modern football he was already beginning to experiment with a subtly more direct style of play. Comparing their 2023-24 to 24-25 campaigns, City's possession share dropped from 65.5% to 61.3% while their total number of fast breaks jumped from 22 to 30, a rise of 36%. Most prominently, we saw more long balls from Ederson to bypass the opposition high press and more direct dribbling through the lines from January signing Omar Marmoush. Marmoush, by the looks of things, was the first signing of Man City 2.0: the rebuild that will shift Guardiola, Lijnders and City into a more Klopp-like direction. More players in that mould have since followed. Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders have arrived from Lyon and AC Milan respectively and both signings, like Marmoush, point to more carrying of the ball through the lines and fewer neatly choreographed passing triangles. To put it more simply, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush are the kind of players who prefer to ride the rhythm. The data here is stark. Compared with Man City's three most commonly used central midfielders in 2024-25, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush scored considerably higher for 'progressive carries' (a carry of the ball at least five metres towards the opponent's goal) and 'attempted dribbles'. Signing Rayan Ait-Nouri also alludes to Klopp-esque - or Lijnders-esque – football, because having mostly deployed central midfielders or centre-backs in the full-back positions over the past two seasons - an obvious nod to control, order, and discipline - Guardiola has emphatically changed direction. Ait-Nouri is one of the most attacking full-backs in Europe. Similar to the other three 2025 signings we have discussed, he ranked second for dribbles completed among defenders in the Premier League last season (63) and sixth among full-backs for progressive carries (89). But more impressively, he was within the top three among defenders for goal involvements (11), expected assists (5.5) and touches in the opposition box (96). Ait-Nouri's arrival tells us Guardiola is done with packing midfielders into the team and is ceding some control in favour of more urgent, vertical attacking football. Just like that, Manchester City fans can go from worrying about their team's slow and passive football to wondering how such an explosive attacking pair as Ait-Nouri and Jeremy Doku could work together on the left, or how Marmoush and Cherki will fit into the same attacking midfield space. They will certainly have more questions than answers before the 2025-26 Premier League campaign gets under way, because most of their new arrivals - on the pitch and in the dugout - just don't fit the usual Pep archetype. Clearly Guardiola is working on something new. With Lijnders at his side, it could be his sharpest left turn yet.

"He Gained All The Weight Luka Lost": James Harden Criticized By Fans For Seeming Unfit In Asia Tour
"He Gained All The Weight Luka Lost": James Harden Criticized By Fans For Seeming Unfit In Asia Tour

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

"He Gained All The Weight Luka Lost": James Harden Criticized By Fans For Seeming Unfit In Asia Tour

"He Gained All The Weight Luka Lost": James Harden Criticized By Fans For Seeming Unfit In Asia Tour originally appeared on Fadeaway World. James Harden has a massive fan base in Asia, especially in China, where the Clippers star is revered as one of the greatest players of all time. From addressing Daryl Morey's controversy in 2019 to calling Morey out and announcing his exit from the 76ers in 2023, Harden has always kept it real with his Chinese fans. Now, on his most recent trip to China, Harden has come under public scrutiny for seemingly adding a few pounds to his weight. While thousands of fans in China gathered together to welcome Harden to their country, fans online were more concerned about the Clippers star's fitness situation. A clip from Harden's visit to China went viral, and fans flooded social media with jokes and also showed concerns over his weight. Not all fans were just making jokes about him. Some even believed that this was a part of his usual cycle, and he would transform his body back into fitness by the time the season begins in October. "He gained all the weight Luka lost," said a fan who compared Harden's fitness to Luka Doncic's body transformation this summer. "Kendrick Perkins would look skinny next to Harden." "He's gotta be wearing that fat suit, there's no way." "Please tell me he got some enemies and he's wearing a vest or something." "James Harden definitely found all the buffets out there in China." "James Harden looks like he absorbed Luka Doncic like Cell from Dragon Ball Z." "Lmao yall stay body watching bro it's the offseason he'll come in the season in shape and stay in shape until the next offseason." "That's a typical preseason Harden." "This is just a sneak peek at how James Harden will likely look as soon as he retires from the NBA. Bro wants to enjoy them meals and millions in peace, and I feel him." "He still gone hit that step back on em is the crazy thing," said a faithful fan who believed that Harden could still perform at the same level as he did despite the weight gain. The Clippers' star reportedly was a key reason why Chris Paul and Bradley Beal joined them this season. Days after signing his $81.5 million extension with the Clippers, Harden is now having the time of his life vacationing in China. The All-Star guard finished last season while averaging 22.8 points, 8.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds in the regular season. This is not the first time we have seen a major transformation in Harden's physique headed into the offseason. NBA players' bodies transform at a much faster rate than non-athletes, seemingly due to their increased rate of metabolism. Won't be a surprise if somehow Harden manages to lose all the weight he has gained by the time the next season begins. But with passing time and age, will Harden be able to bounce back once again? Or are we seeing a decline towards retirement for the 35-year-old star? I expect that we will see a repeat of the same cycle, and Harden will be back to his prime fitness by the beginning of the 2025-26 story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Aug 4, 2025, where it first appeared.

Uhre scores 2 late goals, Union beat Rapids, extend their home unbeaten streak to 11
Uhre scores 2 late goals, Union beat Rapids, extend their home unbeaten streak to 11

Yahoo

time4 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Uhre scores 2 late goals, Union beat Rapids, extend their home unbeaten streak to 11

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Mikael Uhre subbed on in the 73rd minute and score two goals, Tai Baribo also scored a goal and the Philadelphia Union beat the Colorado Rapids 3-1 on Saturday night. Philadelphia (15-5-5) is unbeaten in four straight overall. The Union are 9-1-3 at home this season and unbeaten in 11 straight at Subaru Park. Uhre, at the left side of the penalty arc, cut outside to evade a defender and then rolled a shot from 18 yards out that bounced off the back post to give the Union a 2-1 lead in the 89th minute. Colorado (8-11-6) was dispossessed near midfield and Alejandro Bedoya played a first-touch pass down the right side and Uhre, who outraced the defense to the corner of the 6-yard box, rolled a shot that bounced off goalkeeper Zack Steffen's right foot as it went between his legs and into the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time. On the counter-attack, Cole Bassett's first-touch shot bounced off the crossbar and Rafael Navarro's putback — a diving header from the center of the area — opened the scoring in the 37th minute. Philadelphia had 63% possession and outshot the Rapids 11-4, 6-1 on target, before the break but went into halftime trailing 1-0. Baribo scored his 15th goal of the season — tied with Cincinnati's Evander Da Silva Ferreira for third most in MLS — to make it 1-1 in the 64th. Kai Wagner, who had played a corner kick in to Jovan Lukic and got it right back, chipped a perfectly-placed entry to the back post and Baribo's left-foot volley bounced into the net. The Union's Francis Westfield (red card - violent conduct) and Nathan Harriel (yellow card accumulation) served one-game suspensions. Colorado's Connor Ronan (ankle) did not play. The Union is 5-6-4 all time against Colorado in the regular season. ___ AP soccer: The Associated Press

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store