Latest news with #Ferencvaros
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sports quiz of the week: French Open, Champions League and McTominay
Paris Saint-Germain face Inter in the Champions League final on Saturday night. When was the last time a French team met an Italian team in the final? The 2010s The 1990s The 1970s It has never happened before Isaac del Toro is leading the Giro d'Italia. If he wins the race, he will become the first cyclist from which country to win a Grand Tour? Mexico Colombia Argentina Ecuador Robbie Keane, who is now managing Ferencvaros in Hungary, picked up an unusual injury this week. What happened? He dropped an iron on his big toe and had to go to hospital, missing their last game of the season Ferencvaros won the title and he banged his head off the trophy while lifting it up for fans He fell off his son's mini scooter and broke his ankle He injured his back while sneezing at a press conference Stina Blackstenius scored the winner as Arsenal beat Barcelona in the Women's Champions League final in Lisbon. For which country has she won more than 100 caps? Germany Sweden USA Norway Which of these football teams is the odd one out? Sunderland Charlton AFC Wimbledon Leyton Orient Coco Gauff won her first-round match at the French Open – after what hiccup? Her match was delayed by an hour after she got stuck in traffic in Paris She forgot to pack her rackets for the match She conceded two point penalties in her first game as her laces kept coming undone She played the last few games with one contact lens after the other one fell out Emma Raducanu's coach Mark Petchey came to her defence after she lost to Iga Swiatek at the French Open. He said that tennis has changed a lot since Raducanu won the US Open, adding that … '… the balls are four times heavier than in 2021' '… the courts are now much bigger' '… players are hitting twice as hard' '… matches are three times longer' Scott McTominay had an audience with the Pope this week after winning the Serie A title and being voted the best player in the league this season. Which other Scottish player has starred alongside him in the Napoli midfield? Lewis Ferguson Liam Henderson Billy Gilmour Josh Doig Pepe Reina, the 42-year-old former Liverpool and Barcelona goalkeeper, played the final game of his career last weekend for Como against Juventus in Serie A. What happened? He scored a 90th-minute winner to help Como avoid relegation He pulled a hamstring in the first minute and had to be subbed off He was sent off He was substituted in the 26th minute as he wears the No 26 shirt for Como The British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals has been banned from competing and may miss out on the next Olympic Games. According to Rozentals, why has he been excluded by the sport's authorities? He shared his political opinion on social media He started an OnlyFans account He has been writing a 'tell all' column in Canoeing Monthly He posed topless for Men's Health magazine In cricket, which two neighbouring counties are top of Division One and Division Two in the County Championship? Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Surrey and Middlesex Yorkshire and Durham Essex and Kent Chelsea's win against Real Betis means they are the only club to have won the European Cup/Champions League, Uefa Cup/Europa League, Cup Winners' Cup and Conference League. Which team have been beaten finalists in all four competitions? Atlético Madrid Sampdoria Borussia Dortmund Fiorentina Chelsea are the first English team to beat a Spanish team in a men's European final since … 2008 2001 1994 1985 Moses Itauma – who has won his first 12 professional fights – has given up his ambition of becoming the youngest heavyweight world champion in boxing history. Who holds that record, having won a world title at the age of 20? Muhammad Ali Joe Frazier Anthony Joshua Mike Tyson Lamine Yamal has signed a new contract with a €1bn buyout clause. Why did the 17-year-old decide to delay the photoshoot for the new deal? He is writing a song with Eminem that he wants to perform at the photoshoot He is waiting to get his braces out next week He is waiting for a day when his grandmother can make it He is a Pisces and said the 'stars and fish were not aligned in the night sky' Solutions 1:B - In 1993, when Marseille beat Milan. They remain the only French club to have won the competition., 2:A - When it comes to wins in the three Grand Tours, Italian riders lead the way with 85. France (51), Spain (48), Belgium (33) and Great Britain (11) make up the top five. , 3:B - He needed three stitches on his forehead. Keane is on something of a hot streak, having also won the Israeli league last year with Maccabi Tel Aviv., 4:B - Blackstenius was due a good result in a final – she has lost two Olympic finals with Sweden., 5:D - The other three won playoff finals this season., 6:B - A ball boy fetched them from the dressing rooms. 'It probably relaxed me going into the match because it was such a funny thing,' she said. 'I'm just happy to get through. I'll remember my rackets next time.' , 7:A - 'It's tough on Emma as I still feel everyone is living in 2021,' said Petchey. 'The games have changed massively. The balls are four times heavier than back in 2021 and Emma isn't the biggest hitter. If you can't put the ball through the court on a windy, heavy clay court day against someone like Iga, you're going to get into all sorts of trouble.' , 8:C - Gilmour and McTominay joined Napoli on the same day., 9:C - Reina was given a standing ovation as he left the pitch., 10:B - Rozentals says he started posting 'spicy content' to fund his 'ultimate dream of going to the Olympics'. He has made more than £100,000 this year on the site – a lot more than the £16,000 funding available from Paddle UK – but his dream may be drifting down the drain. , 11:A - The East Midlands is leading the way. , 12:D - Fiorentina lost the European Cup final in 1957, the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1962, the Uefa Cup final in 1990 and the Conference League final in 2023 and 2024. , 13:B - Spanish teams were on a run of 27 straight wins against teams from other countries – dating back to Liverpool beating Alavés 5-4 in the Uefa Cup final in 2001. , 14:D - Tyson was 20 years and four months old when he became world champion in 1986; Itauma passed that age on Saturday., 15:C - The 17-year-old says his grandmother, Fatima, keeps his feet on the ground. When he offered to buy her a house she refused, saying she preferred to stay in Rocafonda, the working-class neighbourhood in Mataró, a coastal town north of Barcelona. True to his origins, Lamine Yamal celebrates his goals with his hands forming the numbers 304, the Rocafonda postal code. By the way, he is a big fan of Eminem. Scores
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros hold off Orban-backed Puskas Akademia
This is why I love football!' Robbie Keane yells through the smoky haze, addressing the raucous Ferencvaros faithful gathered in Budapest to celebrate the club's 36th league title. 'For moments like this. For you guys!' Ferencvaros have looked far from convincing since his appointment in January, but they got the job done. Needing only a point on the final day, they beat Gyor 2–1 to deliver on Keane's primary objective: securing a seventh consecutive league title for Hungary's footballing powerhouse. Mission accomplished. But this was the closest Ferencvaros had been pushed in their historic run. Never before had it gone to the wire. For the first time in seven years, Fradi actually had competition. And that came in the form of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's club, Puskas Akademia. Puskas Akademia, rebranded from Felcsut FC in 2007 on Ferenc Puskas's 80th birthday, is Orban's passion project. Located in the village of Felcsut, 45km west of Budapest, where the prime minister spent much of his childhood, the club have risen from obscurity since his return to power in 2010. In 2013 they reached the Hungarian top flight for the first time, and this year nearly secured their first European qualification, falling on penalties to the eventual semi-finalists Fiorentina in the final round of Europa Conference League qualifying. Their stadium is the Pancho Arena, an architectural masterpiece built within eyeshot of Orban's childhood home in 2014. Its beauty is undeniable. Its symbolism, inescapable. It's a monument to Orban's vision, with football as both metaphor and mechanism. 'I think Puskas Akademia presents perhaps one of the most transparent cases of political instrumentalisation in European football,' says Gyozo Molnar, professor of sociology of sport and exercise at the University of Worcester. 'The club has received disproportionate state investment which reveals direct connections between political power and club resources, despite limited attendance or sporting tradition in the area.' Ferencvaros' Tunisian midfielder Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane celebrates with head coach Robbie Keane. Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images Puskas Akademia have received state funding on a staggering scale. According to HVG, between 2010 and 2024, the club and its managing foundation handled a combined budget of around €370m. The money is routed through a web of state subsidies, sponsorships and redirected taxes. Their wage bill is second only to Ferencvaros. But unlike their Budapest rivals – whose academy players featured only 30 times in the league this season – Puskas Akademia's youth players made 118 appearances. At academy level, they are beginning to dominate Hungary's player development landscape, outpacing the country's most historically respected training centres. At senior level, a league title victory feels like more of a when than an if. Going into this season's final matchday, Puskas Akademia, who had led the title race until April, needed Ferencvaros to lose to stand a chance. It was a long shot. Despite Ferencvaros's rocky season, at this stage of the calendar Fradi know how to win – they had won seven of their previous eight, the only other being a draw with Puskas in Felcsut. And win they did, with goals either side of half-time from Gabor Szalai and Lenny Joseph putting Keane's men at ease. Yet Puskas are a club designed not merely to win titles, but to serve as a physical and ideological extension of Orbanism. They are not a football club in the traditional sense. They have no culture, no history, no fanbase. Their average attendance this season was 1,500, boosted massively by away support. But what they do have is power. And in Hungary, power is often enough. 'The club's rapid rise through the divisions to the top tier and European competition reflects Orban's consolidation of power,' Molnar says. 'Functioning as a physical monument to his leadership while normalising the diversion of public resources toward personal political projects.' But Puskas aren't the only club in the Hungarian league with power. Ferencvaros too hold much of their own and, intriguingly, receive support from Orban's party, Fidesz, through direct government subsidies such as the national development ministry, the corporation tax rebate scheme and municipal support. And they too have powerful people at the top. In 2011, Gabor Kubatov, vice-president of Fidesz, became president of Ferencvaros. At the time the club were in disarray: two years earlier they had been in Hungary's second tier having been relegated for financial irregularities. But this was a club with huge upside, huge potential – the country's most successful and most supported club. So Kubatov walked in with an agenda: instrumentalise the football club, mobilise the fanbase, harness its potential. Under his leadership Ferencvaros were to become more than a football team – they were to be a political, societal and national vehicle. 'Gabor Kubatov has full control and Fradi's success clearly serves a state agenda,' Adam Feko, a journalist at Magyar Narancs, says. 'At one point, the fanbase protested against him, but now no one dares speak ill. Kubatov deliberately sends the message: if Fidesz weren't in power, Fradi would be in trouble.' That is in large part due to the state funding they receive. In 2021, Atlatszo reported that Fradi received at least 80% of their revenues between 2011 and 2019 from state-linked sources. With funding, the state's vision was to have a Hungarian club competing on the international stage just like the national team. And it worked. Ferencvaros have now been the dominant force in Hungarian football for the best part of a decade and have seen unprecedented success in Europe, qualifying for the group stage of a European competition for the past six years. This season they finished above Porto, Fenerbahce, Nice and Hoffenheim in the Europa League's league phase. The club have been transformed, the fervour reintroduced. So job done, perhaps? Agenda complete? Time for Puskas Akademia to roll in? Maybe, but this isn't a replacement on the cards. This is a one-two punch. Because both clubs serve very different purposes. If Ferencvaros are the people's club made powerful by politics, Puskas Akademia are politics made physical. One is a reward for the masses. The other, a construction. 'Both Ferencvaros and Puskas Akademia demonstrate distinctive mechanisms through which football serves political purposes,' Molnar says. 'Puskas Akademia as a nouveau-riche creation directly reflecting and related to individual political power. Ferencvaros as the capture and repurposing of authentic, traditional and nationalistic sporting heritage for political legitimacy. 'Together, they illustrate how contemporary authoritarian-leaning governance can effectively utilise both new and traditional sporting institutions to naturalise and further solidify political control while presenting it as cultural and infrastructural revitalisation.' In this context, Keane's words from Saturday night start to ring hollow, because what does success mean in this climate? What does it mean for the league? Though there is personal glory involved, the real story of Hungarian football under Orban lies beyond the silverware. This isn't just about two state clubs manufactured to vie for success because what's unfolding isn't just about who wins – it's about what victory represents. Ferencvaros's domestic dominance and European respectability prove what the state can build with history and support on its side. Puskas Akademia, meanwhile, shows what can be engineered from nothing. Between the two, a pattern emerges: in Orban's Hungary, football clubs are no longer just teams – they are vehicles. For tradition, for messaging, for legacy. And while Ferencvaros continue to lift the trophies, it is Puskas that perhaps best illustrate the architecture of the regime's long-term ambitions. Because in Hungary today, success need not be sustainable, nor popular, nor even sporting. It need only serve a purpose. In this landscape, function is often secondary to symbolism. Stadiums, school curriculums, news channels, football clubs – each forms part of a broader architecture of control, built to anchor loyalty and cultivate a shared national narrative from the top down. The question, then, is not just whether Ferencvaros will continue to dominate or whether Puskas Akademia will eventually oust them. It's whether Hungarian football can ever again be separated from the system that now so thoroughly envelops it. Is this why we love football? Guardian
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros hold off Orban-backed Puskas Akademia
'This is why I love football!' Robbie Keane yells through the smoky haze, addressing the raucous Ferencvaros faithful gathered in Budapest to celebrate the club's 36th league title. 'For moments like this. For you guys!' Ferencvaros have looked far from convincing since his appointment in January, but they got the job done. Needing only a point on the final day, they beat Gyor 2–1 to deliver on Keane's primary objective: securing a seventh consecutive league title for Hungary's footballing powerhouse. Mission accomplished. But this was the closest Ferencvaros had been pushed in their historic run. Never before had it gone to the wire. For the first time in seven years, Fradi actually had competition. And that came in the form of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's club, Puskas Akademia. Puskas Akademia, rebranded from Felcsut FC in 2007 on Ferenc Puskas's 80th birthday, is Orban's passion project. Located in the village of Felcsut, 45km west of Budapest, where the prime minister spent much of his childhood, the club have risen from obscurity since his return to power in 2010. In 2013 they reached the Hungarian top flight for the first time, and this year nearly secured their first European qualification, falling on penalties to the eventual semi-finalists Fiorentina in the final round of Europa Conference League qualifying. Their stadium is the Pancho Arena, an architectural masterpiece built within eyeshot of Orban's childhood home in 2014. Its beauty is undeniable. Its symbolism, inescapable. It's a monument to Orban's vision, with football as both metaphor and mechanism. 'I think Puskas Akademia presents perhaps one of the most transparent cases of political instrumentalisation in European football,' says Gyozo Molnar, professor of sociology of sport and exercise at the University of Worcester. 'The club has received disproportionate state investment which reveals direct connections between political power and club resources, despite limited attendance or sporting tradition in the area.' Puskas Akademia have received state funding on a staggering scale. According to HVG, between 2010 and 2024, the club and its managing foundation handled a combined budget of around €370m. The money is routed through a web of state subsidies, sponsorships and redirected taxes. Their wage bill is second only to Ferencvaros. But unlike their Budapest rivals – whose academy players featured only 30 times in the league this season – Puskas Akademia's youth players made 118 appearances. At academy level, they are beginning to dominate Hungary's player development landscape, outpacing the country's most historically respected training centres. At senior level, a league title victory feels like more of a when than an if. Going into this season's final matchday, Puskas Akademia, who had led the title race until April, needed Ferencvaros to lose to stand a chance. It was a long shot. Despite Ferencvaros's rocky season, at this stage of the calendar Fradi know how to win – they had won seven of their previous eight, the only other being a draw with Puskas in Felcsut. And win they did, with goals either side of half-time from Gabor Szalai and Lenny Joseph putting Keane's men at ease. Yet Puskas are a club designed not merely to win titles, but to serve as a physical and ideological extension of Orbanism. They are not a football club in the traditional sense. They have no culture, no history, no fanbase. Their average attendance this season was 1,500, boosted massively by away support. But what they do have is power. And in Hungary, power is often enough. 'The club's rapid rise through the divisions to the top tier and European competition reflects Orban's consolidation of power,' Molnar says. 'Functioning as a physical monument to his leadership while normalising the diversion of public resources toward personal political projects.' But Puskas aren't the only club in the Hungarian league with power. Ferencvaros too hold much of their own and, intriguingly, receive support from Orban's party, Fidesz, through direct government subsidies such as the national development ministry, the corporation tax rebate scheme and municipal support. And they too have powerful people at the top. In 2011, Gabor Kubatov, vice-president of Fidesz, became president of Ferencvaros. At the time the club were in disarray: two years earlier they had been in Hungary's second tier having been relegated for financial irregularities. But this was a club with huge upside, huge potential – the country's most successful and most supported club. So Kubatov walked in with an agenda: instrumentalise the football club, mobilise the fanbase, harness its potential. Under his leadership Ferencvaros were to become more than a football team – they were to be a political, societal and national vehicle. 'Gabor Kubatov has full control and Fradi's success clearly serves a state agenda,' Adam Feko, a journalist at Magyar Narancs, says. 'At one point, the fanbase protested against him, but now no one dares speak ill. Kubatov deliberately sends the message: if Fidesz weren't in power, Fradi would be in trouble.' That is in large part due to the state funding they receive. In 2021, Atlatszo reported that Fradi received at least 80% of their revenues between 2011 and 2019 from state-linked sources. With funding, the state's vision was to have a Hungarian club competing on the international stage just like the national team. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion And it worked. Ferencvaros have now been the dominant force in Hungarian football for the best part of a decade and have seen unprecedented success in Europe, qualifying for the group stage of a European competition for the past six years. This season they finished above Porto, Fenerbahce, Nice and Hoffenheim in the Europa League's league phase. The club have been transformed, the fervour reintroduced. So job done, perhaps? Agenda complete? Time for Puskas Akademia to roll in? Maybe, but this isn't a replacement on the cards. This is a one-two punch. Because both clubs serve very different purposes. If Ferencvaros are the people's club made powerful by politics, Puskas Akademia are politics made physical. One is a reward for the masses. The other, a construction. 'Both Ferencvaros and Puskas Akademia demonstrate distinctive mechanisms through which football serves political purposes,' Molnar says. 'Puskas Akademia as a nouveau-riche creation directly reflecting and related to individual political power. Ferencvaros as the capture and repurposing of authentic, traditional and nationalistic sporting heritage for political legitimacy. 'Together, they illustrate how contemporary authoritarian-leaning governance can effectively utilise both new and traditional sporting institutions to naturalise and further solidify political control while presenting it as cultural and infrastructural revitalisation.' In this context, Keane's words from Saturday night start to ring hollow, because what does success mean in this climate? What does it mean for the league? Though there is personal glory involved, the real story of Hungarian football under Orban lies beyond the silverware. This isn't just about two state clubs manufactured to vie for success because what's unfolding isn't just about who wins – it's about what victory represents. Ferencvaros's domestic dominance and European respectability prove what the state can build with history and support on its side. Puskas Akademia, meanwhile, shows what can be engineered from nothing. Between the two, a pattern emerges: in Orban's Hungary, football clubs are no longer just teams – they are vehicles. For tradition, for messaging, for legacy. And while Ferencvaros continue to lift the trophies, it is Puskas that perhaps best illustrate the architecture of the regime's long-term ambitions. Because in Hungary today, success need not be sustainable, nor popular, nor even sporting. It need only serve a purpose. In this landscape, function is often secondary to symbolism. Stadiums, school curriculums, news channels, football clubs – each forms part of a broader architecture of control, built to anchor loyalty and cultivate a shared national narrative from the top down. The question, then, is not just whether Ferencvaros will continue to dominate or whether Puskas Akademia will eventually oust them. It's whether Hungarian football can ever again be separated from the system that now so thoroughly envelops it. Is this why we love football?
The Sun
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
‘Who cares?' – Robbie Keane shows off stitches for gruesome injury while celebrating winning league with Ferencvaros
ROBBIE KEANE revealed he had to get three stitches for an injury suffered after guiding Ferencvaros to the Hungarian league title. Ferencvaros' beat Gyor 2-1 to seal the club's 36th title and Keane's second in his management career. 2 The former Republic of Ireland international threw himself into the celebrations, which left a literal mark. He took to Instagram to reveal that he had to get stitches after accidentally hitting himself with the trophy. Keane - sporting a cut up forehead - said: "Hey guys. Everyone keeps asking me what happened. "I was lifting the trophy last night and the back of it hit my head so I had to get three stitches from the doctor." The blow did not take away from the accomplishment, as he concluded: "Who cares when you win?" Keane took charge of the Hungarian club back in January, seven months after he left Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Hungarian giants targeted the ex-Tottenham star last summer and held talks with his representatives. Fradi, though, opted for Pascal Jansen but he was eventually "bought out of his contract". Ferencvaros rekindled their interest in the former striker and reached an agreement shortly after the New Year. The Dubliner revealed that a comment he remembered from Alex Ferguson persuaded him to take the Ferencvaros job. Bizarre moment Robbie Keane gives yellow card to his own team-mate for hilarious reason in Tottenham legends match Back in January, he said: 'I've been to Budapest two or three times in the last few years, a beautiful place. But the reason why I'm here is the football. 'The most important thing about a football club is the people. Sir Alex Ferguson told me last summer, 'Don't pick the club, pick the people' and I think that's important.' It tempted Keane back into management after six months out after he quit as Maccabi Tel Aviv boss last June having guided them to the league title in his first season. Keane added: 'For this team, we know we're a good team, but what does a good team mean, can you go out and excite the fans? 'I want the fans to enjoy the game of my team, the exciting and energetic football. 'It's important for the players to understand that it's not enough to win one or two games, you have to win them all. "That's my message to the players. 'Whoever the opponent is, we want to play an exciting game.'
Extra.ie
6 days ago
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Robbie Keane suffers injury during Hungarian title celebrations
Robbie Keane suffered a head injury over the weekend after guiding Ferencváros to winning the Hungarian title on the final day of the tournament. The former Irish international is solidifying himself as a top manager, having picked up his second consecutive league title in his managerial career. Last year, the 44-year-old won the Israeli Premier League with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Robbie Keane suffered a head injury over the weekend after guiding Ferencváros to winning the Hungarian title on the final day of the tournament. Pic: Robbie Keane/ Instagram The Dublin native departed the controversial gig following the win and made the move to Budapest, where he coached Ferencvaros. Despite getting off to a losing start at the beginning of his time with the team, the Tallaght man turned it around for the Hungarian side, with the club topping the table following the final day of matches, The club needed just one point to guarantee their glory going into the game on Saturday, as they faced fourth-placed ETO Gyor away. The team clinched the deal, winning 2-1 at ETO Park. Taking to Instagram on Monday following the celebrations, Robbie's forehead was bandaged up with the former Liverpool player explaining he accidentally hit his head off the trophy during the excitement. He said: 'Hey guys, everyone keeps asking what happened. I was lifting the trophy last night, the back of it hit my head so… I had to get three stitches from my doctor. The Dubliner then puts his hand to his forehead which has started bleeding. On seeing the blood, Robbie appears to gasp before turning to someone to show them the damage. Pic: Robbie Keane/ Instagram 'But who cares when you win?' The father-of-two followed up with a clip of the moment he sustained the injury, writing: 'That's when the injury occurred,' along with a number of laughing emojis. In the clip, Robbie can be seen lifting the trophy in celebratory form before handing it over to one of the players. The Dubliner then puts his hand to his forehead, which had started bleeding. On seeing the blood, Robbie appears to gasp before turning to someone to show them the damage. Robbie joined Ferencvaros earlier in the year, with the club saying: 'We announce the successor to Dutchman Pascal Jansen to lead our 35-time champion and 24-time cup winner team, as the 146-time national team player of the Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane.'
