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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PSG's Champions League win was thrilling. It was still sportswashing
Paris Saint-Germain's success in the Champions League final on Saturday was a victory for youth and adventure. It was a victory for a team built with a coherent vision, and a rebuke to those who believe the game is just about collecting the biggest names. It was a victory for Luis Enrique, a very fine coach who has suffered dreadful personal tragedy. It was a victory for forward-thinking, progressive, fluent football. But it was also a victory for sportswashing. Advertisement If you could divorce the game from its context, it was mesmerising. PSG were brilliant and although Inter were awful, at least some of that awfulness was provoked by the relentless energy of PSG. The five-goal margin was the widest in any European Cup or Champions League final and it's hard to believe any final has been anywhere near so one-sided (at least until the next day's Concacaf Champions Cup final, won by the same 5-0 scoreline). Four times before, there had been a four-goal margin in the Champions League final. There was Real Madrid's fabled 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden Park in 1960, the game that so inspired the future Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. But part of the fascination there was that Frankfurt were also an exceptional side. They had beaten Rangers 12-4 on aggregate in the semi and they were good enough to take the lead – even if their second and third goals came as part of a four-goal flurry between the 71st and 75th minutes. Related: Our Champions League team of the season: a teen sensation to a marauding Gunner Bayern beat Atlético 4-0 in 1974, but that was in a replay. When Milan beat Barcelona 4-0 in 1994, it was a shock, and a huge tactical victory for Fabio Capello over Johan Cruyff, but until the fourth went in there was still a sense that Barcelona might come back. Milan's 4-0 win over Steaua Bucharest in 1989 was perhaps the closest to Saturday; they were emphatic winners and Arrigo Sacchi said it was the closest any of his sides came to achieving his ideal of football. Advertisement Even when Barcelona outplayed Manchester United in 2011, United had enough resilience to restrict them to three, even to force an improbable equaliser. It was not the capitulation of Inter. Barcelona must have watched Saturday's final with disbelief; how had they lost the semi-final to that Inter? How had they allowed themselves again and again to be undone at set plays and on the counter? The sense is that Saturday will be a defining victory. This is a young PSG side. The Champions League is a notoriously difficult tournament to retain for everybody apart from Real Madrid, but there's no reason why this can't be the first Champions League of many. After the years of the club as a celebrity circus, one which admittedly helped establish their brand, they have a rational recruitment policy and an intense and gifted manager. And they are undoubtedly fun to watch. Which is what makes sportswashing so insidious. On the pitch PSG are what a football club should be. But the fact remains that they are owned by Qatari Sports Investments, and that state support gives them an enormous advantage over other clubs financed by more traditional means. QSI invested in PSG six months after the meeting at the Élysée Palace in November 2010 – a month before Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup – between the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president of Uefa, Michel Platini, and Tamim al-Thani, the crown prince of Qatar – now the emir. PSG was just part of wave of Qatari investment in France, although it should be stressed that Platini maintains he had already decided to vote for Qatar. Advertisement Related: Two people die and hundreds arrested in France after PSG Champions League victory However rapacious the private equity funds that own some elite clubs may be, they do not have the in effect infinite wealth of those backed by a state. Inter are one of the big three in Italy. They have won the European Cup/Champions League three times. For a long time, they were sustained by the wealth of the Moratti family. They are not minnows in any sense. And yet, according to Deloitte, their annual revenue is less than half that of PSG. Among PSG's sponsors are Qatar Airways and the Qatar Tourism Agency; state support can oil a lot of wheels. Qatar is a country in which workers are routinely exploited, women are subject to male guardianship laws, same-sex relations are outlawed and freedom of expression severely restricted. It is also the country that hosted the greatest World Cup final of all time in 2022 and that owns the best team in European (and therefore world) football. Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of PSG, is also the chair of the beIN media group, a major player in the broadcasting of football, and is head of the European Clubs Association, in which role he was seated on Saturday next to the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin. He is enormously influential and is answerable, ultimately, to QSI, of which he is chair. Inter have lost in two of the last three Champions League finals. Both defeats have been to state-owned clubs. This is modern football, the stage for geopolitical manoeuvring. It used to be easy to laugh at PSG, who had spent a fortune on ageing stars who reliably collapsed under pressure. This latest iteration looks more like a football team. It is admirable in many ways. The football is both thrilling and successful. But it is still sportswashing. On this day … Before the BBC screened highlights of Chile's 2-0 victory over Italy at the 1962 World Cup, the presenter David Coleman warned viewers that what they were about to see was, 'the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game'. Advertisement He wasn't wrong. The first foul was committed after 35 seconds and matters had got so out of hand by the eighth minute that Italy's Giorgio Ferrini was sent off for a foul on Honorino Landa. He refused to leave the field, leading to a melee that was only ended by the intervention of police. In the confusion, Chile's Léonel Sánchez landed a left hook on Humberto Maschio, breaking his nose. As the mayhem continued, Sánchez got away with cuffing Mario David in the face, but David responded a couple of minutes later with a flying kick to the head for which he was sent off. Chile won what became known as the Battle of Santiago 2-0. The violence had been provoked by critical articles written by two Italian journalists as they covered the draw in Santiago several months earlier. Both had the sense not to turn up for the tournament itself.
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Arsenal set to reward Myles Lewis-Skelly with mega long-term contract to ward off Real Madrid's advances
Another young Gunner is expected to get a monster pay rise, too LEW BEAUTY Arsenal set to reward Myles Lewis-Skelly with mega long-term contract to ward off Real Madrid's advances Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ARSENAL are confident Myles Lewis-Skelly will sign a long-term deal this summer. And the Gunners full-back has cooled Real Madrid links by reiterating his love for the club and his desire to win 'back-to-back' trophies in North London. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Arsenal are confident Myles Lewis-Skelly will sign a new contract at the club Credit: Getty 2 Lewis-Skelly is expected to stay at Arsenal alongside Bukayo Saka - with the England squad enjoying a day out at F1's Spanish GP on Sunday Credit: PA Lewis-Skelly, 18, signed his first senior contract back in October 2023, which expires next summer - and Spanish giants Madrid are reportedly monitoring the situation, having already snapped up Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool on a free transfer. But SunSport understands the club are calm over talks, which began back in January, and hope to finalise the terms of his new bumper deal before pre-season begins next month. New sporting director Andrea Berta is believed to be taking a hands-on approach with contract extensions, needing to tie down fellow Hale End graduates Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka, as well as William Saliba and Gabriel. And boss Mikel Arteta said in April: 'The most energy we have to put in is making sure the players we have with us are happy, they feel valued, very much part of what we're doing." READ MORE SPORT STORIES EUR JOKING Fans rip 'best team in Europe' Arsenal as they sit behind Man U in Uefa rankings Arteta views Lewis-Skelly as the future of the club, already making him his first-choice left-back after a stunning breakthrough campaign for the teenager that saw him make his Prem debut in September before scoring on his senior England debut in March. Such is his faith in Lewis-Skelly, Arteta has let Kieran Tierney, 27, leave on a free back to Celtic this summer and is open to selling Oleksandr Zinchenko, 28, with Borussia Dortmund interested. Lewis-Skelly – alongside his first team pal Nwaneri, 18 – has also never hid his love for Arsenal as a boyhood fan, and recently revealed his ambitions for next term. Going five years without silverware and a third-successive second-place Prem finish, he said: 'We just want to win, to make that jump to win a trophy, back-to-back trophies.' CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS He continued: 'Without Hale End, we wouldn't be here. It's everything… the friendships, the values. 'I am a fan of the club, so I was growing up watching them on TV, going to the games. In your mind you're always wanting to get where [the first team] is at.' Myles Lewis-Skelly winds up Real Madrid fans as Arsenal knock Los Blancos out of Champions League Midfielder Nwaneri is also holding talks with Arsenal over an extension, having signed his first professional deal in March 2024, having worked his way through the academy from the age of nine alongside Lewis-Skelly. Nwaneri is expected to receive a hefty rise in wages, as is Lewis-Skelly, having proved himself to be one of the most exciting teenage attackers in Europe. Having made 37 appearances in all competitions this term – 16 of those starts – and scoring nine goals, Nwaneri has been happy with his involvement under Arteta, and trusts the Spaniard with his development. However, there will need to be discussions over Nwaneri's role next year, both in terms of position and regularity, especially with Arteta targeting several attacking reinforcements this summer, currently linked to Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres, RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Athletic Bilbao's Nico Williams. During Bukayo Saka's three-month absence from December following hamstring surgery, Nwaneri deputised on the right wing, but can also play as a false nine and No10. Despite the £51m midfield arrival of Martin Zubimendi, Arteta will view Nwaneri as an integral squad member whose flexibility and all-round ability is highly valued. Join SUN CLUB for the Arsenal Files every Friday plus in-depth coverage and exclusives from The Emirates
Glasgow Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Aggie Beever-Jones nets hat-trick as England thrash Portugal in Nations League
The Chelsea forward led the line in place of the injured Alessia Russo, and fired the hosts in front in the third minute before club-mate Lucy Bronze nodded in a second less than two minutes later. Beever-Jones struck twice more either side of Beth Mead's 29th-minute goal to hand England a 5-0 lead in the 33rd minute, and substitute Chloe Kelly added a sixth after the break. The 21-year-old Beever-Jones is just the second Lioness to score a hat-trick at Wembley and third woman on record to have done so, after Mead and Italy's Carolina Morace. England's triumph ensures they are still in contention to advance to the autumn Nations League finals, but will need to beat group leaders Spain on Tuesday night to finish top of their group. News of Euro 2022-winning goalkeeper Mary Earps' retirement from international football just a few days earlier had dominated the Lionesses discourse leading up to the encounter, arguably the first in which Chelsea's Hannah Hampton was – unequivocally – England's number one. Lauren Hemp, who has returned to Sarina Wiegman's squad after recovering from a long-term knee injury, started an England contest for the first time since October 2024, while Arsenal striker Russo was missing, for at least this contest, with a calf issue. Lucy Bronze put England 2-0 up inside five minutes (Ben Whitley/PA) Beever-Jones got started early, taking full advantage after Andreia Norton was caught out under pressure, darting around a couple of red shirts before finding the bottom left after a deflection off of a Portugal player. Bronze then quickly made it two, an opportunity facilitated by Hemp's cross and Mead getting a touch before the ball pinged off a Portuguese foot and into the air for the Chelsea right-back to nod home. It was all England – save a Norton header which clipped Hampton's right post – before Bronze turned provider with a pinpoint cross to set up Beever-Jones, whose header caught the underside of the crossbar as she made it 3-0 in the 26th minute. Mead extended England's advantage just before the half hour, latching onto Jess Park's through ball and – after cleverly nutmegging Amado – fluidly finished past Ines Pereira's outstretched leg. This is what is means ❤️ — Lionesses (@Lionesses) May 30, 2025 Beever-Jones then completed her hat-trick, this time released with a lovely long ball from captain Leah Williamson, and – utterly unfazed as a sea of red closed in – made it 5-0 in the 33rd minute. England boss Wiegman called on three second-half substitutes just before the hour, one of them Kelly, the newly-crowned Champions League winner with Arsenal. The Manchester City loanee – whose contract expires in June – replaced Hemp in the 58th minute and got on the scoresheet four minutes later, nodding in a delivery from fellow Gunner Mead. Alex Greenwood nearly made it seven, clipping the crossbar from a free-kick, before Pereira denied Mead from doing the same with a diving stop late in the half.
Scottish Sun
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
‘Plays like Kaka' – Watch Arsenal star Max Dowman, 15, score wondergoal for England in record-breaking appearance
Dowman has been praised by John Terry and Declan Rice TEENAGE KICKS 'Plays like Kaka' – Watch Arsenal star Max Dowman, 15, score wondergoal for England in record-breaking appearance Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ARSENAL wonderkid Max Dowman has earned more rave reviews after a record-breaking performance. Dowman, 15, starred for England in a 4-2 win over the Czech Republic in the Under-17s Euros last night. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Max Dowman broke a Euros record for England Credit: Getty 4 The Arsenal wonderkid scored a fantastic solo goal to put the Three Lions ahead The attacking midfielder put in a man of the match display but it was not enough to stop the Three Lions crashing out in the group stages. Dowman was the star of the show, scoring a sublime solo opener. He received the ball out wide and then turned the full-back inside out with a quick piece of skill on the byline. After getting past him most expected a cut back - but the teenage sensation fooled everyone including the Czech keeper by whipping the ball into the back of the net. Aged 15 years, four months and 26 days - Dowman is now the youngest ever scorer in Under-17s Euros history. And his rampant first-half performance got even better as he produced a stunning assist for England's second goal. The young Gunner dictated the play deep in midfield, letting a pass roll across a Czech player and his body to create himself a yard of space. Dowman then fired an inch perfect through ball into the path of striker Alejandro Gomes Rodríguez, who calmly converted. Join SUN CLUB for the Arsenal Files every Friday plus in-depth coverage and exclusives from The Emirates Aside from the goals, the youngster was a constant threat as he glided his way through the Czech defence several times. A compilation of his performance has gone viral online, with fans saying: "Generational talent." Another added: "Plays like Kaka used to. I just see a young Kaka, body type and running style. Could be a very special player." A third said: "Max will be the best academy graduate the Arsenal's ever produced. Special talent." Dowman has already trained with the Gunners first-team and he is set to be involved in pre-season this summer. England legend John Terry is one of the many to have sung his praises after watching him dominate Chelsea's youth team, saying: "He is a top, top player. "He was taking the ball on the half turn, drifting away from players, looking back and a couple of our boys went and put it on him a little bit. It was good to see. But Dowman is a very, very good player." Declan Rice has said: "At 15, there is such a long way to go. You can be the best 15-year-old in the country, but it doesn't necessarily mean you are going to be at 18. "So, you need to be hungry, keep working and keep pushing. "I speak to Max a lot and he has got such a good family around him. He is unreal." 4 Max Dowman has caught the eye of Declan Rice Credit: Getty
The Irish Sun
27-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘Plays like Kaka' – Watch Arsenal star Max Dowman, 15, score wondergoal for England in record-breaking appearance
ARSENAL wonderkid Max Dowman has earned more rave reviews after a record-breaking performance. Advertisement 4 Max Dowman broke a Euros record for England Credit: Getty 4 The Arsenal wonderkid scored a fantastic solo goal to put the Three Lions ahead The attacking midfielder put in a man of the match display but it was not enough to stop the Three Lions crashing out in the group stages. Dowman was the He received the ball out wide and then turned the full-back inside out with a quick piece of skill on the byline. After getting past him most expected a cut back - but the teenage sensation fooled everyone including the Czech keeper by whipping the ball into the back of the net. Advertisement READ MORE ON ARSENAL Aged 15 years, four months and 26 days - Dowman is now the youngest ever scorer in Under-17s Euros history. And his rampant first-half performance got even better as he produced a stunning assist for The young Gunner dictated the play deep in midfield, letting a pass roll across a Czech player and his body to create himself a yard of space. Dowman then fired an inch perfect through ball into the path of striker Alejandro Gomes Rodríguez, who calmly converted. Advertisement Most read in Football Latest Exclusive Join SUN CLUB for the Arsenal Files every Friday plus in-depth coverage and exclusives from The Emirates Aside from the goals, the youngster was a constant threat as he glided his way through the Czech defence several times. A compilation of his performance has gone viral online, with fans saying: "Generational talent." Another added: "Plays like Kaka used to. I just see a young Kaka, body type and running style. Could be a very special player." Advertisement A third said: "Max will be the best academy graduate the Dowman has already trained with the Gunners first-team and he is set to be involved in pre-season this summer. England legend John Terry is one of the many to have sung his praises after watching him dominate "He was taking the ball on the half turn, drifting away from players, looking back and a couple of our boys went and put it on him a little bit. It was good to see. But Dowman is a very, very good player." Advertisement "So, you need to be hungry, keep working and keep pushing. "I speak to Max a lot and he has got such a good family around him. He is unreal." 4 Max Dowman has caught the eye of Declan Rice Credit: Getty Advertisement 4 He has been compared to icon Kaka Credit: Getty
