Category: Football

NEW YORK: The national futsal team of the United States of America (USA) will tour Pakistan for the first time, later this year.

The officials of the Pakistan Soccer Futsal Federation (PSFF) and the USA Futsal Federation signed an agreement here for the latter’s tour to Pakistan, scheduled later this year.

In their first-ever tour to Pakistan, the USA Futsal team will play a five-match series against the home side.

According to the details, the USA will also send their technical support and coaching staff for the improvement of the sport in the country, chairman PSFF Hazrat Ali Khan asserted.

“The US national futsal team will play a five-match series in their tour of Pakistan,” PSFF Chairman stated.

“The US will also send technical assistance and coaching personnel to help Pakistan improve its command in the sports,” he added.

READ: Inam, Bismah lead Pakistan contingent in CWG 2022 opening ceremony 

WISCONSIN: Erling Haaland impressed on his debut for Manchester City as his 12th-minute strike put his side ahead of the German giant Bayern Munich in a friendly match, here at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, USA. 

The 22-year-old, who missed the first game of City’s US tour against Mexico’s Club America, soared on his first appearance in the sky blue jersey after he netted the ball from close range to score the lone goal of the game.

The match witnessed a delayed start for 15 minutes after a thunderstorm and following Haaland’s goal the play was suspended until further notice. Officials then reduced the game to 80 minutes.

“I’ve been watching a lot of City games in the last years, and in the last years it has been without a striker, so of course, I’ve been seeing myself in these situations today, so I’m not surprised,” said Haaland after the game.

Manchester City will now return to England, where they will face Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday at Leicester’s King Power Stadium.

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RABAT: Sadio Mane was crowned African Player of the Year in Rabat on Thursday for the second time.

The Senegal forward first won the honour in 2019 while he was at Liverpool.

The 30-year-old left the Premier League club last month after signing a three-year deal with Bayern Munich.

“I am really honoured and highly delighted to receive this award again,” Mane said.

“Thanks to my coaches, my club and national team colleagues and those friends who stood by me during difficult times.”

Mane was in the Moroccan capital to receive the award after a dash across the Atlantic having converted a penalty for his new club in a 6-2 pre-season friendly win over DC United in Washington on Wednesday.

It was the second successive continental player of the year award for Mane after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the last two editions.

He won ahead of former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah from Egypt and fellow Senegal international and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Mane and Salah played pivotal roles last season with Liverpool, who lifted the FA Cup and English League Cup and finished runners-up in the Premier League and Champions League.

Salah has since signed a new contract at Anfield while Mane opted for a move, with Bayern reportedly paying an initial 32 million euros ($32.5 million) that could rise to 41 million euros.

The transfer fee was a far cry from the four million euros Red Bull Salzburg paid Metz in 2012 when Mane made his first move to Europe.

ROME: Roma on Wednesday announced the signing of Paulo Dybala on a three-year contract after the Argentina forward’s deal with Juventus expired.

“I arrive at a team that is growing, with a club that continues to lay an increasingly solid foundation for the future and a coach, Jose Mourinho, with whom it is a privilege to work,” Dybala said in a statement.

The 28-year-old had been touted for a move to Serie A runners-up Inter Milan, which would have ensured Champions League football next season.

Roma finished sixth in Serie A last season.

Sky reported that the contract was worth six million euros ($6.08m) per season including bonuses.

Dybala spent a trophy-laden seven years in Turin, scoring 115 goals for Juve, but has been dogged by injuries over the last two seasons.

He joined Juve from Palermo in 2015, going on to win five Serie A titles and four Italian Cups.

He also played in the team which reached the 2017 Champions League final but lost to Real Madrid.

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SHEFFIELD: Sweden thrashed Portugal 5-0 to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2022 on Sunday as holders the Netherlands needed a flurry of late goals to beat Switzerland 4-1 to ensure their place in the last eight.

Silver medallists at last year’s Olympics, Sweden are the highest ranked team in the tournament but failed to hit top gear in drawing with the Dutch and squeezing past the Swiss 2-1 in their opening two games.

Peter Gerhardsson’s women clicked into gear in Leigh to claim the top spot in Group C and were 3-0 up by half-time.

Manchester City’s Filippa Angeldal struck twice before Carole Costa headed into her own net in first-half stoppage time.

Kosovare Asllani’s penalty made it 4-0 before Arsenal striker Stina Blackstenius finally got on the scoresheet after having two earlier efforts ruled out.

Sweden will face whoever finishes second in Group D with Belgium, Iceland and Italy all in with a chance to finish behind France in Monday’s matches.

“We were really satisfied that we did enough to win the group. That was something we hoped for when we started,” said Gerhardsson.

The Netherlands lie in wait for the French in the last eight as they had enough to get through despite missing star striker Vivianne Miedema for the second consecutive game due to a positive case of coronavirus.

“We’re playing a big opponent and so are they. I don’t think they want to play us,” said Netherlands boss Mark Parsons, whose side lost 3-1 to France in February.

“The result wasn’t what we wanted (last time), but we said that the next time we played them, we were confident that we would be better. We saw opportunity.”

In front of a new record crowd of 22,596 for a women’s Euro group match not involving the hosts, Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic’s own goal put the Dutch in front in Sheffield.

Switzerland responded almost immediately when Geraldine Reuteler coolly finished from Romana Bachmann’s pull-back just three minutes later.

A draw would have been enough for Mark Parsons’ side to reach the knockout stages, but they made sure of the three points with three goals in the final six minutes

Substitute Romee Leuchter struck twice, either side of Victoria Pelova’s effort, which survived a lengthy VAR check for offside.

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MILAN: Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed a one-year contract extension with Serie A club AC Milan that commits him to stay at the franchise till June 2023.

Ibrahimovic, who led his team AC Milan to the Serie A title victory after 11 years will be staying with the club till after his 41st birthday.

“AC Milan is pleased to announce the renewal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract until June 30, 2023. The Swedish forward will continue to wear the number 11 shirt,” the team said in a statement.

The Swede, however, is out of action till at least the early next year following the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee reconstructed in May.

The former Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Manchester United forward revealed in May that he endured six months of sleepless nights due to the pain in his knee but remained committed to AC Milan delivering their first Serie A crown in 11 years.

 

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It is pertinent to mention here that Ibrahimovic was also a part of AC Milan when the club last won the Scudetto, joining on loan from Barcelona and scoring 14 league goals in 29 appearances to fire them to the 2011 title.

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BERLIN: Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski is set to move to Barcelona in a deal worth 50 million euros ($50.4m), according to multiple reports on Saturday.

Both clubs reached an agreement overnight Friday, according to Bild and Kicker newspapers and the Sky Germany channel, ending a standoff with the Polish forward who has said he wants to leave the Bavarian giants.

At the end of May, Lewandowski said “it is certain that my story with Bayern has come to an end.”

Lewandowski twice voted FIFA men’s player of the year, is reported to be set to sign a four-year contract with Barcelona.

“The striker has planned to arrive today (Saturday) in Barcelona to undergo his medical examination and sign for four seasons,” Catalan newspaper Sport reported.

“The Polish player will not be at the presentation of the Bavarian team today,” said Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo, adding that the 33-year-old will join the Spanish team for their tour of the United States from July 18-31.

Bayern had only offered Lewandowski a one-year extension to his contract, which expires in the summer of 2023, according to German media.

The Polish international was also unhappy with the salary offered and had clashed with the Bavarian club’s coach Julian Nagelsmann, over his tactical choices.

Lewandowski joined Bayern in 2014, scoring 344 goals in 375 competitive matches and breaking the Bundesliga single-season scoring record.

He won the Bundesliga in each of his eight seasons with the club as well as the Champions League, the Club World Cup and three German Cups.

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LAHORE: The Chairman of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)’s nominated Normalization Committee (NC) Haroon Malik announced that the elections of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) will be contested this year.

Haroon, in a press conference post uplifting FIFA’s ban on Pakistan football, expressed his delight over the much-awaited development, while also announcing that the elections in the PFF will be held in the ongoing year.

“We’re delighted FIFA lifted the ban on Pakistani football, and the Normalization Committee put a lot of effort into making this happen.,” Haroon said.

“The elections in Pakistan Football Federation will also take place this year as per the PFF constitution,” he announced.

Haroon the confirmed the participation of the Pakistan Women’s Football Team in the forthcoming South Asian Football Federation Championship after a gap of almost eight years.

“We have submitted the entry of our national women’s team in the SAFF women’s championship and our team will be competing in the event,” Haroon confirmed.

On being asked about the national contingent for the championship, the NC chairman revealed that the best players from last year’s national championship will be selected for the team.

“The coaches prepared a list of the best players in the National Women’s Championship, last year and we will be forming the team in accordance with it,” he shared.

FIFA’s nominated NC chairman then went on to announce to hold of national tournaments in an attempt to promote the sport at the grassroots level.

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MELBOURNE: Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford got on the scoresheet as Manchester United rallied from a goal down to beat Melbourne Victory 4-1 Friday and hand manager Erik ten Hag his second win since taking over.

It followed their 4-0 thumping of Liverpool in Bangkok on Tuesday when Jadon Sancho, Fred, Martial and Facundo Pellistri were on target.

A well-organised Victory were no walkover and shocked the English giants in front of 74,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a goal on the break in the fifth minute.

United clawed back with goals on the cusp of half-time from Scott McTominay and Martial before Rashford made it 3-1 with 12 minutes left and a Victory own goal capped the deserved win.

“It was good that we were able to recover,” said Ten Hag. “It’s pre-season and we wanted to see how the team reacts.

“We went 1-0 behind but we stayed composed and finally just before half-time we scored twice.

“Their defence was really compact and it was difficult to create chances,” he added. “But a couple of times we got behind the defensive line and it was justified that we scored.”

United used 22 players against Liverpool and while Ten Hag largely stuck with the same starting line-up he switched it up at the break with 10 changes.

Captain and centre-back Harry Maguire started for the first time under the Dutchman after missing the Liverpool clash, slotting in alongside Victor Lindelof with Raphael Varane absent from the matchday squad.

David de Gea was also missing after picking up what appeared to be a muscle strain in Bangkok. With Dean Henderson on loan, it was left to back-up keeper Tom Heaton to play the full 90 minutes.

In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Martial again led the line flanked by Jadon Sancho and Antony Elanga.

But they were stunned by a quick counter-attack when Victory broke from their own penalty area with a pass down the right flank behind Luke Shaw finding Ben Folami.

With United wide open in defence, Folami squared the ball to Chris Ikonomidis who calmly tucked the ball past Heaton.

United slowed the pace and began to find a rhythm with McTominay going close and Bruno Fernandes only denied by a great save from Melbourne keeper Paul Izzo.

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SHEFFIELD: Holders the Netherlands held off a stirring fightback by Portugal to close in on a place in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals with a 3-2 win over Portugal, while Sweden struck late to beat Switzerland 2-1 on Wednesday.

The Dutch were without star striker Vivianne Miedema due to a positive case for coronavirus but got off to a flying start in Leigh as Damaris Egurrola and Stefanie van der Gragt struck inside the first 16 minutes.

Portugal would not even be at the tournament had it not been for Russia’s expulsion due to the invasion of Ukraine, but for the second time in as many games, they bounced back from a 2-0 deficit.

Carole Costa’s penalty reduced the arrears before half-time and Diana Silva’s thumping header levelled two minutes into the second half.

The Netherlands thought they had immediately struck back when Jill Roord’s goal was ruled out by a VAR check for offside.

But Mark Parsons’ side did dig themselves out of trouble just after the hour mark when Danielle Van de Donk’s stunning strike from outside the box arrowed into the top corner.

Victory takes the Netherlands top of Group C, level on four points with the Swedes, with both sides just needing a point from their final group game to progress.

Ranked second in the world, Sweden were among the pre-tournament favourites but have so far struggled to hit top gear in England.

After a 1-1 draw to open their campaign against the Netherlands, the Olympic silver medallists were expected to roll over a Swiss side ranked 20th in the world.

Switzerland’s preparations had also been rocked by a sickness bug in the camp that forced them to cancel training on Monday.

But they frustrated Peter Gerhardsson’s women for 53 minutes at Bramall Lane before Barcelona’s Fridolina Rolfo finished off an excellent team move.

Switzerland hit back within two minutes through a fine finish by Paris Saint-Germain’s Ramona Bachmann.

Gerhardsson was forced to turn to his bench for inspiration and it was one of his subs, Hanna Bennison, who scored the winner, with her first international goal 11 minutes from time.

“There are many things we can do better but right now I’m just very happy that we won the match and are in a good position to take us beyond the group stage,” said Gerhardsson.

Switzerland and Portugal now need to win in the final games of Group C on Sunday to have any chance of progressing to the last eight.

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