Chelsea sign Benoit Badiashile, anger Benfica coach over pursuit of Enzo Fernandez
Chelsea have signed France defender Benoit Badiashile from Monaco on a seven-and-a-half-year deal, the Premier League club have confirmed.
Didier Deschamps Sport News
Asian soccer set to get new Champions League format in 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Champions League is set to be revamped in the 2024-25 season as part of reforms that should add a third club soccer competition for the continent. The marquee Champions League would be cut to 24 teams, instead of the current 40, playing eight guaranteed games in an opening league stage instead of six in a traditional group stage, the Asian Football Confederation said Friday. The proposal echoes changes in Europe’s Champions League which take effect with a new, 36-team league stage in 2024 before the knockout rounds.
FIFA World Cup: French minister calls Argentina ‘inelegant winners’
PARIS: French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera on Friday accused Argentine players of being “inelegant winners” and “vulgar” for mocking her country’s star Kylian Mbappe after winning the World Cup final.“As much as our French team knew how to lose with panache, so the manner in which this Argentine team acted after this victory was not worthy of the match we saw,” the minister told French radio station RTL.Oudea-Castera singled out goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who was seen in the victory parade in Buenos Aires holding a baby doll its face covered with a photo of French star Mbappe.Immediately after the match had been heard in the Argentina changing room demanding: “A minute of silence... for Mbappe.”Mbappe scored a hat-trick as France twice fought back to take the game to a shootout and then beat Martinez with the opening kick.“I find it pitiful,” said Oudea-Castera.“It’s just vulgar, inappropriate, really not up to the occasion,” she said“This Emiliano Martinez is not distinguishing himself.
McCollum’s 40-point night against Spurs gets Pelicans back on track
MIAMI: The New Orleans Pelicans got back to winning ways on Thursday with CJ McCollum scoring a season-high 40 points in a 126-117 win over the struggling San Antonio Spurs.
French federation plans contract talks with coach Deschamps
PARIS: France coach Didier Deschamps will meet with French soccer federation president Noel Le Graet next week to discuss a new contract.
Saudi boxer Sara Al-Shahrani strikes a blow for TKO Fighters
RIYADH: Dec. 23 marks a milestone for American coach Lee Starks and his Saudi-founded TKO Fighters gym as one of his prize pupils Sara Al-Shahrani will step into the ring in Yaounde, Cameroon to compete in a WBF international championship event. Al-Shahrani will face Mokam Jeanne in a professional event amateur fight in the 52 kg weight class.
French football president wants Deschamps to stay
The French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet said in an interview published on Thursday he wants France coach Didier Deschamps, whose current contract expires at the end of the year, to remain in the post.
Federation slams 'hateful' racist abuse of French footballers
Several members of the France team that lost to Argentina in the World Cup final were subjected to "hateful" racist abuse on social media, the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Tuesday, adding it intended to file a legal complaint.