Florian Wirtz said he wants to win it all at Liverpool after completing a blockbuster move from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday, which could reportedly rise to an EPL record fee of $150 million (Rs 1287.7 cr). One of European football’s elite young stars, the German attacking midfielder has been hailed as one of the ‘best in the world’ by former Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. “I would like to win everything, every year. I’m really ambitious,” the 22-year-old said. A return of 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for Leverkusen is evidence that he carries a threat both as a creator and a goalscorer. “I hope I can bring creativity and joy on the pitch. I hope I can just make the team one step better,” said Wirtz. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 June,2025 08:58 AM IST | Liverpool | AFPBrazilian club Flamengo produced a brilliant second-half fightback to beat England’s Chelsea 3-1 at the Club World Cup on Friday and qualify for the Round-of-16, while German giants Bayern Munich joined them in reaching the knockout phase with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Argentina’s Boca Juniors. In Philadelphia, Pedro Neto gave Chelsea an early lead (13th minute), but Flamengo, cheered on by their frenzied support, came roaring back in the second half. Bruno Henrique came off the bench in the 56th minute and quickly equalised before setting up former Real Madrid defender Danilo to make it 2-1, three minutes later. Chelsea’s hopes of pulling level again were effectively destroyed when substitute Nicolas Jackson was sent off in the 68th minute for a tackle on Ayrton Lucas. Wallace Yan then sealed the victory for Flamengo when he made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute. “It was a special day for me and our club,” said Flamengo coach Filipe Luis. Flamengo. Meanwhile, in Miami, Harry Kane opened the scoring for Bayern Munich (18th min), but Boca Juniors hit back with an equaliser in the 66th minute via Miguel Martiel. However, with six minutes remaining, Michael Olise struck the decisive blow to see Bayern through to the next round. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 June,2025 08:50 AM IST | Philadelphia | AFPEnglish Premier League (EPL) champions Liverpool have agreed to sign Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez in a deal reported to be worth $54 million (Rs 467.4cr), according to reports on Friday. The 21-year-old caught Liverpool’s eye last season with his fine form for Bournemouth, including two goals and five assists in 38 EPL appearances. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 June,2025 07:00 AM IST | London | AFPEuropean champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) suffered a shock 0-1 Club World Cup defeat to Brazilian side Botafogo on Thursday. PSG are one of the favourites to win FIFA’s 32-team tournament after a dazzling season which culminated with a scintillating 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final. However, their hopes of securing a victory which would have seen them become the first side into the Round-of-16 were stymied by a resilient performance from their opponents from Rio de Janeiro. Luis Enrique Botafogo took the lead against the run of play in the 36th minute as Jefferson Savarino’s through ball split the PSG defence and released Igor Jesus. He then did brilliantly to wrongfoot defender Willian Pacho before striking a shot that took a slight deflection past PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on its way to the net. “A lot of people wondered, but we showed how strong Botafogo is,” goalscorer Jesus said after the win, which kept all of South America’s representatives unbeaten at the competition in the USA. “We knew it was going to be a very difficult match — they defended very well. They were the team that defended the best against us all season. This Club World Cup is very intense and all the teams are highly motivated, especially when they’re playing against us,” said PSG boss Luis Enrique. All you need to know about Botafogo ‘Set on fire’: The literal meaning of the word Botafogo is ‘set on fire,’ in Portuguese. It is derived from the nickname given to the San Joao Baptista ship, one of the most powerful Portuguese warships of the 16th century. The club is officially called Botafogo de Futbol e Regatas Birthed from a rowing club: Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas is the result of a merger between two clubs founded in Rio de Janeiro — Club de Regatas Botafogo (a rowing club) and Botafogo Football Cub Garrincha was here: Botafogo has won the Brazilian League thrice and their contribution to the country’s football is deep. Legendary Brazilian attacker Garrincha played for the club. Garrincha and Santos’s Pele formed the backbone of the Brazil team that won back-to-back World Cups (1958, 1962) Nurtured Zagallo: The club also nurtured Mario Zagallo, who is one of only three people in history to win the World Cup as both player and manager — the others are France’s Didier Deschamps and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer. Although Zagallo began his playing career at Flamengo, he went on to play for Botafogo for seven years before taking charge of the club side Not all plain sailing: The club went 20 years without a title, between 1969 to 1988. They also faced adversity post 1995, twice being relegated to the Brazilian second division On the rise again: The Brazilian club won its maiden Copa Libertadores title in 2024, along with the Brazlian League, just three years after securing promotion from the second division This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 June,2025 06:58 AM IST | Pasadena (USA) | AFPReal Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is being treated in an American hospital after suffering a stomach bug, the Spanish giants said on Thursday. “Mbappe is suffering from an acute case of gastroenteritis and has been admitted to hospital in order to undergo a series of tests and follow the appropriate course of treatment,” said Los Blancos in a statement. Mbappe missed Real Madrid’s Club World Cup opener against Al-Hilal. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 June,2025 02:35 PM IST | Miami | AFPMidfielder Federico Valverde missed a stoppage-time penalty as Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup on Wednesday. Al-Hilal started off in effervescent fashion and had an early goal by Salem Aldawsari ruled out for offside. Garcia draws first blood Madrid gradually gained more control over the game and opened the scoring in the 34th minute with striker Gonzalo Garcia — starting in place of the ill Kylian Mbappe — finishing off a low-ball sent into the box by Rodrygo. Madrid boss Xabi Alonso However, Al Hilal didn’t allow their spirit to be dampened and scored the equaliser in the 49th minute. Madrid centre-back Raul Asencio was ruled to have pulled down Marcos Leonardo and Portugal international Ruben Neves calmly tucked away the ensuing penalty. Madrid continued to pepper the opposition goal and the Saudi side’s custodian Yassine Bounou had to make a string of impressive saves to keep his team in the game. Al Hilal’s resistance was nearly scuppered in the 87th minute as Fran Garcia won a foul in the Saudi team’s box. However, Bounou came up trumps once again to deny the Valverde, making sure Xabi Alonso’s debut as Madrid coach was one to forget. The Madrid boss lamented their poor opening 45-minutes, admitting: “In the first half, we were lacking in a lot of areas, with and without the ball. I think we lost the ball too quickly, we didn’t have much balance, and these are things we had talked about and it took us a little longer to get right.” Man City, Juventus win In Philadelphia, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku scored first-half goals as Manchester City beat Wydad Casablanca of Morocco 2-0 in Group G. Elsewhere, in another Group G encounter, Juventus made short work of UAE’s Al Ain. Randal Kolo Muani, and Francisco Conceicao scored a brace each as they beat their opponents 5-0. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 June,2025 08:07 AM IST | Miami (USA) | AFPGennaro Gattuso is approaching his new job as the coach of an Italy squad in crisis with the same determination and combativeness he used to display on the field as a gritty midfielder. Replacing the fired Luciano Spalletti, with the four-time champions in real danger of failing to qualify for a third straight World Cup, Gattuso knows there’s no room for errors. “I hear often that we don’t have the talent or good enough players anymore. But I think we have the players. We need to bring back the enthusiasm and not think negatively. We need to get Italy back to the World Cup. That’s fundamental,” said Gattuso on Thursday. Spalletti was fired after Italy lost its opening qualifier 3-0 at Norway. The Azzurri are already nine points behind Norway in their World Cup qualifying group, albeit having played two matches fewer than the leader. Gattuso’s debut will be at home to Estonia on Sept 5. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 June,2025 07:58 AM IST | Rome | AFPThe 39-year-old Real Madrid and Spain legend Sergio Ramos scored as Monterrey held Inter Milan 1-1 in a hard-fought FIFA Club World Cup Group E opener in Pasadena on Tuesday. The Italians were in control almost from the kick-off. However, it was the Mexican side that opened the scoring when midfielder Oliver Torres swung a corner in from the right and Ramos — who had lost defender Francesco Acerbi on the edge of the six-yard box — steered his header into the bottom corner in the 25th minute. It was a familiar sight for fans as Ramos had scored many an important header for club and country, not least the stoppage time equaliser in the 2014 Champions League final against Atletico Madrid — a goal that ultimately led Los Blancos to win 4-1 in extra time. Nevertheless, Inter found the equaliser in the 42nd minute through striker Lautaro Martinez. It came about after a well-worked free-kick routine which saw Kristjan Asllani chip the ball behind the Monterrey defence to Carlos Augusto who squared it for the Argentine to tap it in. Inter, playing their first game since being thrashed 0-5 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, were left ruing their failure. “When you don’t get all three points you’re never happy. But one point is better than no point,” said Ramos. Inter’s new coach Cristian Chivu denied claims that the Italian giants had underestimated the Mexicans. “We respect every team we play,” he said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
19 June,2025 09:17 AM IST | Florida | AFPFC Barcelona announced on Wednesday they had signed Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia for $31 million (Rs 267.9cr) on a six-year deal. Garcia, 24, had originally joined Barca’s local rivals as a teenager and kept eight clean sheets in 38 appearances last season. He becomes the Catalans’s first signing after Hansi Flick’s side won four trophies last season including La Liga. “He has just completed a fantastic campaign, playing a key role in Espanyol’s survival,” a statement by Barcelona said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
19 June,2025 09:07 AM IST | Barcelona | AFPLiverpool will kick off their English Premier League title defence at home to Bournemouth on Friday, August 15 while Arsenal head to Manchester United in a blockbuster clash on the opening weekend. Arne Slot’s champions have the chance to secure the first points of the new season at Anfield as they launch the 2025-26 campaign, bidding for a record 21st English top-flight crown. Following the Bournemouth game Liverpool have tricky fixtures at Newcastle and at home to Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, runners-up for the past three seasons. Thomas Frank’s first match as Tottenham Hotspur boss will come on August 16 at home against newly promoted Burnley. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who ended last season empty-handed, will be desperate to get off to a winning start against Wolves at Molineux. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
19 June,2025 09:01 AM IST | London | AFPPep Guardiola has named Bernardo Silva as Manchester City’s new captain. Additionally, Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Erling Haaland were appointed as vice-captains by the Spanish manager. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
19 June,2025 08:59 AM IST | New Delhi | IANSADVERTISEMENT
