Sports
UCL: Chelsea Flies English Flag Into 1/4 Finals
Chelsea became the first English side to reach the Champions League last eight after beating a limp Galatasaray.
Having drawn 1-1 in the first leg, former Blues striker Didier Drogba could not inspire the Turkish team, who fell behind early on when Samuel Eto’o fired past Fernando Muslera.
Gary Cahill made it 3-1 on aggregate when he thumped home after John Terry’s header was saved.
And Galatasaray’s night was summed up by Drogba’s stoppage-time miss.
After Arsenal and Manchester City were knocked out last week Chelsea won this game at a canter.
The result means that Galatasaray boss Roberto Mancini has yet to beat Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho in six European attempts.
Also Galatasaray is yet to beat English opposition in Europe in eight attempts
Unlike the first leg, where the visitors recovered from a poor start in Istanbul, Galatasaray did not look like troubling the Premier League leaders, who responded well to Saturday’s surprise defeat by Aston Villa.
Mourinho, who is aiming to win a third Champions League trophy with a different team, said in the build-up to the game that Drogba was still one of the world’s best strikers.
But there was to be no fairytale return to Stamford Bridge for the Ivorian striker. Eto’o, whose age was recently doubted by Mourinho, took centre stage.
The Cameroon forward, three years younger than the 36-year-old Drogba, looked sharp from the start and he put Chelsea ahead after four minutes with his 30th Champions League goal when he latched on to Oscar’s diagonal pass to beat Uruguayan international Muslera.
Chelsea showed far more impetus in the first half with Frank Lampard and Willian wasting good chances after excellent build-up play from Eden Hazard and Oscar.
Felipe Melo’s tame shot was Galatasaray’s only real effort towards Petr Cech’s goal. Drogba’s free-kick ended up in the top tier of the Chelsea stand and they did not muster a shot on target all game.
Added to their lifelessness in attack the visitors showed little desire to mark Terry at set-pieces and after the Chelsea captain volleyed over from a free-kick, he was free to head goalwards from a corner, with Cahill smashing home the rebound from close range.
Prior to this encounter, Galatasaray had failed to beat English opposition in eight attempts and once they had gone two goals behind they rarely looked like changing the game’s course.
With Hazard again the creative force, Oscar, Willian and Lampard all had chances to extend the lead after the break.
Hazard also drew a late save from Muslera, who is likely to face England in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.
But despite Mancini’s best attempts to give his team a boost with three second-half substitutions, they could not make an impression and Chelsea set themselves up perfectly for Saturday’s game against Arsenal with a comfortable victory.
Sports
I Joined Saudi League To Win Titles – Senegal Keeper
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
Sports
Spanish Football Fires Entire Refereeing Committee
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Sports
Ronaldo Renews Stay With Saudi Pro League
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.