Sports
Legendry Midfielder Eyes Two Trophies For Retirement

Toni Kroos, a world champion and five-time Champions League winner, is eyeing two more major trophies after announcing yesterday that he will retire after Euro 2024.
Kroos, who had stepped down from international duty after Germany’s last-16 Euros exit to England in 2021, answered a call from manager Julian Nagelsmann to return to the international setup in February.
This summer’s European Championship, which kicks off on June 14 when Germany face Scotland in Munich, will be the last time the 2014 World Cup winner takes to the field competitively.
At club level, the 34-year-old will play one final match for Real Madrid in front of the club’s home fans, on Saturday against Real Betis, with the La Liga title already in the bag.
Kroos will then face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final on June 1.
In announcing his retirement on the podcast he co-presents with his brother Felix, he said his huge goal was to “win that one at Wembley”.
Victory would mean a sixth Champions League trophy, equalling the record set by Real Madrid winger Paco Gento in 1966, the latest title in a glittering career for the man from the town on the Baltic Sea coast.
Born in Greifswald, then part of East Germany, in 1990, Kroos joined Bayern’s youth setup from Hansa Rostock aged 16 and was promoted to the seniors just one year later.
Kroos became Bayern’s youngest ever professional player when he made his debut aged 17 years and 265 days, laying on an assist for Miroslav Klose just 18 minutes after coming on.
In Bayern’s treble-winning season in 2012-13, Kroos was a cornerstone of a midfield featuring Germany teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez.
The midfielder stayed for another season in the Bavarian capital after coach Pep Guardiola’s arrival but left at the end of the campaign after Bayern reportedly refused to meet his salary demands.
He was close to a move to Manchester United under then manager David Moyes but the deal fell through when the Scotsman was replaced by Louis van Gaal.
The midfielder instead moved to Real Madrid where he won four Champions Leagues, including three in a row from 2016-2018, along with an array of domestic league titles and cups.
Bayern powerbroker Uli Hoeness later admitted his regret at letting Kroos leave, saying “a club needs to make difficult decisions sometimes. That was a hard one, and maybe the wrong one.”
Kroos made his Germany debut in 2010 in a 1-0 loss in a friendly against Argentina and came off the bench regularly in that year’s World Cup run to a third-place finish.
Having quickly established himself in midfield, he played every minute of Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil, scoring two goals in the 7-1 demolition of the host nation in the semi-finals.
Before the 2016 Euros, then Germany coach Joachim Low called Kroos the “decisive player for us”, saying “his teammates trust in him.”
“He always does well and is very economical in how he plays. He does not make many mistakes.”
Germany came up short though, losing 2-0 to France in the semi-finals.
Named German Footballer of the Year in 2018, Kroos signed off from international duty after Germany were eliminated by England at the Euros in 2021.
While his retirement was seen as a part of a necessary generational shift seven years after Brazil, unlike Thomas Mueller, Jerome Boateng or Mats Hummels, Kroos made the decision himself.
His return in early 2024 helped a new-look Germany win friendlies against France and the Netherlands, kick-starting a wave of optimism after several years of disappointment.
Yesterday, Kroos said he “never wanted to have the feeling that the club, the fans, the people around me had to tell me: ‘OK, that’s enough’.”
Kroos added he was now “still in the middle of it. I’m an active footballer with huge goals and having a lot of fun doing it.”
Sports
Gyokeres Situation, Transfer Under Cloud At Sporting

Sporting have not received an offer for striker Viktor Gyokeres and there is no gentleman’s agreement for him to leave for £59million, says club president Frederico Varandas.
Sweden international Gyokeres, 27, has been heavily linked with Manchester United and Arsenal after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches during two seasons in Portugal.
He has a 100m euro (£85m) release clause in his contract.
It has been widely reported that, after staying at Sporting last summer, Gyokeres and Sporting agreed he could leave for 70m euros (£59m) this summer.
However, Varandas said the club’s only promise to Gyokeres was that they would not demand his full release clause.
“I can guarantee that Viktor Gyokeres will not leave for 60m euros plus 10m euros because I never promised that,” Varandas said.
“To this day Sporting has not had an offer for Gyokeres, neither today nor last season.”
Gyokeres spent three seasons with Coventry City in the Championship before joining Sporting under Ruben Amorim.
Manchester City director of football Hugo Viana was sporting director at Sporting last summer, when Gyokeres’ agent sought assurances about his leaving if a suitable offer arrived.
“One of the agent’s biggest concerns was whether we would demand the termination clause,” said Varandas.
“He wanted to guarantee certain things. And what was agreed? That Sporting would not demand a release clause now.
“For one reason: he was going to be 27 years old and no player leaves Portugal at 27 for 100m eurors or 90m euros.
“In that same meeting the agent wanted to anchor the exit to a value. I said this sentence: ‘It’s not worth us setting a value because I don’t know what will happen in a year’s time. I don’t know if it will be 40m euros, 60m euros or 80m euros. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100 million euros.’”
Sports
Concacaf Opposes 64-Team W’Cup Plans

Concacaf President Victor Montagliani has criticised a proposal to expand the 2030 men’s World Cup to 64 teams.
The plans, put forward by South American governing body Conmebol, have also drawn opposition from Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The tournament will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, after the opening matches are held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Mexico and Canada, has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
But Conmebol said it wanted to add more participants to mark the competition’s 100-year anniversary.
“I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players,” Montagliani told Tidesports source
“We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table.”
Concacaf is the governing body of football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
The decision to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams was taken in 2017 following a unanimous vote at a Fifa congress.
Fifa’s 75th congress will be held in Paraguay on 15 May, when Conmebol’s proposal could be discussed.
If the proposal is accepted, the 2030 edition would consist of 128 matches, double the number played under the 64-game format used from 1998 and 2022.
In March, Ceferin described the proposal as a “bad idea” while AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa said it would cause “chaos”.
“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams,” said Salman.
“But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”
Sports
Brazil Edge Paraguay, Book W’Cup Spot

Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup this week with a 1-0 win against Paraguay in South American qualifying to give Carlo Ancelotti his first win as manager.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jnr scored from close range in the second half, finishing after fine work from Manchester United-bound playmaker Matheus Cunha.
The victory, Ancelotti’s first after a 0-0 draw against Ecuador on his debut last week, means Brazil has now qualified for every edition of the World Cup.
“We needed to win and qualify for the World Cup,” said Vinicius Jr.
“Now the coach will have more time to work. Of course today wasn’t one of our best performances, but the important thing is always to win.
“Now it’s time to celebrate qualifying.”
Elsewhere, World Cup holders Argentina played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Colombia in Buenos Aires.
Liverpool winger Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a fine individual goal, dancing through three defenders before finishing past Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Argentina was reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off for a high-boot challenge on Colombia’s Kevin Castano.
But Lionel Messi’s side found an equaliser nine minutes from the end through Lyon’s Thiago Almada, leaving Colombia four points clear of seventh-placed Venezuela.
Ecuador, Argentina’s nearest challengers, booked their spot at next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States after a 0-0 draw away at Peru.
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