TheNewsGuru

Tag: pre-season

  • Haaland’s hat- trick sinks Chelsea in pre-season friendly

    Haaland’s hat- trick sinks Chelsea in pre-season friendly

    Manchester City striker Erling Haaland netted three goals in their 4-2 victory over Chelsea in a pre-season friendly on Saturday night.

     

    Haaland, demonstrating his sharp form ahead of the new season, scored twice within five minutes, capitalizing on defensive errors by Enzo Maresca’s side.

    The friendly was meant to put both teams in shape ahead of the new season beginning on August 17.

     

    He opened the scoring from the penalty spot and added a second with a right-footed curl. Oscar Bobb extended the lead to 3-0 before substitute Raheem Sterling volleyed in a goal for Chelsea to reduce the deficit.

    Haaland then completed his hat-trick, to put scores at 4-1 but Noni Madueke scored for Chelsea to halve the deficit before full-time of the thrilling friendly game.

  • Ligue 1: PSG drop Kyllian Mbappe from pre-season tour, put him up for sale

    Ligue 1: PSG drop Kyllian Mbappe from pre-season tour, put him up for sale

    French champions, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have dropped Kylian Mbappe from their preseason trip to Japan.

    PSG have now put the forward for sale to interested buyers.

    This was revealed by transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano on social media.

    “Kylian Mbappé has been left out of the Paris Saint-Germain squad for the pre-season tour in Japan.

    “Decision made by PSG tonight.

    “Understand PSG consider Mbappé FOR SALE starting from today.

    “Paris Saint-Germain feel Kylian Mbappé wants to leave for free in 2024 — he did not communicate anything yet despite Al Khelaifi’s public statement.

    “PSG decided to EXCLUDE Kylian from Japan tournée,” Romano tweeted Friday night.

  • Ronaldo declares to face Rayo Vallecano on Sunday

    Ronaldo declares to face Rayo Vallecano on Sunday

    Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo has announced he will play against Rayo Vallecano in Sunday’s pre-season friendly at Old Trafford.

    The Portugal forward wants United to let him leave this summer and missed the club’s pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia due to personal reasons.

    Ronaldo, 37, was also left out of United’s squad for Saturday’s friendly with Atletico Madrid in Oslo.

    But he suggested on Instagram he will face La Liga side Rayo Vallecano.

    Commenting on a post by a Ronaldo fan page about him missing the game in Norway, he wrote: “Domingo o rei joga” which translates as “Sunday the king plays”.

    Ronaldo met with United manager Erik ten Hag on Tuesday and is understood to have reiterated his desire to leave the Old Trafford outfit. He also missed Wednesday’s match against Wrexham that was held behind closed doors.

    Ten Hag has previously said Ronaldo is “not for sale” and “in our plans”.

  • Ten Hag axed Man Utd player for poor timekeeping

    Ten Hag axed Man Utd player for poor timekeeping

    Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag dropped a player for two games on their preseason tour for poor timekeeping.

    Ten Hag has introduced strict new rules regarding time-keeping, nutrition, and alcohol consumption after taking over this summer.

    During the trip, reports the Athletic, an unnamed player was twice late for team meetings, and Ten Hag had been planning to use him in a game in Australia but dropped him by way of punishment.

    The decision making it known that he will not let standards slip and puts a huge importance of punctuality.

    United take on Atletico Madrid in Oslo on Saturday after jetting back from their tour of Australia and Thailand.

    The Red Devils take on Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford just 24 hours later, with Ten Hag expected to name two separate starting XIs to give everyone much needed game time.

  • Tough preseason under Ten Hag – Maguire

    Tough preseason under Ten Hag – Maguire

    Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has said that it’s been a tough preseason under Erik ten Hag.

    The squad trained for two-and-a-half hours in Melbourne on Saturday despite playing the night before.

    “Ït’s been tough. The running has been hard but we’re really looking forward to the season,” said Maguire.

    “Erik and his coaching staff are bringing their ideas, and the first two games you’ve seen little glimpses of the principles.

    “We’re working towards being ready for that first Premier League game, that’s what matters. Everything we’re doing now is building for that first game.”

  • Messi fails to show up for Barca’s first pre-season training

    Messi fails to show up for Barca’s first pre-season training

    Unhappy Lionel Messi missed FC Barcelona’s first training session of the new season on Monday.

    This has come days after his shock announcement that he wants to leave the only club he has played for professionally.

    Messi’s failure to show up for the session, the first under new FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, was widely expected.

    The 33-year-old Argentine also failed to show up for a pre-season medical on Sunday.

    Reuters television footage showed players arriving for the session which began at 1730 local time (1530 GMT) and Messi did not appear.

    The six-times world player of the year insists he has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave on a free transfer.

    This is a claim disputed by FC Barcelona and La Liga.

    Messi’s lawyers plan to invoke a clause in his four-year contract, signed in 2017, which would have allowed the forward to leave the club for free if he had requested it by June 10.

    They will argue that that date — nominally the end of the season — is now irrelevant after the coronavirus pandemic forced an extension of the La Liga season deep into August.

    However, La Liga said on Sunday that the only way a club can sign the Argentine forward is if he triggers a release clause of 700 million euros (836 million dollars).

    Messi’s decision came after FC Barcelona failed to win any silverware last season, which finished with a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

    Supporters who waited outside the training ground on Monday were split over Messi’s decision.

    “I really want Messi to stay,” Brazilian Fabio Alfredo Suarez told Reuters. “Messi lives in my heart — it’s a pity that he leaves, I wanted him to leave through the front door of the club.”

    Spaniard Ivan Antolin Beltran remembered that Barca had helped Messi through the earlier stages of his career.

    “After all that Barca has given to Messi throughout his career, which started here as a child… they paid him for all his medicines and everything … I think his way of behaving is a bit incorrect,” he said.

  • Man City to play pre-season games in China

    Manchester City will play their pre-season matches in the Chinese cities of Nanjing and Shanghai in July as part of the Premier League Asia Trophy, the English champions said on Tuesday.

    City are part of a four-strong contingent at the tournament, along with Newcastle United, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

    City’s first match is a semi-final at Nanjing’s Olympic Sports Centre on July 17, which will determine whether they take part in the third-place playoff or final at Shanghai’s Hongkou Stadium on July 20.

    “We’re delighted to return to China and take part in the Premier League Asia Trophy,” City’s chief operating officer Omar Berrada said in a statement.

    “China is a special place for City – it’s where (manager) Pep Guardiola began his City tenure in 2016 and we have a huge number of passionate followers across the country.”

    Last month, City Football Group (CFG) announced it had jointly purchased China League Two side Sichuan Jiuniu FC.

    CFG is a holding company in which Abu Dhabi United Group own an 87 per cent stake with the remaining 13 per cent held by the China Media Capital consortium.

    City announced last month that they would play a pre-season match in Japan for the first time as part of their Asian Tour, and are set to take on J League side Yokohama F. Marinos, in which CFG owns a minority stake, on July 27.

    Guardiola’s team are currently second in the Premier League table, two points behind Liverpool who have played one game more.

  • Mourinho worried by Man United’s ‘very bad’ pre-season

    Mourinho worried by Man United’s ‘very bad’ pre-season

    Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is worried by the absence of key players from the club’s pre-season training camp in the United States.

    Mourinho said the situation was “very bad” ahead of the English Premier League (EPL) campaign.

    United are without several World Cup participants, including France’s Paul Pogba, Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini, and England’s Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Ashley Young and Phil Jones among others, as they rest following a gruelling tournament.

    Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez is also absent from the camp due to visa issues.

    “The pre-season is very bad, the positive thing of the pre-season is only for the young boys that have a fantastic opportunity to train with us,” Mourinho told reporters.

    “I’m worried because I’m not training (with everyone) and then I go to the EPL without lots of players.

    “But it is what it is and we have to try and make the best out of it with the players we have here.

    “I’m not worried about playing Liverpool here or Real Madrid or Milan… I’m not worried if we lose badly,” continued Mourinho.

    United will play two friendlies, starting with Club America on Friday, ahead of next week’s International Champions Cup tournament, where they will face domestic rivals Liverpool, Real Madrid and Italy’s AC Milan.

    The Old Trafford side also play a friendly against German champions Bayern Munich on Aug. 5, five days before they kick off their league campaign against Leicester City.

    Reuters/NAN

  • MFM FC wins South-West Pre-Season Tourney

    Lagos-based MFM FC defeated 36 Lion of Lagos, 3-1, to emerge the champions of the 2017 edition of South-West Pre Season Football Tournament.

    The NewsGuru reports that the Premier League, National League and some invited teams based in the South-West Geo-political Zone participated in the week-long invitational tournament.

    MFM defeated 36 Lions in the final match decided at the Agege Stadium, with goals from Victor Mbaoma, Oche Salefu and Monsuru Bashiru.
    Bakare Emmanuel scored 36 Lions’ only goal of the entertaining match.

    The Chairman of the tournament, Seyi Akinwunmi, told TNG during the encounter that the competition achieved its aim of preaching unity and love to clubs in the zone.

    He said that the tourney helped in identifying talents from the zone who would be nurtured to greatness.

    “We can assure everyone that the next edition of the tourney will be better and bigger,” he said.

    The MFM FC Media Officer, Olawale Quadri, said that the team would leverage on its achievement in the competition to prepare well for the next competition.

    “MFM FC will continue their pre-season exercise with another pre-season event tagged, “Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Invitational Tournament’’ next Monday in Kano at the Sani Abacha Stadium.

    “This is a good way to prepare the team ahead of the next challenge,” he said.