The rise of Sergiño Dest has been meteoric. After all, it’s only been 459 days since he made his league debut with Ajax and 380 since he committed his international future to the USMNT.
But this is a 20-year-old who forced his way into the starting 11 of a title-winning Ajax side before convincing Barcelona to part with $25 million. And early returns in Catalonia have been good — Dest was arguably Barça’s best player in El Clásico.
MADRID — Real Madrid and Germany player Toni Kroos has taken a swipe at FIFA and UEFA, claiming the world and European organising bodies are treating players like "puppets" by expanding tournaments and creating new competitions.
Kroos criticised the creation of the UEFA Nations League in 2018, which he competes in with Germany, as well as FIFA's expanded Club World Cup, which was set to take place in 2021 before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The chairman of Qatar-based media group BeIN Sports and president of French soccer club Paris St Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, was cleared in a case over the awarding of television rights for the World Cup, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court said on Friday.
Al-Khelaifi had been accused of inciting former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement. The trial was not connected to Al-Khelaifi's role at Paris St Germain.
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba on Monday denied media reports that said he quit the France national team over comments made by the country's President Emmanuel Macron which were perceived to be against Islam.
The French leader this month declared war on "Islamist separatism,” which he believes is taking over some Muslim communities in France. The Sun newspaper alleged that Pogba, a practicing Muslim, reacted to Macron's comments by quitting the national team.
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands unveiled plans on Monday for a joint bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2027.
A statement released by the three countries' football associations said they had already expressed their intention to bid to world football’s governing body FIFA and that they would put together a formal agreement by the end of the year.
Argentina got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to the perfect start on Thursday when Lionel Messi's early penalty gave them a 1-0 win over Ecuador in a lackluster match in Buenos Aires.
The Argentine FA piped fan noise around the empty Bombonera stadium and the chants of "Messi! Messi!" were vindicated as early as the 12th minute when he put Argentina ahead from the spot after Lucas Ocampos was fouled inside the penalty area.