Sports

Club World Cup: PSG Crush Inter Miami 4-0 To Reach Quarter-final

Published

3 months ago

June 29, 2025

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) steamrollered Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 4-0 to reach the Club World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

Miami hoped the Argentine superstar’s magic could help them produce an unlikely result against his former side, but the Major League Soccer side were dismantled in Atlanta by Luis Enrique’s rampant European champions.

Ageing great Messi and his former Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba had done well to reach the last 16 but the gulf in quality between the teams was laid bare over the 90 minutes.

Joao Neves netted twice for PSG, who benefitted from a Tomas Aviles own goal, while Achraf Hakimi was also on target.

After Neves opened the scoring early on Miami resisted until PSG hit three goals in 10 minutes towards the end of the first half.

Messi was the main draw, as fans chanted his name and most of the 66,000 crowd were clad in Miami’s hot pink interspersed with Argentina shirts.

PSG dominated from the start, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia floating into the box and teeing up Bradley Barcola, but Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari thwarted him with an outstretched leg.

However shortly afterwards over-run Miami right-back Marcelo Weigandt fouled Desire Doue and it led to PSG’s opener.

Vitinha whipped a free-kick to the back post where Portuguese midfielder Neves ran in completely unmarked, stooping to nod past Ustari after six minutes.

PSG’s Fabian Ruiz had a goal disallowed for offside before Miami defender Noah Allen limped off injured in a further blow for Javier Mascherano’s side.

With the Ligue 1 champions pressing high and keeping possession Miami found it hard to get Messi involved.

The 38-year-old Argentine superstar played a superbly weighted pass down the right flank for Tadeo Allende but a rare Miami break came to nothing.

Messi’s intermittent interventions were not enough to hold back the Parisian tide.

PSG doubled their lead in the 39th minute when veteran holding midfielder Busquets got his footwork wrong in front of his own box.

Spanish compatriot Ruiz rapidly relieved him of the ball and combined with Barcola to set up Neves to tap home his second.

PSG grabbed their third when Aviles deflected Doue’s cross into his own net, and Hakimi netted the fourth before half-time to put PSG out of sight.

The Morocco international’s first effort was deflected onto the crossbar but he stayed alert at the air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz Stadium to fire home the rebound.

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi lost his cool with a swipe aimed at Vitinha as the Argentine raged against the midfielder, Miami’s impotence and PSG’s swagger.

– Determined Messi –

Messi produced a brilliant pass for Suarez early in the second half, chipping a ball over the PSG defence, but the Uruguayan could not finish to offer Miami a lifeline.

Despite the impossibility of a comeback — there was to be no comeback like the one Luis Enrique’s Barcelona managed in 2017 against PSG from four goals down in which Messi and Suarez scored — the Argentine was determined to bow out with a bang.

Messi drew a first save from PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma after the hour mark with a low effort.

Luis Enrique sent on winger Ousmane Dembele for his first appearance at the tournament after a hamstring injury, but the Frenchman was rusty and imprecise.

When Suarez was fouled by Lucas Beraldo on the edge of the box Messi had the chance to repeat his free-kick winner against Porto in the group stage, but his effort hit the wall.

It was not to be for Messi or Miami, but their second-half performance was respectable and the defeat was by a lesser margin than the French side’s 5-0 Champions League final thrashing of Inter Milan.

PSG will face Bayern Munich or Flamengo in the quarter-finals in Atlanta on Saturday.

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Sports

WCQ: Haaland Scores Hat-trick As Norway Thrash Israel 5-0

Published

9 hours ago

October 11, 2025

Editor

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick to pass 50 international goals in record time as Norway cruised to a 5-0 thrashing of Israel on Saturday, edging closer to qualifying for a first World Cup since 1998.

Norway, who have not played at a major tournament since Euro 2000, now lead Group I with nine points more than second-placed Italy, who have two games in hand and play in Estonia later Saturday.

The Scandinavians will secure a place at next year’s finals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico with a win over the Estonians on Tuesday if Italy fails to defeat either Estonia or Israel in their next two matches.

Manchester City striker Haaland is the leading scorer in European qualifying with 12 goals so far.

He also became the fastest player in men’s international football to reach 50 goals for his country and now boasts 51 goals for Norway in just 46 games.

England captain Harry Kane held the previous record, bringing up his half-century in 71 appearances.

Ahead of kick-off, hundreds of people attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration, chanting “Free Palestine” to protest against Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, AFP journalists reported.

The head of the Norwegian football association, Lise Klaveness, recently said she was pushing “for Israel to be sanctioned”.

In early action, Haaland surprised the Norwegian fans in the Ullevaal Stadium when his penalty was saved by Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz.

The spot-kick was ordered to be retaken for encroachment inside the area and Haaland struck his second effort in the opposite direction, only for it to be parried away again by Peretz.

But Norway did forge ahead in the 18th minute through an Anan Khalaili own goal, before Haaland raced clear to score in a ninth successive international appearance.

The hosts grabbed their third just seconds after Israel kicked off again in the 28th minute, as Peretz kicked the ball off Idan Nachmias, who was under pressure from Haaland, and into the net for another own goal.

Nachmias also had to go off injured after colliding with the post.

Haaland added his second in the 63rd minute, powering home a header from Antonio Nusa’s cross, before nodding in to complete his hat-trick with 18 minutes left.

Elsewhere, Hungary beat Armenia 2-0 in Group F, meaning Portugal could qualify with back-to-back wins over the Republic of Ireland, who they were facing at home later Saturday, and then Hungary on Tuesday.

Sports

Just Like Football Clubs, Let’s Sign Foreign President To Fix Nigeria – Actor Okele [VIDEO]

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Popular Nigerian actor, Tunde Usman, professionally known as Okele, has proposed ‘signing’ of foreign Presidents to fix the country.

The actor made the suggestion while reacting to Nigeria’s current economic hardship.

Reacting to the increase in price of cooking gas across the nation, Okele in a now trending video shared on his Instagram page proposed a football method of removing a non performing coaches to address Nigeria’s challenges.

Speaking in Yoruba, the actor argued that adoption of the football method might solve constant disappointment with elected leaders.

“Greetings to all Nigerians home and abroad. May God help us soften this hardship. I just thought of something about gas, fuel and the way things are expensive in Nigeria.

“If you are a lover of football you would know that every club has a coach, assistant coach, and those that train the keepers. So, instead of campaigning for different political parties with some looting our money, why can’t Nigeria look around the world and sign any ex-president that has proven himself in another country to fix Nigeria.

“Even many football nations signed coaches from different countries. Maybe we should adopt the signing of the President method to end different political parties campaigns. Let’s come together and sign our President the same way we signed the coach and we can sack the non performing President and sign a new one.”

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A post shared by Tunde Usman-aka Okele (@okele_2)

Sports

FIFA U-20 World Cup: Argentina Crush Nigeria 4-0

Published

3 days ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Argentina produced a commanding performance to beat Nigeria’s Flying Eagles 4-0 in a knockout-stage match at the U-20 World Cup on Wednesday.

Alejo Sarco opened the scoring after just two minutes, tapping in from a Dylan Gorosito cross.

Maher Carrizo doubled the lead with a superb left-footed free-kick on 23 minutes and added a second shortly after the interval (53′) to make it 3-0.

Mateo Silvetti capped the scoring with a low finish on 66 minutes, finishing off a move created by Gianluca Prestianni.

The Flying Eagles huffed and puffed but rarely threatened the match rhythm. Daniel Daga saw a close-range effort saved before half-time, and Kparobo Arierhi rattled the post in stoppage time of the first half.

But none of their attacks could find a way past Argentina’s goalkeeper Santino Barbi or break down a disciplined defensive unit.

Meanwhile, Ebenezer Harcourt produced several important saves to limit the damage early on.

Tactical changes came early in the second half as Nigeria’s coach shuffled his pack, introducing Auwal Ibrahim, Abduljelil Kamaldeen, Emmanuel Ekele and Charles Agada in a bid to spark a revival, but Argentina’s control of the midfield and clinical finishing rendered the substitutions ineffective.

Details later…