Lionel Messi has been honoured by South America football governing organisation, CONMEBOL with the ‘Baton of Football’.
A life-sized statue of Messi holding the World Cup was also made in his honour.
The footballer shared photos from the event on his Instagram page on Monday.
He wrote, “Thanks to #conmebol for this tribute and to #sole_pastorutti for that beautiful moment. It was very special and emotional.”
Messi led Argentina to win the 2022 FIFA
PSG star, Lionel Messi, has been immortalized in his home country Argentina, as a training camp for the national football team has been renamed after him.
Head of the Argentine Football Association, Chiqui Tapia, made the announcement on Saturday, March 25.
He tweeted;
“We lived a historic day in our Casa de Ezeiza, which from today will be renamed Lionel Andrés Messi, in homage to the best player in the world. I want to thank all the managers, players and employees of @afa for having been with us, once again”
Vivimos una jornada histórica en nuestra Casa de Ezeiza, que desde hoy, pasará a llamarse Lionel Andrés Messi, en homenaje al mejor jugador del mundo.
Quiero agradecer a todos los dirigentes, jugadores, jugadoras y empleados de @afa por haber estado junto a nosotros, una vez más pic.twitter.com/zuSek1Fb6F— Chiqui Tapia (@tapiachiqui) March 25, 2023
Shortly after the announcement was made, Messi took to Instagram to express his delight. He wrote;
“This recognition is one of the most beautiful I have ever received. A great honour, thank you very much.”
The original FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy has arrived in Nigeria.
The trophy whish is to be competed for by 32 teams from across the globe from July 20 to August 20 arrived in Abuja on Saturday afternoon.
The trophy arrived in Nigeria after being taken to the three other African countries which will participate in the finals — Morocco, South Africa and Zambia.
Nigeria is the fourth leg of the 32-leg trip the trophy is undertaking before heading to Australia and New Zealand.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that both Australia and New Zealand are the joint hosts of the biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup in history.
The trophy will be on display at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja from 12 noon on Sunday, with a photo session planned for a number of invited guests.
Only four countries have ever won the trophy, namely the United States, Germany, Norway and Japan.
The US have won it on four occasions and Germany have lifted it twice, while Japan and Norway were champions once each.
This year’s finals will be staged in 10 venues across the two host countries in two different confederations — Asian Football Confederation and Oceania Football Federation.
It is the first time a FIFA World Cup championship will be staged across two confederations.
There are six venues in five different cities in Australia and four venues in New Zealand, with only Sydney in Australia having two venues.
These are the Sydney Football Stadium and the Stadium Australia, which is the venue for the Final match.
PSG star, Kylian Mbappe had quite a successful outing in his first match as France’s captain.
The French team got a 4-0 win over the Netherlands on Friday night, to make a flying start to their UEFA EURO 2024 qualification campaign.
Antoine Griezmann scored the opener with a left-footed strike that came off an Mbappe pass just two minutes into the game.
Dayot Upamecano doubled the French advantage five minutes later, turning home from close range after a goalkeeping blunder from Jasper Cillessen.
In the 21st minute, Mbappe ran inside the penalty area and finished in the penalty box after a killer through ball by Aurelien Tchouameni.
The crowd at Stade de France were again rampant after Mbappe scored on a solo-effort goal to seal the match in the 88th minute.
Near the end of the match, the Netherlands’ experienced forward Memphis Depay missed a penalty, giving the Dutch a frustrating result.
France will visit Ireland in Dublin on Monday, March 27, while the Netherlands will host Gibraltar in Rotterdam.
Paris, the wife of World heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, is pregnant with their seventh child.
Fury made the announcement while sharing a picture from his date night with his wife via his Instagram account on Thursday.
He captioned the picture, “All is not lost! I get to date night with my beautiful pregnant wife #ParisFury1. God is great!.
“What a woman. 7th incoming. Fantastic news to cheer me up!”
Fury and Paris met at the age of 14 and married five years later when they were 20 and 19 respectively.
Daughter Venezuela, 13, soon followed and were later joined by Prince John James, nine, Prince Tyson II, five, Adonis, four, and Valencia, three.
Baby Athena was born prematurely in August 2021 and died for three minutes before being revived by doctors.
Tyson’s announcement of Paris’ latest pregnancy comes less than 24 hours after his heavyweight heartbreak.
The Gypsy King’s eagerly-anticipated undisputed heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk collapsed on Wednesday after weeks of both teams trying to salvage the fight.
Tottenham legend, Harry Kane on Thursday night, smashed England’s all-time goalscoring record after converting a penalty in the 2-1 win against Italy.
Harry Kane netted his 54th goal for the Three Lions from the penalty spot to seal his name in history. He and Wayne Rooney had been tied on 53 goals heading into Thursday’s match.
Kane reached the milestone in his 81st appearance for England, 39 fewer games than the current DC United manager. His goal made it 2-0 for Gareth Southgate’s side after Declan Rice netted the opener against the reigning European champions.
Speaking after the game, Kane said:
“I was on the pitch when Wayne broke the record and I know what it meant to him and how proud I was. When I presented him the boot for breaking the record, he said he’d be giving it back to me one day. He’s a special guy, and England legend.”
Wayne Rooney has also paid tribute to Harry Kane. He tweeted;
“Congratulations to @HKane on becoming @England’s all-time leading goalscorer. I knew it wouldn’t take long but that was quick. Great man, unbelievable goalscorer and an England legend. Congrats Harry”
Rooney offered a lengthier tribute to Kane in The Times. He wrote;
“When I broke the England goalscoring record, with a penalty against Switzerland in September 2015, Harry Kane was the first player to run over and celebrate with me. I later mentioned Harry in the speech I made in the dressing room.
“I said that I hoped the young players in the squad would come close to the record themselves, and even be able to surpass me. Harry had scored only three England goals at that point — but I said those words because I knew he could do it. Even then, with only four caps under his belt, I knew he could become England’s greatest scorer if he kept going the way he was and I wanted to give him encouragement.
“I am delighted for him, for his family, and for the England team now he has done it, having scored his 54th England goal against Italy on Thursday night. Knowing Harry, it’s not something that will go to his head. He will kick on and, in fact, I believe that when he stops playing he will leave the England record in a place where it will be very difficult for someone else to break it.
“He wants to be like Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, a goal machine who is still at the very top in his mid-thirties, and he has it in him to make that happen. I think Harry will finish with an England goals total well into the seventies.”
Portuguese football star, Joao Cancelo has recounted the pain of losing a Champions League final to a Chelsea team led by Thomas Tuchel, who has now been appointed as the manager of Bayern Munich.
The Blues defeated Manchester City to win the Champions League in 2021, few months after Tuchel was appointed as manager of the team.
Cancelo who was one of the regular starters at Manchester City at the time, is now hoping to create more positive memories in 2023 with his new boss.
The Bayern Munich star who spoke to Sport TV after helping Portugal get a 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein in their opening game of Euro 2024 qualification, said;
“I’ve only found out now. I know I won’t find Nagelsmann when I return to Munich. He wanted me at Bayern, I’d like to thank him. As for Tuchel, he made me lose a Champions League final, so I hope he will win it for me this year!”
Thomas Tuchel will soon be announced as the next manager of Bayern Munich following the sack of Julian Nagelsmann on Thursday, March 23.
Thomas Tuchel set to become new Bayern Munich manager
Nagelsmann was axed after Bayern lost 2-1 at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Sunday, March 19, allowing Dortmund to move to the top of the Bundesliga table.
The 35-year-old took charge in 2021 and led Bayern to their 10th German title in a row last season, but they have been unable to replicate that form, and the hierarchy have acted ahead of the Champions League quarter-finals next month.
Popular journalist Fabrizio Romano reported that Bayern already has a full agreement in place with Tuchel, with final documents being prepared on Thursday night.
The former Chelsea boss will be seeking to repeat the feat he achieved upon taking over mid-season at Stamford Bridge. Tuchel won the Champions League with Chelsea, just months into his tenure. He will inherit a talented squad that has underperformed domestically since losing Robert Lewandowski last summer.
Tuchel was sacked by the Blues at the beginning of the Premier League campaign and replaced by Graham Potter. Since then, he has been linked to several jobs, including Real Madrid, where Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly on the brink of an exit.
Should Bayern beat Manchester City, they could face Chelsea in the semi-finals if the Blues get past Real Madrid; meaning Tuchel would come up against his replacement Graham Potter on the touchline just months after his dismissal.
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