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Ozil Announces Retirement From Football

Mesut Ozil, the ex-Germany playmaker, has announced his retirement from football at age 34.

According to Ozil, he took the decision because of the recent injuries he has suffered.

The 34-year-old spent the past three years in the Turkish Super Lig.

Ozil retires after making four appearances for Basaksehir.

He amassed over 500 career appearances across his 17-year career.

“After thoughtful consideration, I’m announcing my immediate retirement from professional football,” Ozil tweeted on Wednesday.

He added: “It has been an amazing journey filled with unforgettable moments and emotions.

“I want to thank my clubs – Schalke, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid, Arsenal FC, Fenerbahçe, Basaksehir and the coaches who supported me, plus teammates who have become friends.”

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Kylian Mbappe Named As New France Captain at 24

Les Blues manager, Didier Deschamps has reportedly named Kylian Mbappe as the country’s new captain.
This comes after France was left without a captain after Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris announced he was retiring from international duties in January after December’s World Cup final defeat to Argentina.
But after careful consideration of the nation’s remaining stars, decision-maker Deschamps has chosen Mbappe to take on the huge responsibility, according to French outlet L’Equipe.
Mbappe joined his France teammates at their headquarters in Clairefontaine on Sunday ahead of the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against the Netherlands and Ireland.
The 24-year-old has cemented his status as one of the best players in world football after helping France win the 2018 World Cup and almost follow-up it up with a second world title in Qatar last year.
Mbappe would join Norway’s 24-year-old Martin Odegaard in becoming one of the youngest captains in Europe.
The superstar striker has scored a total of 36 goals in 66 international appearances and has been named France’s best player of the season on four separate occasions.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic becomes Serie A’s oldest goalscorer

Swedish football legend and AC Milan star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic made history on Saturday, March 18, as he became the oldest goalscorer in Serie A history.

During the match between AC Milan and Udinese, Ibrahimovic converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time to pull his side level after they fell behind early in the game.

Though the match ended 3-1 in favour of Udinese, the Sweden international overtook Alessandro Costacurta, who held the record from his days at Milan.

Costacurta was 41 years and 25 days old when he topped the list in 2007. Ibrahimovic who is 41 years and 166 days old, has now taken the top spot.

The goal against Udinese is Ibrahimovic’s first in Serie A this season. The striker had made just three appearances for the Rossoneri before Saturday’s clash, having been absent with a knee injury for most of the campaign.

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UEL Last 8 draw: Man Utd vs Sevilla, Juventus v Sporting Lisbon

Manchester United will get a third trip to Spain in as many months, as they face perennial Europa League challengers Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Sevilla will have the chance to avenge the eliminations of city rivals Real Betis and Barcelona in the quarter-finals, although Manchester United will be heavy favourites for the tie.

Los Nervionenses are currently more concerned about avoiding relegation, as they sit 13th, just two points above the drop zone. They beat Fenerbahce 2-1 on aggregate in a tense tie in the Round of 16, as United dismissed Betis 5-1 on aggregate live on Onpointy Blog.

The winners of that tie will face one of Juventus or Sporting CP in the semi-finals, as they lie on the same side of the draw. The teams competing on the other side are Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, Union St. Gilloise and Feyenoord. Sevilla will travel to Manchester in the first leg, while United will be back at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan for the second.

Draw Results:

  • Manchester United v Sevilla
  • Juventus v Sporting Lisbon
  • Bayer Leverkusen v Union Saint-Gilloise
  • Feyenoord v Roma
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Sport News

BREAKING: Champions League Quarter-Final Draw Confirmed (Full Fixtures)

The highly anticipated draw for the Champions League quarter-final has been conducted on Friday.

The holders, Real Madrid will take on Chelsea as they seek to retain their trophy.

Manchester City take on Bayern Munich in what is easily the tie of the round.

AC Milan take on Napoli in an all-Italian clash.

FULL FIXTURES

Real Madrid vs Chelsea

Inter Milan vs Benfica

Manchester City vs Bayern Munich

AC Milan vs Napoli

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Sport News

Why I Didn’t Take Penalty Against Frankfurt – Osimhen

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has opened up on why he didn’t take the penalty during his team’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Recall that Osimhen was on a hattrick before the penalty was awarded to his team.
Osimhen scored two goals as Napoli defeated Frankfurt 3-0 to qualify for a first-ever Champions League quarter-final place 5-0 on aggregate.
He scored in two minutes into first-half stoppage time and netted his second goal in the 53rd minute, Complete Sports reports.
Piotr Zielinski scored Napoli’s third from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.
Osimhen would have taken the penalty to bag a hat-trick but instead handed the ball over to Zielinski.
In a video posted on BT Sport’s YouTube channel, Osimhen said he was not bothered about who scored as long as the club achieved success.
 
“The penalty Zieliniski asked me if he could take it, of course, I’m a team player it doesn’t matter who scores as long as the team achieves success. I know my goals will come with or without penalty,” Osimhen said.
According to Complete Sports, the player also expressed delight following Napoli’s historic quarter-final qualification, saying, “It feels good, it feels amazing, it feels good to make history with this win. We want to keep on going like this until the next round, we are ready for it,” he added.
Osimhen has scored four goals in five Champions League matches this term.
The 24-year-old is the first player to score for Napoli in both legs of a Champions League knockout tie.
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Lionel Messi To Overtake Ronaldo As Highest-Paid Footballer

Lionel Messi is set to overtake Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest-paid footballer in the history of football .
According to reports, Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal are set to make an irresistible offer to Lionel Messi that will make him earn £19 million more than his career rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Recall that after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Ronaldo who was without a club after United sacked him in November due to an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, signed a record-breaking deal with Al-Nassr.
The deal reportedly earns the 38-year-old Portuguese legend a whopping £175-million-a-year which is the highest pay for a footballer in the history of the game.
Since he signed the deal, the Portuguese star has scored 8 goals and provided 2 assists in 7 Saudi Pro League matches for Al-Nassr.
Aside from that, his presence in Saudi Arabia has attracted huge attention to the club, the league, and the country at large.
Hence, Al-Hilal, the arch-rivals of Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, are seeking to reciprocate that by signing Lionel Messi who just won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The 35-year-old Argentine footballer has until this summer before his contract with Paris Saint Germain expires. The French side have been trying to extend Messi’s contract but the negotiations are said not to be going smoothly.
On Wednesday, Daily Mail reported that Jorge, Messi’s father and agent, was spotted in the Saudi capital Riyadh which could imply that the negotiations between Messi and the Saudi side are advancing.
Lionel Messi’s father and agent Jorge spotted in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
The offer on the table for Messi is worth a whopping £194-million-a-year which is unprecedented in the history of football. The Saudi side are pushing to seal the deal ahead of this summer.
If Messi signs the deal, the age-long rivalry between the Argentine attacker and Ronaldo would be ignited. If that happens, Saudi Arabia would be the new Mecca of club football.
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Burna Boy To Perform In Champions League Final

Superstar Nigerian singer, Burna Boy is scheduled to perform at the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul.

This was disclosed in a tweet on Thursday on the official UEFA Champions League page.

https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/1636307569470853123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1636307569470853123%7Ctwgr%5E67e74a97663c42e58701a48fb2dcd3ee0d363977%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tori.ng%2Fnews%2F230276%2Fburna-boy-to-perform-in-champions-league-final.html

The Grammy-award winner will co-headline with other music stars at the highly anticipated 2023 UEFA Champions League Final Kick-Off Show by Pepsi on June 10.

The global chart-topping ‘Last Last’ superstar will be bringing his signature soulful vibes of afrobeats to Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium to the cheers of millions of fans tuning in from across the globe.

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World Cup 2026 To Feature 48 Teams Instead of Usual 32 — FIFA

FIFA, the football governing body has expanded the 2026 men’s World Cup in North America to 12 groups of four teams.
This is a change from the original 8 groups of 4 teams.
FIFA announced this on Tuesday, March 14.
The next World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the first to feature 48 teams, a sharp increase from the 32 sides at last year’s tournament in Qatar.
“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams,” FIFA said on its website.
It means that there will be 104 matches, a huge rise compared to the 64 games played in the 2022 tournament and an increase even on the original plan that the 2026 World Cup would feature 80 matches.
FIFA’s initial plan for 2026 was for 16 groups of three teams, from which the top two countries would advance to the last 32.
The new decided format means the top two in each group will go through to the knockout round along with the eight best third-placed sides.
As a result, the finalists, and the teams finishing third and fourth, will play a total of eight games instead of the current seven.
The decision comes after an entertaining group stage at Qatar 2022 convinced FIFA that a rethink to its original 2026 blueprint was needed.
Tuesday’s decision was announced following a FIFA Council meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali, at which it confirmed the next men’s World Cup final will be played on Sunday, July 19, 2026.
FIFA said that the total number of days between when clubs must stop playing and release players for international duty, and the final, would be 56, identical to the previous three tournaments.
Nevertheless the World Cup itself may be played over a longer period, after Qatar 2022 was held over just 29 days.
Infantino could get another four year term as FIFA president as he stands unopposed for re-election at Thursday’s FIFA Congress
Expanding the World Cup had been a priority for Infantino following his election in 2016, when he took over from Sepp Blatter at the head of world football.
The number of venues for the 2026 finals will double, from eight stadiums in Qatar last year to 16.
Eleven venues will be in the USA, with three in Mexico and two in Canada.
FIFA also projected a huge increase in revenues in the four-year cycle leading up to 2026, up to $11 billion from $7.5 billion in the four years up to 2022.
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Sport News

Osimhen Is World’s Best Striker – Super Eagles Defender, Troost-Ekong Declares

Victor Osimhen has been declared as the world’s best striker.
Super Eagles assistant captain, William Troost-Ekong gave the rating following Osimhen’s impressive performance for Napoli this season.
The 24-year-old striker has been in top form this season and has scored an astonishing 19 goals in 22 league games.
Speaking to DAZN during the broadcast ‘Tutti Bravi dal Sofa’ on Sunday, former Napoli defender Faouzi Ghoulam believed the Nigerian forward was not yet at the level of Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.
“Today, the best striker is (Karim) Benzema, but then there’s (Erling) Haaland, who is scoring a lot of goals. He’s a phenomenon in the penalty area,” he said.
However, Troost-Ekong said Osimhen is the finest striker in the world.
“Osimhen is probably the best striker in the world right now. I am happy for him because he has overcome difficult moments,” he was quoted as saying by Sports Italia.
The 29-year-old, who joined Salernitana on loan from Watford, also talked about the future of the forward following links to Manchester United in the Premier League.
He added, “It’s a very important year for him, he can win the Scudetto, and then he’ll be able to think about the future.”

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