Sports
AC Milan Crash To Defeat At Promoted Parma
AC Milan fell to a 2-1 defeat at Parma on Saturday as the seven-time European champions continued their slow start to life in Serie A under new coach Paulo Fonseca.
Matteo Cancellieri pushed home the decisive goal 13 minutes before the end of an entertaining encounter at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in which Parma defied their newly-promoted status.
The 22-year-old winger perfectly met Pontus Almqvist’s low cross to score his first goal since being loaned to Parma by Lazio, who lost 2-1 at Udinese.
Milan have collected one point from their first two league matches under Portuguese Fonseca, whose team looked set to go on to take the win when in the 66th minute Christian Pulisic levelled Dennis Man’s early close-range finish.
However, Parma were dangerous every time they went on the counter-attack and could have been out of sight by half-time had their finishing not been so wayward.
“I can’t hide that it’s my responsibility, but it seems clear to me that we have a problem with defending and being aggressive,” Fonseca told DAZN.
“We had problems against Torino (a 2-2 draw) when we didn’t press very high. Today we tried to press higher and we still had problems.
“We had a good pre-season, but the truth is that this is where we are.”
Milan didn’t really wake up until after the half-hour mark when they tested Zion Suzuki three times in the space of a few minutes, but it was still the hosts who were the more dangerous.
Milan punished
Simon Sohm dragged wide a great chance to double Parma’s lead four minutes before the break after more excellent work from Man, this time bursting down the right and cutting in before laying off for his Swiss team-mate.
And Valentin Mihaila somehow managed not to score when set clean through on goal by Ange-Yoan Bonny, dawdling on the ball and allowing Fikayo Tomori to close a yawning gap that had been left by Milan’s defence.
Milan were a different team after the break and could have been level twice in the first three minutes of the second half as Tijjani Reijnders saw his deflected drive thud onto the crossbar and Suzuki did well to keep out Pulisic’s low effort.
Man fell to the turf in frustration in the 62nd minute when yet another Parma counter-attack ended with his delicate curling strike wafting just wide, and moments later Pulisic had Milan level.
Rafael Leao jinked and skipped down the left before exchanging passes with Theo Hernandez and rolling in USA star Pulisic for a simple finish.
Milan pushed but it was another lightning Parma break which led to Cancellieri scoring the winner and lapping up the adulation of the joyous home crowd.
Later, champions Inter Milan make their San Siro debut for the campaign against Lecce without injured captain and star striker Lautaro Martinez, while Monza host Genoa.
Mehdi Taremi will make his first start for Simone Inzaghi’s team since signing as a free agent last month, after being released by Porto.
AFP
Sports
I Failed In Front of the World Four Years Ago — Lookman’s Touching Speech After Winning CAF Award
Super Eagles star, Ademola Lookman had delivered a touching speech after winning the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award.
According to him, he learned from his failure four years ago which made him a better player.
He said: “Just over four years ago I failed in front of the world. Fast forward four years, I’m the best player in Africa,” Lookman said after receiving the award.
“I want to say to the young children and people watching this: don’t let your failures weigh you down that they break your wings. Matter of fact, turn your pain into your power and continue to fight.
“Firstly. I want to thank the Almighty God for everything he has been doing in my life, and everything he has been blessing me with.
“I want to thank the president, I want to thank all my teammates- club and country. I want to thank them for all their support and love that they gave me.”
“This award today is a blessing to me, to my family, to my nation, and to be recognized as the best player in Africa. It’s something incredible and I’m extremely proud of.”
Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman, South Africa’s Ronwen Williams, and Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie emerged as some of the standout winners at the 2024 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards.
Lookman, who plays for Atalanta, clinched the prestigious CAF Men’s Player of the Year title, beating contenders such as Simon Adingra, Achraf Hakimi, Ronwen Williams, and Serhou Guirassy.
South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams dominated the night, bagging both the Men’s Interclub Player of the Year and the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year awards.
Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie, known for her stellar performances, was named Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
Full List of CAF Awards 2024 Winners
CAF Men’s Player of the Year: Ademola Lookman (Nigeria)
Women’s Interclub Player of the Year: Sanaa Mssoudy
Men’s Interclub Player of the Year: Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Women’s Club of the Year: TP Mazembe
Men’s Club of the Year: Al Ahly FC
Men’s National Team of the Year: Ivory Coast
Women’s National Team of the Year: Nigeria
Men’s Young Player of the Year: Lamine Camara
Women’s Young Player of the Year: Doha El Madani
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria)
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Women’s Coach of the Year: Lamia Boumehdi
Men’s Coach of the Year: Emerse Faé
Goal of the Year: Mabululu (Angola)
Brazil legend Ronaldo has confirmed he wants to become president of the country’s football governing body to address a “deep crisis” the sport is facing nationally.
“I have hundreds of motivations, but I think the biggest of them is really to restore international respect to Brazilian football,” he said in an interview on Monday with the Globoesporte website.
Ronaldo said he wanted to be an “alternative for significant change” as candidate for the job of running the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).
“O Fenomeno” (“The Phenomenon”), as the 48-year-old became known over the course of his 1993-2011 career, said he wants to use the CBF presidency to help Brazil’s national team to regain its glory as five-time world champions.
“The Selecao has to recover its prestige. I’ll do everything so that the players understand the historic importance of playing for the national team,” he said.
Ronaldo scored both goals when Brazil beat Germany in the 2002 World Cup final in Japan, and was twice winner of the Ballon d’Or.
To lodge his CBF candidacy, he needs the support of Brazilian regional clubs and federations.
To get those, he promised to travel “all around Brazil” and share the “incredible plans” he has for the sport.
The date of the next CBF election has not yet been set, but should happen between March 2025 and March 2026, according to Brazilian media.
‘Much deeper problem’
Current CBF chief Ednaldo Rodrigues has been criticized for slotting in temporary coaches for the national team after Tite’s 2022 exit while waiting for Carlo Ancelotti to arrive — something that did not happen when the Italian decided late last year to extend his contract as manager of Real Madrid.
Currently coached by Dorival Junior, the Selecao are fifth in South America qualifying for the 2026 World Cup tournament, seven points behind leaders Argentina.
“My problem is not Ednaldo. The problem is much deeper. My goal is to bring the people closer to the Selecao. Today, the people are indifferent when the Selecao plays,” Ronaldo told Globoesporte.
“I am an alternative of significant change for Brazilian football, which is going through a deep crisis,” he said.
Ronaldo, a former star for Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, already has leadership experience.
In 2018, he took majority control of Spain’s Real Valladolid, and in 2021 did the same for Cruzeiro, the Brazilian club where he started his career.
He sold his Cruzeiro stake in April this year.
In his interview, Ronaldo said he was in talks to “very soon” sell his Valladolid stake to avoid “any obstacle” to his CBF candidacy.
AFP
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