List of All Articles with Tag 'ps'

Anadolu Efes Istanbul said goodbye to Ergan Ataman and Vasilije Micic this summer. The head coach and star guard were instrumental in delivering the organization's first-ever EuroLeague titles. How do they replace such significant contributors?

The leading goalscorers in the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League.

Lionel Messi is the only footballer whose shadow carries a gun. While he plays for Inter Miami, his bodyguard stalks the touchline: Yassine Cheuko is an ex-Navy Seal with a thick beard and a shaved head who treats his client like a president in a warzone, staring down giddy autograph-hunters and swatting away selfie-chasing children. During a recent match, a young pitch-invader in a Messi shirt made a dash towards his hero only to be walloped by Cheuko’s torso on arrival. Messi is like the sun: by all means enjoy his presence and bask in his glow, but by god do not look him in the eye – and if you touch him, you’re dead. It is just one of the more bizarre symptoms of Messi fever which has gripped Miami and Major League Soccer since his arrival in June. It began before he kicked a ball: Messi’s pink shirt outsold any sports jersey in history in its first 24 hours, generating $600m to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United and Tom Brady’s move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Miami’s Instagram account exploded from 1 million to 15 million followers, a bigger audience than every NFL team. Kim Kardashian bought tickets to his debut, while the list of special guests to watch him play at Los Angeles Galaxy was like Wimbledon’s Royal Box on steroids, featuring LeBron James, Selena Gomez, Owen Wilson, Gerard Butler, Leonardo DiCaprio and genuine royalty in Prince Harry, to name but a few. On the pitch Messi has been phenomenal, even at 36 years old and in the winter of his career: 11 goals and five assists in 11 games, and one trophy already. He has turned a terrible team into a good one, lifting Miami off the bottom of the table to be in with a chance of reaching US soccer’s Super Bowl equivalent, the MLS Cup, in December. He has brought with him from Barcelona two close allies: the left-back Jordi Alba, who built a career pretending to cross the ball only to cut back for Messi to score, and the great midfield conductor Sergio Busquets. It is a bit like a singer bringing along his sound and lighting technicians – not the full band but enough to put on a show. Perhaps his most memorable moment so far came in the final of the Leagues Cup against Nashville: as the ball bounced to Messi arriving on the edge of the box, the commentator let out a foreboding “uh oh” before he shuffled away from two defenders and curled the ball into the top corner. Major League Soccer is rightfully indulging in the moment. “The 🐐 plays here,” reads the Twitter bio these days. This is now an unprecedented window of opportunity: the US will host the Copa America in 2024, the Club World Cup in 2025, the men’s World Cup in 2026 and quite possibly the women’s World Cup in 2027 too. The football landscape is more competitive than ever amid the aggressive emergence of the Saudi Pro League and the greed of Europe’s superpowers, but if MLS cannot shed its image as a paid vacation for retirees and establish something serious now, it never will. That mission was part of Miami’s sales pitch to Messi. David Beckham and his fellow owners knew they couldn’t compete with the base salary being offered in Saudi Arabia, but they could offer other benefits which the Saudis couldn’t. They appealed to Messi’s family – he already owned a home in Miami, from where it is relatively easy to fly back to Argentina, and the Messis have enjoyed partying with the Beckhams behind the scenes. And they included huge commercial investments, like a share in sales of MLS broadcaster Apple, with whom Messi had an existing relationship, and a stake in Inter Miami which he can activate when he departs. Messi was convinced by the long-term opportunities for his brand and his legacy in North America. He was also wooed by some romantic history. Pele became a pioneer when he turned down offers across Europe to join the New York Cosmos in 1975. It had appealed to his ego to be the catalyst who made US soccer catch fire, and he was certainly that: the Cosmos played in front of 200 people before Pele, yet two years later they were filling the Giants Stadium with 77,000 converts. Beckham himself has had the greatest impact in America since Pele, and Messi is next in the dynasty. The problem for MLS is where to go next. Each new star since Beckham delivered another flurry of excitement – Thierry Henry, Kaka, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney – but there is no footballing high greater than watching Messi, no bigger dopamine hit than seeing his feet shuffle into life and create magic. Messi is football hedonism, and when he goes he cannot simply be replaced by a bigger, shinier star. The come down will hurt. How do you sell yourself as a serious sporting product when one player is that much better than the rest? So MLS has a plan to harness the hype and turn it into something that will last. Last year the league ditched long-term broadcast partner ESPN and signed with Messi’s friends at Apple, in what represented the tech company’s biggest step yet into the sports arena. Apple committed to a 10-year contract worth $250m per year for the right to show MLS on its platforms, and more lucrative media deals will follow. Long-time MLS commissioner Don Garber wants to invest in youth development, better stadiums and infrastructure for the long-term success of American soccer. But the league’s immediate need is to acquire talent, and here the clubs are met with restrictions. The MLS adheres to a strict salary cap designed to stop clubs overspending. It can be dodged via the designated player rule – or Beckham Rule – which allows each team to pay three star players more than the salary cap, but unless restrictions loosen further it will be impossible for the biggest teams in the league to sign more elite talent. Miami have certainly filled their quota and are in no position to sign more ex-Barcelona stars until those rules change. All the while, the danger is that Messi makes football look so easy, he undermines the league’s integrity. The drop-off from European football or the World Cup to MLS is a void – not just physically and technically, but in its tactical sophistication and defensive organisation. The worst MLS teams, of which Miami were one before Messi, match the upper echelons of England’s League Two, according to the models of consultancy Twenty First Group. That’s like dropping Messi into Gillingham’s first XI: how do you sell yourself as a serious sporting product when one player is that much better than the rest? It will be a hard journey to raise standards across the board, but Messi does at least provide the best possible platform from which to grow. Most European football fans have been devotees for a long time, but now the gospel of Messi is spreading throughout the United States. New followers are flocking to see him in the flesh. So enjoy watching Messi, America. Seize the moment. Just don’t try to touch him. Read More Every Lionel Messi goal, assist and key moment for Inter Miami Mbappe and Haaland begin new Champions League rivarly after Messi-Ronaldo era When does Lionel Messi play next? Inter Miami schedule and fixtures Cristiano Ronaldo declares rivalry with Lionel Messi ‘is over’ Messi favourite for men’s Ballon d’Or with four Lionesses on women’s list It turned out wrong – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Man Utd return

Hugo Ekitike’s future will be decided in the coming months as he attempts to play his way into Luis Enrique’s plans at Paris Saint-Germain. He is wanted by Premier League sides Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton, West Ham and Wolves.

Spain players have ended their boycott of the women’s national team after showdown talks with the Spanish Football Federation (Rfef) which lasted more than seven hours. The squad was named at the start of the week with several World Cup winners included, despite the fact they had publicly stated their intention to not represent the national team following the sexism row which erupted following Luis Rubiales kissing Jenni Hermoso after the final. That fallout of that moment, which outrageously overshadowed Spain triumphing on the biggest stage of all, included the team’s head coach Jorge Vilda losing his job and Rubiales being suspended from his duties by Fifa, though he refused to resign his post initially before succumbing to pressure and exiting. But the issues within Spanish football have not stopped there, with players called up for action after saying they would not make themselves available - though it now appears they have reached an agreement with their FA. “The players have expressed their concern about the need for profound changes in the Rfef (Spanish Football Federation), which has committed to making these changes immediately,” said Spain’s National Sports Council (CSD) president, Victor Francos. “It is the beginning of a long road ahead of us,” Futpro - the players’ union - president Amanda Gutierrez said. “Once again, they [the players] have shown themselves to be coherent, and the vast majority have decided to stay for the sake of this agreement.” A joint commission is to be set up to oversee changes and “follow up on agreements” from the meeting, though it was not confirmed what those agreements were. The now-former Rfef president continued to insist his kiss with Hermoso, one of the team’s forwards, was consensual - but Hermoso rejected that notion and filed a complaint against Rubiales with the state prosecutor, with an investigation for sexual assault now underway. He has also been handed a restraining order, preventing him from being in close proximity to the World Cup winner. Hermoso was not called up to the latest Spain squad, with new head coach Montse Tome saying the national team wanted to “protect” the 33-year-old. Hermoso responded with a question of “from what?” to that claim, saying that the national team call-ups for players who had made themselves unavailable only proved that “nothing had changed” despite Rubiales’ forced exit. Spain face Sweden and Switzerland in the Nations League across the next week or so, with the competition also serving the purpose of qualifiers for the Paris Olympics next year. Read More Jenni Hermoso says Spain call-ups are a ‘strategy of manipulation’ by Rfef Spain plunged into fresh chaos after boycotting women’s players selected to play Jenni Hermoso not included in Spain’s first squad since winning Women’s World Cup

The advisory comes a day after tensions between the countries escalated over the killing of a Sikh separatist.

The actress and singer became the most-followed woman on Instagram earlier this year.

Lionel Messi is the only footballer whose shadow carries a gun. While he plays for Inter Miami, his bodyguard stalks the touchline: Yassine Cheuko is an ex-Navy Seal with a thick beard and a shaved head who treats his client like a president in a warzone, staring down giddy autograph-hunters and swatting away selfie-chasing children. During a recent match, a young pitch-invader in a Messi shirt made a dash towards his hero only to be walloped by Cheuko’s torso on arrival. Messi is like the sun: by all means enjoy his presence and bask in his glow, but by god do not look him in the eye – and if you touch him, you’re dead. It is just one of the more bizarre symptoms of Messi fever which has gripped Miami and Major League Soccer since his arrival in June. It began before he kicked a ball: Messi’s pink shirt outsold any sports jersey in history in its first 24 hours, generating $600m to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United and Tom Brady’s move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Miami’s Instagram account exploded from 1 million to 15 million followers, a bigger audience than every NFL team. Kim Kardashian bought tickets to his debut, while the list of special guests to watch him play at Los Angeles Galaxy was like Wimbledon’s Royal Box on steroids, featuring LeBron James, Selena Gomez, Owen Wilson, Gerard Butler, Leonardo DiCaprio and genuine royalty in Prince Harry, to name but a few. On the pitch Messi has been phenomenal, even at 36 years old and in the winter of his career: 11 goals and five assists in 11 games, and one trophy already. He has turned a terrible team into a good one, lifting Miami off the bottom of the table to be in with a chance of reaching US soccer’s Super Bowl equivalent, the MLS Cup, in December. He has brought with him from Barcelona two close allies: the left-back Jordi Alba, who built a career pretending to cross the ball only to cut back for Messi to score, and the great midfield conductor Sergio Busquets. It is a bit like a singer bringing along his sound and lighting technicians – not the full band but enough to put on a show. Perhaps his most memorable moment so far came in the final of the Leagues Cup against Nashville: as the ball bounced to Messi arriving on the edge of the box, the commentator let out a foreboding “uh oh” before he shuffled away from two defenders and curled the ball into the top corner. Major League Soccer is rightfully indulging in the moment. “The 🐐 plays here,” reads the Twitter bio these days. This is now an unprecedented window of opportunity: the US will host the Copa America in 2024, the Club World Cup in 2025, the men’s World Cup in 2026 and quite possibly the women’s World Cup in 2027 too. The football landscape is more competitive than ever amid the aggressive emergence of the Saudi Pro League and the greed of Europe’s superpowers, but if MLS cannot shed its image as a paid vacation for retirees and establish something serious now, it never will. That mission was part of Miami’s sales pitch to Messi. David Beckham and his fellow owners knew they couldn’t compete with the base salary being offered in Saudi Arabia, but they could offer other benefits which the Saudis couldn’t. They appealed to Messi’s family – he already owned a home in Miami, from where it is relatively easy to fly back to Argentina, and the Messis have enjoyed partying with the Beckhams behind the scenes. And they included huge commercial investments, like a share in sales of MLS broadcaster Apple, with whom Messi had an existing relationship, and a stake in Inter Miami which he can activate when he departs. Messi was convinced by the long-term opportunities for his brand and his legacy in North America. He was also wooed by some romantic history. Pele became a pioneer when he turned down offers across Europe to join the New York Cosmos in 1975. It had appealed to his ego to be the catalyst who made US soccer catch fire, and he was certainly that: the Cosmos played in front of 200 people before Pele, yet two years later they were filling the Giants Stadium with 77,000 converts. Beckham himself has had the greatest impact in America since Pele, and Messi is next in the dynasty. The problem for MLS is where to go next. Each new star since Beckham delivered another flurry of excitement – Thierry Henry, Kaka, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney – but there is no footballing high greater than watching Messi, no bigger dopamine hit than seeing his feet shuffle into life and create magic. Messi is football hedonism, and when he goes he cannot simply be replaced by a bigger, shinier star. The come down will hurt. How do you sell yourself as a serious sporting product when one player is that much better than the rest? So MLS has a plan to harness the hype and turn it into something that will last. Last year the league ditched long-term broadcast partner ESPN and signed with Messi’s friends at Apple, in what represented the tech company’s biggest step yet into the sports arena. Apple committed to a 10-year contract worth $250m per year for the right to show MLS on its platforms, and more lucrative media deals will follow. Long-time MLS commissioner Don Garber wants to invest in youth development, better stadiums and infrastructure for the long-term success of American soccer. But the league’s immediate need is to acquire talent, and here the clubs are met with restrictions. The MLS adheres to a strict salary cap designed to stop clubs overspending. It can be dodged via the designated player rule – or Beckham Rule – which allows each team to pay three star players more than the salary cap, but unless restrictions loosen further it will be impossible for the biggest teams in the league to sign more elite talent. Miami have certainly filled their quota and are in no position to sign more ex-Barcelona stars until those rules change. All the while, the danger is that Messi makes football look so easy, he undermines the league’s integrity. The drop-off from European football or the World Cup to MLS is a void – not just physically and technically, but in its tactical sophistication and defensive organisation. The worst MLS teams, of which Miami were one before Messi, match the upper echelons of England’s League Two, according to the models of consultancy Twenty First Group. That’s like dropping Messi into Gillingham’s first XI: how do you sell yourself as a serious sporting product when one player is that much better than the rest? It will be a hard journey to raise standards across the board, but Messi does at least provide the best possible platform from which to grow. Most European football fans have been devotees for a long time, but now the gospel of Messi is spreading throughout the United States. New followers are flocking to see him in the flesh. So enjoy watching Messi, America. Seize the moment. Just don’t try to touch him. Read More Every Lionel Messi goal, assist and key moment for Inter Miami Mbappe and Haaland begin new Champions League rivarly after Messi-Ronaldo era When does Lionel Messi play next? Inter Miami schedule and fixtures Cristiano Ronaldo declares rivalry with Lionel Messi ‘is over’ Messi favourite for men’s Ballon d’Or with four Lionesses on women’s list Julian Alvarez proves Man City’s man for all occasions as the unlikely No 10

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for

Lina Mukherjee, who identifies as Muslim, said an Islamic phrase before eating crispy pork skin.

Shares of UK companies whose fortunes are tied to interest rates soared after data showed a softening in

Manchester United have been in disarray recently in terms of their league form, and will face a tough test when they travel to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich. When once the prospect of facing Bayern Munich would immediately lead to discussions over the 1999 comeback victory to win the trophy, an entire generation of United fans will only have heard stories of the glory days. Bayern signed England captain Harry Kane in the summer, and he will be looking to impress against a team which was once rumoured to be in the hunt for his signature. Erik ten Hag will be hoping his side can bounce back quickly from their disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Brighton on Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash. Plus you can get all the latest football betting sites offers here. When is Bayern Munich vs Manchester United? The match kicks off at 8pm BST on Wednesday 20 September at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. Where can I watch it? Bayern Munich v Manchester United will be shwon live on TNT Sports 2 with coverage starting at 7pm BST. It will be streamed live on the Discovery+ app and desktop website for subscribers. What is the team news? Manchester United were dealt with a further injury blow to their already-depleted squad against Brighton, when Aaron Wan-Bissaka picked up an injury as a late substitute. He was on the bench having dealt with an illness, but will now face a period of time out. Left backs Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are already ruled out, along with Raphael Varane and deadline-day arrival Sofyan Amrabat still waiting to make his debut. Mason Mount has not featured since last month, with Tom Heaton, Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo also out, with Jadon Sancho not allowed to train with the first time, and Antony given a leave of absence following the assault allegations against him. Predicted lineups Manchester United XI: Onana, Dalot, Lindelof, Li Martinez, Reguilon, Casemiro, McTominay, Eriksen, Fernandes, Rashford, Martial Bayern Munich XI: Ulreich, Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Davies, Kimmich, Goretzka, Sane, Muller, Gnabry, Kane Odds Bayern Munich 2/5 Draw 11/4 Manchester United 9/2 Prediction Given the recent turmoil at United, the lack of available players, and the recent results it is hard to look past Bayern to win the clash, especially adding in the home advantage. Bayern are unbeaten in the league this year, while United have lost three matches. Bayern Munich 2-0 Manchester United Read More Aaron Wan-Bissaka injury adds to Manchester United’s list of problems Manchester United are a mess — and it could be about to get even worse How Man Utd and Chelsea struggles compare to previous Premier League seasons Tottenham have Harry Kane ‘buy-back clause’ as Daniel Levy reveals option Erik ten Hag concerned by Manchester United’s mounting injury problems Harry Kane and Bayern Munich out to ‘dominate’ Manchester United