Month: March 2023

Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have been inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.

The great rivals are the first managers to enter the Hall of Fame, which was established in 2021.

Ferguson managed Manchester United from the start of the Premier League era until his retirement in 2013, winning a record 13 titles.

Wenger led Arsenal to three championships in the longest-serving reign in competition history – from 1996 until 2018.

Only Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (four) and Roma coach Jose Mourinho (three) have joined Ferguson and Wenger in winning multiple titles.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: “We are delighted to welcome our first two managers into the Premier League Hall of Fame.

“Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger both made a remarkable contribution to the history of football in this country.   

“They brought unparalleled levels of success to Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, raising standards and thrilling fans with a rivalry which resulted in an astonishing 16 title wins between them.”

Ferguson added: “I’m truly delighted to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. It’s an honour when you receive recognition like this.

“However, it’s not just about me as a person. It’s about the job at Manchester United and the bond we had over many years, so I’m also proud for the club, the staff and my players.

“My job was to send the fans home happy. United’s history and my own expectations were the things that drove me, and I then had to try and develop all my players with the same expectations and make sure we could go out and achieve them.”

Wenger said: “I am very grateful to have been selected for the Premier League Hall of Fame.

“We always wanted to give something special to the fans, and when you have players capable of remarkable things, the most important thing for me is the obligation of perfection.

“I’d like to be known as someone who loved Arsenal, who respected the values of the club and left it in a position where it can grow and become even bigger.”

The pair join 16 players in the Hall of Fame, with three more to be voted in by fans from a 15-man shortlist announced on Thursday.

Bayern Munich are eager to bring Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount to the Bundesliga.

Mount, 24, worked under newly-appointed Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge but has since fallen out of favour with Graham Potter.

The England international is stalling on signing a new contract and should he fail to agree an extension, the German champions are likely to make a move, according to The Times.

Chelsea’s academy product has only scored three times in the Premier League this season and is a long way off equalling the 21 goal contributions he tallied in the 2021-22 campaign.

And with just one year left on his deal, the upcoming transfer window may be the perfect time to strike for Bayern who are looking to bolster Tuchel’s options.

The talented playmaker has also been linked with a move to Liverpool, but it is unclear whether the Blues would be willing to sell a first-team player to a rival.

Sources claim co-owner Todd Boehly would demand at least £50million for his services. 

Under Tuchel at Chelsea, Mount thrived in a more advanced role and helped his side lift the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup.

In other news

Reports from FourFourTwo suggest Liverpool would be willing to pay more than £60m for Napoli and South Korea centre-back Minjae Kim.

Manchester United have been given the green light to launch an £80m bid for Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane, according to The Daily Star.

90min understand a number of Premier League clubs, including Leicester, Fulham and Wolves are all monitoring Lorient midfielder Enzo Le Fee after the 23-year-old confirmed he wants to leave the French side this summer.

Shaun Wright-Phillips insists Manchester City’s victory over Chelsea proves they have what it takes to win the Women’s Super League. 

Gareth Taylor’s side leapfrogged the Blues and pulled level on points with leaders Manchester United courtesy of a comfortable 2-0 victory last Sunday. 

And Wright-Phillips, 41, is confident they can come out on top in the four-horse title race. 

The former City and England star said: “The Chelsea win was of massive importance to the run of games coming up and showed a statement that we’re here for this title challenge and will see it through.

“You’ve beaten the reigning champions comfortably. If you can play that way [against them], you’d expect you can do it to most other teams.

“They’ve got so much to take from that game with respect to a positive attitude and mental strength.”

City can extend their unbeaten run to 15 matches when they face fourth-placed Arsenal at Meadow Park this weekend.

And Wright-Phillips is backing them to see off their title rivals.  

He added: “It won’t be easy. But with the confidence they played with against Chelsea, all they need to do is take that into the Arsenal match.

“I think they’ll get more chances on Sunday than they did against Chelsea, so it’s just a matter of doing the same against them and taking those opportunities.”

City have won 12 games during their undefeated streak, scoring 31 goals and conceding just eight along the way. 

Wright-Phillips said: “To get a clean sheet against Chelsea shows the mindset.

“They just need to go and do it again, try and start fast and get those early goals again.”

Rob Page declared it a case of “job done” this international break as Wales continued a promising start to life without retired record goalscorer Gareth Bale.

Kieffer Moore’s first-half header proved decisive against Latvia in Cardiff as the Dragons backed up their impressive 1-1 draw at Croatia on Saturday to take four points from their first two Euro 2024 qualifying games.

The 1-0 victory offered a glimpse into the future without ex-captain and talisman Bale, who announced his retirement in January.

Page said: “We knew the challenges we were going to be up against.

“We got a point in Croatia and have then won the home game, so it’s job done.

“We created chances to win that game comfortably and we nullified their threat.

“We know the importance of Kieffer. He played 90-odd minutes for us and the goal was excellent.

“We won’t get carried away. It is a great start for us. It’s an eight-game season and the first two games have gone really well for us. There is a good energy in the changing room.”

Bale, who earned a record 111 caps for his country, was given a rousing reception by home supporters before the match as they bid farewell to their legendary forward. 

Page revealed: “Gareth was with us last night. He had an evening meal with us and he came in to see the lads before the game.

“He had his moment with the supporters and rightly so. It would have been really special for him.”

Page also said Bale did not want a huge fuss made of his appearance at the Cardiff City Stadium as he did not want to overshadow his former team-mates.

The 48-year-old added: “It was exactly that, he sees the bigger picture.

“He wanted that moment and rightly so, but he thinks of the team and he didn’t want to take our eye away from getting the three points.”

Wales will hope to continue their unbeaten start to their qualification campaign when they face Armenia and Turkey in June.

Saudi Arabia have announced the resignation of head coach Herve Renard, who is set to be confirmed as the head coach of France’s women’s team.

Renard, who had a contract as Saudi Arabia coach until 2027, will take charge of the French side ahead of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand later this year.

The 54-year-old, who has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice as a coach, will replace Corinne Diacre as Les Bleues coach.

Diacre left her role amid a player exodus over her management style and treatment of the squad.

In a statement on social media, the Saudi national team said: “The Saudi Arabian Football Federation Board of Directors has agreed on the contract termination of the Head Coach of the Saudi National Team Mr Herve Renard upon his request.

“A legal settlement has been reached to end the contract between the two parties.

“The President and Board of Directors of SAFF wish for Mr Renard every success in his future career.”

Renard took the post in 2019 and guided Saudi Arabia to their second successive World Cup finals, becoming the foreign-born manager with the most wins in the nation’s history.

He led Saudi Arabia to a shock 2-1 win over eventual champions Argentina in their first group game in Qatar, but defeats to Poland and Mexico meant they failed to reach the knock-out rounds.

Renard oversaw a 2-1 friendly defeat to Bolivia on Tuesday and later posted on social media: “Having been the coach of the national team of Saudi Arabia is a great pride for me. 

“Since August 2019, I had the chance to be an integral part of the life of this beautiful country. I have seen this team grow alongside me and achieve a fabulous World Cup and this fantastic and unforgettable win against Argentina.

“Very proud to have been able to show to the world the progress and a good image of Saudi football. It’s time for me to fly to another horizon but with these memories engraved in me.”

Lionel Messi hopes the “craziness never ends” after scoring his 100th goal and ninth hat-trick for his country amid Argentina’s homecoming World Cup celebrations on Tuesday.

La Albiceleste routed Curacao 7-0 in Santiago del Estero, with Messi’s 20th-minute opener bringing up his 100th international goal, joining only Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Ali Daei (109) in achieving that feat.

Messi became the first world champion to score 100 international goals, and he showed no signs of stopping there with further first-half strikes for a treble, taking him to 102.

The milestone came as Argentina rounded out their first two games back in their homeland since December’s World Cup triumph with wild celebrations, initially in Buenos Aires for Thursday’s 2-0 win over Panama.

The players emulated their celebrations from Qatar after the Curacao game, hoisting the World Cup trophy again after it came down from the stadium roof and doing a lap of honour to greet the supporters.

Messi was also presented with a plaque by Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia to acknowledge his 100th goal.

“What a nice way to close these dates, impressive today all the people in Santiago del Estero,” Messi wrote on Instagram.

“I wish we can continue to share together many moments like these and that this craziness never ends!!!”

Messi’s achievement comes after netting 21 goals in his 14 games for Argentina, along with seven assists. That has taken him to 156 goal contributions, which is the most in international football.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni added: “As for Lionel Messi, what I want is for him to be on the pitch and be happy.”

He added: “These days were different to the previous friendlies because the players were allowed to be with their people.

“We felt that they had that desire to go out to contact the outside, although that meant that it was difficult to prepare these two games. But in the end we got them through by playing with intensity.”

Lionel Messi scored his 100th international goal before capping his performance with a first-half hat-trick as Argentina routed Curacao 7-0 during Tuesday’s friendly in Santiago del Estero.

Messi came into the game on 99 international goals but did not need to wait long to bring up triple figures, netting a 20th-minute opener, in a lopsided match-up where the world champions raced to a 5-0 half-time lead.

The Argentinian captain played the entire 90 minutes, scoring three goals within 17 devastating first-half minutes, while he also laid off the assist for Enzo Fernandez’s powerful strike among the flurry.

After Lautaro Martinez’s glaring second minute point-blank miss, Messi was denied by Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room’s sharp save, but soon after Giovani Lo Celso found him in space inside the box, setting him up to jink past two defenders and fire in a low right-foot shot for his 100th Argentina goal.

Nicolas Gonzalez added a second in the 23rd minute when he out-jumped Room to head home from a corner, before he played provider for Messi’s second with a neat left-foot finish in the 33rd minute.

Two minutes later, Messi held up the ball and dished out a deft pass for Fernandez to lash home, with the Paris Saint-Germain star wrapping up his hat-trick when he raced on to Lo Celso’s lofted pass and coolly converted after taking two touches.

Room brilliantly denied Martinez twice early in the second half, while Leandro Bacuna fizzed Curacao’s best chance over the bar from a 63rd-minute free-kick on the edge of the box.

Substitute Angel Di Maria added a sixth goal from the penalty spot in the 78th minute after Cuco Martina’s handball, with Gonzalo Montiel side-footing home another from Paulo Dybala’s cutback in the 88th minute.

What does it mean? Argentina’s happy homecoming

Argentina’s World Cup homecoming celebrations continued, following Thursday’s 2-0 win over Panama in Buenos Aires, with Messi taking centre stage with his latest feat in the country’s north.

It was the first time Argentina had scored seven or more goals since a 7-0 friendly win over Bolivia in September 2015.

Messi brings up eighth Argentina treble

Argentina’s captain grabbed all the headlines, with his latest treble marking his eighth hat-trick for La Albiceleste.

Half of those hat-tricks have come against CONCACAF teams (Guatemala, Panama, Haiti and Curacao), with three against CONMEBOL nations (Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia) and one against a UEFA team (Switzerland).

Messi’s six-month surge for 100

Messi has surged to 100 international goals over the past six months, netting in 11 of the 12 games he has played for Argentina since September. The only time Messi failed to score was at the World Cup in a 2-0 win over Poland. He has scored 16 goals in his past 12 Argentina appearances.

What’s next?

Despite being world champions, Argentina still need to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, with their campaign commencing in September with games against Ecuador and Bolivia.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on Bukayo Saka for his consistency but claims the youg star still has room for improvement.

Saka has been a key pillar in Arsenal’s Premier League success this term, with the side sitting eight points clear of second-placed Manchester City as they chase their first league title since 2003-04.

Only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Tottenham’s Harry Kane have more combined goals and assists in the league this season, with Saka having netted 12 goals with 10 assists. Saka has also started all 28 of Arsenal’s league games this campaign.

“First of all, I think you have to recognise what he’s been doing,” Arteta told Sky Sports about 21-year-old Saka.

“The consistency he’s shown at his age and at this level is something rare to see. He’s taken it with normality.

“If you ask me if he has room for improvement, I would say: ‘Yes – a lot.’ He’s never satisfied, he always wants more and he can still do a lot of things better and more efficiently, but we are really pleased to have him.”

Talks are ongoing between Arsenal and Saka on a new deal, with his current contract due to expire in 2024.

Last week former Arsenal centre-back Kolo Toure urged the club to sign Saka on a 10-year deal to secure his long-term future.

Saka was outstanding for England at last year’s World Cup and netted in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Ukraine at Wembley.

Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal for Argentina in Tuesday’s friendly with Curacao with a 20th-minute strike to open the scoring.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward’s seven goals in Argentina’s triumphant World Cup 2022 campaign took him two short of the milestone figure.

His free-kick against Panama on Thursday – which was also his 800th career goal at club and international level – was followed by a classy right-foot finish after jinking past two defenders inside the box to reach his century against Curacao.

Messi already holds the record for both the most goals of any Argentina player (200) and the most caps (173).

The 35-year-old’s first senior international goal came against Croatia in a 3-2 friendly defeat in March 2006.

The eight goals he has scored against Bolivia make the South American nation his favourite opponent, followed by Ecuador and Uruguay (six against both).

Qatar, meanwhile, are the only side Messi has played against more than once without scoring (two games).

Outside of friendlies, 28 of Messi’s goals have come in World Cup qualifiers and 13 each at both the Copa America and World Cup.

As well as leading Argentina to World Cup glory last year, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner also lifted the Copa America in 2021.

Messi surprised many by declaring his intention to continue playing for La Albiceleste after December’s triumph, but he has already ruled out playing at the 2026 World Cup.

With his strike against Curacao on Tuesday, Lionel Messi reached another landmark by scoring 100 goals for Argentina.

The 35-year-old brought up the milestone in style, receiving a 20th-minute pass from Giovani Lo Celso before jinking past two Curacao defenders and rifling in a low right-foot finish.

The man considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time had come in for some criticism over the years for his performances at international level.

That was until he led Argentina to Copa America success in 2021 and followed that up at last year’s World Cup, starring as La Albiceleste recovered from a shock opening defeat to Saudi Arabia to beat defending champions France in the final on penalties.

Of course, the sheer volume of his goals has been breathtaking, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Ali Daei scoring more in international men’s football.

But Stats Perform picked out five individual strikes that were particularly memorable.

Argentina v Mexico (July 11, 2007)

Having only just turned 20, Messi was expected to win the Copa America for his country in 2007.

Ultimately, Argentina were beaten in the final by Brazil, but not before Messi had graced the stage with a sumptuous lob in their 3-0 win against Mexico in the semi-finals, being fed on the right of the penalty before an outrageous lob over Oswaldo Sanchez into the far corner.

Argentina v Brazil (June 9, 2012)

The two great rivals faced each other in New Jersey as they prepared for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and a topsy-turvy contest had already seen Messi score twice.

In the 84th minute and with the score tied at 3-3, Messi went as trademark as possible, picking up the ball on the right just into the Brazil half before dribbling for goal. He cut inside the nearest defender on the edge of the box and curled a shot into the top-left corner of the net.

Argentina v Paraguay (September 7, 2012)

Just a few months later, Messi was at it from distance again, this time even further out as he showed off his supreme free-kick taking ability.

With Argentina leading Paraguay 2-1 in their World Cup qualifier, Messi lined up a set-piece effort a little over 30 yards out, whipping the ball over the wall and in off the goalkeeper’s left-hand post.

Argentina v Iran (June 21, 2014)

In their second group game of the 2014 World Cup, Argentina had struggled to break down a resolute Iran side who were on the verge of securing a famous 0-0 draw and valuable point.

That was until Messi picked up the ball on the right in the 91st minute in Belo Horizonte. He darted inside, as he so often does, and curled a sumptuous effort past Alireza Haghighi from some 25 yards, the ball nestling in the bottom-left corner.

Argentina v Mexico (November 26, 2022)

Having already lost to Saudi Arabia in their first game at the 2022 World Cup, Argentina could not find a way past Mexico in the first hour of their second encounter either.

Or, they couldn’t until their captain stepped up.

With raucous fans urging them on at Lusail Stadium, Messi received a pass from Angel Di Maria before hitting a shot from outside the box low and hard to Guillermo Ochoa’s left, lighting the touchpaper that would ultimately end with the trophy in his hands at the end of the campaign.