NEWCASTLE: Bruno Guimaraes is Newcastle United’s Premier League “bargain,” that’s the view of head coach Eddie Howe.
The 24-year-old was instrumental as the Magpies recorded their second emphatic top flight win on the bounce at St. James’ Park on Saturday, hammering Brentford 5-1. Guimaraes netted the first and crucial third in the encounter.
The Magpies have spent more than $200million in the last two transfer windows, with around 20 percent of that splashed on Brazil international Guimaraes.
And despite the incredible sum it cost to land Bruno from French outfit Lyon, Howe believes in today’s transfer market, United have netted themselves a steal.
“I find it difficult with that number, but yes he is. In the current climate he is absolutely a bargain,” said Howe.
“He has had a huge effect on the club and team. And in today’s market that is a relatively modest sum, even though I can’t believe I am saying that.”
When asked whether Guimaraes is the best player he’s ever played with or coached, Howe joked: “That makes me laugh — play with? No disrespect to anyone I played with, bar maybe Jermain Defoe in his early days was incredible. But there is no one like him.
“Coaching, I have coached some good individuals, but he would be right up there. An incredible talent, an incredible person. We love him to bits, enjoying watching him, coaching him and playing a part in his development.”
An almost flawless display from the player, set to star for his nation in Qatar this winter, was cut short midway through the second period, which was a cause for concern among the United faithful, who serenaded the player as he walked off.
However, Howe admits he was protecting the player’s fitness, rather than taking him off due to injury.
Howe said: “I said to him to run himself out and once he was done let me know.
“Again, I think the beauty of Bruno is he won’t let the team down when he gets to the point of being done.
“He’s obviously building up his fitness levels after his injury. He took responsibility for that to let me know so I could withdraw him.”
United climbed to fifth in the top flight table with the win and have done so by only conceding nine in their first nine games and losing just once.
However, it still feels like there’s more to come from this team.
Howe said: “There is definitely more to come because I think there are elements of our game we are not happy with. But that will always be the case under my eye, as I want perfection.
“The goal that went to VAR was maybe the jolt we needed. The first goal is always important and we got it.”
And on his match-winner, he concluded: “It takes very good players to effect games and I thought Bruno did throughout.
“The finish for the third goal was excellent because he had players outside him and he decided to take responsibility. It was a great finish.”
Goal hero Bruno Guimaraes a ‘bargain,’ says Newcastle boss Howe
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Goal hero Bruno Guimaraes a ‘bargain,’ says Newcastle boss Howe
- The Magpies have spent more than $200million in the last two transfer windows, with around 20 percent of that splashed on Brazil international
Sri Lanka’s Mathews hails ‘dream run’ in final Test against Bangladesh
GALLE: Sri Lanka are set to begin a two-Test series against Bangladesh in Galle on Tuesday that will mark the end of Angelo Mathews’s “dream run” in the game’s longest format, as the cricket season resumed following South Africa’s World Test Championship triumph at Lord’s.
The red-ball matches between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be followed by a white-ball series of three one-day internationals and three T20s.
Hosts Sri Lanka begin the contest as firm favorites, eager to turn a fresh page after a stuttering end to the previous WTC cycle.
Sri Lanka were firmly in the mix for a place in the WTC final until December before the wheels came off spectacularly.
Two defeats in South Africa followed by a twin collapse at Galle against Australia saw them tumble down the rankings.
“We had one hand on a spot in the final but a few brain fades at crunch moments cost us dearly,” Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva told reporters on Monday.
“We’ve learnt our lessons. A strong home start lays the foundation for success on the road.”
Sri Lanka’s squad includes six uncapped players, with at least one debut cap set to be handed out.
Spin remains Sri Lanka’s strength, with Prabath Jayasuriya the key and selectors also calling up off-spinner Akila Dananjaya.
Bangladesh enter the series without stalwarts Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is realistic about the challenge.
“Tamim and Shakib — those are massive boots to fill,” he said. “But this is a chance for the young guys to put their hands up.”
Shanto, who is playing in Galle for the first time, said the team have “prepped well and we’re ready for the challenge.”
The Test will also be the swansong of Sri Lanka’s veteran Angelo Mathews, who is retiring after 118 Tests.
The former skipper also played his first Test on the famous pitch perched beneath the fortress in Galle in 2009.
“It’s been a dream run,” said 38-year-old Mathews.
“The wins in England in 2014 and whitewashing the Aussies in 2016 stand out. I’ve seen so many youngsters come through the ranks,” he said.
“I truly believe Sri Lanka’s future is in good hands.”
Sri Lanka have won 20 of the 26 Tests they have played against Bangladesh, who have only managed a solitary win along with five draws.
The second Test will begin in Colombo on June 25.
German regulator pushes for more fan control of soccer clubs like Bayer Leverkusen
- Top German soccer clubs including Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig face the prospect of handing over more control to fans after a regulator intervened
BONN: Top German soccer clubs including Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig face the prospect of handing over more control to fans after a regulator intervened.
A statement Monday from Germany’s antitrust regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, said it wants to see tighter enforcement of the rule known as 50-plus-1 which requires a soccer club’s membership to have majority voting rights over how the team is run.
The regulator said recent European court rulings suggest permanent exemptions from 50-plus-1 for last year’s champion Leverkusen and fellow top-tier club Wolfsburg seem “no longer possible.”
It said efforts should be made in the future to ensure the club’s professional soccer operations come under the control of membership organizations, but didn’t name any deadline.
Leverkusen and Wolfsburg were founded as workers’ teams at major companies which own the clubs, with pharmaceutical giant Bayer at Leverkusen, and car manufacturer Volkswagen at Wolfsburg. Their long-term involvement led to the clubs getting exemptions from 50-plus-1.
The regulator also said the German men’s soccer league needs to ensure the clubs it oversees “offer their fans the opportunity to become a new full member with voting rights.”
That appears to affect Leipzig and its relationship with drinks giant Red Bull, though they weren’t directly named by the regulator in Tuesday’s statement.
The club was founded by Red Bull in 2009 and is part of its international network of soccer clubs. It grants voting rights to far fewer people than most German clubs. Local media reported that only 23 members had the right to vote at Leipzig as of last year.
Saudi Arabia edges Haiti 1-0 in Gold Cup on penalty kick
Saleh Al-Shehri’s penalty kick in the 21st minute held up as the winner as Saudi Arabia shut out Haiti 1-0 in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A play on Sunday night in San Diego.
Al-Shehri drew a foul in the penalty area on Frantzdy Pierrot in the 18th minute, then converted a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner to lift Saudi Arabia (1-0-0, 3 points) in the opener for both teams.
Haiti had an opportunity to pull even in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, but Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi (four saves) denied Dany Jean in the center of the goal on a right-footed shot from outside the box.
Haiti (0-1-0, 0 points) posted a decisive edge in corner kicks (11-1), but Saudi Arabia finished with more shots on goal (5-4) and shot attempts (13-7).
Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide finished with three saves.
A penalty shattered Palestinian World Cup dreams for 2026. The squad has inspired hope
- The Palestinian team needed to win its last three Group B games in Asian qualifying to advance to another continental playoff round
AMMAN: An engrossing qualifying journey of 16 games and the obstacles of a war came crashing down in an instant for Oday Dabbagh and his Palestinian team.
Their legacy will long continue.
Players left the field in tears in the immediate aftermath at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan, last Thursday after their quest for a first appearance at a World Cup evaporated on a contentious penalty awarded deep in extra time. Fans looked on, stunned.
“It’s very hard,” Dabbagh, the team’s star striker, told The Associated Press. “It was massive for us to get to the next stage — we prepared well, we had a positive atmosphere, and we had the fans with us. We gave everything, but it was gone in a moment.”
Needing to win its last three Group B games to reach the playoffs for the last two of Asia’s automatic spots at the World Cup, the No. 101-ranked team in the world beat Iraq in Basra in March, Kuwait in Kuwait City on June 5. Five days later, it was leading 1-0 against Oman in Jordan in the 97th minute.
The Palestinians had never been in a better position in qualifying for a World Cup. Then Oman was awarded, and scored, a penalty to make it 1-1 in the last real act of the game.
Not long after the dejected players had picked themselves up, the Palestine Football Association (PFA) made an official complaint to soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, about the penalty. It didn’t change the fact, however, that the long road trip was over.
“We tried to put smiles on the faces of Palestinians amid their great pain,” head coach Ihab Abujazar said. “The heroic players are our pride and glory, a symbol of all that is beautiful in the Palestinian nation.”
Playing Away
It may have been different if the Palestinian team, admitted into FIFA in 1998, was able to play home games in front of its fans in Gaza or the West Bank in the third round of qualifying. The Israel-Hamas war meant that couldn’t happen. And so the many of the team’s home games have been taking place in the nearby Jordanian capital of Amman, home to a large community of Palestinians.
“It is easier to play in your home,” Dabbagh, who helped Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup last month, said. “But the circumstances there are so difficult so we choose to play in Amman as it is close to Palestine, the people are the same, and we have a lot of fans there.”
There’s been no domestic soccer in the Palestinian territories since the war started in 2023. Hundreds of athletes are among the more than 55,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict and sports facilities have been destroyed.
“Everything that goes on makes us all sad,” Dabbagh said. “As players, we try to focus on football during the games, but we use what is happening as motivation to bring happiness to the people of Palestine.”
All but two of the roster of 27 national squad players are contracted to foreign clubs either in the region or in Europe, a change from the start of the conflict when a number of players weren’t able to leave the West Bank or Gaza to report for international duty.
Over the past year or so, the Palestinian squad has assembled for training camps in Algeria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to prepare for World Cup qualifying.
The top two teams in each of three Asian groups in the third round earned direct spots for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The third- and fourth-place teams in each group advanced to a playoff for two more places. A win would have secured fourth spot in the group for the Palestinians. The last-minute draw meant they finished a point behind Oman in fifth.
What’s next?
Now their focus has to shift to the 2027 Asian Cup, which will take place in Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian team has already qualified for the tournament.
Dabbagh is ready to show that the team is set to remain a force in Asian soccer and continue to be ambassodors for millions of people.
“We will keep using football as a message to show the world that there are other things in Palestine” he said. “We will keep going. The dream is not over, it is just delayed.”
Kubica wins ‘mental battle’ to triumph at Le Mans
- In a thrilling 93rd edition of the race, which saw the top four separated by just over 20 seconds going into the final 15 minutes, Kubica and his AF Corse co-drivers Philip Hanson and Ye Yifei (#83) finished just 14.084sec ahead of Porsche
- Kubica was one of Formula One’s brightest prospects when he won the 2008 Canada Grand Prix but a harrowing accident in a rally in Andorra in 2011 almost cost him his life
LE MANS: Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica has long since tackled the demons of a near-fatal accident 14 years ago but Sunday’s victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is arguably his greatest achievement yet.
The 40-year-old Pole roared to victory in his bright yellow “privateer” Ferrari to give the Italian marque a third consecutive win in the most famous endurance race in the world.
In a thrilling 93rd edition of the race, which saw the top four separated by just over 20 seconds going into the final 15 minutes, Kubica and his AF Corse co-drivers Philip Hanson and Ye Yifei (#83) finished just 14.084sec ahead of a Porsche (#6) driven by Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor.
In so doing they knocked the two factory Ferraris, who started the race as favorites, into third and fourth.
“It’s been a long 24 hours but an enjoyable one. Grazie mille, grazie a tutti,” said Kubica over the team radio as he took the chequered flag.
Kubica was one of Formula One’s brightest prospects when he won the 2008 Canada Grand Prix but a harrowing accident in a rally in Andorra in 2011 almost cost him his life.
Trapped upside down in his car before being freed and whisked to hospital, Kubica suffered several serious injuries and underwent a partial amputation of his right forearm.
“What happened was very unfortunate, but I was very lucky,” he said after Sunday’s victory.
“It took me quite a few years, not only to recover physically but also mentally.
“What happened happened and I have to accept it. One of the worst periods of my life was when my mind wouldn’t accept the fact that my arm was failing.”
He returned to racing cars, however, winning the WRC2 championship and taking part in sports car races. In 2017 he moved back into Formula One, testing for Renault before racing for Williams in 2019.
But Sunday’s win which made him the first Pole ever to win Le Mans tops any of his other achievements behind the wheel.
“It was quite difficult to live with, but I’m happy to have achieved my personal goals,” he said.
“The best thing I’ve achieved in my life — it’s nothing to do with racing — it’s more the battle I won with my mind.”
Both of Kubica’s co-drivers were also first-time winners with Ye the first Chinese driver to triumph.
“I’m at a loss for words,” said Ye who arrived in Le Mans at the age of 14 on an exchange program to try and become a professional driver.
“It’s going to take me some time to realize everything that’s happened today. Right now I feel like I’m dreaming. Maybe in two seconds I’ll wake up and none of this will exist.
“In China, the car industry has come a long way. When my father was my age, there were no cars on the roads, and we’re talking about the 1990s. Becoming a professional driver was impossible.”
With three of the top four, it was certainly a good day for Ferrari but there will undoubtedly be some at headquarters in Maranello who might not be so happy.
As the winning car was not entered directly by the manufacturer, but by the AF Corse team, Ferrari will not take the points for victory in the World Endurance Championship.
Cadillac locked out the front row of the grid but #12 of Will Stephens, who had taken pole, had to settle for fifth with the second car (#38), featuring former Formula One world champion Jensen Button, coming home in eighth.
