Vesper

I still rate him he does not make me nervous when he starts

Weverton holding his hammy on the ground

a CB finish by Trevoh, lolol

madness if we sell Neto

absolutely

Coldddddddddddddd

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

fucking unreal Reece is jammed into MF again, the horrid Gusto starts, and Santos is still benched, plus Nkunku as the 10

they can go fuck themselves with a chainsaw

Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso open to selling Rodrygo this summer https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6469414/2025/07/03/real-madrid-rodrygo-transfer-latest/ Real Madrid and their new coach Xabi Alonso are open to Brazil forward Rodrygo leaving the club this summer. The 24-year-old made his first appearance for Madrid in 53 days in their opening Club World Cup game (a 1-1 draw against Al Hilal on June 18) but has played only 23 minutes for Alonso in their three matches since. Rodrygo did not feature for Madrid towards the end of last season under Carlo Ancelotti and there were concerns at the club about the player sometimes lacking motivation in training, as reported by The Athletic last month. The player’s entourage have always denied this. But it was those concerns which led to Ancelotti and Rodrygo agreeing the winger would not be called up for the Italian’s first squad as Brazil manager, for the games against Ecuador and Paraguay last month. The player’s father (and agent) Eric Goes has complained about Rodrygo’s situation at Madrid, with the player sidelined at times because of the high-profile trio of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham. Those complaints have not gone down well at various levels of the club. This, along with the player’s poor performances, had led Madrid to open the door to a potential sale, pending the decision of their new coach. Alonso took charge at Madrid ahead of the Club World Cup and at that point Rodrygo’s future appeared undecided, but now sources at the club, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, have told The Athletic that Madrid and the coach agree the club will not stand in the player’s way if a suitable offer is made. When contacted by The Athletic, Madrid said they have no intention of selling the player and expect him to contribute a lot to the team in the future. Arsenal are one of the clubs monitoring Rodrygo, and the club have held preliminary talks with the player’s representatives in recent weeks as they weigh up a move. Arsenal’s interest in Rodrygo and other left-sided attackers such as Anthony Gordon and Nico Williams (also wanted by Barcelona and Bayern Munich) is well-established. Their interest in Williams has cooled and any of those deals would come at a considerable cost, so in that scenario the club may need to sell to balance the books. What You Should Read Next What’s going on with Rodrygo at Real Madrid? Rodrygo's future is unclear after not featuring at all in Madrid's latest Club World Cup game against Pachuca Coaching staff at Arsenal really admire Rodrygo, who they believe could be an option on the left and right of their attack, and he has featured in discussions internally since the latter part of last season. Madrid signed Rodrygo from Santos for €40million at the age of 18 in 2019 and he hit the ground running at the Bernabeu, scoring a hat-trick in a 6-0 Champions League win against Galatasarary in November of that year. The attacker was a regular part of the first team since Ancelotti arrived back at the club in 2021, with starring roles at crucial moments in the two Champions Leagues won under the Italian. However, there have been persistent doubts about his consistency, with the player arguing that his natural position is on the left flank. That also happens to be the same side favoured by Ballon d’Or runner-up Vinicius Jr and Mbappe.

FIFA dropping anti-racism messages a ‘human rights risk’ for 2026 World Cup, say rights groups https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6473509/2025/07/04/fifa-racism-discrimination-world-cup/ FIFA’s decision to drop messages explicitly challenging racism and discrimination at the Club World Cup “signals a human rights risk” for next year’s men’s World Cup finals in the United States, according to a coalition of 15 human rights groups. The Athletic reported on June 16 that no videos, signage or marketing assets referencing anti-racism and anti-discrimination slogans would be displayed in U.S. venues hosting the FIFA Club World Cup, despite such promotional content being developed ahead of the tournament. The Dignity 2026 Coalition — via Human Rights Watch, a founding member — said FIFA, world football’s governing body, should publish the reasons for doing so and should reinstate the messaging for the rest of the tournament, as well as for next summer’s World Cup. FIFA did display the messaging on Wednesday, June 18, to mark International Day for Countering Hate Speech, but that has not been replicated throughout the competition. What You Should Read Next If Club World Cup attendances are an issue, FIFA will bear much of the responsibility There are going to be lots of emptry seats when the tournament begins but that is not the fault of U.S. soccer fans Earlier this week, supporters at Monterrey’s Club World Cup last-16 game against Borussia Dortmund were warned by FIFA that the game could be suspended after homophobic chants were heard repeatedly during the second half. The match finished before any further action was taken. There have not been any announcements from FIFA within stadiums explaining the organisation’s anti-racism protocols or its “universal anti-racism gesture” which was rolled out in September last year and was supposed to be applied to all competitions. The lack of messaging stands in contrast to recent FIFA-run tournaments when messages were displayed on in-stadium screens and across social media, such as at the 2023 Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand and the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar. The Dignity 2026 coalition contains 15 national-level human rights groups, labour unions and worker networks, along with fans, athletes’ organisations and migrant rights groups, which represent the interests of affected communities around next summer’s men’s World Cup. (Alex Grimm/Getty Images) FIFA’s decision not to carry such messaging for this summer’s tournament has been described as an “inexplicable and inexcusable step backward” by Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. Bailey Brown, president of the leading North American alliance of fan groups the Independent Supporters Council, said FIFA were risking “normalising discrimination and undermining the progress made in soccer in recent years” by scaling back on their messaging. “FIFA’s retreat from basic anti-discrimination commitments sends a chilling message that discrimination will be tolerated,” said Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance. FIFA’s decision was criticised as “a shocking setback for efforts to end homophobia and transphobia in sport” by Hudson Taylor, executive director of Athlete Ally, which fights for equal access, opportunity, and experience in sports. FIFA was asked to “clarify the reasons for this sudden reversal and to reaffirm its commitment to human rights, anti-racism, and equality,” by Jamal R. Watkins, senior vice president of strategy and advancement at the NAACP, an American civil rights organization for African Americans. What You Should Read Next FIFA spent more than $50million on Club World Cup marketing to boost ticket sales The Club World Cup has been beset by organisational challenges ahead of the first edition of the revamped 32-team tournament in the U.S. In its statement to The Athletic last month, FIFA did not explain why they have reduced their in-tournament messaging for this competition in the United States, if competing clubs had been consulted on the matter or if the slogans would return for the 2026 men’s World Cup, which will be held across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. A FIFA spokesperson said: “FIFA has a firm, zero-tolerance stance against all forms of discrimination and racism. This commitment was recently reinforced through the unanimous approval by the FIFA Council of the revised FIFA Disciplinary Code, which introduces new measures to fight racist abuse — including increased minimum bans for racist incidents and enhanced financial penalties as duly informed to the 75th FIFA Congress in Asuncion in May 2025.” FIFA also said its three-step anti-discrimination procedure is in effect should incidents occur, while adding that a social media protection service is available to players and match officials, which helps hide abuse from their social media channels.

Who is new teenage Chelsea signing Chris Atherton? https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c873yyxq4xdo It seemed only a matter of time before teenager Chris Atherton would sign for a major club. The 16-year-old forward's dream has come true as Irish Premiership club Glenavon confirmed on Thursday that he has signed for Chelsea. Atherton made headlines in September 2022 when he became the youngest senior footballer in the United Kingdom at 13 years and 329 years old. Indeed, he missed out on becoming the youngest senior player in the world by just 10 days, that record being held by Souleymane Mamam, who played for Togo in a World Cup qualifier against Zambia in May 2001 at 13 years and 319 days. Having joined the Glenavon academy at four years old, the Northern Ireland Under-17 international broke the United Kingdom record when he came on as a second-half substitute for the Lurgan Blues during a 6-0 win over Dollingstown in the BetMcLean Cup. He was a first-team regular for Glenavon throughout the 2024-25 season, scoring his first Irish Premiership goal against Loughgall in March as his club finished 10th in the 12-team top division in Northern Ireland domestic football. snip

Yes, 2nd half. I will try and find footage. All were fouls against KK, none called.

multiple CLEAR pens not given to Al-Hilal

shameful reffing the worst so far

2 1 FT

Al-Hilal have been so fucked over crazy

he would miss the next match as well but they will lose here

KK fouled a THIRD time in the box no call and the ref gives him a yellow for simulation which is madness