Category: Europe

Karim Benzema simply cannot be stopped right now

The in-form striker scored another worldie on Friday after a fantastic combination with Christopher Nkunku

Karim Benzema has become the favorite for the 2022 Ballon d’Or for a reason.

The striker scored 42 times in 44 games for Real Madrid this season, leading his team to a La Liga-Champions League double.

Benzema’s red-hot club form has easily translated to his national team, and he scored another sensational goal for France on Friday.

With France and Denmark scoreless early in the second half of a UEFA Nations League match, Benzema played a picturesque one-two with Christopher Nkunku before evading two defenders and finishing past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Denmark would eventually turn the game around and win 2-1 at Stade de France, but the home fans at least got to witness another moment of brilliance from Benzema.

Watch Benzema’s goal vs. Denmark

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Ukraine is one step from the World Cup after emotional win at Scotland

It was an incredible display from a team which hadn’t played in six months

Ukraine is just one step away from the World Cup after an emotional 3-1 win over Scotland in a playoff, as the war-torn nation returned to the field for the first time since Russia’s invasion in February.

Ukraine and Scotland were scheduled to face off in March in the UEFA playoff semifinal, but the match was pushed back to Wednesday after Russia invaded Ukraine.

With emotions high and the war still ongoing, Ukraine produced an heroic performance at Hampden Park in Glasgow, advancing to Sunday’s playoff final against Wales with a berth at the World Cup on the line.

The winner of that match in Cardiff will go into World Cup Group B alongside England, Iran and the United States.

Before the game, there were emotional scenes as Ukraine’s players entered the field draped in the flag of their country. Scotland fans were handed out cards with the words of Ukraine’s anthem so they could sing along in a show of support.

On 33 minutes, Ukraine took the lead after Andriy Yarmolenko brilliantly took down a ball over the top and lobbed the ball over Craig Gordon in Scotland’s goal.

After the break the Ukrainians doubled their lead after a patient bit of build-up play culminated in a textbook headed goal by Roman Yaremchuk.

As the game went on Ukraine began to understandably tire, with its domestic-based players well short of match fitness following the Ukrainian Premier League shutting down in February.

John McGinn missed an easy header for Scotland before Callum McGregor got a goal back with 10 minutes remaining as Ukraine looked to be in danger of conceding an equalizer.

But Ukraine held off a late Scottish charge and sealed the game deep into stoppage time when Artem Dovbyk finished off a breakaway.

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PSG women’s team suspends coach Didier Ollé-Nicolle, launches investigation

PSG are looking into alleged “inappropriate behavior and remarks.”

Paris Saint-Germain has suspended Didier Ollé-Nicolle, the head coach of its women’s team, pending an investigation into what it referred to as “inappropriate behavior and remarks.”

In an official club statement, PSG said it had on Tuesday been made aware of those allegations—which PSG said would be “incompatible with Paris Saint-Germain’s sporting and human values” if found to be true—and had moved to suspend Ollé-Nicolle while the investigation is carried out.

The club statement said in part: “In order to protect the interests of all parties, the coach of the Women’s Team has been suspended today, in agreement with Paris Saint-Germain. This is a fair and temporary measure. It will not prejudice the internal investigation that will be undertaken, nor impact the decisions that the club may be led to take.”

The news is not the first time PSG’s women’s team has faced allegations of inappropriate conduct from a coach. USWNT midfielder Lindsey Horan, on the Butterfly Road podcast, detailed extensive body-shaming and unhealthy messages from coaches and staff on the subject of food while playing at PSG under head coach Farid Benstiti.

Benstiti was later named head coach at OL Reign, but was forced out last year. The Washington Post reported that he was asked to resign for “inappropriate comments to players regarding their fitness and nutrition.”

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Women’s Champions League final 2022: TV, live stream, venue and teams

The 2021-22 Women’s Champions League is set to conclude at Juventus Stadium in Turin on May 21

The Women’s Champions League is fast coming to its conclusion as the final in Turin draws ever closer.

Barcelona is looking to further cement its status as the top club side in Europe by winning its second straight title, having defeated Chelsea in the final last season.

With the competition now down to its final stages, Pro Soccer Wire brings you everything you need to know about the biggest event on the European club calendar.

When is the Women’s Champions League final?

The 2021-22 Women’s Champions League final will kick off on Saturday, May 21 at 1 p.m. ET.

How can I watch the Women’s Champions League final?

The Women’s Champions League final will be broadcast live on streaming platform DAZN. The game will also be streamed for free right here on the DAZN UEFA Women’s Champions League YouTube channel.

Where is the Women’s Champions League final?

The match is set to take place at Juventus Stadium in Turin. It will be the second time Italy has hosted the final, after the 2015-16 event was held in Reggio Emilia.

Who will play in the Women’s Champions League final?

The match will see Barcelona and Lyon facing off in a blockbuster finale.

Barcelona defeated Wolfsburg 5-3 on aggregate in one semifinal, while Lyon defeated its domestic rival PSG in the other semifinal, also by a 5-3 aggregate score.

Lyon is the most successful team in Women’s Champions League history, having won the competition seven times including five seasons in a row between 2016 and 2020.

In 2021 that streak was broken by Barcelona, which won its first Champions League title by defeating Chelsea 4-0 in a dominant final performance.

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Poland calls up USMNT prospect Gabriel Slonina for Nations League

The teenage star has accepted a call to the European country after he was called up to the USMNT earlier this year

Having just turned 18, Gabriel Slonina has marked himself one of the top goalkeeper prospects in world soccer, and the U.S. national team’s goalkeeper of the future.

But what if … he wasn’t the USMNT’s goalkeeper of the future?

Poland certainly hopes that will be the case and the European nation took a step in that direction on Tuesday by calling up the mega-talented teenager for its four upcoming UEFA Nations League matches.

The Chicago Fire star was one of five goalkeepers called up for Poland’s games against Belgium (two matches), Wales and the Netherlands next month.

Slonina was born and raised in the United States and has represented his birth country at the youth level. He’s also been called into two senior camps and is considered an outside bet to make the World Cup squad as the team’s third-string keeper.

But the teenager is also eligible for Poland, which has been putting on a full-court press to try and temp him away. Last month, Poland national team manager Czeslaw Michniewicz met with Slonina and was quoted as saying the goalkeeper is “very interested in playing for our squad,” and that it was “heading in the right direction for us.”

Would Slonina be tied to Poland if he plays?

Slonina could theoretically be tied to Poland for the rest of his career during the upcoming international window – but only if he appears in all four matches.

FIFA rules allows players to switch countries if they have played no more than three competitive matches at senior level prior to them turning 21.

While it appears unlikely Slonina will be tied to Poland after the upcoming window, there would theoretically be at least one advantage for the goalkeeper if he chooses the European nation. Slonina is widely expected to move to a European club in the near future, and playing for a national team in Europe would dramatically reduce his required travel.

Like the USMNT, Poland qualified for the 2022 World Cup and is in a group with Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

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Blackpool’s Jake Daniels becomes first openly-gay UK male professional player

The teenager has come out as gay, becoming the only out professional male soccer player in the UK

Blackpool forward Jake Daniels has come out as gay, becoming the first active openly gay male professional player in the UK.

Daniels made his professional debut for Championship side Blackpool earlier this month, coming on as a substitute in his team’s defeat to Peterborough.

The 17-year-old spoke to Sky Sports about his decision to come out.

“It’s been quite a crazy year,” Daniels said. “I’m 17. I’ve signed a professional contract. I’ve scored 30 goals this season and I’ve just made my first team debut in the Championship, coming off the bench against Peterborough.

“And now I have decided to come out.

“Everything has happened at once but it feels right. When this season started, I just wanted to prove myself as a player. I think I have. So this was the one last thing in my head that I knew I needed to do. Now it’s out, and people know. Now I can just live my life how I want to and you know what? It’s been incredible.”

Blackpool releases statement supporting Daniels

“Blackpool Football Club has worked closely with Stonewall and the relevant footballing organisations to support Jake and is incredibly proud that he has reached a stage where he is empowered to express himself both on-and-off the pitch,” the club said in a statement.

“It is vital that we all promote an environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves, and that football leads the way in removing any form of discrimination and prejudice.”

30 games, 30 wins: Barcelona Femeni completes perfect season

In 30 league games, Barcelona scored 159 goals while conceding just 11

Barcelona Femeni defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 on Sunday, clinching an incredible perfect league season that saw the Blaugrana win all 30 of their games.

Irene Paredes and Aitana Bonmati scored in the first half to secure a narrow win for Jonatan Giráldez’s side.

Barca had long since clinched the league title, having done so all the way back on March 13. By winning on Sunday the club’s margin of victory in the league was a staggering 24 points, finishing on 90 points to 66 for second-place Real Sociedad.

Across 30 games of the season, Barcelona scored 159 goals while conceding just 11.

With 20 goals over the season, Barca’s Nigerian star Asisat Oshoala clinched the Pichichi trophy for the league’s top scorer.

Barcelona chases treble

There are still two trophies left to play for this season for Barcelona, which is looking to cement its status as the undisputed top club side in Europe.

The Champions League final is next weekend, with Barca looking to win its second straight European crown by defeating Lyon.

Four days after the Champions league final, Barca will face rival Real Madrid in the Copa de la Reina semifinal.

In addition to its on-field accomplishments, Barcelona has also twice set the all-time record for attendance at a women’s game this season.

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England international Jack Grealish can’t recognize a map of England

Jack Grealish was born and raised in England.

Jack Grealish, we need to have a talk.

Grealish featured in the “Where Greatness is Made Challenge” on the Nationwide Building Society’s YouTube channel, alongside his England teammates Jordan Henderson, James Ward-Prowse and Conor Coady.

The challenge is to guess where the “Greatness is Made” – meaning, in this case, where the players originated from in England.

After Henderson, Ward-Prowse and Coady place balls on a map of England, guessing where their teammates are from, Grealish steps up and …. yikes.

Grealish is asked to place a ball on the map to show where he grew up.

The 26-year-old – a person who, it must be emphasized, was born and raised in England – looks at the map asks: “What is that, England?”

After his teammates and the host Emma Louise Jones break down laughing, Grealish adds: “I’ve got no chance!”

Luckily for Grealish, he is very very good at soccer.

Forest Green announced its coach was joining Watford in the saltiest way possible

“We’re disappointed that our support, loyalty and honesty towards Rob has been repaid in this way”

When most clubs lose their manager to a bigger club they may be upset with how the departure unfolded, but they keep those feelings hidden as they politely wish their coach well in public.

Forest Green Rovers is not one of those clubs.

Rob Edwards led Forest Green to a League Two championship this season, helping the team get promoted to League One. As an up-and-coming young coach who experienced major success in his first senior managerial job, Edwards naturally attracted interest from bigger clubs.

Rumors began picking up recently that Watford, which was just relegated from the Premier League, had identified Edwards as the man to help bring the club back up to the big time next season.

On Wednesday, Forest Green confirmed Edwards was leaving, but the club was unable to put on a happy face in public.

Forest Green lashed out at Edwards and Watford, claiming all negotiations went on behind the club’s back and that their behavior “gives football a bad name.”

Forest Green’s statement on Edwards

“FGR confirms the departure of Head Coach Rob Edwards. Rob was a key part of the team that gained promotion to League One this season. We’re disappointed that our support, loyalty and honesty towards Rob has been repaid in this way – with negotiations taking place behind our backs.

“We had no contact from Watford, from whom we might expect less, but in any event this kind of behaviour gives football a bad name.

“We thank Rob for all his work at FGR – forgive him the manner of his departure and wish him well.”

At least they forgave him!

Vardy vs Rooney, aka ‘Wagatha Christie’, aka the Trial of the Century, has begun

“It’s ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

In October 2019, Coleen Rooney sent out one of the most infamous tweets in the entire history of the cursed social media website known as Twitter.

Rooney, the wife of ex-England star Wayne, laid out a clever ruse she had used to catch “someone who I trusted” of leaking stories to The Sun newspaper.

Colleen said she blocked every account from following her on Instagram except one and then posted several fake stories that she said made their way into The Sun.

And then, the kicker.

“I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them,” Rooney said.

“It’s ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

Rebekah, the wife of Rooney’s former England teammate and current Leicester City striker Jaime Vardy, denied Rooney’s charges in an affair that was eventually dubbed “Wagatha Christie.”

On Tuesday, the Wagatha Christie affair entered a new phase.

Vardy has now brought a libel lawsuit against Rooney, with the trial getting underway on Tuesday in London.

Vardy’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson has said his client had “no choice” but to bring the lawsuit after attempts to settle the matter failed.

“Mrs Rooney did not have the ‘irrefutable’ evidence that she claimed to have had: her so-called ‘careful investigation’ was nothing of the sort,” Tomlinson said in written submissions to the High Court.

Rebekah Vardy, wife of England and Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy, arrives to the High Court in central London for the start of the “Wagatha Christie” libel trial on May 10, 2022.  (Photo by Niklas HALLE’N / AFP)

“Mrs Vardy had no choice but to bring this libel action to establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation,” he added.

Under English defamation law, the burden of proof now will fall on Rooney to prove that her claim on Twitter was “substantially true.”