Month: March 2024

MADRID: Brazil’s Lucas Paqueta converted an injury-time penalty to snatch a 3-3 draw with Spain in a tense international friendly at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, early this morning.

The hosts took control early in the action with teenagers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams being thorns in the flesh for their opponents on the flanks.

16-year-old Yamal grabbed a disputed penalty for Spain in the 12th minute when he went down after being denied by Joao Gomes following a superb piece of individual play down the right flank.
Replays showed there were minimal touches but the referee awarded a penalty and no VAR was in operation to review the decision.

Spain captain Rodri drilled in a penalty to put the hosts in front before Dani Olmo doubled their advantage in the 36th minute, outfoxing two Brazilian defenders before slotting in.

However, Rodrygo closed the gap before the break after goalkeeper Unai Simon’s mistake and teenager Endrick came off the bench to equalize following a corner four minutes after the break.

Spain were back in front in the 86th minute following another disputed referee’s decision that sparked anger in the visitors’ dugout, with stadium security officials forced to intervene to resolve the situation.

Portuguese referee Antonio Nobre awarded a penalty following Lucas Beraldo’s tackle on Dani Carvajal in the penalty box and Rodri shot into the middle of the goal.

But Brazil managed to equalize five minutes after injury when Galeno was fouled in the box and Paqueta completed the spot kick.

“We often want to win,” Endrick told Brazilian television station Globo.

“We are Brazil and we often want to win, to honor our legacy.

“We are not promising that we will win every match, but we will not reduce our efforts, our resilience, our enthusiasm, we will not lack anything.”

LIVERPOOL: The greatest feud between two English Premier League managers – Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola ended in a draw at Anfield.

Klopp’s Liverpool drew 1-1 with Guardiola’s Manchester City, leaving this season’s title race wide open between three teams – including leaders Arsenal.

Klopp will leave Anfield at the end of the season after almost a decade with Liverpool and won every major tournament and competed fiercely with Guardiola’s men for several titles.

Yesterday’s meeting at Anfield was the 16th Premier League match between the two managers.

Guardiola has now recorded five wins, four losses and seven draws against Klopp in the English Premier League.

The feud between Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho often ends in tension, but the opposite is true for Guardiola and Mourinho when the two managers respect each other and hug at the end of the game.

“He will be back! He loves this job so much. What can I say? He made us a better team, made me a better manager. I hope he will be back soon, because football needs a personality like him.

“Praise to Liverpool. They once again proved that what they did was amazing in this match,” said Guardiola.

Klopp refused to reveal what he said to Guardiola after the final whistle.

“It is personal, even in the football stadium. We respect each other and maybe after this career we will be close friends,” said Klopp.

LONDON: Former referee Mike Dean admitted Paul Tierney made a ‘big mistake’ before Liverpool scored a late victory over Nottingham Forest yesterday.

Darwin Nunez scored the only goal of the game in stoppage time as Liverpool won 1-0 to strengthen their challenge for the Premier League title.

However, much of the post-match analysis focused on Tierney following the incident involving Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

Play was stopped after Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate suffered a head injury when Callum Hudson-Odoi tried to cross for Forest.

After Konate recovered quickly, Kelleher resumed play but ended up passing the ball to his friend when he should have given the ball back to Forest.

Liverpool finally managed to find the net with substitute Nunez scoring the winning goal.

Although there was plenty of time between the incident and the goal, Dean felt Tierney should have stopped the game first.

Dean told Sky Sports : “Of course Nottingham Forest are angry, I would be angry too if I was involved with Nottingham Forest, but unfortunately the referee made a big mistake.

“I think he will know this morning that he made a mistake and hopefully he won’t repeat the same thing in the future.

“Unfortunately for Paul it was a mistake and it was a bad mistake, it led to the goal.

“The rules say whoever has the ball when play is stopped, the ball should be given back to them. Hudson-Odoi clearly had the ball and it should have been given to Nottingham Forest on the wing.”

Dean said that a statement should be issued after the match admitting that a mistake had been made.

However Dean said the incident which saw Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis clash with Tierney after the match should not have happened.