YOANE WISSA: THE ACID ATTACK SURVIVOR WHO BECAME FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 HERO FOR DR CONGO

Yoane Wissa may not be a new name for football fans due to his time with Brentford in the Premier League but not many are aware of his courageous story off the field.

Yoane Wissa celebrates after scoring in FIFA World Cup 2026

Yoane Wissa may not be a new name for football fans due to his time with Brentford in the Premier League but not many are aware of his courageous story off the field. The striker grabbed the headlines on Wednesday as he scored DR Congo's first World Cup goal in 52 years to clinch a historic 1-1 draw against Portugal. Joao Neves handed Portugal the lead early in the match but DR Congo did not give up and Wissa's powerful header was the perfect example of their grit and determination. While the whole world could not stop praising the striker for his brilliant performance, it was less than five years ago that he almost lost his eyesight after suffering an acid attack at his home in Lorient.

A woman, who was later identified as Laetitia P, posed as a fan and threw acid on his face. She even tried to kidnap his daughter but was ultimately caught and sentenced to 18 years in prison. 

It was just days ahead of his move to Brentford from Lorient and it seemed like his transfer can get affected by the accident.

"I opened a door, and had liquid thrown in my face. I screamed and could not breathe. My wife called the emergency services, and they told me to get under the shower to rinse my eyes. At the hospital they told me my eyes were burned. Someone had to come and rinse them out every hour. It has been a nightmare."

Since then I panic every time I hear a noise, and the only thing that kept me going was knowing my children are safe. I had surgery on both eyes, and the doctor told me I will need to use eye drops for the rest of my life.  Had I not been treated so quickly, the consequences would have been far worse," Wissa told the court.

However, he joined Brentford in 2021 and ended up making 149 appearances for the club over four seasons. He scored 49 goals during his time with the club and ultimately moved to Newcastle United in a big-money deal.

- Sayan Ghosh

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TOTTENHAM FINALLY SACK THIMAS FRANK AS SPURS SLIP EVEN CLOSER TO RELEGATION ZONE

Thomas Frank has been sacked by Tottenham eight months into his tenure, having been unable to change the club's fortunes since he arrived from Brentford in June

Tottenham have sacked manager Thomas Frank after just eight months in charge. Defeat at home to Newcastle proved his final game in charge, with the club slipping perilously close to the Premier League relegation zone.

Frank was appointed at the start of the season to replace Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked despite ending the club's long trophy drought by winning the Europa League. But Frank has struggled to make an impression in his time in the dugout, with fans becoming increasingly critical of the former Brentford boss.

Supporters have consistently called for the manager to lose his job, despite qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

But their Premier League form has been desperate. Spurs are winless in their last eight league games and have not won on home soil in the Premier League since early December.

That run of form has left Spurs just five points clear of the drop zone, with the sides in the bottom three moving even closer following their 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle. And that has forced Spurs bosses into immediate action.

Contingency plans are now being put into place to appoint a replacement and help stave off the ever growing risk of a disastrous drop to the Championship. Spurs' search for Frank's successor will now begin, with former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi the outstanding name following his exit from French side Marseille.

Frank's exit comes hours after he expressed confidence over his position despite the rising pressure. Asked if he would be in charge for Spurs' next game against North London rivals Arsenal, he said: “Yeah, I’m convinced I will be. I understand the question and I understand it’s easy to point on me but I also think it’s never only the head coach or the ownership or the directors or the players or the staff.

“It’s everyone. If you do something right, you build something that can last. Of course we are not in a top position now. Everyone knows, directors, ownership, myself, what position we are in, what we need to improve and what we need to do better. That is what we are working very hard on.”

Frank was also asked if he believes he remains the right man to lead the club. He added: “1000 per cent sure. I am also 1000 per cent sure that I never expected us to be in a situation like this with 11 or 12 injuries on the back end of this and what we’ve been facing, but I know when you need to build something and need to get through things, you need to show unbelievable strong resilience.

“I think it is fair to say there are a few before me up here not only for Tottenham but in many other clubs that have lost their head many times and I think you need to have a calm head, carry on, keep fighting and keep doing the right thing, make sure we stick together because we can only do this if we stick together. That is the board, that is the leaders, that is the players, that is the staff, that is me and that is the fans. We’ve got to get through this.”

- Ben Husband & Daniel Orme

UNAI EMERY RILED BY 'UNFAIR' VAR CALL AS ASTON VILLA'S TITLE HOPES FADE

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery blasted a VAR intervention to rule out a goal for his side as Sunday's 1-0 home defeat to 10-man Brentford dented their dreams of winning the Premier League title.

Unai Emery in action © AFP

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery blasted a VAR intervention to rule out a goal for his side as Sunday's 1-0 home defeat to 10-man Brentford dented their dreams of winning the Premier League title. Tammy Abraham thought he had levelled with a debut goal on his return to Villa early in the second half, only for a lengthy VAR check to determine the ball had gone out of play much further back in the move. Villa were unable to break Brentford down thereafter even though the Bees playing more than half the game a man down following Kevin Schade's red card.

The 10 men took the lead just after Schade kicked out at Matty Cash when Dango Ouattara blasted in from a narrow angle.

"Of course, I accept it. But for me it is not fair," said Emery. "My explanation is it is one action after a long time. If the assistant referee did not see it, we must continue playing.

"I think the problem is the VAR should not be asking in this situation. I accept it but it is not fair.

"I can't say anything more about it. It is football and of course Brentford played fantastic with one player less than us."

Defeat leaves Villa still seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal, but also looking over their shoulder in the battle for a place in next season's Champions League.

Emery's side are seven points ahead of sixth-placed Liverpool with a place in the top five likely to be enough to secure Champions League qualification.

- Agence-France Presse 

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GARY NEVILLE TAKES AIM AT RUBÉN AMORIM FOR MAKING 'ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS' MAN UNITED DECISION

Gary Neville has questioned whether Ruben Amorim knows how to get the best out of Mason Mount following Manchester United's defeat to Brentford at the weekend

Gary Neville reflects on the weekend's action from St. James' Park on his podcast(Image: The Gary Neville Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kczh3yjiE8w)

Gary Neville has questioned why Ruben Amorim keeps playing Mason Mount at left wing-back. The 26-year-old midfielder, who Manchester United signed from Chelsea for £60m in July 2023, came on for Luke Shaw during Saturday afternoon's 3-1 defeat to Brentford.

Mount had started each of United's first three games of the new Premier League season before picking up a knock in the 3-2 win over Burnley. The England international missed the Manchester Derby, and he made his return off the bench in the 2-1 victory against Chelsea.

Mount appeared again at the weekend, but he couldn't claw back a point for Amorim's side. Shortly after coming on, Mathias Jensen put the third and final nail in United's coffin after a quick break.

Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast at St. James' Park on Sunday evening, Neville reflected on the result at the G-Tech Community Stadium. The United legend described the decision to play Mount at left wing-back again as 'absolutely ridiculous'.

"There was something that happened in that game that I mentioned on my podcast two or three weeks ago that I said we couldn't see again," said Neville. "I said that Mason Mount ended up at left wing-back.

"There's sticking to your plan, and then there's your coach that's got an idea and making sure that he delivers that idea and not flip-flopping with his idea with players, which can sometimes undermine what you're trying to achieve.

“But then when you're putting Mason Mount at left wing-back – and he's ended up at left wing-back again at Brentford in the last five minutes of the game – it starts to look awful."

Ruben Amorim oversaw another disappointing afternoon for Manchester United as they lost at Brentford on Saturday (Image: Getty Images)

He added: "You can't put Mason Mount at left wing-back. I'm sorry, it just can't happen. I can't watch Mason Mount play left wing-back in a football team.

"I struggled at times to watch him in his natural position, but actually putting him out there on the left wing, is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous."

On United, Neville said: I'm very worried. The performance that we saw and the result at Brentford means that you feel the Chelsea game was skewed by the sending off.

Mason Mount playing for Manchester United against Chelsea(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

"You start to look at the Chelsea win less positively. That's just football. I think there are a lot of United fans coming out of that ground last Saturday, including me, thinking, 'Brentford away, Sunderland at home next week has a real opportunity to get nine points on the board, on the bounce, and then you'll be well up in the top six or eight'.

"But the Brentford game was a really poor performance and a real worry. I felt for the first time, just through instinct, watching it on the television, seeing players' faces and body language, that there might be an element of players really doubting the system and what's going on."

- Jake Stokes

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MORE PENALTY MISERY FOR MANCHESTER UNITED AND BRUNO FERNANDES IN BRENTFORD LOSS

Bruno Fernandes failed from the penalty spot again as Manchester United were beaten 3-1 at Brentford.

Igor Thiago’s first-half double put Brentford in command before United were handed a lifeline by Benjamin Sesko’s first goal since his £73million move from RB Leipzig.

Substitute Mathias Jensen sealed matters in the fifth of eight minutes of stoppage time after Fernandes had wasted a golden chance to equalise with the contest having moved into the final quarter.

Bryan Mbeumo, back at Brentford after ending a six-year stay with the Bees in the summer, was dragged down by Nathan Collins in front of goal.

But Fernandes, who missed the target from 12 yards at Fulham last month, was wasteful as Caoimhin Kelleher went to his left and saved with a strong hand.

Brentford had won only once in the Premier League and started the day just outside the bottom three, but an excellent team performances was typified by the excellent Jordan Henderson and Mikkel Damsgaard in midfield and Thiago’s clinical finishing.

Diogo Dalot, Manuel Ugarte and Matheus Cunha returned after United’s win over Chelsea with boss Ruben Amorim’s hand forced by injury and suspension.

Noussair Mazraoui was injured, Casemiro ruled out by his Chelsea red card, and Amad Diallo unavailable due to a family bereavement.

It meant summer signings Cunha, Mbeumo – who received a warm reception on his Brentford return – and Sesko lined up in the United attack for the first time .

Brentford profited from the first main action after eight minutes as Cunha went to ground and Henderson spotted Thiago’s run.

Thiago advanced to crash a shot high off the post past Altay Bayindir, and the subsequent VAR check showed the Brazilian had been played onside by Harry Maguire’s back foot.

Cunha drove wide from 20 yards as United sought to recover from the early setback.

But Bayindir had to make two fine stops in the space of a minute, palming out Sepp van den Berg’s point-blank effort and acrobatically tipping over a Collins header after Henderson had found space.

Brentford were swarming all over United and doubled their lead after 20 minutes.

Maguire played Kevin Schade onside this time and Bayindir could only divert his cross into the path of Thiago, who squeezed the ball over the line despite the desperate effort of the United goalkeeper to salvage the situation.

Sesko fired straight at Kelleher, but the Slovenian striker did not have to wait long to open his United account.

Mbeumo competed with Kelleher under Patrick Dorgu’s cross and the ball fell kindly for Sesko.

Kelleher kept out two attempts – a header and a stabbed shot – but Sesko slammed home at the third attempt and the goal stood after VAR had checked Mbeumo’s challenge on the goalkeeper.

Cunha’s low drive was collected comfortably, but the second half was a more sedate affair until Schade got the better of Dalot and Dango Ouattara was denied by Bayindir.

United’s frustration grew after Collins was spared a red card, despite not appearing to try and play the ball when holding back Mbeumo, and Fernandes missed from the spot.

Jensen’s thunderous drive finally saw off United as jubilant Brentford fans directed cries of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” at Amorim.

- Phil Blanche, PA

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ARSENAL SIGNS MIDFIELDER CHRISTIAN NORGAARD FROM BRENTFORD

Arsenal.com

LONDON (AP) - Arsenal completed the signing of Christian Norgaard from Brentford on Thursday for a reported fee of up to 15 million pounds ($20 million).

The 31-year-old Denmark international has signed a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months. He is Arsenal's third signing of the offseason after midfielder Martin Zubimendi and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Arsenal has been busy in the transfer market after finishing runner-up in the Premier League for a third straight season.

A top striker is also among manager Mikel Arteta's targets.

Norgaard made 196 appearances for Brentford and scored 13 goals.

He said he was relishing the opportunity to play in the Champions League with Arsenal.

"You can get almost emotional because maybe it was a dream that I´ve given a little bit up on coming towards the later stage in my career," he said. "Now, I get to hear the anthem and be a part of a Champions League campaign. It´s a childhood dream and something I didn´t think would be possible. So it´s something I´m really, really happy about."

- ASSOCIATED PRESS