Showing posts with label Budapest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budapest. Show all posts
Sunday, 26 July 2026
Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Sunday, 31 May 2026
LUIS ENRIQUE REACTS TO HONESTLY TO ARSENAL TACTICS AFTER PSG WIN BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
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| PSG manager Luis Enrique, Champions League trophy |
Luis Enrique gave his honest assessment of Arsenal’s tactics in their Champions League final defeat to PSG, while one reporter claims it’s now ‘inevitable’ the Gunners break their UCL duck.
Arsenal never really laid a glove on PSG in more than 120 minutes in Budapest. Thankfully, their crop of world class defenders ensured the Parisians struggled to craft much by the way of clear-cut chances either.
The Gunners defended manfully throughout the contest and in truth, it was the rearguard that gave Arsenal a sniff of glory by forcing a shoot-out.
Ultimately, Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes failed to convert after failing to hit the target altogether with their spot-kicks.
It ensured Arsenal’s historic season that brought their first league title in over two decades ended on the sourest of notes, though one person who wasn’t prepared to stick the boot in was PSG boss Enrique.
Speaking post-match, the Spanish manager summed up his emotions when stating: “I’m mixed. Excitement, fatigue.
“Everything but this is the best moment of the season. We are still champions, two in a row, it’s amazing.
“We deserved that. Our supporters, during the whole season. We deserve to be in the final.”
Luis Enrique reacts to Arsenal tactics
On Arsenal’s style of play that centres on disruption, defending deep and in numbers, and is generally reliant on set piece goals, Enrique admitted his PSG side were suitably challenged.
“It was very tough and difficult,” he admitted. “Congratulations to Arsenal, it was very tough.
“They played great. It’s normal. They try to take the match into phases they are strong. We tried to control the ball and press. We have won the title.”
Enrique has now won back-to-back UCLs and has taken his tally in this competition to three after previously winning the tournament with Barcelona back in 2015.
But while some managers – a certain special one, perhaps? – might get carried away after this accomplishment, Enrique insisted he’s got no interest in blowing his own trumpet.
Asked whether he should now be considered a legendary manager, Enrique replied: “Legend? I’m not interested in that.”
Arsenal, meanwhile, will win the Champions League with this current crop of players and Mikel Arteta at the helm.
That’s according to French journalist, Julien Laurens, who declared during the post-match fallout: “It is cruel for Arsenal fans, but it is inevitable that this club win the Champions League.”
He added: “Mikel Arteta will see the positives because that is the kind of guy he is.
“Arsenal are getting closer and closer. This team adds a bit more attacking power and desire. This team can have everything. It will hurt tonight.”
- Steve Pearson
Saturday, 30 May 2026
Monday, 4 August 2025
Monday, 6 January 2025
ROBBIE KEANE APPOINTED HEAD COACH OF HUNGARIAN CHAMPIONS FERENCVROS
Former Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane has been appointed head coach at Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.
The 44-year-old, who left his role as Maccabi Tel Aviv boss in June having guided the Israeli club to the league title, replaces Pascal Jansen following his departure for New York City FC.
A statement on the club’s official website said: “We announce the successor to Dutchman Pascal Jansen to lead our 35-time champion and 24-time cup winner team, as the 146-time national team player of the Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane has signed on Monday.
“The new head coach arrived in Budapest on Sunday evening and will leave on Tuesday to join our team at the training camp in Spain.”
Keane scored a record 68 senior international goals during a 19-year playing career which included spells with Wolves, Coventry, Inter Milan, Leeds, Tottenham, Liverpool, Celtic, West Ham, LA Galaxy and Aston Villa.
He moved into coaching in 2018 as player-manager at ATK in India and worked as an assistant to Ireland boss Mick McCarthy during his second spell in charge, and later took up a similar role under former Spurs team-mate Jonathan Woodgate at Middlesbrough.
He was part of Sam Allardyce’s staff at Leeds as they unsuccessfully tried to pull off an unlikely escape from Premier League relegation at the end of the 2022-23 season, but was then offered the chance to manage in his own right by Maccabi.
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| Robbie Keane (left) served as an assistant to Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy (Niall Carson/PA) |
Keane guided the Tel Aviv club to a league and cup double and took them to the last 16 in the European Conference League in his one season at the helm.
However, his reign attracted criticism at home in Ireland after he opted to remain in his post following Israel’s military action in Gaza.
Keane, who will be joined in Budapest by assistant coach Rory Delap and analyst Phill Hudson, later said he had stayed on for the sake of his players and staff and revealed he had rejected a lucrative offer to carry on his work.
- Damian Spellman, Pa
Wednesday, 25 September 2024
SAN SIRO OFF HOSTING 2027 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
UEFA has re-opened the bidding process to stage the 2027 Champions League final after stripping Milan's San Siro Stadium of the hosting rights.
The San Siro, the home ground of AC Milan and Inter Milan, last staged the Champions League final in 2016 when Real Madrid defeated Atlético Madrid following a penalty shoot-out.
UEFA announced Milan as the 2027 host city in May this year at the same time as confirming the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary, as the venue for the 2026 Champions League final.
But despite confirming Milan as the 2027 venue, UEFA did so on the proviso that the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) submitted information in the plans for the multi-million pound refurbishment of the San Siro.
Those plans remain uncertain with both Milan and Inter considering moving out of the San Siro, officially named the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, due to an ongoing battle to secure funding for the renovation of the existing stadium.
If funds cannot be secured, the 75,817-capacity San Siro, which opened in 1926, could be demolished.
And with the future of the stadium still shrouded in doubt, UEFA has announced that it will now seek a new host venue for the 2027 Champions League final following a meeting of its Executive Committee on Tuesday.
A UEFA statement said, "As the Municipality of Milano could not guarantee that the San Siro stadium and its surroundings would not be affected by refurbishment works in the period of the 2027 UEFA Champions League final, it was decided not to assign the final to Milan and to re-open the bidding process to appoint a suitable venue, with a decision expected in May/June 2025."
Munich's Allianz Arena will host the 2025 Champions League final on May 31, but with only Budapest and Milan submitting bids to host the 2026 and 2027 finals when the bidding process opened in July 2023, a source has told ESPN that UEFA will now seek expressions of interest from cities that originally chose not to bid for the 2027 Champions League final.
+ Mark Ogden, Senior Writer, ESPN FC
Wednesday, 22 May 2024
UEFA PICKS BUDAPEST TO HOST 2026 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL BUT DELAYS 2027 DECISION ON SAN SIRO
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| AP |
DUBLIN (AP) — UEFA picked Budapest on Wednesday to host the men’s Champions League final in 2026 and delayed giving the 2027 game to Milan amid uncertainty over the future of San Siro.
The Puskás Arena and San Siro were the only two candidates for the two finals scheduled to be awarded. The next final on June 1 is at Wembley Stadium in London and Bayern Munich’s home will host next year.
The iconic San Siro, formally known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza and owned by the city of Milan, has been under long-term threat of demolition. Its shared tenants AC Milan and Inter Milan have looked for new homes they can own.
UEFA put off a decision until a September meeting of its executive committee subject to the Italian soccer federation “submitting information on refurbishment plans” for San Siro.
Earlier Wednesday, uncertainly increased in Milan as ownership of Inter switched from Chinese corporation Suning to United States investors Oaktree because of failure to repay debts.
The 75,000-seat San Siro still could host the European Cup or Champions League final for the fifth time, one year after staging the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 70,000-seat Puskás Arena opened five years ago and has been a go-to venue for UEFA, hosting a Europa League final last year and replacement games during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a big fan of soccer and billionaire banker Sándor Csányi is a FIFA vice president representing UEFA.
UEFA’s executive committee also sent the Women’s Champions League final in 2026 to Oslo, Norway.
Istanbul will host the 2026 Europa League final in the downtown stadium of Besiktas and the 2027 game is going to Eintracht Frankfurt’s home. The 2025 Europa final is in Athletic Bilbao’s stadium, which also hosts the Women’s Champions League final next week.
The third-tier Conference League final in 2026 will also go to Germany, in Leipzig, and in 2027 to Istanbul, potentially also at the Besiktas stadium though that could change.
The Turkish soccer federation said it hopes the 2027 final can move to the new stadium being built in the capital Ankara ahead of the country co-hosting the men's European Championship with Italy in 2032.
Turkey gets to host European finals in back-to-back years while the Romanian national stadium in Bucharest, which last hosted a Europa League final in 2012, lost in votes to bring that title match back.
The Israeli soccer federation had originally entered the Conference League bidding contest last year proposing Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.
In other UEFA executive committee business ahead of the Europa League final, trials of safe standing areas for fans at European club competition games was extended next season to Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and Scotland.
The UEFA-recognized Football Supporters Europe group has run a “Europe Wants to Stand” campaign and welcomed the new additions to consent for trials over the last two seasons in England, France and Germany. Also on the permitted list are Italy and Spain.
“Standing at matches positively contributes to the atmosphere of games enormously, is a significant element of fan culture across the continent, and helps to lower the pricing for these games generally," FSE executive director Ronan Evain said in a statement.
- GRAHAM DUNBAR
Sunday, 11 February 2024
Monday, 28 August 2023
Sunday, 27 August 2023
UGANDA'S KIPLANGAT TAKES MARATHON GOLD
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| AP |
Uganda's Victor Kiplangat won the men's marathon at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday, while Maru Teferi of Israel finished with silver despite taking a tumble.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kiplangat broke away on his own with about 4 km (2.5 miles) to go, crossing the finish line with a time of two hours, 8 minutes, 53 seconds - 19 seconds ahead of Teferi.
The race had appeared to be heading for a close finish, with Kiplangat and Ethiopia's Leul Gebresilase enjoying a sizeable lead as they entered the final 10 km lap, but Gebresilase faded late and was left behind by the 23-year-old Ugandan.
U.S. WOMEN'S DISQUALIFIED FROM 4X400M RELAY AS BATON FAIL
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| Reuters |
The United States women's 4x400 metres relay team, who have won seven of the last eight World Championships and the last seven Olympic golds, were disqualified from Saturday's semi-finals after a botched baton changeover.
The U.S. were trailing Britain after three legs when Alexis Holmes initially failed to collect the baton from Quanera Hayes and by the time she got hold of it she appeared to have gone beyond the "blue box".
The U.S. recovered to finish second behind the British in the heat but were marked as disqualified. They are likely to appeal.
Jamaica and Canada were the fastest into Sunday's final.
The similarly dominant U.S, men, who have won eight of the last nine world titles and four of the last five Olympics, also had a stutter as they were pushed all the way in the first heat, however by India.
Justin Robinson brought them home in 2:58.47 but only after fighting off a final bend challenge by Rajesh Ramesh that helped his team to an Asian record 2:59.05 - the first time they have cracked three minutes.
Britain snatched the third automatic place from Botswana by eight thousandths of a second but the Africans went through comfortably as their fastest loser time was quicker than the winners of the second semi.
Jamaica, perennial global silver medallists in recent years, won the second heat in 2:59.82, with fast-finishing France and Italy following them through. Fifth-placed Belgium, bronze medallists in the last two worlds, did not make it.
- Mitch Phillips
Saturday, 26 August 2023
Friday, 25 August 2023
LYLES CLOCKS THE FASTEST TIMES IN SEMIS AFTER CART CRASH
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| USA TODAY Sports |
American Noah Lyles continued his quest for double sprint gold at the World Athletics Championships, cruising into the men's 200 metres final despite a freak cart crash that delayed the start of his race.
Four days after winning the 100 metres, Lyles, twice world 200m champion, ran 19.76 seconds to record the fastest time in Thursday's semi-finals.
Lyles' heat was delayed by 30 minutes after the golf cart transporting him and the other runners from the warmup track to the stadium crashed into another cart.
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