Denis Odoi, a Ghanaian defender, was in action for Club Brugge on Wednesday, when the team defeated KFC Heist 22-0 in a club friendly.
The experienced Black Stars defender has returned to his club as the team prepares for the start of the 2023/24 season.
Club Brugge faced KFC Heist today in one of a handful of friendly matches scheduled as part of pre-season training.
Denis Odoi and his colleagues trounced the lower-tier club throughout the exercise, scoring 22 goals.
The Black Stars defender scored in the 63rd minute, finding the back of the KFC Heist net. Club Brugge forward Roman Yaremchuk scored six goals in the friendly, wreaking havoc on the opposition.
Nascimento Rodriguez, Olsen, and Varmant scored three goals each during the friendly as well.
Denis Odoi and his Club Brugge teammates enjoyed today’s friendly and will hope to do well in upcoming friendlies as preparations continue ahead of the start of the Belgian Pro League.
Benjamin Mendy, a former Manchester City defender, has joined Ligue 1 club Lorient on a two-year contract.
Mendy was found not guilty of rape and attempted rape by a jury at Chester Crown Court on Friday. Earlier this year, the footballer was declared not guilty of sexual assaults on many women, but the jury was unable to reach verdicts on the two accusations, prompting a retrial.
When City paid £52 million to Monaco for Mendy in 2017, he became the Premier League’s most expensive defender.
He won three Premier League championships with City and was a member of France’s World Cup-winning side in 2018.
Mendy was released by City when his contract ended at the end of June, with his last appearance for the club coming in August 2021.
Despite representing the English U-20 squad, Crystal Palace’s Jesurun Rak-Sakyi wants to play for the Ghanaian national team rather than England.
The 20-year-old attacker, who began his career in Chelsea’s junior system before joining Crystal Palace in 2019, is eligible to play for Ghana due to his parents’ citizenship. On August 14, 2021, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute against his previous team Chelsea.
Anthony Hayes, first-team coach of Charlton Athletic FC, confirmed Rak-Sakyi’s goals, saying, “Jes[urun Rak-Sakyi] has ambitions to play in the Premier League and represent Ghana, to play in the World Cup.” Hayes went on to say that the young youngster wants to perform on a large platform, which is why he wants to represent Ghana.
Currently, Rak-Sakyi is undertaking French classes after first-team training. He expressed his desire to learn the language to communicate with his potential Ghanaian teammates when he eventually joins the national team.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi has an opportunity this pre-season given Michael Olise's injury.
Tough ask to step from L1 to the PL, but his coaches at Charlton are effusive in praise for his approach to the game.
Last season, the attacker was on loan at Charlton Athletic, where he scored 15 goals in 43 games and helped the team finish 10th in the English League 1.
Rak-Sakyi’s availability might be a beneficial boost for the Ghanaian national team, which is battling struggles and striving to restore its standing as one of Africa’s best teams. The Ghana Football Association should begin the process of bringing the gifted kid into the senior national squad.
Ghana international David Accam believes the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be greater than the last edition in Qatar.
David Accam has spent years playing in the United States and is aware of how the country is ready to host the rest of the globe in three years.
In an interview with Joy Sports on Monday, July 17, David Accam stated that Ghana cannot afford to miss the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“We all know the benefits of qualifying to the World Cup. The next World Cup is in US and that’s huge.
“For me, it will be better than what we saw in Qatar. If we want to be considered as the best country in football then we have to do everything to be here (USA),” David Accam said.
The 32-year-old forward continued, “For me as I always say it’s always possible to qualify for the World Cup if we do things right. Of course, there’s a lot of work to do but we have to be there.”
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
Ibrahim Sulemana, a young Ghanaian prospect, has set his eyes on getting a call-up to the Black Stars as he begins his career with Cagliari Calcio in Serie A.
The 20-year-old midfielder, Ibrahim Sulemana just signed a four-year contract with Cagliari from Hellas Verona and is eager to wear the national colors and represent his favorite country on the international scene.
Sulemana underlined his commitment to performing at his best in order to attract the notice of national team selectors in an interview with his club’s YouTube channel.
He said, “I’m giving everything, I hope to play well, and when the time comes to be called up, I’d like to play for Ghana because I love my country.”
The young talent’s admiration for the four-time African champions is evident, and he is eager to showcase his skills on the international stage.
On working with 71-year-old Claudio Ranieri, he said: “I like to learn, constantly improve. Being coached by one of the most experienced Italian coaches in the world, who has led top European clubs and won a Premier League will help me do it.”
new signature Throngs of fans cheered when Lionel Messi was formally introduced at Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium.
A 20,000-person capacity audience endured rain and lightning as they waited to watch the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner get a number 10 jersey.
Messi, 36, thanked his fans and expressed his “same desire” as always in a brief speech in Spanish.
The World Cup-winning attacker from Argentina has signed a contract with the Major League Soccer (MLS) team till the end of 2025.
He will be reunited with defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets – with whom he played at Barcelona – who has also signed for Miami until 2025.
https://youtu.be/BJ57p2RQTQM
Busquets, too, was formally unveiled during Sunday night’s event.
Messi entered the pitch via a huge catwalk and was introduced as “America’s number 10, the world’s best number 10”.
Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady and four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry also welcomed him to the United States in video messages.
“I really want to start training, to compete,” Messi said. “I have the same desire that I always had to compete, to want to win, to help the club continue to grow.
“I am very happy to have chosen to come to play in this city with my family, to choose this project and I have no doubt that we are going to enjoy it a lot.
“We are going to have a good time and very good things are going to happen.”
7-time Awarded the Ballon d’Or Thousands football spectators saw Lionel Messi’s introduction as an Inter Miami player on Sunday night at the DRV PNK Stadium in Miami.
The captain of the 2022 FIFA World Cup team, Lionel Messi, last Saturday formally signed his contract with Inter Miami of Major League Soccer. Five weeks after the 36-year-old originally declared his intention to move on to Inter Miami, Messi’s contract with the MLS team was made official.
The football star then participated in a grand unveiling event at the club’s Miami home stadium, the DRV PNK Stadium.
Lionel Messi Arrived For His Inter Miami Unveiling
BENJAMIN Mendy, who was fired from the team, was charged for assaulting two women during lockdown-busting gatherings.
BENJAMIN Mendy, 28, was scheduled for a retrial on one count of attempted rape and one count of rape. After three hours of deliberation, the jury today unanimously exonerated him of both accusations.
“Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence in this trial, rather than on the rumor and innuendo that have followed this case from the beginning,” the football player’s statement said.
“This is the second time that Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by a jury. He is delighted that both juries reached the correct verdicts.
“It has been almost three years since the police started investigating this matter. Mr Mendy has tried to remain strong but the process has, inevitably had a serious impact on him.
“He thanks everyone who has supported him throughout this ordeal and now asks for privacy so he can begin rebuilding his life.”
The French international, who said the encounters were consensual, was previously found not guilty on a string of other charges following a trial.
One of the alleged victims in the retrial, Woman Two, claimed she was raped during the same incident as two other counts on which Mendy was previously cleared.
On the third count, the jury was unable to agree, which occurred in October 2020.
The alleged attempted rape occurred in October 2018.
In October 2022, it was claimed that Mendy “forcefully” assaulted Woman Two after they had met at a pub.
She and her pals had been invited back to his lavish Cheshire property, where they allegedly afterwards had to turn in their mobile phones.
Woman Two followed the star into a bedroom where the doors were locked behind her with an internal locking system, jurors heard.
Mendy allegedly told her he would hand her phone back if he could see her naked, causing the complainant to tell him: “I do not want to have sex with you”.
He added: “If you just take off your clothes. I just wanna have a look at you. I promise you I won’t touch you.
“I just wanna see what you look like. I wanna see your body. I wanna see your t***. Your t*** are so big.”
She then said he raped her as she struggled against him and told him no, it was alleged.
Mendy called the woman “too shy” as he claimed: “I’ve had sex with 10,000 women”.
Jurors heard also heard how Woman One was allegedly targeted by the Man City star at a gathering in his mansion.
She claimed he attempted to rape her after he followed her into the bathroom.
The court was told she repeatedly asked Mendy to “stop” in French as he held her down.
He then told her: “Don’t worry. Are you scared?”
The woman later messaged a pal, saying: “I just got sexually abused, if that’s the right word, by Mendy.”
She also said the footballer “wouldn’t let me go” in the text in October 2018.
The footballer was accused by prosecutors of being a “predator” who “turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game” at his previous trial.
He was found not guilty of six rapes and one sexual assault against four women in January.
City spent a reported £49.2million signing Mendy from French side Monaco in 2017.
He last played for the club on August 15, 2021, during their 1-0 defeat to Tottenham at the start of last season.
In September 2020, City boss Pep Guardiola revealed Mendy would be out of the game for at least a month due to an injury.
The World Cup will begin in Australia the next week, and England will be one of the teams competing for the championship.
France, a European powerhouse that will be competing in the World Cup as well, will be hoping to put their recent issues behind them in order to compete for the honor. The French Football Federation created a fantastic tournament advertisement in collaboration with Orange.
The opening sequence of the two-minute commercial features superstars from the men’s team, including Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Kingsley Coman, and Aurelien Tchouameni.
In the series of highlights, players can be seen producing tricks, flicks and brilliant strikes.
Halfway through, however, the ad produces a killer twist.
A message on screen reads: “Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions. But that’s not them you’ve just seen.”
The video then rewinds to the beginning, and reveals that all of the clips shown were actually from France’s women’s team matches – edited with VFX to look like their male counterparts.
It then proceeds to show the real clips, with Delphine Cascarino and Co producing moments of magic.
Seeing the advert on Reddit, fans praised its originality.
One wrote: “I’m tricked. Going to question the rest of my reality now.”
While a second commented: “Absolutely bamboozled me. Great ad.”
A third admitted: “Pretty clever that. Can’t wait for the WC to start.”
Another added: “That’s actually really awesome.”
While a further social media user joked: “Knew it was fake when I saw Griezmann beat a man but great ad.”
France enter the tournament having sacked head coach Corinne Diacre in March.
The 48-year-old was said to have caused a “a very significant divide” within the squad.
Her tenure was littered with high-profile feuds with some of her most high-profile players – including Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Amandine Henry and Eugenie Le Sommer.
The final straw came earlier this year, when skipper Wendie Renard announced that she would no longer be available for her country because she “can no longer support the current system”.
Mauricio Pochettino’s CHELSEA will go to the United States on Monday to inaugurate the new era.
But with only four days till the start of their summer tour, there is still no official plane passenger list due to Chelsea squad’s current state of upheaval.
The lineup for the first game against League Two Wrexham in North Carolina on Wednesday will be completely different from the one that closed a season at home against Newcastle only seven weeks prior.
The matchday lineup from the lackluster 1-1 draw on May 28 has lost eight members.
Cesar Azpilicueta, the team’s captain, Kai Havertz, who scored the winning goal in the Champions League, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic, and Joao Felix are now only names in the past, along with Mason Mount, the team’s mascot.
Following Pulisic’s £20 million transfer to AC Milan, there were £210 million in sales, £91 million in pay savings, and some of football’s greatest stars gone.
Remember that N’Golo Kante also left, joining the Saudi rush once his contract expired. Others are waiting for new clubs at Stamford Bridge like uncomfortable teenagers hanging around by the radiators as they wait to be invited for a slow dance at a youth club party.
At Chelsea, there is no doubt that Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Malang Sarr are excess players.
Conor Gallagher, a midfielder, has rejected a trade to Everton and is now desired by Tottenham. But if a deal isn’t reached for Moises Caicedo, he could decide to stay.
Chelsea’s squad appears light in central midfield, with Enzo Fernandez, Gallagher and rookie Carney Chukwuemeka — who has made just four Premier League starts — the only three options available to Poch.
