Sport
Capello Says 17-Year-Old Lamine Yamal is the Best Player in the World
Former Italy coach Fabio Capello has named Barcelona’s rising star Lamine Yamal as the best footballer in the world right now. Capello, who once managed top clubs like Real Madrid, overlooked big names like Mohamed Salah, Ousmane Dembele, and even Raphinha to crown the 17-year-old as his top pick for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
He praised Yamal for doing things far beyond his age and compared the teenager to football icons like Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Yamal played a major role in Spain’s European Championship victory last year, even though he was just 16 at the time.
This season, he helped Barcelona reach the Champions League semifinals and led them to a La Liga title, matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s haul while scoring and assisting in a key 2-0 win over rivals Espanyol.
That victory sealed a domestic treble for Barça. Speaking to El Partidazo de COPE, Capello revealed his top three picks for the Ballon d’Or: Real Madrid stars Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe took second and third place, but Lamine Yamal topped his list.
In his words, “For the Ballon d’Or, I would vote Lamine Yamal. My votes would be: Vinicius, Mbappe, and first, Lamine Yamal.” Capello ended by praising Yamal’s brilliance and fearless playing style, likening it to that of the greatest footballers the game has ever seen.
Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has opened up about a difficult period in his career, revealing that he almost stepped away from football.
Speaking during a recent interview, Bassey shared that he once made a personal promise to himself to quit pursuing football professionally if he failed to secure a spot at a professional club.
“I remember being 15 and going into my final year, and I told myself that if I didn’t get into a professional club, I would quit football. It was that simple,” he said.
“I would just stop pursuing it seriously and only play for fun. Thank God I eventually got a club, because I honestly don’t know where I would be otherwise.”
It has been reported that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) fined Egypt $5,000 following their clash with Zimbabwe for failing to manage post-match media obligations.
It was noted that after the match, the Egyptian players ignored the media. This action was said to be a violation of CAF’s media regulations, which led to the fine being imposed.
Head of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, shared that the big-name players on the team are not happy about being benched.
He recalled when he took out Samuel Chukwueze during the match against Tanzania.
“Yes, of course, we’ve in this team a lot of big names. They are competitors; they aren’t happy when they go to the bench,” Chelle said at his post-match interview.”
“My job is to make choices, and we’re playing a 4-4-2 diamond, and at this moment I feel we have to protect the wing.”
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Super Eagles Star Calvin Bassey Opens Up on Nearly Walking Away from Football
