Sport
Xabi Alonso Says Everyone Must Defend Including Vinicius and Mbappé
Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso has stressed that every player, including the attackers, must be involved when the team is defending. Speaking ahead of their final Club World Cup group match against Salzburg, Alonso made it clear that defending starts from the front.
“We all have to defend, all eleven players need to press — Vinicius Jr, Jude, Fede Valverde, Mbappé, everyone,” Alonso said. Madrid currently sits on four points after two games and needs just one more point to book a place in the Round of 16. Alonso also addressed questions about Rodrygo, who didn’t feature in their last match against Pachuca.
“Rodrygo is in good shape. He stayed on the bench for tactical reasons. He’s still very important for us, and we’ll definitely need him at the Club World Cup. He’s a special player and will have a big role to play,” Alonso added.
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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