The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Barcelona

  • Turan retires after attacking journalist on a flight

    Turan retires after attacking journalist on a flight

     

    Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan has quit international football after being expelled from the Turkey squad for allegedly attacking a journalist on a team flight.

    ‘I think the time has come…I am ending my career with the national team,’ the 30-year-old Barcelona midfielder, capped 96 times, said at a brief press conference in Slovenia, broadcast on Turkish television.

    Turkish daily Hürriyet reported on Tuesday that Turan lost his head on the journey back from Skopje, where Turkey had just drawn 0-0 with Macedonia.

    They were about to take off for Italy where they have a training camp ahead of a meeting with Kosovo on Sunday when Turan went for a journalist on the flight who wrote stories about the 30-year-old midfielder during Euro 2016.

    Before the flight took off he is reported to have approach veteran journalist Bilal Mese over stories written about the Turkey players last year alleging that they were claiming bigger bonuses to play for their country in the tournament.

    Hürriyet has reported that Turan said: ‘Tell me Bilal Mese, were you there? Were you with us when you wrote about the bonuses issue? Who did I ask for money from? Who did ask I for bonuses from? Talk. Come on. Who made you write those reports?’

    Hürriyet claims that Turan continued his rant with no reaction coming from team boss Fatih Terim, who was also on the flight. The Barcelona midfielder reportedly said: ‘What kind of a country is this? They allow you on to this plane. F*** those who allowed you on to this plane.

    ‘You thought I was like the others. Who did I beg for money from? You son of a b****. I’d quit football before allowing anyone to say anything against my honour, my family.’

    Turan’s rant extended to the president of the Turkish football federation Yildirim Demiroren and the suggestion that he was behind the stories because he owns the newspaper that published them.

    Some reports even suggest Turan grabbed hold of the journalist and began hitting him before he was restrained by team-mates.

    After meeting with senior Turkish Football Federation officials Turan has reportedly been told to leave the team hotel and will not be involved in his country’s match on Sunday.

  • Varlverde appointed new Barcelona coach

    Varlverde appointed new Barcelona coach

    Barcelona have confirmed that Ernesto Valverde will be their new coach for the 2017-18 season.

    The 53-year-old stepped down after four seasons in a second spell at Athletic Club last week and was widely expected to take over from Luis Enrique this summer.

    Barca had promised an announcement after the Copa del Rey final and a statement on Monday confirmed Valverde as the new coach on a two-year deal.

    “I have spoken personally with Ernesto Valverde and I told him of our decision,” said club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

    “He said he is very excited and very happy, that it’s a great challenge to come in as head coach of Barca.

    “There is time to talk about why we chose him. We know he has ability, his knowledge and his experience.

    “He loves youth football and he has a special style, similar to what we do at Barca. He has philosophy similar to Barca’s and trains the way we like to train.”

    Luis Enrique’s three-year tenure yielded nine trophies, including a third successive Copa as Barca beat Alaves 3-1 at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday night.

    Valverde Luis Enrique

    The Asturian announced at the beginning of May that he would not be renewing his contract and Barca began to look at a number of candidates.

    Valverde, twice considered in the past, topped a list that also included Jorge Sampaoli, Ronald Koeman and Luis Enrique’s assistant, Juan Carlos Unzue.

    Born in Extremadura, Valverde spent two years at Barca as a player under Johan Cruyff between 1988 and 1990. As a coach, he won the Spanish Supercopa at Athletic – by beating Barca in 2015 – as well as three Greek titles and two cups with Olympiacos, while he also led Espanyol to a UEFA Cup final in 2007.

    Nicknamed  El Txingurri  (which means bee in Basque) in his playing days, Valverde has also coached Valencia and Villarreal.

    He will be looking to turn Barcelona into the team to beat in La Liga again, with the Catalans having had to settle for second behind arch-rivals Real Madrid this season.

    They also missed out on Champions League glory as Juventus proved to be too strong in the quarter-finals, although they did win the Copa del Rey for a third straight year.

  • Ter Stegen agrees Barca renewal until 2022

    Ter Stegen agrees Barca renewal until 2022

     

    Barcelona have reached an agreement with Marc-Andre Ter Stegen over a new contract until June 2022.

    The 25-year-old’s previous deal was due to expire in 2019, but he is now set to sign a three-year extension on Tuesday.

    The Germany international’s new contract includes a €180million buyout clause.

    Ter Stegen joined Barcelona from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2014 and initially had to settle for a role as deputy to Claudio Bravo, although he was the Catalans’ number one in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

    He became Luis Enrique’s first-choice goalkeeper this season following the departure of Bravo to Manchester City and has now earned himself a new deal.

    He has made 93 appearances for Barcelona since his arrival at the club, winning two LaLiga titles, lifting the Copa del Rey on three occasions, while also enjoying Champions League, Club World Cup, Supercopa de Espana and UEFA  Super Cup glory with the Catalans.

    The former Gladbach star is part of Germany’s squad for the upcoming Confederations Cup in Germany.

  • Real Madrid win first La Liga title since 2012

    Real Madrid win first La Liga title since 2012

    Real Madrid win first La Liga title since 2012

    Real Madrid won their first La Liga title since 2012 thanks to a final-day 2-0 victory at Malaga on Sunday and in spite of FC Barcelona’s 4-2 win over Eibar.

    Cristiano Ronaldo scored early in the game to settle the nerves, latching onto Isco’s through ball to step around Carlos Kameni and tap into an empty net.

    Karim Benzema then added their second goal after the break after Kameni had parried Sergio Ramos’ shot.

    Real, who had only needed a draw to win the title, now face Juventus in the Champions League final aiming to complete a double

    FC Barcelona, who had won the past two titles, came from 2-0 down to beat Eibar 4-2 at the Nou Camp.

    But they had also needed Real to slip up if they were going to retain the trophy.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Real Madrid finished with 93 points, while FC Barcelona ended with 90 points to stay second.

    The result means Zinedine Zidane, in his first full season as Real boss, has recorded another first.

    He is the first manager to lead Madrid to the Spanish league title since Jose Mourinho did five years ago.

    If Real beat Juventus in Cardiff, they will become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League.

    Zidane had won the tournament six months into the job last summer.

     

     

  • Player of the Month: Messi levels up with Ronaldo

    Player of the Month: Messi levels up with Ronaldo

     

    Lionel Messi has netted 51 times in 49 appearances this season, and has a huge 504 goals in his Barcelona career – the most in the club’s history.

    With that said, it may come as a surprise that Friday saw the Argentine win La Liga’s Player of the Month award for only the SECOND time in his career.

    Since its inception in 2013, Barcelona and Real Madrid players have rarely picked up the trophy, but Messi did this week manage to get his hands on it.

    The 29-year-old earned the April accolade after scoring eight goals in six league games, made up of braces against Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Real Madrid and Osasuna.

    Messi’s double against Real Madrid ensures the La Liga title race remains well and truly alive, with the two sides level on points going into the final few games.

    Messi has 35 La Liga goals to his name so far in the current campaign, making him far and away the leading marksman in Spain.

    Suarez, his Barcelona team-mate, is the next nearest with 27, while Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has 20.

    Messi previously won the Player of the Month award in January 2016, the first time he had secured the triumph.

    That month, he scored just six goals taking Barcelona to the top of the La Liga tree.

    His April 2017 win takes him level on two with Ronaldo for overall wins, while Antoine Griezmann has won it the most with four.

  • Barcelona to report Malaga president’s offensive tweet

    Barcelona to report Malaga president’s offensive tweet

    Spanish giantswill report Malaga president Abdullah Al-Thani to the nation’s football governing body and La Liga authorities over comments he made about the club on social media.

    The league leaders said on Friday that Al-Thani reportedly made offensive remarks about Barcelona on Twitter after a fan asked about Malaga’s upcoming game against title contenders Real Madrid.

    Barcelona expressed its “rejection and indignation” of the tweet which, the club said, “infringes upon the principles of fair play, and the ethical and legal precepts that must govern sporting competition.”

    “The Club, therefore, will report this case to the National Sports Council’s Anti-Violence Committee, and will bring the matter before the Royal Spanish Football Federation’s Competition Committee, as well as the Department of Integrity of La Liga.”

    Barcelona are top of the league table, level on points with rivals Real Madrid, having played one game more.

  • Barcelona set to grab 16-year-old Brazilian prodigy

    Barcelona set to grab 16-year-old Brazilian prodigy

    Barcelona have reportedly started negotiations with Flamengo over the possibility of signing teenage starlet Vinicius Junior.
    The 16-year-old is gaining more and more attention in his homeland as his impressive performances in the South American U17 championships have seen him emerge as one of the top talents in Brazil.
    In turn though, that has also led to early interest from the top European clubs, with The Sun reporting that Barcelona have stolen a march on their rivals in the race to sign him.
    Having been named best player at the tournament while also collecting the top scorer award with seven goals, he was pivotal in helping the Brazilians to the title.
    Barca have seemingly wasted little time in trying to get this deal done as a result, with the report citing Goal.com when suggesting that they are talking to the company that owns his image rights over a move to the Nou Camp.
    Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are mentioned in the report as being linked with making a move for the talented youngster, but unless something changes drastically in the coming months, it looks as though Barcelona are very much at the front of the queue.
    Should they sign Vinicius Jr, it will only add to the quality South American contingent that they already have at the club, and if Lionel Messi is anything to go by, the young Brazilian should relish the opportunity to work at La Masia en route to becoming a first-team star further down the line.

  • How Bassey bombed 1 million Euros Barcelona deal

    How Bassey bombed 1 million Euros Barcelona deal

    SCORENigeria has gathered more details why Enyimba forward Ezekiel Bassey will not be offered a contract that would have fetched Enyimba over a million Euros from mighty Barcelona at the end of his much-celebrated loan move to Spain.

    Bassey, nicknamed ‘Hazard’ by Enyimba fans after the Chelsea star, has failed to impress with Barcelona ‘B’ during his loan spell at the Catalan giants.

    Despite joining Barca second team without any trials, he did not impress in training but the deal breaker was his below-par performance for Barcelona B in an international friendly against a Zambian team.

    “Bassey is not Barcelona standard and those who recommended him to the club do not know football,” a top source told only SCORENigeria in sheer frustration.

    “He did not measure up during the friendly match he played for them and even in training he has failed to impress.

    “He has now blocked more deserving Nigerian players from Barcelona.”

    SCORENigeria was reliably informed Enyimba stood to be richer by a million Euros had Bassey been given a contract in the summer.

    It was further understood that his residence papers will come through, but after what he has showed on the pitch, the papers will no longer be necessary.

    Bassey, who has already debuted for the Super Eagles, was to have been offered a permanent deal had he impressed at the end of his loan spell in the summer.

  • Olympic gold more than Barca titles – Messi

    Olympic gold more than Barca titles – Messi

     

    Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi values his Olympic gold medal more than his club titles and insists he pays no attention to any criticism his performances for Argentina receive.

    Messi has enjoyed a glittering domestic career at Camp Nou, but has failed to replicate that success with the national team.

    The prolific forward won Olympic gold in 2008, however, Argentina fell short in the final of the 2014 World Cup and were also runners-up in the 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas, the latter defeat seeing him briefly retire from international football.

    Messi has often been the subject of criticism for Argentina’s failures and the 29-year-old came in for more scrutiny after receiving a four-match ban for verbally abusing an assistant referee during a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Chile last month.

    However, the 29-year-old is adamant he is not affected by his critics.

    “The criticism I receive is not something I care about because I know about the things that happened,” he told Esquire.

    “I understand the people who always want us to win and demand that we deliver a trophy.

    “But those of us who play for the national team want to win a title too.

    “The Olympic gold in 2008 is the win that I value the most because it is a tournament that you may only play in once in your life and involves many athletes from different disciplines.”

    Following the criticism of Messi last week on the back of his four-game ban, he received the support of his Argentina team-mate Mariano Andujar

    “I honestly don’t think Leo should bother coming back, but he loves playing for the national team,” Andujar told Dos Contra Uno.

  • Messi offers kind gesture to fan for iconic photo

    Messi offers kind gesture to fan for iconic photo

     

    It was one of the most astonishing nights the Nou Camp had ever seen. Barcelona overturned a first-leg deficit of 4-0 to beat Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 and progress through to the Champions League quarter-finals.

    The most improbable of comebacks, which may happen only once in a career if you are lucky. That famous night in Barcelona will live long in the memory of everyone who witnessed it.

    And photographer Santiago Garces was on hand to capture the elation in an iconic photo of Lionel Messi being hoisted in the air by the Barca faithful.

    Messi, a four-time Champions League winner with the Catalan giants, boasts a stunning career to-date, but even he must chalk that night down as one of the most momentous in his career.

    As Sergi Roberto’s 95th-minute winner sailed beyond Kevin Trapp, Messi made a bee-line for the stands. He hopped the advertising boards and celebrated with the fans, a moment which has now become synonymous with the occasion.

    Garces has described it as the ‘photo of his life’. It embodies the adoration Barcelona fans have for Messi, a trait the photographer believes is incomparable.

    In an interview with Marca, Garces said, ‘I love to photograph my children, but it can’t be compared to this.

    ‘The image sums up the collective euphoria and the historic feat. Messi is out of his mind and in the time I’ve been working for Barcelona, I’ve never seen him celebrate like that.’

    The Mexican moved to Catalonia in 2000 and started working in the marketing department at the Nou Camp four years ago.

    Roberto’s last-gasp goal booked Luis Enrique’s side a place in the last-eight of Europe’s elite competition and will provide yet more opportunities to capture heart-pumping moments in this campaign.

    The dramatic turnaround ranks as one of the greatest Champions League nights since the advent of the competition and a feat which the Spanish giants will hope to build on in the next round.

    Barca will face Juventus on April 11 and the forward will wish to recreate a similar feeling to that famous night at the Nou Camp.