Karim Benzema accused former players in the media of “spreading hatred” in his rebuttal to Gary Lineker’s suggestion that the Real Madrid forward is overrated.
Lineker, a former Leicester City and Barcelona striker, caused a stir when examining Benzema’s form in front of goal and concluding the Frenchman is only a “decent” forward considering the cast of superstars in the Spanish capital.
Ahead of Real Madrid’s match against Tottenham at Wembley Stadium, Benzema responded by pointing out that players such as Lineker faced similar critiques during their playing days and suggested that the BBC Sport presenter was out of order.
“I find it harder to accept the criticism of former players who have gone on to become journalists and who spread their hatred around,” Benzema said, according to the Independent’s Jack Austin.
“They had the same difficulties, but have no solidarity. I feel embarrassed for him, frankly.”
The war of words didn’t end there, as Lineker defended his profession and accused Benzema of overreacting.
The first former FIFA officials to stand trial since U.S. prosecutors began investigating the association’s shady practices are accused of agreeing “to receive millions of dollars in bribes” regarding the Copa America Centenario.
Assistant U.S. attorney Keith Edelman told the New York courtroom on Monday that the three defendants weren’t exclusively looking to unlawfully profit from that competition, and “did it year after year, tournament after tournament, bribe after bribe,” as reported by the Guardian’s Oliver Laughland.
The accused trio are:
Jose Maria Marin – 85-year-old former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation
Juan Angel Napout – 59-year-old former president of CONMEBOL and the Paraguayan Football Association
Manuel Burga – 60-year-old former president of the Peruvian Football Federation
All three deny multiple counts of racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering; pocketing funds that Edelman suggested could’ve been spent on facilities around the world, and funding women’s and youth teams.
“The defendants cheated the sport in order to line their pockets with money that should have been spent to benefit the game, not themselves,” Edelman said, according to Reuters.
The trial’s primary focus will be on how marketing and sponsorship rights were distributed for the Copa America and the Copa Libertadores, and also domestic competition Copa do Brasil. Edelman says he possesses U.S. government-presented evidence from witness testimony, financial paperwork, covert recordings, and further records that prove corrupt behaviour.
Napout is alleged to have accepted bribes amounting to “over $100,000 at a time.”
The defence attorneys didn’t deny any wrongdoing by FIFA officials in general, but insisted their clients weren’t wrapped up in it. They claimed the U.S. government’s investigation was relying too heavily on the accounts of FIFA employees who had pleaded guilty and were trying to lessen their sentences by becoming whistleblowers for the case.
Marin, Napout, and Burga are expected to receive lengthy sentences if found guilty in a trial that could last around six weeks. Of the 42 charged in the FIFA investigation so far, 24 have pleaded guilty and two have been sentenced.
Between 1927 and 1939, roaming outside-left Eric Brook registered 177 goals over 491 matches for Manchester City, setting a scoring record that went untroubled for 78 years.
Now, despite playing in five fewer seasons and just 264 matches, Sergio Aguero has surpassed that high by netting his 178th for City on Wednesday.
And what a moment to achieve the feat. In an excellent to-and-fro encounter at Napoli’s Stadio San Paolo, Aguero planted a finish into the bottom corner after a 69th-minute counter-attack.
Aguero had equalled Brook’s record in Oct. 21’s 3-0 stroll past Burnley.
Related: How Guardiola’s reimagining of Aguero revives his South American roots
Aguero hit the ground running in the northwest, scoring twice against Swansea City in his 2011 debut. And by the end of that season, Aguero firmly established himself in English football’s history books. The Argentinian slowed down time to skip through outstretched limbs and rifle past Queens Park Rangers’ Paddy Kenny to clinch the club’s first league title in 44 years – sweetly snatching it from the grasp of archrival Manchester United with seconds remaining – and test the vocal chords of commentator Martin Tyler.
There have been plenty of other moments during Aguero’s City stint that will be recalled long after he completes an expected triumphant homecoming to Independiente, his first club based in the province of Buenos Aires. City fans will remember his acute-angle goal past Liverpool’s Pepe Reina in 2013, his hat trick to secure a late victory over Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in 2014, and his five-goal haul to thump Newcastle United in 2015.
In little over six years, Aguero has staved off striking competition from Tevez, Dzeko, and Balotelli, and Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Wilfried Bony, and Kelechi Iheanacho. And despite a perceived “difficult” relationship between Aguero and the team’s newest striking addition, Gabriel Jesus, it’s potentially evolving into the most cohesive partnership yet.
At 29, there’s plenty of time for Aguero to distance himself for much longer than the 78-year cushion Brook enjoyed.
Tottenham Hotspur escaped the Group of Death, and then some.
On Wednesday, Tottenham laughed at those who thought Spurs would be unable to reach the Champions League knockout phase, defeating Real Madrid 3-1 at Wembley Stadium to qualify for the tournament’s last 16. It was a phenomenal night for the English club, which outplayed Los Blancos in all aspects of the game and could have scored more than three goals.
Dele Alli, who made his first appearance in the Champions League this season and endured a bumpy start to the campaign, overshadowed Harry Kane, who was returning from a hamstring problem. The English midfielder opened the scoring in the 27th minute, one-timing the ball into the back of the net after Nacho needlessly produced a throw-in, although the assistant referee failed to note that Kieran Trippier was in an offside position.
Alli then doubled Tottenham’s lead in the 56th minute, beating Casemiro twice and striking the ball past Kiko Casilla via a deflection off Sergio Ramos. Spurs’ third was produced by Christian Eriksen, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored what proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal for Madrid.
“It was a fantastic performance from us,” Alli said, according to the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg. “We knew if we stuck to the game plan and stayed solid at the back, we would have a lot of chances. We spoke after the game at their place and couldn’t believe the space we had. The easy pass was sometimes too obvious at times. We don’t want to compete with these teams, we want to be winning.”
Tottenham’s last adventure in Europe – in which Spurs were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage and subsequently tasted defeat to KAA Gent in the Europa League – now feels like a distant memory.