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Soccer

5 players primed to spoil Ronaldo- Messi reign for best player award

When Neymar awaited the winner of the 2017 Best FIFA Men’s Player award on the London Palladium stage on Monday, did he really think he had a chance?

Since AC Milan’s Kaka collected the player of the year hardware in 2007, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared the distinction of being named the world’s best with five gongs apiece.

But with both players aged 30 or above, could their monopoly be challenged next year? Here are the current frontrunners to succeed the decorated pair:

Neymar

The strong favourite.

Neymar’s world-record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain was engineered to give him a better chance of winning individual honours. At Barcelona he operated in the shadow of Messi and, to a lesser extent, Luis Suarez, and when you’re not the leading light at your club you’re not going to be named the best player on the globe.

He’s phenomenally talented and already proved he can single-handedly drag his team over the line when he inspired Brazil to glory at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The 25-year-old will have some big-name sidekicks in the French capital to help him – Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani are his current strike partners – and he’s started strongly in Ligue 1 with seven goals and five assists over eight appearances.

Kevin De Bruyne

The last time there was Premier League representation in the team of the year was in 2014, when Paris Saint-Germain’s David Luiz was selected shortly after leaving Chelsea, and Manchester United new boy Angel Di Maria was picked after a sterling season with Real Madrid.

Judging from performances early on in the 2017-18 campaign, Kevin De Bruyne is ready to introduce himself to the upper reaches of the world’s game.

The perfect weight and forensic accuracy of his passes has helped Manchester City net an incredible 32 goals over nine Premier League matches, and his knack of pressing out of possession and finding space when a teammate has the ball is especially pleasing for boss Pep Guardiola.

De Bruyne should be the favourite to challenge Andres Iniesta’s nine-year stranglehold on the FIFPro World XI, but he should put most focus on toppling Messi or Ronaldo before Neymar does.

Marco Asensio

Isco isn’t the only player to condemn Gareth Bale to bench-warming duties when the Welshman manages five minutes away from the treatment room.

Marco Asensio’s masterful dribbling has left the Bernabeu faithful doe-eyed since he was regularly deployed by Zinedine Zidane. He’s never overawed by the big stage, scoring on his debuts in La Liga, the Champions League, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, and the Supercopa.

And not only has he contributed to Bale’s limited minutes, but he’s also blocked Bale’s path to being the natural successor of Ronaldo. Asensio’s currently pocketed more league goals than any of his teammates, and doesn’t lose possession as regularly as Isco.

Harry Kane

For those who have been unfortunate enough to watch an England match in, say, the last 25 or so years, it will come as no surprise that a native hasn’t been named in the world team of the year since Wayne Rooney snuck into the 2011 lineup.

Walthamstow lad Harry Kane seems a cut above.

His blood-thirsty hunger for etching his name on the scoresheet, coupled with an unerring accuracy, has proffered the strongest candidate for not only trumping Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal-scoring record of 260, but potentially battering it.

Right now there’s no better climate for Kane to play his football: the Tottenham Hotspur game plan is built around his unbelievable scoring talents. In 2017, he’s scored 45 goals in 40 games for club and country.

Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe exploded onto the football scene last season with goals that helped inspire AS Monaco to the Ligue 1 title. He’s already established himself as one of the most recognisable footballers around, and his ability to contribute in various facets of play despite his starting position in the frontline is en vogue with football viewers right now.

His professionalism at such a young age – he doesn’t turn 18 until December – is also another quality that can help him become a mainstay in The Best FIFA Men’s Player final three for years to come – perhaps before Ronaldo and Messi’s powers noticeably dwindle.

To pursue individual silverware, maybe Mbappe will eventually have to step from under the shadow of Neymar in the future to secure a lucrative switch to Real Madrid or another giant. But rest assured: when Ronaldo and Messi decline or retire, the competitiveness of the race for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award could rise exponentially.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

NFL

Vikings' Diggs confident he'll play vs. Browns

LONDON — Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who has missed two games with a groin injury, is confident he’ll be able to return to action Sunday.

The Vikings, who lead the NFC North at 5-2 and are looking for their fourth consecutive win, arrived early Thursday in London ahead of their clash with the Cleveland Browns at Twickenham Stadium for the NFL’s fourth and final game in the UK this season.

“It’s exciting to come back [to the UK],” said Diggs, who visited the country over the summer. “It’s going to be a busy trip, but I can’t wait to play some football out here.

“I feel good. We’ve got a little bit of time left, so I’ll be ready to go.”

Diggs was listed as a full practice participant Thursday after limited participation on Wednesday.

Stefon Diggs didn’t mind the unusual practice conditions that the Vikings encountered Thursday at Syon House in Hyde Park. Said Diggs: “All we need is the grass and a couple of lines.” AP Photo/Matt Dunham

The 23-year-old Diggs, who has a team-leading four touchdown receptions this season, missed the Vikings’ victories over the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers.

When asked whether he had received any indication whether he would be ready to face the Browns, Diggs replied: “I’m the indication — we’ll see [Friday].

“At the end of the day you’ll have to ask [coach Mike] Zimmer — I was confident [of playing] last week, so I guess we’ll see.”

With the historic Syon House on one side and a herd of cows on the other, the former fifth-round draft pick out of Maryland seemed unfazed by his surroundings as he spoke beside the crudely marked patch of grass on which the Vikings had been doing walk-through practices.

“I try not to pay too much attention to the surroundings when you’ve got plays to worry about,” Diggs said. “It doesn’t really matter. All we need is the grass and a couple of lines. We’ll make it work and execute no matter what. At the end of the day, that’s football.”

Diggs also expressed his happiness to see quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who also practiced Thursday after recovering from a horrific knee injury that has kept him out for 14 months.

“It’s good,” Diggs said. “I haven’t thrown with him yet, so it’s a little different. But his aura and what he brings to the game as a person and a teammate is definitely huge.

“Teddy’s going to be Teddy. He’s always going to be the same person no matter what.”

Soccer

ITUC: Qatari government to end kafala system ahead of 2022 World Cup

In the war against modern slavery, the International Trade Union Confederation won a battle.

On Wednesday, the ITUC welcomed a breakthrough to end the kafala system, announcing that new guidance and commitments made by Qatar’s government will dismantle the system, which requires migrant workers to have an in-country sponsor and has led to millions becoming trapped in Qatar. Further meetings are planned with the country’s labour minister on implementing labour rights for two million migrant workers.

The ITUC has constantly called on Qatar to “make the 2022 World Cup a World Cup with rights for all workers,” demanding that the system is abolished and replaced with a minimum wage, workers representation, and a grievance procedure to settle disputes while also eliminating contract substitution.

“The new guidance from Qatar signals the start of real reforms in Qatar which will bring to an end the use of modern slavery and puts the country on the pathway to meeting its international legal obligations on workers’ rights,” Sharan Burrow, ITUC’s general secretary, said. “Following discussions in Doha there is a clear government commitment to normalise industrial protections for migrant workers.

“These initiatives have the support of the ITUC, and we hope that implementation will be also supposed by the ILO with its technical expertise. Much remains to be done, but these steps open the way for workers to be treated with dignity and for their lives and livelihoods to be protected.”

Six steps are included in the government’s guidance and commitments. They include:

  • Employment contracts will be lodged with a government authority to prevent contract substitution, ending the practice of workers arriving in the country only to have their contract torn up and replaced with a different job, often on a lower wage
  • Employers will no longer be able to stop their employees from leaving the country
  • A minimum wage will be prescribed as a base rate covering all workers, ending the race-based system of wages
  • Identification papers will be issued directly by the State of Qatar, and workers will no longer rely on their employer to provide their ID card without which workers can be denied medical treatment
  • Workers’ committees will be established in each workplace, with workers electing their own representatives
  • A special disputes resolution committee with a timeframe for dealing with grievances will be a centerpiece for ensuring rapid remedy of complaints

As the Guardian’s David Conn writes, the kafala system is an abuse of human rights which ties workers to “a single employer, low pay, poor accommodation, and labouring in dangerous heat,” resulting in hundreds of unexplained deaths.

In September, Human Rights Watch said: “Qatari authorities should adopt and enforce adequate restrictions on outdoor work to protect the lives of migrant workers who are at risk from working in the country’s intense heat and humidity.” Heat protection regulations for the majority of workers do not prohibit outdoor work during hours where weather conditions reach levels that result in potentially fatal heat-related illnesses.

FIFA voted Qatar as the host of the 2022 World Cup in 2010.

NFL

Ex-Bucs DE Rice serious about comeback at 43

TAMPA, Fla. — Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Simeon Rice isn’t kidding around when he says he wants to come back and play. Rice hasn’t taken a snap since the 2007 season, but at 43, he said he can still do it. And he wants to.

He has been tweeting about it and told ESPN he’s completely serious, if the Bucs will have him.

“If they want a pass-rusher, they should bring in a pass-rusher extraordinaire who was one of the dominant pass-rushers of any era,” Rice told ESPN. “What is it going to cost? You don’t have one.”

The Bucs just lost speed-rusher Noah Spence, who suffered another shoulder injury and is now on injured reserve. The team also waived Jacquies Smith after he recovered from a torn ACL. The Bucs (2-4) are last in the league with seven sacks in six games. By comparison, the Jacksonville Jaguars lead the NFL with 33.

“My only request is you bring me in and let me play my brand of defense, which is real pressure football — sack fumbles and disruption,” said Rice, emphasizing that this has nothing to do with the Pro Football Hall of Fame and his frustration about not getting votes.

Simeon Rice sacked Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon during Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003. MPS/USA TODAY Sports

Rice indicated that he previously had no intention of making a comeback. It wasn’t something that came up when head coach Dirk Koetter invited him to training camp. That all changed when he watched the Bucs lose 38-33 to the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 15. Rice sat with Brian Ford, the Bucs’ chief operating officer, during the game.

“It was very hard watching what I could fix,” said Rice, who was the last Bucs player to notch double-digit sacks, with 14 in 2005. He reached double-digit sacks eight times, including in five consecutive years with the Bucs.

He has 122 career sacks and 28 forced fumbles in 12 seasons spent with the Cardinals, Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos. Rice is 19th on the NFL’s career sacks list. Among the Hall of Fame-eligible members of the top 20, only Leslie O’Neal, Rice and Clyde Simmons haven’t been inducted.

Rice spent time helping Spence and defensive end Ryan Russell during camp this summer.

“He taught me things in five minutes that I’d never even heard of or even thought to put into my game,” Spence said. “He pointed out things in my game that I’d never even heard of. It was a blessing to have him out here to talk to us.”

Rice said the shoulder injury that plagued him at the end of his career has been healthy for some time. He said he trains six hours a day, five days a week, something that has become more of a lifestyle than a training regimen.

“With nine games left, [there is] plenty of time to finish with double-digit sacks and a playoff bid,” Rice said. “I bet on myself before, and it paid off. It’s really not a stretch at all. It’s facts.”

When defensive coordinator Mike Smith was asked about Rice’s comments about a comeback, he laughed, saying, “I don’t want to comment on that. He was a great pass-rusher. I know when I was 43, I know I couldn’t do what I was doing when I was 25.”

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Soccer