Category: Sport

The father of Borussia Dortmund forward Yusuffa Mukoko said that the player is actually 24 years old, not 20. This could lead to the annulment of all the player's records in the Bundesliga.

The father of Borussia Dortmund forward Yusuff Mukoko, who plays for French side Nice, said that his son is actually 24 years old, not 20, which could be grounds for canceling Mukoko's Bundesliga records. This is reported by BILD, reports UNN.

"Being aware of the criminal liability for perjury, I declare under oath: Youssoufa Mukoko is not my biological son and my wife Marie Mukoko. And he was not born on November 20, 2004 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. I falsified a birth certificate for him in Yaoundé, after which we obtained a passport from the embassy and transported him to Germany under the guise of my son. In fact, he was born on July 19, 2000. We reduced his age by 4 years in the documents," said the footballer's father.

Addendum

Youssouffa Moukoko is a German national team forward who belongs to Borussia Dortmund and currently plays for French side Nice. Moukoko made his debut for Borussia Dortmund's senior team in November 2020, replacing Erling Holland in the 85th minute of the match against Hertha, in which Moukoko's team won 5-2. In that match, the forward set a Bundesliga record by becoming the youngest player in the history of the German championship, breaking the record of former Borussia Dortmund player Nuri Shaheen. He scored his first goal three days later in a match against Union Berlin, thereby becoming the youngest scorer in Bundesliga history at the age of 16 years and 28 days, surpassing Florian Wirtz's record of 17 years and 34 days.

In November 2022, he made his debut for the German national team against Oman.

If it is proved that Mukoko is actually 24 years old, his achievements may be canceled.

In total, Mukoko played 76 games for Borussia, scoring 17 goals and providing 6 assists. This year, he reached the Champions League final with Borussia, where his team lost to Real Madrid in the final (2-0), for which Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin plays, and the forward played the entire match on the bench.

This season, Mukoko joined French side Nice on loan, where he played 13 matches, scoring 2 goals and providing 2 assists.

There are also cases of rewriting birth dates in Ukrainian football. In particular, a former Dynamo Kyiv forward was suspected of being 2 years older.

"Milia is my pain. He probably did not go to Europe because of society, he chose the wrong friends. Not only Aliyev was there. I think he overestimated himself a bit. God gave him a carload of health, everyone knows that Milya is two years "anointed," he was born in 1983. There was a very significant story there. He had already played for the Belarusian youth team, then his football citizenship was magically changed, and he ended up in the famous hodgepodge team that Pavel Yakovenko and the Surkis brothers assembled throughout the Union. I don't know who exactly rewrote it, but everyone knows it's from 1983," said Milevsky's agent Dennis Lachter.

20 years ago Andriy Shevchenko won the Ballon d'Or: who congratulated the ex-footballerDec 13 2024, 01:47 PM • 92757 views

Liverpool have moved ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the race to sign River Plate starlet Franco Mastantuono, according to reports.

The Reds have made an amazing start to the new Premier League season with Arne Slot’s side currently leading the way after 11 wins from their opening 14 matches.

Slot could hardly have wished for a better start after leaving Feyenoord to succeed legendary manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield in the summer.

Slot’s side are currently four points ahead of second-placed Chelsea and eight points in front of defending champions Manchester City with a game in hand on both sides, as well as third-placed Arsenal,

Liverpool only made one signing for the current squad with Federico Chiesa arriving from Juventus, while Giorgi Mamardashvili signed from Valencia before heading back to the Spanish side on loan for the season.

But they are reportedly keen to strengthen in the winter transfer window and beyond with reports in Spain claiming that the Premier League side are ‘moving ahead’ of Barcelona and Real Madrid in the race to sign River Plate midfielder Mastantuono.

The 17-year-old has played 33 times for the Argentina giants over the last year with numerous clubs tracking his progress at the Primera Division side.

It is claimed that Slot ‘makes a splash’ in the transfer market with Liverpool making an ‘offer’ for the Argentinian that ‘not only represents a record for such a young player, but also the opportunity for Mastantuono to continue his development in one of the most competitive leagues in the world’.

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River Plate ‘know that keeping Mastantuono will be difficult, especially with the Reds willing to speed up negotiations’ and Liverpool boss Slot is ‘confident that the Argentine will not only be a key piece in the future of the team, but will also be able to quickly adapt to the demanding pace of the Premier League’.

Another player who Liverpool have been linked with is Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez and ex-Reds defender Stephen Warnock reckons the Premier League star could be a long-term replacement for Andy Robertson.

“I think Liverpool will be looking at a new left-back regardless because of Andy Robertson’s age. I thought he was superb against Girona and will no doubt want to fight for his place, but I still believe the club will try and add another player in that position.

“Konstantinos Tsimikas has been a good backup, but if you want to look long term then they should bring someone else in with more quality.

“I know Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth is someone that’s been looked at and I really like him. He’s an exciting player who’s performed well in this high-flying Bournemouth team.

“It depends what Arne Slot is looking for in his left-back and whether he wants someone more defensive-minded for that balance, but Kerkez is someone that knows the Premier League and has already performed at a decent level. He’s someone who should be on Liverpool’s radar.”

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Ukraine's national team was placed in Group D with France/Croatia, Iceland, and Azerbaijan in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. During the draw, FIFA showed a map of Ukraine without Crimea.

On Friday, December 13, the draw for the group stage of the 2026 UEFA World Cup qualifiers took place in Zurich, and the national team of Ukraine learned its rivals.

This is reported by the Ukrainian Football Association, reports UNN.

Details

According to the UAF, Ukraine's national team will play in a group with Iceland, Azerbaijan and the winner of the France vs. Croatia match in the League of Nations at the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

addition

A total of 54 teams will take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, which will be held from June 11 to July 19, 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The national teams were divided into six baskets based on their performance in the 2024/25 Nations League season and their positions in the FIFA rankings.

Ukraine was included in the second basket.

The groups in the selection are as follows:

Group A:

Winner: Germany/Italy, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg;

group B:

Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo;

group C:

defeated by Portugal/Denmark, Greece, Scotland, Belarus;

Group D:

winner France / Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan;

Group e:

winner Spain / Netherlands, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria;

group F:

Winner Portugal/Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Armenia;

Group G:

defeated Spain / Netherlands, Poland, Finland,Lithuania, Malta;

Group H:

Austria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino;

group I:

defeated Germany / Italy, Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova;

group J:

Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein;

Group K:

England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, Andorra;

group L:

Winner France/Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar.

The qualifiers in the European zone will last from March 2025 to March 2026 and will consist of two rounds. The teams will compete for 16 tickets to the World Cup. The 2026 World Cup is the first ever World Cup to feature 48 national teams in the final round (previously there were 36 teams).

There will be 12 groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group and the top eight third teams will advance to the 1/16 finals.

During the draw, FIFA got into another scandal. By demonstrating countries that cannot meet each other in qualifying, FIFA has shown the contours of Ukraine without Crimea.

Recall

In 2022, the Argentine national team became the World Cup champion for the first time since 1986, defeating France.

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has stripped Mario Lemina of the club captaincy after his post-match altercation with West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen and his own teammates.

Lemina lost it with Bowen at the end of Monday night’s defeat that left Wolves 19th in the Premier League table and O’Neil facing the sack, and then turned on Toti Gomes and Nelson Semedo before finally clashing with Wolves coach Shaun Derry.

After cooling down, Lemina took to Instagram to say: ‘I write this message with great hindsight, and I really want to apologise to all the people who love this club and who love football, I never wanted this to happen on the ground. I have always been a fair player, even in defeat.

‘If something is said, make sure the truth comes out. I shook this player’s hand, as I always do, and I was grabbed by the shirt and thrown to the ground. I just reacted to a situation that I didn’t cause at all.

‘I love my team, the staff and all the people who make up this club. We [are] all gonna fight harder to overcome this situation. Shaun you already know. We gonna fight again and again.’

But that apology did not wash with O’Neil, who confirmed on Friday that Lemina would no longer be captain.

“Mario’s fine. It was a conversation, it was nothing more than that,” said O’Neil.

“The most important thing to come out of it is that we need to get the best out of everybody.

“Of course, the other night sparked the conversation, but it was an important conversation that had to be had.

“Myself and Mario have a good understanding now of how we move forward and what it looks like.

“We dealt with it earlier in the week, so the focus since that moment has been firmly on Ipswich.

“These things – sometimes they can be tough to deal with and sometimes you can come out of them in a good spot, and I feel like we have.

“I have a lot of respect for Mario and what he’s still going to be able to do for us. When we get the best out of him on the pitch, his level is so high that he’s still going to play a big part for us.

“He’ll still be around that group of senior players that lead the team, but at this moment we feel it’s best for Nelson (Semedo) to lead the group.”

Reacting to public support from chairman Jeff Shi earlier this week, O’Neil said: “If I’d been put into a situation where we were free-spending, I was cherry-picking Premier League players and we’d won three games in whatever it is, I’d have lost my job a while ago.

“But that’s not the situation we’re in, the situation we’re in is very different to that.

“Of course I understand the importance of results for the club, for everybody around the club, and we’re working hard to improve them.”

20 years ago, Andriy Shevchenko won the Ballon d'Or. Football legends recall interesting stories about the Ukrainian footballer, including how he introduced the AC Milan players to Ukrainian lard.

On December 13, 2004, the former player of Dynamo Kyiv and AC Milan, and now the president of the Ukrainian Football Association, Andriy Shevchenko, won the award for the best player according to the authoritative publication France Football, reports UNN.

Details

"Today is twenty years since I won the Ballon d'Or. But this victory is not only mine, it is a victory for the whole of Ukraine. I want to thank my coaches and fans for their faith, support and love. For always being there for me. I am sincerely grateful to my friends, teammates and sports legends for their kind words and congratulations. On December 16, the Golden Ball will embark on its first tour of Ukraine with Ukrzaliznytsia – from Kharkiv to Lviv, from Zaporizhzhia to my native Yahotyn. To inspire children to play football and believe in their dreams," Shevchenko wrote.

The Ukrainian Football Association posted a video on its Instagram page with memories of Shevchenko's teammates at AC Milan, as well as his rivals. In particular, the video features AC Milan legends Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Zvonimir Boban, Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, and Filippo Inzaghi, who played with Shevchenko.

Long-time Milan captain Paulo Maldini, who was surprised by Shevchenko's eating lard, said that "I remember a young and shy Ukrainian guy who came to Milan in 1999. And I'm very happy to see the adult man I know now.

In an interview, Andriy Shevchenko said that when he first brought a piece of Ukrainian lard to the Milan base, some guys were scared.

"Honestly. Some even thought it was a drug. I didn't realize then that Italians had never seen lard in their lives. Just as there is never snow at the equator in Africa, so do they. I remember cutting off the first thin piece and offering it to Maldini. He refused. Then I put the lard on the bread and started chewing. At that moment, the eyes of Paolo and the whole company would have seen it. And how do you think it ended? Every time I went back to Italy later, I had to drag half a bag of lard for the AC Milan players, they loved it so much. There were so many orders that I already regretted that I had so recklessly arrived with a Ukrainian drug at the base in Milan, "Shevchenko said.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti, under whom Shevchenko played at Milan, said he was "happy that the whole country is celebrating this award with you" and added that Shevchenko "helped us win the Champions League with Milan.

Gianluigi Buffon, the legend of Italian football and Juventus Turin, jokingly emphasized that it was he who helped Shevchenko win the Ballon d'Or.

"Our friend Sheva's Golden Ball is 20 years old. And since I also helped to win it, conceding many goals from Sheva, I want to join in and congratulate him," said Buffon.

The congratulations were joined by the former captain of Inter Milan, who is a sworn enemy of Milan, Javier Zanetti, as well as Ukrainian athletes: boxer Alexander Usyk, Yaroslava Maguchikh, Elina Svitolina, Olga Harlan and former Dynamo Kyiv partner and coach of the Ukrainian national team Sergey Rebrov.

"I am sure that your story inspires many children to play football," Rebrov said.

Addendum Addendum

On December 13, 2004, Andriy Shevchenko won the Ballon d'Or, beating Portuguese Deck and Brazilian Ronaldinho in the final vote. Shevchenko became the third Ukrainian to win the World Player of the Year award – before that, Oleg Blokhin (in 1975) and Igor Belanov (in 1986) received this prestigious award.

In the program 20:23 on the YouTube channel of Yevgeny Yanovich, Shevchenko admitted that he knew about the victory even before the ceremony began.

"I found out a little bit earlier. It is mandatory for a France Football journalist to arrive early to take photos and interviews because they need to prepare for the ceremony. So I knew I had a very good chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. In 2001, I was one of the top five players. We had a very good season with Milan. And the Ukrainian national team performed very well. So I was waiting for this moment. I got a call from a journalist named Robbie. I knew him, he was on my phone. I had talked to many journalists over the past 2-3 years, and I knew he was a France Football journalist. When he called me, I realized it was very good news. So I immediately picked up the phone and said: "Where are you, I'm waiting for you." He said: "When can I come?" I answered: "You can come right now, I'm waiting for you." I flew from Milan, the club gave me a private jet. I, the directors of Milan and a few journalists got on the plane and flew to Paris. I arrived at the hotel, changed clothes and in the evening there was a ceremony," Shevchenko said.

In 2004, Andriy Shevchenko became the champion of Italy for the first time, the top scorer in Serie A for the second time, scoring 24 goals and 29 in total that season, and won the Italian Super Cup. The year before, he won the Champions League with AC Milan, where he scored the decisive penalty kick against Buffon in a series of penalty kicks, and Shevchenko was also captain of the Ukrainian national team, which in 2004 successfully started the qualifying cycle and reached the final of the World Cup for the first time.

"Last year, AC Milan won the Champions League and the European Super Cup. This season, the club won the Scudetto, and I became the best sniper in Serie A. The Ukrainian national team ends the year as the leader of the qualifying group. I manage to score in both teams. In addition, this year was marked by several happy events in my personal life – I got married and became a father. What more can I ask for in life? "The Golden Ball is not a personal, but a team award. I have to share it with many people in AC Milan, in the Ukrainian national team," Shevchenko said back in 2004.

It is also worth noting that Shevchenko brought the award to Ukraine in honor of the anniversary of his Ballon d'Or win. It was put on display in Kyiv's Taras Shevchenko Park, where it will remain from December 7 to 15, and will go on tour across Ukraine on December 16.

"Ukrzaliznytsia reported that the trophy is traveling by train to Ukrainian cities:

December 17 Ternopil 11:30-13:00;

December 17 Khmelnitsky 17: 40-21: 30

December 18 Kharkiv 12:30-18:30;

December 19, Vinnytsia, 8:00-20:50;

December 20, Lviv, 8:00-20:50;

December 21 Zaporizhzhia 15:10-20:00;

December 22 Dnipro 9:00-17:00;

December 23, Odesa, 9:30-20:00;

December 24 Yagotin 9: 10-16: 20.

On December 16, The Golden Ball was supposed to be presented in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, but, unfortunately, the event was canceled for security reasons in coordination with the regional military administration.

In each city, the award will be displayed at the central railway station, where it will be available to everyone.

recall

Midfielder of the English "Manchester City" and the Spanish national team Rodrigo Fernandez Cascante was recognized as the best football player of 2024 by the authoritative publication France Football.

Man City are ‘ready to sign’ a top midfielder in the January transfer window after recording club-record revenue figures, according to reports.

The Citizens made a good start to the new Premier League season under Pep Guardiola, with seven wins from their opening nine matches.

However, Man City then lost four Premier League matches in a row, before a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest last week ended that run, with Guardiola’s side struggling without Rodri in the middle of the park.

The Citizens dropped points again on Saturday as they drew 2-2 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, while they lost 2-0 to Juventus in midweek in their ninth winless match in ten in all competitions.

Man City are currently fourth in the Premier League, two points behind Arsenal and four adrift of Chelsea, while Guardiola’s side are eight points behind leaders Liverpool, although Arne Slot’s men have a game in hand.

Spain international Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or at the end of October, picked up a serious knee injury against Arsenal on September 22 and was ruled out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

And now Man City will do everything they can to find a midfielder in the January transfer window to get their stuttering season back on track.

The Times claims that Man City are ‘ready to enter the transfer market for reinforcements next month as they look to arrest an alarming dip in form’.

One of their main targets is Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz with the Premier League champions ‘huge admirers’ of the Germany international.

On City’s pursuit of Wirtz, The Times add:

‘However City know that Bayer Leverkusen are unwilling to sell their star midfielder in January. There is no guarantee that they will be able to attract the £85million-rated player next summer either because he is of serious interest to Real Madrid.’

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Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes is also another player Man City have their eye on and the Brazil international ‘would be open to a move to the Etihad Stadium either next month or in the summer transfer window’.

The report continues:

‘City decided against triggering the £100million release clause that was in Guimarães’ contract last summer. It is unclear if Newcastle would consider a lower bid for the player, who signed a new five-year deal two months ago.’

After rejecting a move to Liverpool in the summer transfer window, it is understood that Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi is ‘now open to a move’ with the Citizens among the clubs ‘alerted’ to his availability.

Atalanta’s Ederson and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton are also on Man City’s list as they look to find a midfielder to bring some composure and creativity back to the middle of the pitch.

Man City will be helped in the transfer market by news that they recorded club-record revenue figures of £715m for the year ending June 30, 2024.

Funny the things upon which a football match can turn.

This 2-1 Europa League victory at Viktoria Plzen was for a long time a game going familiarly askew for this early and incoherent iteration of Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United. They are still visibly a team, squad and manager learning as they go, adapting to each other and making plenty of mistakes as they do so.

One of those mistakes had given Viktoria Plzen a lead early in the second half after what was largely a non-event of a first half in which United’s brand of stale and sterile domination brought back unpleasant memories of the Louis van Gaal years.

Onana tried to play a pass to Matthijs de Ligt who was in no position to receive it allowing the home side in and giving Matej ‘Wait, That Matej Vydra?’ Vydra to score.

Shortly after that, a frustrated and frustrating Marcus Rashford – already on a booking – leapt inexplicably into a wild challenge in which he was lucky to make contact with his trailing rather than leading leg. Second yellow thus dodged, he was swiftly hooked by Amorim to save him from himself.

It’s one of the most basic plays in the managerial armoury, but it worked. Rasmus Hojlund replaced Rashford and was excellent as United took charge of the final half-hour of the game to such an extent that the winner when it came in the closing minutes was entirely deserved.

Fellow substitute Mason Mount created the equaliser for Hojlund, but it was the winner that really caught the eye. The swiftness of thought and precision of execution from Bruno Fernandes’ pass was matched by Hojlund’s touch and finish to complete a turnaround of greater significance than might be immediately apparent.

For one thing, any win is particularly welcome for United at the moment. We all know it’s going to take time and at least a couple of transfer windows for Amorim to achieve his full vision. Anything that helps keep the mood up on the road to that potential future is crucial.

And more prosaically, this is a win that massively boosts United’s chances of a top-eight finish and avoiding the play-off round unpleasantness. Amorim has happily stated the obvious that he would rather have more time with his players on the training ground than worry about jamming a two-legged tie into an already packed schedule, and United now have that in their hands.

These three points lift them to fifth ahead of the late games with winnable games to come in the new year.

The concerns that remain after this ultimately invigorating win remain familiar, though. The defence remains a confused mess. Onana doesn’t appear to be relishing the task and Amorim is yet to really hit upon the ideal formula for his wing-backs, with neither the full-back-pushed-forward or winger-pushed-back approaches quite working out just yet.

United are also still finding it hard to create chances and then too often butchering the ones they do create. In a frantic closing period here they had frequent overloaded counter-attacks from which they never ever really looked like profiting.

We are starting to get an idea of which players might be able to adapt and profit in this brave new world. The slight worry is that it’s the same few players each time. Hojlund is very obviously one, Amad Diallo very obviously another.

Bruno doesn’t appear to have an obvious spot to which he’s ideally suited in this system, but possesses both the necessary technical quality and footballing intelligence to adapt and find a way to make an impression.

Rashford had, until tonight, been another player who had started well under Amorim. Inadvertently and fortuitously, he still made a big difference to United’s fortunes tonight.

NOW READ: Man Utd and Man City miserably side by side in Premier League mood rankings

Dejan Kulusevski clearly enjoys working with Ange Postecoglou; without him, the Tottenham Hotspur manager would be completely finished.

The pressure on Big Ange has been relentless in recent weeks. A ridiculous 4-0 victory at Premier League champions Manchester City has since been backed up by home draws against AS Roma and Fulham and demoralising defeats against Bournemouth and Chelsea. Consistent inconsistency has been a theme of Postecoglou’s Tottenham tenure and could be what sees him sacked.

Spurs have often thrived off chaos and their 1-1 draw against Rangers in the Europa League was absolutely chaotic. The pattern and pace of the game were not surprising – Rangers are also a wildly unpredictable team and in a difficult season, they actually hosted the Premier League side In A Good Moment as Postecoglou returned to Glasgow, where he won five major trophies in two years at Celtic.

It was a fantastic game for the neutral and was very nearly One Of Those Nights in Europe at Ibrox. There have been some memorable ones at Rangers’ home in recent years, particularly in the 2021/22 season when they beat the likes of RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund on their way to the Europa League final. It threatened to be another memorable result and it really ought to have been – Spurs were second best barring a 10-minute spell in which they equalised. Will they ever get another chance like this to beat a ‘top’ Premier League team?

Regardless, it was a fantastic, fast-paced match and a positive result for Spurs based on their overall performance. A defeat could have been the end for Postecoglou with a new cluster of fans losing patience with him after every game.

The match was fantastic because it was quite ridiculous, if truth be told. Both teams committed an uncanny amount of unforced errors, more so Spurs in what is a very tricky ground to play composed, passing football, and the visitors very nearly stole three points having been second best for the vast majority of the night.

READ MORE: Spurs are exciting?! Make that ‘exhausting’ if you are a fan under Postecoglou

Postecoglou going back to Glasgow enhanced the narrative, while goalkeeper Fraser Forster also returned and was booed all evening. The Australian’s record in Old Firm derbies was good, winning six out of 11, while pipping them to almost every trophy in his two years at Celtic.

It would have been rather poetic had Rangers stuck the final nail in Big Ange’s Spurs coffin but Premier League quality eventually shone through courtesy of the brilliant Dejan Kulusevski, who has been head and shoulders above all of his teammates this season.

Brennan Johnson has chipped in with a handy amount of goals, Dominic Solanke is adapting well to his new team and Pedro Porro has been quality, but Kulusevski – who came on for Timo Werner at half-time – is doing more than anyone else to keep Postecoglou in his first Premier League job.

Postecoglou also had his fellow former Celt, Forster, to thank for keeping Spurs in it at Ibrox. Vaclav Cerny was absolutely bloody brilliant and albeit at a time fresh legs were needed, Rangers manager Philippe Clement made the bizarre decision to take him off. The substitution was instantly noticeable and going from Cerny to natural defender Dujon Sterling on the right wing showed the Belgian’s hand.

Mohamed Diomande was another who thrived for Rangers – dominating the midfield and successfully navigating 70 whole minutes on a yellow card. Meanwhile, Jefte and Ridvan Yilmaz were a constant danger on the left, James Tavernier had one of his best performances of the season and Hamza Igamane impressed up front on his own, with those two linking up for the hosts’ goal.

Igamane has replaced Cyriel Dessers as the Gers’ first-choice striker in Europe with Danilo not included in the Europa League squad but Spurs fans and others who have presumably never watched him were thankfully introduced to the man, the myth, the legend that is Dessers.

He is the most frustrating player in the world at times, regularly missing sitters, just as he did late on against Spurs. He also scored a comical offside goal, scoring with an unusual confidence having strayed a mere five yards beyond the last man. Of course he saves his best finishing after he disregarded the offside rule.

Spurs’ only positive spell came between the 70th and 85th minute, when they capitalised on their superior play to equalise, but they were back to being rattled again in the last five – when the Dessers comedy show ensued.

Kulusevski, along with Rangers’ misfiring striker, have helped buy Postecoglou some time and a trip to Southampton is quite frankly the perfect next fixture; no result from 1-0 Southampton to 10-0 Spurs would be a surprise.

Rangers have often found respite in European competition but the only respite Spurs have found has been whenever they share the pitch with Manchester City – which unfortunately can’t happen every week for them.

We witnessed one Spurs manager lose their head after a meltdown at Southampton, resulting in their exit, and we might be blessed with a repeat on Sunday. All while Rangers aim to do something Spurs fans can’t relate to: win a cup final.

Postecoglou will breathe a sigh of relief on Thursday night because a defeat at Ibrox could have been fatal, though a draw has not alleviated any pressure – it still feels like he is on borrowed time and losing his job could literally come down to whether or not Dejan Kulusevski can dig him out of another Spursy hole.

READ NEXT: Man United and Amorim indebted to supersub Hojlund after stuttering start in Plzen

On December 16, a new postage stamp “Usyk. The world loves the strong”. All proceeds from the sale will go to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine through the Usyk Foundation.

On December 16, Ukrposhta will present a new charity postage stamp dedicated to the legendary Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. This was reported by Ukrposhta News, according to UNN.

Details

This issue is titled “Usyk. The World Loves the Strong” and honors the most titled Ukrainian amateur boxer, absolute world champion in the heavy and super heavyweight divisions. The stamp has a circulation of 420,000 copies. The design was created by artist Serhiy Tekhov.

All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Usyk Foundation, a charity that supports the Ukrainian Defense Forces and helps Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression.

The pre-order for the stamp is already available on the website https://postmark.ukrposhta.ua Philatelic pass holders will receive payment links by e-mail today.

“Cities of Heroes. Mykolaiv": “Ukrposhta presented a new stampSep 5 2024, 02:12 PM • 20804 views

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says his players were “aggressive” and “controlled the transitions very well” in their comeback victory against Viktoria Plzen.

The Red Devils came from behind to beat Czech outfit Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

Amorim made some changes before the hour mark, with Rasmus Hojlund making a huge impact off the bench.

The Danish striker scored both of United’s goals to earn them three valuable points, lifting them to fifth in the league phase table, four points behind leaders Athletic Bilbao.

United ended Plzen’s 12-match home unbeaten run in Europe (including qualifiers), becoming the first foreign side to win there since Barcelona did so in November 2022.

It was also the Red Devils’ first away win in Europe since beating Real Betis in March 2023.

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Amorim says his players showed improvement after a slow first half and praised those on the pitch for their reaction to going 1-0 down.

“We improved during the game,” he said. “We controlled the game in the first half, but without any great chances.

“We lacked speed and movement and we didn’t control the ball because the pitch was difficult to make the connections with the strikers. Viktoria didn’t have chances either.

“In the second half, we gave a goal away but we reacted well. We pushed the opponents to their own half and we managed to score. The win is important at the moment and it’s good to prepare for the next game.

“The speed improved. I told the players we need more movement in front because they have to feel we are a danger. We changed a little bit of our game and the players from the bench also helped. We improved not just the way we play, but also the speed of the game.

“We are improving in some details. We controlled the transitions very well. We were aggressive when we lost the ball. We need to spend more time near the opposition goal.”

On Hojlund, Amorim added: “He is improving. He is more near the goal now. He knows better the movement he has to do. He could score more this evening. but he is scoring, working and controlling the ball better.”

United captain Bruno Fernandes praised his teammates for coming behind to win in Czechia.

“It was a good performance overall. I think in the final third we could have kept the ball a bit more but the man-marking from them was difficult to get away from. Sometimes you just have to pass and run to try to find the gaps in behind.

“In the first half we did it better than in the second half, when we let the game go a little bit in the way that they wanted, a bit more transitional. Then we dealt with that and in the end we got the win.

“We want to play from the back and everyone knows that then we have to make the right decision on the pitch. Andre [Onana] thought that Matta [De Ligt] could get on the ball but he missed it and they scored a goal.

“It is not about Andre making the mistake, we don’t look at individuals here when something happens on the wrong side. We have huge belief in him. He knows he made a mistake because he is a clever guy, he is going to help us many times and we trust his qualities on the ball.

“Mistakes are part of football. If they don’t happen then goals don’t happen. But we did well to show the resilience to come back and find the victory.”

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Match-winner Hojlund added: “It was a bit difficult out there. It was very cold today and the pitch was a bit boggy as well, but we solved it in the second half.

“I think we didn’t play too direct in the first half. We needed to play over them and behind them more because there was space to run into. Especially with the boggy pitch I was talking about, if we won the second balls, you can play from there.”

Hojlund continued: “We still need more time. It’s still very early days. It’s about getting our routines together and its getting there. But it still needs practice and time.

“I know it sounds odd, but we don’t get enough time on the training ground, so we have to train it during the matches. But it’s getting better and better.”