Afcon 2023 is over. What a remarkable end to a tournament dripping in drama.
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The night has only just started in Abidjan.
EPL
Diogo Dalot Makes His Feeling Clear about Wan Bissaka Competition
Man Utd Right-Back Diogo Dalot Explains His Feeling about Wan Bissaka Competition
Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot feels he has become a more rounded footballer over the last calendar year.
Dalot is 23 today (Friday 18 March) and he was handed an early birthday present on Thursday as he was named in the Portugal squad for the upcoming World Cup play-offs.
Our no.20 will be looking to add to his four caps so far for Fernando Santos’s side, all of which have been won since June 2021.
As he celebrates his birthday, Diogo has reflected on why the past 12 months have been important for him on a personal level.:
Diogo has warned Aaron that he’ll continue fighting to become Untied’s first-choice right-back.
Diogo Dalot has warned Aaron Wan-Bissaka that their battle for a right-back spot at Man United is far from over.
“Man United is always a tough place to play and the competition will always be there,” he told United Review. “And I’m making sure that Aaron will have competition as well and I will have competition when I might get my chance to play.
“That’s what keeps you strong at this level. Now it’s about keeping on working hard and hoping to get my opportunities and then grab them.
“I will keep fighting for the team and I want to keep pushing hard because I know I can play a lot of games here. Like I said in pre-season, I want to make a statement and fight for my position, and I want to show everyone that I can be a good right-back here.”
Dalot vs Wan Bissaka competion: Diogo’s honest opinion
“I always try to step up a little bit each game, but I’d like to say in general I’ve been playing good, in my opinion,” Diogo told us in an exclusive interview conducted last week.
“I’m growing in every aspect of my game and I’m trying to get that consistency that will give me more time on the pitch.
“Obviously getting more minutes from this club, that’s what I wanted since I came here,” he added.
“I want to combine that with good results in the team and help the team as well get a result.”
Dalot enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at AC Milan last season, going up against United in the Europa League round of 16 and ultimately helping the Rossoneri to a second-place finish in Serie A – their best showing in nine years.
The former Porto man believes he has benefited from the 33 appearances he made for the Italian club and he has been able to use what he learned in Italy back at Old Trafford.
United are always keen to use the loan market to give opportunities to our promising young players, with no fewer than 17 Reds currently enjoying temporary spells – whether in England or abroad.
And Diogo can certainly recommend a short move away, as he has returned and established himself in the side, especially since Ralf Rangnick came in as interim manager.
Dalot was in action against United for Milan in March 2021.
“It was very good for me to see another perspective: not just the one I had in Portugal or here, but another country’s perspective,” Dalot continued.
“It brought me a lot of stuff that I’m now using and hopefully I can combine everything and be a better – not just player, but a man as well.
“It’s always a new perspective, a new challenge as well, new opportunity. That’s the point of a loan, because you’re not getting the game time you want here.
“You want to have that and show that you can have a good run of games and perform at a high level and that’s what I showed last season when I was in Italy.
“Obviously with the help of the club, with the help of the players I had there, it was fantastic.
“I felt I got the job done and then I came back here and felt more confident, more prepared as well, because I had the high-quality games on my legs, on my mind.
“Obviously I was ready to start the season and so I’m here now.”
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Dalot has his sights set on the World Cup with Portugal.
So, what’s on the agenda between now and March 2023, when Diogo will turn 24?
A trophy to give United fans something to celebrate is top of the list, while Qatar 2022 is also never far from his mind – although Portugal will have to get past Turkey and one of Italy or North Macedonia first.
“I would love, next season, to give them [the supporters] that joy and satisfaction to celebrate with us and obviously Portugal being in the World Cup and being part of that would be amazing.
“For me it’s still a long way to get there. It’s been a tough season, we know that, but we need to go step by step and focus on the next few games.
“When the time comes I’ll think about it.”
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‘Compelling title race a relief for Premier League’
This weekend will be the 10th time that the Premier League title has been decided on the final day of the season.
But rarely before will those in charge of the competition have been so grateful for a captivating conclusion to the campaign.
Liverpool’s challenge ultimately faded, scuppering their fans’ dreams of a triumphant farewell for departing manager Jurgen Klopp and the prospect of an unprecedented three-way battle going the full distance.
But Manchester City or Arsenal will be crowned champions in the final act of what has been a classic duel.
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Sunday may not provide the unforgettable drama of 2012’s last day, which saw massive fans’ participation at MT online sportsbooks, when Sergio Aguero’s stoppage-time winner sealed a first Premier League title for City. But whether it ends with a record fourth consecutive title for the champions or a first in 20 years for Arsenal, league bosses, broadcasters and neutrals will have the special finale they hoped for.
Off the field, however, these have been troubled times for the top flight.
The points deductions handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest this season for breaching financial rules have been hugely contentious, the punishments – and subsequent appeals – leading to uncertainty over the league table, resentment by fans and fears that the relegation battle could be decided by the rulings of commission panels.
While both teams have ultimately stayed up, the controversy surrounding the profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) is not going away.
Newly promoted Leicester City have been charged with breaking spending rules when they were in the top flight (and are now taking legal action against the league), while Chelsea have also been under investigation.
And 16 months after City were charged with more than a hundred rule breaches, a hearing in their case is not thought to be scheduled until the autumn, contributing to the mounting scrutiny of the league’s governance and processes.
While City deny wrongdoing, a sixth league triumph in seven years would only intensify questions over the fairness of how they assembled their squad over several seasons, the time the case has taken, and whether the club’s wealth has distorted the competitiveness of the league, alongside admiration for the team and their coach.
Meanwhile, a split has emerged between clubs over plans to introduce a new spending cap, and the Premier League is facing the threat of more legal action from one of its members over amended rules around associated party transactions.
As if all that was not enough to contend with, the league’s chief executive Richard Masters has also warned of the “unintended consequences” of the forthcoming independent football regulator, amid mounting criticism of the failure by his clubs to agree a new financial settlement with the English Football League (EFL).
The Premier League is also known to be deeply concerned about the increasingly congested calendar, with Masters recently warning of a “tipping point”, after criticism following the scrapping of FA Cup replays. The league has also admitted that the VAR system must improve after a series of controversies.
With the title race going right to the wire, Sunday’s final-day drama will provide a welcome distraction from such matters for Masters and his colleagues – but, one suspects, only a temporary one.
Clock ticking for Commonwealth Games
A few weeks ago in Birmingham, Katie Sadleir, the head of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), told me that any further delay beyond May in announcing a host for the 2026 event would be “very problematic”.
Since then Glasgow has emerged as a possible back-up option if no replacement is found for Victoria in Australia, which pulled out last year, plunging the event into crisis.
But there has still been no official announcement by the CGF.
Insiders claim they remain hopeful a host will be confirmed in the next two weeks, but the clock is ticking.
Super League heading stateside?
The National Rugby League (NRL) season kicked off in the US for the first time in March, with a Premiership double-header staged at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as part of a multi-year deal designed to grow the sport in the US.
So could Super League clubs follow suit?
Talks have taken place over the Club World Challenge being staged in the US, and some Super League bosses are keen on regular season matches being part of the tie-up too.
Wigan and Warrington played each other in Milwaukee 35 years ago, albeit as an exhibition match. And with rugby league currently ‘re-imagining’ itself as part of a 12-year deal with agency IMG intended to boost its appeal, anything seems possible.
Manchester United assessing potential Erik ten Hag replacements 👀 Mark Ogden shares details with SportsFila.
The fact that Southgate is on that list tells how serious you should take it
No manager on earth could do anything with Manchester United until Someone takes responsibility for the club and has a viable plan for the future.
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group, the club’s new partial owners, are exploring options to assume the role. According to Team Talk, the Red Devils are considering the 41-year-old as a candidate for the manager position.
After achieving success as a player with Barcelona, Inter, and Paris Saint-Germain, winning numerous titles, the two-time Champions League winner transitioned to coaching at the senior level.
Flop Antony and Gabriella Cavallin/ getty Images
ESPN loves ManUtd. As much they say that they hate talking about ManUtd they can’t stop talking about ManUtd 😅😅. They have spend 15 mins speaking on rumours – Hypocrites.
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It’s not Ten Hag fault when players like rashford do not put in all the effort after signing a new contract. Also ten hag had to deal with incredible amount of injuries which ESPN deliberately overlooks. So getting another manager isn’t going to solve anything.
It’s so funny how the English media fails to realize that the structure & the players is the problem at united…..but they trying to sack ETH who is an elite manger under a proper management structure 💯
The best manager that seems to be being overlooked shouod be n1 on the list for bayern utd liverpool is someone inzaghi. Hes done great things with Lazio and inter. Loads of experience and has got to european finals and won domestic leagues.
Manchester City 3-1 win over United in Manchester Derby.
It is very different getting an underdog /dark horse to perform vs going to an environment where the spotlight in on you everyday from day 1. The same thing happened at Bayern with a couple of their coaches…
Afcon 2024 victory is well deserved for Ivory Coast they left no stone unturned and they dominated throughout. If there is a one person who deserved to win the AFCON it was Sebastian Haller. In 2022, he was diagnosed with cancer but he recovered and he returned to play football in 2023 only to bottle the Bundesliga title on the final matchday to Bayern but here we are in 2024 where he scored the winner in the AFCON final to win Cote d’Ivoire AFCON title so congratulations🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮🏆
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FT: Nigeria 1-2 Ivory Coast
But Ivory Coast won fair and square. They played better. Congratulations champs.
What Adingra did in the African Cup of Nation was phenomenal. Nigerians will remember him as a nighmare forever. The boy has a great future ahead of him.
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Haller beats cancer, then comes to the AFCON and scores the most important goal in the final, the winning goal what a beautiful story for that man and Ivory coast, congratulations to them👏👏
Congratulations to Ivory Coast from cameroonian👏👏👏you organized and won the most beautiful AFCON in story, unbelievable achievment when we look how things went for you.
One of the best tournaments I’ve seen.
Almost every team demonstrated that they were not afraid of their opponent and played above expectations.
Congratulations to Côte d’Ivoire who never gave up and believed and implemented their progress towards goal as much as possible until the last second in this tournament. Kudos to Nigeria for high yield and quality.
Thank you for making the spectators so emotional and congratulations and best wishes to the Ivory Coast and the Ivorian people.
FT: Nigeria 1-2 Ivory Coast
Afcon 2023 is over. What a remarkable end to a tournament dripping in drama.
Thanks for your company.
The night has only just started in Abidjan.
Congratulations to Ivory Coast for winning the Africa Cup🏆! The team showed strength and desire to win and to not give up until the end. And the fans were absolutely amazing
P.s Haller deserved it the most, since he suffered a lot.
The story of Côte d’Ivoire’s victory in the African Nations is one of the most beautiful stories in the history of football. We sympathized with this team’s version a lot and we will tell it to our children in the future 🧡
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