LONDON: West Ham manager David Moyes says Kurt Zouma needs to focus on football as the France defender deals with the fall-out from his cat abuse shame.
Zouma was fined two weeks’ wages and dropped by his personal kit supplier Adidas after he was filmed kicking and slapping his pet cat.
The 27-year-old issued an apology but his behavior was strongly condemned across the football world.
Despite the outcry, Moyes chose to play Zouma in a Premier League match against Watford immediately after the video went public.
Zouma withdrew from last Sunday’s draw at Leicester after feeling ill just before kick-off, but he could return against Newcastle on Saturday.
“He’s better, but it’s taken him a couple of days to get over it — he had quite bad sickness and illness, but he’s trained the last couple of days, so I’m hoping that he’ll be available,” Moyes told reporters on Friday.
Zouma was jeered by Watford and Leicester fans after his shocking behavior.
There were calls in France for him to be banned from the national team after the video showed him throwing a shoe at the cat while laughter was heard in the background.
But Moyes has stuck by Zouma, insisting that he deserved a second chance, and he wants his center-back to make sure football is his only focus from now on.
“I think he’s probably really disappointed about what he’s done and he’s thinking about it a lot, no doubt, but overall we have tried to get him to move on,” Moyes said.
“We want him to concentrate on his training. He played very well for us against Watford the other week there, so we’re hoping that we can keep him at those levels of performance, we’ll be pleased with that.
“He’s really well-liked here among the supporters, the performances he’s put in throughout the season already, so hopefully he can focus on his football and we’ll give him as much support as we can until we get him right back to his best.”
Moyes tells Zouma to focus on football after cat abuse shame
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Moyes tells Zouma to focus on football after cat abuse shame
- Zouma was fined two weeks' wages and dropped by his personal kit supplier Adidas after he was filmed kicking and slapping his pet cat.
- Moyes chose to play Zouma in a Premier League match against Watford immediately after the video went public
Late own goal rescues Leverkusen in 2-2 draw at Copenhagen
Leverkusen offered little in the first half
COPENHAGEN: Bayer Leverkusen snatched a 2-2 draw at FC Copenhagen in their Champions League opener on Thursday, rescued by a Pantelis Hatzidiakos own goal in stoppage time.
The Danish hosts got the perfect start after nine minutes when Jordan Larsson met Elias Achouri’s cross to score and light up the Parken Stadium.
Leverkusen offered little in the first half, struggling to break down Copenhagen’s defense, while the home side created several chances, with only some fine goalkeeping from Mark Flekken preventing them doubling the lead.
After the break, Leverkusen found more openings but were repeatedly denied by Copenhagen keeper Dominik Kotarski.
But eight minutes from time Leverkusen pulled level from a free kick as Alejandro Grimaldo curled the ball over the wall into the net off the underside of the bar.
The visitors’ relief was short-lived, however, as Robert restored Copenhagen’s lead five minutes later with a precise low header from a cross.
Leverkusen pressed for another equalizer and in stoppage time substitute Claudio Echeverri broke into the box and his attempted cross deflected off Hatzidiakos into the net.
Afghanistan crash out of Asia Cup after six-wicket loss to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka wrapped up their Group B fixtures unbeaten, with the former champions getting home with eight deliveries to spare.
Having topped the group, Sri Lanka marched into the second round, with Bangladesh joining them as the other qualifier.
It was quick Nuwan Thushara who set the tone, rattling through the Afghan top order with four wickets.
Then it was wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis who stole the limelight in the chase, crafting an unbeaten 74 off 52 balls with 10 boundaries.
Opening the innings, Mendis dropped anchor against Afghanistan’s much-vaunted four-pronged spin attack. He later shifted gears in a blistering 52-run stand off just 23 balls for the fifth wicket with his namesake Kamindu Mendis.
Sri Lanka had their noses in front from the moment Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Thushara struck twice in his second over, eventually finishing with four for 18.
At 137 for seven heading into the final over, Afghanistan looked dead and buried, but veteran Mohammad Nabi turned the script on its head.
The all-rounder bludgeoned 32 runs off the last over, lifting his side to a fighting 169 for eight.
Dunith Wellalage, playing his first T20 since November 2024, dropped Nabi on five, a mistake that cost dearly. Thrown the ball for the final over, the left-arm spinner was carted for five sixes, conceding the second-most expensive over by a Sri Lankan in T20 history.
Nabi finished with a whirlwind 60 off 22 balls, peppered with three fours and six sixes, his half-century equalling the record for the quickest by an Afghan batter.
Isack Hadjar on Red Bull rumors: ‘I didn’t sign anything’
- Telling reporters this week that he “couldn’t care less” about the rumors, Hadjar added, “I think it’s very funny. Because I didn’t sign anything“
- While no official announcement has been made yet, Hadjar acknowledged that earning a seat with the main team has been his goal since signing with the Red Bull Junior team
BAKU: Isack Hadjar downplayed rumors that he is set to replace Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen in 2026, saying “I didn’t sign anything.”
Tsunoda has struggled to consistently generate points since being promoted to the main team ahead of the third race of the season, and enters this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix with just 12 . Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Hadjar has recovered from a crash in his first race in Australia to produce 38 points for the junior team.
With Tsunoda currently 19th place in the driver’s standings and Hadjar in ninth, speculation has been rampant that the young Frenchman is set to be Red Bull’s next attempt to find a consistent points producer alongside Verstappen.
Telling reporters this week that he “couldn’t care less” about the rumors, Hadjar added, “I think it’s very funny. Because I didn’t sign anything.”
Liam Lawson lasted just two races into the season before being replaced by Tsunod, and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, who replaced the ousted Christian Horner, said recently that there will not be another midseason change in the second Red Bull seat.
While no official announcement has been made yet, Hadjar acknowledged that earning a seat with the main team has been his goal since signing with the Red Bull Junior team.
“I think it is quite clear,” he said. “It (driver decisions) has always been decided, at least for me, at the very end of the season. I think it makes sense, because there are eight races to go, so I need to keep pushing.”
Tsunoda is the third driver to struggle to effectively race the notoriously difficult to drive Red Bull car, following Lawson and Sergio Perez, who parted ways with the team over the offseason. Lawson, who got only two races before being replaced, was asked what advice he would give Hadjar should he be the next in line to be teamed with Verstappen.
“I would honestly just say ignore everything that’s being said,” Lawson said. “At the end of the day, we’re all racing drivers, we all have to have enough self-confidence to be in the sport in the first place. We don’t come here thinking that other people are better than us, otherwise we wouldn’t be here. So I think to just have faith in yourself.
“He’s done a good job this year and I think he needs to just focus on the job and focus on preparing the best he can. Not listening to everything that’s said about what it’s going to be like because, at the end of the day, nobody actually knows. Only the guys that have done it (know).”
Mourinho appointed at Benfica as he returns to Portugal
- Mourinho has signed a contract “to run until the end of the 2026/27 season,” Benfica said in
- He will soon face reunions against former sides Chelsea and Porto, in the Champions League on September 30 and in the Primeira Liga on October 5 respectively
LISBON: Benfica appointed Jose Mourinho as their coach on Thursday, with the Portuguese returning to work in his homeland 21 years after leaving Porto for Chelsea.
The 62-year-old, who also coached Real Madrid and Manchester United among other clubs, was sacked by Turkish side Fenerbahce in August after Benfica beat them in the Champions League play-offs.
Mourinho has signed a contract “to run until the end of the 2026/27 season,” Benfica said in a statement, with an option for either party to end the deal at the end of the current campaign.
The two-time European champions sacked Bruno Lage after a shock defeat in their Champions League opener against Azerbaijani minnows Qarabag on Tuesday.
Mourinho will soon face reunions against former sides Chelsea and Porto, in the Champions League on September 30 and in the Primeira Liga on October 5 respectively.
“I come to Benfica at a different stage in my career, and as a person... we transform for the better,” Mourinho told reporters, sitting alongside Benfica president Rui Costa.
“I’m more altruistic, less self-centered, I think less about myself and more about the good I can do for others, the joy I can bring to others. I’m not the important thing — Benfica is important.”
After starting out his coaching career as an assistant to Bobby Robson and then Louis van Gaal at Barcelona, Mourinho made the step up to head coach at Benfica in September 2000.
He quit after just 11 matches and then, after impressing at Uniao de Leiria, he joined the Eagles’ fierce rivals Porto and guided them to back-to-back league titles and the Champions League crown in 2004.
That set him on the path to a successful career coaching Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid before his fortunes dived after joining Manchester United in 2016.
More modest stints then followed at Tottenham, Roma and Fenerbahce.
“In some people’s minds, I have two resumes — one that lasted a certain period and another that represents, let’s say, a less happy phase of my career,” said Mourinho.
“My misfortune is that in the last five years, I’ve played in two European finals. The negative part of my career... is two European finals in the last five years.”
- ‘My mission’ -
Mourinho won three Premier League titles across two spells at Chelsea, as well as the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010, and a La Liga title with Real Madrid among other trophies.
However, since 2017, when he won the Europa League with Manchester United, Mourinho’s only silverware was the Conference League with Roma in 2022.
Mourinho’s first game at the helm of Benfica will be a visit to face AVS on Saturday in the top flight.
“It’s been 25 years in which I’ve had the opportunity to work for the biggest clubs in the world,” said Mourinho, of the time since he first departed Benfica.
“I’d like to say that none of the other giant clubs I’ve had the opportunity to coach have made me feel more honored, responsible, or motivated than being the coach of Benfica,” he added.
“The promise is very clear: I will live for Benfica, for my mission.”
Mourinho said he was more “mature” now than when he previously coached the club, and insisted his team had the quality to win the title.
Sporting Lisbon won the last two titles, with Benfica’s last triumph in 2023.
“Benfica have enough potential within that dressing room to be champions,” said Mourinho.
Spain overtake Messi’s Argentina to lead FIFA rankings for first time since 2014
- Argentina’s loss in a World Cup qualifier in Ecuador also let France rise one place to No. 2
- Morocco at No. 11 were the best of the African nations and Japan led Asia at No. 19
ZURICH: Spain and Lamine Yamal took top spot from Argentina and Lionel Messi in the FIFA men’s rankings published on Thursday, and lead for the first time since being dethroned as world champion in June 2014.
Spain’s two-win start to a 2026 World Cup qualifying group this month — against Turkiye and Bulgaria — lifted the European champion up from second place behind 2022 World Cup winner Argentina, which fell to third.
Argentina’s loss in a World Cup qualifier in Ecuador also let France rise one place to No. 2.
England stayed at No. 4, and Portugal climbed one place to No. 5 in a swap with Brazil, which lost a game at Bolivia.
Morocco at No. 11 were the best of the African nations and Japan led Asia at No. 19. Both have already qualified for the World Cup.
Mexico and the United States were Nos. 14 and 16 respectively as the World Cup co-hosts both fell one place. Canada, the third co-host next year, rose two to No. 26.
The rankings are updated in October and again in November when the standings are more significant.
The November rankings should decide seedings for the 48-team World Cup tournament draw being held on Dec. 5 in Washington, plus draws for playoffs in Europe and the intercontinental brackets. Those games are scheduled in March.
The World Cup draw will have 42 confirmed entries and six placeholders for the eventual playoff winners. Those placeholders all must come from the lowest-ranked teams in seeding pot 4 and could include Italy.
