DUBAI: The weekly social media posts published by Cristiano Ronaldo this offseason typically have shown the soccer superstar half-dressed, muscles bulging, either working out or promoting one of his many brands.
Remaining relevant and highly visible is clearly so important to the player who, along with Lionel Messi, is the greatest of his generation. That also extends to the final years of his career on the field, too.
It is why, for the 37-year-old Ronaldo, playing for Manchester United — still one of the world’s most famous sports teams, despite their recent trophy drought — just isn’t enough. He wants to be competing on the biggest stage, winning the biggest trophies while he can.
Hence the current standoff with United, which is becoming more damaging and disruptive as the days go by and the new season looms.
Publicly, Ronaldo has not yet returned to preseason training with the English club because of what has been described as “personal reasons.” The expectation, recently hired United manager Erik ten Hag repeats on an almost-daily basis, is that Ronaldo will be back before the Premier League begins and be a key member of the squad.
The reality, it seems, is different. Ronaldo reportedly wants out after just one season back at Old Trafford, with United no longer in the Champions League or in shape to compete with the best teams in England like Manchester City and Liverpool.
United finished sixth last season, 35 points behind first-place City.
So, while the rest of the United squad have been on tour in Thailand and Australia, getting match-sharp and acquainted with ten Hag and his methods, Ronaldo has been back home in Portugal with his family while his agent, Jorge Mendes, shops around seeking a new club for his most famous client.
Currently, there is no buyer.
And the Premier League season starts in about two weeks.
“I don’t know what Cristiano said to the club and to the manager,” said United midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who also plays alongside Ronaldo for Portugal. “I don’t know what’s going on in his head, if he wants to leave. I didn’t ask them that.
“From everything we know,” Fernandes added, “he had some family problems so we have to respect his space, give him some space and that’s it. The only thing I asked Cristiano when he didn’t turn up was if everything was OK with the family. He told me what was going on, that’s it and nothing more.”
On the face of it, United still want to keep Ronaldo — he was the team’s top scorer last season with 24 goals and is back to being the club’s poster boy for the marketing department — and ten Hag has called the striker “extremely important” along with being “not for sale.”
But why would other top clubs be cold on a player who is still a guaranteed source of goals, and revenue for that matter?
Goals might be the aim of the game but they are not necessarily enough for a modern-day coach. A certain level of mobility and an ability to be part of a team pressing game counts for a lot, too, and Ronaldo does not offer that, even if he remains a supremely athletic player with that uncanny knack of coming alive in the penalty area and scoring from anywhere. A team’s structure must change to accommodate a player like an aging Ronaldo, covering for his deficiencies and the need to make him the focal point.
In short, his presence requires compromises to be made. He is a problem and a solution.
Maybe, if he ends up staying at United, ten Hag can come up with a system in which Ronaldo thrives and the players around him can cover for him and make the team operate in an efficient way. That’s easier said than done.
Thomas Tuchel — the sort of coach who values a team over the individual — clearly thought that wasn’t possible, given his Chelsea team were one of the clubs Mendes apparently spoke to. There was a glaring hole in Chelsea’s forward line, too, with Romelu Lukaku returning to Inter Milan.
Bayern Munich are another team to have reportedly turned down the chance to sign Ronaldo. There has been no desire from Real Madrid or Juventus to go back in for him, either.
Ronaldo’s wage demands are likely ruling out most of the other clubs competing in this season’s Champions League, a competition in which he is the record scorer with 141 goals — 16 more than Messi — and for which he lives.
It leaves Ronaldo in an awkward spot. Still one of the greatest scorers in soccer but a player unwanted by the best teams.
So what comes next? An uneasy truce with United and a sheepish return to a team playing in the Europa League and unlikely to be involved in the Premier League title race? Or can Mendes pull a blockbuster move out of the bag, like he did last year when Ronaldo sealed a sensational return to England?
For his brand and his legacy, Ronaldo will want the latter, ending what has turned out to be a nostalgia project without a happy ending.
And deep down, that might suit ten Hag, too, enabling him to start the rebuilding job at United with a clean slate.
Stay or go? Ronaldo’s future uncertain at Manchester United
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Stay or go? Ronaldo’s future uncertain at Manchester United
- Ronaldo wants to be competing on the biggest stage, winning the biggest trophies while he can
- He reportedly wants out after just one season back at Old Trafford, with United no longer in the Champions League
Bayer Leverkusen’s record unbeaten march continues with a 2-0 win at Roma in Europa League
- No club from Europe’s five biggest leagues — in Germany, England, Italy, Spain and France — has had a longer unbeaten streak
- The result also marked a measure of revenge for Leverkusen — since Roma had beaten the German club in this exact same stage last season for their last defeat in Europe
- In the other semifinal, Atalanta drew 1-1 at Marseille
ROME: An imposing stadium in a major foreign capital did nothing to stop Bayer Leverkusen’s record unbeaten march across Europe.
The freshly crowned first-time Bundesliga champions silenced the Stadio Olimpico with a 2-0 win at Roma in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals on Thursday to extend their unbeaten streak to 47 matches across all competitions.
No club from Europe’s five biggest leagues — in Germany, England, Italy, Spain and France — has had a longer unbeaten streak.
“We take things game by game and we are not thinking about being unbeaten,” Leverkusen midfielder Amine Adli said. “We are not thinking about making history or things like that — that’s why we are playing like this and the team is strong. We just want to enjoy ourselves.”
The result also marked a measure of revenge for Leverkusen — since Roma had beaten the German club in this exact same stage last season for their last defeat in Europe.
“We know it is not easy to play here,” Adli said. “We played a very serious game.”
Leverkusen’s last loss across all competitions was a 3-0 defeat to Bochum in the final round of last season’s Bundesliga nearly a year ago — on May 27, 2023.
Roma were dangerous with an early header off the crossbar from Romelu Lukaku. But then Leverkusen scored on the counterattack seven minutes later.
A failed back pass from Roma right back Rick Karsdorp under pressure from Alex Grimaldo on the left flank resulted in a 3-on-1 for Leverkusen. Grimaldo then passed to Florian Wirtz, who calmly slotted in from the center of the area.
Midfielder Robert Andrich added another goal for Leverkusen in the 73rd with a long-range shot — just as Roma had been threatening on the other end.
In the other semifinal, Atalanta drew 1-1 at Marseille.
The second legs will be held next Thursday, with the final to be held in Dublin on May 22.
Leverkusen has won only one European trophy: the 1988 UEFA Cup, which was then predecessor to the Europa League. Its only other European final came in the 2002 Champions League, won by Real Madrid.
Roma are aiming to qualify for their third consecutive European final after winning the Europa Conference League in 2022 and losing last year’s Europa League final to Sevilla in a penalty shootout.
Daniele De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho as Roma’s coach in January.
The Giallorossi hadn’t lost a European knockout stage game at home in seven years — since getting beat 1-0 by Villarreal in the 2017 Europa League.
Roma fans’ pre-match choreography across one entire end of the stadium spelled out the word “AVANZIAMO” (“Let’s advance”). But Roma now face an uphill challenge to eliminate Leverkusen, who haven’t lost all season.
Marseille-Atalanta
Marseille’s players were treated to an ovation at Stade Velodrome from their hard-to-please fans after the draw with Atalanta — who eliminated Liverpool in the quarterfinals.
Atalanta took the lead in the 11th when striker Gianluca Scamacca hit a low shot into the bottom corner after reading Teun Koopmeiners’ clever pass.
But Marseille equalized in the 20th when central defender Chancel Mbemba collected Geoffrey Kondogbia’s pass and his fine curling shot from the edge of the penalty area hit the left post and rolled in.
The second half was almost entirely one-way traffic as Marseille pushed forward. Winger Ismaïla Sarr had a goal disallowed for an offside following a video review and substitute Azzedine Ounahi hit the crossbar with a curling shot in the 73rd.
Europa Conference League
In the third-tier competition semifinal first legs, Aston Villa’s hopes of reaching a first European final since 1982 were diminished with a 4-2 home loss to Olympiakos, the first defeat at Villa Park in the European campaign for the last English club in European competitions.
Villa came back from 2-0 down but were not able to answer Ayoub El Kaabi’s third goal of the game. The striker converted from the penalty spot to make it 3-2 for his eighth goal in the competition this season. Santiago Hezze finished the scoring before Douglas Luiz wasted a penalty for Villa.
Olympiakos are aiming to play on home soil in the May 29 final in Athens.
Earlier, El Kaabi scored twice within a half hour put the visitors in charge.
In Florence, substitute M’Bala Nzola netted in stoppage time for last-year’s runner-up Fiorentina to secure a 3-2 victory over 10-man Club Brugge.
Brugge’s Raphael Onyedika was sent off after receiving his second yellow card on the hour when the Italian club was 2-1 up but the visitors equalized through Igor Thiago to complete a counter just minutes later.
Riccardo Sottil put Fiorentina ahead early on, Brugge captain Hans Vanaken answered with an equalizer from the penalty spot and then Andrea Belotti restored the lead for Fiorentina on a rebound.
Saudi women tackling, kicking their way into football
- Ministry of Sports has reported a 150 percent increase in women’s participation
RIYADH: Women are finding new territories in various industries as the Kingdom sets diversity and inclusion goals, and football is no different.
There are currently 1,100 female football players registered with Saudi clubs through the leagues, three regional training centers, and four active national teams.
Today, the Women’s Football Department focuses on various areas of grassroots development, like five upcoming local competitions including the Premier League.
The head of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s Women’s Football Department, Aalia Al-Rasheed, told Arab News: “Today, we’re witnessing with Vision 2030 a whole transformation when it comes to the country in general. The Ministry of Sports reported a 150 percent increase in women’s participation (since 2015). The game is growing everyday."
Al-Awwal Park Stadium lit up with fireworks Sunday night as Al-Nassr were crowned champions against Al-Ittihad, ending their season on a high with a 1-0 victory.
As the 2023-2024 Premier League concludes, the spirit of celebration still lingers in the air. Female trailblazers in the football sector came together on Monday to champion the incredible women of the Kingdom who are breaking boundaries in the realm of football at Hiwar, PepsiCo’s signature annual event for women empowerment.
In the 2024 Hiwar, hosted in collaboration with the SAFF’s Women’s League, industry drivers spoke about their experiences in pushing the boundaries of women inclusion in the sport, during a panel discussion that evening moderated by Mo Islam, featuring Al-Rasheed alongside Al-Nassr’s goalkeeper Sara Khalid, Al-Ittihad’s women’s team head coach Kelly Lindsey, and PepsiCo.’s senior marketing manager, Anfal Al-Duhilan.
Khalid, one of the Kingdom’s star female football players, reflected on her team’s first-ever international victory last year, winning the premier league twice in a row, and her current, vivid reality in leading the industry into international territory.
But when Khalid left her day job to pursue a football career, she knew she had an example to set and responsibility on her back.
She told Arab News: “Today, I can say I’m one of the first players to represent the national team and my country on an international level, and now with us winning the league and participating in the AFC champion’s league, it’s definitely a huge weight on my shoulders.
“Every decision I have to make must be made thoughtfully and in consideration of everything else, and to always inspire and be inspired by the people around me.”
As a coach, Lindsey said the top struggle is creating equilibrium within a team. Her coaching approach blends physical preparation with cultural understanding, acknowledging the importance of nutrition, sports psychology, and family values within Saudi leagues.
While some Al-Ittihad team members struggled to even pass the ball five times just last summer, they have now managed to compete in the first level of the Saudi football pyramid.
She commended Saudi Arabia’s massive investment into women’s sports, with the SAFF allocating SR49.9 million ($13 million) to women’s football cross-country programs just last year.
Lindsey told Arab News: “By investing in sports, women are not only out in society, they are front and center for everyone to watch, judge, and support.
“The dialogue will change about everything that needs to happen around them so that more women can do their passion, live their passion in work and music and art and culture and sport. It will create a natural dialogue and a push for more infrastructure for women to succeed.”
Last October, this support was bolstered even further as PepsiCo. and the SAFF announced that the multinational’s subsidiary, Lay’s potato chips, will sponsor the 2023-24 Saudi Women’s Premier League.
“Our sponsorship is in alignment with the company’s vision, which is to basically drive diversity and inclusion, aligning with the Saudi 2030 Vision. We wanted to make a difference and really give every single Saudi female the opportunity to pursue her dreams in any field and to continue empowering and supporting them,” said Al-Duhilan.
Iraq qualify for Paris Olympics men’s soccer tournament with win over Indonesia at U23 Asian Cup
- Ali Jasim’s extra-time winner means Iraq take Asia’s third automatic place at the Olympics
- Japan and Uzbekistan, who meet in Friday’s cup final, have both already qualified for the Paris Games
DOHA: Iraq qualified for the men’s soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics with a 2-1 win over Indonesia in the third-place playoff at the Under-23 Asian Cup on Thursday.
Ali Jasim’s extra-time winner means Iraq take Asia’s third automatic place at the Olympics. Japan and Uzbekistan, who meet in Friday’s cup final, have both already qualified for the Paris Games.
Indonesia took the lead after 19 minutes at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in the meeting of the two defeated semifinalists when Ivar Jenner scored from outside the area.
Eight minutes later, Zaid Tahseen headed home at the near post to make it 1-1.
The game went to extra time and Iraq took the lead in the 96th. The Indonesian defense misjudged the bounce of a long pass allowing Jasim to run free into the right side of the area. He sent a powerful shot across the diving goalkeeper to put Iraq on the brink of their sixth Olympic appearance.
Indonesia, still searching for a first Olympic appearance since 1956, almost took the game to a penalty shootout in the final action but Justin Hubner’s header was cleared off the line.
There is still one more opportunity for Indonesia. They will face Guinea in a May 9 playoff for a place in Paris.
Hyderabad steal one-run win as Rajasthan falter
- Needing two off the final ball, Rajasthan’s Rovman Powell missed a full toss and was trapped in front of the wicket by Bhuvneshwar Kumar
- Kumar earlier undermined Rajasthan’s innings by removing star England batter Jos Butler and captain Sanju Samson for nought
HYDERABAD, India: Sunrisers Hyderabad stole an unlikely one-run victory over table-toppers Rajasthan Royals in a tense Indian Premier League encounter on Thursday.
Needing two off the final ball, Rajasthan’s Rovman Powell missed a full toss and was trapped in front of the wicket by India international Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The right-arm swing bowler, who finished with figures of 41-3, earlier undermined Rajasthan’s innings by removing star England batter Jos Butler and captain Sanju Samson for nought in the first over of the chase.
“I wasn’t thinking much about the result in the last over,” said Kumar.
“There was no discussion in the last over, was just focussed on the process.”
After the early setbacks, young Indian batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rayan Parag scored counter-attacking half-centuries to rebuild the innings and Rajasthan seemed on course for a comfortable victory.
But Jaiswal (67 off 40 balls) and Parag (77 off 49) fell in quick succession to left-arm pacer T Natrajan, setting off a collapse.
Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins conceded only seven runs in a miserly penultimate to tilt the match in the home team’s favor.
“Knowing the nature of the IPL, you never win the game until you actually win the game,” said Samson.
In their innings, Rajasthan Royals made an uncharacteristically slow and shaky start with in-form opener Abhishek Sharma falling for 12 off 10 balls.
Anmolpreet Singh, who followed at number three, also failed to make an impact scoring a run-a-ball five.
But Australia international Travis Head and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy upped the pace with a partnership of 96 runs off 47 balls.
The duo were particularly harsh on wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who leaked 62 runs in his four overs.
Head’s crucial knock of 57 off 44 balls finally ended when he chopped one onto his stumps as he tried to scoop pacer Avesh Khan.
South Africa’s power hitter Heinrich Klaasen then joined Reddy who remained unbeaten on 76 off 42 balls to take Hyderabad past 200 for the fifth time this season.
Champions League is being expanded, but Italy and Germany will benefit over England next season
- It had largely been assumed England would secure a bonus spot, given its recent success in Europe
- Dortmund’s win means Germany can’t be caught in UEFA’s ranking system by England, which has only Aston Villa still playing
MANCHESTER, England: Germany has beaten the English Premier League to a bonus fifth Champions League place in next season’s revamped and expanded competition.
Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in their semifinal first leg on Wednesday confirmed Germany would join Italy in being granted an extra berth.
It had largely been assumed England would secure a bonus spot, given its recent success in Europe, including having Champions League winners in three of the last five seasons.
But Dortmund’s win means Germany can’t be caught in UEFA’s ranking system by England, which has only Aston Villa still playing.
The fifth spots were based on performances from each country this season in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.
It means three-time European Cup winner Manchester United will miss out on next season’s Champions League.
Villa and Tottenham — competing for fourth place in the Premier League — also know there will be no back door entry to the biggest stage in Europe.
Villa, England’s only remaining team in Europe, have advanced to the semifinals of the Conference League. But even if Villa go on to win the third-tier competition, they cannot amass enough points for England to overtake Germany, which still has two teams in the Champions League and one in the Europa League.
UEFA’s ranking system gives points for each game a team wins or draws in European competition, with bonuses attached to advancing to different stages.
Since 2005, England would have qualified for a fifth place in the Champions League in 14 of 19 seasons. And despite having finalists in five of the past six editions, English teams’ disappointing performances this season have wrecked their chances of an extra place.
Man United and Newcastle failed to advance from the group stage, and Manchester City’s quarterfinal loss to Real Madrid was the defending champion’s earliest exit from the competition in four years.
In the Europa League, Liverpool were surprisingly eliminated by Atalanta in the quarterfinals.
In contrast, German teams have excelled. Bayern Munich and Dortmund have reached the semifinals of the Champions League and Bayer Leverkusen is into the last four of the Europa League.
Dortmund, fifth in the Bundesliga, guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League by beating PSG.
Roma are currently fifth in Italy.
The Champions League is expanding from 32 to 36 teams next season to allow for a new league phase that will replace the existing group stage.
Via a seeding system, teams will be drawn to play against eight opponents, home and away in one league format.
The top eight teams will advance to the round of 16. Teams that finish from ninth to 24th will face a two-leg playoff in order to advance.
