u/Sparky-moon

Only Wolves (19) and Burnley (16) have had longer runs without a win in the Premier League this season.

Source 2

In 2019, Abdullah Ibhais resigned as communications director for the World Cup organizing committee. He was arrested by Qatari authorities and taken to prison. “If you don’t obey their orders, you become a threat,” he admits in this interview.

Leo Messi raises the World Cup trophy to the sky alongside the Emir of Qatar and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “It was, without a doubt, my hardest moment in prison,” recalls Abdullah Ibhais (Amman, Jordan; 40 years old), who was the communications director for the tournament’s organizing committee, in an interview with EL PAÍS four years later. “When Messi lifted that trophy, I realized that Qatar had won. They wanted a perfect tournament, and they had it, they’d pulled it off. My story, on the other hand, was buried. And what’s worse, nobody cared.”

They denounced unpaid wages and subhuman working conditions. News of the strike quickly reached the international press and rattled the organizing committee, which ordered Ibhais to deny the workers’ claims. “They wanted to make it seem like everything was false, that they weren’t even workers for the organizing committee, and that it was all an attempt by other countries to tarnish Qatar’s image,” he explains. “I didn’t want to do anything without first verifying the facts with my own eyes. I had the day off, so I got in my car and to the site of the strike.”

What he found was, essentially, what was already circulating on social media around the world. “It wasn’t just a matter of unpaid wages; I saw hundreds of empty plastic bottles there, waiting to be filled with drinking water. They had nothing,” he recalls. “I recorded my conversation with several of them, and they proved to me that they were, in fact, workers from the organizing committee. And they weren’t just being silenced. They had also received threats for calling the strike, something that isn’t recognized as a right in Qatar.”

“There was no way, at that point, that I could issue that statement. They wanted me to make something real disappear. Something I had seen with my own eyes. They wanted, in short, to lie. And I found that intolerable,” he says. “When I refused to do it, I told my superiors that we would first have to resolve the workers’ situation. And of course, they didn’t like that at all. They pressured me in every possible way. Over and over again. Until I decided to resign. I didn’t want to be part of something like that. And I left. My boss told me there would be consequences and that I should be prepared. That’s when I realized that the moment you stop following their orders, you become a threat.”

He added: "I remember in the last six months I was just not playing like before at Manchester United. I started to be on the bench, it's not a bad thing.

"I was only 20 years old, but in my mind it was like I had to play every game. In my mind, maybe it is also on me, I started to do some bad things.

"But yes, it was just this moment in life and sometimes you have to make decisions and I am really proud to be here [at Chelsea] and still in the Premier League at a club like this. Everyone knows the team we have and the things we can do.

"Sometimes, we have better moments or worse moments, I am proud to be here but with United, I have nothing wrong to say about the club, no one in the club or the team-mates. It's just a moment in life that changes and life continues. I have no regrets."

"From the fans, the stadium, everything was really good. It's just sometimes you have to change for the good of your life or the next steps. I only have good memories of Man Utd."

"I love playing football, but not watching it! Honestly, even my own matches, it's rare... It's too long. 𝗜 prefer to spend time with family. I don't say it too much, but as soon as I can, I play padel and, also, always a bit of video games."

"For example, Tuesday night, I watched my first full football match of the year, Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich. Oh wait! I did watch the Paris FC ones when I wasn't playing this winter, and sometimes a few Brest matches."

"I know it might surprise people. Sometimes the coach asks questions about this or that match and I'm completely unable to answer him."

It is not the first time Eta and Union have made history. In January 2024, while serving as an assistant coach to Nenad Bjelica, she became the first woman to take charge of a men’s team in the Bundesliga, when she deputised for him during a three-game suspension.

Eta has been coaching since her playing career ended prematurely, aged 26. Previously the captain of Werder Bremen’s Frauen Bundesliga side, she was appointed coach of their U15 boys’ team following her retirement in 2018.

She also served as an assistant coach for the German Women’s national team, before joining Union in 2023, where she became assistant coach of the club’s U19 men’s side with Marco Grote.

After first-team coach Urs Fischer was dismissed in November 2023, Grote was placed in interim charge for three games, with Eta as his assistant, prior to Bjelica’s appointment.

He thinks of his parents, José and Virginia, a humble upbringing in Maia, a small industrial city near Porto. “What I’ve been taught by my mum and dad, the way they always tried to help everyone — it’s the main thing I want my kids to understand: if you are kind to someone, someone will be kind to you,” Fernandes says.

“We’re in a moment in the world where being kind is a little difficult. When you see someone trying to be kind, it’s sometimes to get some ‘likes’, some views and stuff. It’s not very genuine. [But] in Portugal, you still see a lot of young kids helping old people. Portuguese don’t allow the kids to become too big. You need to understand you need to earn the respect of people to then be respected.”

As usual, De Laurentiis criticized the current football system, starting with UEFA and FIFA. “They make too much money, when the profits should go to the clubs, not the federations. They claim to distribute the wealth, but that’s not the case. They’re lying; they’re not telling the truth,” the president accused. From the economic aspect, the discussion shifted to the sporting side, regarding the management of players by national teams. "The number of matches during the season must be reduced so that the national team can train for two months. I’ve been pushing for years to return to 16 teams. I’d like to know why there’s no insurance if a player gets injured while playing for the national team. Why don’t UEFA and FIFA include it? If a player is out for a month, they should give you a certain amount of money, and so on if the absence is prolonged. If he can’t play for a year, they should give you the money to buy a player of the same level.” But that’s not the only sticking point for De Laurentiis. “If they want our players, they have to pay for them. If a player’s annual salary is 10 million, and they have the player for a month, they have to give me a million. Why should I give them away for free? They’re my property, not theirs. It’s too easy for them to take 15 players and not pay them, or they receive money under the table from agents to call them up to the national team. It’s unprofessional, but it’s happening in Italy.”

He then admitted that he had wanted to join PSG to play alongside his national teammates: “I wanted to go there; Neymar and I used to talk about it during the Seleçao’s training camps. It didn’t work out, unfortunately, it’s a shame. It would have been incredible to play in Paris with him and the other Brazilians.”

“I got Neymar’s face tattooed on my back. I also have Ronaldo and Pelé’s autograph. I love Neymar with all my heart. One day, Pelé told me that I had made Brazil smile. Coming from the King, it was magical. I got that phrase tattooed on my back, along with his dedication,” the 28-year-old player enthused.

He has also now scored home and away against Arsenal in the Premier League this season, only Michael Owen in 1997/98 (3) has scored more goals against a side starting the day top as a teenager.

“Regarding the transfer market, I left the club free to choose players I didn’t know. Of the ones I specifically requested, only one arrived in the summer,” Gasp said.

“Then I asked to focus on the forwards, since we had lost Shomurodov and Saelemaekers. Strengthening the attack was the key point. I kept insisting that we needed to raise the level in that area of the pitch. Unfortunately, it didn’t go that way, which was part of the reason for some of the problems.

“But I never had any issue with Ranieri. It felt like we shared the same view on that aspect.”

The player was Wesley.

“We’ve been kicked in the b------s too much and let down here in the last few years,” Moyes says. “I told the lads at the start of this season that when I went to West Ham and avoided relegation, I looked at the players and saw no reason why they could not qualify for Europe. I told our lads they could do the same this season.

“You could say that was just a bit of motivation to try to generate the fight we needed. I was challenging the players, saying: ‘Can we really do this?’

“We have seven games left – tough games – but we’ve given ourselves a chance. If we don’t do it, we’ll all be disappointed, although I know I will be able to say this season has not been bad, given where we have come from and what was expected coming into this one.

“Now we’ve come this far, we look at it and think we could have spent £200m last summer and not been in such a strong position. You want to take the chance when you get it. I want some of the players to think they may never get a better chance to play for Everton in Europe.”

“For once, please skip the beer and sausages at the stadium,” urges the “FPMG Supporters Club e.V.” (formerly Fanprojekt), the only umbrella organization and advocacy group for all fans recognized by Borussia, with 6,500 members, in a statement ahead of Saturday’s match (3:30 p.m.) in Leipzig.

The reasoning: “While purchasing a ticket is essential to enable the protest against RB and to support our club, fans should refrain from buying food and drinks at the stadium. Every additional euro that goes directly or indirectly to RB is counterproductive and, in this specific case, avoidable.”

Gladbach Ultras to Hold Further Protests

The 4,700 visiting fans are instead encouraged to use the countless alternatives available in the city for getting to and from the stadium.

In addition to calling for a hunger strike at the Red Bull Arena, the Borussia ultras have also announced the usual protest measures from the previous nine away games against Leipzig. “The 19-minute silence, accompanied by loud booing while the opponent has possession of the ball, has now become established and is a fundamental part of our protest,” the statement reads. In addition, fans are once again asked to refrain from hanging up fan club and group flags.

It remains to be seen whether the hatred and lack of support for RB Leipzig in the stands will truly inspire the Gladbach players, who are fighting relegation, on the field. Borussia’s record against this unloved opponent has been poor so far. In nine away games, they have yet to secure a win and have managed only four draws.

Neymar said: "In my life, I've always taken the fifth penalty. The fifth is the hardest, but it might not come."

Neymar had dreamed of winning his first major title with Brazil but went home empty handed from his third World Cup.

"I thought I was going to die," Neymar said. "We went to the hotel after the match; it felt like the world had ended and you were gradually reuniting with your family... Everyone walked past you looking a bit serious, pulling a face, like 'what a load of s***.'

"I saw what my funeral would be like. I swear to God. I was in a small room, sitting there, and they were arriving. My family arrived, and more people kept coming. Everyone had red eyes, not saying a word...It felt like I was inside a coffin and everyone was saying, 'Wow, you're still alive, eh?' That's the feeling I had."