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Switzerland Goalkeeper Yann Sommer Retires From International Football

admin — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 13:48:32 +0000

File image of Yann Sommer.© X (Twitter)

Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer announced his retirement from international football on Monday after a 12-year career in which he made 94 appearances for the national side. The 35-year-old played all five of Switzerland’s matches at Euro 2024. His last international game was the quarter-final defeat by England on penalties. “My time with the national team has meant a lot to me,” Inter Milan’s Sommer said in a statement released by the Swiss football association.

“I look back with pride on the many unforgettable moments, the exciting matches, the victories celebrated together and the challenges we have overcome together.”

Sommer has been a key figure for the Swiss since taking over from Diego Benaglio as their number one a decade ago.

Switzerland have made the knockout phase at the last six major tournaments.

Sommer made the deciding penalty save from France’s Kylian Mbappe in the Euro 2020 last 16 which sent his team into their first major quarter-final since 1954.

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Inter Milan Held By Lazio At Title Party As Debt Deadline Looms, Sassuolo Down

admin — Sun, 19 May 2024 18:24:22 +0000

Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw by Lazio at Sunday’s Serie A title party at the San Siro as the champions get set to lift the trophy with a major debt deadline leaving their future uncertain. Denzel Dumfries secured a meaningless point for Inter with three minutes remaining by levelling Daichi Kamada’s 32nd-minute opener for Lazio, who stay seventh but are level on 60 points with local rivals Roma who face Genoa in the day’s late match. Simone Inzaghi’s team will care little about the result as the Scudetto was sealed weeks ago, but the trophy ceremony will take place against an uneasy backdrop as the club could be repossessed within a matter of days.

What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration has been overshadowed by the Tuesday deadline for the repayment of around 395 million euros ($429 million) to US fund Oaktree.

A source told AFP on Saturday that it was “unlikely” that Inter’s Chinese owners Suning would be able to fulfil its obligation to Oaktree.

That means Oaktree could take control of the club in a similar manner to how AC Milan were acquired by another US fund, Elliott Management, six years ago.

Inter’s sporting CEO Giuseppe Marotta put a brave face on the situation when speaking to broadcaster DAZN pre-match, saying that the club were in a “solid” position.

But a banner in the stands read “Thanks Steven”, for president Steven Zhang, suggesting that fans have little faith in Suning staying on as owners.

Inter have won seven trophies, including two Serie A titles, and reached two European finals since Suning acquired the club in 2016.

Earlier, Sassuolo’s 11-year stay in Serie A came to an end in dramatic fashion after they lost 2-0 to Cagliari and Udinese snatched a 1-1 draw with Empoli in the 14th minute of stoppage time.

Matteo Prati and Gianluca Lapadula ensured Cagliari of a place in Italy’s top flight with goals in the 71st and 91st minutes in Reggio Emilia.

Sassuolo thought they still had a chance of fighting for survival on the final day of the season after M’Baye Niang‘s penalty gave Empoli a 90th-minute lead at Udinese.

But eight minutes later Jacopo Fazzi pulled back Roberto Pereyra just as the Argentine looked set to level for Udinese from close range.

And after a long VAR check, Lazar Samardzic thumped home the equaliser from the spot with the last kick of the game.

That draw and Frosinone winning 1-0 at Monza left second-from-bottom Sassuolo five points from Udinese, who sit one point above Empoli and the relegation zone, with one match remaining.

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Red-Hot Lautaro Martinez Helps Move Inter Milan Top As Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Revives Napoli

admin — Sun, 22 Oct 2023 05:59:40 +0000

Lautaro Martinez continued his red-hot scoring form in Inter Milan’s 3-0 cruise at Torino on Saturday which moved his team top of Serie A while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s brace at Verona put Napoli’s title defence back on track. Argentina striker Martinez nodded home his 11th league goal of the season in the 67th minute of a straightforward win in Turin as Inter went one point ahead of AC Milan, who host third-placed Juventus on Sunday night. The 26-year-old is already five goals ahead of Victor Osimhen, his nearest rival at the top of the scoring charts, after just nine matches and at his current rate would smash the record single-season haul of 36 set by Gonzalo Higuain in 2016.

Since the departure of Edin Dzeko and Romelu Lukaku in the summer Martinez has become the attacking focal point for Inter who are also the highest scorers in Italy’s top flight with 24 goals.

“Lauti only got back from South America a day and a half ago, but he is in great shape and he gets all the support he could need from the team,” said coach Simone Inzaghi to DAZN.

Strike partner Marcus Thuram opened the scoring eight minutes before Martinez’s strike when he swept home Denzel Dumfries low pass to take his league tally to three, while Hakan Calhanoglu completed the scoring from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

France forward Thuram has had a brilliant start in Italy, where he was born while his World Cup-winning father Lilian played for a star-studded Parma team which won the UEFA Cup in 1999, with five assists also to his name.

Asked how he has settled in at Inter, a delighted Thuram said “very well”.

“This is a great team, and I’m really happy to be able to contribute,” he said to DAZN.

Inzaghi will likely play both Martinez and Thuram on Tuesday when Inter host Salzburg in the first of two Champions League Group D matches against the Austrians.

Inter will almost certainly come up against fiercer resistance at the San Siro than they did from Torino who have now gone four matches without scoring a goal.

Ivan Juric’s injury-hit team were without starting centre-forward Duvan Zapata and are set to lose defender Perr Schuurs for a long time after he was stretchered off with a knee injury following a clash with Nicolo Barella.

Torino look destined for another underwhelming season as they sit 14th on nine points, one point and place behind Sassuolo who were beaten 2-0 by Lazio in the day’s late match.

Kvaratskhelia strikes

Wing wizard Kvaratskhelia netted in each half after Matteo Politano’s 27th-minute opener in a 3-1 win at Verona as Napoli made light of the absence of injured star striker Osimhen.

Rudi Garcia’s side are fifth, five points behind Inter, after a difficult start to the season but are level with Fiorentina and Juve after a commanding display at the Stadio Bentegodi.

Frenchman Garcia, who replaced Italy coach Luciano Spalletti in the summer, has been under fire but was backed publicly by owner Aurelio De Laurentiis on Thursday, and was encouraged by the chances created without Osimhen.

“We did what we needed to do today… It’s better not to have people out but I wasn’t worried,” said Garcia.

“We’ve still got great quality going forward, we scored three times and could have easily got more.”

Kvaratskhelia has struggled to recapture the form which made him one of the shining lights of last season’s title triumph but on Saturday he showed signs he might be getting back to his brilliant best.

He doubled Napoli’s lead two minutes before the break after slamming in a low finish at Lorenzo Montipo’s near post.

And the 22-year-old netted the third nine minutes after the break when he easily skipped past Giangiacomo Magnani and rolled home his third league goal of the campaign.

Marco Baroni’s Verona pulled one back through Dark Lazovic but stay 16th, four points above the relegation zone after their fifth defeat.

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Manchester United, Arsenal Rocked In Champions League As Inter Milan Edge Benfica

admin — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 03:49:26 +0000

Manchester United crashed to a second successive Champions League defeat on Tuesday, losing 3-2 at home to Galatasaray, while Lens stunned Arsenal 2-1. Mauro Icardi made amends for a missed penalty by scoring the winner for Galatasaray as the Turkish club twice came from behind at Old Trafford to pile more misery onto a deeply troubled United side. United have lost their first two games of a Champions League group for the first time, leaving Erik ten Hag’s men in danger of an early exit.

“The mental errors we make, you cannot allow them at this level. You get punished. This is difficult to control,” Ten Hag told TNT Sports.

“We are all in this together. We were twice up and in control of the game. We expect more together.”

Rasmus Hojlund was one of the rare bright spots for United, scoring two well-taken goals, but Galatasaray responded both times as Wilfried Zaha netted against his old side before Kerem Akturkoglu struck.

Icardi dragged a penalty wide after Casemiro was sent off for a desperate lunge following a dreadful ball out from goalkeeper Andre Onana, but the Argentine had the last laugh when he chipped home on 81 minutes.

United are bottom of Group A, six points adrift of Bayern Munich who came from behind to beat FC Copenhagen 2-1 in Denmark.

Lukas Lerager fired the Danes ahead early in the second half, but Jamal Musiala bagged a superb individual goal to haul Bayern level before teenage substitute Mathys Tel lashed in a fine strike late on.

Arsenal lose Saka

Arsenal slumped to a first defeat of the season as Lens hit back to win 2-1 in northern France.

Gabriel Jesus gave Mikel Arteta‘s side an ideal start when he opened the scoring in the 14th minute to silence a raucous Stade Bollaert.

Adrien Thomasson soon brought last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up level and the visitors saw Bukayo Saka limp off before half-time.

Wahi, the 20-year-old striker who became Lens’ club-record signing when he joined at the start of the campaign, then fired home in the 69th minute and his side held on for a famous victory.

“It was a big night for us. We weren’t able to take the result we wanted but we were able to learn,” said Arteta.

Lens climbed to the top of Group B on four points, one above Arsenal.

PSV Eindhoven snatched a 2-2 draw at home against Sevilla in the other game in the group courtesy of Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time equaliser after a late flurry of goals in the Netherlands.

Braga ruined Union Berlin’s home debut in the competition as Andre Castro struck a stoppage-time winner in a 3-2 victory.

Union were two goals ahead after Sheraldo Becker’s brace but Sikou Niakate pulled one back before Bruma curled in a brilliant equaliser from 25 metres.

Castro broke Union hearts with a low strike from outside the area to give Braga their first points in their first Champions League appearance since 2012.

Marcus Thuram struck the only goal as Inter Milan won 1-0 at home to Benfica in Group D. Inter are level on four points with Real Sociedad, who beat Salzburg 2-0 earlier in the day in Austria.

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Lionel Messi-less Inter Miami Crushed 5-2 By Atlanta United

admin — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 03:02:54 +0000

Inter Miami rested Lionel Messi and suffered their first defeat since the Argentine joined the club, with a 5-2 hammering at Atlanta United damaging their playoff hopes on Saturday. Messi had not made the trip to Atlanta, after a busy run of games since making his Miami debut in late July. Miami coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino said after the loss that Messi had been suffering from “muscle fatigue” and that it would have been “very reckless to bring him to play this game”. The 36-year-old sat out Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Bolivia in La Paz on Tuesday but watched his team-mates from the bench.

With no Messi last week, Miami defeated Sporting Kansas City 3-2 but this time it was a very different story for Martino’s team.

Miami went ahead in the 25th minute with a superbly taken goal from in-form striker Ecuadorean striker Leonardo Campana .

But the response from Atlanta, sixth in the Eastern Conference, was emphatic with three goals in the space of eight minutes.

A glancing header from French midfielder Tristan Muyamba, which struck the inside of the post, was ruled to have crossed the line by the assistant referee.

Five minutes later, Atlanta had the lead when Brazilian winger Xande Silva dribbled to the byline and his pull-back was turned into his own net by Miami defender Kamal Miller.

Miami’s defence, without former Spain international left-back Jordi Alba, were reeling and Brooks Lennon addied the third in the 44th minute with a sweetly struck shot.

Miami got back in the game in the 54th minute through a Campana penalty but while they have made a habit of comebacks with Messi, there was no such revival this time.

As they pushed forward in search of an equalizer, Atlanta caught them on the counter with Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis slotting home his 14th goal of the season, bringing him level with Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar joint top scorer in MLS.

Another well-worked break resulted in the fifth in the 89th minute with Lobjanidze again the creator, setting up Tyler Wolff to blast home.

Miami remain next to bottom of the Eastern Conference, six points behind D.C United who occupy ninth place, the last playoff spot.

Martino defended the decision to leave Messi and Alba – who he said also had muscle fatigue – at home ahead of a busy run of games with league matches on Wednesday and Sunday before the US Open Cup final on September 27.

“We risked worse consequences if they came to play this game. It has nothing to do with the (artificial) surface,” said the coach.

Comebacks

Eastern Conference leaders Cincinnati, already assured of a post-season berth, battled back for a 2-2 draw at last year’s MLS Cup runners-up the Philadelphia Union.

A Jose Martinez goal and a penalty from Daniel Gazdag had put Philadelphia in command but the impressive Aaron Boupendza pulled a goal back for Cincinnati, in the fourth minute of the second half.

The visitors grabbed a point when Boupendza found Brandon Vazquez with a magnificent low ball and the USA striker found the net.

In-form Orlando City produced an even more impressive comeback at home to Columbus, winning 4-3 after trailing 3-1.

Ramiro Enrique levelled in the 86th minute with an opportunist strike and then won the game in the seventh minute of stoppage time, taking advantage of chaos in the Crew defence.

Earlier the ‘Hudson River derby’ between New York City and New York Red Bulls ended goalless.

Later on Saturday, Los Angeles FC host cross-city rivals L.A. Galaxy in their derby.

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Inter Milan Dish Out Derby Destruction To Claim Serie A Summit

admin — Sat, 16 Sep 2023 18:37:47 +0000

Inter Milan laid down an early title marker on Saturday by handing out a 5-1 derby hammering to AC Milan and going it alone at the Serie A summit. Four wins from their opening four matches have Inter leading the pack with a perfect 12 points, two ahead of their other fierce rivals Juventus who earlier beat Lazio 3-1. Milan are third, a further point back after being taught a humiliating lesson by their local rivals. Spurred on by the majority of a heaving and raucous San Siro crowd, Inter claimed their fifth straight derby win in all competitions thanks to a Henrikh Mkhitaryan brace, Marcus Thuram’s rocket and two late strikes from Hakan Calhanoglu and Davide Frattesi.

Simone Inzaghi’s side claimed the points with a display which showed why they got past Milan to reach last season’s Champions League final and confirmed their status as early title favourites.

Thuram also continued his fast start in an Inter shirt, the new man also crucial to Mkhitaryan’s fifth-minute opener.

France forward Thuram bundled past Malick Thiaw before finding Federico Dimarco whose mishit shot was guided home by the former Armenia midfielder, who almost headed in a second six minutes later.

And Thuram then underlined Inter’s superiority seven minutes before the break after a lightning breakaway started by Lautaro Martinez, collecting from Denzel Dumfries before cutting inside the hapless Thiaw and crashing in an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area.

The match looked dead and buried with 45 minutes to play but Rafael Leao halved the deficit in the 57th minute when he rolled in his second of the season after being brilliantly put through by Olivier Giroud.

Milan’s loud “away” support urged their team on, but Mkhitaryan silenced them with his deflected second of the evening after being fed by Martinez.

Former Milan man Calhanoglu’s 79th-minute penalty and a neat stoppage-time finish from Frattesi rubbed salt into the wounds.

Vlahovic at the double

Goals in each half from Vlahovic and another in the 26th minute from strike partner Federico Chiesa at the Allianz Stadium briefly pushed Juve top of the pile before Inter’s derby delight.

Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve were going to concede top spot whatever the result at the San Siro but the coach will be encouraged by what he saw in front of an enthusiastic home crowd in Turin.

Allegri has paired Vlahovic and Italy star Chiesa up front this season and the attacking duo have hit it off, combining for seven goals in unbeaten Juve’s opening four matches.

Vlahovic has scored four times after a tumultuous summer dominated by rumours that he might be sold and replaced by Romelu Lukaku, now on loan from Chelsea at Roma.

Chiesa, who missed Italy’s two recent Euro 2024 qualifiers with a muscle problem, has started the domestic season in great form after struggling with injuries in recent years.

“We’re really good friends, we’ve known each other a long time,” said Vlahovic of Chiesa, with whom he also played at Fiorentina.

“We’re really happy to have him fit and healthy.”

Lazio, who scored through a beautiful 64th-minute Luis Alberto curler, just before Vlahovic netted his second, are 15th following their third defeat of the season.

Juve’s win was a positive end to a difficult week in which star midfielder Paul Pogba was suspended for a doping violation and Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci announced legal action for what he called “humiliating” treatment by his former club.

Champions Napoli are at Genoa in Saturday’s late match, trying to get back on track after falling to home defeat at the hands of Lazio last time out.

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