IPOH: Kerajaan negeri mengumumkan bonus berjumlah RM150,000 kepada pasukan bola sepak negeri itu kerana berjaya melangkah ke perlawanan akhir Piala FA 2019.
Sambil mengucapkan terima kasih dan rasa bangga terhadap skuad ‘The Bos Gaurus’, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu berkata pihak pengurusan diberikan mandat untuk mengagihkan bonus itu kepada semua yang terlibat.
“Sekiranya skuad ‘The Bos Gaurus’ mampu untuk menjulang Piala FA, InsyaAllah akan ada lagi bonus yang menanti mereka selepas ini,” katanya menerusi kenyataan di Facebook beliau.
Terdahulu, Ahmad Faizal yang juga Presiden Persatuan Bola Sepak Perak (PAFA) menerima kunjungan pemain dan pengurusan ‘The Bos Gaurus’ di kediaman rasmi menteri besar di sini kira-kira pukul 1.15 pagi tadi.
Perak mengesahkan tempat ke final Piala FA 2019 dengan agregat 4-3 ke atas Pahang setelah menundukkan skuad Tok Gajah itu 3-0 pada perlawanan separuh akhir kedua di Stadium Perak, di sini, malam tadi.
Ahmad Faizal dalam pada itu turut menzahirkan rasa gembira melihat suasana di Stadium Perak berubah dengan sorakan padu daripada para penyokong yang disifatkan beliau sebagai ‘pemain ke-12’.
Sementara itu, jurulatih Perak, Mehmed Durakovic dalam ucapan ringkasnya pada pertemuan tersebut menyifatkan prestasi ditunjukkan anak buahnya pada perlawanan malam tadi sebagai sesuatu yang amat menakjubkan.
“Jika tahun lalu kita berjaya menamatkan badi 18 tahun tidak memenangi Piala Malaysia, tahun ini kita mahu tamatkan badi 15 tahun Piala FA pula. Semua yang berada dalam pasukan ini telah melaksanakan tugas dengan cukup fantastik.
“Saya sangat berterima kasih kepada semua. Semua kita adalah keluarga, kita menang bersama, kalah bersama,” katanya.
SALVADOR – Pelatih Tim Nasional (Timnas) Uruguay, Oscar Tabarez, tak bisa menutupi rasa kecewanya usai timnya disingkirkan Peru dari Copa America 2019. Ia mengaku salah memberi penilaian terkait kemampuan Peru.
Pil pahit harus ditelan Uruguay kala bersua Peru di perempatfinal Copa America 2019. Langkah Luis Suarez dan kawan-kawan harus terhenti lantaran kalah di babak adu penalti dengan skor 4-5. Kegagalan Laga yang berlangsung di Arena Fonte Nova, Minggu (30/6/2019) dini hari WIB itu harus dilanjutkan ke babak adu penalti lantaran skor kacamata bertahan hingga akhir babak kedua.
Meski kecewa, Tabarez berusaha menerima kekalahan ini. Tetapi, pelatih berusia 72 tahun itu tak menampik bahwa dirinya memandang remeh Peru sebelum laga digelar. Ia begitu yakin kemenangan bisa diraih Uruguay dengan mudah saat bersua Peru.
Sejatinya, Uruguay sendiri berhasil tampil dengan apik sejak awal laga. Bahkan, bola dapat disarangkan Edinson Cavani ke gawang Pedro David pada menit ke-59. Sayang, gol dianulir wasit karena Cavani terjerembab dalam posisi offside.
Kondisi ini cukup disayangkan oleh Tabarez. Tetapi, ia tak mau menjadikan kondisi tersebut sebagai alasan atas hasil minor yang diterima Uruguay. Tabarez pun memastikan kekalahan ini akan jadi pelajaran berharga untuk timnya agar lebih baik ke depan.
“Hasilnya menyebabkan kami sangat kecewa, tetapi kami harus menerimanya. Kami datang dengan keyakinan dapat meraih kemenangan, kami mengerahkan kemampuan kami dalam permainan tapi tetap tidak bisa. Anda harus tahu bagaimana cara kami kalah. Kami gagal dalam satu aspek, yakni offside. Kami terhalang tujuh kali offside, tiga di antaranya berakhir dengan gol. Tidak ada alasan,” ujar Tabarez, sebagaimana dikutip dari Goal, Minggu (30/6/2019).
“Saya tidak datang ke sini untuk membenarkan apa pun. Kami tidak bisa menang, kami salah menilai lawan. Mereka datang dengan rencana dan tidak mungkin menang. Saya melihatnya dari sudut pandang itu. Tidak ada tim yang selalu menang dan tidak ada tim yang selalu kalah. Kami akan melanjutkan di jalur ini, belajar dari kekalahan ini untuk terus tumbuh,” tukasnya.
England Women head coach Phil Neville wants his side to “develop the serial winner mentality” – and warned going home from the World Cup on the back of a semi-final defeat “would represent failure”.
The Lionesses produced the most impressive display of their campaign in France so far with a 3-0 win over Norway on Thursday to progress to the last four of a major tournament for the third successive time.
Waiting next in Lyon on Tuesday night are defending champions the United States, who ended the hosts’ challenge with a 2-1 win at Parc des Princes as they remain very much focused on what would be a fourth World Cup triumph.
England produced an impressive display to see off Norway in Le Havre (Richard Sellers/PA)
It is such determination to be the best which Neville believes the current England squad must emulate if they are to make the most of their opportunity.
“A semi-final defeat would represent failure. This England team is ready to win now,” Neville said, quoted in several national newspapers.
“I think the FA (Football Association) know I am doing a good job but I said to the players this morning that it would be easy now for them to think ‘whatever happens now, we have got to the semi-final, my reputation is intact, we’ll probably get invited to Downing Street, everybody loves us at home’. I don’t want that.
“We have to develop the serial winner mentality. We have to develop that ruthlessness.
“I don’t want us saying that there is no pressure on us. That’s the safe way to think. We have to be even braver.
“The only way for us to go back home is as winners. If we don’t, we have to keep striving to understand that losing in a semi-final is not OK.”
Neville accepts England will have to raise their performance levels yet again to get past the USA, whose “ruthlessness is their strength”.
He said: “We have got to be 20 per cent braver than we have ever been before to win this game.
“This is the game we wanted. We have always known that when we got to the World Cup, we were going to have to beat the USA if we were going to win the tournament.
“We have reached the moment now where we have to deliver. This is the moment my players have been waiting for.
“We are not going to back away from this challenge. We have planned and prepared for this.
“We are in great shape. I don’t think they will look forward to playing us. If they are looking at teams who can challenge them, we will be number one or two on their list.”
Former Olympic rower Dame Katherine Grainger provided some advice to the England Women squad at the World Cup (Guy Hinks/PA)
Neville had arranged for Dame Katherine Grainger – the most-decorated British female Olympian with five rowing medals, three silvers coming before gold at London 2012 – to record a video for the squad as they prepared for the quarter-final against Norway, for his players to “hear her message – winning hurts”.
He added: “We have to suffer and go beyond our expectations. We have to trust in the pain we have gone through and the sacrifices we have made and go with your heart and your head and accept it is going to hurt.
“What she told them had a more powerful effect than anything I could have said.”
With France losing to the USA, England are among the top three European sides at the World Cup, which will secure a place for Great Britain at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The squad is set to be made up of players from other Home Nations, and Neville is relishing those opportunities ahead.
“I will be the coach that takes the team to the Olympics. I have not thought about it but obviously when the USA won, it confirmed our place in Tokyo and it is exciting,” he said.
“Seven out of the eight teams in the quarter-finals were from Europe and qualifying for the Olympics was one of the targets I had for this year.
“It is going to be very special, but let’s go and win a World Cup first.”
Itu ketegasan yang disuarakan bekas pemain Perlis, Safee Sali, yang mengetuai 14 bekas pemain skuad Singa Utara itu menuntut tunggakan gaji selama tiga bulan meskipun Persatuan Bolasepak Perlis (PFA) telah dibatalkan penyertaan dalam Liga Malaysia (Liga-M).
Perlis memahat sejarah hitam bola sepak negara apabila menjadi pasukan negeri pertama disingkirkan daripada Liga-M, Februari lalu, ekoran kegagalan pucuk pimpinannya menyelesaikan kemelut kewangan pasukan.
Meskipun begitu, Safee dan rakan-rakannya tetap menuntut hak mereka kerana mahukan pengurusan setiap pasukan menghormati kontrak yang sudah ditandatangani bersama pemain.
Safee dan lapan bekas pemain Perlis membuat tuntutan berkenaan melalui Persatuan Pemain Bolasepak Profesional Malaysia (PFAM), kelmarin.
“Jangan memandang ringan kepada pemain dan kontrak yang telah ditandatangani setiap pemain.
“Ini hak kami dan ini kerjaya kami, jadi kalau kita hendak maju ke depan, saya berharap perkara-perkara seperti ini dapat diselesaikan secepat mungkin,” katanya.
Dalam pada itu, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif PFAM, Izham Ismail, mengesahkan 14 bekas pemain Perlis itu sudah membuat tuntutan dan laporan kepada pihaknya, namun bilangan itu dijangka bertambah.
“Kes tunggakan gaji Perlis bukan berlaku pada tahun ini sahaja.
“Ia sudah berlaku sejak 2016.
“Kes ini masih lagi berlarutan dan jumlah tunggakan ini kami jangkakan melebihi RM1 juta.
“Kami berharap FAM dapat membantu pemain untuk mendapatkan hak mereka,” katanya.
MILAN – Presiden AC Milan, Paolo Scaroni, mengaku amat lega setelah Rossoneri –julukan Milan–dihukum asosiasi tertinggi sepakbola Eropa, UEFA. Milan menerima hukuman UEFA akibat melanggar aturan Financial Fair Play (FFP).
Hukuman dari UEFA membuat Milan harus merelakan kesempatan berlaga di Liga Eropa 2019-2020. Posisi Milan akan digantikan oleh Torino yang finis di posisi tujuh Liga Italia musim lalu. Torino akan berlaga di Liga Eropa melalui babak kualifikasi. Sementara itu, AS Roma yang seharusnya melaui babak kualifikasi lebih dulu akan langsung lolos ke Liga Eropa musim depan. Roma mendapatkan hak Milan yang musim lalu finis di atasnya.
Kondisi itu tentu amat menyakitkan untuk Milan yang musim lalu berjuang keras untuk menempati posisi lima besar. Akan tetapi, Scaroni memilih untuk melihat hukuman itu dari sisi yang berbeda. Hukuman yang diterima dari UEFA dianggap Scaroni justru mengurangi beban Milan yang selama beberapa musim terakhir selalu dihantui FFP.
Milan mulai terlilit masalah FFP sejak akhir kepemimpinan Silvio Berlusconi. Kondisi Milan semakin parah saat konsorsium China pimpinan Yonghong Li mengambil alih saham mayoritas Rossoneri pada 2017. Pasalnya, Yonghong Li tidak mampu menyehatkan keuangan Milan tetapi justru menambah utang.
Kondisi Milan menjadi lebih baik saat Elliott Manajemen mengambil kepemilikan Milan dari Yonghong Li. Elliott Manajemen sedikit demi sedikit menyehatkan keuangan Milan tetapi pada akhirnya memilih untuk menerima hukuman UEFA sekarang meski diberikan waktu hingga musim 2020-2021 untuk lepas dari jerat FFP. Hukuman yang diterima saat ini membuat Milan bisa fokus untuk menyehatkan keuangan mereka serta meraih prestasi lebih baik di masa depan tanpa memusingkan masalah FFP lagi.
“Orang tidak boleh berkomentar tentang hukuman itu. Sangat mengecewakan untuk tidak bermain di Eropa, tetapi kami bukan yang bertanggung jawab atas pelanggaran ini. Kami hanya harus mengakhiri saga ini dan melepaskan beban dari punggung kami,” ujar Scaroni, seperti yang dikutip dari Football Italia, Sabtu (29/6/2019).
Manchester United have completed the signing of right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace in a £50million deal, according to reports.
PA understands United will pay £45million up front with £5million in add-ons for the 21-year-old, who will receive a five-year contract at Old Trafford.
He will become the second summer signing made by boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, after Daniel James joined from Swansea.
Daniel James was Manchester United’s first summer signing on June 12 (Simon Galloway/PA)
Apparent leaked pictures and video of Wan-Bissaka wearing next season’s United shirt began to appear on social media on Friday, seeming to indicate that the player had passed his medical and agreed terms.
PA has contacted United for comment.
Wan-Bissaka was part of the England squad that exited the Under-21 European Championship in the group stage last week.
The right-back endured a difficult time in Italy, where Aidy Boothroyd overlooked him for the Young Lions’ last two group matches after his late own goal in the opener against France led to a 2-1 loss.
The under-21s boss believes Wan-Bissaka’s error in that match may have been down to the ongoing speculation about his club future.
Aaron Wan Bissaka appears dejected after his injury-time own goal saw England Under-21s lose to France (Nick Potts/PA)
“For a young player who all he knows is Crystal Palace academy and Crystal Palace it would be daft not to say that in some way he must think about it,” Boothroyd said.
“I would not be truthful if I told you anything other than that. What I will say is because he doesn’t say too much you don’t get to find out too much. Aaron keeps things to himself.
“He is a very private guy. When that speculation is flying around it is bound to turn your head. But having said all of that had he not scored the own goal we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Aaron Wan-Bissaka caught the eye during his breakthrough campaign at Crystal Palace (Martin Rickett/PA)
Wan-Bissaka is yet to make his senior international debut and only made his first appearance for Palace 16 months ago.
Wan-Bissaka has made 46 appearances in all competitions for Palace where he won the club’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season awards.
Romelu Lukaku joined Manchester United in the summer of 2017, moving from Everton for a fee reported to be around £75 million.
Lukaku was a rather prolific goalscorer for the Toffees. In his final season on Merseyside, the Belgian netted a staggering 25 goals and assisted six in 36 league outings.
However, since his big-money move to Old Trafford, Lukaku has struggled to regain that exceptional form.
The 26-year-old’s debut season in Manchester saw him score 16 and assist seven in 34 league appearances.
Considering United are generally seen as a better side than Everton, you would have expected Lukaku’s goal count to rise in the league, not decline.
Lukaku had similar struggles throughout this past season.
In 42 games across all competitions, the Anderlecht youth product scored just 15 and assisted four.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 10: Bernd Leno of Arsenal reaches for the ball as Romelu Lukaku of Manchester United shoots during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Manchester United at Emirates Stadium on March 10, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Lukaku to Inter Milan?
After two seasons with the Red Devils, though, Lukaku could well be on his way to Italy.
Back in April of this year, Lukaku expressed a desire to play in Serie A.
Although, at the time, Lukaku did state that he was focused on United:
“Playing in Serie A is a dream, it would be really a dream.
“I hope to be able to play sooner or later, even if at the moment I am focused on the United.” As quoted by Sky Sports News.
However, since that interview, Lukaku has been pretty heavily linked with a move to Inter Milan.
Then, earlier this week, Lukaku’s agent would confirm that Inter are indeed trying to sign his client:
“Lukaku is a dream and is not easy to realize it… but yes, Inter are trying to get him. Romelu has expressed his wishes (to leave Man United)”
While Inter may struggle to afford the Belgian, who United reportedly want £75 million for, there is still a chance that Lukaku could depart United this summer.
That would leave just Marcus Rashford as a senior out and out striker at Man United.
So, United will probably need to purchase a replacement centre-forward,. As such, here are three potential options.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 30: Romelu Lukaku of Manchester United celebrates after scoring his team’s fourth goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and AFC Bournemouth at Old Trafford on December 30, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Ben Yedder
The first player Man United could bring in this summer is Sevilla forward, Wissam Ben Yedder.
Ben Yedder has already been tipped as a replacement for Lukaku in recent days.
The Manchester Evening News, citing France Football, claimed that Ben Yedder has a €40 million release clause, and that United would be willing to match it, should Lukaku leave.
€40 million does seem like somewhat of a bargain in today’s market, given the season that Ben Yedder has just had.
In the 28-year-old’s 2018/19 campaign, he would play 54 games across all competitions for Sevilla. In those 54 games, Ben Yedder scored an impressive 30 goals, also chipping in with 11 assists.
Moreover, as Sevilla finished 6th in La Liga last season, they do not have the lure of Champions League football, which is good for United, who will also be playing in the Europa League in the forthcoming campaign.
SEVILLE, SPAIN – MAY 18: Wissam Ben Yedder of Sevilla FC reacts during the La Liga match between Sevilla FC and Athletic Club at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on May 18, 2019 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde Colomer/Getty Images)
Sebastien Haller
The next player that Man United could target is Eintracht Frankfurt forward, Sebastien Haller.
At 6ft 2, Haller is a much more like for like signing to replace Lukaku, unlike Ben Yedder, who is just 5ft 7.
Haller has spent two years in Germany honing his craft, after completing his move from Dutch side, FC Utrecht.
The 25-year-old had a decent debut campaign for Frankfurt that saw him net 13 and assist seven in 36 ties.
Haller then improved his goalscoring form in the 2018/19 season. He would score 20 and assist 12 in 41 outings across all competitions.
Haller’s Bundesliga record was particularly impressive, with the forward having bagged 15 goals and nine assists in 29 fixtures.
However, with Frankfurt already losing one of their top strikers, Luka Jovic, to Real Madrid this summer, they may be opposed to letting go of another key forward.
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY – MAY 12: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been digitally enhanced.) Sebastien Haller of Frankfurt looks on during the Bundesliga match between Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FSV Mainz 05 at Commerzbank-Arena on May 12, 2019 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Simon Hofmann/Bundesliga/DFL via Getty Images)
Mauro Icardi
The final player that Manchester United could target to replace Romelu Lukaku is Mauro Icardi.
Should Lukaku move to Inter, the club may be keen to cash in on Icardi.
It has also been reported by reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano that Edin Dzeko is close to signing for Inter.
Should Antonio Conte’s side land both Lukaku and Dzeko, they would have four first-team strikers, including Icardi and Lautaro Martinez.
So, Man United may well be able to work Icardi into any potential deal for Lukaku.
Reports have already emerged that Inter Milan would be willing to offer Icardi plus cash for the Belgian.
Icardi made 36 appearances last season for Inter, scoring 17 and assisting 5 in that time.
