Month: October 2019

The Spain international was expected by many to be a regular starter under the new Real Madrid boss but insists he is happy to play where he is told

Isco insists he has no problem with Julen Lopetegui’s rotation policy at Real Madrid, pointing out it was the media and not himself who were convinced he would be an automatic starter.

Madrid dropped points for the first time this season in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao, as Isco came off the bench to rescue them after the break.

It was the second LaLiga game in a row that the Spain international has been left out of the starting XI, after also appearing as a substitute against Leganes before the international break.

Such a situation has come as a surprise to some in Spain, with many expecting that the forward would form a crucial part of Lopetegui’s plans after the pair worked together to great success with the national side in the past.

But Isco is adamant rotation is not an issue, instead placing it at the feet of the press who thought he would figure as a regular.

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“It’s not just me in the team,” said the 26-year-old. “There are other team-mates who may be better than me and that’s why the coach chooses his starting line-up.

“All that stuff about how it was going to be Isco and 10 more under Lopetegui, that’s what you [reporters] were saying.”

Isco started both of Spain’s Nations League games during the international break, featuring prominently up front during the 2-1 comeback win over England and scoring the last goal in their 6-0 drubbing of World Cup finalists Croatia.

Despite this however, the striker insisted that he remains happy to play whatever role Lopetegui asks of him for the team, even if that necessitates remaining on the bench.

“It’s a long season and we’ll need to be prepared. As the coach says, the important thing is that everyone is ready and ready to meet the objectives.”

With Barcelona having overturned a deficit to win on Saturday, Madrid are two points behind their rivals at the summit of La Liga after four games.

They will next face Espanyol in the league on September 22 – but before then, they start their Champions League title defence against last season’s semi-finalists Roma on September 19.

Neymar, Mbappe and co are heading to Anfield – and the former Reds boss can’t wait to see how they handle the atmosphere

Gerard Houllier sees the question coming a mile off.

As a man who has won trophies with both Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, he is in a unique position to analyse tonight’s Champions League mega clash at Anfield.

But where will his allegiances lie, Goal wonders?

“My heart is Liverpudlian, always,” he smiles. “Does that answer your question?!”

It sure does. Houllier may have led PSG to their first ever French title back in 1986, but Liverpool are the club he is most closely associated with. Now 71, he remains the Reds’ most successful manager, in terms of trophies won, of the Premier League era.

How Jurgen Klopp would love some of that success. Houllier’s side landed six trophies between 2001 and 2003, including a first European triumph in 17 years. The Frenchman, the club’s first ever foreign manager, put them back among the continent’s elite.

Klopp is doing something similar, though the German is still yet to tick that all-important box; silverware. Three major finals have ended in defeat, even if Liverpool’s progress during the past three years is unquestionable. They look, at present, like a side capable of challenging.

Houllier, who keeps a close eye on his former club, believes it is only a matter of time before that progress is rewarded.

“It will come in due time, I am sure,” he says. “And once it comes, it will be a relief for the whole club, giving them the confidence to go on and win more.

“We had it when we won the League Cup in 2001. We had not won a trophy for six years I think, but after that we knew we could do it, we believed we could. It takes a bit of pressure off your shoulders and gives you confidence to go and fight for the other cups.”

Liverpool’s start to the season has been impressive, with five straight wins chalked up. Not since 1990, when they were champions, have they began with such a record.

“They have bought good players,” Houllier points out. “They have gone and fixed their problems.

“They needed a goalkeeper and they bought one, they needed a centre-back and they bought one. They wanted more strength and skill in midfield and they bought Keita and Fabinho.

“The team is improving gradually. I read in the paper that even Gary Neville has admitted they have a good chance of winning trophies, so they must be doing something right!”

Houllier, like many others, was enthralled by the manner in which Klopp’s side handled their return to the Champions League last season, watching in wonder as Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and co. laid waste to some of Europe’s top sides.

Another, in PSG, visit Anfield this evening. It is a mouth-watering prospect.

“It could be like a Champions League final really!” he says. “What is fascinating will be the amount of attacking quality on show, from both teams.

“PSG have Di Maria, Cavani and Mbappe, not to mention Neymar, while Liverpool have Salah, Firmino and Mane. It’s an incredible group of players, and there is so much pace on display with the likes of Mbappe and Mane in particular. Both teams have the talent to make it a wonderful game of football.”

Houllier admits he is surprised, and perhaps a touch disappointed, that PSG, for all their investment and their star quality, have not managed to make their mark on the Champions League. They have not reached a semi-final since 1995, exiting at the last-16 stage in the past two seasons.

“They have had a good enough team to have won a Champions League,” he says. “But they have missed their top players in the top games. They have tremendous assets, but when it has mattered they have not been able to deliver.”

Why is that, then? A lack of toughness? A bit of misfortune? Or a result of playing in a domestic league which offers little by way of a genuine challenge, week in week out?

“That may play a part, yes,” Houllier says. “I am in a good position to tell you that the Premier League is tough, probably the toughest league around. Ligue 1 is not the same.

“It’s mainly the intensity of the games. When you go abroad you really see the difference. You can’t relax in the Premier League.”

Nor at Anfield, of course. PSG have not visited Merseyside since 1997, when they almost squandered a three-goal first leg lead in a European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final. With the likes of Neymar and Mbappe, the world’s newest superstar, on display, we can expect a fervent atmosphere from an expectant home crowd.

“It plays a huge part,” says Houllier. “The support will be massive and very, very vocal, and it definitely gives an advantage to Liverpool.

“Jurgen Klopp knows the power of a good home support, because he had that at Dortmund as well. We have seen that when Anfield is loud, Liverpool get a lift. I think it will be the same on Tuesday.”

Houllier will not be there himself – “I wish I was!” he tells Goal – but knows all about Anfield on a European night. He cites Barcelona, in the UEFA Cup semi-final of 2001, as his favourite such memory, though others would mention Roma in the following season’s Champions League, when he made a surprise return to the dugout following a serious heart problem.

“It is always special for me to go back,” he says. “The city has changed a lot since I was here, but the people have not. They are so warm and welcoming, so nice. I love going there.

“It is great to see the club progressing, at all levels. They have improved the way the club is run, and that is now starting to show on the field.”

So, a final question then. Contenders this season?

“I think it will be the usual suspects,” Houllier adds. “Barcelona, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Juventus….

“And Liverpool, of course!”

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A truck passes a stack of China Shipping containers at the Port of Savannah in Georgia on July 5, 2018. The Trump administration is delaying some tariffs from taking effect until December.

Updated at 4:10 p.m. ET

The Trump administration is postponing some of its new tariffs on Chinese imports — a significant retreat in the trade war that has rattled financial markets on both sides of the Pacific.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on Tuesday that 10% tariffs on certain popular consumer items — including cellphones, laptop computers, video game consoles, computer monitors and some toys, shoes and clothing — will be postponed until Dec. 15.

“What we’ve done is we’ve delayed it, so they they won’t be relevant to the Christmas shopping season,” President Trump told reporters.

The delays affect about $160 billion worth of imports, according to calculations by the advocacy group Tariffs Hurt the Heartland. Tariffs on another $112 billion worth of Chinese imports are still set to take effect on Sept. 1 as scheduled.

The administration also announced that certain products — an estimated $2 billion worth — will be permanently removed from the tariff target list for reasons of health, safety and national security.

Bibles were dropped from the tariff list entirely, but American flags imported from China will face a 10% tariff next month. (The U.S. imported about $6 billion worth of American flags from China last year.)

Trump said the decision to delay some tariffs followed a telephone conversation with Chinese officials on Monday.

“We had a very good talk yesterday with China,” Trump said. “Very, very productive call. I think they want to do something.”

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Frustrated with the slow pace of trade talks, Trump had ordered tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports earlier this month. The move heightened trade tensions and triggered a sharp selloff on Wall Street.

Investors and retailers welcomed news of the tariff delay. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 500 points in early trading.

“Clearly, the administration understands the importance of avoiding higher taxes on American families during the holiday season,” said David French, senior vice president of the National Retail Federation. “Still, continued uncertainty for U.S. businesses and consumers is a drag on the economy. What we really need is an effective strategy to address China’s unfair trade practices.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party defeated the Conservatives but still fell short of an outright majority.

Updated at 3:25 a.m. ET

Canada’s Liberals appear to have won the most seats in Parliament — a result likely to hand Justin Trudeau a second term as prime minister despite a series of scandals that have rocked his government.

With all but two of the 338 seats called as of 3:25 a.m. ET, Trudeau’s Liberal Party had secured 157 seats — a loss of 20 seats — compared to 121 for its main rival, the Conservatives. The regional Bloc Québécois won 32. The New Democrats, who stand to the left of the Liberals and are seen as likely coalition partners for Trudeau, won 24 seats.

Without a majority, the Liberals, who came into the race with a majority of 177 seats, will have to form a minority government, seeking support from one or more smaller rivals to govern.

Despite the loss of an absolute majority, Trudeau’s acceptance speech sounded as though the outcome was a mandate.

“You did it, my friends. Congratulations,” Trudeau told supporters in Montreal early Tuesday.

“To those who did not vote for us, know that we will work every single day for you. We will govern for everyone,” he said.

Even so it was clear, as Jonathan Rose, a political science professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, told Reuters, that the Liberals “are going to need another party, that’s for sure.”

The election pitted Trudeau against Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, seen as a less flashy and no-nonsense opponent.

In his concession speech, Scheer warned: “Mr. Trudeau, when your government falls, Conservatives will be ready, and we will win.”

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During the campaign, the Conservatives pushed tax cuts and rejected substantive action on climate change. Although they fell short of enough seats to form a government, they did manage to rout Liberal members of Parliament in such places as Saskatchewan and Alberta, where the party won 70% of the vote, according to the CBC.

Trudeau, who swept to power in 2015 with a comfortable margin, brought a youthful style and liberal brand of politics into office. His friendship with former President Barack Obama, who endorsed him in Monday’s election, is well known, as is his increasingly strained relationship with President Trump.

Trump congratulated Trudeau in a tweet: “I look forward to working with you toward the betterment of both our countries!”

Among other things, Trudeau introduced Canada’s first gender-balanced Cabinet and has worked toward reconciliation with the country’s indigenous communities.

Last month, Trudeau, 47, acknowledged multiple occasions when he wore blackface and brownface as recently as 2001. The incidents, for which he has apologized and expressed regret, have called his judgement and his progressive credentials into question. In 2018, a 20-year-old accusation surfaced that he had groped a female journalist.

Trudeau has also taken heat for his decision to approve the building of the Rocky Mountain oil pipeline and has twice been found guilty of violating the country’s ethics laws.

During the campaign, Scheer pounced on the scandal, calling Trudeau a phony for not being able to remember how many times he had worn blackface and calling him “unfit” for office.

But Scheer faced issues of his own, among them his dual U.S.-Canada citizenship. Earlier this year, he began the process of renouncing his U.S. citizenship, but the appearance of divided loyalties did not sit well with some voters.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Trudeau and Scheer seemed to be in a dead heat.

Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, told The Associated Press late Monday that he expected Scheer to resign following the vote.

“He’s gone,” Bothwell said. “He ran a really dirty campaign. There is nothing to be proud of on his side. He had the opportunity and blew it.”

Correction Oct. 22, 2019

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of seats lost by the Liberal Party. The correct number is 20.

The centre-back was dismissed for a flailing elbow but the club have sought to have the decision overturned

Barcelona have confirmed that they have launched an appeal following Clement Lenglet’s red card against Girona on Sunday.

The Catalans were held to a surprise 2-2 draw by their local rivals at Camp Nou but were leading 1-0 when the French centre-back, making just his second appearance for the club, was dismissed 10 minutes before the break.

Cristian Stuani levelled Lionel Messi’s earlier strike for the guests before notching another six minutes after the interval. Gerard Pique saved Barcelona’s unbeaten record but the hosts were unable to salvage their perfect start to the season.

Lenglet’s red card, however, was seen as a major point of controversy, and they have launched a bid to have it overturned.

A statement from the club read: “FC Barcelona will present their case to the Competition Committee regarding the red card that player Clement Lenglet saw in the 34th minute of the match played this Sunday with Girona. 

“The French defender was dismissed after the intervention of VAR and according to the referee was sent off for ‘giving a blow with the elbow to the face of an opponent when both were disputing a ball’.”

Barcelona’s players and staff were quick to defend their team-mate.

“Maybe there was contact, you can see it in the pictures, but the ball was on the ground,” Sergio Busquets said in the game’s aftermath.

“It’s a natural movement that does it, it’s not aggression.”

Head coach Ernesto Valverde was of a similar opinion.

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“The red card changed the game,” he lamented. “I’ve not seen the replays on television, but it would be the first red card in which the player who was fouled asks for forgiveness.

“I suppose that VAR did justice but I’ve got a feeling that this shouldn’t have been a red card. There may have been some contact, but I don’t think he did it deliberately.”

If Lenglet’s ban is not overturned, Barca will have to do without the former Sevilla defender for their midweek trip to face Leganes and potentially forthcoming fixtures against Athletic Bilbao and Valencia, depending on how severely the action is treated by the Competition Committee.

Despite their weekend draw, Barca continue to top La Liga, ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference.

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Having described the environment at his club as “ugly” during the past few weeks, the forward revelled in Tuesday’s 2-1 triumph.

Mauro Icardi insisted Inter can compete against anyone after the stuttering Italian side completed a dramatic turnaround to upstage Tottenham in the Champions League.

Late goals from captain Icardi and Matias Vecino saw Inter to a stunning 2-1 victory over Tottenham at San Siro in their Group B opener on Tuesday.

Inter – coming off a shock loss to Parma having only collected four points from four Serie A games to open the season – trailed until the 85th minute, when Icardi and Vecino struck twice late on in Milan.

Icardi revelled in the result following a turbulent start to the 2018-19 campaign for Luciano Spalletti’s Inter, who face Sampdoria on Saturday.

“We know we’re a strong team and that we can compete against anyone, we’ve been waiting for this match for three months and it gives us a lot of strength for the league,” Icardi told Sky Italia.

“A match like that, in the Champions League, gives you so much but one game means nothing.

“We have to stay calm, take the good things we’ve done and go to play on Saturday with a different mentality.

“The environment was ugly in these past few weeks, but a game like this gives us confidence. Vecino has popped up like that for two crucial wins, but what’s most important is for Inter to win.”

The win may prove vital for Inter, who also facce Barcelona and PSV in Group B.

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The Clarets picked up just their fourth point of the campaign in the goalless draw, ending Maurizio Sarri’s 100 per cent record

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini was disappointed his side failed to take any of their “clear chances” in their 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Sunday.

In the absence of Marko Arnautovic up front, Michail Antonio and Andriy Yarmolenko squandered golden opportunities to turn one point into three in the stalemate at London Stadium.

Chelsea were dominant for large periods between those scares, commanding over 70 per cent of possession, but the Hammers boss said his team executed their game plan to a tee.

Pellegrini also commended his team’s work ethic in defence but lamented the lack of composure that cost them successive victories.

“When you have such clear chances against a big team, you must score at least one of them. You must score,” the Hammers boss told reporters.

“[Chelsea] had a lot of possession because we allowed them to have the ball.

“We forced them to play most of the game from the right side, not the left side where Marcos Alonso and Eden Hazard are so dangerous.

“The first half was very clear, the way I wanted to play. The second we maybe lost too many balls. But against these teams, a draw is not a bad point.”

Yarmolenko, twice on target in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Everton, was especially culpable for failing to break the deadlock, planting a free header wide with fewer than 15 minutes remaining.

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“Maybe it seemed easier to score than miss. Maybe he relaxed a bit more,” Pellegrini said of the chance.

“But there were two very clear chances in the first half. [Chelsea] had one clear chance where Lukasz [Fabianski] saved from [Alvaro] Morata. It’s always difficult to score.”

After picking up their first points of the season last week, West Ham now sit 17th, one place above the relegation zone.

West Ham face League Two side Macclesfield Town next in the Carabao Cup before another tough home assignment against Manchester United on Saturday.

Though the Spanish FA has asked for more documentation over the plan, the La Liga president is optimistic the game will be played

La Liga president Javier Tebas believes Barcelona’s game against Girona in Miami will go ahead despite the Spanish FA (RFEF) requiring more documentation over the plan.

The proposal, part of a new deal with Relevent, the company behind the International Champions Cup, had chosen the January fixture as the first La Liga game to be played in the United States.

Players have voiced their opposition to the plan despite Girona and Barcelona giving the green light to move the match to Miami.

And the RFEF appeared to put the proposal in jeopardy on Friday by writing to La Liga to ask for more details on the agreement.

“What we are being asked now is for more documentation and that is what I will prepare,” Tebas said in response.

“I have been with the Delegate Committee all morning and I have not been able to study this letter, which is quite long. We are going to look and prepare everything.

“I am still quite optimistic on all of the issues and we will have to see what happens in the end.”

RFEF leader Luis Rubiales has made it clear he opposes the Relevent deal, which he has described as an “invasion” of the United States.

Tebas, though, feels he can convince Rubiales to give the RFEF’s blessing to the 15-year deal with Relevent, citing the relocation to Morocco of this season’s Supercopa de Espana between Barca and Sevilla.

“He [Rubiales] is not saying no,” he added. “But asking for more documentation to be able to resolve any legal issues. Obviously, they do not have much desire, but I am still an optimist.

“There is a precedent of already having played a game in Tangier. We will work on what is asked of us, but I’m surprised that the letter keeps referring to FIFA when [Gianni] Infantino can have his opinion, but it has no place in the regulatory procedure.”

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After being nominated for the prestigious prize, the PSG star is not getting carried away when thinking about his chances

Kylian Mbappe insists he is ignoring any talk about his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or after inspiring France’s comeback in Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Iceland .

France appeared to be heading for a deserved 2-0 defeat in Guingamp after goals from Birkir Bjarnason and Kari Arnason had Iceland in control with 32 minutes remaining.

But Mbappe, who entered as a substitute shortly after Iceland’s second goal, saw a shot find the net via Hannes Halldorsson and Holmar Eyjolfsson in the 86th minute, before then converting a late penalty after Kolbeinn Sigthorsson handled in the box.

Unsurprisingly talk turned to the Ballon d’Or at full-time after he was named in the 30-man shortlist, though he insists he is trying to not pay attention to his chances.

“I do not think about it, because when I think too much of something, I become individualistic,” Mbappe told TF1 .

“I prefer to think of the collective, it is thanks to my teammates at PSG and in the national team that I am there [in the list of nominees]. I will give everything until the end of the votes and we will see.”

It was put to Mbappe that he has scored more goals than either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo when they were his age, but the 19-year-old Paris Saint-Germain star is not getting carried away with himself.

“I think that you can’t compare me to the Ronaldo and Messi of those times, because they’re different eras,” he said. “Stats are more important nowadays. I don’t compare myself to them.”

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