France
Paul Pogba pays surprise birthday visit to Burna Boy in Miami
Manchester United star and France international, Paul Pogba, paid a surprise visit to afro-pop star, Burna Boy as he celebrated his 30th birthday in Miami. The French star posted a picture of his and the Grammy award-winning musician on Instagram as he wished the artist a happy birthday. Pogba gave Burna Boy a signed number 6 shirt of his France jersey. Burna Boy clocked 30-years on Friday as his fans organized a surprise birthday party for him in the U.S. In a viral video, the singer fondly called Odogwu was seen stunned and elated when walking into a beautifully decorated space with people singing “Happy birthday” song. Ahead of his 30th birthday, Burna Boy spoke about how he would love to be like his father in terms of character. He also invited all who can make it down to Miami on July...
Arsenal warned off signing £35 million international star
Not long to go now folks! We’re around an hour away from the start of the quarter-finals at the European Championships. It’s the ‘tough half of the draw’ this evening as Spain face Switzerland, while Italy go head-to-head with Belgium. On Saturday we’ve got Czech Republic against Denmark and England versus Ukraine. Or, as most of the English media would have you believe, England are playing and no one else. Ahead of the action, we’ve dug out three stories that have caught our attention for our latest Euro 2020 Diary. Arsenal warned off Locatelli ‘I’m not a manager, but it’s not something I would do if I was in Mikel Arteta’s shoes.’ Nigel Winterburn there, telling the current Arsenal boss not to sign Manuel Locatelli. The 23-year-old has been superb at Euro 2020, sparking talk that he coul...
‘He can give much more’ – former Arsenal star hammers 28-year-old
Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? Two games, 14 goals, a penalty shoot-out and France dumped out of the European Championships in hilarious circumstances. Spain kicked off proceedings by beating Croatia after extra time in a game where defending appeared to be a forgotten art. France then did what France do best by imploding against a Switzerland team that they had criminally underestimated. Over in the ITV studio, former Arsenal and France star Patrick Vieira was not a happy camper. Vieira hammers Pogba Paul Pogba. All the talent in the world, but frustrating beyond belief. Scores a great goal to put his side 3-1 up and celebrates with a one minute dance – a great way to wind up the opposition. Played lots of brilliant passes? Absolutely. Failed miserably to be defensively disciplined? Total...
Euro 2020: Spain eliminate Croatia in eight-goal thriller
Spain held off a remarkable Croatian fightback to win 5-3 in a pulsating Euro 2020 last 16 knockout match on Monday thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal in extra time. The three-times European champions will now face either France or Switzerland on July 2 in St. Petersburg Spain and Croatia were drawing 3-3 after normal time, with the goals starting when goalkeeper Unai Simon failed disastrously to control a simple back-pass to give Croatia a shock 1-0 lead. Spain looked like they had made amends with goals from Pablo Sarabia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres to go 3-1 up, until Mislav Orsic scored in the 85th minute and Mario Pasalic netted two minutes into stoppage time to level for Croatia. Spain’s goals in extra time came after Simon had made a point blank save to ...
La Liga duo and Man Utd man impress, but young superstar disappoints – France 3-3 Switzerland Player Ratings
Switzerland pulled off a huge upset as they defeated France in a thrilling round of 16 fixture on penalties. The World Cup champions squandered a glorious chance to take the lead in the second minute. Antoine Griezmann’s corner found the head of Raphael Varane, but he skied his effort over the crossbar. And he was made to pay for his miss not long afterwards when Switzerland took a shock lead. Steven Zuber lifted a cross into the box, and Haris Seferovic beat Clement Lenglet to the ball and planted his header into the bottom corner. Les Bleus were struggling to find a way through the Swiss defence in the first half, coming closest with a long distance strike from Adrien Rabiot that whistled just past the post. But they were unable to get a goal, and the half time whistle went with the scor...
Jersey extends licences for EU fishing boats
The government of Jersey, a self-governing Channel Island between France and Britain, said Monday that it had extended a transitional fishing agreement with the European Union allowing EU boats to continue operating in its waters for three months. “The EU has recently requested an extension to the transitional arrangements, which had been due to come to an end on 30 June,” a statement from the Jersey government said, adding that “Jersey ministers have agreed to that request.” Jersey lies just off France’s northern coast and access to its rich waters has become a source of friction since Britain’s departure from the EU on January 1 tore up arrangements for fishing in the Channel. To gain new licences, Jersey has insisted that EU boats hand over proof that they have been operating in its wat...
Euro 2020: Knockout games bring the best out of France – Hugo Lloris
A depleted France will draw motivation from the threat of elimination as they prepare to face Switzerland in their European Championship last-16 match, captain Hugo Lloris said on Sunday. World champions France topped Group F with one win and two draws ahead of Portugal and Germany but key players in their backline have picked up injuries to give coach Didier Deschamps a selection headache on Monday. While Ousmane Dembele and Marcus Thuram are unavailable, Deschamps confirmed full backs Jules Kounde and Lucas Digne are also ruled out against the Swiss. Left back Lucas Hernandez, who injured his knee, has a chance to feature. Speaking at a news conference, goalkeeper Lloris said France – who finished runners-up in 2016 – were accustomed to do-or-die situations and thrived under pressure. “W...
Manchester United man leads Euro 2020 Best XI while Ronaldo leads from the front
The Euro 2020 group stages have come to a close, and it’s just a short wait before the knockout rounds begin. The opening two weeks of action have been nothing short of enthralling. We’ve seen some incredible goals, great drama, and an inexplicable amount of own goals. What’s not to love? Here is our best XI from the group stage. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – Hradecky can count himself unlucky to be going home early, having put in some excellent performances in the last three games. He kicked off his tournament with a crucial penalty save in the 1-0 win over Denmark and followed this up with another good performance in the 1-0 defeat against Russia. His final game was impressive but ended in heartbreak. He made several brilliant stops to keep Belgium at bay but scored an unlucky own goal to s...
1 from Portugal, 1 from France, 2 from Netherlands – Euro 2020 Best XI of Round 3
The group stage has come to an end, and now we have to endure two whole days without Euro 2020 action. How will we cope? At least the groups ended on a cracker, with several exceptional performances from the final round of fixtures. Here is our best XI from round three of Euro 2020. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – It feels a bit bizarre to include someone who scored an own goal, but here we are. Hradecky kept Finland in the game for as long as possible, producing several excellent stops to keep Belgium out before being cruelly robbed of his clean sheet. Nelson Semedo (RB) – The selection of right-backs from the latest round of fixtures was somewhat slim, but Nelson Semedo gets in for a solid performance. He got a lot of criticism for his performance against Germany, and many feared that it...
Ronaldo makes history, Man Utd and Real Madrid stars impress – Portugal 2-2 France Player Ratings
Portugal and France both progressed to the knockout stages of Euro 2020 after an entertaining 2-2 draw. The first chance of the evening fell to Kylian Mbappe. The youngster was played through on goal by an excellent Paul Pogba through ball, but his finish was underwhelming for a player of his standards. From then on, it was a half soaked in controversy, beginning when Portugal were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute. Danilo Pereira got his head to a cross and was caught by the arm of Hugo Lloris on the follow through. Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz pointed to the spot, despite protests from French players. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and slammed his penalty past Lloris. Just before half time, more controversy arose when France were given a penalty. Mbappe went down under contact from Nelso...
Man Loses Hand Following Clash Between Ravers and Police in France
A violent clash between police and attendees of a rave in France has left one man with a severed hand. It took nearly 400 officers a total of nearly seven hours to disperse the crowds of the 1,500-person rave. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, mass gatherings are still illegal in France. Advertised on social media, the event still turned out a sizable crowd to the Redon, Brittany region. According to Sky News, police showed up in riot gear and deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse the gathering. Attendees began to pelt officers with explosives, including Molotov cocktails and firecrackers. One such explosive caused serious injury to a 22-year-old man. Overall, five officers were injured in the conflict, two of whom were hospitalized. Two attendees, including the ...
Canada leads call on China to allow Xinjiang access – statement
More than 40 countries urged China on Tuesday to allow the U.N. human rights chief immediate access to Xinjiang region to look into reports that more than a million people have been unlawfully detained there, some subjected to torture or forced labour. The joint statement on China was read out by Canadian Ambassador Leslie Norton on behalf of countries including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States to the U.N. Human Rights Council. Beijing denies all allegations of abuse of Uyghurs and describes the camps as vocational training facilities to combat religious extremism. “Credible reports indicate that over a million people have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and that there is widespread surveillance disproportionately targeting Uyghurs and members of other...
