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Key events
Manchester City close on appointing Maresca
Matt Hughes
Some non-World Cup news now, from the ever-busy Matt Hughes:
Manchester City are close to reaching a financial settlement with Chelsea that will enable them to appoint Enzo Maresca as their new manager.
Chelsea are demanding compensation from City to release Maresca as they believe they have evidence that the Spaniard breached his contract at Stamford Bridge by talking to the club’s Premier League rivals when he was still their manager last season.
It has been widely reported that Maresca informed Chelsea he had been approached by both City and Napoli last winter in the chaotic weeks that led to his surprise resignation on New Year’s Day, a claim that has never been disputed.
Chelsea are adamant they deserve to be compensated for the loss of Maresca, whose departure destabilised a season that ended with them finishing 10th in the Premier League and missing out on European qualification, but they have a good relationship with City and have confidence an amicable agreement can be reached.
What do you think of it so far? It’s basically almost impossible to have a bad time at a World Cup, for all the oppressive politics and commercialism that seek to suffocate the spectacle. And here’s our writers’ verdicts on how they’ve found the first week and a bit.
This country is big enough to host a vibrant and fulfilling World Cup; it is simultaneously capable of hosting one that passes entirely unnoticed.
'Everybody's crying': Turkey come to terms with shock exit
Turkey arrived at their first World Cup in 24 years with great expectations and a host of rising stars but crashed out goalless and in tears after another shocking failure to convert against Paraguay.
As Reuters reports, they had an astonishing 32 attempts on goal against Paraguay, scoring none of them, having had 30 – count ’em – in their opener against Australia, which they lost 0-2.
Arda Guler, the 21-year-old star of Turkish football, apologised to the nation. “We tried very hard but it didn’t work. But we should have scored some goals,” he said. “We should have won these games … Everybody’s sad, everybody’s crying.“
It was a stunning fall for a team that made a swashbuckling run to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. A golden generation of players anchored by the young talents of Guler and Kenan Yildiz had appeared set to make their mark on the global stage.
Instead, Turkey’s players and staff will face a fierce reaction on the home front before their final group game against the USA, who have already qualified for the round of 32.
Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said his players had shown their mettle after losing 1-4 to the USA in their first game. “It’s nothing about tactics or strategy here. This victory, this result is to the credit of the players,” he said.
Preamble
Greetings everyone and welcome to day 10 of the World Cup. Readers in Europe have plenty to digest as they wake up. Scotland slipped to a 1-0 defeat by Morocco that could have been worse, after they went behind within two minutes and were thoroughly outplayed in the opening stages before I went to bed, but could have been better, with Scotland having two big penalty shouts turned down.
Elsewhere, we have perhaps the shock of the tournament so far with many people’s dark horses, Turkey, exiting already after a second straight defeat, to Paraguay, who had Miguel Almirón sent off for remarks made to Mert Muldur with his hand concealing his mouth, the first use of that new sanction.
The host nations continue to enjoy themselves, USA’s win over Australia securing their qualification for the knockouts, while Brazil eased to a 3-0 win over Haiti.
Here’s yer reports:
English (US) ·