Team News

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off tonight, with the match between hosts Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau. The challenge starts at 21:00, in Abidjan, one of the 5 cities where the activity will take place.

Ivory Coast appears in this event as one of the favorite teams to win the trophy. “Elephants” play against one of the weakest teams and statistics show that the home team has not lost the opening game since 1998.

However, they need to turn things around, as the hosts have failed to play in any of the last eight finals and have not won the trophy since 2006.

The Africa Cup of Nations will book a month of battle for glory, with the final to be played on February 11.

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“Allianz Arena”, fans, players, former companions over the years, all paid respect to the legend of German football, Franz Beckenbauer, who passed away on January 7 at the age of 78.

Before the challenge with Hoffenheim started, the players came down to the field with the jersey number five and with the inscription: “Thank you Franz”.

In every corner of the stadium, fans and organizers had taken care to remember their “Kaiser”, the symbol of German football.Before the challenge began, a giant banner with his image was placed in the middle of the field while the players and fans observed a minute of silence.

After the match, all players’ shirts will be signed and sold, with the proceeds going to the Franz Beckenbauer Foundation.

The German Bundesliga returned yesterday evening after the winter break. Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim with a clean score of 3-0, as they honored “Der Kaiser”, Franz Beckenbauer, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 78.

The “golden boy”, Musiala shone by scoring two goals. First, he unlocked the result in the 18th minute. In the second Musiala scored and the second in the 70th. To make it easier for the Bavarians, thought the player of the friends, Promel, who was punished with a red card in the 74th minute.Shortly before the end of the game, the scorer Harry Kane was not missing to seal the victory with the third goal.

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FIFA’s heavy hand has fallen on Argentina and various South American federations. From the fine for Brazil to the sanctions imposed on the Albiceleste, accompanied by Chile, Colombia and Uruguay. Decisions that will have consequences in the matches of Messi and his teammates in September 2024, during the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

FIFA confirmed the ruling against several South American federations, including reigning world champions Argentina. The Albiceleste will be forced to give up 50% of the stadium’s capacity when it hosts its next match against Chile in September 2024, as well as pay more than 70,000 euros in fines.

Reason? The discriminatory behavior of a group of Argentine fans and the delay to the start of the match against Ecuador, the invasion of the pitch against Uruguay and the riots that characterized the “Clasico” against Brazil. Clashes inside and outside sports facilities, deemed unacceptable by Infantino.

Like Argentina, the Chilean FA will have to sell half of the available tickets for their next home match, valid for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.The stadium is closed at 25% capacity for Colombia and Uruguay, for the same reasons, while Brazil will be required to pay a fine for lateness and pitch invasion in the match against Bolivia last September. In addition, fines will be added for team misconduct against Uruguay and failure to ensure order inside and outside the stadium against Argentina in November.

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Franz Beckenbauer, or the “Kaiser” of world football, passed away.

He died on Sunday night aged 78 in his sleep and is going to heaven to meet old team-mates and rivals such as Gerd Miller, Pele, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff and George Best.

The football world bowed before the world’s best defender, the captain of Bayern Munich and West Germany, but also the coach who in 1990 led his country’s national team to win another World Cup.

Franz Beckenbauer was close friends with big figures in world football, whom he admired and spoke highly of young athletes such as Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi and Michael Jordan.

With Pele, Beckenbauer were opponents in West Germany’s games with Brazil and teammates on the New York Cosmos team, which Kaiser joined in 1977.

“Pele is the best player of all time. He reigned for 20 years. All others, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, are ranked below him. There is no one who compares to Pele”, said Kaiser on the occasion of Pele’s death.

Of their time together in New York he noted: “I used to pass the ball to Pele and watch him play, he was like Mozart. “That year, playing with him was absolutely amazing.”

Diego Maradona played in the post-Beckenbauer era, but Kaiser faced him as coach in two World Cup finals. In 1986 in Mexico Maradona’s Argentina won and in 1990 in Italy Kaiser’s Germany won.

On the occasion of Maradona’s death, Kaiser said: “He was always good, always friendly, when we met. I liked. In the two World Cup finals against Argentina [1986 and 1990] Diego was my biggest problem. In Mexico in 1986 he was at his peak and unstoppable.

Pele won the World Cup three times. But for me Maradona comes right after him. He was more than a player, he was an artist. He was a genius who had obviously lost control of his life in recent years.”

“Messi is a divine player”

Of the younger players, he loved to watch Lionel Messi. He had not made it clear if he saw him as higher than Diego Maradona but he had admired him several times.

He called the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner a genius, but also a divine player. “Messi is a genius”, he had said during his years playing in Barcelona, ​​while in a more recent statement he had underlined: “We should not compare people with God, but Messi is a divine player”.

About what exactly he liked about Messi, he clarified: “He has everything. When I look at him, I see a player who is very, very skilled, very intelligent and his left foot is like Diego Maradona’s.”

“The best European footballer”

He had opponents with Johan Cruyff in the 1974 World Cup final between West Germany and the Netherlands and had also met him in the American championship.

There was respect between them and the German considered him the best player in Europe.

“He was not only a very good friend, but also a brother to me,” he said of Cruyff when he died. His best line about the Dutchman was as follows: “He was undoubtedly the best footballer Europe has produced. When players like Bale and Ronaldo are worth around 100 million euros, Johan would be worth billions!”

About the great George Best, whom he met in Europe but also in the USA, he emphasized: “George Best was one of the most talented players of all time and probably the best footballer who never played in the World Cup.

For his teammate at Bayern Munich and the West German national team, the great goalscorer, Gerd Müller, he had a wonderful saying: “What Bayern has become is thanks to Gerd Müller.”

He said about Zinedine Zidane: “Zidane is unique.” The ball rolls with it. He looks more like a dancer than a football player.” He did not fail to talk about Jordan, with whom he shared his love for golf: “For example, Michael Jordan earns 100 million dollars a year, but he continues to play basketball and remains a modest person.

Franz Beckenbauer was once asked if he would go to play for Real Madrid and he replied: “I would probably say yes to Real Madrid, … They are a legendary team that stands above all others and it is the aim of to all players”.Of the 1966 World Cup final and England’s battle with Germany, he noted: “I was told to watch out for the best player at the time – Bobby Charlton. Bobby told me later that (England manager) Alf Ramsey had told him to keep an eye on this young, handsome German lad.”

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