Sports
AUNZ2023: Historical Thriller as Australia Beat France in Longest Penalty Kick ever at the World Cup 7-6.
The Maltidas of Australia on Saturday at the Lang Park (Suncorp) Stadium, Brisbane re-wrote history of world football in the most gruesome penalty shootouts ever, 20 kicks as the nation pathetically strolled past Les Blueus of France 7-6 to move to the semifinal of the tournament.

25 year old Sydney FC player, substitute in this match, Cortnee Vine shot the winner, the last kick that pulled Australia into world history. Maria Carvajal of Chile was the Ref in charge.
The Maltidas recorded the first team, male or female to ever qualify for any semifinal of the world cup. The team broke the jinx that no hosts would move to the last four as only USA broke it twice. The country recorded the highest country to make a devastating deafening noise, the highest I have ever encountered in my 46 years of reporting most of which were as a Broadcaster, for I will surely need to see an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Medical Specialist.
S. Bacha missed the first kickoff the game before Perisset, Dali and Becho also lost their kicks for France. Dali was given an opportunity to retake her kick but she still missed it.
The six scorers for France were Diani, Renard, Le Sommer, Geyano, Karchaoui and Lakar.
Scorers for AAustralia were Foord, Kerr, Fowler, Gorry, Yallop, Carpenter and Vine in that order.
Losers for Australia were Cutley, goalkeeper Arnold and Hunt.
France desperate for a win brought in Sassuolo Goalkeeper, Solene Durand who has never featured at this tournament for Peyraud Magnin at the 123rd minute in the match that went to 126 minutes. The two coaches shook hands wishing each other best of luck before the penalty shootouts.
France scored 101st minute from a header of Wendie Renard off a corner kick that was not right in the first instance. Renard’s goal was rejected by the Ref because she had pulled down Foord to the turf to get the header. The ball had gone into touch before France brought it back into play and neither the VAR nor the match officials saw it.
The extremely tensed match was watched with 49,461 spectators at the main bowl of the Suncorp Stadium but unknown figure of tumultuous crowd were watching on screens in Fig Grove and Suncorp Stadium Gate G. Surely, they have more crowd than those who watched Australia versus France on July 14 this year.
France played a goalless draw with Jamaica 23rd July; defeated Brazil 2-1 on the 29th of July and thrashed Panama 6-3 on 2nd August. France started their knockout stages with a 4-0 pounding of Morocco in the round of 16 matches.
Co-hosts Australia who was in Nigeria’s Group B piped Ireland 1-0 on 20th July; lost to Nigeria in a dramatic 2-3 game and suddenly pummeled Canada 4-0 on 1st August. Australia dented Denmark 2-0 in the round of 16 matches.
Australia is in her 5th knockout stage appearances at the world cup since 2007. She won only once 1-0 over Brazil at the R16 of 2015. She was eliminated at the R16 stage of the last competition in France 2019 losing to Norway on penalties. Australia registered their biggest win at the world cup in their last group B game against Canada 4-0. The team kept clean sheets in two of their three games.
France’s highest achievement was 4th at the German 2011 games when she lost the Bronze to Sweden 2-1; coming to the party for the 5th time, France made the quarterfinal two consecutive times now three times in 2015, and at hosting in 2019 but were sent off at the group stage in USA 2003.
Australia and France are meeting for the first time at the world cup. Records I do not have says Australia never lost to France when playing on home ground in all competitions winning three matches and drawing one with the most recent being played on 14th July 2023.
The Maltidas of Australia defeated the world no 5, France by a lone goal at the Marvel Stadium in Sydney on the eve of co-hosting the world cup14th July 2023 before a record crowd of 50,629 and with Herve Renard in charge of the French team. France had dominated the wins bashing the Aussies 6-0 on 11th October 2013; beating the country of kangaroos 2-1 on 16th June 2018 and lashing Australia 4-1 on 22nd November 2022.
This is the 3rd quarterfinals of Australia at the world cup after taking part at this stage in three editions 2007 and 2015. Australia lost each of the previous quarterfinals scoring three goals and conceding 7 in total. USA is the only host to have reached the semifinals in 1999 and 2003.
Australia will now meet winner of England versus Columbia on Wednesday 16th August at 1100 hours at Stadium Australia.
Sweden will meet Spain in the first semifinal on Tuesday 15th august at Eden Park in Auckland at 0900 hours.
We are still expecting the 4th quarterfinal at 1130 hours playing at Stadium Australia between Lionesses of England that defeated Nigeria and the Power-Puff girls of Columbia with Ref Mark Geiger of USA in charge.
Something unique is that we are expecting a new champion for the world as previous champions, four times winner USA; Two times winner, Germany; Japan and Norway that won one time each have been exited in this tournament.
By Eniola Olatunji
.
Sports
Leicester City Put Up For Sale
General view of a Leicester City sign from the front of King Power StadiumLeicester City are looking to sell the club for more than £200m, with its Thai owners King Power ready to leave after 16 years.
The Foxes have had an eight-page sales booklet produced by a leading US investment bank to help offload the one-time Premier League title winners.
Citigroup lists the Foxes, its women’s team, and other major assets – including the 32,000-seat King Power Stadium and its Seagrave training facility which was opened in 2020 and is valued at £121m – as well as OH Leuven, Leicester’s Belgian sister club, as up for sale in a brochure titled ‘Project Lineup’.
The document, seen by BBC Sport, values the club’s physical assets at more than £200m, though no specific sum has been attributed to the sale of its struggling teams.
The brochure speaks of “a rare opportunity to acquire a club with an excellent track record of winning promotions to higher divisions”.
Leicester’s successes, including the 5,000-1 Premier League title win of 2016 and the FA Cup triumph five years later, are well promoted in the brochure, while their place in League One, after back-to-back relegations from the top flight and the Championship, fail to get a mention.
The club’s turnover, which Citigroup forecast to be more than £97m for the 2026 financial year are also part of the pitch, but the years of financial losses and the club’s debts – which, as outlined in its 2025 accounts, include £103.6m in bank loans – are omitted.
In the years that the club yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship, with two relegations from the top flight in three years between 2023 and 2025, the club lost more than £180m.
King Power, run by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, bought Leicester for £35m from Milan Mandaric in 2010.
Khun Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha is currently chairman after his father Khun Vichai died in a helicopter crash outside the stadium in 2019.
Efforts to put the third-tier club up for sale were first reported in the Financial Times, external in July, but the product brochure now being circulated to prospective buyers is public confirmation that new investors are being sought.
The sale process comes just eight months on from Khun Top saying he is shouldering the blame for the club’s drastic recent demise.
There have been growing calls from disgruntled fans for the club to be sold, with the most vocal showing coming outside King Power Stadium after relegation from the Championship was confirmed last season.
Leicester’s struggles in recent years have come at a time when the King Power duty-free business in Thailand, which has been intrinsically linked to the club since the Srivaddhanaprabha family bought the Foxes, has also endured financial difficulties.
Despite the club’s issues, Leicester City is being positioned for sale as one of only five clubs to have won all three major English trophies – the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup – since 2000.
The document also outlines the potential of the club’s academy, stating the Foxes have a “strong talent pipeline backed by leading scouting infrastructure, active transfer management and highly developed academy system consistently producing top players”.
Leicester sold academy graduate Jeremy Monga to Manchester City for £10m last month.
Leicester, relegated to League One for just the second time in their history last season, will start their latest campaign in the third tier under head coach Russell Martin at Notts County on Saturday.
Sports
Amorim Wants Tomori, Nkunku 6 Other AC Milan Stars Out Of Club
AC Milan coach Ruben Amorim has decided Fikayo Tomori and Christopher Nkunku do not figure in his plans this season.
David Odogu, Pervis Estupinan, Santiago Gimenez and Philip Terracciano are also expected to leave after Amorim held a crunch meeting with club bosses on Thursday.
The Portuguese, who was dismissed by United in January following a dismal 14 months in charge, accepted the task of transforming Milan’s fortunes – with the Italian giants finishing fifth last season.
He is set for a reunion with his old side this weekend in Poland, where he will search for his first win in charge of his new club having failed to register a victory in pre-season.
A 2-2 draw with Scottish champions Celtic was followed by a 1-1 tie with fierce rivals Inter Milan, before Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea put three goals past the Portuguese’s side in a woeful result in Jakarta.
But Amorim is ready to embrace the challenge, and suggested that his task at the San Siro is even greater than his job at Old Trafford.
‘I’m really very happy to be here, it’s an honour to be the coach of Milan,’ he said.
‘Why did I choose Milan? If you read an old interview of mine you will understand it, for me a special club.
‘It’s a very big challenge that I accepted even if after the last one [at Manchester United] I told myself to accept a smaller one.
‘Perhaps it is a greater challenge than the last. I’m proud to be here, we all are, me and my staff.
‘I’m at Milan to win, if you’re Milan coach you have to have this mentality,’ he added.
‘I’m not naive, I know there’s a lot of work to do, but if you’re the Milan coach you have to play to win.’
Sports
Transfer: Man Utd Name 6 Clubs Rashford Can’t Join
Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has blocked Marcus Rashford from joining any direct Premier League rival.
According to the UK Mirror, the Red Devils are determined to avoid a scenario where Rashford shines at a domestic competitor.
The 28-year-old is back at Carrington for pre-season training following a loan spell at Barcelona, but his long-term future at Old Trafford remains uncertain.
Ratcliffe wants to remove Rashford from United’s wage bill, but he won’t sanction a move to the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City or Liverpool
The restrictions extend to loan inquiries, as Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have been rebuffed.
There is fear among United senior officials that Rashford could prove instrumental in helping a rival secure a Champions League spot, a scenario that would be viewed as ’embarrassing’ by the club’s top brass.
-
Health & Wellness12 months agoPresident Tinubu Directs Cut in Dialysis Cost from ₦50,000 to ₦12,000
-
News1 year agoPICTURE: In Lagos Couple Sentenced to 22½ Years for Cannabis Trafficking
-
Trending News1 year agoNELFUND Disburses ₦86bn To 449,000 Beneficiaries
-
Business5 months agoDangote Refinery Reduces Petrol Gantry Price To ₦1,200 Per Litre
-
Business2 years agoHeritage Bank Customers’ Path to Securing ₦5m Insured Funds: A Step-By-Step Guide by NDIC”
-
International News5 months agoIndian Police Arrest Nigerian Over ₦290m Drug Haul
-
Business5 months agoAfter Plea Bargain, Court Discharges Stella Oduah of ₦2.5bn Fraud
-
Business2 years ago
Dangote; We Did Not Fix ₦600/Litre Petrol Price
