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Women’s World Cup: Switzerland Lands Philippines 2-0 Blow to Top group A.

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Switzerland and Philippines flags

Switzerland and Philippines flags

Switzerland on Friday morning Nigerian time spanked Philippines 2-0 in the second match of Group A played at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Auckland.

 

Switzerland protested a foul during a goal mouth melee which VAR approved and PSG striker, Ramona Bachmann tucked it in 45th minute without the goalkeeper moving at all.

 

F. C. Zurich player, Seraina Piubel scored the second goal in the 64th minute in a dramatic way. Philippines goalkeeper had pushed four consecutive shots, first from McDaniel, second from Crnogorcevic and two others including Sow before Piubel connected well while the defenders stood fixed to the ground all the while.

 

Debutante Philippines tried to learn the tricks of moving to world cup titles but the performance was low with 3 shots at goal and none on target against 17 shots from Switzerland with 8 on target. Swiss dominated ball possession 74-26% and passes that were a whopping 743-269.

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The Swiss were caught with 10 fouls compared to 6 of Philippines; 2 yellow cards of Swiss to one of their opponents and the three corners of the match went to Swiss none to the Philippines.

 

Philippine are debutantes at this tournament appearing for the first time but they met Switzerland in a friendly encounter and were whitewashed 5-1 on 17th July 2023 just before this tournament.

 

Spain’s record can terrorize the Philippine ladies as the team walloped Moldova 15-0 at Lausanne on 6th September 2022. Germany had tamed Switzerland 11-0 at Weingauten on 25th September 1994.

 

Switzerland is making a second appearance at the party. Their first time out, The Swizz lost in the Round of 16 to hosts Canada at Vancouver.

 

So Switzerland leads group A with 3 points and 2 goals; Hosts New Zealand who stunned Norway by a lone goal yesterday (Thursday) are second with 3 points and one goal while Norway having no pint is 3rd and Philippines is at the bottom with no point.

 

The next matches in Group A are New Zealand versus Philippines on the 25th while same day Switzerland plays Norway. The last group matches will be played simultaneously on 30th July with Norway meeting Philippines and Switzerland will lock horns with New Zealand.

 

Spain will square up against Costa Rica at 0830 hours which is some few moments away.

 

Four matches will be played on Saturday 22nd July. USA will meet Vietnam at 0200 hours in group E encounter at Eden Park; African representative Zambia will square up with Asian giants, Japan at 0800 hours in Group C match at Waikato New Zealand; England will trade tackles with Haiti at 1030 hours in a Group D match at Suncorp Stadium Australia and at 1300 hours, Denmark and China will take to the turf in a group D match at NIB Stadium, Perth Australia.

 

By Eniola Olatunji

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Leicester City Put Up For Sale

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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.

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Amorim Wants Tomori, Nkunku 6 Other AC Milan Stars Out Of Club

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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.’

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Transfer: Man Utd Name 6 Clubs Rashford Can’t Join

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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.

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