Sports
WWC: Columbia’s Power-puff Girls stop the Reggae Jamz of Jamaica by a Lone Goal.
DASH BOARD GLANCE OF QUARTERFINAL.
1ST QF. SPAIN VS NETHERLANDS AT WELLINGTON STADIUM ON FRIDAY 11TH AUGUST AT 0200 HOURS.
2ND QF. JAPAN VS SWEDEN AT AUCKLAND ON 11TH AUGUST AT 0830 HOURS.
3RD QF. AUS VS FRA/MOR AT BRISBANE ON 12TH AUGUST AT 0800 HOURS.
4TH QF. ENG VS COL AT SYDNEY ON 12TH AUGUST AT 1130 HOURS.

Players Jubilating
Captain fantastic, Catalina Usme of Columbia whose grandfather and father played football for the nation, Columbia on Tuesday led Columbia to their first quarterfinal like Moses led Israel out of Egypt with just a marvelous goal at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Australia in the round of 16 of the 2023 women’s world cup.
It was the only goal scored against the Reggae Girlz of Jamaica that had not conceded a single goal at the mundial that became the Achilles’ heel that stopped the fast becoming Reggae Jamz that followers had to party till the morning light.
Usme who scored in the 2-0 drubbing of Korea at the games, collected a pass from Ana Guzman who played out her heart in the match, controlled the ball and curled it into a far corner and that wiped off the record of clean sheet of Jamaica at the 2023 world cup.
The Powder-puff Girls of Columbia will now meet England that defeated Nigeria at the quarterfinal on Saturday 12th August at Stadium Australia in Sydney at 1130 hours.
To get to the Round of 16, Jamaica played a goalless draw with France on the 23rd of July; piped Panama 1-0 on 29th of July and played another barren draw with Brazil on the 2nd of August having three clean sheets (that means Jamaica is yet to concede a goal) and they scored only a goal so far.
To get to the round of 16, Columbia banged Korea 2-0 on 25th of July; defeated Germany 2-1 on 30th July and lost to Morocco 0-1 on 30th of July. Columbia scored four goals and conceded 2 vital goals.
This is the first game between the two countries at the world cup. Columbia has never won against CONCACAF teams as the nation drew a match and lost two while Jamaica are winless in their two games against South American teams drawing one.
In the only match between the two countries played on 13th July 2003, Jamaica lost by a lone goal.
This is the second appearance of Columbia at the round of 16 stages at the world cup after 2015 where they were eliminated at that stage by eventual winners USA 0-2. Among South American teams, only Brazil has managed to win a game at the Knockout stage in 1999 and 2007.
Jamaica qualified for the Knockout stage for the first time and they are the only third CONCACAF tem to reach that stage after USA and Canada.
Jamaica lost their three matches in 2019 at their debut but was unbeaten at the group stages in 2023. They became the second team to progress from the group stage despite scoring only a goal after China in 2019.
Columbia nicknamed THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, seem to have been fired up while on preparation for the tournament defeating Paraguay 2-0 on 20th November 2022; played goalless with USA on 29th January 2023; defeated Japan 2-1 on 28th March 2023; piped Iraq 1-0 on 16th June 2023 and on 20th June unbelievably beat Germany 2-0.
Columbia is in her third appearance at the world cup but her best performance was to place 12th at the games in Canada 2015 after losing to USA 0-2 in the Round of 16 at Edmonton on 22nd June.
Jamaica is in their second appearance at the world cup. In 2019 Jamaica lost all her three matches in group C that had Italy, Australia and Brazil scoring just a goal and conceding a whopping 12 goals.
The Jamaican girls had challenges of government acceptance or support because of assumed low performances. The team is backed by Ambassador Cecedalla Marley, daughter of Legendary Bob Marley the Reggae Crooner. She helps raise awareness for the team encourages development and provide for them financially.
At 12 noon today, it will be France versus African representative, Atlas Lionesses of Morocco at the Hindmarsh Stadium with Mexican Ref Caesar Palazuelos in charge
The first of the quarterfinals of the tournament will be played in the wee hours of Friday, West African Time of 0200 hours at Wellington Regional Stadium between Spain and Netherlands. Italian Ref Davide Massa will be in charge.
The second quarterfinals will be played at Eden Park same Friday at 0830 hours and it will be Japan versus Sweden.
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.
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