Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs for his plans next year, he added: \u201cAll the players who stay will work hard to get back to the level we\u2019ve worked hard to reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy contract runs for another year and I\u2019m staying. This is my home, this club is so special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Socceroos Massimo Luongo and Callum Elder are on the lookout for new clubs after being released by their Championship sides following injury-hit seasons.<\/p>\n
Luongo will leave Millwall after just nine appearances, with an ACL injury ending any hopes of him making the World Cup squad.<\/p>\n
Elder, who played two friendlies in the November 2025 window, departs Derby County after 76 games with the club.<\/p>\n
\u2018We kill ourselves\u2019: How Messi is prepping for back-to-back bid<\/b><\/p>\n
Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup last time around, but the 38-year-old superstar appears hell-bent on going back-to-back in his adopted home of the United States.<\/p>\n
His international and Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul has revealed the Argentines have been undergoing an intense double-training regime in a bid to be at peak fitness for the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween two and three months ago, we have had a training plan beyond what we do at the club and the two of us kill ourselves to reach the best physical shape,\u201d De Paul said in an interview with Lo del Pollo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe proposed a double shift for ourselves and we have our trainer there and we give it our all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The workload appears to be paying off for Messi, who has scored 12 goals and registered five assists in 13 MLS appearances for Inter Miami CF this season.<\/p>\n
\u2018Oh yeah, dude is different\u2019: \u2018Beast Mode\u2019s\u2019 take on Mbappe<\/b><\/p>\n
France striker Kylian Mbappe has had a tough time with Real Madrid in recent months, with fans railing against him in a petition and his stock falling at the club.<\/p>\n
But Mbappe has NFL legend Marshawn Lynch in his corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m looking at him, I\u2019m like damn, there\u2019s somebody who actually looks like me,\u201d Lynch told Sports Illustrated. \u201cAnd then just seeing how fucking fast bro was, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh yeah, dude is different.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Seattle Seahawks running back, nicknamed \u201cBeast Mode\u201d, said Mbappe is one of the players he is most excited to watch at the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see all these guys, the Messi, the Mbappes, it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, these guys been doing this shit since forever and putting in the work,\u2019\u201d Lynch said.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>NFL icon Marshawn Lynch.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLynch\u2019s appreciation for the sport goes back to his childhood in Oakland, where he says football was \u201csomething you couldn\u2019t escape\u201d while reflecting on his early experiences with the game.<\/p>\n
He has remained connected to the sport through an ownership stake in Oakland Roots SC and says he can\u2019t wait to experience the atmosphere of the World Cup, adding \u201csoccer fans know how to fucking party.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Sometimes we lose sight of reality\u2019: Spanish fans warned of Yamal pressure<\/b><\/p>\n
Lamine Yamal is expected to be fit in time for the World Cup despite a recent injury suffered at Barcelona, but a former Spain star has warned his country\u2019s fans not to put too much pressure on the teen sensation.<\/p>\n
Fernando Morientes believes expectations on Yamal have become excessive ahead of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Yamal has emerged as one of the biggest names in world football after establishing himself as a star for FC Barcelona and Spain, where he was a member of the Euros 2024-winning team.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we lose sight of reality. 18 years is not old enough to lead the Spanish national team,\u201d Morientes told The Mirror.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a boy, but he\u2019s got a status in the world of football that makes us all look out for him. I think he\u2019s the figurehead of Spain at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to put a bit of responsibility on him and on the team. I think we have always shown that we are a team that is more governed by the team than by the individual figures.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Barcelona and Spain\u2019s Lamine Yamal.<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nYamal\u2019s status sees him transcend the sports pages, and he was front-page news around the world last week when he waved a Palestinian flag from an open-top bus during Barcelona\u2019s La Liga title-winning celebrations.<\/p>\n
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz criticised Yamal, saying he chose to \u201cincite hatred\u201d against Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope a great and respected club like Barcelona distances itself from these remarks and makes it unambiguously clear that there is no place for incitement or support for terrorism,\u201d Katz said in a Spanish-language post on X.<\/p>\n
Yamal was backed by Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez, who said the player had made Spain \u201cproud\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who think that waving the flag of a state is \u2018inciting hatred\u2019, they have either lost their minds or they have been blinded by their own disgrace,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cLamine just expressed the solidarity with Palestine that millions of Spaniards feel. Yet another reason to be proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuchel\u2019s tatts plan for unity<\/b><\/p>\n
England coach Thomas Tuchel has reportedly told the team\u2019s players and staff they will all get matching tattoos if the Three Lions win the 2026 World Cup. The unusual pledge was revealed by Sporting Kansas City chief operating officer Alan Dietrich, who is helping oversee England\u2019s tournament base in the United States.<\/p>\n
Dietrich said the idea emerged during a game of padel with Tuchel last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Tuchel is very good and very competitive,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a casual game. You could just tell his intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Dietrich, Tuchel made a bold declaration during the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when coach Thomas said to us that they will get tattoos \u2018when\u2019 they win the tournament,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Thomas Tuchel, Head Coach of England.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTuchel then turned to the Sporting Kansas City officials and invited them to join in as part of England\u2019s wider World Cup team. \u201cYou\u2019re our partners now, so will you get tattoos too?\u201d the German coach asked.<\/p>\n
Dietrich said he and Sporting Kansas City CEO Jake Reid agreed despite neither currently having tattoos.<\/p>\n
\u201cJake and I, while we\u2019re tattoo-less at the moment, immediately said, \u2018Yes.\u2019 My kids can\u2019t believe it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
England will be based in Kansas City throughout the tournament despite not being scheduled to play matches there.<\/p>\n
German legend set for one more go<\/b><\/p>\n
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has refused to clarify whether veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will make a shock return at the tournament ahead of the official team announcement on May 21.<\/p>\n
Despite Neuer previously retiring from international football, reports in Germany suggest the FC Bayern Munich captain could reclaim the No.1 role ahead of the tournament in North America.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe list won\u2019t be published, so I won\u2019t comment on it,\u201d Nagelsmann said in an interview this week.<\/p>\n
<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\nMourinho set for return to Real Madrid | 00:22<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nHe added, \u201cIt is always our duty to include and evaluate all eligible players who hold a German passport and are healthy,\u201d which intensified speculation surrounding Neuer\u2019s possible comeback.<\/p>\n
Nagelsmann had previously appeared to close the door on a return by insisting Neuer retired \u201cof his own free will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reports claim the 40-year-old has been included in Germany\u2019s preliminary 55-man squad and could push past Oliver Baumann into the starting lineup.<\/p>\n
Neuer remains one of the most decorated goalkeepers in football history and played a crucial role in Germany\u2019s 2014 World Cup triumph<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Socceroos stars are wrapping up their commitments ahead of the World Cup to varying degrees of joy and despair, while one made a stunning backflip after his daughter tugged on his heart strings. While Maty Ryan was outstanding in his team\u2019s relegation battle, Cammy Devlin was left distraught by a chaotic finale in Scotland, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-244099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}