International Football
Portugal May Rest Ronaldo for New Zealand Game
Reports by Associated Press suggests that Portugal coach Fernando Santos could deny himself the pleasure of seeing Cristiano Ronaldo play against New Zealand this Saturday.
After promising to rotate his starting lineup for a third Confederations Cup game in seven days, Santos would not confirm if that means rest for his 32-year-old star.
“Everybody wants to watch Cristiano Ronaldo, even I want to watch Cristiano Ronaldo,” the coach said Friday, smiling when asked how Russia’s enthusiasm for the current world’s best player compared to other countries.
“I don’t know if I’m going to play with Cristiano or without Cristiano,” Santos said through a translator. “Obviously, rotation will take place, that I can tell you.”
Portugal has the luxury to choose because of Ronaldo’s decisive header early in a 1-0 win over Russia on Wednesday — his 74th goal in 141 national-team games.
The European champion has four points in Group A and needs only a draw against No. 95-ranked New Zealand to advance to the semifinals.
One reason Ronaldo is strong deep into June is because Real Madrid managed his playing time more carefully this season. He peaked from April onward with a rush of Champions League goals, including two in the final to help beat Juventus 4-1.
Santos also noted his team’s Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday schedule so far in three different Russian cities.
“It’s less than 72 hours to recover, it’s not easy,” said the coach, who steered his team to the Euro 2016 title over seven games in a 27-day period in France.
Still, the lone New Zealand reporter at the tournament insisted at the pre-match news conference that more than four million people back home want to see Ronaldo face the All Whites for the first time.
“It’s many, many millions who every time Cristiano plays are very interested in watching him play,” Santos said. “I’m glad that also happens in New Zealand.”
New Zealand is already eliminated after losing both games, though unsettled Mexico in a 2-1 defeat. The North American champion had rested several players who started in a 2-2 draw against Portugal, including forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
“They complicated life for Mexico a lot,” Santos acknowledged. “The result could have been quite different.”
Portugal will be without Raphael Guerreiro on Saturday, though the Borussia Dortmund defender could return in the tournament. Santos said a suspected leg fracture sustained against Russia was not as serious as feared.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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