CELEBRITY
Lionel Messi booed in Paris!
Paris Saint-Germain suffered a second home defeat in a row Sunday, falling 1-0 to Lyon as their World Cup winning superstar Lionel Messi was jeered by a section of supporters.
After losing 2-0 at home to Rennes two weeks ago, it was Lyon’s Bradley Barcola who inflicted the latest loss for PSG at the Parc des Princes.
The goal by Barcola – who had come on as replacement for injured Amin Sarr – made up for a missed penalty by Alexandre Lacazette in the first half.
It is the Parisians’ fifth Ligue 1 loss this season, all of them in 2023, and leaves Christophe Galtier’s side just six points ahead of both second-placed Lens and Marseille in third.
The night started in controversial circumstances.
As the team line-ups were announced over the loudspeaker, whistling greeted Messi’s name in one part of the stadium.
Fans in another area, however, shouted in response “Messi”.
Messi, 35, is nearing the end of his two-year contract with the Paris club.
Talks have begun on a possible renewal but he has also been linked with a return to Barcelona.
In two seasons, the veteran has played 67 matches with PSG including Sunday’s game against ninth-placed Lyon and scored 29 goals.
“The whistles, I find that hard,” said Galtier. “Leo is a player who gives a lot and who has given a lot since the start of the season.
“With a stroke of genius, Leo is able to deliver the right ball, to provide an assist, to score a goal. I never once thought about taking him off.”
PSG midfielder Danilo acknowledged the team had hit “a difficult phase” which they had to find a way out of, given their rivals were closing in.
“We have to wake up. The title is not guaranteed at all, there are still a lot of matches,” he said on Prime Video.
“There are lot of things to change, not just the mindset, but it’s not up to me to say what.”
PSG have been severely hampered by injuries, with Neymar recovering from ankle surgery and their defence decimated.
On Sunday, PSG called up 17-year-old central defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu but he was overawed, giving away the ball too often.
Kylian Mbappe failed to pull off a repeat of his late scoring heroics as he had done in recent games against Strasbourg and Brest.
“We can’t expect everything from Leo and Kylian,” said Galtier.
“It’s our eighth defeat in 2023, it’s far too many.”
Next up for PSG is a trip to Nice who are undefeated since January 2 before a crucial home clash with second-placed Lens.
Lens will be hopeful of delivering a further blow to their Qatar-owned rivals whose season is threatening to implode after a Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich and a French Cup loss to bitter rivals Marseille.
Monaco kept up their push for a Champions League spot with a rollercoaster 4-3 home win over lowly Strasbourg.
Monaco trailed 2-1 at the interval despite taking an 18th-minute lead through Vanderson.
Lebo Mothiba and an own-goal by Chilean defender Guillermo Maripan gave Strasbourg the edge.
Eliesse Ben Seghir and Edan Diop, both just 18 years old, and Youssouf Fofana then hit three goals inside an 11-minute spell in the second half to give Monaco a 4-2 lead.
Habib Diallo’s stoppage-time strike was only a consolation for Strasbourg.
Monaco have 57 points, just three behind third-placed Marseille who were held to a 1-1 draw by Montpellier on Friday.
“As I told the players, we saw two faces of Monaco tonight,” said Monaco coach Philippe Clement.
“We started well and for 25 minutes, we were good. But then the aggressiveness fell away and Strasbourg came back and scored twice. At half-time, I was very angry. I didn’t recognise my team.”
–AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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