French Ligue 1
Neymar Strengthens PSG’s Brazilian Bonds
French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain may as well be the Brazil national team in the Diaspora. With Neymar being the latest, the club now has five members, almost half of a starting line-up for the five-time World Cup holders.
Neymar is teaming up with Lucas, Thiago Silva, Dani Alves and Marquinhos in forming a sublime Brazilian five-a-side squad. The bond between Brazil and the French club did not just start.
There have been many other top Brazilian players in the past who have featured for PSG as if the club has a magnetic pull on them. In the early 1970s, a certain Joel Camargo became the first Brazilian player to feature for PSG.
He featured for the club from 1971 to 1972. Like Neymar, he had his roots in Santos of Brazil, the same club the legendary Pele played for. Carmego’s stay in PSG was just a year as the career was cut short by car accident. He joined PSG shortly after he was a member of the 1970 World Cup and played only twice for PSG before the accident.
According to information garnered from FIFA, after Camargo returned to Brazil, he slowly dropped out of limelight though his former club, Santos paid a stirring tribute to him on November 11, 2006. He died May 2014, just few weeks before his country hosted the World Cup.
The next Brazilian national team player at PSG was Valdo who featured for the club from 1991 to 1995.
The early 1990s proved to be a new era for PSG, who made their ambitions clear by signing Valdo from Benfica, where he had enjoyed three fine seasons. A gifted playmaker who represented his country at two FIFA World Cups (Mexico 1986 and Italy 1990), Valdo lit up PSG for four seasons before returning to the Portuguese giants.
Next was Ricardo who also joined from Portugal’s Benfica at the same time with Valdo. Ricardo also spent four highly productive seasons in Paris before moving back with his compatriot to the club from the Portuguese capital.
The defender, who captained Brazil at Italy 1990, returned to the Parisians to begin a successful coaching career in 1996, this after retiring as a player due to repeated injury problems.
In 1993, Rai, another Brazilian international joined PSG in 1993 and played till 1998. He was already a star by the time he arrived in Paris in 1993. A captain for his country and a playmaker in Tele Santana’s great Sao Paulo side, he nevertheless enjoyed a testing first season in the French capital, while also relinquishing his national team skipper’s armband and place in the starting line-up as Brazil conquered the world at USA 1994. He made up for those setbacks the following season, delighting the PSG fans by showcasing his class and intelligence.
Leonardo arrived in Paris the day after the club’s UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup triumph, having been signed to replace the Inter Milan-bound Youri Djorkaeff.
Aside from the opportunity to join his friend Rai, the 1994 World Cup winner was also keen to get acquainted with France in the lead-up to the next world finals. The left-sided player settled in immediately, striking up a productive partnership with his compatriot.
The experience proved to be a short one, however, with Leonardo moving to AC Milan after just one season. He returned to Paris in 2011, this time as a director of football, helping to take the club to a new level by signing global stars of the calibre of Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Beckham.
Before the current generation, the last Brazilian in PSG was Ronaldinho who played 97 times for the club from 2001 to 2003. He scored 33 goals for the Parisian side. Ronaldinho signed for Barcelona, where, in moving in the opposite direction to Neymar 14 years later, he would give free rein to his considerable talent.
French Ligue 1
Sacked former Cote d’ivoire coach, Gasset announces retirement as Marseille manager
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/gasset.jpg)
Jean-Louis Gasset who was sacked by Cote d’Ivoire after the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations last January has announced his retirement as a coach of Olympique de Marseille.
He will take charge of his last game on Sunday before retiring from management, the 70-year-old said on Friday.
Gasset was appointed as interim manager by the Ligue 1 club in February after the sacking of Gennaro Gattuso, and Marseille are eight in the standings going into their final Ligue 1 game of the season at Le Havre.
“Sunday will be the last match of my career,” Gasset told a press conference.
“That I stay in football, that my experience, my ideas and my networks are used is a possibility. I don’t know how to garden, I won’t have anything to do. But as a coach, it’s over.”
The Frenchman’s previous job was with Ivory Coast from which he was sacked after the team’s poor performances in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage. They scraped through as the last lucky losers before going on to win the tournament on home soil.
-Reuters
French Ligue 1
Departing Mbappe backs good friend Dembele to become Ligue 1’s best
![Sealed And Delivered! Mbappe Has Already Signed Contract With Real Madrid -](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sealed-And-Delivered-Mbappe-Has-Already-Signed-Contract-With-Real.jpg)
Kylian Mbappe has backed winger Ousmane Dembele to be a success at Paris St Germain and fill his boots after he exits the club, as he won his fifth successive Ligue 1 Player of the Year award.
France captain Mbappe, 25, last week announced that he will leave the French champions at the end of the season after a seven-year stay, during which he became their all-time top scorer with 256 goals.
Mbappe’s frustration lies with PSG’s performances in the Champions League, a trophy they have never lifted despite huge investment in the squad. He has been heavily linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, who are in the final this year seeking a 15th European crown.
His 26-year-old compatriot Dembele joined the Parisian club, who have won 10 of the last 12 Ligue 1 titles, from LaLiga side Barcelona in August last year, signing a five-year deal.
“I have shared and played with incredible players, like Dembele who is here, he is a friend and one day he will pick up this award,” Mbappe said on Monday at the award ceremony.
“I thank the club as a whole, the coach, who has helped me and trusted me, his staff, the doctors, all the people at the club, the sporting management, the president, the shareholders of the club, of course, the Emir of Qatar who came to find me at the age of 18, who has accompanied me in all my decisions…”
He said his next chapter is going to be very exciting but did not reveal any further details.
“Now I’m turning the page in my life. Everything that comes next is super exciting, but that’s another subject,” Mbappe said.
“Thank you all, I’m going to miss you. I have always tried to do my best, and I also want to thank my family, who have always been with me in good times and bad.
“My father, who is here, I know that it was very important to him that I made history in Ligue 1 before I left and I think that with humility I have done everything you wanted.”
-Reuters
French Ligue 1
Mbappe Set To Quit PSG –
![Sealed And Delivered! Mbappe Has Already Signed Contract With Real Madrid -](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sealed-And-Delivered-Mbappe-Has-Already-Signed-Contract-With-Real.jpg)
France captain Kylian Mbappe has informed Paris St Germain that he is leaving the club in July as a free agent seven years after joining them, The Athletic website reported on Thursday.
Mbappe, a member of France’s 2018 World Cup-winning team, signed for PSG from Monaco in 2017 for 180 million euros ($194 million) to become the second most expensive player ever after Brazilian Neymar, who joined the French champions the same year for 222 million euros.
“Mbappe has communicated his decision to PSG but the terms of his exit are yet to be fully agreed. An official announcement is expected once the situation is finalised in the next few months,” the report said.
The 25-year-old striker, who helped the capital club win five Ligue 1 titles and three French Cups, is PSG’s all-time leading scorer with 243 goals in 290 appearances.
PSG have not responded to a request for comment.
Mbappe last year sent a letter to PSG stating that he would not take up the option to extend his contract by a year when it expires in June.
He has long been linked with Real Madrid, reportedly rejecting a 200 million euro ($215.36 million) offer in 2021. He was again set for a move to the LaLiga side in 2022 before announcing a contract extension with PSG before the transfer window opened.
PSG, who lead the Ligue 1 standings by 11 points, host Nice on Friday.
-Reuters
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