Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng has decided to retire at the end of the current season, Ghanasoccernet can report.
Boateng, 35, will not sign an extension with his boyhood club Hertha Berlin when his current contract expires, and he will hang his boot.
The former Black Stars player rejoined the German club at the start of last season and helped them stay in the Bundesliga.
The club rewarded him with a one-year extension for his great role in their survival.
Before returning to Hertha, the former Barcelona and AC Milan player stated his intention to retire at the club.
After making just 10 starts last season, the German-born Ghanaian is expected to play more games in his last season as a professional.
Boateng has reportedly lost five kilograms of body weight as the Ghanaian looks more lively and should be better able to convey his playing quality and experience to the pitch over longer periods of time.
The forward has better physical fitness as compared to a year ago and should be more impact this term.
He should also benefit from the fact that Ivan Sunjic, a defensive six, was brought in, which could protect Boateng and Suat Serdar, who are more equipped with creative skills.
Saurav Ghosal weeps after winning historic bronze in Commonwealth Games 2022.
Saurav Ghosal created history on Wednesday by winning India’s first ever singles medal in squash at the Commonwealth Games. The world number 15 defeated England’s James Willstrop 11-6, 11-1, 11-4 in the bronze play-off match to achieve the feat. It is worth noting that Ghosal was earlier outplayed by New Zealand’s Paul Coll in the men’s singles semifinals on Tuesday. While India wrote history with the bronze medal of Ghosal, it was the player’s second medal in the history of the event. He had won a mixed doubles silver with Dipika Pallikal in the 2018 edition that took place in Gold Coast, Australia.
Soon after his victory on Wednesday, Ghosal was seen in tears. The player started weeping while the crowd behind him kept applauding him.
Robert Lewandowski is one of the best strikers in the world over the last ten years and given that he has more than 600 goals to his name, we can easily say that Lewy is one of the best strikers ever. Following his 12-year stay in Germany, where he dominated Bundesliga, the Polish captain decided it was time to move on and pursue a new challenge.
Lewandowski won it all with Bayern Munich: eight Bundesliga titles, three DFB Pokals, and one Champions League, something he failed to win during his time at Borussia Dortmund (was runner-up in 2012/13). Robert scored astonishing 344 goals in 375 matches in all competitions for Bayern and was Bundesliga’s top scorer on seven occasions.
He won that award for five consecutive seasons. Still, Lewandowski fell short in the battle for Ballon d’Or in 2021, finishing second behind Lionel Messi. Many people thought it was an undeserved seventh award for the Argentinean as Lewy had a much better season as a whole.
All of this was enough for Lewandowski as he started to feel bored and uninspired in Munich, so he asked the club’s hierarchy to sell him this summer. Lewandowski specifically wanted Barcelona, who acted quickly and expressed interest.
After a few weeks of negotiations, Barcelona got their man in a €45 million, potentially rising to a €50 million deal with add-ons. The contract includes a €500 million release clause, which likely not going to be triggered considering Lewy is turning 34 in late August.
It’s a four-year contract, though, and Barca’s president Joan Laporta and head coach Xavi see Lewandowski as the player who can bring back the European glory to Camp Nou.
But, will Robert Lewandowski win the Champions League title with FC Barcelona? Our answer is NO and here is why – we have several reasons for it.
Barcelona won nothing in the first full season after Lionel Messi’s departure to Paris Saint Germain. It’s rare that Barca finishes the season emptyhanded, but the club is going through changes and it was evident both on and off the pitch. They also have a big debt and while everybody knows that, Barcelona somehow manages to spend a lot of money on new arrivals and stay away from financial sanctions.
Only this summer, they spent €130 million net (source AfricaCasinoHub.com) on three players: Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Jules Koundé. Barca also added Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen on free transfers. Now, their defence is stronger than last year, but it seems that the problem could be chemistry and the locker room atmosphere. Barcelona’s attack is overcrowded at the moment as they have eight forwards and it’s quite possible, unless they sell two or three, that some of those players are going to feel unhappy at Camp Nou, which always can lead to other players being unsatisfied.
Frenkie de Jong has been treated unfairly by the club and Laporta as they want to force him out and sell him to Manchester United in order to cover debts. De Jong is not interested in leaving Barcelona, and his situation can affect more squad players. The club owes him money and yet, they are buying new players. De Jong will be unhappier with his status and that’s going to be felt on the pitch. So, the roses are definitely not all red for Barcelona right now, and even though they have one of the best forward lines in the world, at least on paper, that is not going to help them to win the Champions League. Even the best betting sites in Ghana don’t believe Blaugrana can do it for the first time since 2014-15 with odds at 13.00. While Barca will probably battle with Real Madrid for the LaLiga title at 2.25 odds, winning the Champions League for them and Robert Lewandowski is going to be hard.
The team lost its winning mentality and while Xavi is appointed to restore that, it may take years for him to do it and make Barcelona the force it used to be. It’s quite possible Lewy will not be there to be a part of it. Robert Lewandowski will stay four years at Barca, but he’s not getting any younger, and after 12 years in Germany, where he scored goals for fun, it’s going to be more complicated in Spain, where the competition is fiercer and defences are much better. While we do believe Lewy will score a ton of goals for his new club, we don’t think Robert Lewandowski will win the Champions League title with FC Barcelona.
Marc Cucurella made 35 appearances in his only season with Brighton
Chelsea have signed Spain international full-back Marc Cucurella from Brighton for about £50m.
The defender, 24, handed in a transfer request after interest from Manchester City, but they did not pursue a deal and deemed the fee too high.
Cucurella was with Brighton for just one season after joining from Getafe, making 35 appearances and scoring once.
He becomes Chelsea’s third summer signing after forward Raheem Sterling and defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
The Blues have also agreed a £20m fee with Aston Villa for teenage England youth international Carney Chukwuemeka.
Last month, the Seagulls rejected a £30m bid from champions City for Cucurella and saw £50m as the benchmark – the fee Arsenal paid for England defender Ben White last summer.
Sources at the club said it would take another exceptional offer to consider a sale as they saw Cucurella as a better player.
But he becomes the second big-money departure this summer from the Amex after midfielder Yves Bissouma joined Tottenham in a £25m deal, plus add-ons.
A Barcelona academy graduate, Cucurella has one senior cap for Spain and played for the under-23 side that won silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Cristiano Ronaldo was pictured on social media leaving Old Trafford before the end of Sunday’s 1-1 friendly draw with Rayo Vallecano; Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag has called the Portugal forward’s early departure ‘unacceptable’
Ronaldo was pictured leaving Old Trafford with his United team-mate Diogo Dalot, but unlike his compatriot, the defender had not been included in the club’s squad to play Vallecano.
However, the 37-year-old – whose future at United is in doubt with reports he wants to leave in order to play for a club competing in next season’s Champions League – had featured in the first half against the Spaniards, before being substituted at the interval.
Ten Hag, though, was unimpressed with Ronaldo’s actions, telling Dutch media outlets AD and Viaplay that while “he was not the only one who left after half-time, I tell them [the players] that it’s unacceptable. That we are a team, and that you need to stay right until the very end.”
Ronaldo was absent for United’s recent pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia while he dealt with a family issue and only returned to training last week, when he and his agent, Jorge Mendes, held further talks about his future.
United are insistent, however, that they will not sanction the sale of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who is firmly in Ten Hag’s plans, although the new United boss has admitted the player is still a long way behind his team-mates in terms of fitness.
“He is not on the level of the rest of the squad because he missed a lot of weeks,” Ten Hag told Viaplay before Sunday’s clash with Rayo. “But he needs games and he needs training, a lot.”
Much has been made of whether Ronaldo fits into the new style of play Ten Hag is trying to implement at Old Trafford and whether he still has the ability to press from the front and play in a modern system.
However, Ten Hag, speaking in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports ahead of the new Premier League season, believes the Portugal international can prove that he can.
“I think he can,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. “It starts with him getting fit because he’s only just started.
“He is a fantastic football player, and he has proved it so many times, but you are always judged on what you are presenting now and how you are performing now.
“So, the team and Cristiano himself has to prove it.”
Scientists fear PFAS may pose health risks including cancer, though research has so far been inconclusive. They have been growing increasingly concerned about the proliferation of PFAS in recent years.
PFAS stands for poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances.
There are around 4,500 of these fluorine-based compounds and they are found in almost every dwelling on Earth in hundreds of everyday products including food packaging, non-stick cookware, rain gear, adhesives, paper and paints.
Fire fighting foams often contain PFAS chemicals
Safety concerns about the presence of these long-lasting substances in drinking water have also been raised.
Earlier this year a BBC investigation found PFAS in water samples in England at levels that exceeded European safety levels, but did not exceed the current safety level in England and Wales.
This new study, which looks at four specific chemicals in the class, suggests that levels of one PFAS in rainwater around the globe often “greatly exceed” US drinking water advisory levels.
Soil around the world is similarly contaminated, evidence suggests.
The study’s findings lead the authors to conclude that a planetary boundary has been crossed – that there simply is no safe space on Earth to avoid these substances.
“We argue here that we’re not within this safe operating space anymore, because we now have these chemicals everywhere, and these safety advisories, we can’t achieve them anymore,” said Prof Ian Cousins, the lead author from Stockholm University.
“I’m not saying that we’re all going to die of these effects. But we’re in a place now where you can’t live anywhere on the planet, and be sure that the environment is safe.”
While this is undoubtedly cause for concern, there are some provisos.
Many of these safety levels in place are advisory, meaning they are not legally enforceable.
Other scientists take the view that action on these chemicals should wait until the health risks are more clearly proven.
Much research has been carried out on the health risks posed by PFAS, and scientists say that exposure to high levels may be associated with an increased risk of some cancers, fertility issues and developmental delays in children.
However such associations don’t prove cause and effect and other studies have found no connection between PFAS and disease.
Scientists drilling for ice samples in Antarctica to see how far PFAS have travelled
Scientists drilling for ice samples in Antarctica to see how far PFAS have travelled
Trinidad and Tobago’s Nicholas Paul was beaten into second.
Australia’s Matthew Richardson completed a sprint double at Birmingham 2022 with a gold-medal winning performance in the men’s sprint final.
Richardson was part of his nation’s team sprint squad that beat England to gold on Friday night and completed the double with a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago’s Nicholas Paul in the individual event.
Richardson secured victory in race one by a narrow margin before dominating race two to come home by more than half a second to claim his second gold of the Games.
Matthew Glaetzer took the bronze in a final-race shootout with Scotland’s Jack Carlin.
