Four more teams will progress this morning, and four others will be packing their bags and catching the next flight home out of Qatar. Here’s all the lates news from the FIFA World Cup.
Suarez not in the mood to apologise for 2010 handball
Who could forget Luis Suarez’s infamous handball against at the 2010 World Cup against Ghana? With the quarter-final all square at 1-1 deep into stoppage time, the Uruguayan stopped a goal-bound shot with his arm and was deservedly given his marching orders.
And we all know what happened next: Asamoah Gyan stepped up to the spot, missed his penalty kick and the Uruguayans went on to progress to the final four in the penalty shootout.
Fast forward 12 years and Suarez is not planning to say sorry to anyone for the play.
“I don’t apologise for it,” Suarez said.
“I apologise if I injure a player but I took a red card for the handball. It wasn’t my fault, because I didn’t miss the penalty.”
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
To their credit the Ghanians are happy to turn the page and forget the unfortunate way they were bundled out of South Africa.
“Everyone felt bad [in 2010] but for me I just want to get to the next stage,” said Ghana captain Andre Ayew.
“Revenge or not, we would go with the same determination and desire to win.
Uruguay face off against Ghana tomorrow (2am AEDT) with Ghana likely only needing a draw, while Uruguay must claim the three points to be any chance of progressing to the knockout stage.
Rice drops West Ham exit hint, says he doesn’t want any regrets
England star Declan Rice isn’t just controlling the midfield for the Three Lions in Qatar – he’s been doing it for West Ham in the world’s best league for years now.
Speculation over the 23-year-old’s future is never far from the headlines, and Rice has candidly revealed he may not be long for the London Olympic Stadium as the allure of winning trophies and Champions League football prove hard to turn away.
“For the last two, three years, I’ve been saying that (I want to play in the biggest games),”Rice said.
“I’ve been playing consistently well for club, and I feel like I really want to keep pushing.
“I see my friends here who play in the Champions League, winning the big trophies. You only get one career and at the end of your career you want to look at what you’ve won and at the biggest games you’ve played in. I’m really ambitious and I really want to do that.”
The midfielder’s current West Ham contract runs until the end of the 2023-24 season, with a further one-year option in the club’s favour. In May, he rejected an eight-year deal offered by the London side.
Rough valuations put Rice’s potential transfer fee in the region of £150 million with EPL heavyweights Manchester United and Chelsea previously showing interest in his services.
After an unbeaten group stage performance, Rice’s England are through to the round of 16 in Qatar where they will take on Senegal for a place in the quarter-finals.
Martino out as Mexico manager after disappointing campaign
Gerardo Martino has paid the price for Mexico’s underwhelming performance in Qatar with the coach being relieved of his duties after his side failed to qualify for the knockout stage, despite yesterday’s victory over Saudi Arabia.
After a night of high drama it was Poland who claimed second place in Group C on goal difference in spite of their loss to Lionel Messi’s Argentina side.
Mexico are going home at the group stage for the first time in 32 years. The now-ended streak was the second-best of all sides, only behind 2022 title favourites Brazil.
“I am the first responsible for this terrible disappointment and frustration that we have,” Martino told reporters.
“As the person in charge, it causes a lot of sadness, I fully assume responsibility for this great failure. My contract ended as soon as the referee blew the final whistle and there is nothing more to be done.”
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