Author: tripleseason

One year without the great Diego Maradona

Today marks the one year anniversary of Diego Maradona’s death. It has been 12 months of cult fans trying to come to terms with the fact that the Argentine talisman is no more.

Maradona was one of the greatest to ever play the round leather game, that is why when news of his death broke on the 25th of November 2020, football fans where shocked to their core.

Maradona helped Napoli to two Scudetti, one Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa Italiana and the UEFA Cup.

The club has never reached similar heights in Europe after the former Barcelona star’s time at the club.

Maradona won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, as the captain and the protagonist of the competition, with five goals in the competition and two of the most historic moments in the history of the game.

He was also famous for a controversial goal he scored against England in the 1986 World Cup. The goal was termed ‘the hand of God’

Here are some of his best moments:

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Kevin De Bruyne is set to miss three crucial games after testing positive for Covid-19

Kevin De Bruyne has tested positive for coronavirus while on international duty with Belgium; Manchester City midfielder is self-isolating for 10 days, says manager Pep Guardiola; De Bruyne will miss matches against Everton and Paris Saint-Germain.

The 30-year-old playmaker has been away on World Cup qualifying duty with his country, helping Roberto Martinez’s side to book their place at Qatar 2022.

He is, however, about to take another enforced break at club level, with Pep Guardiola also waiting to discover whether Jack Grealish and Phil Foden will be ready to face Everton on Sunday following their respective efforts with England.

De Bruyne, who is vaccinated, scored for Belgium in their World Cup qualifying draw with Wales on Tuesday. “The symptoms will be minor hopefully,” said City manager Pep Guardiola.

“As soon as possible, he can come back. We do not worry about what we are going to miss. The person is more important. We have to help him and hope it goes well while he’s isolated.”

NORWICH CITY APPOINT DEAN SMITH AS THEIR NEW MANAGER

Premier League basement boys Norwich City have officially announced the appointment of Dean Smith on a two-and-a-half year deal.

The 50 year-old will now succeed the sacked Daniel Farke, and is saddled with the task of preventing the club from going to relegation – with the Canaries currently bottom of the Premier League, five points adrift of safety. Also, Craig Shakespeare who worked with Smith at Aston Villa, will join him as his assistant at Carrow Road.

Dean Smith is set to make history as the first man to take charge of successive Premier League matches against the same opponent with different teams, after being sacked by Aston Villa following a home defeat to Southampton. Smith’s first game in charge will be at home to Southampton on Saturday, 20 November.

Smith spent three years at Aston Villa and in that time, guided them to promotion from the Championship and reached the Carabao Cup final. But things at the club did not improve this season, with captain Jack Grealish departing for defending champions Manchester City for 100 million pounds. The team also lost five consecutive league games and have only ten points – just two points from the drop zone.

It is left to be seen whether Smith can keep Norwich up, following their terrible start to the season but his experience may just be the difference in the end. Norwich dismissed former boss Daniel Farke on 6th November despite a win away at Brentford, which was the club’s first league victory of the campaign.

Following Dean Smith’s appointment, Canaries sporting director Stuart Webber said: “I have admired his work for some time and he has been a long-term target in the event that we needed to appoint a new head coach.” Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard also held talks with the Canaries, but pulled out of the running.

BREAKING: Dani Alves makes emotional return to Barcelona!

Alves and Xavi in the colours of Barca

Xavi’s first signing as manager of Barcelona is his former teammate Dani Alves. Alves joins his former side as a free agent after being out of contract since leaving Sao Paulo in his native Brazil in September 2021. 

According to Marca, Xavi approved Barca’s negotiations with the Brazilian on Friday afternoon and within a few hours, there was an update from highly acclaimed journalist Fabrizio Romano that Xavi would join the Catalan giants.

Fabrizio Romano first broke the news on Twitter

Alves had a trophy-laden first stint at Camp Nou which saw him win a total of 23 trophies between 2008 and 2016. He had 3 Champions League winners medals and 6 La Liga winners medals in the colours of Barcelona. 

There are reports that the signing of Xavi is to help add a leader to the Spanish outfit in order to boost their performances. His contract with Barcelona will include a clause to extend the deal until June 2023. Alves would train with the team but would be eligible to play from January 2022.

Alves is the most decorated player in world football, having enjoyed success at a number of clubs. As well as Barcelona and Sao Paulo, he has represented Bahia, Sevilla, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.

BREAKING: Mohamed Salah is the EA Sports Premier League Player of the Month for October!

Mohamed Salah wins monthly award after an outstanding month that saw him score five Premier League goals, including a hat-trick against Manchester United; Phil Foden, Aaron Ramsdale and Ben Chilwell among the other nominees.

The Egyptian maestro produced an astonishing 9-goal contribution for Klopp’s men. Salah also continued his scoring exploits on the European stage with a brace in a 3-2 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.

Salah beat off competition from Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell, Burnley’s Maxwel Cornet, Manchester City’s Phil Foden, Southampton’s Tino Livramento, Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, and Youri Tielemans of Leicester, to win the accolade.

Liverpool returns to action after the international break with a home game against Arsenal on November 20 – live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event.