CM : Hossam Hassan apporte son soutien au peuple palestinien

Avant le huitième de finale entre l’Argentine et l’Égypte, Hossam Hassan, le sélectionneur des Pharaons,
a justifié son soutien à la Palestine en conférence de presse. Lors de celle- ci, un journaliste lui a demandé pourquoi il avait fêté la qualification de son équipe en se saisissant d’un drapeau de la Palestine. «Tout le monde a des émotions, a-t-il lâché. Celui qui ne ressent rien pour le peuple palestinien n’est pas un être humain. Qu’il soit arabe, européen, américain ou autre. Partout, si un animal est maltraité, les gens se lèvent
pour les droits de l’Homme, les droits des animaux, les droits de tout. Mais quand, chaque jour, des êtres humains par milliers tombent, des enfants, des femmes, des hommes meurent […] Je dis que c’est une honte pour nous tous, pas seulement pour le monde arabe. Une honte pour les dirigeants qui abandonnent des êtres humains comme nous». Hassan a ensuite continué sa déclaration sous l’œil d’un attaché de presse de la FIFA . « Je ne parle pas d’islam, de christianisme et de judaïsme. Ce geste est venu de mon initiative car je suis un être humain comme ces gens qui meurent. Mon message est qu’il faut utiliser le foot comme soft power. Je presse les médias, les sportifs, comme nous le faisons pour les slogans de la FIFA, ‘‘respect’’ et ‘‘fair-play‘‘, nous voulons du fair-play dans nos vies, du respect pour l’être humain. » À la suite de ces mots, plusieurs journalistes présents dans la salle ont applaudi.
– AVEC SOL afnews.co.za

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Fulham a officiellement annoncé la nomination d’Álvaro Arbeloa au poste d’entraîneur principal. À peine son aventure au Real Madrid terminée, l’Espagnol n’a pas eu le temps de chômer. À 43 ans, il s’est engagé pour trois saisons avec le club londonien et est désormais lié aux Cottagers jusqu’à l’été 2029.

Après une brillante carrière de joueur, notamment sous les couleurs du Real Madrid et de la sélection espagnole, Arbeloa s’est rapidement tourné vers le métier d’entraîneur. Il a d’abord dirigé plusieurs équipes de jeunes du Real Madrid avant de prendre les commandes de l’équipe première la saison dernière. Cette arrivée marque un nouveau chapitre dans la carrière du technicien espagnol, qui découvrira pour la première fois la Premier League en tant qu’entraîneur. Fulham mise sur son profil, sa culture de la gagne et sa capacité à développer un projet ambitieux pour poursuivre sa progression dans l’élite anglaise.

À l’annonce de sa nomination, Álvaro Arbeloa a exprimé sa fierté de rejoindre le club londonien. « C’est un véritable honneur pour moi d’entamer cette nouvelle étape avec Fulham FC, le plus ancien club de Londres. Je ressens une grande responsabilité et je suis profondément reconnaissant à M. Khan et à Tony Khan pour la confiance qu’ils m’ont accordée avec Fulham en Premier League », a-t-il déclaré sur le site du club.

L’ancien défenseur espagnol a également adressé un message aux supporters des Cottagers. « J’ai vraiment hâte de vivre l’ambiance à Craven Cottage avec les supporters de Fulham et de commencer la pré-saison avec les joueurs la semaine prochaine. Je suis sûr que nous allons vivre une aventure incroyable ensemble », a ajouté l’ancien de Liverpool.

Avec cette nomination, Fulham ouvre une nouvelle page de son histoire en confiant son banc à un entraîneur prometteur, déterminé à faire ses preuves dans l’un des championnats les plus exigeants au monde.

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If you truly believe that World Cup icon Lionel Messi and Wimbledon legend Novak Djokovic aren’t the GOAT in their respective crafts, your levels of delusion need to be studied.

Will the Messi magic ever run out?

After another dramatic evening in the World Cup, the quarter-final lineup is complete. Defending champions Argentina survived an almighty scare, coming from 2-0 down to eventually beat Egypt in a thriller. The great Lionel Messi was at the forefront, as he usually is. The man from Rosario missed a penalty on 21 minutes but atoned spectacularly with an assist for Cristian Romero’s 79th-minute goal and then a goal of his own on 83 minutes. Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez completed the stunning comeback in stoppage time. Switzerland beat Colombia on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes to set up a quarter-final with Messi’s merry men.

Ageless Djokovic turns back the clock, again

1987 was a decent vintage. Born a mere 32 days before Mr Messi, 39-year-old Novak Djokovic is still on course for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title after an astonishing quarter-final win over Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon. It took the Serbian five hours and fifteen minutes to eventually vanquish his Canadian opponent, the longest match he’s ever contested at SW19. His reward is a semi-final berth with World Number 1 and tournament favourite Jannik Sinner. The odds might not be in Djokovic’s favour ahead of their Friday showdown, but that’s never stopped Novak.

This will be his 15th appearance in the final four at Wimbledon, where he’s gunning for an eighth crown to take him level with Roger Federer as the tournament’s most decorated men’s player. There’s no longer a debate around who the tennis GOAT is. That man is now in a contest with himself, and he’s hungrier than ever before.

Djokovic and Sinner do battle on Friday.

Scotland need flyhalf Finn Russell to produce the magic to beat the Springboks in South Africa for the first time, writes MARK KEOHANE.

Russell is Scotland’s flyhalf conductor. When he plays there is always hype and there is always hope.

Russell has never played the Springboks in South Africa wearing his Scotland colours.

He was in South Africa in 2021 with the British & Irish Lions, but his tour combined elation, frustration and despair.

The elation came from being selected and the frustration from being unavailable for the first two Tests of the three-Test series because he was still recovering from an achilles injury.

Russell finally saw Test match action in the third and final Test, coming on as an early replacement. He scored 11 of the Lions’ 16 points in a dramatic 19-16 defeat, which also secured the series win for the Springboks.

ALSO: Boks expect Scottish chaos

Russell was praised for his wizardry on the ball and his ability to find vulnerability in a Springbok defensive system that had proved miserly all series.

It was a little too late for Russell and the Lions. To add to the despair and disappointment, Covid-19 lockdown forced the entire tour to be played in empty stadiums.

In media interviews previewing the inaugural Nations Championship, Russell bemoaned not experiencing South Africa and the Springboks as he had envisaged due to the lockdown restrictions. He said the prospect of going to South Africa for a Test match in front of packed crowds in July would be a first for him.

MORE: Scots’ biggest weapon set to fire at Boks

Russell is hopeful that July, a Test month of firsts for him, will also be a Test month of firsts for Scotland in South Africa in the professional era. The Scots have never won against the Springboks in South Africa, and Russell has also never played in Argentina and Fiji, the destinations for Scotland’s other two Nations Championship matches.

Russell is a fan of the Nations Championship concept, where the reward in each Test is league points for the finals weekend at Twickenham, where teams rank from six plays six down to one plays one.

He wants Scotland to achieve that No 1 spot after they mixed the magical with the dire in the recent Six Nations. Scotland lost to Italy but hammered England and beat France, only then to get hammered by Ireland.

TOWNSEND: Boks provide the toughest test

Russell, who was the highest-paid player in the sport when signing for Paris-based Racing 92, remains one of the most sought-after No 10s in the game. He has significant playing pedigree, having started his career at Glasgow (81 matches).

He has been central to Johann van Graan’s rebuild of Bath in the English Premiership and Europe, and wants that one big hurrah in South Africa against the Springboks.

Russell, nearing 100 Test caps, will probably play out his Test career at the World Cup in Australia next year when he will be approaching 35.

But as Van Graan repeatedly says, there is still so much magic in Russell’s hands and feet, not to mention his mind, that he remains one of the biggest influences on match days, be it for Bath or Scotland.

And if Scotland are to win for the first time in eight attempts in South Africa, it will be down to Russell.

– This column first appeared in the July 2026 issue of SA Rugby magazine. The August 2026 issue is also available to read for FREE.

Photo: Franco Arland/Getty Images

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Novak Djokovic battled through Wimbledon’s longest ever quarter-final to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set epic on Tuesday as the former champion set up a titanic clash with defending champion Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic defied a calf injury suffered in the first set to win 7-6 (12/10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/4) in a Centre Court classic lasting five hours and 15 minutes.

The indefatigable 39-year-old will meet world number one Sinner on Friday for a place in the final.

While Sinner beat German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets on Tuesday, Djokovic had to dig much deeper before he subdued Canadian third seed Auger-Aliassime in one of the all-time gutsy Wimbledon performances.

The question now is whether the Serb will have anything left in the tank to beat Sinner.

‘A lot of heart’

Asked how he saw off Auger-Aliassime, Djokovic said: “With racquet and a lot of heart. I have management of the nerves and the extreme tension you feel in these kind of matches.

“Towards the end, it was really anyone’s game. What can I say, these are the kind of moments that I still play tennis for, for sure.

“I was telling the kids to go to sleep, I’m glad they stayed because it was one of the best matches I was part of on this court in my career.”

Djokovic has advanced to a record-extending 15th Wimbledon semi-final and 55th at the Grand Slams.

He is into the Wimbledon last four for an eighth consecutive time, setting a new record ahead of Roger Federer for the longest streak of men’s singles semi-final appearances at the All England Club.

Djokovic is only the second player in the Open era to reach the men’s semi-finals at Wimbledon aged 39 or older after Ken Rosewall in 1974.

Sinner wasn’t at his best against Struff, but his booming serve kept the world number 74 at bay as he reached his 10th Grand Slam semi-final and third at Wimbledon.

“It was a huge test today. I felt comfortable on the physical side, a good step forwards,” the Italian said.

‘I was very nervous’

In the women’s tournament, Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova reached their first Wimbledon semi-finals.

The all-American encounter on Centre Court went Gauff’s way as the seventh seed beat Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Gauff — a two-time major champion — was appearing in the last eight at the All England Club for the first time.

Seven years after she became the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon main draw aged 15 and then stunned Venus Williams on her debut, Gauff is two wins away from an even more impressive feat at the All England Club.

The 22-year-old is into the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time since winning her most recent major at the French Open last year.

She is the youngest player to appear in all four Grand Slam semi-finals since Maria Sharapova in 2007.

“Considering I hadn’t won a match in two years on grass before this tournament, I’m really happy with how I played today,” Gauff said.

Muchova stays in the hunt

In the last four, Gauff faces Czech 10th seed Muchova, who beat Japanese star Naomi Osaka 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Muchova had never been past the first round in her four previous visits to Wimbledon, but she won the grass-court tournament at Bad Homburg in June.

“Oh my god, I was very nervous! I know you can’t lose focus because if you give her a little chance, she takes it,” Muchova said.

The 29-year-old lost her only Grand Slam final appearance against Iga Swiatek at the 2023 French Open.

French Open champion Alexander Zverev finished off his delayed last-16 tie against Jiri Lehecka, winning 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6) to book a quarter-final clash with American sixth seed Taylor Fritz.

Zverev had been leading by two sets when the match was halted by the 10pm GMT curfew on Monday.