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The Qatar Football Federation confirmed the departure of Félix Sánchez as head coach on Friday.

It was the last day of his contract for the Spaniard, who has led the team for the past five-and-a-half years – he won the Asian Cup in 2019 but fell short at the World Cup, on home soil, with three defeats and just one goal scored . Sánchez speculated, in a statement on the federation’s website, that he wanted to “explore new challenges”.

And the Portuguese could be the successor: according to the local press, the federation is already in talks with Carlos Queiroz, who left the Iranian national team after participating in the World Cup. Journalist Mohammed Al-Kaabi even speaks of a “principle of agreement”, devoid of the financial part.

Liverpool’s victory at Anfield against Leicester is a normal result. Just think that in 33 Premier League clashes reds record of 18 wins against nine losses. More: the foxes they have been defeated in 10 of their last 12 visits to the legendary stadium for the championship.

What’s so extraordinary about yesterday’s duel in which Jurgen Klopp’s team (Dutch reinforcement Cody Gakpo assisted his new team-mates on the bench) won 2-1, after a somersault on the board (Dewsbury-Hall scored for the guests, at 4′)?

Belgian centre-back Wout Faes, 24, who signed from Reims this season, scored two own goals, becoming only the fourth player to score twice into his own net in a Premier League game, after centre-back Jamie Carragher (in the defeat against Liverpool vs Man. United, 2-3, 11 September 1999), striker Michael Proctor (in Sunderland’s defeat at Charlton, 1-3, 1 February 2003) and winger Jonathan Walkers (in suffered by Stoke against Chelsea, 0-4, on 12 January 2013).

In the first own goal Faes, who prefers to play with his right foot, should have had better contact with the ball to cushion the dangers, but he completely missed the approach with his left foot, making a shot which, in a capricious effect, went over his head by goalkeeper Ward and just stopped on goal (38′). Weird launch!

Shortly afterwards, surprised by Salah’s approach, after Darwin Núñez’s shot was cleared off the post (the Uruguayan made his 50th shot in nine Premier League games), Wout Faes didn’t put his body in the right position. position and, worse, he hit the net again, now with his right foot (45′).

«Faes came back a little rusty for not having played for a long time and for not having played a single minute of the World Cup. It was important for us at the start of the season, but today [ontem] he was unhappy,’ acknowledged Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers of the defender.

Roger Schmidt left Enzo Fernández’s future open after the Braga match. The Benfica coach has admitted that anything can happen in football, so he hasn’t ruled out the possibility that the Argentine midfielder will be sold in January.

“I don’t know if it was Enzo’s last game. He is a great player, since he arrived at Benfica he has been fantastic, he identifies perfectly with the club. Sometimes things happen and the players have to make decisions, so let’s see what happens in the coming weeks,” said the German coach at the press conference.

Enzo Fernández was a regular (he ended up being replaced in the 90th minute), as was Otamendi, who just returned to the club this week after winning the World Cup with Argentina. «Nico and Enzo were fine, at their normal level. I say the same thing I said before the game: they’re in rhythm, they’ve been playing in the last few weeks, there were others who weren’t competing. Maybe now they need to work to get back to their best shape », he reflected.

Centre-back Nicolás Otamendi will no doubt be in Benfica’s starting line-up defense for this Friday’s game at SC Braga as the Eagles return to the league.

If so, the captain of the reds will be the first world champion to take the field after the Qatar championship. Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández could also return to action today, but, unlike Otamendi, there are more doubts about his entry into the squad coached by German Roger Schmidt from the outset.

One and a half months after his 35th birthday (February 2nd) and after playing every minute of every World Cup match, Otamendi will give yet another proof of quality and personality.

We recall that Benfica is trying to renew his contract, which will expire next summer, but the news that Otamendi may also receive offers from other clubs is starting to become more insistent.

It is from images like this that the film is born Pele – Birth of a legend: Dondinho (the father) is cleaning a public toilet, with Dico (not yet Pelé) helping him – and, suddenly, he exclaims:

– If you want to be a professional player, you don’t have to be ashamed of who you are…
Equally exciting is the moment when Dico and Dondinho appear to be training in the back of the poor house with an orange – and Dico works magic with it, the magic already blossoming on his feet, on his bare feet. It wasn’t until the age of 12 that he first wore shoes and soon led Ameriquinha to victory in the Bauru tournament. He moved to Bauru BC-and the tragedy almost deprived him of his immortality: he went swimming in the river with a friend and, swimming badly, they miraculously saved him from drowning as he launched himself fearlessly into the adventure.

He was sleepwalking, his mother, in a panic, several times discovered him wandering around the house, late at night – and other times, which was not fear, it was laughter – laughter when she heard him, while he was sleeping, leave the bed in a scream and a cry that creeps in:

– Goal!

Bangu toured Bauru and, watching him play, wanted to take him right away to Rio de Janeiro. Not because Dona Celeste forbade Dondinho to leave him. He tried to do the same later, when Waldemar de Brito (a friend of his father who had been a star of the team) lured him, dazzled, to Santos. He was 15 years old, he began to earn five cruzeiros a month, plus room and board – and his companions didn’t call him Pelé, they called him Gasoline because he always begged them to let him go to the pump “fill up his cars”…

Maracana and Belenenses
Also impressive in the film is the scene of his farewell to Bauru – of Pelé who launches into the future. He was already there when, on June 19, 1957, he set foot in the Maracanã and the Maracanã for the first time – and from him came the first sign of divinity. No, he wasn’t wearing the Santos shirt, he was wearing the Vasco da Gama shirt. To face Belenenses in the Torneo Morumbi (which was played as an airlift between São Paulo and Rio) Vasco asked Santos for five players – and Pelé, who had just turned 16, scored three times in a 6-1 win. He says whoever saw the first hat was the most sublime hat in his life …

– Was it the match against Belenenses, for Vasco, that paved your way to the World Cup?
– That was an important moment, of course. It hadn’t been decided yet whether I would go to the World Cup…
– … and with that flip of the hat, it was immediately thought that yes, that he should have gone…
– The best goal of my life wasn’t that, the most important thing could have been…

It is with this World Cup, the 1958 World Cup that Pele – Birth of a legend ends and you understand why the film is what it is – and why there is, agitated, the cry:
– You may only be 16, but you’ve become a spokesperson for this great nation…
and Pele became, inter alia:
– … the player who changed the game, sublimated «ginga» and «beautiful football», inspired a team, made it believe it was capable…

Paris Saint-Germain kick off the year with a match on Day 1 and then against Ligue 1 runners-up Lens. Matchday 17 takes place on January 1 and 2, which PSG coach Christophe Galtier finds strange.

«I had the idea of ​​scheduling a training session at 21.30 on the 31st (laughs)», he told PSG TV, «I’m joking, but it’s the first time [jogar dia 1] it happens to us in France. As for New Year’s Eve, I have full faith in my players, I know they will pay attention to what they eat and what time to go to bed. Tomorrow morning we will do serious training, I know that at home they will have families waiting to pass the year, but we are talking about high-level players », she explained.

The coach praised Mbappé again for giving up his holidays after the World Cup: “The fact that he came back so quickly and had a great desire to win and push the team shows his state of mind. Kylian is very dynamic, he is invested in the role of a player who grows every week. This year he has scored 56 goals in 56 games. How lucky we are to have such a player.”

Galtier also spoke of the winter market that is about to open and announced a quiet month: «I am very happy with the squad. There will be no entrances if there are no exits. At the moment there are no players who have asked to look for a team, it means they are fine here. But the market will be long, we have many games. There may be some players who are dissatisfied with playing time and we can discuss the possibilities.”