Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
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Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)

Napoli will open up the Diego Armando Maradona stadium on Thursday night for a live screening of their away game with Udinese when they hope to clinch the league title, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Napoli also expect as many as 10,000 fans to make the long trek to northeast Italy for a match when a point will be enough to claim their first league title since Maradona was in his pomp in 1990.

Extra police will be on duty in Udine for the game, with Napoli supporters taking up around half of the capacity of the Stadio Friuli.

The result may even be academic: Napoli could be crowned champions the previous night if Lazio fail to win their Wednesday home match with Sassuolo. Lazio, who are in second spot, trail Napoli by 18 points with six games to play.

Hundreds of thousands of Napoli fans had flooded into the center of the southern Italian port city on Sunday expecting their team to beat local rivals Salernitana and secure the Serie A championship for only the third time in their history.

But a late equalizer by the visitors put one of the largest street parties Italy has seen in years on hold for a few days.



ES Tunis Claim 1-0 Win, Eliminating LAFC from Club World Cup

Esperance's Tunisian goalkeeper #32 Bechir Ben Said (C) celebrates with teammates Tunisian goalkeeper #01 Amenallah Memmiche and Tunisian midfielder #38 Khalil Guenichi after winning the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group D football match between US Los Angeles FC and Tunis' Esperance Sportive de Tunis at the Geodis Park stadium in Nashville on June 20, 2025. (AFP)
Esperance's Tunisian goalkeeper #32 Bechir Ben Said (C) celebrates with teammates Tunisian goalkeeper #01 Amenallah Memmiche and Tunisian midfielder #38 Khalil Guenichi after winning the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group D football match between US Los Angeles FC and Tunis' Esperance Sportive de Tunis at the Geodis Park stadium in Nashville on June 20, 2025. (AFP)
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ES Tunis Claim 1-0 Win, Eliminating LAFC from Club World Cup

Esperance's Tunisian goalkeeper #32 Bechir Ben Said (C) celebrates with teammates Tunisian goalkeeper #01 Amenallah Memmiche and Tunisian midfielder #38 Khalil Guenichi after winning the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group D football match between US Los Angeles FC and Tunis' Esperance Sportive de Tunis at the Geodis Park stadium in Nashville on June 20, 2025. (AFP)
Esperance's Tunisian goalkeeper #32 Bechir Ben Said (C) celebrates with teammates Tunisian goalkeeper #01 Amenallah Memmiche and Tunisian midfielder #38 Khalil Guenichi after winning the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group D football match between US Los Angeles FC and Tunis' Esperance Sportive de Tunis at the Geodis Park stadium in Nashville on June 20, 2025. (AFP)

Youcef Belaili scored in the 70th minute, goalkeeper Ben Said saved a penalty deep in second-half stoppage time and ES Tunis defeated LAFC 1-0 to keep their FIFA Club World Cup hopes alive in a dramatic contest Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

The victory takes ES Tunis (1-1-0, 3 points) level with Chelsea in Group D, after the English side lost 3-1 to Brazil's Flamengo earlier on Friday.

Referee Espen Eskas awarded a very late spot kick following a video review, ruling Khalil Guenichi had felled Marlon in the area.

But Denis Bouanga drove his ensuing penalty kick into the dive of Said, the final salvo in a result that eliminated LAFC (0-2-0, 0 points) from tournament contention.

The winner of ES Tunis' meeting with Chelsea Tuesday in Philadelphia will move on to the knockout phase, with Chelsea advancing on a draw based on superior goal differential.