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Madrid's 'Greedy' Bellingham Ready for Dream Champions League Final

Real Madrid's English midfielder Jude Bellingham has been a key figure in his team's charge towards the double this season. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP
Real Madrid's English midfielder Jude Bellingham has been a key figure in his team's charge towards the double this season. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP
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Madrid's 'Greedy' Bellingham Ready for Dream Champions League Final

Real Madrid's English midfielder Jude Bellingham has been a key figure in his team's charge towards the double this season. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP
Real Madrid's English midfielder Jude Bellingham has been a key figure in his team's charge towards the double this season. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP

Jude Bellingham's first year at Real Madrid started in unbelievable fashion amid a whirlwind of goals, but the ending could be more incredible still.
With the Spanish title in the bag Madrid are aiming for a fifth La Liga and Champions League double, against the England international's former team Borussia Dortmund in Saturday's Wembley final.
"It's such a big game, my first Champions League final, back home in England against my old team -- it's a crazy one, I couldn't have dreamed it any better," Bellingham told reporters this week.
The 20-year-old midfielder was voted La Liga's player of the season on Wednesday. Bellingham scored 19 league goals and four in Europe on the way to the final, AFP said.
Arriving at Real Madrid last summer, he revealed his love of former midfield great Zinedine Zidane and even took the Frenchman's number five shirt in homage.
However Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti had other plans for Bellingham, a classy center-midfielder at Dortmund, putting him straight into the space vacated by striker Karim Benzema's departure.
It paid instant dividends, with 13 goals in his first 13 games, getting him off to a flying start with Madrid's fans, quick to serenade him with Beatles song 'Hey Jude'.
Bellingham struck twice, including a 91st minute winner, in his first Clasico to snatch victory over then-champions Barcelona on Catalan soil.
Did he anticipate this kind of impact? "I came here expecting to win," admitted Bellingham.
"I came here because I wanted to win, and to expect it, it's a bit greedy almost, but you have to be confident when you're playing with so many great players."
With another late winner in the second league Clasico and three goals in two matches against shock title challengers Girona, Bellingham delivered in key moments.
His goalscoring slowed as Ancelotti tasked him with more defensive responsibility, chastened by a loss against Atletico Madrid -- their only defeat in La Liga. In the Champions League Madrid are unbeaten.
"What you've seen from me this year is a lot of different kinds of roles and positions," said Bellingham.
There were some concerns around his fitness towards the end of the season following an ankle injury, but he says he feels "very close" to 100 percent after resting once Madrid claimed the title.
'He's going places'
Bellingham joined Dortmund from Birmingham City aged 17. He was the English side's youngest ever player and they retired his number 22 shirt in tribute to him.
Initially outshone by team-mates Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland, Bellingham still managed to establish himself as a regular starter in his first season in Germany.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic praised Bellingham's maturity, saying he could "hardly believe that he's only 17".
Before his final season at Dortmund, Bellingham was included in the captaincy group alongside skipper Marco Reus and Mats Hummels.
He led them out against Cologne in October 2022, aged just 19, becoming the youngest captain in Bundesliga history.
"You have the feeling he's got three kids at home -– he's going places," marveled Dortmund center-back Niklas Suele, a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich.
Bellingham established himself as a world-class talent at the 2022 World Cup, driving England to the quarter-finals.
Bellingham and Dortmund took the 2022-23 title race to the wire but lost out to Bayern on the final day, with the midfielder named Bundesliga player of the season.
A fortnight later Bellingham joined Madrid for 103 million euros ($112 million).
"He plays very grown-up football, even though he's so young," said Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi this week.
"I'm very happy for Jude, he played a great season," added Emre Can. "But on the pitch we think just about winning for our club."
Record 14-time champions Madrid are firm favorites though, and if they win, what is next for Bellingham?
"Hopefully the European Championship," he said. "I just talked about being greedy... I'm focused on the final."

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Sports

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami Reloads for a Run at a Second Straight MLS Title

Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega
Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega
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Lionel Messi's Inter Miami Reloads for a Run at a Second Straight MLS Title

Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega
Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega

Less than three months removed from its first MLS Cup championship, Lionel Messi's Inter Miami shows no signs of a letdown.

The Herons have assembled one of the strongest rosters in Major League Soccer history heading into a season that begins this weekend and bookends around the biggest event of them all, the World Cup hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The ageless Messi — he turns 39 in June — is coming off his second straight MVP award, the first player in MLS history to accomplish that feat. He just keeps adding to a legacy that already ensures he'll be remembered as one of the greatest ever to play the beautiful game, The Associated Press said.

“He’s a quiet guy, but on the pitch he transforms into an animal,” teammate Yannick Bright told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport. “After all he’s won, he never wants to lose, not even in training.”

Messi is hardly going it alone in Miami, which pulled off an impressive reload after bringing a title to South Florida.

MLS goalkeeper of the year Dayne St. Clair was lured away from Minnesota United, addressing the club's biggest area of concern. Germán Berterame arrived from Liga MX’s Monterrey to fill a designated player spot, giving the Herons another dynamic threat up front. Newcomers Micael, Sergio Reguilón and David Ayala should help the club cope with the departures of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

Miami begins its title defense Saturday night with a prime-time matchup against Los Angeles FC at the iconic Coliseum, which is expected to draw a crowd of more than 60,000.

Messi dealt with a muscle issue during the preseason, which put his availability for the opener in question. But he returned to full training this week and is expected to play.

Adding to the excitement in Miami, the Herons will hold the first game at their new Freedom Park stadium on April 4. The 25,000-seat facility completes a more than decade-long quest to build a soccer-specific stadium within the city.

Miami's possible challengers The Vancouver Whitecaps, who were bolstered by the summer signing of longtime German star Thomas Müller, reached the final of both the MLS Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2025.

They came up short in both games, losing 3-1 to Messi's squad for the league title and 5-0 to Mexico's Cruz Azul for the continental championship. With Müller set for his first full season in MLS, the Whitecaps are eager to bring home a trophy.

Los Angeles FC could the strongest club this side of South Florida, with Son Heung-Min also set for full campaign after his midseason arrival from Tottenham Hotspur provided a dynamic pairing with Denis Bouanga.

“I let Messi win this year,” Son joked during a December visit to Tottenham, "but next year ... we’ll be at the top.”

Also keep an eye on the Philadelphia Union, which claimed the Supporters' Shield for the league's best record during the regular season, and Minnesota United FC with its newest addition, Colombian icon James Rodríguez on a short-term deal.

World Cup break

The league's 30 clubs will have to navigate a seven-week shutdown while the expanded World Cup is held in North America.

MLS stadiums in Atlanta, New England, Seattle, Vancouver and Toronto will host World Cup matches, and many of the league's training facilities will be utilized by nations from around the globe.

The unique schedule has led to some strange quirks in the schedule, such as Atlanta United going more than three months between home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

When MLS resumes play in mid-July, it will be interesting to see which teams do the best job of handling the long layoff.

Sports

Host City Milan Seeks Permanent Ice Arena Post-Games

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)
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Host City Milan Seeks Permanent Ice Arena Post-Games

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)

With the Winter Olympics drawing to an end and its ice rinks due to be removed, joint host city Milan has unveiled plans for a permanent ice arena both to seal the Games' legacy and house a professional local hockey team.

Facing a clamor from athletes and residents, local authorities announced the project this week for a new 5,000-seater, 30x60m rink inside an exhibition center area on Milan’s outskirts to be built within three years.

"This is what we had been asking for a long ‌time, and I ‌believe it would truly complete these Olympics, which have ‌been ⁠extraordinary,” Andrea Gios, ⁠president of the Italian Ice Sports Federation, told Reuters.

The northern Italian city successfully staged figure skating, speed skating, short track and hockey competitions across three venues.

All of them — including the newly built Santagiulia arena, which hosted hockey — will now be repurposed for live shows and other sports.

Authorities envisage a temporary new ice arena being set up in October before making it permanent and hopefully becoming home ⁠to a professional hockey team competing in the Ice Hockey ‌League alongside Austrian, Slovenian and Italian sides.

The ‌surprise announcement came after many Italian athletes and Milan residents lamented the prospect of ‌the city being left without a permanent arena for ice sports after ‌the Olympics.

INVESTMENT NEEDED

Gios said he spoke with some North American investors interested in investing in a professional Milan hockey team, which would cost about 5 million euros ($5.9 million) per year.

A new facility would also serve as a venue for major figure skating and ‌short-track events, as well as a hub for grassroots activities.

Despite delivering Italy’s biggest haul of Olympic golds — with ⁠Francesca Lollobrigida winning ⁠both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters and the men’s squad taking the team pursuit title — Italian speed skaters will have no domestic indoor training rink once the Games end.

Building a skating dome with a 400-meter ice track would be very expensive and offer less certain returns than a multi-purpose venue, Gios said, though some private investors who had shown interest in the past would be sounded out.

Until then, top Italian speed skaters will continue to carry out part of their training abroad, on indoor tracks such as the one in Inzell, Germany.

“I know it’s not easy to keep a facility like ours open, but of course it’s disappointing," Lollobrigida said of the Games venue. "If our results don’t speak for us, there’s nothing more we can do."

Sports

Neymar Says He May Retire by End of 2026

Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)
Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Neymar Says He May Retire by End of 2026

Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)
Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)

Brazil striker Neymar, ‌who extended his contract with his childhood club Santos last month, said that he may retire by the end of the year.

The 34-year-old forward returned to his boyhood club Santos in January 2025 and played a key role in their survival in the Brazilian top flight, scoring five times in their last ‌five matches.

But Neymar, ‌who has struggled with ‌injuries ⁠in recent seasons, ⁠remains doubtful for participation at the World Cup this year.

"I don't know what will happen from now on, I don't know about next year," he told Brazilian online channel Caze on Friday.

"It ⁠may be that when December comes, ‌I'll want to ‌retire. I'm living year to year now."

"This ‌year is a very important year, not ‌only for Santos, but also for the Brazilian national team, as it's a World Cup year, and for me too," Neymar said.

Neymar, ‌who recently underwent successful knee surgery, has scored 79 goals ⁠for ⁠Brazil, the highest by any player, but he has not featured for the national side since October 2023.

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear over the past year that he will only include players who are fully fit for the World Cup, scheduled to take place from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.