Team-First Kane Propelling Bayern to Glory as PSG Showdown Looms

Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)
Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)
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Team-First Kane Propelling Bayern to Glory as PSG Showdown Looms

Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)
Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal 3:4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between 1 FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern Munich in Mainz, western Germany on April 25, 2026. (AFP)

Having decisively ended his own silverware drought with back-to-back Bundesliga titles, Harry Kane's team-first approach has been key for a Bayern Munich side now chasing club football's biggest prize.

Whoever makes it through Bayern's Champions League semi-final against holders Paris Saint-Germain, with the first leg in the French capital on Tuesday, will be the favorites for the final in Budapest in May.

Last season's Bundesliga title was Kane's maiden team trophy, at the age of 31. Having added another league crown this season, Bayern's habit of hoovering up trophies is already rubbing off on the England captain.

As always, Kane's individual statistics this year have been stunning. The former Tottenham forward has 53 goals in 45 games in all competitions, the most by an Englishman in any league in almost a century.

And this time around, Kane's goals have come at crucial moments of big games.

Against Real in Madrid, his long-range strike proved to be the winner.

In the second leg, Kane's first-half goal brought Bayern level on the night and put them ahead in a quarter-final tie which was in danger of getting away from them.

- 'I'm here to win the Champions League' -

Kane left England 47 goals shy of Alan Shearer's Premier League scoring record, with some commentators wondering why he would leave with the mark in sight.

But while Kane developed a reputation at Spurs for stacking up individual records rather than team honors, in hindsight the striker's pursuit of goals was a clear example of his team focus.

Since moving to Bayern, a club with quality across the pitch and a number of threats, Kane often drops to help in the build-up, sometimes deep into midfield.

Kane's willingness to sacrifice individual honors for team objectives has never been more evident than in recent weeks, when Bayern had the league largely wrapped up and needed to focus on Europe.

After Bayern beat Dortmund in February, Kane had scored four consecutive braces. With 30 goals in 24 games, he looked on course for Robert Lewandowski's single season record of 41 goals.

But since then, Kane has started just one of Bayern's seven league games, as Vincent Kompany has wrapped him in cotton wool for the big stage.

After coming off the bench to help Bayern come from three goals down to win 4-3 at Mainz on Saturday, Kane told reporters where his true focus lay.

"It'll be tough," Kane said of chasing down Lewandowski's record. "Obviously I'm here to try and win the Champions League and try and win the German Cup.

"So, ultimately that takes priority. All I can do is when I'm on the pitch, try and score, try and impact the game."

Undoubtedly the biggest star in Bayern's dressing room, Kane could have pushed back against his benching, but he backed Kompany's call with loftier goals in mind.

- 'Something special' -

Bayern were always expected to beat Mainz on Saturday, but the way they overran their opponents in the second half showed their unrelenting hunger and desire.

"This team is truly something special -- that team spirit, that mentality -- it is truly unique," sporting director Christoph Freund said afterwards.

"That gives us a tremendous amount of energy for Tuesday."

Kane called PSG "the reigning European champions for a reason," adding the French champions are "a really strong side with some great quality and are well-coached.

"There's going to be a lot of activity. It's going to come down to moments and quality."

One challenge for Bayern is the absence of coach Vincent Kompany, who is suspended for the opening leg.

Kompany's English assistant Aaron Danks will be in the dugout. Kane said Bayern, who have lost just twice in all competitions this season, are well-drilled enough without the Belgian barking orders.

"Of course we'll miss him on the sideline. He's our boss and our leader. But everyone knows what needs to be done, even if the boss isn't on the sideline."



A Bird Leaves Nothing Behind: The Lesson Behind Japan’s World Cup Stadium Cleanups

Japan supporters clean the stands at the end of the World Cup group E football match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP)
Japan supporters clean the stands at the end of the World Cup group E football match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP)
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A Bird Leaves Nothing Behind: The Lesson Behind Japan’s World Cup Stadium Cleanups

Japan supporters clean the stands at the end of the World Cup group E football match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP)
Japan supporters clean the stands at the end of the World Cup group E football match between Germany and Japan, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP)

If there's one country guaranteed to clean up at the World Cup, it's Japan.

Literally.

Scenes of Japanese football fans sweeping stadiums and picking up trash after a match first drew public attention in France in 1998 — Japan's first appearance in the World Cup.

The tradition has continued every four years. It happened at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, and it's certain to continue when Japan opens play in June with group games in Arlington, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico.

The cleanup astonishes non-Japanese who might be accustomed to leaving stadiums and stepping over half-eaten food, shredded paper wrappers, and cups — empty or with liquid dribbling out.

At the World Cup in Russia in 2018, Japanese players famously cleaned the dressing room after a loss and left a thank-you note in Russian. In 2022, fans left thank-you notes on rubbish bags written in Arabic, English and Japanese.

Why do Japanese behave this way? It's not that complicated. Beginning in elementary school, students are socialized to behave this way — in the classroom, in the school yard or on a playing field.

“Japanese sports fans at world events who clean up the stadium are behaving much the same way they did when they learned how to enjoy sports as school boys and girls,” Koichi Nakano, who teaches politics and history at Sophia University, told The Associated Press.

There is a phrase in Japanese that explains it.

“Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu.”

The literal translation is: “A bird leaves nothing behind.”

Rendered in English the message is: “Return it the way you found it.”

Many Japanese elementary schools don’t have janitors, so the clean-up work is left to students. Office workers often dedicate time to sprucing up their areas.

Also, there are relatively few trash containers in public spaces in Japan, so people take their waste home with them. This keeps the sidewalks cleaner, saves the cost of emptying trash cans, and keeps away vermin.

“The way most ordinary soccer fans experience soccer at school is no different from other sports, and the emphasis is not just on physical education but also on moral education as well,” Nakano added.

Collective vs. the individual

Raised in Germany, Barbara Holthus is the deputy director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo. A sociologist, she agrees it's prudent not to put Japanese on a pedestal. Japan, like any country, has its own challenges and shortcomings.

“An academically sound explanation is that people in Japan just happen to be socialized different,” she told The AP. “If you grew up with a certain way of how things are being done, you apply that to even cleaning up a stadium afterwards.”

At work here is also the Japanese concept of “meiwaku,” which implies not causing trouble or annoying others. From the Japanese point of view, leaving rubbish piled up in a stadium would be a bother to others.

Japan is a relatively crowded place, and greater Tokyo alone has about 35 million people, almost the population of the entire state of California. People need to get along.

“Japanese learn early on that you don't want to inconvenience other people,” Holthus said.

She said the focus is often on the collective, compared with the West where the emphasis is on the individual and individual rights.

“You don’t want to bother people. It goes to all areas of life in Japan,” Holthus added. “We are raised (in the West) that we don’t have to clean up after ourselves in public spaces because there is going to be some kind of public service doing that.”

And because Japanese people have received widespread praise for the clean-up, the behavior has been reinforced.

“Now that the media has latched onto the story and lavished praise on Japanese fans, they have made it a point of pride to display those values and norms,” Jeff Kingston, who teaches history at Temple University in Japan, wrote in an email.

A Japanese tradition

The clean-up tradition is not limited to football’s marquee tournament. The same thing happened last year at the Under-20 World Cup in Chile as Japanese fans cleaned up after a match. And even more recently last month at Wembley Stadium in London where Japan defeated England 1-0 in an international friendly.

“It’s one of our traditions,” said Toshi Yoshizawa, who was leading the cleanup in Chile. “We grew up with the teaching that we should leave a place cleaner than when we arrived.”

William Kelly, an emeritus professor of anthropology at Yale University and a specialist on Japan, said the tradition is linked to football more than other sports. He speculated it's tied to the establishment of Japan's professional football league more than 30 years ago.

“It (the J-League) was trying to distinguish itself from baseball by emphasizing teams’ community embeddedness and commitment,” Kelly wrote in an email. “Soccer fans felt, and feel, more a part of the club and its stadium.”


Riyadh to Host Joshua vs. Prenga Showdown in July

Boxing - Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua - Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida, US - December 19, 2025 Anthony Joshua after winning his fight against Jake Paul. (Reuters)
Boxing - Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua - Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida, US - December 19, 2025 Anthony Joshua after winning his fight against Jake Paul. (Reuters)
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Riyadh to Host Joshua vs. Prenga Showdown in July

Boxing - Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua - Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida, US - December 19, 2025 Anthony Joshua after winning his fight against Jake Paul. (Reuters)
Boxing - Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua - Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida, US - December 19, 2025 Anthony Joshua after winning his fight against Jake Paul. (Reuters)

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority Turki Alalshikh announced the return of British boxer Anthony Joshua to the ring in “The Comeback,” scheduled for July 25 in Riyadh.

The 36-year-old Joshua will fight Kristian Prenga, an Albanian with 20 victories and one loss.

Joshua’s last fight was a knockout victory over YouTuber Jake Paul on Dec. 19. Ten days later, he was injured in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his friends.

“It’s no secret I’ve taken some time to consolidate and rebuild to be ready for stepping back into the ring,” Joshua said in a Matchroom statement, “and today is the next step on that journey.”

In the statement, Joshua said the fight with Prenga is the first in a “multi-fight deal."

The event forms part of the Kingdom’s continued hosting of major international boxing matches, further cementing Riyadh’s status as a premier destination for global sports and entertainment.

The bout will be broadcast live worldwide on DAZN.


Man Utd Close in on Champions League Spot but Still Work to Do, Carrick Says

Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick reacts after the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Brentford FC, in Manchester, Britain, 27 April 2026. (EPA)
Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick reacts after the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Brentford FC, in Manchester, Britain, 27 April 2026. (EPA)
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Man Utd Close in on Champions League Spot but Still Work to Do, Carrick Says

Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick reacts after the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Brentford FC, in Manchester, Britain, 27 April 2026. (EPA)
Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick reacts after the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Brentford FC, in Manchester, Britain, 27 April 2026. (EPA)

Manchester United's 2-1 win ‌over Brentford on Monday put them on the brink of Champions League qualification but interim manager Michael Carrick said they must keep pushing to finish as high up the Premier League table as possible.

The victory lifted United to third place on 61 points, 11 clear of sixth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion, with four games remaining.

With the top five qualifying for the Champions ‌League next season, ‌United need two more points ‌to ⁠seal their return ⁠to Europe's elite competition after a two-year absence.

"The Champions League is one thing, but it's not something that we should be over-celebrating either," former United midfielder Carrick told reporters.

"We want to be finishing high up the league really, ⁠and we want to be challenging ‌high up in the ‌league and trying to get more points so our ‌season doesn't get to a close when ‌that happens.

"We have put ourselves in good position, but there's still more work to be done," added Carrick, who took charge in January with United in ‌sixth spot after Ruben Amorim's dismissal.

Casemiro was on the scoresheet on Monday ⁠and ⁠while supporters have called on the club to keep him for another year, Carrick said the midfielder's situation was clear.

"From both sides it's pretty clear. Probably the situation and the clarity of it has helped everything," he added.

"It means a lot to him and credit to him because of the situation that it is, he's given absolutely everything as well and had some big moments for us."

United next face fourth-placed Liverpool on Sunday.