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Salah Urges Liverpool to Revive ‘Heavy Metal’ Football After Villa Defeat

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Liverpool - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - May 15, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah looks dejected after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Liverpool - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - May 15, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah looks dejected after the match. (Reuters)
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Salah Urges Liverpool to Revive ‘Heavy Metal’ Football After Villa Defeat

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Liverpool - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - May 15, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah looks dejected after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Liverpool - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - May 15, 2026 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah looks dejected after the match. (Reuters)

Mohamed Salah issued a rallying cry for Liverpool to rediscover their attacking identity on Saturday after a painful 4-2 defeat by Aston Villa left Champions League qualification hanging in the balance.

Villa moved into fourth place with 62 points from 37 games to seal Champions League qualification by leapfrogging their opponents, who have 59 points. Egyptian forward Salah, who is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, expressed his frustration at the club's inconsistent campaign and called for a return to the aggressive style that brought previous ‌success.

"I have witnessed ‌this club go from doubters to believers, and from ‌believers ⁠to champions. It ⁠took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that," Salah wrote on X.

"Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies.

"That is the ⁠football I know how to play and that is the ‌identity that needs to be recovered and kept ‌for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt ‌to it."

KLOPP'S STYLE OF PLAY

Salah was referring to the style of play under ‌former manager Juergen Klopp, who delivered Liverpool's first Premier League title and led them to three Champions League finals, winning the trophy in 2019.

The 33-year-old forward has not had the same relationship with manager Arne Slot as he did with Klopp. In early December, after ‌being left out for a third straight match, Salah accused the club of "throwing me under the bus" and suggested ⁠that his relationship ⁠with Slot had broken down in a public flare-up.

Slot later attempted to downplay the rift, but the episode underscored how strained things had become during the season as Liverpool's title defense faded.

"Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games. Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family," Salah added.

"I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on. As I've always said, qualifying to next season's Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen."

Liverpool host Brentford on the final day of the season. With one more Champions League spot up for grabs, Slot's side are four points ahead of Bournemouth, who have a game in hand.

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Semenyo Strikes as Man City Beat Chelsea 1-0 to Win FA Cup

Manchester City players celebrate with the winner's trophy after the English FA Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester City in London, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP)
Manchester City players celebrate with the winner's trophy after the English FA Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester City in London, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP)
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Semenyo Strikes as Man City Beat Chelsea 1-0 to Win FA Cup

Manchester City players celebrate with the winner's trophy after the English FA Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester City in London, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP)
Manchester City players celebrate with the winner's trophy after the English FA Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester City in London, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP)

Manchester City won the FA Cup on Saturday, beating Chelsea 1-0 in the final with a deftly finished 72nd-minute goal from Antoine Semenyo to complete an English cup double.

Ghana's Semenyo turned and back-heeled the ball past Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez from an Erling Haaland cross.

The goal sparked what had been a cautious game into life with both sides having chances in the last 20 minutes, Rayan Cherki forcing a fine save from Sanchez and teammate Matheus Nunes hitting the post.

City captain ‌Bernardo Silva, ‌who is leaving the club at the ‌end ⁠of the season, ⁠described the victory as "very special ... it's really nice to finish this way and maybe we can still have a small dream that we can still fight for the Premier League."

Pep Guardiola's City trail leaders Arsenal by two points in the title race going into the last two games of the ⁠season.

"It's just special to me in my last ‌season to give them another ‌trophy," Portugal midfielder Silva said in a pitchside TV interview.

"In the ‌beginning of the second half it was really tough ‌for us and they put us under a lot of pressure and made it very difficult."

It was City's eighth FA Cup triumph and followed victory in the League Cup in March.

But it was ‌a seventh domestic cup final defeat in a row for Chelsea, who had looked to ⁠the showpiece ⁠match for some relief after a turbulent season and two managerial changes.

Enzo Fernandez, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap all had chances to score for Chelsea in what for long periods was an even, if unexciting, clash.

But the club's hopes of European football next season now look very slim, while their American BlueCo owners search for a new manager to replace interim boss Calum McFarlane, who took over from the sacked Liam Rosenior.

Rosenior lasted less than four months following the new year departure of Enzo Maresca as Chelsea having plunged down the Premier League to ninth place.

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Morocco Beat France to Ayyoub Bouaddi in Major World Cup Boost

Football - Ligue 1 - AS Monaco v Lille - Stade Louis II, Monaco - May 10, 2026 Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi in action with AS Monaco's Thilo Kehrer. (Reuters)
Football - Ligue 1 - AS Monaco v Lille - Stade Louis II, Monaco - May 10, 2026 Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi in action with AS Monaco's Thilo Kehrer. (Reuters)
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Morocco Beat France to Ayyoub Bouaddi in Major World Cup Boost

Football - Ligue 1 - AS Monaco v Lille - Stade Louis II, Monaco - May 10, 2026 Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi in action with AS Monaco's Thilo Kehrer. (Reuters)
Football - Ligue 1 - AS Monaco v Lille - Stade Louis II, Monaco - May 10, 2026 Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi in action with AS Monaco's Thilo Kehrer. (Reuters)

Morocco ‌have won the international tug-of-war for highly rated Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who was born in France to Moroccan parents, after FIFA approved his switch of allegiance, handing the Atlas Lions a significant boost just weeks before the World Cup in North America.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation said on Friday it had received a decision from FIFA’s Players’ Status Chamber approving its request to ‌change the ‌sporting nationality of Bouaddi, making him ‌immediately ⁠eligible to represent ⁠Morocco in all international competitions.

Bouaddi, 18, had represented France at youth level, most recently captaining the under-21 side in a European Championship qualifier against Luxembourg, but opted to commit his senior international future to Morocco.

The midfielder is regarded ⁠as one of Ligue 1’s brightest ‌young talents, having established ‌himself as a regular in Lille’s lineup in recent ‌seasons.

He has made more than 90 appearances ‌for the club across all competitions over three campaigns. He was the youngest player to feature in a European club competition match, aged 16 years and ‌three days.

Morocco have built a strong track record of recruiting dual-nationality players ⁠to strengthen ⁠their squad. They recently convinced Fulham defender Issa Diop, who was born in France to a Moroccan mother, to commit to the North African nation, as did Ajax Amsterdam’s Rayane Bounida, a former Belgium under-19 captain.

The World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

Morocco, the first African and Arab country to reach a World Cup semi-final, are drawn in Group C alongside Brazil, Haiti and Scotland.

Sports

The Last Dance: Messi and Ronaldo Get Ready for Sixth and Final World Cup

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP)
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The Last Dance: Messi and Ronaldo Get Ready for Sixth and Final World Cup

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP)

Lionel Messi's career seemed complete after he led Argentina to victory at the 2022 World Cup, but the motivation to keep playing is still there for him and his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the duo prepare to make history at this year's tournament in North America.

This will be the last dance for Messi and Ronaldo, who will become the first players to appear in six different World Cups, two decades on from their fresh-faced debuts at the finals.

They have since become icons far beyond the football pitch, two of the most recognizable people on the planet as they head into middle age and contemplate retirement.

Messi appeared to suggest that there would not be much point in carrying on after he skippered Argentina to victory in Qatar.

"Obviously I wanted to finish my career with this. I can't ask for any more," he said after dragging Lionel Scaloni's side to victory over France on penalties in that World Cup final in Doha.

"My career is coming to an end because these are my final years. What more could there be after this?"

Plenty more, it turns out.

Messi was in the middle of an underwhelming spell at Paris Saint-Germain then, and six months later he departed for Major League Soccer.

There he is excelling with Inter Miami, with whom he won the MLS Cup last year.

He might no longer be playing at the very highest level every week, but he remains crucial for Argentina.

The Barcelona legend captained his country to victory at the Copa America in the US in 2024, and was the top scorer in South American World Cup qualifying.

"I love playing football, and I'm going to do it until I can't anymore," he said recently.

At one stage there were some doubts as to whether he would play at another World Cup, a tournament he first graced in 2006, when aged 18 he scored in a 6-0 demolition of Serbia and Montenegro in Gelsenkirchen.

- 200 caps, goals record in sight -

"I will do everything to make sure he is there," insisted Scaloni, with Messi now just two games away from reaching 200 caps.

He is set to add to his record of 26 appearances in World Cup matches, including their run to the 2014 final in Brazil.

Messi has 13 World Cup goals, meaning Miroslav Klose's record of 16 is within striking distance, especially as Argentina's group opponents do not appear the toughest.

They will begin against Algeria and Austria before tackling Jordan in Dallas, three days after Messi's 39th birthday.

He has a couple of years on Ronaldo, but the 41-year-old Portuguese talisman was determined to carry his international career on in the hope of landing the ultimate prize.

Ronaldo was a teenager when he lost the Euro 2004 final with Portugal on home soil, but he made up for that by captaining them to victory at Euro 2016.

Yet the World Cup has proven harder, at least after Portugal got to the 2006 semi-finals.

Portugal have won only one World Cup knockout match since, when they hammered Switzerland 6-1 in 2022 with Ronaldo dropped to the bench.

- 'Exemplary commitment' -

Roberto Martinez became coach after that and restored Ronaldo as the first-choice striker, which he remains despite not scoring at Euro 2024 when Portugal lost in the last eight.

He is the most-capped men's player of all time with 226 international appearances, and the former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar is now set to win the Saudi title with Al Nassr.

Ronaldo confirmed recently this would be his last World Cup, insisting: "I'm going to be 41 years old and I think it will be the moment."

Portugal, who go into a group with Colombia, Uzbekistan and DR Congo, are genuine contenders to win it even if there are doubts as to whether Ronaldo is holding back a talented squad.

Personally, Ronaldo will be seeking to add to his eight World Cup goals, and finally get a first in the knockout stages.

"He is more than just a football player, but for the national team that is all he is," said Martinez in an interview with Portuguese broadcaster RTP.

"He is the captain and he shows exemplary commitment to his country. He is incredible."

Lifting the World Cup at 41 would be quite the way for Ronaldo to finish -- and if both Portugal and Argentina top their groups, he and Messi would be on course to meet in the quarter-finals in Kansas City on July 11.