Como 4-1 Man Utd: Nico Paz inspired Como to a famous win, but an abject United performance leaves Michael Carrick facing immediate questions over his future
ROME: Manchester United are hardly putting up a fight in the Champions League these days. Michael Carrick’s struggling team were beaten 4-1 at competition newcomer Como on Wednesday and United have now been outscored 6-1 in their last two European matches. Nico Paz scored twice and also set up another score for Cesc Fabregas’ Como, which were playing in the fourth division of Italian soccer just seven years ago. In the other early game, Galatasaray won 4-2 at Lille with Victor Osimhen scorin
Manchester United were beaten 4-1 by Como at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, a result that heaps further pressure on manager Michael Carrick.
Argentina playmaker Nico Paz scored after 118 seconds, set up Tasos Douvikas for the second on 49 minutes and added his own second on 57.
Jacobo Ramon headed in a fourth on 76 minutes, while Joshua Zirkzee, who beat the offside trap to meet a cross from Amad Diallo, scored a consolation in stoppage time.
The early goal made United the first English side to concede inside the first two minutes of consecutive major European matches.
Eight days earlier they had let in after the first minute against Atletico Madrid.
Como led 1-0 at half-time and the margin could have been wider, with United at one stage threatened with equalling their record European defeat, a 5-0 loss to Sporting in 1964.
Carrick made changes at the interval, withdrawing Matheus Cunha and Andrey Santos, who cost a combined £110m, for Diallo and Carlos Baleba.
Captain Bruno Fernandes made way for Zirkzee on 67 minutes, as defender Matthijs de Ligt, playing on his return from 11 months out, was replaced by Harry Amass on 79.
Goalkeeper Senne Lammens made a near-post save on a slippery surface and was rated the visitors’ best performer, though he could do little about the opener or the third.
Noussair Mazraoui struggled most, losing his footing under pressure and being beaten by Como’s Alberto Moreno da Cunha.
When United last won the Champions League in 2008, Como were in Serie D.
Flamengo has expressed outrage over damage to Maracana Stadium caused by supporters following Vasco da Gama’s loss to Boca Juniors in the Copa Sudamericana.
AC Milan supports a fan boycott of the Serie A match at Udinese due to high away ticket prices, arguing that it burdens traveling supporters and risks damaging the profile of Italian football.
BARCELONA: Barcelona midfielder Dani Olmo will miss Sunday’s Clasico in La Liga against Real Madrid after being ruled out for around a month through injury on Wednesday. “Tests have confirmed that Dani Olmo is suffering an injury to his left thigh,” said Spanish champions Barcelona in a statement, confirming he will be sidelined for “approximately one month.” The Spain international went off hurt during Barca’s 4-2 Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday in the French capita
Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich will miss the Champions League match against Arsenal due to a family bereavement. The club confirmed his absence as he deals with personal matters.
A NFL e a Prefeitura de Guarulhos dão início, nesta sexta-feira (23), ao Programa NFL Flag nas escolas da cidade. A parceria leva o flag football a 50 escolas da rede municipal já na primeira temporada do projeto.
A primeira iniciativa acontece com a capacitação de 100 professores de educação física, responsáveis por implementar as aulas da modalidade nas unidades.
Cada escola participante do programa receberá equipamentos profissionais para a prática da modalidade. Assim, os professores poderão incluir o flag football nas aulas de educação física, nas quadras das próprias unidades.
Os alunos também passam a competir no calendário de torneios de NFL Flag no país. A partir da próxima temporada, os campeonatos regionais da modalidade vão reunir somente escolas e projetos sociais esportivos sem fins lucrativos que façam parte do Programa NFL Flag nas escolas.
“Trazer uma modalidade como o flag football para a Educação de Guarulhos, por meio de uma parceria com a NFL, uma das maiores referências esportivas do mundo, representa um avanço importante para nossa rede. Além de apresentar um novo esporte, estamos ampliando oportunidades de aprendizagem, incentivando o trabalho em equipe, a disciplina, o respeito e o desenvolvimento integral dos nossos estudantes.”, destaca o Secretário de Educação, Rafael Carvalho.
Lançado no país em 2023, o programa oficial de flag football da NFL já impacta mais de 10 mil jovens em projetos gratuitos com escolas públicas e, em neste ano, ampliou sua atuação para além de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, com parcerias em Petrópolis (RJ) e com o Governo do Paraná e a Prefeitura de Curitiba. Agora, Guarulhos passa a integrar a iniciativa.
“É fantástico acompanhar a evolução do NFL Flag em todo o Brasil. Estamos conquistando cada vez mais espaços, em ótimas parcerias com secretarias municipais e estaduais, para impactar a base esportiva brasileira, que são crianças e jovens.”, celebra o general manager da NFL no Brasil, Luis Martinez.
Em setembro, a liga anunciou ainda um investimento de quase 160 mil dólares (próximo de R$ 802 mil) em quatro organizações sociais do país, que vão alcançar mais de 3 mil participantes: Fundação Gol de Letra (Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo), Eprocad e UmRio.
Sem contato físico, o flag football é praticado por cerca de 20 milhões de pessoas em mais de 100 países, e fará sua estreia olímpica nos Jogos de Los Angeles 2028.
Benfica has once again been ranked as the world’s leading football academy for the third year in a row, topping the latest global youth development study published by the CIES
Fifty years ago today, on October 20, 1976, a 15-year-old Diego Armando Maradona played his first professional match for Argentinos Juniors, coming on at halftime against Talleres de Córdoba and beginning a career that would reshape world football.
The date is described in the report as a milestone in the history of international sport. The young talent from a popular neighborhood like Villa Fiorito stepped onto the pitch to play the second half of the match, which Argentinos lost 1-0 at its stadium in La Paternal, Buenos Aires.
Diego Maradona was 15 years, 11 months and 20 days old, ten days short of his 16th birthday, which made him the youngest player to debut in Argentine football.
Other accounts of the day, including a longer retrospective published in Argentina, put the crowd at between 7,000 and 8,000 people and say Maradona nutmegged defender Juan Domingo Patricio Cabrera on his first touch of the ball, a detail that comes from Maradona’s own memoirs.
Although the result went against his team, Maradona’s arrival offered immediate signs of his technical quality. His control of the ball stood out, as did his nerve in running at defenders despite his age. Nobody in the stadium that afternoon could have measured the scale of what they were witnessing, but the signs were already visible.
Coach Juan Carlos Montes brought on the teenager in place of midfielder Rubén Giacobetti at the start of the second half. Diego Maradona wore the number 16 shirt. Montes told him to play as he knew how and to nutmeg the first opponent he faced. Maradona later wrote that he did exactly that, passing the ball between the legs of defender Juan Domingo Patricio Cabrera. The crowd responded with “olés,” according to his memoirs.
Text reads: “On a day like today, Diego Armando Maradona made his debut at First Division.”
From Cebollitas to Legend
Diego Maradona came through the club’s youth ranks, including the famous children’s side known as “Los Cebollitas”, and had been building great expectations through his performances at junior level. His entry into the top category was the start of a professional career that would later bring him numerous domestic and international titles and turn him into an emblematic figure and a popular reference point in global sport.
His career would later shine brightest on the world stage, particularly in the 1986 World Cup triumph in Mexico, where his talent and control of the ball defined an entire tournament.
Maradona’s first match ended in defeat, and by his own later account he knew he was beginning something important. In the following weeks he moved from the bench to a regular place in the starting lineup, according to the longer retrospective, and went on to become the league’s top scorer in several consecutive tournaments.
But the first page had been written. A 15-year-old walked onto the pitch in the red of Argentinos Juniors, replaced a teammate at the break, and began a story that still commands attention five decades on.
On this day, 20 October 1976
Exactly 50 years ago, a 15 year old Diego Armando Maradona made his professional debut for Argentinos Juniors against Talleres.
The date is recalled not for the result, but for what it announced. It was the moment a career began that would reshape the dynamics of football and reaffirm the importance of youth development in the sport across the region.
The work done in the club’s academy, the patience of those who formed him, and the talent that needed no introduction all converged on October 20, 1976. A modest afternoon in La Paternal, in a game lost, became the first step in one of the most celebrated careers in the history of the football around the world.
FIFA has suspended this Tuesday Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan for three matches over his conduct during and after the team’s round-of-16 elimination against Argentina at the 2026 World Cup.
The ruling came from FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee more than three months after the match. The sanction is based on his conduct on the field and at the post-match press conference.
After a goal for his side was disallowed, Hassan crossed his arms in protest in front of the broadcast cameras.
The case also reached Hassan’s inner circle. His twin brother and sporting director, Ibrahim Hassan, received an identical three-match suspension for backing the complaints. Forward Mostafa Zico was suspended for five matches after alleging match-fixing and saying of the referee that he “pursued them from the start.” Those are the allegations as reported, and the source offers no evidence for them. The reports do not name the referee or detail the disallowed goal.
As a result, the Pharaohs will face their next official matches without their main coaching staff.
🚨 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧: FIFA has suspended Egypt coach Hossam Hassan and team director Ibrahim Hassan for three matches each and forward Mostafa Zico for five.
↳ 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗧 The bans follow criticism of refereeing after Egypt’s 3-2 World Cup round-of-16 loss to Argentina on 7 July… pic.twitter.com/sCkkKiodN5
Following the official notification, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) issued a statement confirming the ruling against its national coach. The federation requested the detailed grounds of the decision in order to study the legal arguments and assess a formal appeal on behalf of its coaching staff.
An appeal would test whether FIFA will reconsider penalties handed down so long after the incident. The coach’s comments about the referee’s nationality (“Argentina pressured the referee beforehand because he was French“) were the sharpest part of his protest, and they remain central to the disciplinary file.
Round of 16 matches at the World Cup are officiated by referees appointed by FIFA, and public criticism of officials is commonly punished under its disciplinary code. Accusing a referee of bias or of match-fixing without evidence is generally treated as a serious offense, which may explain the longer ban handed to Zico.
The disallowed goal became the flashpoint. Hassan’s gesture in front of the cameras and his remarks in the press room turned a match dispute into a disciplinary case that will now shape Egypt’s next stretch of competitive football.
For a national side building toward future campaigns, losing both the coach and his closest staff member for three games carries weight. The federation’s next move, whether to accept the punishment or pursue an appeal, will determine how much longer the controversy lingers. The case also shows how long FIFA’s disciplinary process can take, since the sanctions arrived months after the tournament ended.
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