Over-35 World Cup: Mesut #Ozil Eyes ‘2nd #World Cup’, To Compete With #Ronaldinho In #Football Again

Published

1 year ago

February 5, 2024

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Over-35 World Cup: Mesut #Ozil Eyes ‘2nd #World Cup’, To Compete With #Ronaldinho In #Football Again—-A new over-35s World Cup competition is set to be held in England this summer, with some of football’s greatest legends being lined up to play.

Plans are in place to launch an eight-team tournament involving England, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay – the past champions of the FIFA World Cup.

Seven matches are scheduled to be staged in the same stadium over one week at the start of June. While the venue is still being finalised, Mail Sport understands talks have taken place with some of the Premier League’s biggest northern clubs.

The competition is being organised by the Elite Players Group (EPG) – a group of top-level former footballers and sports businessmen who joined forces last year – and will be known as the EPG Cup.

Under their proposals, only players who are aged 35 or over and have been capped by their country or made 100 top-flight appearances will be eligible to take part in the tournament.

The captains of each country are founders of the EPG. Steve McManaman is set to lead England while the other skippers are Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina), Emerson (Brazil), Christian Karembeu (France), Kevin Kuranyi (Germany), Marco Materazzi (Italy), Michel Salgado (Spain) and Diego Lugano (Uruguay).

The provisional squads being circulated and seen by Mail Sport include five former Ballon d’Or winners – England’s Michael Owen, Brazilian trio Kaka, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, and Fabio Cannavaro of Italy.

England are also said to have already enlisted Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Frank Lampard and Robbie Fowler.

Other stars supposedly being lined up to feature include Brazil’s Cafu and Roberto Carlos and France’s Thierry Henry and Marcel Desailly.

Argentina are said to have Hernan Crespo and Pablo Zabaleta involved, while Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira are on Germany’s draft list.

The Spanish squad being circulated includes David Villa and Carlos Puyol, while Francesco Totti is down to play for Italy and Diego Forlan is listed for Uruguay.

EPG Cup games will be 11-a-side, but over 70 minutes rather than 90, and teams can use roll-on substitutes utilising their 18-man squads.

The quarter-finals are scheduled to be played on June 4 and June 5, with both semi-finals on June 8 before the final on June 11.

Organisers have deliberately chosen the window between the Champions League final on June 1 and the start of Euro 2024 on June 14 – and believe they can get all logistics in place despite having less than four months to plan.

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JUST IN: Crystal Palace Relegated to Conference League Amid Ownership Controversy

Published

2 days ago

July 11, 2025

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JUST IN: Crystal Palace Relegated to Conference League Amid Ownership Controversy—-Crystal Palace have been demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League next season by the UEFA governing body due to multi-club rules.

The governing body’s decision stems from Palace breaching its multi-club ownership rules and Uefa said the Eagles could appeal its ruling with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, could replace FA Cup winners Palace in the Europa League.

Eagle Football Holdings – owned by American businessman John Textor – holds stakes in Palace and Lyon, with Uefa rules stating that clubs owned, to a certain threshold of influence, by the same person or entity cannot compete in the same European competition.

Uefa’s rules set a deadline of 1 March 2025 to show proof of multi-club ownership restructuring – a deadline which Palace missed.

Palace argued Textor does not hold any decisive influence at the club, but Uefa have not accepted the Premier League side’s defence.

Lyon, who also qualified for next season’s Europa League, take precedence over Palace because of their higher league position.

The seven-time French champions finished sixth in Ligue 1, with Palace 12th in the Premier League but qualifying for European competition by winning the FA Cup.

Earlier this week Lyon won their appeal against relegation from Ligue 1 after they were demoted for financial reasons, which affected Palace’s chances of playing in the Europa League.

Had Lyon’s relegation been upheld, they had agreed with Uefa to be excluded from the Europa League, clearing the way for Palace to play in the competition.

English football has two allocated Europa League spots, with Aston Villa securing the other after finishing sixth in the Premier League.

Forest replace Palace in the Europa League after finishing seventh, with their Conference League spot going to the Eagles instead.

More to follow.

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Chelsea Permit Noni Madueke To Undergo Medical Ahead Of Arsenal Move

Published

2 days ago

July 11, 2025

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Chelsea Permit Noni Madueke To Undergo MedicalAhead Of ArsenalMove—-Chelsea have reported given Noni Madueke permission to undergo a medical with Arsenal in London ahead of his £52m proposed moved away from the club.

The England international, 23, will not train with Chelsea in the United States on Friday and instead travel back to the UK.

An agreement has been reached on a £52million ($70.38m) deal while personal terms were previously agreed on a five-year contract.

Madueke is set to become the second player to move from Chelsea to Arsenal this summer after goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga made the move across the capital for £5m. Raheem Sterling, Jorginho, Kai Havertz and Willian also all moved from Stamford Bridge to north London during manager Mikel Arteta’s tenure.

After joining Chelsea from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in 2023 in a deal worth €33m, Madueke made 92 appearances for the west London club, scoring 20 goals and providing nine assists. He appeared in five of Chelsea’s Club World Cup games in the U.S., where Enzo Maresca’s side have reached the tournament’s final.

Madueke began his career in the academies of Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur before moving to PSV as a 16-year-old in 2018. Initially appearing for the club’s reserve side, he made his senior debut in January 2020 and went on to become an established part of the team the following season. He made 80 appearances for the club, recording 20 goals and 13 assists.

The England international is Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer after the arrivals of Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad and Christian Norgaard from Brentford.

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