Sports

Kylian Mbappe and world champions France’s fall

Published

5 years ago

June 29, 2021

admin

Three years ago France and Kylian Mbappe were on top of the world.

The country had just won the World Cup and the striker, at the age of 19, was named the competition’s best young player, culminating in a scintillating performance to beat Croatia in the final.

Roll time on to the summer of 2021 and Mbappe missed the decisive penalty that saw France go out of Euro 2020 in the last 16 at the hands of huge underdogs Switzerland.

As French daily L’Equipe remarked in a headline on their website: “Fallen from so high.”

For Mbappe, this will surely be a minor setback in what is becoming a remarkable career – but is there a reason why he and his world champion team-mates looked so off the pace and are heading home?

Mbappe came into the tournament having scored 41 goals for club and country last season, including winning the French Cup with Paris St-Germain.

But his Euros campaign was a tournament to forget as he failed to score in any of the four games, with his 14 shots without netting the most by any player to this point.

The 22-year-old had the responsibility of taking the fifth penalty against Switzerland, but saw a fairly tame effort superbly saved by Yann Sommer.

Eurosport.fr, in their player ratings, suggested Mbappe was in “the midst of a nightmare”, while Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live he had “fluffed his line in the biggest moment and didn’t step up”.

Former England defender Gary Neville said on ITV: “You just knew as Mbappe was walking up. You thought ‘oh no’. He had a couple of moments in extra time but it’s just not gone well for him.

“He has aspirations of being the best player in the world like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi but this is a little bump in the road for him. He will come through it.

“He is having a tough time in this tournament and it’s a tough one for him to take as well as his French team.”

Mbappe didn’t impress the viewing public in the game either – his score of 4.44 on BBC Sport’s Player Rater was above only the 4.33 for defender Clement Lenglet, who was substituted at half-time.

France boss Didier Deschamps said: “Kylian Mbappe is incredibly sad, as are all the players, but nobody can be upset with him as he took on the responsibility of taking the fifth penalty.”

France had lost just one of their last 17 European Championship and World Cup games, that being the defeat to Portugal in the 2016 final.

Such has been their impressive form, 12 out of 15 BBC pundits had predicted France to win the tournament.

“It is my responsibility and I told the players that I assume it,” said Deschamps, who won the 2018 World Cup with France, after the shock loss.

“When France win, merit goes always to the players. When things are less good then it is my responsibility. But that’s the way sport is. You have to accept it even if it hurts.”

Former France midfielder Patrick Vieira was scathing in his assessment of the team, saying on ITV: “The best team deserve to go to the next round and tonight that is the Swiss.

“It was a poor French national team. There wasn’t any togetherness, there wasn’t any spirit. We didn’t play as a team so we didn’t deserve to go to the next round.”

CULLED FROM BBS SPORTS

Sports

Arsenal win EPL title after 22 years

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2026

admin

Arsenal are English Premier League (EPL) champions after Manchester City failed to win at Bournemouth.

Pep Guardiola’s Man City drew 1-1 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium to hand Arsenal an unassailable four-point lead with just one match remaining to the end of the season.

The Gunners win the EPL title for the first time in 22 years, since the legendary Invincible side won it in the 2003/04 season.

In the club’s 100th season without relegation from the EPL, the club will celebrate its centenary participation with a league title won on the back of a record 28 EPL wins that surpassed the 26 wins recorded by the Invincibles. The defence prevented opponents from registering a shot on target in six matches, equaling a 23-year league record, and also scored a record 17 goals from corner kicks.

Mikel Arteta’s tough side has led the table for most of the season before a late mini-collapse, and Man City’s late surge in form nearly threatened their title ambition for a second season in a row.

City’s late resurgence, however, was initially stunned by Everton in early May and completely collapsed against Bournemouth.

Guardiola’s side visited the Vitality Stadium aware that any result other than a victory would seal Arsenal’s title. But they lacked the execution for the mission after falling to a wonderful strike from Junior Kroupi in the first half.

City were only kept in the game by Bournemouth’s profligacy in front of goal. When Erling Haaland’s equaliser was squeezed home in the eleventh hour of the game, even the most faithful City supporter knew it was too little, too late.

Arsenal and Arteta secured the league earlier than they would have predicted, giving City a prodigious title run-in.

The league triumph is Arteta’s second major title with the North London club since joining in December 2019, adding to the English FA Cup trophy won within six months of his tenure in May 2020.

The 44-year-old Spaniard wins his fourth title overall and can win his fifth — and third major trophy — with victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final next weekend.

Sports

WrestleMania 42: Nigerian wrestler Oba Femi beats 10-time WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

Published

2 months ago

April 20, 2026

admin

Nigerian professional wrestler, Isaac Odugbesan, popularly known as Oba Femi, defeated 10-time WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar, on his WrestleMania debut on Sunday.

The clash, one of the headline matches at WrestleMania 42, ended on a dramatic note as the 27-year-old Nigerian overpowered the veteran.

Lesnar left his wrestling gear in the ring after the match — a gesture widely regarded in professional wrestling as a sign of retirement.

Oba Femi, also known as “The Ruler,” is a former NXT champion and has spent just three months on WWE’s main roster.

The contest began with both wrestlers testing each other’s strength before Lesnar briefly seized control with a series of offensive moves.

However, Femi absorbed the pressure and responded with a dominant display, shifting momentum in his favour.

Lesnar delivered an F5, but Femi quickly recovered, hitting a chokeslam before finishing the contest with his “Fall From Grace” sit-out powerbomb for the pinfall victory.

The bout quickly became a major talking point on social media, with fans reacting to the upset win.

Femi, a former shot put athlete, is a two-time NXT Champion and a one-time NXT North American Champion.

Born in Lagos, Odugbesan competed in track and field during his school years before signing with WWE in 2021 through its NIL programme.

He went on to win the 2023 NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament and the 2024 Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge.

During the WrestleMania Sunday post-show, Femi sent a message to Roman Reigns, popularly known as the “Original Tribal Chief,” drawing a loud reaction from fans as he hinted at a possible title challenge before the end of the year.

Sports

BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

Published

3 months ago

March 17, 2026

admin

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and declare MOROCCO the winner of the title.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in the final on 18 January in a match which was overshadowed when the Senegalese players refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of around 17 minutes, the players did eventually return and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

However, that result has now been overturned by CAF.

A statement by the African Football’s Governing Body said that Senegal are “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.