France have picked a World Cup hotel which is far too flashy and they will have to account for it if they make an early exit, the sports junior minister said on Sunday.
France, whose popularity at home has reached a depressing low after a string of uninspired performances, arrived at the Pezula Resort, a luxury hotel at Knysna on the scenic Western Cape coastline on Saturday.
“Personally, I would not have chosen that hotel,” Sports Junior Minister Rama Yade told French radio station radio J. “I had asked football authorities to show decency. In times of crisis, you need to think about it. If the team’s results do not meet our expectations, the [French Football] Federation will have to account for this.”
“Spain, who belong among the favorites, have chosen a university campus,” she said, referring to the North-West University at Potchefstroom, west of Johannesburg, where the European champions are staying.
Described as “a sanctuary of privacy and indulgence” on it’s Web site, the Pezula Resort boasts a secluded beach and stunning views of the Indian Ocean and the Knysna Lagoon.
Midfielder Alou Diarra sounded slightly irritated by the junior minister’s comments.
“Many people must be jealous,” he said. “We’re very well looked after, but that’s not a secret. The minister has her opinion, but we must not worry about such things. We are here to prepare for the World Cup and we must focus entirely on that.”
France, who made an early exit from Euro 2008, are dreaming of a repeat of their surprise run to the 2006 World Cup final in Germany and Diarra said he could see a likeness in the two squads.
“There are similarities [with 2006],” Diarra said. “We’re in the same state of mind.”
Diarra admitted France still had work to do after slumping to a surprise 1-0 defeat by China in their final warm-up match, but he believes they will be competitive when they tackle Uruguay in their first match on Saturday in Cape Town.
“We have a bit of time left to fine tune everything,” he said. “We’ll be ready.”
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Taiwanese “boxing queen” Chen Nien-chin today won the women’s 65kg division final at the Asian Boxing Elite Championships in Ulaanbaatar, securing Taiwan’s first gold medal in that weight class at the tournament. Chen defeated North Korea’s Hwang Hyo Sun 4-1, after the two were tied through the first two rounds. Chen won bronze in the 66kg division at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
RSS