Brazil began their World Cup rivalry with Argentina on Friday when striker Luis Fabiano said his team oozed happiness and complained others were bitter, aiming his taunt at his country’s neighbors.
“Happiness is inside us,” Luis Fabiano told reporters. “If they’re not happy it’s their problem. We’re happy to be here and we’re happy in this country.”
“Brazil is a happy country with samba, carnival and party,” the striker known as the Fabulous One said. “Everywhere we go, we have this happiness and it comes from inside. Some have it, others are bitter in life.”
Argentina midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron sparked the verbal exchange the day before by saying if the World Cup was down to laughing, then Brazil would always win.
Although his comments were clearly tongue-in-cheek, they still managed to tweak Brazilian sensitivities, showing how easily the rivalry between the teams can be stoked.
“If it was just about laughing, Brazil would win every year,” Veron said. “It’s good to be upbeat, but we have to play football and not dance samba, otherwise those guys in yellow would always beat us.”
Brazil are unbeaten in their last five full internationals against Argentina, having won four, although they suffered an emphatic 3-0 defeat against their neighbors at the Beijing Olympics, which featured under-23 teams.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS