Archive May 1, 2025

After helping Barcelona draw 3-3 on Wednesday in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal, Yamal said, “He’s the kind of talent that is born every 50 years, I had never seen him live and he really impressed me today.”

In the final 25 minutes of the first half, Lamine Yamal “made us so many problems.”

At the age of 17, Yamal became the youngest player to score in a Champions League semifinal, surpassing Kylian Mbappe’s record set at age 18 when he did it in 2017.

After Yamal performed his most recent talent show in his 100th game for the senior squad, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick described his 17-year-old player as “a genius.”

He is unique. He’s a genius, Flick said, as I’ve already said it before.

He appears in the big matches, and I believe he enjoyed the circumstance. I’m delighted that this talent exists for Barcelona, even if it only exists every 50 years, as Simone Simone did.

“Truly unbelievable,”

In his first press conference for his club the day before Inter arrived in town, Yamal vehemently denied any comparisons to Messi. However, his performance recalled Messi’s best days, when his teammates gave him passes and let him out of Inter on the right flank.

When he had the ball, he either searched for a teammate in the lead or drew his head and sprinted past his marker. And he set out to create a YouTube compilation.

With a 2-0 lead and the momentum provided by Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries’ goals, it appeared as though Inter had left Yamal with nowhere to go in the 24th. However, he slipped around one defender, sped past a second, and then curled a shot past at least two more Inter players with his left foot while slipping around. The ball was cradled in the net after hitting the far post.

Moments later, when he glided past two defenders and sliced a shot from a small angle off the crossbar, he was so close to improving.

Erling Haaland, the striker for Manchester City, shared a screenshot of Yamal’s shot off the bar on Snapchat, saying, “This guy is incredible.

Rio Ferdinand, a former football player for Manchester United, put Yamal in front of everyone else in the top five football leagues in the world.

Ferdinand wrote in a post on X that it was “truly unbelievable.”

I’d go so far as to say that Lamine Yamal is on par with any other player in the top 5 leagues of international football.
Truly unbelievable image at 17 years old. twitter.com/T0ErTFJPQw

Young player thirsty for more

Before Raphinha took over and sent a ball down for Torres to score 2-2 before halftime, Yamal sent back passes to Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo for back-to-back saves saved by Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Before Raphinha’s long-range strike, which found the net, ensured the draw, Dumfries once more put Inter ahead. However, Yamal was disappointed that the final attempt to find a winner failed.

“He is a good footballer, the entire world can see.” Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an international midfielder, described him as a “player who shines”.

Because he has great talent, we tried to stop him, but it was very challenging. Next week, I hope we don’t let him play this much.

Yamal acknowledged the praise but stated that he only wanted to concentrate on the upcoming game, which will feature a European Cup that is only two games away.

He said, “I’m happy I’ve helped the team, but we need to get better.”

Yoon, who is currently facing an ongoing trial on insurrection charges brought against him after his brief passage to martial law in December, is now in further legal jeopardy as a result of this latest indictment on Thursday.

Armed soldiers were authorized to enter parliament under the decree, but it only lasted for about six hours as opposition MPs quickly rejected it. Later, protesters retaliated against Yoon for the martial law declaration.

The Constitutional Court, which upheld the impeachment motion in April, removed Yoon, 64, from her all responsibilities and privileges. Soon afterward, he was forced to leave the presidential residence.

He was first identified by the prosecution as the “ringleader of an insurrection,” a charge that is not subject to presidential immunity in January, when he was still president.

Prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday that “we have since proceeded with the]insurrection] trial while conducting additional investigations into the abuse of power allegation.

The new charge also comes a day after Yoon’s private residence in Seoul was raided by investigators as part of a probe into bribery allegations involving his wife Kim Keon-hee and a shaman who are accused of receiving lavish gifts on the behalf of the former first lady.

Yoon could receive life in prison or death if found guilty of the insurrection charge, despite South Korea’s unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.

Yoon was the third South Korean president to be impeached by the parliament and the second to be removed from office.

Favorite candidate in the election

South Korea is scheduled to hold a snap election on June 3 with Yoon out of office.

The front-runner in the presidential election, Lee Jae-myung, was found not guilty of breaking the law by the Supreme Court of South Korea on Thursday, putting doubt on his suitability for the presidency.

After the ruling, Lee claimed that Lee’s decision to overturn his criminal case’s not-guilty verdict was “completely different” from what he had anticipated. Lee added that he would follow the people’s wishes and not follow his political rivals’ wishes.

After winning the primary, Lee was chosen as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, and he has led polls for weeks with a two-digit gap over candidates from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party.

The Minnesota Timberwolves won the series opener 103-96 to send LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers out of the NBA playoffs without a hitch.

As the Lakers exited the postseason for the second straight year, French center Rudy Gobert of Minnesota put on a strong display on both ends of the court on Wednesday, finishing with 27 points and 24 rebounds.

The Wolves advance to a semifinal game between Golden State and the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference.

After a successful regular season that had gained impressive momentum following the stunning trade for Luka Doncic in February, the Lakers were forced to reflect on another disappointingly short postseason campaign.

As a result of Anthony Davis’ departure to Dallas, the Lakers’ failure to find a true defensive big on Wednesday brought back their collective frustration as Gobert dominated around the rim.

The Lakers, who had become the third seed after Doncic’s arrival, also found themselves struggling offensively, with only five three-pointers between them from James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves.

After the victory, Gobert told TNT television, “It feels great.” To come here and play the way we did during a season full of ups and downs means a lot.

There are only a few guys who want to win, they say. And many of the guys who have gone through hardship throughout their careers and lives, we are still in love with one another, have prepared us for this situation.

Julius Randle scored 23 points for Gobert, while Anthony Edwards added 15 points with 11 rebounds and eight assists.

With 28 points, Doncic and James had the most points, while Hachimura and James had 22.

Warriors and Rockets are able to win.

Houston’s 131-116 thrashing of the Warriors on Wednesday’s other playoff game cut the Warriors’ lead to 3-2, extending their Western Conference series.

When Warriors coach Steve Kerr waved the white flag and pulled Stephen Curry and the rest of his starters with 5:50 left in the third quarter, Fred VanVleet added 26 points, Amen Thompson added 25 points, and Dillon Brooks chipped in 24 for the Rockets, who had led by as many as 31 points and were up by 29.

The Rockets blasted out of the gate with their season on the line after suffering a humiliating defeat in a game-four thriller.

On 67.7% of their shots in the first quarter, they led 40-24.

In their opening period blitz, VanVleet made all 13 of their free throws, including three of Houston’s six three-pointers.

Curry and Jimmy Butler failed to score in the opening period, and the Warriors turned the ball over five times.

Midway through the second quarter, Curry made a three-pointer. However, Houston’s suffocating defense was difficult for the Warriors to overcome, and the Rockets led 76-49 at halftime.

Kerr said he had no reservations about pulling his starters in a potential clinching game, which gave Draymond Green, 37, and Butler, who both had thumb injuries, some rest while playing through game three with a pelvic injury.

When they play Game Six on Friday, they can still wrap up the series.

We can’t expect to defeat a great team on their home field because of that lack of defensive concentration and energy, Kerr said. They treated us like a family tonight.

Butler added eight points for the Warriors, while Curry added 13 overall. With five minutes left, Moses Moody led the Warriors’ reserves as they advanced to a late comeback attempt that resulted in a 13-point lead.

Then things got shaky again as Houston center Alperen Sengun was head-butted by Warriors reserve Pat Spencer, who was later ejected, and the Rockets rallied to win Game 5.