In their international friendly on Friday, Russia and Nigeria drew 1-1, both teams displaying determination and positive traits throughout the entire contest.
In the 27th minute, Nigerian defender Semi Ajayi unintentionally converted the ball into his own net to give Russia the lead.
In the second half, the Super Eagles responded by leveling the score with a composed finish from Tolu Arokodare in the 71st minute after the Russian goalkeeper made an error.
Read more about Tolu Arokodare, the best African player in Belgium, in the news.
Although the Super Eagles didn’t give their best performance, they did so with grit and determination in Moscow.
Just 16 days after the Australian club won the Europa League to end its 17-year trophy drought, Ange Postecoglou was fired as manager of Tottenham.
Tottenham won the first European trophy in 41 years to advance to the Champions League next season with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao.
Tottenham’s worst domestic campaign since 1976-1977 was condemned by the Australian for paying the price.
Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties, according to a statement posted on Tottenham’s official X account. “The Club can announce this after a review of performances and after significant reflection, the Club.”
On April 13, 2025, during the English Premier League game between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur at the Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton, central England, Greek-Australian Head Coach Ange Postecoglou gestures on the touchline. (Photo by Justin TALLIS/AFP)
Postecoglou’s successful tenure at Celtic came to an abrupt end, according to chairman Daniel Levy exactly two years after his arrival.
Tottenham finished 17th in the table after losing 22 of their 38 Premier League games, trailing only relegated trio Leicester, Ipswich, and Southampton.
The board has determined, “Unanimously, that a change should be made in the best interests of the club,” according to the statement.
“While winning the Europa League this year is considered one of the club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions that align with this success.
It is crucial for us to be able to compete on a number of fronts, and a change of strategy will give us the best chance for the upcoming season and beyond.
“This is one of the toughest decisions we have ever had to make, and it is neither a rush-or-daily decision.”
We made the wise choice, in our opinion, to give us the best chance of succeeding in the long run, not the quick choice.
Postecoglou had vigorously defended his track record throughout the season and was bewildered by the uncertainty surrounding his eventual resumption following the success of the trophy.
Spurs and “Forever connected,”  
When he cupped his ear to Chelsea in a defiant gesture following a goal that was eventually rejected, he had a verbal altercation with Tottenham fans during the game.
The 59-year-old bowed out gracefully in response to his turbulent time in north London.
“I feel pride,” is my dominant emotion. He said in a statement released shortly after his sacking that the chance to lead one of England’s historic football clubs and restore the glory it deserves will live with him forever.
That night in Bilbao marked the culmination of two years of dedication, unwavering faith, and hard work.
I’ll never forget having that conversation with those who genuinely love this club and seeing how much they benefited. We will always be connected.
After suffering from injuries, Postecoglou concentrated on keeping his key players hydrated and ready for the Europa League in the later stages of the campaign.
Even winning Tottenham’s first trophy since the 2008 League Cup wasn’t enough to save him, despite the gamble having paid off.
In the past six years, Levy has fired him as the fifth manager.
The two most popular candidates for Postecoglou’s replacement are reportedly Marco Silva and Thomas Frank, Brentford manager.
Before taking over as manager of Australia and winning the 2015 Asian Cup, the Australian enjoyed success at the inaugural meetings of Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory.
Postecoglou and the Yokohama F-Marinos relocated to Japan and won the J League in his second season in 2019.
In just two seasons at Celtic, he won five awards, including two Scottish titles, and made his international football breakthrough.
Postecoglou’s Tottenham career started off so well, winning rave reviews for his aggressive play in the “Angeball” style.
However, a colossal chance to earn a place in the Champions League was ruined by a string of season-ending defeats.
Postecoglou boldly declared that he “always wins things” in his second year in September 2024.
Even the euphoria from the Europa League victory couldn’t save him from the axe, but he made it.
After Barcelona won the domestic double, Brazil’s Raphinha was chosen as the team of the year in La Liga.
The 28-year-old, who joined Barca from Leeds in his third season, added 18 goals and nine assists.
The diligent right-winger is a skilled dribbler and diligent back-tracker.
READ MORE:  , Yamal, Williams, Williams, Williams, Spain, France, Nation’s League Thriller
Lamine Yamal, a teenage striker for Barcelona, took home the under-23 award.
Raphinha was about to leave the Catalan club at the end of the season, but Hansi Flick, the new coach, gave him the captain’s job and gave him an extension until July 2028.
Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, both stars of Spain, stunned La Roja in a thrilling thriller against France in Stuttgart on Thursday, clinching a Nations League title with Portugal.
As the two wingers cut France’s impromptu defense to ribbons, Yamal scored a brace, Williams added an assist, and Williams added a pair of goals.
The Euro 2024 champions also had Mikel Merino and Pedri on their scoring charts.
Before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal, Kylian Mbappe scored a second-half penalty, which gave Spain a 5-1 lead.
A Spain own goal and a stoppage-time strike from Randal Kolo Muani, all but enough to give France three late goals, were not enough.
Yamal, who is only 17 years old, claimed Spain “deserved to win.”
The game was excellent, he continued, “We played very well even though it was a little too close at the end.”
Spain and Portugal will face off in Munich on Sunday in an all-Iberian Nations League final, while France will face hosts Germany in Stuttgart earlier in the day for the bronze medal.
Merino, a gleeful goalscorer, once admitted: “It was a crazy game. Nobody wants to concede so many goals, so it’s not the best game for the coaches; the fans will enjoy it.
We’ll be thinking about this for a very long time.
Despite their late exit, Spain appear to be a more complete team than they were a year ago when they won the European Championship in a dominant manner.
Read more about Chelsea beating Chelsea at Everton and signing Ipswich striker Delap.
Spain is effective, France is dangerous.
The 5-4 goal was scored by France’s forward No. 12 Randal Kolo Muani (C) on June 5, 2025, in Stuttgart, Germany, in the UEFA Nations League semi-final game between Spain and France. (FRANCK FIFE/AFP photo)
In the first half, Didier Deschamps chose to use Ousmane Dembele as his weapon over Mbappe, who was more dangerous.
Dembele, who is returning from Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League triumph, wasted a chance by passing pass instead of shooting in a one-on-one situation with the ‘keeper.
Spain regrouped just as Theo Hernandez’s long-range effort erased the top of the crossbar with a moment’s notice.
Spain immediately paid for the pair of goalscorers from La Roja’s Euro 2024 final, Williams and Oyarzabal, who had already scored 22 minutes later.
Yamal threw his shot into the top of the net after a tear down the right, holding off three defenders with his back to goal before finding Williams.
When Oyarzabal dinked the French defense, allowing Merino to collect and hammer past an off-balance Maignan, Spain had a three-minute lead.
Later in the half, France had better chances as Dembele blocked a grateful Unai Simon with a straight shot after finding space in the box three times.
Spain was stripped of what would have been an incredible third just before half-time by the narrowest of offsides.
Martin Zubimendi cut it back for Huijsen in a blatantly practiced free-kick play.
France missed two important chances in the second half before Spain once more doubled in a hurry.
With 54 minutes left, Yamal won and won a penalty, taking Williams’ hand and hurriedly heading home.
Williams set up Pedri for a fourth time just one minute later, but France was reeling.
With just over 20 minutes left, Mbappe won and scored a penalty, but Yamal stepped up again to stifle French hopes of a likely comeback.
France scored two late consolation goals thanks to four changes made by Spain as their thoughts turned to Sunday.
Through Daniel Vivian, Spain forced to concede an own goal after substitute Cherki scored a long-range effort.
In stoppage time, Kolo Muani scored in the fourth minute to reduce the deficit, but Spain held on as France made a late comeback.
Uzbekistan and Jordan will now face South Korea, who has always been a participant in the tournament, in the following year. On Thursday, the two countries made history by qualifying for their first World Cup.
Uzbekistan, one of Asia’s fastest-growing national teams, drew 0-0 with the UAE in Abu Dhabi to move into Group A, but top spot is still in play after qualified Iran lost to Qatar 1-0 in Doha.
Iran leads Uzbekistan by two points going into the final set of matches for the third round on Tuesday.
The top two teams from each of the three Asian groups advance to the World Cup, while those who finish third and fourth, which are Qatar and the UAE, will enter a fourth round of qualifying.
South Korea defeated Iraq 2-0 in Basra to secure their place in an 11th , straight World Cup.
Ronaldo defeats Germany’s jinx in the Nations League Final, read more.
On June 5, 2025, South Korea’s No. 13 Midfielder, No. 13 Kim Jing-yu, celebrates with his teammates after scoring the team’s first goal in the Iraq-South Korea match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier at Basra International Stadium in Basra. Hussein FALEH/AFP (Photo)
With the victory, Kim Jin-gyu and Oh Hyeon-gyu, who had earlier won 3-0 against Oman earlier on Thursday, who had ultimately proved sufficient to make their participation at the expanded 48-team showpiece in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, claim top spot.
King Abdullah II of Jordan congratulated the team on social media.
His team, which includes stars and cadres of whom we are proud, well-deserved this historic distinction, he wrote on X.
“Our sincere supporters and supporters deserve special thanks.”
The 2023 Asian Cup runners-up etched their name in the record books with Ali Olwin’s hat-trick.
After a VAR review, Ali Al Hamadi’s foul on Cho Yu-min was upgraded to a red card midway through the first half, which reduced Iraq to 10 men.
Oman and Palestine are still able to advance to the fourth round of qualifying, leaving Iraq third in Group B. Oman will host Palestine on Tuesday while Iraq will face Jordan in Amman, where Palestine defeated Kuwait 2-0 in Ardhiya.
Saudi Arabia and Australia will square off on Tuesday for the second-place spot in Group C.
Following their last-gasp victory in Perth against group leaders Japan, Australia are still in the lead .
In the 90th minute, Aziz Behich rifled into the corner in front of more than 57, 000 fans, giving Tony Popovic’s side a crucial victory in the end.
“We know there is room to improve and room to grow, but we’ve done something special tonight,” Popovic said of his team’s prolonged dominance of an experimental Japan side.
With a 2-0 victory over Bahrain in Riffa, Saudi Arabia made sure the race for second place would end in secrecy. Herve Renard’s men are still three points adrift of second-placed Australia thanks to goals in either half from Musab Al Juwayr and Abdulrahman Al Obud.
To overtake the Socceroos, the Saudis will need to win by five goals in Jeddah.
In his September replacement, Popovic, said: “We all contributed to getting us to this point. We want to travel to Saudi Arabia to finish the project.
With a 1-0 victory over China, Patrick Kluivert’s country kept their hopes alive for the first World Cup since 1945.
So far, Indonesia is fourth overall, one point behind Saudi. The only goal was scored by Ole Romeny, who had just passed a VAR check that had left China rooted to the bottom of the group and had put an end to their hopes of winning a second World Cup with his controversial penalty just before halftime.
After the American defeated French hero Lois Boisson, Adrienne Sabalenka put an end to Iga Swiatek’s French Open dominance with a devastating third-set victory over Coco Gauff on Thursday.
With a 7-6 (7-1) 4-6, 6-0 victory in her first clay-court Grand Slam final, the Belarusian snapped Swiatek’s winning streak to reach her 26th match.
After defeating Swiatek in a decisive set at the French Open, Sabalenka declared, “Iga is the toughest opponent, especially on the clay and at Roland Garros.”
“I’m pleased that I received this victory,” he said.
In the second semi-final against Court Philippe Chatrier, world number two Gauff defeated 361st-ranked wildcard Boisson 6-1, 6-2 to put an end to his dream run.
In their head-to-head competition, Gauff and Sabalenka are at 5- 5 overall, and they have won one of their two matches at major tournaments.
On day 12 of the French Open tennis tournament’s semifinal match against Poland on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 5, 2025, winner Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka (R) cheers Poland’s Aryna Sabalenka (R) on June 5, 2025. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF/AFP)
Before Swiatek hit back to level the match, Sabalenka edged a topsy-turvy first set that featured eight serve breaks in a tie-break.
The third set ended up being a complete anti-climax, with only six points being won by Swiatek, who made 12 unforced errors in the process.
“I’m happy I found my job,” he said. The 27-year-old Sabalenka remarked that the serve was a little easier. What can I say, 6-0, is a perfect score for something?
After winning the US Open and the Australian Open consecutively in 2023 and 2024, Sabalenka wants to win a fourth Grand Slam title, first one on hard courts.
Since winning the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen a year ago, Swiatek hasn’t yet reached a WTA final.
She showed signs of revival on the Paris clay, where she has been a force since winning the French Open in 2020 as a teenager, but her game was lost in the decisive set, allowing her to suffer her third successive defeat.
Swiatek expressed his happiness at having the opportunity to play in so many top tournaments here, saying, “I love playing here.”
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates her victory over Iga Swiatek of Poland on day 12 of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 5, 2025. (Photo: Thibaud MORITZ/AFP)
In total, Sabalenka has won five of its previous six meetings.
The pair, who have been the most popular women’s tennis players for the past few years, have met in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Swiatek won in the 2022 US Open semi-finals to win the title.
When Sabalenka takes on Gauff, who she lost in the US Open final in 2023, Sabalenka will be the favorite to win the trophy.
Swiatek will drop to seventh place in the world rankings next week as a result of her bid to win four consecutive French Opens.
Gauff is too strong,
On day 12 of the French Open tennis tournament hosted by US Coco Gauff and France’s Lois Boisson on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 5, 2025, the US celebrated her victory over France’s Lois Boisson. (Photo: Thibaud MORITZ/AFP)
In the previous two rounds, third-seeded Jessica Pegula and world number six Mirra Andreeva had beaten Boisson, but Gauff’s test turned out to be insufficient.
A second seed’s brutal opening set kept the home crowd at bay.
In the second set, Boisson briefly woke up the French fans by breaking them in, only to immediately concede it.
Gauff successfully advanced to the second French Open final after only 69 minutes on the court.
In her on-court interview, Gauff remarked to the crowd, “I was thinking my name when you guys were chanting her name.
“I’m going to enjoy this one for now and then get ready for the final tomorrow,” I remarked. “Obviously there is still a lot to do.
The 21-year-old will believe she can finally win the tournament where she has reached at least the quarter-finals in five straight years despite being emotionally defeated by Swiatek in the 2022 final.
Boisson made 33 errors in total, making her only previous appearance in the Open era after Mary Pierce.
The 22-year-old admitted to being “really disappointed” today because she “often wanted to go further than this semi-final,” adding “obviously I’m going to take the time to digest this.”
She will climb into the world’s top 70 next week and has added 690, 000 euros ($789, 536) to her previous career prize money of $148, 009.
