Argentina claimed the 2024 Copa América championship by defeating Colombia 1-0, thanks to an extra time goal. The thrilling match remained goalless until Lautaro Martinez scored in the 112th minute, sealing Argentina’s victory. Martinez, who finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals, netted the winner following a turnover that led to a breakaway. His shot flew past Colombia’s goalkeeper, Camilo Vargas, ensuring Argentina’s triumph.
Uruguay beat Brazil 4-2 in a penalty shootout on Saturday evening after going down to 10 men in a tense and tough 0-0 draw at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to move into the semifinals of the Copa America, where they will face Colombia, who ran riot against Panama as they beat them 5-0.
Legendary midfielder Toni Kroos has officially retired from professional football after Germany’s 2-1 loss to Spain saw them exit the EURO 2024. La Roja’s 2-1 extra time win over the Euro 2024 hosts in the quarterfinal brought the curtain down on a glittering career for the Real Madrid stalwart.
Chelsea have shown further interest in Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. The Blues’ new boss Enzo Maresca is keen on adding a proven Premier League goal scorer to his ranks, and after accessing their options, they’ve decided that the Newcastle target man [Isak] fits the bill. Newcastle might consider the deal even if they’re not willing to sell, as they have to sell a player to comply with Profitability and Sustainability Regulations [PSR] before July 1 and would be looking for close to £100m to consider selling their star striker.
Reigning European Champions Italy were dumped out of Euro 2024 at the Round of 16 stage by a resilient Switzerland side, making them the third successive country to go out at that stage. Ruben Vargas contributed twice in the 2-0 triumph that sent them to the quarterfinals for the second successive edition, assisting Freuler for the first and then netting the second.
Belgium are finally up and running at Euro 2024 as they beat Romania [who beat Ukraine 3-0 on MD1] in Cologne to take control of Group E. Goals in both half from Youri Tielemans and the irresistible Kevin De Bruyne inflicted the damage on a night where Domenico Tedesco’s hungry Red Devils flaunted their attacking quality. After five agonising days of frustration following Monday’s infuriating 1-0 defeat to Slovakia in Frankfurt, Belgium flew out of the traps in style.
Bayern Munich have reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign winger Michael Olise, according to several journalists’ reports. The Bundesliga giants will pay €60m (£50.7m) including add-ons to bring the 22 year old to the Allianz Arena. It was reported last week that Bayern, Chelsea and Newcastle had approached Palace before Chelsea dropped out of the race to sign Olise. Chelsea offered the player a competitive financial package but he wanted to move to Bayern. He is now expected to sign a contract until 2029 with Vincent Kompany’s side.
Host Germany kicked off Euro 2024 in spectacular fashion on Friday, hammering 10 man Scotland 5-1 in Munich to record the biggest opening match victory in European Championship history. First half goals from Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz put the result beyond doubt early on, before Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can, who wasn’t even in the squad 48 hours ago, added gloss to the score line in the second period. Antonio Rüdiger’s own goal in the 87th minute was nothing more than a consolation but gave the Scotland fans a moment to remember on a difficult night.
The Super Eagles’ 2026 World Cup qualification chances were further cut short last week after two disaster class games against South Africa and Benin Republic, edging out a draw against bafana bafana, and then going on to lose against Benin Republic three days later.
With the Euro 2024 squads submitted, BRUTAL decisions were made by managers across the continent as they revealed their squads for this year’s tournament. Some players that were cut were injured along the line during the season, and others didn’t qualify. Several big names were surprisingly missing, and so black sports live have decided to make an XI of the best players that will miss the Euro 2024: