France’s all-time leading scorer and Arsenal great Thierry Henry landed his first managerial job on Saturday after Monaco hired him as a replacement for Leonardo Jardim, who was dismissed last week. The 41-year-old Henry started his professional career at the Riviera club and played in the French league with Monaco from 1994 to 1999.

He has signed on as Monaco’s coach for three seasons to June 2021 and starts on Monday. “I thank AS Monaco for giving me the opportunity to coach the team of this club, which is so special to me,” Henry said in a statement on the club website. “I am very happy to come back to AS Monaco and extremely determined to meet the challenges ahead. I cannot wait to meet the players to start working together.”

‘Thierry’s ready’

Henry has no experience as a manager but has been working as an assistant to Belgium coach Roberto Martinez since 2016 and helped lead the team to third place at the World Cup in Russia.

Henry becomes the latest member of the French squad that won the 1998 World Cup to embrace a coaching career, following Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane, among others.

“Thierry’s ready,” France manager Deschamps told French TV news network TF1. “He has everything” to be a good coach.

“He’s throwing himself into an exciting, exhilarating project where he’ll have to take responsibility. It’ll be up to him to take the reins,” Deschamps added.

“Thierry is ready to be head coach in a club,” Martinez told L’Equipe sports paper in an interview. “He likes what he does, and enjoying it is an essential part of this job.”

Henry turned down an offer from Bordeaux this summer and was in the running at Aston Villa.

At Monaco, which is winless in its past 10 games in all competitions, Henry’s first task will be to get the team back in contention in the league. A traditional powerhouse in French football, Monaco secured top-three finishes over the past five seasons and won the 2017 league – under Jardim – but is currently in 18th place in the standings and in last place in its Champions League group.

“Thierry is both aware of the task ahead and eager to start his new job,” Monaco vice president and CEO Vadim Vasilyev said in a statement. “He can count on our trust and all our support to bring a new dynamic to the team and carry out the mission.”

“His knowledge of football, his passion for the game, his high standards and his commitment to our colours make his nomination a reality.”

Arsenal great

Henry’s first-class career was launched in 1994 by Monaco coach Arsene Wenger, who five years later brought him to Arsenal.

Wenger promoted Henry to Monaco’s first team after the fast and technically gifted forward scored more than 30 goals with the under-17s in one year. Aged 17, Henry played his first French league game in August 1994. He ended up playing 141 matches in all competitions with Monaco, winning the 1997 league.

At Arsenal, he joined the pantheon of modern greats. He scored at least 20 league goals in six consecutive seasons and became Arsenal’s all-time leading goalscorer. He won seven trophies with the Gunners, among them two Premier Leagues including the unbeaten 2003-2004 side.

Henry ended his 20-year playing career four years ago after claiming multiple trophies, including the Champions League and the World Cup. After he retired, he worked as a TV analyst and quit his role as a UK Sky Sports pundit in July to focus on his ambition to become a manager.

Henry holds the French record of 51 goals in 123 internationals. He won the 2000 European Championship but finished on a low: In 2009 came the infamous handball in the decisive goal against Ireland in a World Cup playoff. At the World Cup in South Africa, France didn’t win a game and caused a scandal by refusing to train before their final match.

Coach Raymond Domenech arguably played his part in the debacle by dropping the hugely influential Henry from the starting lineup and souring a fragile atmosphere within the squad. It was a sad and humiliating end to Henry’s international career when he made his final appearance as a second-half substitute, with his shell-shocked side trailing South Africa 2-0 and headed for the exit.

(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)

English Premier League Club Liverpool have started the new season of UEFA Champions League with a brilliant 3-2 victory against French Giants PSG at Anfield.

The 2017 Champions League Runners-up took the lead when Daniel Sturridge scored with a thumping header in the 30th minute.

6 minutes later, James Milner doubled the lead for the Merseyside Reds from the spot. PSG managed to pull a goal back before half-time through Belgian Defender Thomas Meunier, who netted with a smart finish from inside the box.

The French Player scored the equalizer for the visitors with 8 minutes reaming from inside the area. But, Roberto Firmino of Brazil came off the bench and scored the winner for Liverpool, moments before the final whistle.

Cameroon international defender Ambroise Oyongo said he was delighted to score his first goal for French club Montpellier since joining from Major League Soccer (MLS) side Montreal Impact in January.

The 27-year-old’s crisp half-volley in the 77th minute earned La Paillade a hard-fought 1-0 away victory over Reims on Saturday night.

“I feel happy to get my first goal – it was difficult for me to come back from a lengthy injury,” he told BBC Sport.

“I’ve only played two games before this game, but I’m delighted to give my team all three points against a tough team.”

Oyongo, who moved to France after he ruptured a tendon, was making only his sixth appearance for the Ligue 1 club.

“I have been pushing myself in pre-season to get to the best level I can be. Everyone has helped me settle in. I just need to keep it going both at club and national team level.”

As he shifts his attention to international football with Cameroon, Oyongo has urged the fans to back new manager Clarence Seedorf and his assistants as they face Comoros in a 2019 Nation Cup qualifier next weekend.

“The fans want success and I think they will just be happy to see the team winning again,” added Oyongo

“Seedorf and Kluivert are legends, it is good for Cameroon to have this calibre of coaches and they need all the support.

“It’s not about the names, all the players must respect the coach because he is the boss.

“If we all work together I believe the country will do very well under this new set up.”

Oyongo began his career at Coton Sport in his native Cameroon, where he won three league titles between 2010 and 2014.

He had a brief spell with MLS club New York Red Bulls in 2014, before switching to Montreal Impact in January 2015.

Oyongo scored three goals and provided six assists in 72 games for the MLS Eastern Conference outfit.

Capped 29 times by Cameroon scoring twice, Oyongo played all six games as the Indomitable Lions won their fifth African Cup of Nations title in Gabon last year.

Source: BBC

Paris Saint-Germain will face Napoli, Red Star Belgrade and last season’s runners-up Liverpool after landing in one of the Champions League’s toughest groups.

Thursday’s group draw handed fellow French club Monaco an equally difficult task, with Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Club Brugge standing in their way.

Lyon, the third French club, will face Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk and Hoffenheim.

Title holders Real Madrid, who have won the competition for the past three years, are in Group G with Roma, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen.

Real’s former star player Cristiano Ronaldo, who first tasted Champions League glory with Machester United, will return to Old Trafford with his new club Juventus.

In what is arguably the least glamorous group, former European champions Porto will take on Lokomotiv Moscow, Schalke 04 and Galatasaray.

Group E also has three former European champions — Bayern Munich, Benfica and Ajax Amsterdam — alongside AEK Athens.

And for their return to the competition after a six-year absence, Inter Milan have been pitted against Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven.

The draw in full:

Group A: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge.

Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham, PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan.

Group C: PSG, Napoli, Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade.

Group D: Lokomotiv Moscow, Porto, Schalke, Galatasaray.

Group E: Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens.

Group F: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim.

Group G: Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moscow, Viktoria Plzen.

Group H: Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia, Young Boys

Five time World Player of the year and now the record signing for Italian club Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo has said his move from Real Madrid was a “well thought out decision”, adding that aims to help his new club win their first Champions League title in more than two decades.

Ronaldo, who joined the Italian champions last week on a four-year contract for 100 million euros ($117.07 million), added that he did not want to stay in his comfort zone after winning three straight European Cups with Real.

The 33-year-old left Los Blancos as their all-time top scorer with 451 goals in all competitions and won two La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies over nine years.

“I’m a person who likes to think about the present,” he told a news conference on Monday. “I’m still very young and I always liked the challenges, from Sporting, to Manchester (United), to Real (Madrid) and now Juventus.

“It was a well thought-out decision. It is the best club in Italy. It has an outstanding manager (Massimiliano Allegri) and coaches so it was not a difficult decision to take.”

“I am very ambitious and I like new challenges. I hope everything will go very well. Luck always helps but you have to look for it.”

Why Italy, not Qatar or China?

Ronaldo said he was grateful for the opportunity to represent Juventus, admitting players of his age usually settle for a move to less competitive leagues in Qatar or China.

“Usually players think their careers are over when they are 33. But I don’t feel that at all,” he said, adding that this showed he was “different from the others”.

“(Juve) is a big club and usually players of my age go to Qatar or to China, with all due respect, so coming to such an important and great club at this stage in my career makes me very happy.”

Ronaldo said one of the factors in joining Juve was the standing ovation given to him by the Turin club’s fans on his last visit, when he scored an astonishing overhead kick for Real in the Champions League quarter-finals.

“It was a really stunning moment for me,” he added. “Being welcomed this way is so rewarding. It increases your motivation to start a new adventure.”

Juventus plot European comeback

The signing of the five-times world player of the year and Champions League top scorer for the last six seasons is a major coup for Juve, who have lifted the Serie A title for the last seven seasons but have not won Europe’s top prize since 1996.

“We are going to fight not only for the Champions League but for the Serie A title,” said Ronaldo. “We know competition will be tough but we must stay concentrated.

“I hope I can help Juventus win it (the Champions League). They couldn’t win (last year) because even when you get to the final nothing is written. I hope I can be the lucky star of this club but we will see what happens.”

Ronaldo scored twice when Real beat Juventus 4-1 in the 2017 Champions League final in between triumphs over Atletico Madrid and Liverpool in Europe’s elite club competition.

The Portugal captain took his goalscoring form to the World Cup in Russia and netted four times, but failed to lead the European champions beyond the last-16 stage.

Ronaldo said he would start training with Juve on July 30 and hoped to feature in the opening match of their title defence in August. The fixtures will be announced later this month.

REUTERS

The European season will come to a close this weekend with the Champions League final, yet teams across the continent have already got to work scouting out new players for next season. We asked our friends at Football Whispers to scour the European media to round-up the latest transfer news and big stories.

Germany

Bayer Leverkusen have confirmed goalkeeper Bernd Leno will leave the club this summer, but the Arsenal target’s destination has yet to be confirmed. The player’s agent, Uli Ferber, has stated that he is fully focused on the World Cup and will make a decision later in the summer. (Kicker)

Despite being under contract until 2019, Arturo Vidal is on Manchester United’s radar and may opt to leave Bayern Munich this summer before new signing Leon Goretzka replaces him in the first team. (SportBild)

Eintracht Frankfurt forward Ante Rebic scored two goals to help his side beat Bayern Munich in the DFB Cup final on Saturday and has already stated he wouldn’t be opposed to a move to Bavaria. The Croatian forward has turned his career around under former Frankfurt manager Niko Kovac and has stated that he would happily follow the coach to Munich. (Bild)

Italy

Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata has been linked with a move to AC Milan, but it seems as though representatives of the Spanish striker were in fact meeting Juventus’ delegates this week in Milan. The Italian champions are reportedly interested in initially loaning the striker before signing him permanently at the end of his loan agreement as they did with former Blues wideman Juan Cuadrado. (Calciomercato)

Representatives from Lazio had a four-hour meeting with Samuel Eto’o’s agent this week to discuss the possibility of signing the 37-year-old striker this summer. The Cameroon striker is close to leaving Turkish side Konyaspor and may be tempted back to Italy. (Tuttosport)

Spain

Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu confirmed on Catalonian radio that the club will not be able to speak to Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann or begin negotiating for the player until July 1. (Mundo Deportivo)

Villarreal are closing in on Newcastle target Toko Ekambi and could sign the Angers striker for €18m. According to reports a fee has been agreed and the two clubs are now ironing out the finer details. (Marca)

France

Under the threat of UEFA’s financial fair play sanctions, PSG will look to push through the sale of forward Goncalo Guedes to Valencia, assuming the Spanish club are willing to pay the full €40m asking price. (L’Equipe)

Didier Deschamps has labelled Adrien Rabiot’s decision to remove himself from France’s list of reserves for the World Cup as a “huge mistake” before stating that he learned of the midfielder’s decision through an email from the player. (L’Equipe)

Culled from Sky Sports News

Liverpool fans threw bottles and cans and aimed fireworks at the Manchester City bus as it arrived at Anfield ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League game.

In the video, Liverpool fans can be seen launching bottles at Manchester City’s bus before the game on April 4.

Liverpool won the game, 3-0.

(Source: AP)

Zenit Saint-Petersburg coach Roberto Mancini said Tuesday he was open to taking over the vacant job as Italy national football coach.

Mancini, 53, is being touted along with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and former Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti to take the reins of the demoralized four-time World Cup winners.

Giampiero Ventura was fired as coach last November days after Italy’s shock failure to reach the World Cup final for the first time in 60 years.

Finding Ventura’s successor has been complicated because the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has to elect a president to replace Carlo Tavecchio, who was also forced to resign.

“Before choosing a new coach it seems to me that we have to choose a new FIGC president,” former Manchester City and Inter Milan boss Mancini told Italian talk show “Tiki Taka”.

“But I absolutely don’t rule out Italy, like the other coaches I think. When you’re a coach you can rule nothing out.”

Former Chelsea, Real Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan boss Ancelotti – a three-time Champions League winner – had been Tavecchio’s choice.

But the 56-year-old, free since his sacking by Bayern Munich last year, has said he would prefer to stay in club management.

Former Juventus boss Conte, 48, coached Italy from 2014 before joining Chelsea in 2016, winning the Premier League in his first season.

Conte revealed last year that he misses Italy and plans to return to his homeland in the near future.

“Italy is my homeland, so once I have had some good experiences, formative experiences, important and life-changing experiences, I’ll be back. I don’t know when but that’s the aim,” he said in September.

The FIGC on Monday agreed their budget for 2018 and have set aside 5 million euro ($5.6m) to pay the new coach, despite a projected deficit of 9 million euros for the year, according to press reports.

Three candidates have their hat in the ring for FIGC presidency – former Italy and Roma star Damiano Tommasi, now head of the Italian Players’ Union; Italian Professional League president Gabriele Gravina and FIGC vice-president Cosimo Sibilia.

The election for president will take place on January 29.

(Source: Agence France Presse)

Some 1,000 Juventus soccer fans watching the European Champions League final in the Italian city of Turin have been injured in a stampede triggered by a bomb scare.

Witnesses said a firecracker explosion caused a panic movement at a Champions League fan zone in one of Turin’s main squares, where some 20,000 Juventus enthusiasts had gathered Saturday to watch their team face Spanish club Real Madrid on giant TV screens.

During the second half of the match, which Juventus lost 1-4, people mistook firecrackers for a terrorist bombing or gunshots, according to the witnesses.

Many panic-stricken fans then started screaming and trying to run out of the place when some people shouted that a bomb had exploded, triggering a large stampede.

Video cameras showed a sudden rush in the middle of the crowd flung against barriers at Piazza San Carlo Square.

About seven people were seriously hurt, including a 7-year-old boy who had been trampled.

“At that moment, I saw the entire piazza went in the direction next to the screen to escape, all in a panic,” said Brian Hendrie, an Associated Press reporter. “They ran, fell on the ground on the glass.”

Afterwards shoes and bags littered the ground, while people were seen limping and searching desperately for friends and relatives, according to a witness.

Police are now investigating the cause of the mayhem.

“The root cause of this was panic, to understand what triggered it we will have to wait a while,” said Renato Saccone, the prefect of Turin.

Juve head coach Massimiliano Allegri said following the match, “I would just like to say that we feel for what happened to our fans in Turin. There was an incident there; we hope that not too many people were injured.”

In recent years, a string of terror attacks, including bombings, shootings and stabbings, have hit multiple European cities, striking fear into the hearts of the nations in the continent.

Just as the European Champions League final was taking place, terrorists struck at the heart of London, killing six people in a series of vehicle and knife attacks.

Source: Presstv