15/07/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | JULY 15, 2026

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2026 WORLD CUP

SHORTS

they could feel reassured, because health comes before everything,” said Fall. The Senegalese Association of Sports Medicine rejected the allegations as “unfounded and defamatory” in a state ment issued late yesterday. … and Thiaw’s salary demands caused downfall The Senegalese football federation (FSF) president said yesterday toxicity sur rounded the team at the World Cup after coach Pape Thiaw had demanded a pay rise. Thiaw was sacked on Sunday after his side were knocked out in the last 32 by Belgium on July 1. “There was a breakdown in trust between Pape Thiaw and us,” FSF presi dent Abdoulaye Fall told a press confer ence in Dakar, citing the initial failure to sign a new contract after Thiaw’s demand for more money. Thiaw, 45 and a former Senegal inter

national, took over as national team boss in 2024. Prior to leaving for the World Cup, he had asked for a salary increase from US$35,000 (RM140,000) per month to US$87,000 (RM348,000). Ultimately the sides landed on an agreement of US$52,000 (RM208,000) during the World Cup and also settled other disputes such as bonuses. Fall said the contract was signed on the eve of their second game in the tourna ment, against Norway, after Thiaw refused to sit in the dugout unless it was finalised. Thiaw believed the “federation officials were his enemies, and this impacted the national team’s operations,” Fall said. Bilic returns as Croatia coach Slaven Bilic will return as head coach of Croatia, the national football federation announced yesterday, replacing Zlatko Dalic, who resigned after the country’s World Cup exit.

“Yes, we have spoken,” the former Spain and Liverpool midfielder said. “But as you can understand, what we have spoken about remains private. But yes, we have spoken.” Asked if he would like Fernandez to remain at Stamford Bridge, Alonso replied: “Yes.” The 25-year-old Fernandez is one of four Chelsea players still involved in the World Cup together with the England duo of Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah, as well as France’s Malo Gusto. – AFP “You see that the ball changes direc tion and lands 10m earlier. I haven’t seen the pictures again, but if it hit, it’s a scandal,” he told TV2 . – Express Newspapers Dalic stepped down last week after a tenure that included a runner up finish at the 2018 World Cup. Croatia failed to move into the last 16 of this year’s World Cup, losing 2-1 to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. Former Croatian international defender Bilic previously coached Croatia between 2006 and 2012. The 57-year-old was “unanimously appointed” as head coach, the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) said. “It is not easy to succeed Zlatko, but we are convinced that Slaven is the right per son for this role,” HNS president Marijan Kustic said, praising Bilic’s “extensive coach ing and managerial experience”. Bilic recorded a higher winning percent age than Dalic during his last tenure, with 42 wins, 15 draws and eight defeats in 65 matches. But his side’s best result was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2008 European Championships, which they lost on penalties to Turkey. New footage shows ball hitting spider camera NEW footage of the controversial build up to Jude Bellingham’s goal appears to show the ball making contact with the spider camera during the World Cup quarterfinal clash between England and Norway on Sunday, There was no suggestion of a foul or offside in the lead-up, with Elliot Anderson gathering the loose ball before spreading a pass wide to Anthony Gordon. He got the better of his marker and picked out Bellingham just outside the penalty area, with the Real Madrid star producing several sublime touches before drilling the ball past Orjan Nyland. It was the Norwegian goalkeeper who led the protests over the goal, insist ing that his goal kick – which was plucked from the air by Anderson – had struck the spider cam, a device sus pended by several thick cables that pro vides television viewers with an aerial perspective of the play. A fresh slow-motion clip of the moment has since surfaced, courtesy of Canadian sports network TSN , with their footage zooming in on the instant the ball appears to make contact with the spider cam. Although the image is somewhat blurred, it does appear that contact is indeed made, and the subsequent tra jectory of the ball further suggests that something altered its course. The contentious decision has pro voked considerable frustration within the Norway camp, with Andreas Schjelderup, who had given Norway the lead, describing it as scandalous.

Senegal team doctor ‘trained as a gynaecologist’ Senegal’s team doctor lacked the special ist background needed to support the squad during the World Cup in North America, the president of the country’s football federation said yesterday, as the governing body took stock of a disappoint ing campaign. The team doctor was “trained as a gynaecologist” and the issue was discov ered late and had raised concern among players about the level of medical support available, federation chief Abdoulaye Fall told a press conference. “Based on the feedback I received, the players were not sufficiently reassured about being supported by him,” Fall said. The federation sought additional medical expertise to reassure the squad, he added. “We had to find convincing expertise so

Heroes welcome welcome The Norway team greeted with a huge celebration by their fans yesterday in

Oslo after returning from the 2026 World Cup. – AFPPIC

Norway turn World Cup heartbreak into celebration as huge crowds pack capital

M ORE than 100,000 fans flooded the streets of the Norwegian capital Oslo yesterday to give their football team a heroes’ welcome, turning the heart break of their World Cup exit into a massive national celebration. A 2-1 extra time defeat by England on Sunday brought Norway’s historic run to an end in the quarterfinals, shattering the Nordics’ dreams of a place in the last four. However, it did not stop the country celebrat ing their heroes. Massive crowds under the Norwegian sum mer sun filled the grounds of the Royal Palace yesterday afternoon, with an unofficial turnout estimated at more than 100,000 people. The Norway squad touched down to a tradi tional water cannon salute before commencing their homecoming parade in the capital. The line of supporters quickly packed the palace square before stretching far down the main street, Karl Johans gate, as the squad first attended an audience with King Harald. “I have felt very proud, it has been amazing, I have been both at home and in Spain, and the atmosphere between the Norwegian people has been there all the time, so it has been unbeliev able,” Norway fan Catherine Breiland told XABI ALONSO urged Chelsea to develop a “hunger” for victory and said he wanted midfielder Enzo Fernandez to stay at Stamford Bridge in his first press conference as Blues boss. The former Real Madrid manager fought shy of discussing specific targets in his first season in charge of London club Chelsea but said European qualifi cation was an aim. “For sure that’s a goal,” he told a press conference yesterday. “But to reach that goal, you need to do many right things, and to be part of

Reuters as the team stepped out to greet the fans with the Royal Guard standing to attention behind them. Striker Erling Haaland was noticeably absent from the final stage of the celebrations, having left early. His departure meant he missed joining his teammates on the palace steps for one last “Viking row”, with tens of thousands of fans gathered below, which was led by Crown Prince Haakon on the drums. “Erling and Sander (Berge) had to catch their plane as our trip from the US was delayed four hours,” coach Stale Solbakken said, as the squad prepared to continue the celebrations in an open-top bus parade around Oslo. Crowds slowed the bus to a halt through cen tral Oslo, forcing it to reverse at one point as police escorts struggled to carve out a path. Undeterred, Norway’s players celebrated with beer and waved as the party continued long after dark. “The run the Norwegian team has had this year has been way beyond anything I’ve ever that process how do we want to play? “How do we want to see ourselves? How do we want to approach a game wherever we go? “That’s my job. That’s why I am really looking forward to having the whole squad. “At the moment we have some bids, but early days so far. “But for sure, we want to be there and time will tell.

expected. I feel everybody in Norway should just honour the national team, which has done such an amazing job during this whole cup,” said Nicolai Sivesind, who travelled to Oslo to take part in World Cup events. There was a moment of irony when the parade was halted by low-hanging overhead cables. The players, who had been standing and waving flags on the top deck, were forced to sit down to clear the obstruction before the dou ble-decker could proceed. Solbakken said earlier he was convinced the ball hit a camera cable above the pitch just before Jude Bellingham scored England’s equal iser in the first half of the quarterfinal. Hours after the parade began, it completed the 1.3km route at City Hall Square, where tens of thousands of patient supporters were still waiting to welcome the team. “I don’t think anyone had imagined this,” captain Martin Odegaard told Norwegian broadcaster NRK . “The support we have received in the USA and here at home, has been beyond all expectations.” – Reuters “But we are ambitious and we in Chelsea need to share that energy, that ambition, as well as that hunger to want to have success.” Alonso also insisted Chelsea were keen to keep Fernandez. Earlier this month, Real Madrid denied an interest in signing the Chelsea midfielder, whose Argentina side will face England in tomorrow’s World Cup semifinal.

New Chelsea boss Alonso calls for ‘hunger’