China🇨🇳 has 1.3 billon people and likes football,and the 2018 World Cup booking list is ninth,so why are the teams so poor?When we can play World Cup again since 2002?
🚨🗣️ 🇪🇸 Carles Puyol on what happened when he stopped his teammates from dancing after scoring against Rayo Vallecano:
“For me, it was simply common sense. I am not against dancing after a goal.”
“But it depends on the moment. We were winning 6–0 against a team that had just been relegated, at their home ground.”
“They had said before the match, ‘If I score, you and I will do this dance.’ Tiago scored and started dancing with Dani.”
“I stopped them because I felt it was not appropriate at that moment, considering how difficult the situation was for Rayo, their team and their fans.”
“It was better to show a little more calm and restraint.”
I keep thinking about Pep Guardiola’s famous rant at Nathan Redmond in 2017.
At the time, it looked almost bizarre. Why was Pep screaming at an opposition player after winning a game?
Years later, it makes much more sense. Guardiola isn't simply obsessed with winning. He is simply obsessed with excellence.
He wants the best from his players, his opponents, himself and everybody.
That same man who was screaming at Redmond because he wanted him to attack is the man now revealing how deeply he carries football, how defeats torture him, how much he questions himself and how his personal life has even collided with his work.
This the most fascinating thing about Pep. For him, football isn't just 90 minutes. It is just a way of life.
Perhaps, that is why he can demand so much from Haaland, confront Walker, tear himself apart over team selections and even get frustrated when an opponent isn't giving him everything.
He doesn't just want to beat you, but wants you to be better. That is Guardiola's beautiful obsession, and perhaps also his greatest burden.
Watch this Redmond rant again with that context. It really hits differently now.
I'm seeing quite a bit of comment about this, so I want to make a couple of points.
I'm not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created. The idea is as ludicrous as me checking with the boss I had when I was twenty-one for what opinions I should hold these days.
Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology. Such beliefs are legally protected, and I wouldn't want to see any of them threatened with loss of work, or violence, or death, because of them.
However, Emma and Dan in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right - nay, obligation - to critique me and my views in public. Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created.
When you've known people since they were ten years old it's hard to shake a certain protectiveness. Until quite recently, I hadn't managed to throw off the memory of children who needed to be gently coaxed through their dialogue in a big scary film studio. For the past few years, I've repeatedly declined invitations from journalists to comment on Emma specifically, most notably on the Witch Trials of JK Rowling. Ironically, I told the producers that I didn't want her to be hounded as the result of anything I said.
The television presenter in the attached clip highlights Emma's 'all witches' speech, and in truth, that was a turning point for me, but it had a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself. Emma asked someone to pass on a handwritten note from her to me, which contained the single sentence 'I'm so sorry for what you're going through' (she has my phone number). This was back when the death, rape and torture threats against me were at their peak, at a time when my personal security measures had had to be tightened considerably and I was constantly worried for my family's safety. Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness.
Like other people who've never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she's ignorant of how ignorant she is. She'll never need a homeless shelter. She's never going to be placed on a mixed sex public hospital ward. I'd be astounded if she's been in a high street changing room since childhood. Her 'public bathroom' is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door. Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool? Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who's identified into the women's prison?
I wasn't a multimillionaire at fourteen. I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous. I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women's rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges.
The greatest irony here is that, had Emma not decided in her most recent interview to declare that she loves and treasures me - a change of tack I suspect she's adopted because she's noticed full-throated condemnation of me is no longer quite as fashionable as it was - I might never have been this honest.
Adults can't expect to cosy up to an activist movement that regularly calls for a friend's assassination, then assert their right to the former friend's love, as though the friend was in fact their mother. Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public - but I have the same right, and I've finally decided to exercise it.
About six months ago, I posted a few videos on Telegram with a girl I met in Shanghai.
Our faces were visible, but there was no explicit content or anything disrespectful in those videos.
At the time, it felt like just a normal moment from life. I didn’t realize it could affect someone’s personal situation.
Later, I found out the girl was in a relationship and that she faced a lot of hate because of it.
I truly regret that things turned out this way.
As soon as I understood the seriousness of the situation, I deleted the videos.
I never meant to hurt anyone — it wasn’t intentional.
I’m not hiding or making excuses — I’m just being honest.
Also, for the record: I was not married, not in a relationship — rumors about a “wife” or “family” are simply false.
Please, stop the hate.
We all make mistakes, and I’ve learned from mine.
I want to move forward — with respect toward everyone involved.
Let’s put an end to this topic.
And if there’s any way I can help the girl who was affected, I’d be glad to do so.
Some beautiful and profound words from Mourinho about our boy, which I'm sure are heartfelt by us all.
"The protagonism found him because of his talent"..🥹
Outside the managerial antics. Jose has always had a real profound and genuine way with words. He's always meant it when speaking so very highly of our club, supporters and culture.
Indeed, "we suffer together"
Real classy of him, this ❤️
@JimmyButler Jimmy Butler,who is well-known by the famous Chinese idiom "JB is really hard".You guys has complete admiration from an ordinary Chinese fan-Yuqing Lu~
Donald J. Trump Truth Social 05.30.25 08:09 AM EST
Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high Tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to TRADE into the United States marketplace which is, by far, number one in the World. We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, “civil unrest.” I saw what was happening and didn’t like it, for them, not for us. I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!
@City_Xtra Finished in 3rd; lost all four major titles; was eliminated from the Champions League early; the meritorious player left the team...very similar to 2016/17, but you all know what happened in next Premier League season...so stay patient, stay humble, the Blues will come back soon
Dear culers,
after just one year it’s already time to say goodbye. I came here to face a new, exciting challenge, and I was ready for it. I have given everything to fight for the team and the club the best possible way in a difficult season and I was looking forward to helping my teammates in the new campaign.
Now I am leaving in a difficult situation, but if my departure can help the club financially, it makes me a bit less sad.
Nevertheless, it’s been a time with incredible experiences and ups and downs - I always wanted to play at Barça, and I am very grateful for a memory and experience that I will remember for my life. I wish you the best for the season and for the future. The fans deserve to get this big club back to the world’s best.
Visca el Barça! 💙❤
Best wishes,
Ilkay