Former Manchester United football player David Beckham, who was recently in India for the second time in two years spoke about many things during a session with Indian actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu in Mumbai, but among them he also spoke about his love for the game, and without a doubt the influence of world class player Lionel Messi. The timing couldn’t be better as they were in the middle of a title race that ended up the duo’s team Inter Miami winning their first MLS crown with goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Tadeo Allende, both of whom, received assists from Messi. With football easily being his first love, Samantha asked him more about the game during the session, which was a part of the House of Instagram’s Creator event by Meta which saw some of India’s most popular content creators in fashion, food, travel and tech come together but not without sports took centre stage with Beckham, as he is more popularly known, there. Being one of the world’s most loved footballers, having played for not only The Red Devils, but also Spanish team Real Madrid, and the English national side, he dived into everything about the sport. Influence of Inter Miami and Lionel MessiBeing the co-owner of the popular American club Inter Miami, which is one of the top clubs of the Major Soccer League, Beckham, who recently received knighthood by King Charles, spoke about that very experience. He shared, "We're very lucky, firstly, to have a team in Miami. Miami is such a vibrant place. It's similar to India in the fact that the people, the colours, the vibrancy, the energy is truly incredible. To start the team in Miami, it was a big challenge, but a challenge that I knew would be worth it. I promised people in Miami, people in America, that we would bring the best players to this city and to the country.” It just so happened, he adds, that the club brought Lionel Messi, the greatest player to ever play the game to Miami. “We're very lucky. I feel very privileged. What Leo has done for our club has been incredible. He's taken it to a whole new level but more importantly, he's a great person. I know he's coming to India pretty soon, which will be amazing.” Clearly happy with the team, Beckham said winning as a player and coach is no different. He shares, “Winning a trophy as a player, winning a trophy as a manager is exactly the same feeling with the pride that you have.” However, there is one difference while watching the match, he added. “The difference is in watching a match as a player and watching a match as an owner. That is what is different because as a player, you're playing in a match and if you're losing, you can kind of do something about it. When you're losing as an owner, there's nothing you can do about it. You have to sit there and be frustrated. But winning a trophy is the greatest feeling in the world.”
09 December,2025 05:01 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentReal Madrid coach Xabi Alonso called on his team to bounce back quickly after a painful defeat by Celta Vigo on Sunday when they face Manchester City in the Champions League. “We are all angry, evidently this was not the game we wanted, it was not the result we wanted,” Alonso said at the Bernabeu. “We have to turn the page as quickly as possible. We have the game against City to react in, and get this bad taste out of our mouths.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
09 December,2025 09:24 AM IST | Madrid | AFPMohamed Salah has been dropped from Liverpool’s squad for their Champions League tie away to Inter Milan following incendiary remarks about his relationship with manager Arne Slot and his treatment by the club. The Egypt forward was not included in the squad announced by Liverpool on Monday, despite training earlier in the day with the team. Salah said on Saturday he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool and that he no longer had a relationship with Slot after he was left on the bench for the third consecutive game at Leeds. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
09 December,2025 09:16 AM IST | London | AFPLionel Messi inspired Inter Miami to their first ever MLS Cup title on Saturday, playing a starring role in a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in Florida. The Argentina superstar provided two assists and helped create another to spark wild celebrations before a rapturous home crowd at the Chase Stadium. “This is the moment that I’ve been waiting for, and that we as a team have been waiting for,” Messi, named MLS Cup Most Valuable Player, said afterwards. Miami took the lead in the eighth minute via an Edier Ocampo own goal, but were left reeling by Ali Ahmed’s 60th-minute equaliser for Vancouver. But Messi then laid on an assist for Rodrigo De Paul to put Miami 2-1 in the 71st minute before supplying the pass for Tadeo Allende’s injury time goal that sealed victory. The victory also heralded the end of an era for two key figures in Miami’s rise to the top of MLS, with Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets heading into retirement. “That was one of the main objectives — to say goodbye to two friends. And we did it in the best way to two of the best players,” eight-time Ballon D’Or winner Messi said. 47No. of titles won by Lionel Messi in his career This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
08 December,2025 10:27 AM IST | MLS Cup final Fort Lauderdale | AFPMohamed Salah took aim at Liverpool manager Arne Slot in an astonishing rant that could spell the end of his legendary career at Anfield after claiming he has been ‘thrown under the bus’ during the English Premier League (EPL) champions’s slump in form. The Egyptian was left on the bench for the third consecutive game in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds and was not even introduced as a substitute by Slot. “I’m very disappointed. I have done so much for this club down the years and now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame,” said an agitated Salah. The 33-year-old even went to the extent of saying that the relationship between the coach and himself has deteriorated. “I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club,” he added. After next weekend’s home match against Brighton, Salah is set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and hinted that could be his final appearance in a Liverpool shirt should he be selected. “In my head, I’m going to enjoy that game [against Brighton] because I don’t know what is going to happen now. I will be at Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go the Africa cup. I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there,” said Salah. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
08 December,2025 10:23 AM IST | Leeds | AFPFrance coach Didier Deschamps is looking forward to a showdown between superstar forwards Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland after his side were drawn on Friday in the same group as Norway at the 2026 World Cup. “It will be a great duel,” Deschamps told reporters in Washington, where France and Norway came out alongside Senegal in a tough-looking Group I. “Both teams have lots of big names, but Kylian and Haaland are two players recognised around the world and they will be two of the contenders to be the top scorer,” added Deschamps. Mbappe has scored 30 goals in 24 games for Real Madrid and France this season, while Haaland has scored 33 in 24 appearances for Manchester City and Norway. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
07 December,2025 09:39 AM IST | Washington | AFPAn ‘angry’ Ruben Amorim watched Manchester United blow their chance to rise to fifth in the English Premier League (EPL) as West Ham salvaged a late 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. Soungoutou Magassa’s 83rd-minute equaliser canceled out Diogo Dalot’s opening goal (58th min) that had put United on course to move level on points with fourth-place Chelsea. Bruno Fernandes squandered two chances to score a winner in added time — blazing a shot wide from inside the box and then volleying another off target. Ruben Amorim United coach Amorim said he was ‘frustrated’ and ‘angry’ after seeing his team drop more points. “We should have closed the game with the ball because the game was there to win. The game was under control. We knew it [we needed to] defend far from our box as any set-pieces can be a problem, [but] we couldn’t do it, we couldn’t maintain the ball and again we lost two points,” said the Portuguese coach. The result leaves the Red Devils in eighth place, two points adrift of the top four, emphasising just how costly their recent run has been. Recent draws against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and West Ham all came in games in which United had taken the lead. The only loss on that run came at home to an Everton team that was down to 10 men early in the game. “We are in the time of the year where you cannot drop too many points or else the distance to the top will be even higher,” defender Dalot said. “We want to be there and be in the top four or five. Today we had a good chance and that is why the disappointment is even bigger,” he added. 1No. of wins for Man Utd in their last five EPL games This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 09:36 AM IST | Manchester | AgenciesArne Slot insisted Friday that Liverpool have taken a “step forward” in their past two matches. Ninth-placed Liverpool have taken four points in their past two matches, with a 2-0 victory at West Ham followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland. “In the last two games we were one deflection away from keeping two clean sheets,” Liverpool manager Slot said ahead of Saturday’s trip to struggling Leeds. He added: “That’s a step forward if you compare to seven goals conceded in two games [before that]. There are positives to take from the players we’ve brought in the summer. They’re getting more consistent in their performances.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 09:16 AM IST | Liverpool | AgenciesEnzo Maresca slammed his lacklustre Chelsea side after their English Premier League (EPL) title challenge suffered a huge setback in a shock 1-3 defeat against Leeds on Wednesday. Maresca’s side paid the price for a woeful first-half display featuring Leeds goals from Jaka Bijol (6th min) and Ao Tanaka (43rd min). Pedro Neto reduced the deficit in the 50th minute, but Chelsea conceded a farcical third goal to Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the closing stages. The Blues’s first defeat in eight games across all competitions left them nine points behind Arsenal in fourth place. “There was nobody at their best level. Leeds were better than us in all aspects, they deserved to win. [Overall] a very poor night. The only thing we can do is try and understand what we did and reset,” said Maresca. Other results . Aston Villa 4-3 Brighton. Crystal Palace 1-0 Burnley. Notts Forest 1-0 Wolves This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 December,2025 07:19 AM IST | Leeds | AFPKylian Mbappe scored twice and set up another as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to cut Barcelona’s La Liga lead back down to one point on Wednesday. “I think we played a complete game today. It was probably our best match,” said coach Xabi Alonso. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 December,2025 07:16 AM IST | Bilbao | AFPManager Arne Slot conceded his Liverpool side have lost their fear factor during a miserable run as Sunderland emerged with a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Wednesday. The English Premier League (EPL) champions have now failed to win in three consecutive home games and needed a Nordi Mukiele own goal (83rd min) to rescue a point against the Black Cats after Chemsdine Talbi’s deflected strike opened the scoring (67th min). Since winning their opening five league games of the season, Liverpool have won just two of their last nine. “Teams that play us now think they can get a result because that has been shown this season. Even the games we have won, we have fuelled confidence in other teams that [a good result] is possible because the wins we had weren’t easy ones as well,” said a disappointed Slot. Arne Slot Any hope that a corner had been turned in Sunday’s 2-0 victory at West Ham was quickly dispelled for Slot. Mohamed Salah was left on the bench for the second consecutive game, but Wirtz and Alexander Isak again failed to deliver. “I knew Sunderland is a hard team to score against, and create chances against. [We] were really unlucky with the goal we conceded. It was a deflection and could have gone anywhere but in the period we are in, it went in,” lamented Slot. Meanwhile, league leaders Arsenal eased to a 2-0 win over Brentford. Mikel Merino opened the scoring (11th min), with Bukayo Saka adding further gloss to the scoreline in injury time. In the injury-enforced absence of Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz, Merino — a midfielder by trade — has bagged four goals and three assists across all competitions when playing as a no. 9. His value to the team has not gone amiss, with Arteta showering praise on the Spaniard. “It’s unbelievable what he has done. Not only the goal, but also his movement, his work-rate. It’s phenomenal,” Arteta said. 8thLiverpool’s current position in the EPL table Liverpool’s last nine EPL results Draw 1-1 vs SunderlandWin 2-0 vs West HamLoss 0-3 vs Notts ForestLoss 0-3 vs Man CityWin 2-0 vs Aston VillaLoss 2-3 vs BrentfordLoss 1-2 vs Man UtdLoss 1-2 vs ChelseaLoss 1-2 vs Crystal Palace This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 December,2025 07:13 AM IST | Liverpool’s Alexander Isak (left) and Virgil van Dijk appear dejected after conceding a goal to Sunderland on Wednesday. pic/getty images | AFPADVERTISEMENT
