![]() The country’s men’s soccer team played in its second straight World Cup final in December, and its women’s squad will be among the favorites in its own championship this summer. These should be heady days for French sports. Unable to reconcile the two conflicting narratives, the news coverage and the denials being offered by Le Graët, Oudéa-Castéra commissioned an independent investigation.īy the time it was underway, the stack of problems on her desk had already grown. On the appointed day, the two executives sat down at a circular glass table in Oudéa-Castéra’s cavernous sixth-floor office, and she began to ask questions. So Oudéa-Castéra, not yet four months into her post, reached out arranged a meeting. “Before those revelations from the press I personally did not know Noël Le Graët,” Oudéa-Castéra said in an interview last week. PARIS - It was the middle of September and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra needed to know if there was any truth in the lurid headlines she was reading.Īs France’s sports minister, Oudéa-Castéra had the power to summon Noël Le Graët, the octogenarian who has run French soccer for more than a decade, and confront him about the allegations about his behavior: serious accusations of inappropriate comments and text messages to female staff members whispers about heavy lunchtime drinking sessions news reports that the federation had ignored sexual harassment and sexual abuse. Meanwhile Kane - who ensured that Arrizabalaga felt his presence with a nudge in the first-half - clinically ensured there would be no way back for the Blues as he swivelled to prod in from close range.UPDATE: The longtime president of the French soccer federation, Noël Le Graët, resigned on Tuesday. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's 80 touches in comparison to opposite number Fernandez's 134 emphasised the difference in approaches. Spurs on the other hand delivered the perfect counter-attacking display, making light of their 41% possession at home to record only their eighth win in 62 attempts against their London rivals in the Premier League. The loss of Thiago Silva to a first-half injury did not help the visitors' rhythm but once Skipp had opened the scoring, with a superb shot Arrizabalaga could only get a hand to, Chelsea hopes of getting anything from the game appeared to quickly recede.įor all their neat and tidy possession, Potter's side had just two shots on target with only one of those from inside the Tottenham penalty area. The introduction of the striker came only after midfielders Denis Zakaria and Mason Mount had come on ahead of him with Chelsea chasing a leveller. To underline the point, Gabon forward Aubameyang - who appeared to have been cast aside following January's lavish spending - was sent on in the 83rd minute to help retrieve a two-goal deficit. What did you make of Chelsea's display? Send us your comments hereĪ team sheet containing six changes from their defeat to Southampton and the inclusion of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as a substitute underlined the feeling of uncertainty and flux around Chelsea's bloated squad.How did you rate Spurs' performance? Have your say here.Fan arrested over alleged homophobic chant.Having administered yellow cards to those players, Attwell dismissed the Morocco winger for a raised arm on the advice of his assistant referee before downgrading it to a yellow after the video assistant referee recommended that the official review his decision. The biggest talking point of an underwhelming first half was referee Stuart Attwell's initial decision to send off Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech after a melee that saw visiting forward Kai Havertz and home defender Emerson Royal booked. Overall the hosts merited the three points and had come closest to breaking the deadlock in the early stages when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg saw his deflected effort go past a motionless Kepa Arrizabalaga but hit the right-hand post. The hosts now sit fourth in the table four points above fifth-placed Newcastle, who have two games in hand, and are expected to welcome manager Antonio Conte back to work this week after his recovery from surgery. Meanwhile, things are on the up for Spurs, who have won four of their past five league matches. ![]() ![]() This result is likely to place more scrutiny on Chelsea's expensively assembled squad - with British record signing Enzo Fernandez at fault for the Spurs' opener - as well as Potter, who recently outlined the toll that criticism has placed on his family and mental health. The Blues have now won just two of their last 15 top-flight matches and sit 14 points off the Champions League places. ![]() While the majority of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were in celebratory mood in the final stages, Kane's goal saw visiting supporters head for the exit as Chelsea's recent woes continued. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |