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The Madhya Pradesh batsman, on the cusp of 100 Ranji matches for his state, looks back at his career and what drives him to turn out season after season

Amol Karhadkar23-Nov-2012While Virender Sehwag made his 100th Test appearance amid fanfare in Mumbai on Friday, a domestic stalwart will reach a similar feat in front of near-empty stands on Saturday. Devendra Bundela will reach 100 Ranji games when Madhya Pradesh take on Bengal in Indore, a central India town also known as mini-Bombay and where Sehwag scored his ODI double-century. Before the 35-year-old Bundela, only 25 other cricketers have achieved the feat. And when it comes to representing only one domestic team, as Bundela has, the list shrinks to 15.For a workhorse such as Bundela, featuring in 100 Ranji games, that too for his home state Madhya Pradesh, is one of the biggest feats in his cricketing sojourn that started when he was 12, in Ujjain. “It matters a lot that I have been able to serve Madhya Pradesh for so long. Madhya Pradesh has given me so much that I always try to give it back by doing whatever I can to the best of my abilities. And the fact that I have lasted for so long means that I haven’t fared badly,” Bundela tells ESPNcricinfo.Just like his achievements as a batsman have been downplayed over the years, the soft-spoken Bundela – known as “Bundi bhai” among his team-mates – tones down the feat. Recounting his formative years, his eyes glitter. “‘ [I started playing club cricket in 1989]. There was a camp in Ujjain when I was 12 years old. Nobody else used to play the game in the family. I was fond of cricket so I started playing it. Saleem Khan and Vijay Bali [his coaches] taught me the basics,” Bundela says.Once Bundela, along with his coaches and family members, realised he was better than most batsmen his age in Ujjain, the next step was to shift to Indore, the hub of MP cricket. “It wasn’t easy. Since my father was a State Bank employee, he had to stay back in Ujjain but I shifted to Indore along with my brother,” says Bundela. “While he concentrated on studies, my sole focus was cricket. Sanjay Jagdale sir was my coach then. Once I came to Indore, I played for MP Under-16, then U-19, toured Australia with the India U-19 squad, and then played the Ranji Trophy.”Having featured in an ODI for India U-19 in Australia in March 1995, Bundela was included in MP’s Ranji squad at the start of the next season. However, he had to wait till the last match to make his debut – against Tamil Nadu in Indore. “I spent most of that season serving drinks and observing the routine of seniors – both in my team and the opposition. I played in what eventually turned out to be the last game of the season for us. It was a spinning track, and I remember I got some 25 [26] in the first innings and 30-odd [34] in the second as we lost by an innings.”Even though his maiden season in first-class cricket was far from ideal, it gave Bundela an indication of what was in store for him. “I realised that there was a lot of gap between the U-19 and Ranji Trophy standards and I needed to improve my game if I had to establish myself at that level. Accordingly I started preparing for the next season,” he says.That preparation must have helped him not only survive the rigours of domestic cricket for 16 years but also in becoming the highest-scoring MP batsman, having featured in a Ranji final and in the side that was the domestic one-day champion. It also put him on the fringes of the India side for a brief period.Though he couldn’t make the most of his limited opportunities during India A’s tour of the West Indies in 1999 and in the tour game against the New Zealanders later that year, Bundela has no qualms in admitting he was perhaps not good enough for the biggest stage. “What I feel is perhaps I needed to perform better,” he says. “I don’t have any regrets in not playing for India. I feel perhaps I should have done more to earn the India cap. Somewhere, somehow I may not have done enough to have achieved it.”How many cricketers are so frank about their limitations these days? And most importantly, in a day and age of instant money and fame, how many push themselves to the hilt in order to keep excelling in domestic cricket? That’s the difference between them and men like Bundela, who lend meaning to the domestic set-up. “I love this game,” Bundela says. “It’s more important for me to play the game rather than playing for India. Obviously, I dreamt of playing for India, worked hard towards it but it doesn’t happen that if you don’t play for India, you give it up.”Once a player accepts this, the perceived grind all through the year in order to keep himself in shape doesn’t appear so. A man who naturally has a sweet tooth has to resist the temptation of having sweets. He has to work harder on his fitness, with first-class cricket having become “more competitive than ever”. He can do anything that will help him in turning out for his state team, something that gives him the much-needed “kick”. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that after fielding under the blazing sun in Jaipur for a full day, the first thing he does is to hit the hotel swimming pool for more than half an hour.”It’s not easy to motivate yourself, but if you love the game and play it for self-pride, self-respect and love of the game, you don’t need to motivate yourself much,” Bundela says. “All I have to tell myself is I am playing for my reputation and I have to give my best for MP. That is more than enough for myself.”Even though not getting his hands on the coveted Ranji Trophy is one of his biggest regrets, when they were “so close and yet so far”, losing to Karnataka after gaining the first-innings lead [in 1998-99], his highs include scoring a fifty and 80 in the semi-final and the final to help MP win the Wills Trophy (domestic one-day championship) the same season. Though he thinks long and hard to recount his top three knocks, he has no trouble remembering the biggest compliment he has received.”It has to be at Wankhede in 2004,” Bundela says. “We had gained the first-innings lead but had lost three wickets for virtually nothing on the board. And then I managed to score about 140 [139] to bat Mumbai out of the game as we batted nearly a day and a half. After I got my century on the third day, Dilip Vengsarkar walked in to the MP dressing room and congratulated me. Beating Mumbai in Mumbai and a former India captain coming to shake hands with me are the two most memorable feats for me.”As you wind up the discussion, you realise that it is men like Bundela who are hardly given their due. No doubt the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association is planning to felicitate one of their stalwarts ahead of the game on Saturday. However, it would be a fitting tribute to add Bundela’s name to the Hall of Fame section on their website along with the MP players who have played international cricket – from the legendary CK Nayudu to Naman Ojha.

It’s been 10 years since the Cronje scandal, but despite preventive measures the threat is very much alive

Osman Samiuddin21-Jun-2010Why should 2010 be treated as a landmark of any significance in cricket’s match-fixing years? The boom years, after all, were over a decade ago, the mid-to-late 90s, when Mukesh Gupta, “John”s and many others led the cricket world in a finely orchestrated but unholy dance of money and greed. And the practice probably began much before that. So why now?For a number of reasons this year is important. A full decade ago now, cricket first began to fight back. Three big names, captains or former captains, were banned for life in 2000, as a result of various investigations and commissions and inquiries. The ICC set up the anti-corruption unit (ACSU) the same year, the first systemic, if greatly delayed, response to the issue. So the year is important, first, in assessing where cricket stands now.Lord Paul Condon, who set up and oversaw the ACSU through the decade, has just left his post, and that is a natural marker. He believes the game is in a healthier state than when he took over, though he acknowledges that new formats and leagues bring greater threats. In that there is now a body in place to investigate and to apply preventive and punitive measures, there has been progress. Players minded to do so can take an official route to report suspicions. And there has been no rash of high-profile cases as there once was. By and large the game appears clean, or cleaner than before.But setting up a police force doesn’t vanquish crime. If you actually scan the last 10 years and put together in one paragraph cricket’s main run-ins with match-fixing and bookies, is there not still danger? Off hand, just tally them up: Maurice Odumbe’s tryst with bookies and subsequent ban in 2004; the panic over Murali’s visit to a dance bar in Mumbai, whose owner was said to have bookmaker contacts; Marlon Samuels and the tapped Indian phone line in 2007; the persistent murmurs about the ICL in its last season; the approach to an Australian player during the Ashes last year; separate offers made to players during the 2009 World Twenty20; the ongoing investigations into the actions of Danish Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield of Essex; the recent development that county cricket might now be attracting more bookies than old men or dogs; Shakib Al Hasan’s recent revelation that he too was once tapped up.And this leaves out Pakistan’s paranoid world, where every match is fixed. But even among that long, crazed list, some genuinely provide reasons for concern. Who did three Pakistanis meet at a function during the 2007-08 India tour, a meeting that prompted the ACSU to interview the players a few months later? And how suspicious were the men who compelled the team to change floors in a Colombo hotel in 2009? All together, the list is of some heft. And it says that bookies never really went away or stopped trying; they merely aren’t as audacious as they were in Gupta’s days. And looking over the Samuels case for example, it remains absurdly straightforward for a bookie to contact a player.Not only are they still around, but it is only over the last decade that our understanding of just how broad their work is has properly developed. At the time the simple and prevalent belief was that match-fixing involved fixing results. In many cases it was true. It was also convenient, for it left open the romantic, blind notion that one guy, incensed by this corruption, could change the tide. Lance Klusener, for example, is said to have deliberately screwed up a good deal for Hansie Cronje in the Nagpur ODI on the 1999-2000 tour by smashing a late, innings-changing 58-ball 75. There was also the neat chestnut with which we comforted ourselves that all bets on India were off until Tendulkar was out.

Cynical the scenario may be, but even a reasonably intelligent bookie might think it worth his while to approach players from cricket’s third world, who also miss out on the lucre of the IPL

Now we know it doesn’t matter what Tendulkar does, for the reality, as the ACSU’s first comprehensive report revealed in 2001, was far more complex. They called it occurrence-fixing, but soon Rashid Latif would give it a far more evocative name: fancy-fixing, which opens up cricket’s vast statistical landscape. With fancy – or spot – fixing, each ball of a match is effectively an event, an opportunity to bet and thus an opportunity to fix. It emerged that bets were being taken on the outcome of the toss, the number of wides or no-balls in a specific over, the timing and specifics of declarations, individual batsmen getting themselves out under a specific score, even field settings.A visit last year in Karachi to an individual familiar with the world of bookies was mind-altering: bets were placed on what the first-innings total in a county match would be by lunch on the first day, or how many overs a bowler would bowl in the first hour of a session or a day, or on how much difference there would be in first-innings totals, or on how many runs a specified group of players would make. It didn’t stop.In a way, fixing entire results was just the very furthest reach of bookies, the most sensational thing they could do; everything beneath that, initially overlooked, was much more doable, less easier to spot and thus more dangerous. The thirst for fixing results, even if diminished, remains, as one English county player approached by an Indian businessman recently learnt, but the far greater problem and more prevalent is fancy-fixing.Moreover conditions today are such that you can’t help but worry. The 2001 ACSU report listed key factors at the time that led to the entire pickle. Cricketers weren’t paid enough money compared to other professional sportsmen; without contracts their careers were less stable; too many ODIs where nothing was at stake were being played; cricketers had little say in the running of the game. Cricket thinks it has moved on from then, but not as much as it thinks it has.Central contracts are now in place across the board, giving the elite international cricketer some security. Players are generally better rewarded financially than they have ever been. Indeed, some of the amounts cricketers received at the time from bookies seem laughable now: $4000 here, $5000 there. The big fish often took around $50,000 for a really big fix; Saleem Malik was said to have offered Mark Waugh, Shane Warne and Tim May nearly $70,000 each during the 1994-95 Karachi Test. Cronje once even agreed on $15,000 for a fix. In the 2009 IPL, Andrew Flintoff’s two wickets in four Twenty20 games fetched him over $166,000 each, legally and above board.But the riches are limited and wealth is spread more unevenly than ever before; players from India, Australia, England and South Africa enjoy far greater financial benefits than ones anywhere else. The IPL has taken the earnings of some players to a different level altogether, but it has also widened the gap between haves and have-nots. Cynical the scenario may be, but even a reasonably intelligent bookie might think it worth his while to approach players from cricket’s third world, who also miss out on the lucre of the IPL. Maybe it explains why county players have been targeted, or Bangladesh’s Shakib was recently, or why Pakistan’s players might be approached.In 1998 it was revealed that Mark Waugh and Shane Warne had taken money from a bookie in exchange for match information•Getty ImagesAbove all, in 2010 there are more games, and more meaningless ones, than ever before. When Cronje discussed with his team an offer to throw Mohinder Amarnath’s benefit in December 1996, it was prompted in part because none of his tired team was keen to play a match that had only hurriedly been given international status. Since then it has only gotten worse. There is an entire new format to deal with, for one. The seven-match ODI series, pregnant with the possibility of ennui and dead games, is not only still around, there are more of them. Before 2000, there had been eight (one was an eight-match series). Since then there have been 10. Every week, the BCCI and Sri Lanka Cricket seem to thrust upon a weary world another tri-series. The push to provide greater context and meaning to ODIs should have begun in 2000. Instead, the ICC has dithered for a decade, only beginning to take it seriously now.And it is all on TV. All matches, from English county cricket to the Australian Big Bash, from the South African MTN40 to Pakistan’s RBS Twenty20, from the Under-19 World Cup to the women’s World Cup, can be beamed into your home, mine, or that of the bookie. Every international game, and an increasing number of domestic games, are potentially a target.So in 2010 the threat is very much alive. Over the coming weeks, Cricinfo will bring you a series of special features on the topic. There will be an interview with Lord Condon as he steps down from his post. We examine the effects match-fixing has had on Pakistan, since arguably the country is the one most scarred by the events. We also look back, through journalist Malcolm Conn, at the breaking of the Mark Waugh-Shane Warne story that Cricket Australia had hushed up for so many years. And at the after-effects of the Cronje revelations in South Africa. There will be much else besides.

A review of Steve Waugh’s latest book, Out Of My Comfort Zone

Peter English24-Nov-2005
Steve Waugh, Viking, A$49.95Steve Waugh’s career was an epic so it’s not surprising he produced a doorstop that dwarfs the Almanack. Waugh’s cover is a shade of baggy green and his devotion to it is a theme throughout the 800 pages of memories. However, the big statements delivered by his batting and in captaincy press conferences are replaced by brief judgments as he records the key moments of his career as studiously as he compiled his popular diaries.Unfortunately, the tour books are part of the problem. Through the diaries most details were recorded in satisfying, if sometimes repetitive, detail; in the life story the events from him being kicked out of the nets as an aggressive 12-year-old by Barry Richards to his farewell a year later are dutifully reported but not pored over, making it a great resource tool instead of a thrilling, moving and thought-provoking experience. The match-fixing and betting scandals that so affected his brother are covered in less than a chapter and the famous SCG century, an experience which was the subject of the book , is dusted in three pages.Waugh is at his best when discussing his great innings and his feelings, which were usually masked by the Iceman glare. The twin hundreds at Old Trafford in 1997 and the series-sealing double-century against West Indies in 1995 are compulsive but short reading, and his re-telling of the vulnerability at the start of his career, when he felt isolated as a new player, and at the end as he debated the merits of family life and retirement is also impressive. The variety of coverage is strong enough to hold interest but if finishing it is a mission you want to accept then be prepared for hands that ached as much as Waugh’s during his Old Trafford double.

Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the Ahmedabad Test, with the BCCI saying on the fifth morning of the match, that “a specialist opinion will be sought” to treat his lower-back injury.On Sunday, the fourth day, as India tussled for first-innings honours with Australia, Iyer couldn’t come out to bat, with the BCCI saying that he had been sent for scans after he “complained of pain in his lower back following the third day’s play”. India finished on 571 for a lead of 91. ESPNcricinfo understands Iyer was not present at the ground at any point on Sunday.The injury will particularly worry India since back trouble has dogged Iyer over the last few weeks: it kept him out of the first Test of this series, as well as the three-match ODI series against New Zealand that preceded it.After this Test match, Iyer’s next assignment is to captain Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, which begins on March 31. Knight Riders are scheduled to play their first match of the tournament on April 1, against Punjab Kings in Mohali.

Robert Lewandowski has admitted that he is embracing a reduced role at Barcelona, focusing on quality performances over chasing minutes this season.

Veteran striker shifts focus from minutesLearning from fatigue and injury setbacksBarca eyeing long-term successor optionsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Polish superstar Lewandowski has openly acknowledged a change in perspective as he enters the final year of his Barcelona contract. The 37-year-old, who has yet to start a La Liga game this season and missed the opener through injury, insisted he is no longer focused on the number of minutes he plays but instead on delivering when it matters most.

Last season at this stage, Lewandowski had already scored three goals, but this year he has largely been limited to substitute appearances as Ferran Torres continues to impress under new boss Hansi Flick, who was chosen in the previous game against Rayo Vallecano, when expectations were set on Lewa to start. Despite the reduced role, the veteran striker stressed that the quality of contribution outweighs quantity as he adapts to his current situation.

AdvertisementAFPWHAT LEWANDOWSKI SAID

Speaking while on international duty, Lewandowski reflected on his new outlook, saying: "This year, I’m personally approaching my situation differently: I’m not so focused on the number of minutes I get, and I’ll have conversations throughout the season…I don’t think I have to play by decree either: we have a squad that allows us to rotate, and that’s important. Sometimes it’s more important to focus on the quality of the minutes than the quantity.

"This season we’ll constantly analyse how I’m feeling. Last season I played a lot of games and at a high intensity. There were times when I felt very tired, and I was also injured towards the end of the season.

"We know that when the Champions League starts, there’s very little recovery time between games, and it’ll be important to manage the wear and tear well. I think this start to the season will be just as difficult as the last, so we have to be prepared."

He added: "Let’s not kid ourselves, I was injured for two weeks. But the season has just started; it’s very long. I wasn’t under pressure to play as many minutes as possible as quickly as possible. I know August is the month to get into rhythm, but everything starts in September, so I knew I had to take it easy."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Lewandowski’s recalibrated approach comes after a gruelling 2024-25 season in which he scored 42 goals but fading in decisive matches due to fatigue and injury. The striker admitted that physical exhaustion left him short of strength in the campaign’s final stretch, and he is determined not to repeat those mistakes.

With Barcelona eyeing long-term replacements, including English hero Harry Kane as a possible 2026 arrival, Lewa’s words signal a pragmatic acceptance of his evolving role. He could also be considering winding down his career elsewhere, with potential options in MLS or Saudi Arabia once his deal expires. Still, for now, Barca will rely on his goals and experience in Champions League and title-deciding matches, with the veteran keen to be sharp when the stakes are highest.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

Blaugrana face a delicate balancing act and Flick has to juggle a veteran like Lewandowski, who remains invaluable for big nights, with emerging forwards such as Torres and potential reinforcements in the pipeline. Lewandowski’s acceptance of a rotational role may ease dressing-room pressure, but it also signals that the Catalans must accelerate succession planning.

With speculation growing that the Polish striker could finish his career outside Europe, Barcelona’s reported interest in Kane and other forwards underlines their intent to prepare for life beyond him. For now, though, the immediate challenge is to keep Lewandowski fit, fresh, and decisive in the Champions League campaign and in La Liga’s crunch title races.

Mexican club Chivas have registered players sharing the names of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane for the new season which has sparked a buzz among fans.

Namesake of Ronaldo and Zidane register for Mexican team ChivasJoins Carlos and RobinhoCoached by former Barcelona player MilitoFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to , Cristiano Ronaldo Rojas Vidal, 16, and Zinedine Sidane Hernandez Quezada, 18, have been added to the Mexican side's squad. They join players called Roberto Carlos Alvarado Hernandez and Angel Robinho Romero Quintero, who were already part of the team, ahead of the upcoming Apertura season The Guadalajara club will hope the four players live up to their famous namesakes.

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With Ronaldo, Zidane, Carlos and Robinho being some of football’s greatest players, whose careers are filled with accolades and trophies, it is no surprise parents are inspired to name their children after such legends. In an interview in 2023, Sidane’s father confirmed so, saying: “It's a real tribute to Zinedine Zidane. I played football in Mexico and I've always had a lot of affection for France and Brazil. He's a player who really left his mark on me. Why with an S and not a Z? Because when it came to registering him in Mexico, the person didn't write it correctly.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Chivas are coached by former Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito, who spent four years at the club from 2007 to 2011 and was part of Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning side in 2011. 

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO, SIDANE AND CHIVAS ?

Chivas hope the young players can perform well without being weighed down by the expectations their names bring. The players, in turn, aim to impress coach Milito and earn starting spots for the Mexican side.

Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford after a drawn-out transfer saga.

Mbeumo signs for Man UtdJoins on five-year dealFollows long transfer sagaFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

After weeks of negotiations and rejected bids, United have signed the Brentford winger for a reported deal worth up to £71 million ($95.5m). The Red Devils have confirmed the 25-year-old has penned a deal until 2030 with the option of another year.

AdvertisementGetty/GOALWHAT MBEUMO SAID

The Cameroon international admitted that he wanted to move to United as soon as "there was a chance" to join the Premier League giants, while also giving his backing to head coach Ruben Amorim

He told the club's website: "As soon as I knew there was a chance to join Manchester United, I had to take the opportunity to sign for the club of my dreams; the team whose shirt I wore growing up. My mentality is to always be better than I was yesterday. I know that I have the spirit and character to reach another level here learning from Ruben Amorim and playing alongside world-class players. Everybody told me about the environment that is being created here and how exciting the plans are for the future. This is a massive club, with an incredible stadium and amazing fans, we are all really determined to challenge for the biggest trophies."

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While Mbeumo will be thrilled to join United, the winger has a big job on his hands; namely, to help right a ship that has been sinking in recent years. The Red Devils struggled for goals last season as they finished 15th – five places behind Brentford – and now they will hope Mbeumo, who is one of their most expensive signings ever, can help solve that big issue.

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Mbeumo, who scored 20 Premier League goals for Brentford last season, will soon link up with his new United team-mates as they head to the United States for a pre-season tour.

The club's director of football, Jason Wilcox, added: "Bryan’s goals and assists record in the Premier League is exceptional, his remarkable consistency has put him amongst the most productive players in England for the last three seasons. Bryan’s belief in our project and determination to join the club confirmed that he was the perfect fit for Manchester United and the culture that we are developing. We are delighted to have secured another one of our primary targets ahead of the pre-season tour. The experience in the US will be the perfect opportunity for Bryan to work with Ruben and his new team-mates as we prepare for an exciting season ahead."

Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez is waiting to discover if Napoli will increase their bid for him as he aims to leave Anfield this summer.

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• Nunez eyeing Liverpool exit
• Napoli want striker
• Yet to meet Reds' asking price

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Per Corriere dello Sport, Nunez is waiting to see if Napoli will increase their offer to sign him this summer, as he is prepared to leave Anfield in this transfer window. The Serie A club have thus far made an offer of €55 million (£47m/$64m) plus €5m (£4m/$6m) in bonuses. The report claims that the Reds want €60m (£52m/$70m), so the two sides are not far apart when it comes to their valuations.

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  Nunez is reported to earn a salary of €5.5m (£5m/$6m) at Liverpool, which equates to around £91,000-per-week. The Uruguay international wants to improve that salary if he moves to Napoli, but it is currently unclear if Antonio Conte's side would be willing to meet both the club's and the player's demands.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  The 26-year-old struggled last season as he attempted to lead the line for Arne Slot's side. He scored five goals and provided three assists in the Premier League and was limited to just eight starts.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  The ball appears to be firmly in Napoli's court when it comes to the direction of this transfer. Nunez is willing to move, and Liverpool have set their price; it remains to be seen if the Serie A side take the steps required to get this deal done.

Jesus continued his torrid run at the Club World Cup, helping his side record a massive Club World Cup upset

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Jesus scores another crucial goal for BotafogoPSG's high-flying attack silencedBotafogo now lead Group B
Watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZNStream nowTELL ME MORE

In a battle of the most recent winners of the UEFA Champions League and the CONMEBOL Libertadores, it was South America which shone brightest, as Botafogo stunned Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in front of a packed Rose Bowl on Thursday night in Pasadena, California.

PSG largely dominated proceedings, but without their injured star striker Ousmane Dembélé, they couldn't finish chances – when they had them. hounded the French side throughout the match, staying composed in the back and limiting spaces toward the opposition.

While dominated with 75 percent possession in the first half, it didn't amount to much in actual chances, with PSG only taking five shots in that span – one of the lowest shot totals of the season by Luis Enrique's side.

Botafogo would make PSG pay, as Igor Jesus punished them in the 36th minute. The Brazil international striker charged past two defenders on a break and launched a shot that had a slight deflection and went past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Jesus couldn't hide his emotion after the strike, running towards the stands to celebrate.

In the second half, Botafogo continued to cede possession in favor of structure and largely quieted PSG's attack. In the 79th minute, it seemed as if PSG would fight back as Bradley Barcola broke past the opposition's high line and scored on John Victor. Fortunately for the Brazilian side, the play was called back due to offside, and with it, PSG's best chance to equalize evaporated.

This was a massive result for Renato Paiva's side from both a pride perspective and their chances in the Club World Cup. If the Brazilian Serie A club beats or draws Atletico Madrid on Monday, they will win Group B. That would set them up to face the runner-up of Group A, which includes Inter Miami, Porto, Al Ahly, and Brazilian top-flight rivals Palmeiras.

AdvertisementDID YOU KNOW?

The last time a UCL winner lost to a South American side came in 2012 as Corinthians stunned Chelsea in the Club World Cup final. The win also keeps the Seattle Sounders alive in the Club World Cup.

AFPTHE MVP

Igor Jesus: The Brazilian striker wasn't a household name prior to the Club World Cup, but he is delivering game after game for He's now scored against both Seattle and PSG, both wins, and defenses are struggling with his pace, athleticism, and ability to seamlessly weave past backlines. There was a tinge of luck in his finish to put Botafogo ahead, but Paiva will take it.

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PSG's attack: Désiré Doué, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Gonçalo Ramos – it didn't matter who put against Botafogo's defense, they could not threaten. Perhaps it was fatigue or missing their lead star, Dembélé, but the team looked out of sync in the final third. They had just two shots on target.

أثارت أنباء متداولة في الأيام الماضية حالة من الجدل، بشأن تطورات تخص مستقبل الأيقونة الأرجنتينية ليونيل ميسي، أبرز نجوم كرة القدم على مدار التاريخ، في ظل الحديث عن اقترابه من الانتقال إلى الدوري السعودي للمحترفين.

وكانت محاولات ضم النجم الأرجنتيني ليونيل ميسي إلى الدوري السعودي قد بدأت قبل موسمين، عقب نهاية عقده مع باريس سان جيرمان في صيف 2023، غير أن تلك المساعي لم تُكلل بالنجاح، بعدما فضّل اللاعب خوض تجربة جديدة مع إنتر ميامي الأمريكي، لكن فكرة استقدامه إلى “دوري روشن” لم تُغلق، بل تجددت مؤخرًا بقوة مع اقتراب عقده من نهايته.

وكانت صحيفة “الميدان الرياضي” قد نشرت في وقت سابق، أن صندوق الاستثمارات العامة السعودي فتح خط مفاوضات مع ميسي خلال الأسابيع الأخيرة، لبحث إمكانية ضمه إلى الدوري السعودي.

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وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن هناك ترحيبًا مبدئيًا من اللاعب، مع وجود عرض مفتوح يتيح له خيار الانتقال إلى أحد الناديين الكبيرين: الهلال أو الأهلي السعودي، دون فرض وجهة محددة، بينما تستمر المفاوضات ولم يُتخذ قرار نهائي بعد.

في المقابل، رد مصدر في نادي إنتر ميامي على ما يتم تداوله، حيث قال لصحيفة “سبق” السعودية، إن ميسي لا يزال ملتزمًا بعقده الحالي مع الفريق، وإن النادي يعتزم تمديد عقده في المستقبل القريب، في إشارة واضحة إلى عدم وجود نية للتفريط في خدماته خلال فترة الانتقالات المقبلة.

يذكر ، أن ميسي قاد إنتر ميامي لدور الستة عشر من كأس العالم للأندية 2025، وتلقى فريقه هزيمة ثقيلة على يد باريس سان جيرمان بأربعة أهداف دون رد، ليودع مونديال الأندية، بعد أن تأهل من المجموعة الأولى وصيفًا خلف بالميراس.