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Trump announces 4 July rally in Washington after hosting UFC cage match at the White House – live | Donald Trump
Trump announces 4 July rally in Washington to mark US 250th anniversary
Donald Trump has announced plans to hold a rally in Washington on 4 July as America celebrates its 250th anniversary, saying the event will include a speech, performances, flyovers and fireworks.
“On July 4th, at The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, in beautiful and safe Washington D.C., we are going to host the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all, a ’TRIBUTE TO AMERICA.’ Starting at 7 P.M. EST, this HUGE Celebration will honor our Country’s People, Spirit, Strength, Resolve, and Triumphs,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Key events
Trump wants to put a $75m coal terminal in this liberal California city. Residents aren’t having it
Cecilia Nowell
West Oakland, a California neighborhood known for its rich history of Black activism from the Pullman Porters’ union to the Black Panthers, might not seem like the site of the country’s next great coal project.
But that’s exactly what the Trump administration is pushing for – with the injection of $75m to build a sprawling coal export terminal in the nearby port of Oakland.
Last week, Donald Trump announced he was using wartime powers to hand $700m to coal projects around the US, including the one in Oakland. The news has breathed renewed energy into a decade-long battle against the coal terminal, which Trump hopes will break ground as soon as this summer.
Anti-coal activists were already planning a gathering about the project in Berkeley this month. But Trump’s 4 June announcement “accelerated everything”, said Veronica Eady, executive director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, a grassroots organization focused on environmental justice in West Oakland, which has a high pollution burden from the nearby port, highways and other industry. “Now there is even more urgency, particularly since President Trump said he wants it to start this summer.”
Trump says he is going to focus on Ukraine now after signing Iran deal
Donald Trump spoke to the press alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, the host of this week’s G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains.
The US president repeated much of what his administration has already been saying about the memorandum of understanding that has been signed by US and Iran, saying that ships are starting to pass through the strait of Hormuz now and that by Friday, the strait “will be completely open”.
He said while the strait will be open and free of tolls, he said that “I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have a ship or two up here from a few countries…because you never know what happens”. Trump said he also wants to “see if we can straighten out the Lebanon thing, because it just seems to just never end”.
“It should not be tough,” he said, adding that “we just have to have a little talk” with Hezbollah.
Trump mentioned that he “had a very good conversation yesterday” with Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, as well as with Vladimir Putin, president of Russia.
“I see maybe we can do something there, I really do. I think they’re both open to it. So now that this is finished, we’re going to be focusing on that,” he said, referring to the conflict with Iran.
US and Iran have signed memorandum of understanding, US official says
The United States and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding to settle the nearly four-month war, Reuters reports that senior US officials have said, adding that a signing ceremony would take place on Friday and shipping traffic in the strait of Hormuz would gradually ramp up.
The memorandum of understanding has been signed by Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, one US official said.
Speaking at a briefing with reporters, the US official added that there will also be a signing ceremony on Friday.
“You will see significant increase in traffic in the strait of Hormuz, actually starting already, and that will ramp up slowly over time,” the US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said. “We probably won’t return to normal in two weeks, but we will see a significant increase in strait traffic.”
UFC boss Dana White says ‘never again’ to another White House fight night
UFC chief executive Dana White insisted that yesterday’s event at the White House exceeded his expectations “in every way you gauge success” – but stood by his claim that it is a one-and-done.
“It was an amazing, experience, this was a one of one,” he said. “It will never happen again.”
Merchandise, he said, had hit all-time metrics, and the numbers on Paramount were “monstrous”.
“Hopefully tonight created some unity,” White said. “Even for the people that thought this was going to be some big political statement or something, this wasn’t. This was Americans, all Americans celebrating the birthday. For people who tuned in for the first time, because it was at the White House, hopefully they liked the sport. They liked some of the guy’s stories.”
But despite all the pomp and pageantry, the eyerolls and angst, White stood by his claim that UFC is one-and-done in DC.
The constant headaches over weather concerns in the rare outdoors show, the logistics of construction of the cage and staging events at federal landmarks and the soaring cost – UFC said it was footing the $60m tab – made the Freedom 250 a one-off for a company once dubbed “human cockfighting”.
“I can’t afford it,” White said. “I’ll never do the Sphere [in Las Vegas] again and we’ll never do this again.”
White also said that he and Donald Trump had discussed doing a fight for troops in 2027 but coordinating with the military to have fights on military bases takes time.
“He wanted to do it this year,” White said. “And I said, sir, I need a year to recover financially.”
Donald Trump will be looking to build on the momentum of announcing his deal with Iran, and is expected to discuss with the G7 leaders the de-mining of the strait of Hormuz.
Britain and France have expressed interest in assisting with that effort once the conflict was paused. Fears over potential mines is among the reasons tanker traffic ground to a halt in the critical waterway during the war, and quickly clearing them will be crucial to regaining the confidence of commercial vessels to resume navigating the strait.
Macron today said France was ready to move “very quickly” to deploy assets, including mine-clearing vessels, to the region to help, the Associated Press reports.
The French president added that a French aircraft carrier and an accompanying strike group are already in the region and would be ready to assist within days of the US and Iran signing the agreement.
Here are some pictures of Donald Trump’s arrival for the G7 summit in Évian les-Bains.
Patrick Wintour
in Évian les-Bains
Emmanuel Macron, the host of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, has framed an agenda to make it as palatable as possible to his guest of honour, but the French president has no idea if Donald Trump, a haphazard summit attender, will last the full three days – or disrupt the proceedings every hour he stays.
The US president quit the last G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, early to work on the Iran conflict, and this year, plus ça change, Iran may also draw presidential attention. For good measure, he insulted this summit’s host before leaving Canada last year, describing Macron as “publicity seeking” and adding: “Purposefully or not, Emmanuel Macron always gets it wrong.”
Macron, who will be attending his 10th G7 summit, chose not to take umbrage, and has even postponed the start of the summit to allow Trump to celebrate his 80th birthday with a UFC event on the White House lawn. Macron is holding out a dinner in Versailles on Wednesday night as a reward if Trump stays the three days; French officials say Trump adores the palace’s gold, and insist the two men respect each other.
It will be touch and go if Trump completes the summit. Reports out of Washington suggest the US president has not been in celebratory mood, and the temptation for him will be to insult his six fellow leaders – representing Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK – for lacking the loyalty to join his earlier plan to reopen the strait of Hormuz through force. At best, he will be demanding the planned Franco-British naval taskforce to enforce the restoration of freedom of navigation, as outlined in the US-Iran joint memorandum of understanding, moves quickly. De-mining is also urgently needed if the hundreds of tankers backed up in the strait are to reach the arteries of the world economy in time.
The other G7 leaders – all opposed to the Iran war, with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, describing it as a US humiliation – will have to decide whether to look ahead, or pass verdict on a war that has upended the world economy.
Trump also faces being cornered by two other even more persistent wars – Ukraine and Gaza. Macron wants to see Europe given a greater role in solving both conflicts, pointing out it is Europe, not the US, that is saving Ukraine from bankruptcy.
France will also be pressing for the US to resolve the impasse in Gaza over Hamas disarmament. Trump will meet leaders from Qatar, UAE and Egypt to discuss the crisis and the fallout from Iran. But there will be no attempt to sign a joint communique on the conflicts and Macron will instead issue a summary.
If the worst comes to the worst, the Évian golf course – which dates back to 1904 – is closed for the three days, and if the earnest summitry gets too much, it represents an escape route for the world’s most famous 80-year-old golfer.
Trump arrives for G7 summit at tense moment for relations
Donald Trump has landed in Geneva ahead of this week’s G7 summit, shortly after announcing his tentative peace agreement with Iran to end a war that has upended the global economy and killed thousands of people in the region.
From Geneva, he will travel to Évian-les-Bains, France, where world leaders are gathered for the annual summit. Later today he’ll have a bilateral meeting with the host, French president Emmanuel Macron, ahead of a working dinner with the other G7 leaders.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also meet with G7 leaders, including Trump, tomorrow, as Russia’s invasion of his country rages on – though there’s no word yet on whether or not he’ll get a one-on-one with the US president.
This year’s summit comes as Trump’s relations with many of the other G7 leaders is at an all-time low. Indeed, he’s fallen out massively with several key allies who have criticized his war on Iran – British PM Keir Starmer, German chancellor Friederich Merz (who described the war as a humiliation of the United States), and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. He’s always had a turbulent relationship with Macron, but that’s also disintegrated after Trump’s “inelegant” comments about his private life. Trump’s relationship with Canadian PM Mark Carney also remains cordial yet tense. Indeed, the only G7 leader Trump has a warm relationship with at the moment is Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi.
A reminder that Trump left last year’s summit in the Canadian Rockies after only a day as the Israeli-Iran conflict intensified. Three days later he joined Israel in bombing key Iranian nuclear sites.
JD Vance also dodged the question when he was asked by CNBC who would be at the signing of the agreement on Friday.
Without addressing who would be present for the US side, he said they “expect the negotiating team from the Iranian side is going to be the Speaker of the House [Mohammad Bagher] Ghalibaf, and also the foreign minister [Abbas] Araghchi, along with a number of security officials and people who represent the different constituencies within their country.”
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning, JD Vance has admitted that a “lot” of details remain that need to be figured out between the US and Iran, but insisted that the US has “all the cards”.
Vance also said he hopes text of the agreement will be released this week.
He told CNBC that Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to be involved in those upcoming discussions, as well as its hardline parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
The two major prongs of the deal are the reopening of the strait of Hormuz – which the US expects to be “toll-free” in the long term – and a commitment from Iran to “never develop or procure a nuclear weapon”, Vance said.
He also suggested that Iran would be rewarded with loosened economic sanctions or other barriers, allowing Tehran “to be re-invited into the world economy”, if it abides by the commitments of the deal.
The vice-president went on:
I think it’s a great day for the American people … our expectation is that the strait is going to be opened in a toll-free way for the long term.
That’s the sort of thing that we’re going to figure out in these technical negotiations. There are a lot of very important details to figure out that we’re actually going to sit at the table and discuss together and figure out a path forward on these details.
He added that while Iran has “committed to destroy and dispose of their stockpile of highly enriched material”, the process for doing that has not been established.
And what we’ve said is, OK, let’s talk about how exactly we’re going to do that.
They want access to an unsanctioned economy. We’ve talked about, ‘OK, we’re open to that,’ but that would require a long-term commitment to the inspection and verification regime.
So, a lot of these details are going to be figured out during those 60-day talks.
“We feel quite confident that we’re in a strong position,” Vance added.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a leading Iran hawk, welcomed news of the US-Iran deal but remained deeply skeptical amid the lack of details about the content of the agreement.
“I am pleased to hear the memorandum of understanding with Iran to allow the Strait of Hormuz to open has been agreed to,” Graham wrote in a post on X, but added: “I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming.
“Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote,” he went on. “I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architect of the deal, Vice President [JD] Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of the process in presenting the final deal to Congress.
“Congratulations to all in getting us to this point. Time will tell,” Graham added.
US and Iran reach framework peace deal to end war
Jason Burke
A framework peace deal between the US and Iran has been reached, Donald Trump and senior Iranian officials have said, bringing the 15-week conflict to a tentative end and offering hope of relief for the region and the world economy.
The secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said war and military operations on all fronts, including Israel’s war in Lebanon, would end permanently from tonight.
The precise terms of the deal remain unclear but in a statement posted to Truth Social yesterday evening, the US president announced the opening of the strait of Hormuz as well as the removal of the US naval blockade. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” he wrote.
Trump later clarified that reopening the strait would depend on the signing of an initial memorandum of understanding on Friday, which Pakistan, acting as mediator, said would take place in Geneva.
Leaked drafts suggest the memorandum will trigger an immediate 60-day period of intensive technical talks, during which the most contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme, will be discussed. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed that negotiators would seek to reach a broader agreement that would include sanctions relief for Iran.
Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, since US and Israeli forces first attacked Iran on 28 February. Iran retaliated with attacks on Israel and Gulf states hosting US bases, targeting military and civilian infrastructure.
Here’s Jason’s full report:
Trump announces 4 July rally in Washington to mark US 250th anniversary
Donald Trump has announced plans to hold a rally in Washington on 4 July as America celebrates its 250th anniversary, saying the event will include a speech, performances, flyovers and fireworks.
“On July 4th, at The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, in beautiful and safe Washington D.C., we are going to host the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all, a ’TRIBUTE TO AMERICA.’ Starting at 7 P.M. EST, this HUGE Celebration will honor our Country’s People, Spirit, Strength, Resolve, and Triumphs,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Moira Donegan
Hitler dreamed of a 1,000-year Reich; Putin is said to have baroque dreams of territorial conquest meant to restore a dubiously historical empire he calls “Greater Russia”.
Sure, there are people around Donald Trump who imagine using his rise to power to establish some sort of grand, civilizational project: there are the white nationalists who dream of a country purged of those they deem racially impure; there are the Christian nationalists who imagine a future theocracy in which women wear long braids and skirts, and don’t vote; there are the techno-reactionaries who imagine a future of interplanetary colonies, techno-assisted eugenics, and polygamous harems.
But Trump himself is conspicuously small in his dreams: his are comparatively little ambitions, not extending far beyond the reach of his ego and his senses.
He wants praise. He wants to see his name and his portrait everywhere. He wants to feel like a big man, to see those he feels have wronged him be penitent and upset. Maybe most of all, he wants to indulge in his own bad taste, repeatedly visiting the lowbrow staples of the 1980s, when he was young and at the height of his tabloid fame.
He loves the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber. He loves the music of Bon Jovi and the Village People. And he loves the gaudy, clownish tokens of masculinity that appeal to very small children: big trucks, big muscles, and demonstrations of physical strength.
And so it felt fitting that on Trump’s 80th birthday, at an event nominally meant to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding but really functioning as a celebration for a very special boy, the White House hosted a cage fight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The UFC is a competitive league for mixed martial arts – a vaguely sports-like endeavor that combines elements of kickboxing, wrestling and traditional boxing, and seems designed to saturate a television audience’s appetite for maximum violence.
Donald Trump threatened to slap a 100% tariff on French wine and champagne unless Paris removes a digital services tax on tech firms, the New York Post reported on Monday.
France imposed in 2019 a three percent levy on the revenues earned by technology firms – including American giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google parent Alphabet – within the country’s borders.
French president Emmanuel Macron is due to host Trump on Monday before the G7 summit gets underway at the spa resort of Evian on Lake Geneva.
Trump said he asked Macron “not to charge American companies,” according to the New York Post.
“If they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100% tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France,” he was quoted as saying.
“All [Macron] has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn’t have that kind of pressure.”
Adam Gabbatt
It’s been quite the journey for Hunter Biden. In the space of a few weeks, the former first son has gone from a man seen as a political liability to an unlikely galvanizing force within the Democratic party, through his emergence on social media as a mental health advocate, razzer of Republicans, and working-class whisperer.
In the process Biden has switched from the GOP’s bete noire to, actually, someone that a fair number of Republican voters seem to like.
His self-deprecating posts, including one where he told Playboy magazine he would not pose nude for them, and another where he engaged in some campy wordplay over a phallic misspelling of the word “election”, are mixed in with serious messages about addiction recovery. And his populist posts about politics even have some calling for him to run for US president in 2028.
Frequently, his honest, human responses to trolling have seemed to win over critics.
Take his response to an X user called Ashley, whose username is @TeamTrump47. Ashley, whose bio says she loves Jesus, responded to a post from Biden by writing: “I’d rather live under a rock than smoke it.”
“Me too. It was awful,” responded Biden, prompting a mea culpa from Ashley.
“Well damn, Hunter, that makes me sad,” she wrote. “You live a better life than you were living. Good luck.”
Biden’s rise on X, where he has amassed more than 780,000 followers, has attracted the attention of Trump himself. Last week the president was asked for his thoughts on Biden’s chances in a hypothetical 2028 primary.
Vance says he will discuss 2028 presidential run after midterms
Gloria Oladipo
JD Vance said that he will discuss a 2028 US presidential run with his wife after the 2026 midterms.
The US vice-president gave insight into his ongoing decision on whether to run during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning where he spoke on his new memoir, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which details his conversion to Catholicism.
“Usha and I will absolutely sit down and talk about what comes next for our family,” said Vance. “People sort of assume that I’m sitting around, figuring out, whether I’m gonna run for president … the way that I make decisions is that I try not to make them until I absolutely must.”
The vice-president added that he believes Trump will be “very supportive” on his decision. “I have no doubt that the president of the United States is going to be very supportive of anything that I ultimately decide to do,” said Vance.
Vance added that he never begins discussions with Trump about his future political plans. “I never bring it up. But sure, the president brings it up a lot, sometimes publicly, sometimes privately. You know, the president’s a political animal. He loves this stuff. He’s very fascinated by it.”
Trump’s UFC fights at White House marred by misogynistic smear aimed at Michelle Obama
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Donald Trump’s UFC fights held on the White House lawn were marred by a misogynistic smear aimed at former first lady Michelle Obama last night.
Beneath a giant steel canopy known as the Claw, the president celebrated the forthcoming 250th anniversary of US independence – but, much more importantly, his own 80th birthday – by staging the first professional sporting event in White House history.
Several winning fighters greeted Trump after their bouts, while American fighter Bo Nickal followed his knockout victory by climbing over the cage fence to shake Trump’s hand.
Another fighter, heavyweight Josh Hokit, gave a rambling post-fight interview that veered from praise for the president to religion before concluding with the false conspiracy claim that “Michelle Obama is a man.” The remark, one of the oldest and most persistent smears directed at the former first lady, drew cheers from some sections of the crowd and bewilderment from others.
Hokit’s comments were not the evening’s only political barb. When former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley faced Canada’s Aiemann Zahabi, the bout took on a nationalistic fervor.
Trump donned a white “USA” hat cageside while chants of “U-S-A!” rang out from sections of the crowd. At various points spectators shouted “Canada is the 51st state!” – echoing Trump’s repeated taunts about annexing America’s northern neighbor – while others urged O’Malley to “eat” his opponent.
Meanwhile, dozens of people stood across the entrance gates to the Ellipse, the park south of the White House, holding protest signs and chanting.
“This reeks of corruption – way too much corruption,” said Susan Douglas, an organizer with Third Act Virginia, the progressive pro-democracy grassroots organization that organized the demonstration. “Let’s face it,” she added. “It’s for Trump’s birthday and has nothing to do with the founding of our country.”
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced last week that it will pay bonuses to fighters in a form of cryptocurrency issued by Trump family business World Liberty Financial.
Read the full story:
In other developments:
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Trump arrives in Evian-les-Bains on Monday afternoon for talks with G7 leaders, including some who have been sharply critical of his managing of the roughly 15-week conflict that has led to a surge in global energy prices. World leaders began gathering in a French spa town for the summit with a new impetus following the US president’s announcement of an agreement that he says will bring an end to the war against Iran.
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The Iranian deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed in the early hours of Monday an agreement for an “immediate end” to the US-Iranian war, and said Lebanon was included in a peace deal due to be signed on Friday. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, announced the agreement on Sunday afternoon, saying both sides would be declaring “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts”.
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Trump told Vladimir Putin that ending Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine was critical and that he was prepared to help, reported Russia’s TASS news agency. During a phone call on Sunday, Trump also informed the Russian president that the US was nearing a peace deal with Iran as the US-Israel war against the country continues, according to Yuri Ushakov, a Putin adviser.
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JD Vance said he would discuss a 2028 US presidential run with his wife, Usha, after the 2026 midterms. “Usha and I will absolutely sit down and talk about what comes next for our family,” said Vance. The US vice-president gave insight into his ongoing decision on whether to run during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning where he spoke on his new memoir, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which details his conversion to Catholicism.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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