ENGLAND captain Harry Kane has hit back at the BBC’s Gary Lineker for his post-match comments about the team’s performance against Denmark in their second group game. Kane has asked Lineker and other pundits to remember what it is like to wear the England shirt and how challenging a major tournament can be. He is calling for the pundit community to get behind England rather than questioning their displays. Kane’s reaction is very much a sign of the times and not the first time a player has spoken out about criticism of England. However, too much punditry is anodyne and fails to express opinions outside of cliché and jargon. The superficial over-familiarity – “Trent”, “Jude”, “Gareth” etc, sometimes makes it difficult for studio pundits to be very constructive. But when it does happen, there are unspoken allegations of disloyalty and a lack of patriotism. Footballers enjoy great privileges and earn vast sums of money but that doesn’t make them immune to criticism. It is not the media’s job to motivate a team, that role belongs to Gareth Southgate and his backroom colleagues. The real losers in any national team disappointment are the fans who have paid extortionate ticket prices, flights and hotels to watch England.
MANCHESTER City are under threat from hackers who claim they will release emails and documents that will reveal the club deliberately broke financial rules. Rui Pinto, who received a four-year suspended sentence after being found guilty of extortion, claims he has given damning documents to the authorities in France and Germany. Pinto apparently told the OffShore-Alert Marbella Conference this week: “These documents are from part of the Premier League investigation into City. I have now handed five hard drives to French and German authorities with millions of documents, including more on City and I have described what is on each. I am confident they will find criminal relevancy.” Pinto’s legal representation said they had been approached by investigators regarding information that it yet to be released. “The files will be published at some point, we cannot say when but we will do it,” they said.
SCOTLAND have been eliminated from EURO 2024 after losing 1-0 to Hungary in Stuttgart. The game was decided by a 100thminute goal from Kevin Csoboth. The game was overshadowed by an injury to Barnabas Varga, who was stretchered off after receiving treatment behind screens on the pitch. Vargas was taken to hospital and has a broken jaw, among other injuries. Scotland, who needed to win to have any chance of staying in the competition, were second best for most of the game, but Hungary were scarcely better. The Scots left the field convinced they should have had a penalty, but the incident, which involved Stuart Armstrong, did not go to a VAR check. Once again, Scotland failed to get out of the group, leaving the hordes of tartan-clad fans bemoaning their team’s lack of firepower. Scotland had just 17 shots in their three EURO 2024 games. Hungary, meanwhile, may not have done enough – three points in three games – to qualify for the last 16.
