A six-year-old Afghan boy, who shot to Internet fame this year by sporting a Lionel Messi shirt made out of a plastic bag, fulfilled his dreams this week by meeting the Argentine soccer great.
Murtaza Ahmadi, from Ghazni province in rural eastern Afghanistan, accompanied Messi on to the field in Qatar before a friendly match between Barcelona and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli in Doha.
Murtaza also joined the Barcelona team photograph and placed the ball on the centre circle before kick-off.
Beckham proud of son’s charity work
David Beckham said he was proud that his 11-year-old son, Cruz, had taken it upon himself to raise money for charity by releasing a Christmas single.
Cruz Beckham followed in the musical footsteps of his mum, former Spice Girl Victoria, by releasing “If Everyday Was Christmas” last week, with all proceeds going to children’s charity Make Some Noise.
“He’s been listening to his dad and his mum and saying how important it is to help others,” David Beckham, a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) am-bassador, said.
“I was quite amazed by that because he’s 11 years old and to realise how important it is to give back at that age is something really special.”
Chelsea and City fined for fracas
Chelsea and Manchester City have been fined £100,000 and £35,000 respectively for failing to control their players during a league match on December 3.
City striker Sergio Aguero’s reckless tackle on Chelsea defender David Luiz in stoppage time sparked a melee at the Etihad Stadium, with players and coaching staff from both teams involved in ugly scenes.
Aguero and team-mate Fernandinho were sent off and are serving four and three-game bans respectively.
Chelsea’s fine is heavier than City’s because of previous disciplinary indiscretions.
Sunderland left with limited funds
Sunderland will be unable to significantly strengthen in January and manager David Moyes needs to rely primarily on the playing resources available to survive another Premier League relegation battle, chief executive Martin Bain has said.
“The word I’ve got for you is ‘limited’. I could probably say ‘very limited’ with regards to the January transfer window. We are not going to be able to spend to get out of trouble,” Bain said.
Ellis Short, who bought Sunderland in 2008, is reportedly willing to sell the club for £170 million and despite the expected lack of investment, Bain insisted the owner was not to blame.
Lewandowski extends Bayern deal
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has extended his contract with the German champions by two years to 2021.
Lewandowski joined Bayern in 2014 from Borussia Dortmund and was the league’s top scorer in the 2015-16 season. The Poland forward also heads his club’s scoring list this season with 11 Bundesliga goals, four behind league leading Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Dortmund.
“I am very happy that the negotiations were successful and came to a positive result,” Lewan-dowski said.
“That means I will stay at Bayern for a few more years.”
Bayern are chasing a record-extending fifth consecutive Bundesliga title.
Zola appointed Birmingham boss
Italian Gianfranco Zola has been tasked with steering Birmingham City back into the Premier League after signing a two-and-a-half year contract to manage the English Champion-ship club.
Birmingham issued a statement last night saying the former Italy and Chelsea forward had been appointed, hours after the second-tier club announced that former boss Gary Rowett had been sacked.
Zola, 50, has twice managed in England, at West Ham and at Watford where he resigned in 2013.
Birmingham have not played in the Premier League for the last five seasons, having been relegated in 2011, the same year they won the League Cup.
Onalfo takes over as LA Galaxy coach
Curt Onalfo was named head coach of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, and the club’s former reserve team boss immediately signalled his intent to continue the team’s aggressive pursuit of international talent.
Onalfo, who has previous MLS head coaching experience with Sporting Kansas City and DC United, replaces Bruce Arena in the top job after the latter left three weeks ago to take over as head coach of the United States national team.
Brazilian-born Onalfo inherits a Galaxy team that were eliminated in the conference semi-finals and just lost three veterans – Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and Landon Donovan.