Sport

England maul North Macedonia 7-0 at Old Trafford to sign off the season in style

Absolute demolition.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 19th June 2023

England tied off the 2022/23 season in fine fashion by smashing North Macedonia 7-0 in their Euro 2024 qualifier at Old Trafford on Monday evening.

Gareth Southgate‘s side came into the fixture with a 100% record in their Euros qualifying campaign and with England never having lost a game against their opposition and neither of those things changed by ended the night either.

Nevertheless, their performance against the no.65 ranked team who finished level on points in Group C with reigning European champions Italy was more of a mauling than anything, putting North Macedonia to the sword and then some.

While it took the home team around half an hour to open the scoring but once they did the floodgates completely burst and the group leaders were unstoppable.

After the first England goal went in, North Macedonia didn’t stand a chance.

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With finishes from our very own Marcus Rashford, who was arguably the biggest threat in the opening 45, a first international goal from Man City’s Kalvin Phillips, two from captain Harry Kane (now six in six) and a first-ever career hat-trick from man of the match, Buyako Saka, they showed no mercy whatsoever.

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Subjecting the visitors to their heaviest-ever defeat, England finish their season with all 12 points possible from their four Euro 2024 qualifying games thus far, scoring 15 — 11 in the last five days, in fact — and conceding just one in the process, with United stars Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire keeping yet another clean sheet on the night.

While there may have been questions surrounding whether Southgate should have stayed on or called it a day following his third major tournament, he’s still helped this team to a World Cup semi, an oh-so-close Euros final and is still clearly getting a tune out of this crop of players.

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You can watch all seven goals from England’s Old Trafford triumph and the rest of the highlights in full down below:

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Featured Image — England (via Twitter)

Sport

Manchester City star Erling Haaland is now a playable character in Clash of Clans mobile game

Danny Jones Danny Jones Erling Haaland in Clash of Clans mobile game

In yet more proof that footballers just live in an entirely different world from us, Manchester City star Erling Haaland has popped up in the popular mobile game, Clash of Clans – and it’s not just a little cameo either.

Haaland‘s no stranger to the odd brand deal, so when we saw him cutting a promo for Clash of Clans we weren’t too surprised, but it’s safe to say we weren’t expecting to see footballers pop up in video games besides FIFA (sorry, EA FC) at any point this year.

The big number nine is not just a famous face to help push the already hugely popular mobile strategy and city-building game, they don’t need it; it turns out the lethal goalscorer is now going to be an actual playable character in the latest Clash of Clans update.

He even turned his hand to a bit of acting in the trailer:

As you can see, the 23-year-old stars in the new advert which sees troops appear in his home whilst he’s playing the game before being sucked into the game world.

Starring as the Barbarian King, he’s the first real person to ever feature in the game and will be available through a month-long football-themed seasonal event in-game.

When we stop and think about it, the Norwegian striker is pretty much a perfect fit given his Scandinavian heritage and the obvious Viking theme surrounding the franchise – not to mention the fact that he’s apparently been playing the game since he was 10.

He’s also been dropping a hint or two of late, in case you didn’t pick up on them.

why is erling haaland in clash of clans?
erling haaland character in clash of clans
Credit: Erling Haaland (via Instagram)

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Speaking on the collaboration, Haaland said: “I’ve been a huge fan of the game for a long time and know everything about it, so to appear as an in-game character is really cool”.

As for Finnish developer-publishers Supercell, CoC’s general manager Stuart McGaw said in an official announcement: “When we heard Erling Haaland was a fan of our game and that he wanted to partner with us, it was really a dream scenario.”

Haaland will be available to recruit in the game until 31 May, plus, if players raid his village and take down the Barbarian King himself, they can win additional rewards and a place on the leaderboards.

Weird but pretty cool, to be fair.

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Featured Images — Clash Of Clans/Supercell

Sport

Only three Manchester United players are said to be ‘off limits’ this summer transfer window

Danny Jones Danny Jones Only three Man United players off limits this summer transfer window

Manchester United are reportedly open to offers on practically their entire first-team squad as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS Group look to rebuild the squad from the ground up, with just three current players said to be ‘off-limits’ in the upcoming transfer window.

The eye-opening report by The Telegraph‘s James Ducker has revealed that the latest assessment by Ratcliffe and his new executive board, including new technical director Jason Wilcox, is that they would be “prepared to listen to offers for the majority of their first-team squad this summer”

While Ducker stresses that the club are not actively looking to offload senior stars like Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martinez for example, it is now thought they “are keeping a very open mind about sales and will judge any offers on their own merits.”

However, is said that some players that are simply not for sale – well, at least three.

United are willing to sell first-team players if the right money comes in but three of the next generation are strictly off-limits.

As per the bombshell report when it comes to the business Man United are planning this summer, only homegrown talent Kobbie Mainoo, rising star Alejandro Garnacho and recently acquired young striker Rasmus Højlund have been deemed off-limits by the new co-owners.

With 30 goal contributions between the two attacking players across all competitions and still so early on in their careers, it’s not hard to see why, not to mention Mainoo looks to be one of the most promising midfielders in the country at the moment, securing an England call-up in his debut season to boot.

A big factor in the apparent approach is the club having now officially dropped out of the Champions League following their disappointing home draw against Burnley, which will see a significant dip in revenue, meaning that potential salary cuts of around 25% off the total wage bill could be floated.

However, players like Rashford, Casemiro and Raphaël Varane who have big contracts could prove to be an obstacle, meaning their future at Old Trafford may be less assured than previously. With over half a billion spent over the last three summer transfer windows, it is thought a ‘buy-to-sell’ policy is likely.

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As reported earlier this month, Wilcox’s arrival at the club included not only an assessment of the current squad and which areas need to be improved – with United said to be targeting another striker, right-sided centre-back and a midfielder come June – but of the manager himself too.

Also broken by Ducker, the new director is said to be looking at Erik ten Hag’s “strengths and weaknesses” as the season draws to a close over the next few weeks, with the Dutchman’s future at the club also still up in the air following a difficult season.

ten Hag‘s training sessions, in particular, are said to be of interest, especially given the Red Devils’ lack of a clear tactical style or any discernible patterns of play since he joined back in April 2022.

Whether faith will be placed in him as it has with the likes of Mainoo, Garnacho and Højlund remains to be seen but it looks set to be a big summer transfer window for United, even if not entirely in terms of spending. Which would about you, Reds: which players would you definitely want to keep?

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Featured Images — Manchester United (via Instagram)

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