July 31, 2022
The brief from today:
Brazil victorious in Copa America
The CONMEBOL Copa America Femenina concluded in Colombia with the Brazil women’s team taking home the trophy. Despite Brazil being so dominant throughout the tournament, playing against the host nation in the final would always be a tricky proposition. Prior to the decisive match, Brazil had won their previous five games by scoring 19, and not allowing even a solitary goal. Against Colombia, it would be more of the same as Brazil overcame the Colombian resistance winning 1-0 through a 39th minute Debinha penalty. The victory is Brazil’s eighth Copa America title since the women’s competition began in 1991, and only Argentina has managed to win once to disrupt Brazil’s hegemony in South America. Brazil now join Morocco, England, the US, and China as the current continental champions from the five confederations. Alongside those five teams, other nations will be vying for the women’s World Cup title next year hosted in Australia and New Zealand.
Brazil celebrate their eighth Copa America title
Cristiano still in limbo
It’s no secret that Cristiano Ronaldo has been angling for a move away from Manchester United all summer. The main motivator for the Portuguese forward in searching for a new team is United’s absence from the Champions League in the upcoming season. The problem he, and his super agent Jorge Mendes, are facing, however, is the combination of his age—37—and massive salary. The fact that he still has one year remaining on his contract also means a transfer fee would be required, and all of these factors have put off a host of sides Mendes has shopped him to. Ronaldo missed the Asia preseason tour due to personal reasons, and only recently returned to training camp where he reiterated his intention to leave. He took part in a friendly today against Rayo Vallecano, but was taken off at halftime. Ronaldo was later seen leaving the stadium before the match finished, but the club wouldn’t comment on whether he was granted permission to do so. There is roughly one moth remaining in the transfer window, and despite his claims of being pleased to be back with the team, it’s clear a move is still his priority. While ten Hag has played the diplomatic role quite well with his comments to the media, surely even he would like this disruption to the team to get resolved promptly. That said, the same issue for all parties involved remains: there are simply no takers, and whether that will change is anyone’s guess.