Barca "exploded" blockbuster Griezmann, was the 1998 World Cup fixed?

Platini admits 1998 World Cup was fixed

Former UEFA president Michel Platini admitted that host France used tricks at the 1998 World Cup so they could only face defending champions Brazil in the final.

“When we set the fixtures, we did a little trick. If we finished top of the group and Brazil finished top of the group, we wouldn’t have met until the final,” Platini said. “When you’re the host, you want to enjoy everything. We didn’t do that until we were frustrated because we had spent six years organising the World Cup without trying to do anything.”

“Do you think other hosts don’t do that? France vs Brazil in the final, that would be everyone’s dream.”

In the final, France defeated Brazil 3-0 thanks to two goals from Zinedine Zidane and the remaining goal from Emmanuel Petit.

With the above statement, Platini admitted that this fixing did not only happen in the 1998 World Cup but also in other tournaments. The host teams will try to achieve their goals as much as possible.

The above statement also made fans lose faith in the so-called "transparency" of FIFA.

Michel Platini was co-president of the 1998 World Cup organising committee in his home country. The 62-year-old former official is currently serving a four-year ban from football after being found guilty of corruption along with former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

MU speeds up signing Djibril Sidibe

According to Le 10 Sport (France), MU is preparing to negotiate with AS Monaco Club to speed up the signing of Djibril Sidibe.

MU and Monaco will negotiate the Sidibe deal within the next 24 hours.

Mourinho wants to find a new full-back, and Djibril Sidibe is the Portuguese coach's target. He wants MU to finalize a contract with the 25-year-old defender before the 2018 World Cup starts (June 14).

According to Le 10, Monaco want more than the £52m they received from selling Benjamin Mendy to Man City last summer. Sidibe still has 4 years left on his contract with the Ligue 1 representative. He has also just been called up by Didier Deschamps to the French team to prepare for the 2018 World Cup.

Arsenal ready to sell Ramsey

Arsenal's board of directors could sell Ramsey if he does not sign a new contract before the start of the 2018/19 season.

The Welsh midfielder is entering the final year of his current contract at the Emirates and is yet to commit to a long-term future.

Ramsey may leave Arsenal.

Arsenal do not want to have a similar situation as Alexis Sanchez and Ozil. Therefore, they can push Ramsey away this summer to collect 40 million pounds.

At the age of 27, Aaron Ramsey is in the prime of his career and has received a lot of attention from big teams like MU, Chelsea and Juventus.

Barca "explodes" blockbuster Griezmann

AS newspaper said that La Liga champion Barca will officially announce the signing of Antoine Griezmann within the next 2 weeks.

Griezmann is about to be a Barca player.

Griezmann was the hero who helped Atletico Madrid win the Europa League recently, with a double in a 3-0 win over Marseille.

According to the above source, the striker who is preparing to join the French team to conquer the 2018 World Cup in Russia has agreed to join Barca since November last year.

Although the Catalan team has reached an agreement with Griezmann, President Bartomeu still wants to make sure the deal does not fall through.

In the agreement between the two sides, Barca included a "penalty" clause, if either side breaks the contract (backs out), they will have to pay a large compensation of between 13-17 million pounds.

There have been reports that Griezmann changed his mind after Barca were eliminated by Roma in the Champions League quarter-finals. In addition, rivals such as Real and MU are also eyeing the striker.

Barca want to officially have Griezmann before the 2018 World Cup takes place. Specifically, they hope the official announcement will take place within the next 2 weeks.Griezmann's release clause from Atletico is £89m.

Atletico find Griezmann's replacement

Don Balon newspaper revealed that Juventus striker Paulo Dybala is the target that Atletico Madrid is aiming to replace Antoine Griezmann, who is likely to leave in the 2018 summer transfer window.

Lukaku could miss the FA Cup final

Before the FA Cup final, coach Jose Mourinho was still skeptical about the ability of key striker Romelu Lukaku to play.

According to the Portuguese strategist, he will wait until the last minute to decide whether or not to use striker Lukaku in the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

Lukaku has missed the last three games for MU due to an ankle injury he suffered in the big match against Arsenal. The Belgian striker has been working hard to recover in time to play, but at this point everything is still unclear.

"Anthony Martial is capable of playing, but with Lukaku, we have to wait until the last minutes," coach Mourinho shared.

"I don't want to lie to you that he didn't play, but then he played. So in the case of Lukaku, we have to wait and see," the Portuguese strategist added.

Not yet twenty, but Kylian Mbappe is known to many football fans. The young French star has a wax statue placed at a museum in Paris.

On May 17, Kylian Mbappe was present at the Grevin wax museum in Paris to attend the unveiling of his own wax statue. The work of art was created by artisans according to the physical characteristics of the young striker who plays for PSG.

Not only is the statue 90% similar to the real version, it also simulates the French player's familiar celebration.

Mbappe has just had a successful season with PSG with a hat-trick of domestic titles Ligue 1, national cup and federation cup. The striker born in 1998 will officially become a player of Parc des Princes after the buyout clause from AS Monaco was activated in this summer's transfer window.

Early this morning, the list of 23 French players participating in the 2018 World Cup was announced. Kylian Mbappe, with his impressive performance in the past two seasons, has a place in the "Rooster" attack.