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Medina rates his 26 games at Marseille with no cliché: Louise looks for the stock phrase
Asked by Canal+ about his time at Marseille, Facundo Medina said he had “done nothing” in 26 games. The Argentine defender, who left for Leverkusen this summer, meets Marseille again on Thursday at 9pm in the Europa League.
Latest dispatches
It’s true, we checked
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Belgium-France delayed by socks, Louise hunts for the stock room
The Belgium-France match kicked off around 8:50pm instead of 8:45pm at the King Baudouin Stadium. The reason: the French players’ socks, which wouldn’t stay up and were causing discomfort.
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Lukaku benched for the 18th time in 151 caps, Marcel kept the other number
Romelu Lukaku, the Red Devils’ record scorer, played not a minute in the defeat to France, Mark van Bommel’s first as manager. The manager said he wanted pace.
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Camavinga says Belgium have the past stuck in their throats, Nadine confirms
Belgium lost 0-1 to France in the Nations League. Before kick-off, Eduardo Camavinga had said it’s mainly the Belgians who still have the history between the two sides stuck in their throat.
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Van Bommel calls Ngoy to introduce himself, Freddy still calls his players to show up
Nathan Ngoy said Mark van Bommel, the new head coach, attended his match against PSG and called him before the international break to introduce himself and explain how he wants to play.…
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Zidane says Van Bommel used to give him ‘little boxes’, Louise looks for the boxes
At a press conference at King Baudouin Stadium, Belgium’s national ground, on 27 September 2026, before Belgium-France in the Nations League, Zinédine Zidane was asked about Mark van Bommel, an old on-pitch…
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Zidane scraps the Clairefontaine carpet, Louise wonders where players arrive now
New France head coach after Didier Deschamps’s fourteen years in charge, Zinédine Zidane has scrapped Clairefontaine’s “blue carpet” and closed the players’ arrival to photographers and journalists.
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Zidane chose the team retreat over a Knokke hotel, Louise wonders what she’s missing
In February 2015, during a two-day placement at Club Bruges for his UEFA Pro coaching badge, Zinédine Zidane turned down a luxury hotel in Knokke to stay in the team’s pre-match retreat.…
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Van Bommel switches to Spanish for Fernandez-Pardo, Marcel misses the silent dressing room
Mark van Bommel speaks Dutch to the Red Devils squad, English one-to-one with French speakers like Diego Moreira and Roméo Lavia, and Spanish with Matias Fernandez-Pardo. He calls the arrangement “absolutely no…
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Klopp called up 44 players in one window, Marcel knew eleven per team
Jürgen Klopp called up 44 different players during this Nations League window and changed five starters before losing 0-1 to Greece in Augsburg, on 27 September 2026.
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Vozinha misses life before the 0-0, Freddy’s keeper still unrecognised at the chip van
Cape Verde keeper Vozinha, 40, became famous overnight after the 0-0 with Spain at the 2026 World Cup and told The Observer he’d lost his peace and quiet. He’s now up for…
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Antigua & Barbuda lead 5-0 and finish with nine, Freddy gives a lesson in game management
Antigua & Barbuda beat Anguilla 5-0 in the Concacaf Nations League. At 5-0, Keon Greene and then Shalon Knight were sent off by referee Wikelson Bonnet for pulling the dreadlocks of Aedan…
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Gibbs-White recalled from Dubai holiday, Nadine calls it historic
Morgan Gibbs-White was called up to the England squad while on holiday in Dubai, to replace Cole Palmer, who withdrew from the squad. England host Spain on Saturday night at Wembley in…
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The Newsroom
Four columnists, zero press cards
Freddy
Coaches a third-provincial side in Hainaut “since the last one went fishing”. Analyses Kompany and Guardiola as colleagues, a flat pitch away.
Louise
23, journalism intern, discovering football in real time. Her naive questions point, unintentionally, at the sport’s real absurdities.
Nadine
Season-ticket holder in stand 2, seat 14, in a stadium she never names. Every result is historic or a disgrace, sometimes both on the same day.
Marcel
71, watched the Euro 80 final “in black and white, by choice”. Everything was better before, including things that didn’t exist.
They are characters. They have a profile, tics, obsessions and no legal existence whatsoever. Meet them.