Sports
Loris Karius Hailed For ‘Impossible Saves’, 7 years After Liverpool Nightmare
When Schalke were seeking guidance on bringing the club back to its previous stature, few would have imagined them finding their answers in Loris Karius. Both the club and the player seemed to hit catastrophic new lows at roughly the same time. While Karius will forever be associated with one of the most infamous performances in Champions League final history – Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in 2018 – Germany’s third-biggest club have been unable to locate anything capable of halting their own dramatic fall from grace.
Over the past 20 seasons, they have played in the Champions League eight times. In 2011, they reached the semi-finals, losing to Manchester United. In 2019, their most recent campaign among Europe’s elite, they made it to the last 16 before being knocked out by Manchester City. Since then, though, they have bounced between the top two tiers of German football, slowly but surely finding their new level in Bundesliga 2.
In January this year, Karius threw in his lot with Schalke, signing on as Justin Heekeren’s understudy after a barren spell at Newcastle United that yielded only two appearances across three seasons as third-choice behind Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka. But what initially looked like yet another reminder of the club’s fallen-giant status has since morphed into an unexpected plot twist. A run of inspired displays from their new No.1 has begun to reshape the narrative for both parties.
Time and again, football’s mortals are reminded of the redeeming power that confidence can inject into a player. That has once more proven true at Schalke with Karius, who has conceded just seven goals in his opening 12 league matches of the season, helping his side boast the best defensive record in Germany’s second division.
Now 32 – a prime age for a goalkeeper – Karius has become the brick wall at the base of a Schalke team pushing for a return to the pinnacle of German football for the first time since 2023, when they were relegated from the Bundesliga for the second time in three seasons.
Remarkably, he has already kept as many clean sheets this season as the entire squad managed last year, collecting six, and the affection coming his way is a richly deserved byproduct of his resilience. Speaking about his uptick in form, Olaf Thon, a Schalke icon as a player and now a club ambassador, told Ran.de, as per the Daily Mail:
“He gives the team confidence, makes impossible saves, and hardly makes any mistakes. He has experience, and it shows.”
Schalke sit second with 27 points, two behind leaders Paderborn and four ahead of third-placed Elversberg on 23. Much of that success can be traced back to their in-form shot-stopper, who also boasts a league-high 64 per cent save rate.
“We are very happy to have placed our trust in him four months ago, at a time when there wasn’t much confidence. He has more than repaid us,” said head coach Miron Muslic, as per Marca.
Redemption has been sweet for Karius, who has rediscovered his mojo and has even been described as the “phoenix of football” for the nature of his comeback. And if his performances alone don’t paint a clear enough picture of how far he has come in the seven years since the lowest point of his career, then his own words certainly do.
“I don’t usually pay much attention to statistics, but as a goalkeeper, you always want to keep a clean sheet,” Karius said. “I’m playing well and I’m satisfied. I’m having an amazing time. I go to training every day with a smile. I’m grateful to be able to experience this week after week, and it’s even more wonderful how things are going.”
Roy Keane has given his verdict on who he expects to battle it out in the World Cup final after watching England reach the knockout rounds.
The tournament’s group stage concluded on Sunday (June 28th), and most of international football’s heavyweights advanced to the Round of 32. That included Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions, who won Group L and met DR Congo in their first knockout game.
England came from behind to beat the Congolese 2-1 on Wednesday courtesy of a Harry Kane brace. This came a day after France proved their worth as tournament favourites with a sensational 3-0 win over Sweden.
Keane Rules England out of World Cup Final
Keane doesn’t expect England to reach the final on July 19th but he is backing France to compete in their third consecutive final. The former Manchester United midfielder gave a glowing verdict of Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus while speaking on ITV:
“The French attacking players are as good as any. But then we saw that with Brazil. We’ve seen it with England’s main lads turning up against Panama.”
Keane has also been impressed by Argentina, whom Lionel Messi continues to captain and help make history for. The reigning world champions face Cape Verde in the Round of 32 on Friday:
“I think Argentina and France are the teams that have the players and the good options. There’d be no surprise if they end up meeting in the final. I’d be surprised if they don’t meet in the final.”
If France and Argentina were to meet in New York New Jersey Stadium later this month, it would be a repeat of the classic played out at the 2022 World Cup. Messi fired his nation to glory with a penalty shootout victory following a pulsating 3-3 draw over 120 minutes.
Kylian Mbappe is in red-hot form for the French, and he’ll be eyeing revenge for the heartbreaking defeat in Qatar. He’s battling Messi in the Golden Boot race with both sat on six goals.
Who France and Argentina Could Meet Ahead of Final
France eased past Sweden in the Round of 32 and booked themselves a last-16 meeting with Paraguay on Saturday (July 4th). Deschamps’ men come up against one of the tournament’s surprise packages, who saw off Germany on penalties.
Should Les Bleus win, they will face the winners of Canada vs Morocco in the quarter-finals on July 9th. A semi-final meeting against one of Portugal, Croatia, Spain, Austria, the USA, Bosnia, Belgium or Senegal then awaits.
Argentina needs to beat Cape Verde to advance to the Round of 16, where they could face Australia or Egypt on July 7th. Should Lionel Scaloni’s men win that game, they’d face either Switzerland, Algeria, Colombia or Ghana in the quarter-finals on July 11th.
There is a chance the Argentines meet England in the semi-finals or even Brazil. Other possibilities include Mexico and Norway, who face the Three Lions and Selecao in their respective Round of 16 matches.
An apoplectic Thomas Tuchel lost his head at one of his England players during the nervy 2-1 comeback win over DR Congo.
The Three Lions needed Harry Kane to come up with a brace to beat the spirited African nation, who led for 75 minutes. Brian Cipenga gave the Congolese a shock lead in the seventh minute, and Tuchel’s men were poor during the first half.
Kane’s first goal came in the 75th minute when he met Anthony Gordon’s cross with a superb header. The Bayern Munich frontman then fired home an 86th-minute winner to send his country through to the last 16 of the World Cup where they meet Mexico on Monday.
England got the job done, but there are now widespread debates over who should start at the Azteca. Judging by Tuchel’s reaction during the game, he might be about to wield the axe on one of his starters.
England 2-1 DR Congo: Tuchel Furious With Spence
With England chasing the game on the hour mark, frustration was written all over Tuchel’s face. He lost his temper at Djed Spence while shouting orders to the Tottenham Hotspur man.
Spence started the game at right-back due to the injury crisis, which has seen Tino Livramento withdraw from the squad. Reece James is unavailable due to a hamstring injury, limiting Tuchel’s options.
Tuchel opted to bring Spence off minutes after his angry outburst at the Spurs star, who is being used as a makeshift right-back. It’s raised doubts over the 25-year-old continuing in the starting lineup ahead of the trip to the Azteca to face Mexico.
You can watch the incident involving Tuchel and Spence below:
This isn’t the first time Tuchel has lost his patience with Spence, as he angrily ordered the full-back to ‘give and go’ in the 0-0 stalemate against Ghana. His decision to pick the Spurs defender in his 26-man squad caused debate before the tournament and there are now question marks over his place in the starting lineup.
England’s Right-Back Dilemma
England headed into the tournament with two right-backs selected as Livramento and James made Tuchel’s 26-man squad. That’s despite the pair enduring recurring injuries in recent seasons and concerns about their fitness for the World Cup.
Tuchel claimed that nobody saw James’ hamstring injury coming, which surprised many English fans who are well aware of his injury record. The Chelsea captain rarely plays more than once a week for his club, and his injury is a massive blow.
Livramento withdrew ahead of the opening 4-2 win over Croatia due to a calf injury. Instead of calling up Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tuchel turned to Trevoh Chalobah, a decision that has proven costly.
Jarell Quansah is another option for Tuchel, as the Bayer Leverkusen centre-back can play at right-back. But he, too, missed the DR Congo win due to a twisted ankle sustained in the 2-0 win against Panama last Saturday.
Tuchel has a big decision to make for the encounter with Mexico on Monday and whether to continue with Spence at right-back. He opted to use Declan Rice in the position after bringing the Spurs man off in the second half today.
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