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      Inside Man Utd star Lisandro Martinez’s pre-match ritual credited with winning Argentina World Cup after Saudi defeat

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      CRISTIAN ROMERO has spilled the beans on Lisandro Martinez’s unique pre-match ritual.The Manchester United defender introduced the habit following Argentina’s shock defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening World Cup game – and the squad did not look back.
      Lisandro Martinez became superstitious after Argentina lost their first World Cup gameCredit: Getty
      After helping his country to win the World Cup, Martinez has enjoyed even more silverware at club levelCredit: Rex
      They went on to win Jules Rimet trophy for the first time since 1986.
      Now back to club action with Spurs, Romero has reflected on “Licha” and his superstitious behaviour which coincided with the turnaround in form.
      The 24-year-old told TyC Sports that Martinez bought a bunch of palo santo, which are small pieces of wood which releases a pleasant smell of pine and lemon.
      Romero said: “Licha believes in everything, he’s very superstitious.
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      “After the game against Saudi Arabia we decided to change the bad energy, so every time before the games, Me, [Nahuel] Molina and Licha were in the [dressing] room and lighting palo santos everywhere to change the energy.”
      It is not known if Martinez has repeated the same move at Manchester United to help spark their incredible 2023 form.
      But it certainly seemed to do the trick for Argentina.
      After that loss to Saudi Arabia, Argentina managed to get out of the group with wins over Mexico and Poland.
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      On his 1,000th career appearance, Messi then came up with the goods to get past Australia in the last 16, before Argentina needed penalties to get past the Dutch after a dramatic 120 minutes of football.
      Croatia fell in the semi-final before Argentina overcame France in perhaps the greatest World Cup game of all time. More

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      Marco Silva wasn’t great for my career and was too impatient for success, but he’s good enough to reach Champions League

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      I’M NOT surprised that Marco Silva is proving to be a huge success at Fulham — as  he is one of the most ­infectious personalities I’ve ever met.Normally when you use that phrase you mean that someone is a bubbly character, the life and soul of the party.  But I don’t mean that about Silva.
      Troy Deeney praised Fulham boss Marco Silva’s work in the Premier LeagueCredit: PA
      At Watford, it was his relentless desire for success, to win at all costs and improve players individually which rubbed off on everybody.
      As club captain, you’re involved in internal club discipline — setting down rules and issuing fines for lateness and the like.
      But when Silva was my boss at Vicarage Road for six months or so, standards were so high that I barely even remember anyone getting fined.
      That is rare and it says a lot about what an excellent manager he was.
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      He certainly wasn’t backwards in b******ing players.
      And if you were a 17-year-old kid or a seasoned veteran, he would treat you exactly the same.
      But Silva had an incredible attention to detail.
      After every match, your own individual stats would be left at your spot in the training ground dressing room on the next working day, which is very unusual.
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      He wouldn’t often challenge you about them. But when any professional footballer sees a stat saying he’d only won 30 per cent of their heading duels, he makes damned sure that doesn’t happen again the next week.
      Silva was an extremely demanding boss but in a good way, you wanted to go and work for him. He was interesting and challenging.
       And I am not saying this because he was good news for my own career — if anything the opposite was true.
      I was injured in pre-season when he came in and I didn’t start many matches.
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      Troy Deeney and Marco Silva previously worked together at WatfordCredit: Rex
      He told me that I wasn’t his type of striker, that he ­preferred Andre Gray and Richarlison.
      But that sort of honesty is rare and I respected it. Most managers are nowhere near as honest. As it happened, I played a decent part in a few wins for him.
      The problem with Silva then, and this was five years ago,  was that his drive for success was perhaps too powerful.
      We made a flying start to that Premier League season and, very soon, news got out that Everton were after him.
      That whole situation could have been handled better by Marco and by the owners and results tailed off because of it. Eventually he was sacked but ended up at Everton anyway.
      The Everton saga was the one thing he wasn’t honest about publicly or internally at the club.
      Troy Deeney claims Marcio Silva wasn’t great for his career at WatfordCredit: AFP
      So when he took the Fulham job at the start of last season, I wasn’t convinced that he was well suited temperamentally to managing in the Championship. I wasn’t sure how long he would stick around.
      I think he has learned and matured since his Watford days in that respect, though.
      His Fulham side won the second tier in style, playing some great attacking football and now they are making a genuine challenge for Europe, and have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals.
      Fulham recruited really well last summer — Marco’s excellent knowledge of the Portuguese game helped them get Joao Palhinha for just ­£17million and he is outstanding in midfield.
      Then there’s Willian, who everyone thought looked out of shape and past it at Arsenal a couple of years ago but has  a new lease of life at Fulham.
      I’m sure Silva’s fitness coach, Goncalo Pedro,  one of the very best in the business,  has had a great impact on Willian.
      Marco Silva is pushing for European qualification with FulhamCredit: PA
      A lot of fitness coaches are like drill sergeants and they treat everyone the same in terms of the work they do.
      Not Goncalo. He would  listen, he would treat you like an adult and he would tailor individual fitness programmes for each player. These details matter in professional football.
       I’m sure Goncalo is playing a huge part in their success.
      It’s not just the new signings who are going well for Fulham, though. Players like Tim Ream and Bobby Decordova-Reid, who haven’t truly cracked the Premier League before, have improved immeasurably.
      That doesn’t surprise me because that is what Silva and his team do. They challenge people and make them better.
      Etienne Capoue had been Watford’s best player the previous season and we were all shocked when Silva dropped him and demanded improvement but Etienne responded brilliantly.
      I hope Silva stays at Fulham for four or five years and gets them into Europe because I believe he is capable of that, especially as the club are giving him what he wants in terms of investment.
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      Beyond that, I think he will end up as an elite Champions League boss, he really is that good.
      And just imagine how complimentary I would be about him if he had actually selected me to start very often! More

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      Moment Aston Villa star Leon Bailey inhales ‘laughing gas’ after partying all night

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      ASTON Villa football star Leon Bailey inhales “laughing gas” in images that will shock fans.Footage emerged of the £25million winger sitting in a motor holding a huge balloon.
      Aston Villa football star Leon Bailey inhales ‘laughing gas’ in images that will shock fans and his club
      The images, taken while celebrating his team’s victory at Everton, are captioned ‘Birmingham, 7.19am’
      Bailey left German side Bayer Laverkusen to join Villa in 2021Credit: Getty
      As he sang, Bailey, 25 — in a black T-shirt and cap — put the inflatable to his lips and inhaled potentially deadly nitrous oxide.
      Another image showed him posing with the deflated balloon hanging from his mouth.
      The Jamaican international played in Villa’s 2-0 Premier League win at Everton last Saturday afternoon before being subbed in the 61st minute.
      The Sun understands he later went to a show to celebrate a friend’s birthday before partying through the night — culminating in the footage, captioned “Birmingham, 7.19am”, on Sunday.
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      Fan, John Parry, who was sent the video, said: “My kid idolises Bailey and has his shirt.
      “This behaviour is appalling.
      “He is meant to be a professional and a role model, but has let himself and the club down badly.
      “This kind of reckless behaviour cannot go unpunished.”
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      Bailey left German side Bayer Laverkusen to join Villa in 2021.
      The exciting star, who has scored five times for the Midlands side, now faces the wrath of their no-nonsense boss Unai Emery.
      Inhaling nitrous oxide is legal — but it is illegal to supply it due to its psychoactive effect.
      It starves the brain of oxygen and makes users feel light-headed and dizzy and can even cause death.
      Other football stars including Kyle Walker and Raheem Sterling have previously been pictured inhaling the legal high.
      Aston Villa were approached for comment yesterday. More

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      I was banned from boardrooms for being a woman, but I had the last laugh and even found out the Queen’s view of football

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      THIS week marks my 30th year in football. I have gone from being the youngest person to hold an executive position to the longest serving!
      Karren Brady says her biggest achievement in the sport was helping West Ham get London Stadium amid competition from TottenhamCredit: Rex
      The late Queen Elizabeth II told Karren Brady why she’d gone off footballCredit: Getty
      Football has transformed in the past 30 years and I am proud to have played a part from the day I walked into St Andrew’s, the rundown home of Birmingham City, as an inexperienced and fearless young lioness.
      David Sullivan bought the club in 1993 and I pleaded that a 23-year-old woman with no experience of running a Subbuteo game, let alone an ailing football club, should be managing director.
      He told me I would have to be twice as good as the men to be thought of as half as good.
      Luckily, I said that’s not difficult.
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      That was on a Friday and on the Monday I started work.It was not always easy going.
      In my first press conference, desperate to look at least 24, I dressed with shoulder pads and a smart jacket and did a serious presentation of all the things I wanted to achieve with the club.
      When it came to questions from the press there was only one: “What are your vital statistics?”
      There are plenty of things I miss about the 90s but the overt everyday sexism isn’t one of them.
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      Oh, and in 1993 women were banned from boardrooms. Today we are — mostly — welcome.
      Woe betide anyone who tried to bar me as a doorkeeper did at Notts County in 1993.
      I always say it was the first door I kicked down and I have spent the past 30 years holding that door open as wide as possible to get more women into football.
      Football has come a long way in a hurry since then — both on the field and elsewhere.  I have done my best to become a leader in the campaign for equality and diversity.
      My first piece of advice was from then-Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein.
      He told me to never let my heart rule my head and never believe the manager when he said, “Just one more player”.
      I’m not sure what he would have made of  Barry Fry, who had a revolving-door transfer policy with a squad of 50 and an average three signings a month.
      Barry was a character. He once said live on TV after a match that Sullivan “didn’t know the difference between a goal line and a clothes line”.
      Incensed, David went to the dressing room and dragged him out the shower — with only a small towel to cover his modesty —  to tell him it was disrespectful.
      It  wasn’t exactly  a highlight . . . but it was memorable.
      Despite all the shenanigans, we got promoted to the Premier League, turned the stadium into an all-seater venue, doubled crowds with schemes like ‘kids for a quid’  and in our first year we made a trading profit for the first time.
      Oh, and I also met my husband Paul and we have been married 28 years.
      The most important people at the club are the players with the skills to entertain millions.
      So, I have some fantastic memories of my 16 years there.
      Now I truly delight in the London Stadium.
      It is the best thing to happen to West Ham since the FA Cup win 43 years ago.
      I have appeared on The Apprentice, had the honour of lunch with the Queen, awarded a CBE for services to women in business and entrepreneurship and been appointed to the House of Lords.
      But the biggest achievement of my business life so far is to have won  — yes, WON — our handsome home.
      Over three frantic years, I led the battle with Spurs to become long-term tenant of what was the Olympic Stadium, overcame judicial reviews and made three separate bids before it became ours.
      One thing that has not changed in 30 years is that the most important people at the club are the players with the skills to entertain millions.
      They are paid enormously well and I don’t begrudge them a penny.
      It’s funny how times change. I remember having sleepless nights about paying George Parris £1,000 a week at Birmingham in 1993.
      That’s the thing about football. There’s always another opinion.
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      The Queen had one. She told me over lunch that she had gone off football because the atmosphere wasn’t always welcoming.
      Even a great woman can be wrong. As Bill Shankly said: “Football isn’t a matter of life and death, it’s more important than that!” More

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      ‘Professional boxer’ Jake Paul teases announcement with hilarious FedEx video after Tommy Fury loss

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      JAKE PAUL has released an hilarious video proving he is a “professional boxer” following his defeat to Tommy Fury. The American star is licking his wounds in a typically entertaining fashion after the loss.
      Jake Paul had some fun on social media days after his defeatCredit: @jakepaul
      The American YouTube star will be looking forward to his next fight as he bids to get over the defeatCredit: Getty

      As speculation mounts over whether the pair might meet in a rematch, Paul took to Twitter to post a self-deprecating video.
      The 26-year-old can be seen wearing thick gloves as he attempts to seal up several FedEx boxes.
      He wears a determined look on his face and doesn’t acknowledge the camera once as he goes to work in the 10 second long video.
      Paul captions the clip “professional boxer”.
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      Fans on social media were loving the YouTuber taking the mick out of himself.
      One said: “This is the first time I’ve ever liked a Jake paul tweet. Nice one.
      Another said: “Nah but this is actually funny.”
      Paul and Fury finally got it on in the ring after years of animosity before the pair.
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      The Problem Child appeared to match his Love Island rival for much of the bout and both landed decent jabs throughout the fight.
      Paul even managed to put the Brit on the deck in the penultimate round.
      But Fury took a huge points victory and may even have another Paul to face before long. More

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      Mason Greenwood’s England future revealed after he turned down opportunity to play for another country

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      MASON Greenwood will never again be selected for England by Gareth Southgate, The Sun understands — even though the striker has rejected a switch to Jamaica.The Man United ace, 21, has not given up on his Three Lions dream, despite falling out with the England manager.
      Mason Greenwood will never again be selected for England by Gareth Southgate, The Sun understandsCredit: Rex
      He is waiting to hear if United will re-integrate him after charges of attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour were dropped last month.
      Greenwood qualifies for Jamaica via his mother’s side, and rules state he could be eligible to play for them in September.
      Jamaica Football Federation boss Dennis Chung said: “He is only 21 and so has a very bright future ahead of him and I think he will add value to any team he is on.”
      However Greenwood is keen to resurrect his England career after making his debut at 18 away to Iceland in 2020.
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      The next day he and team-mate Phil Foden were sent home after smuggling two women into the team hotel in breach of Covid rules.
      Greenwood has not played for his country since.
      A source said: “He is clinging to the hope of playing again at the highest level.
      “But Southgate places a great deal of importance on not only a player’s talent, but how the squad gels.”
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      Chelsea’s Andrey Santos ‘in tears’ after getting into Brazil squad BEFORE earning work permit, but star Arsenal duo axed

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      CHELSEA star Andrey Santos has been left ‘in tears’ after securing his first ever call-up to Brazil’s national squad. The 18-year-old is one of NINE uncapped players in the 23-man squad for the March international break.
      Santos’ call-up comes after an incredible tournament with Brazil’s U20s sideCredit: AFP
      Chelsea fans are becoming increasingly excited about their young prospectCredit: Getty
      Under 20 boss Ramon Menezes is managing the side on an interim basis after Tite’s resignation following Brazil’s underwhelming World Cup.
      He has opted for a younger squad – and has made some bold calls.
      Arsenal pair Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli have both missed out despite enjoying brilliant seasons for their club.
      Defender Gabriel also missed out on the World Cup squad.
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      He is among more senior players who have not got a look in as Menezes opts for youthful inexperience.
      Santos has yet to start a game for Chelsea or even get his work permit yet.
      But could make his international debut before the end of the month when Brazil take on Morocco in a friendly, the Samba Boys’ only game during this international break.
      Santos reacted to the news with a crying emoji and the Brazil flag on his Twitter page.
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      The midfielder was one of a number of stars signed by Chelsea during their January spending spree.
      He was recruited for £18m from Vasco da Gama but was loaned back to the Brazilian club due to his work permit issues.
      The teenager’s call-up comes after Santos captained Brazil’s under-20 side to a South American Championship win last month.
      He was the joint-top scorer with six goals.
      Also in the Brazil squad is Tottenham defender Emerson Royal and Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes.
      While the likes of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson and Juventus right back Danilo are left out. More

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      Roberto Firmino to leave Liverpool this summer as agent confirms ‘eight incredible years’ are coming to an end

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      ROBERTO FIRMINO will leaves Liverpool this summer, according to his agent. The Brazilian is out of contract at the end of the season and will not be renewing a deal to stay at Anfield.
      Roberto Firmino has won the Premier League and Champions League in his eight years at LiverpoolCredit: PA
      The Brazilian has been with the Merseyside club since 2015 is among the club’s longest-serving players.
      But his time is now set to come to an end after weeks of speculation over his future.
      The star’s agent Roger Wittmann reportedly told Scores365: “I can confirm that [he will leave Liverpool].
      “It’s a nice way to leave after eight incredible years.”
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      The forward is now set to be available on a free transfer and many clubs in Europe will likely be keen on him after his successful spell in England.
      Firmino won the Premier League with the club in 2020 and the Champions League in 2019.
      The 31-year-old was also part of the squad that won the cup double last season.
      The forward formed a formidable trio for multiple years with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane that helped transform Liverpool from also-rans to genuine contenders.
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      He was the first time arrive at Anfield after signing in a £29m deal from Hoffenheim while Brendan Rodgers was still the manager.
      Mane arrived in 2016 and Salah followed a year later.
      Firmino has made 353 appearances for Liverpool and scored 107 goals.
      He will hope to add to this total before the end of the season.
      But collecting any more silverware looks unlikely after Liverpool’s difficult campaign which has seen them struggle to keep pace with the top 4 and crash out of both domestic cup competitions.
      They also need a miracle to get past Real Madrid in the Champions League after a damaging first-leg defeat. More