Netherlands axes star from World Cup squad. Lil Baby's World Cup soundtrack released, and he will perform in Qatar. Ivan Toney and others left out of England's squad, Ghana one of five African nations to represent the continent, 15 players quit Spanish women's team, and more football news.
Netherlands axes star from World Cup squad
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has asked goalkeeper Tim Krul to step down from the World Cup squad, telling him he has no future on the team after he refused to participate in specialist training. Krul declined to take part in specialist penalty practice with the other shot-stoppers at the team's training base this week,The Mirror reported.
"Krul called me to tell me that he will pass," van Gaal said. "I thought it was a shame, because I know that he stops the most penalties in terms of statistics."
"There is no future for him at the Orange, because he did not want to come," van Gaal added. "That is the consequence of his decision."
Lil Baby to perform in Qatar, official soundtrack single to be released on September 23
Lil Baby confirmed this week he will be performing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The US rapper shared a snippet of his performance on the 'official soundtrack' titled The World Is Yours to Take, which is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 23, Pulse reported.
Ghana one of five African nations to represent continent
Ghana will be one of five African nations to represent the continent, as The Black Stars will join current AFCON holders Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Morocco at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Give Me Sport reported. This marks the fourth time Ghana has qualified for the World Cup, after making its debut in 2006 and reaching the quarter-final stage in 2010.
Ivan Toney and others left out of England's squad
Ivan Toney and several other players have been left out of England's squad as it faces Italy in the Nations League on Friday. Marc Guehi, Ben Chilwell, Jordan Henderson, and the suspended John Stones are also excluded, the Daily Mail reported. Toney was only called up to the squad last week, while Henderson is still recovering from injury. Toney had hoped to claim a place in the World Cup squad.
"It is a massive opportunity for me to get myself on the plane," Toney said. "But I've just got to go game by game. Hopefully I'll get a few minutes in the games we have."
15 top players quit Spanish women's team, demand coach be removed, but RFEF supports coach
In an unprecedented move, 15 of the best players from Spain's national women's football team resigned from the squad. They claimed that the training methods of their head coach are harming their emotional states and health, CNN reported. Sending 15 identical emails, the players threatened to leave the squad unless national team coach Jorge Vilda is dismissed by Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Yahoo reported.
The RFEF appears to be standing by the coach, stating, it will not "allow the players to question the continuity of the national coach and his coaching staff, since making those decisions does not fall within their powers."
"The federation will not admit any type of pressure from any player when adopting sports measures," the RFEF continued. "These types of maneuvers are far from exemplary and outside the values of football and sport and are harmful."
The RFEF added the players will not be allowed to return to the team unless they "accept their mistake and ask for forgiveness."
Two-time World Cup winner and US Women’s National Team star Megan Rapinoe posted her support on Instagram, stating, "You got a 16th [player] standing with you in [US flag emoji] This many players together like this is so powerful. We should all listen."