Jose Mourinho says he was "humble enough to apologise" to referee Antonio Rapuano after accepting he deserved his latest red card in Roma's late 1-1 draw with Torino.
Roma head coach Mourinho was sent to the stands in the 88th minute with his side a goal down for repeatedly protesting decisions made by the official in Sunday's fiery contest.
Mourinho watched on from the Stadio Olimpico stands as Nemanja Matic rescued a point with a 94th-minute goal – Roma's latest at home in the league in 12 years.
The 59-year-old is no stranger to being given his marching orders and did not react kindly to being banished from the sidelines, but he later held his hands up for his actions.
"It was the right decision – my words to the referee deserved a red card," he told DAZN. "I spoke to him after and apologised, but I don’t want to talk about his performance.
"I was humble enough to apologise, but I will leave his performance and the hypothetical influence on the match to you.
"I don't want to talk about what we said, that was private. My words deserved a red card, but I will not judge the referee's performance."
Matic's dramatic late leveller came immediately after substitute Paulo Dybala had hit the frame of the goal, while former Torino striker Andrea Belotti missed an injury-time penalty just moments earlier in an exciting end to the contest.
Mourinho's side enter the World Cup break seventh in Serie A after winning just one of their past five matches.
The 10 points the Giallorossi have collected from their opening seven home league games this term is their lowest return since the 2005-06 season, when accruing eight.
Roma's disappointing form has coincided with Dybala's month-long absence from the side, with the Argentina international making a difference on his return against Torino.
"There are two games tonight – one until the 70th minute and one after," Mourinho said. "Until the 70th, Roma fans wanted to just go home.
"But in the final 20 minutes we created more, perhaps more than we have done in the last four or five games. Why? Easy, because Dybala came on.
"When you have a player like Paulo and he doesn't play, it's different. How many extra points would we have now if Dybala hadn't been injured?
"The break is coming up, it will be the right moment for certain players to look at themselves and try a little self-criticism.
"Despite all these problems, we are a united group. A team that misses a penalty at the 92nd minute is usually dead, but not us, we kept going."
Roma host Bologna on their return to action on January 4, before travelling to reigning champions Milan four days later.
Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw credits teammates after historic FWA Player of the Year win
Manchester City Women and Jamaica striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw graciously credited her teammates after being awarded the Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year. Shaw, who received the prestigious accolade on Thursday, expressed her gratitude towards her fellow players for their role in her success.
The prolific Jamaican striker received an impressive 53 per cent of all votes cast, setting a new record for the highest percentage received by a player in FWA history for a women’s award. She edged out colleagues Alex Greenwood and Chelsea’s Lauren James to claim the top spot, capping off another phenomenal season where she scored 22 goals and provided five assists before an unfortunate injury cut short her campaign.
Reflecting on her achievement and the season, Shaw emphasized the importance of her teammates in her individual accolades. "I’ve had a little hiccup, but overall it’s been a good season and I’m happy," Shaw commented at the FWA awards evening. "It’s been a good season. I’ve always said that the team makes me look good. I’m playing with world class players and that makes me look good at the end of the day."
Shaw highlighted her team-first mentality, focusing on contributing to the collective success rather than individual accolades. "I just try to do the bits I can at the end of the pitch and work for the team and ultimately arrive at the end of the season winning stuff. Here we are," she added.
Despite being sidelined due to injury for Manchester City Women's crucial WSL match against Aston Villa, where a victory could secure them the league title, Shaw expressed her confidence and support for her teammates. "It’s exciting times. I’m going to be very nervous to be honest but I believe in my team and I love every single one of them out there," she shared. "Once we do our best, hopefully the best is good enough."
As Manchester City Women aim to clinch their second-ever league title, Shaw's recognition as the FWA Player of the Year underscores her impact and the team's collective drive for success. With inspiration drawn from the club's men's team and a shared commitment to achieving excellence, Shaw and her teammates are poised to continue pushing boundaries and striving for further glory in women's football.
Brazil to host 2027 Women's World Cup
Brazil have seen off competition from a joint bid by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany to earn the right to host the 2027 Women's World Cup.
The United States and Mexico were thought to be favourites to host the next edition of FIFA's showpiece women's football tournament, but they withdrew their bid in April.
They signalled their intention to focus on a bid for the 2031 tournament, while a South African bid for the 2027 event was also withdrawn last November.
That left Brazil and the joint European bid as the only contenders, and on Friday, it was confirmed the 2027 tournament will be the first to be held in South America.
"Congratulations to Brazil," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.
"We will have the best World Cup in Brazil. Many thanks as well to the BNG bid, who have been fantastic."
The decision was made at FIFA's annual congress in Bangkok, becoming the first Women's World Cup to be awarded via an open vote of member nations.
Brazil – the host nation for two men's World Cups in 1950 and 2014 – garnered 119 votes to their rivals' 78.
Brazil had launched a bid to hold the 2023 tournament, only to withdraw it due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Australia and New Zealand ultimately co-hosted, with Spain beating England in the final for their first world crown.
Tuchel confirms Bayern Munich exit after no deal reached to stay on
Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after failing to reach an agreement with the club to stay on as coach after talks this week.
Tuchel took over last March and steered them to the Bundesliga title last season but Bayern will finish the current campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
Bayern bosses had informed Tuchel in February he would not stay on for the last year of his contract and would leave at the end of the season.
But after several prospective successors, including Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick and Xabi Alonso, decided to remain in their current jobs, Bayern turned to Tuchel to discuss the possibility of him staying on.
"This is the last press conference here. The February decision remains," Tuchel said on Friday.
"There were talks again with the club in the past week but we did not reach an agreement on a continued cooperation so we stick with the February decision.
"We did not agree but I won't go into individual points. That all happens behind closed doors."
The Bavarians, who travel to Hoffenheim on the last matchday of the season on Saturday, are battling to hold on to second place in the table and are two points ahead of Stuttgart.
They crashed out to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, ending the campaign without a trophy despite spending a league-record €100 million to sign striker Harry Kane.
"The decision for me to leave was taken in February so you can imagine that my head, after processing, was 1000% behind that decision," Tuchel said.
"There was the theoretical possibility of a 180 degree turn now and the initiative came from the club.
"The reasons why it did not happen, I don't know, are minimal. Maybe the reasons are not clear, also for the decision in February, but it is what it is."
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