De Jong and Aubameyang on the scoresheet as Barca and Man City draw 3-3 in Camp Nou friendly

By Sports Desk August 24, 2022

Barcelona and Manchester City drew 3-3 in a thrilling friendly at Camp Nou as Premier League-linked Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both bagged for the hosts.

Chelsea-linked Aubameyang should have given his side an early lead, but his close-range header from a Sergi Roberto cross was straight at Stefan Ortega.

The Spanish side started the game impressively but fell behind after 21 minutes. City new boy Julian Alvarez took advantage of a mistake from Barca keeper Inaki Pena to prod home. 

The lead lasted just eight minutes though, as Aubameyang made up for his earlier miss with a back-post volley that slipped underneath Ortega.

City should have restored their advantage early in the second half, with Alvarez missing a great chance to bag his second of the game after a couple of attempts were thwarted before Riyad Mahrez blazed wide.

De Jong, a target this window for the visitors' city rivals Manchester United, put Barca 2-1 up after 66 minutes with a smart finish past Ortega.

Pep Guardiola's men pegged them back moments later though, with youngster Cole Palmer tapping in at the back post after a powerful cross from Joao Cancelo.

Xavi's team were again in front with 11 minutes left as Memphis Depay found acres of space in the box to smash the ball into the back of the net.

They would not see out the remaining minutes for the victory though, as Andreas Christensen fouled Erling Haaland in the box before Mahrez lashed home the resulting penalty to earn his side a share of the spoils.

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    Luis de la Fuente's side eased to a routine win in Cordoba, qualifying for the knockout stages with two games to spare after Switzerland's 2-2 draw with Denmark guaranteed Spain a top-two spot in their group.

    Aymeric Laporte opened the scoring after just five minutes, heading into the far corner after a well-worked corner routine allowed Pedro Porro space to deliver.

    Mikel Merino's header from Alex Baena's cross was denied by the post soon after, before Spain missed a glorious chance to extend their lead after the interval.

    Porro's vicious shot was adjudged to have been handled by Veljko Birmancevic, but Alvaro Morata blazed over with a disappointing 54th-minute penalty.

    Captain Morata made amends just 11 minutes later, however, finishing with ease into the bottom corner after Fabian Ruiz profited on Serbia's slack attempts to play out from defence.

    Further misery followed for Serbia as Strahinja Pavlovic's last-man challenge on Mikel Oyarzabal was upgraded to a red card following a VAR review, before Baena curled the resulting free-kick past Predrag Rajkovic to seal another Roja win.

    Data Debrief: Unbeaten run continues for rampant Roja

    De la Fuente masterminded Spain's Euro 2024 triumph, with the best team deservedly triumphing at the tournament in Germany, but La Roja's impressive run started well before that.

    Spain are now unbeaten in their last 19 matches across all competitions (W17 D2), excluding friendlies, their best such streak since a 29-game run between June 2010 and June 2013 (W24 D5).

    This was a typically dominant performance from the hosts, who accumulated 2.9 expected goals (xG) compared to Serbia's meagre 0.37, as the away side struggled throughout.

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    Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Hon. Olivia Grange made the announcement at a press conference on Tuesday providing updates on the redevelopment project.

    “We met with representatives from both Ryder Architecture and CAA Icon and they submitted a joint proposal to us for the renovation and redevelopment of facilities at Independence Park, particularly the National Stadium,” the Minister said on Tuesday.

    She continued: “The document, in essence, proposes to, not only address the shortcomings of the existing stadium, but to identify, through qualitative and quantitative assessment, the full potential for this iconic stadium with enhancement as a major tournament venue, training centre and visitor attraction to promote Jamaica and Jamaican sport talent.”

    Ryder Architecture and CAA Icon have worked together many times and have been involved in stadiums around the world such as Wembley, the Emirates Stadium, the 02 Arena, Stadio Olimpico and the San Siro.

    “My Ministry, through its oversight committee and the executing agency, Independence Park Limited, is of the view that Ryder Architecture and CAA Icon can deliver on the proposal given the entities’ years in the business of building and redeveloping sports facilities worldwide,” Grange said.

    The project will see the capacity of the National Stadium increase from 28,500 to 35,000 and will make the country able to bid to host major global events like the World Athletics Championships.

    Dispensing with the bleachers, establishing modern facilities for anti-doping, new facilities for media, the establishment of a modern and iconic sports museum, new modern lighting, new seating options, new conference and meeting facilities, premium suites and lounges and new concession facilities among other upgrades were discussed by Grange’s team and the entities.

    The next step in the re-development project of the National Stadium is a stadium assessment and feasibility study.

    “The study includes a thorough economic and feasibility analysis to identify local and international market demand to ensure that use, and therefore design proposals are aligned to economic demand,” Grange said before stating that these studies will commence in a few weeks and be completed within eight months.

    The results of those studies will inform phase two which is the project initiation, concept design and approval stage.

    Phase three will involve the detailed design and appointment of a contractor in which a groundbreaking date of August 2025 is being targeted.

    Phase four will involve construction and phase five is the operational readiness and handover.

    Grange anticipates that the whole project will last about 30 months or two and a half years.

    The football field and running track will be unaffected during the construction process according to Independence Park Limited General Manager, Major Desmon Brown, who noted that the only inconvenience caused will be a limited capacity of seats for the duration of the process.

    The funding for this project came from a government to government framework for co-operation agreement signed by Jamaica’s Finance Minister, the Hon. Nigel Clarke, and CEO of UK Export Finance, Tim Reid earlier this year.

    Clarke, as well as UK Minister for Latin America and the Caribbean, Baroness Jennifer Chapman, were both in attendance on Tuesday.

    “UK Export Finance are delighted that this agreement will enable them to support Jamaica’s game changing national priority projects and is proud to back the implementation of high-quality UK solutions and innovations alongside UK Government funding,” said Chapman.

    “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to get this deal over the finish line before the departure of Mr. Clarke for his next role at the IMF,” she added.

    “When I met the head of the UK Export Finance at a function at the UK High Commission, light bulbs began to go off because there he was in Jamaica looking for business and engagement and I know have projects that we want to develop but where the technical capacity is not abundantly available in Jamaica, for obvious reasons,” Clarke said.

    “Sparks began to fly about how we could use the format of a government to government co-operation with the UK Export entity to provide the framework through which the feasibility could be delivered and the construction to follow for the stadium,” he added.

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