Former England captain David Beckham praised “national hero” Sir Bobby Charlton as tributes poured in following his death.
Charlton’s family announced in a statement on Saturday that the ex-Manchester United player, who was a key member of England’s 1966 World Cup success, had died at the aged 86.
Beckham came through the ranks at Manchester United having attended Bobby Charlton’s Soccer School and was given the middle name Robert as his father was such a fan of the 1968 European Cup winner.
View this post on Instagram“It all began with Sir Bobby. Sir Bobby was the reason I had the opportunity to play for Manchester United… I will be forever grateful to a man I was named after, someone I looked up to and was a hero to many around the world not just in Manchester and our country where he won the World Cup in 1966,” Beckham posted on Instagram.
“A true gentleman, family man and truly a national hero… Today isn’t just a sad day for Manchester United & England it’s a sad day for football and everything that Sir Bobby represented… Our thoughts go out to Lady Norma, their daughters and grandchildren x Rest in Peace Sir Bobby x @manchesterunited @england Today our hearts are heavy.”
Charlton had previously held the record as all-time top goalscorer for both England and United, where he also won the European Cup in 1968 and former Red Devils captain Gary Neville praised his impact in all aspects of the game.
“I think he is Manchester United’s greatest representative around the world and has been for 50/60 years,” he told Sky Sports.
“When you think he was one of the original Busby Babes, part of that tragic Munich air crash and survived it having lost a lot of his team-mates and colleagues in that but came through. He won Youth Cups at Manchester United under Sir Matt Busby then obviously went on to win the European Cup, World Cup and in the more modern era a director of the club.
“He used to come into the changing room after a match – win, lose or draw. Something when I was a player at the club you maybe would take for granted – this legend would be walking around your changing room saying ‘well done’ or offering his commiserations.
“It is obviously a great loss today, but no doubt he is English football’s greatest player and greatest ambassador. A champion on and off the pitch.
“He was the golden thread through from Sir Matt Busby to Sir Alex Ferguson, two golden eras in Man Utd’s history and he was the constant through both of them.”
Ex-England striker and Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker hailed Charlton’s lasting impact on the sport – saying he had achieved “footballing immortality”.
“Deeply saddened to hear that Sir Bobby Charlton has died. A truly wonderful footballer and genuinely lovely man. A World Cup winner, @ManUtd great and, for me, England’s greatest ever player. He may longer be with us but he’ll have footballing immortality. RIP Sir Bobby,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Charlton’s death means Sir Geoff Hurst is now the only man who started the 1966 World Cup final win over West Germany who is still alive.
Hurst, who hit a hat-trick in the 4-2 victory, also paid respect to his former team-mate, writing: “Very sad news today. 1 of the true Greats Sir Bobby Charlton has passed away. We will never forget him & nor will all of football. A great colleague & friend he will be sorely missed by all of the country beyond sport alone. Condolences to his family & friends from Geoff and Judith,” he wrote.
Rio Ferdinand, another former captain of both England and United, posted a lengthy tribute to Charlton – dubbing him “Mr Manchester United”.
“Icon, Legend, Great! these words are thrown around by all of us to many who 100% don’t deserve them, especially when you compare them to man of Sir Bobby’s calibre. What a true gentleman of not many words, but when he spoke you stood still, stopped what you were doing and listened.
“A lot of the history was living and breathing through him and he was a constant at the club while I was there – travelling with us all over the world. Win, lose or draw he would be in the changing room wishing us well. The words he shared with me at the bottom of those stairs in Moscow, before I went up to lift the CL trophy will stay with me forever.
“What it meant to lift that trophy for Man Utd, what it meant for the fans, what it meant for us as a team and what it now meant for myself doing it as captain. It was a privilege for me to even get that moment with him at that specific time. Thank you Sir Bobby. Mr Manchester United. RIP.”
'It will happen in a year, two years' - Ronaldo hints at retirement date
Cristiano Ronaldo says it will be one or two years before he retires from football as he aims to enjoy the end of his career.
The 39-year-old scored twice on Friday, including a stunning overhead kick, as Portugal cruised past Poland 5-1 in the Nations League, to clinch top spot of Group A1.
Overall, Ronaldo has now netted 910 times in his career, with 135 of those coming for Portugal, including five goals in five Nations League appearances this campaign.
Ronaldo has dropped hints in recent months though that his retirement is drawing closer, with his 40th birthday coming up in February, and he says his main goal is to enjoy playing football while he still can.
"Planning the retirement of football... It will happen in a year, two years, I don't know," Ronaldo said.
"I say honestly, it's not a joke, it's enjoying the moment, feeling that I'm enjoying football. Get up and go to training and to the game motivated.
"When I don't feel that, I'll step forward and say, 'I can't do it anymore.' It's an excellent career, I haven't felt it yet."
He was a standout once again for Portugal as he finished the match against Poland with a game-high 2.06 expected goals (xG), generated from five shots, the most of any player on the pitch.
Ronaldo hit the 900-goal mark in September, with many believing he would next be targeting 1,000 as another goal in his storied career.
The forward has scored 10 more goals since then but insisted he was not actively thinking about making it to four figures.
"If you ask me if I want to reach a thousand goals... It's normal to want it. But I don't think about it," he added.
"Think game by game. In three months, I will be 40 years old. It's about taking it easy and enjoying.
"That's what I've been doing, especially in the national team, which is where I like to play the most. I like to play for the national team, and I really enjoy coming here. Scoring goals and good performances helps too.
"Day by day. Enjoy goal after goal. Enjoy the moment. The thousand goals don't matter to me at all, honestly."
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
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