Paulo Sousa has been accused of being "disrespectful" after he left his role as Poland head coach to take charge of Flamengo.
Sousa only landed the Poland job in January after the dismissal of Jerzy Brzeczek.
The former Portugal midfielder asked to vacate his position earlier this week, having received an offer from Brazilian club Flamengo
Polish FA president Cezary Kulesza described Sousa's request to jump ship as being "extremely irresponsible" before a decision was made to terminate his contract.
Sousa was confirmed as Flamengo boss soon after his exit from the Poland job was announced and Kulesza made his feelings over the 51-year-old's conduct very clear.
"Working with the Polish national team is a great honour and privilege," Kulesza said in a statement.
"Therefore, we could not agree to such a disrespectful approach by the coach to the players and co-workers, and above all to the millions of fans for whom the national team is sacred.
"The function of the coach of the Polish national team must be performed by a person who, apart from appropriate experience and skills, has respect for this position.
"We treat this situation as a valuable lesson for the entire football community in order to properly arrange cooperation with the new coach from the very beginning."
Sousa, meanwhile, revealed his joy and excitement at Flamengo, who finished second in Brazil's Serie A this year.
"This is a message addressed to the greatest fans in the world," Sousa said to Flamengo's official website. "I [have] great pride and satisfaction in representing a club of incomparable beauty like Flamengo.
"It is time now to work hard to give joy and titles to the 40 million fans around the world. We will play and win together."
On this day in 2011: Liverpool sign Jordan Henderson from Sunderland
Liverpool signed Jordan Henderson from Sunderland on this day in 2011.
The deal for the 20-year-old England midfielder was reported to be worth £16million.
“Obviously it’s hard to leave your local club. I’m a Sunderland lad, I’ve supported them all my life,” Henderson told the Liverpool website.
“But this is a massive opportunity for me. I’m really excited by it.
“Coming to a massive club like Liverpool, there is always going to be competition.
“Hopefully I can keep working hard, keep improving, and get my chance on the pitch.”
Henderson picked up a winners’ medal in his first season at Anfield as Liverpool beat Cardiff in a Wembley penalty shoot-out to win the 2012 League Cup.
He became Liverpool’s vice-captain in September 2014 and was appointed skipper the following July after Steven Gerrard’s departure.
Henderson has gone on to lift seven trophies as Liverpool captain under Jurgen Klopp – the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Community Shield.
He was named the 2019-20 Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year as Liverpool ended a 30-year wait to become champions of England.
The 75-times capped Henderson has played 492 games for Liverpool, with only Jamie Carragher and Gerrard making more Premier League appearances for the club.
Northern Ireland’s young squad have everything to play for – Michael O’Neill
Michael O’Neill believes Northern Ireland still have everything to play for in their bid to reach Euro 2024 even as injuries hit hard during the qualifying campaign.
With a trip to Denmark and a home match against Kazakhstan up next, O’Neill has named a 28-man squad that includes five uncapped players and a total of 15 with fewer than 10 caps.
Although Jonny Evans returns from the hamstring injury that prevented him from adding to his 100 caps in March, Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans, Liam Boyce, Josh Magennis, Conor Washington and Shane Ferguson remain sidelined, forcing O’Neill to rely on youth.
When O’Neill returned to the Northern Ireland job in December there was an opportunity to capitalise on a favourable qualifying draw, and although that remains possible, the absence of his most experienced players is making it a much tougher ask.
Northern Ireland began with a 2-0 win in San Marino in their group opener, but a 1-0 home defeat to Finland highlighted the difficulties.
Asked if the job had been harder than envisaged, O’Neill said: “I suppose it depends on what the expectation is for this campaign going forward as well. I still think we have got everything to play for in this campaign.
“The next two games are going to be very important and then obviously we have a double-header away in September (against Slovenia and Kazakhstan) which will be difficult, so we are going to ask a lot of a number of young players in this group.
“The senior players that we have with us, we really can’t afford to lose any more. I think we have eight players out who could all equally play for us, who have all been established players with a high number of caps.
“That is the situation that unfortunately we just have to deal with.”
It has meant O’Neill has been juggling the need for results with the need to nurture young players, with Conor Bradley and Shea Charles in particular asked to take on significant roles.
“It is a different approach from taking a team and saying ‘Right, how do we qualify? What is our route to qualification? How do we get enough points?’” O’Neill added.
“Of course, that is always in the background but I think it is more about the integration of the younger players and they will have to learn very quickly on the job if we are going to take that next step.”
O’Neill has hosted a series of training camps with senior players and under-21s in recent weeks, aiming to keep fitness levels high after the end of domestic campaigns while running the rule over younger faces.
Nottingham Forest defender Aaron Donnelly, West Ham teenager Callum Marshall and Larne forward Lee Bonis have all used the opportunity to earn their first senior call-ups.
While the return of Evans is a major boost, the Leicester defender will come into camp dealing with the disappointment of relegation and facing uncertainty over his future.
“He is very disappointed for them to go down and he is in a situation where he is out of contract as well,” O’Neill said. “I am sure if he was playing his football elsewhere next season he would have liked to have left Leicester in a slightly different way but he was just unfortunate this season.
“Probably, I think by his own admission, he pushed very hard to get back because I think he does make a difference to Leicester’s team. I think you saw that in the final three games that he was fit to play in. But I know he is keen to be a part of this squad and play.
“It is big for us to have him back, obviously we missed him in March and I believe that Jonny still has a lot of football left in him, both with Northern Ireland and wherever he chooses to play his football next season.”
West Ham fans line streets to toast Europa Conference League champions
West Ham enjoyed a heroes’ welcome as fans lined the streets of east London to celebrate their Europa Conference League glory.
The Hammers won their first major trophy since the 1980 FA Cup, and a first European title since 1965, when they beat Italian side Fiorentina 2-1 in Prague on Wednesday night.
And their jubilant supporters, decked out in the famous claret and blue on a warm and sunny evening in the capital, packed the pavements as the Hammers paraded the silverware on an open-top bus.
The squad’s journey started at the site of their former home at Upton Park and finished at Stratford Town Hall, where they enjoyed a reception.
Only West Ham fans of a certain age will ever have seen their side celebrate success like this, with a similar parade being held after that 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup victory, where the likes of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters got the taste of winning trophies.
But the younger generation made the most of it, climbing on lamp posts and bus stops to get the best vantage point of their heroes while also letting off flares.
David Moyes may have joined Ron Greenwood and John Lyall in earning immortality as managers to win a major trophy with the Hammers but he initially endured a lessened role on the bus, taking pictures of his players as they posed together.
But he was soon joining in with the celebrations, dancing and jigging with the trophy on his head.
View this post on InstagramLifting the trophy appears to be a fitting way for captain Declan Rice to bow out, with chairman David Sullivan confirming the England international will be allowed to leave the club this summer, with a bidding war expected to commence soon.
Rice was emotional on top of the bus, admitting it does not feel “real”.
“This is absolutely incredible, when you’re a kid and you love football as much as I do, and the lads do, you see teams having trophy parades,” he said. “I was once a kid watching teams do trophy parades and now to be doing one and captaining the side is just so, so special, I can’t even put into words.
“We knew it would be exciting and the fans would come out, I am just trying to take it all in, we don’t get to experience this ever. These moments don’t come around very often.
“I’ve seen top captains over the years lift trophies and it was my time at West Ham to lift the trophy. It doesn’t really feel real.
“At 24, captain of West Ham lifting a trophy in a European competition, I don’t think it is going to hit me for a while, but I am going to enjoy it and be as happy for as long as possible.
“Bobby Moore, Billy Bonds, I am seeing messages that I am now in that category, I don’t really know what to say. Bizarre.”
Moyes spent much of the season under pressure following a disappointing Premier League campaign, but Rice believes he is now the club’s best-ever manager.
The England midfielder added on Sky Sports News: “I think he goes down as the best manager West Ham have ever had. The circumstances, when he first came in, kept us twice, European competition, we finished fifth, sixth, a semi-final (Europa League) and now we’ve won this, he deserves all the credit he gets.
“He’s a top man and as you can see he is buzzing.”
Jarrod Bowen was West Ham’s hero in the final as he scored a 90th-minute winner, capping off a remarkable turnaround in his career having been playing at non-league Hereford nine years ago after being rejected as a youngster by Aston Villa.
“I love the game and these moments make it all worth it, the rejections and not going the way you want it,” he said.
“You fast forward 10 years and you are on an open-top bus parade for winning a European trophy so from where I have come, my mum was crying on the phone, my dad was there.
“It is a bit surreal to say I have won a European trophy from where I have come from. I love it.”
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