GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering footballers’ spending habits, Manchester United Women moved out of their facilities and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.

There are no Euros games until Saturday so take it easy today and spend time doing everything you’ve neglected for two weeks. But if you can’t wait, you can find the Round of 16 fixtures here.

All feedback read at [email protected].

Head Start

Footballers spending habits

An estimated 40% of professional footballers go bankrupt within five years of retirement according to Xpro.

That’s despite the average annual wage in the Premier League being £3.29 million, with some players (Kevin De Bruyne) earning £20.8 million a year. And that’s without performance bonuses. 

So, why are so many footballers struggling financially in their retirement? 

In an interview with The Times, a financial adviser who has eight Premier League clients explained a common month of spending… 

• £25,000 on rent.

• £10,000 on cars.

• £10,000 on clothes.

… with everything else - like personalised pool tables, an actual gold mine, or even a pet pig - it’s no wonder that players can “spend anything between £150,000 and £200,000 a month”. 

A recent trend is that footballers are getting involved in risky investment schemes. 

According to The Times article, Scott McTominay invested in a lending company run by his girlfriend’s father… which went bust in September and the police are investigating the firm over allegations of fraud.

Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Gustavo Scarpa has filed a lawsuit in Brazil after losing £1 million in a cryptocurrency scam.

The good news is… ex-professionals are finding more ways to earn money after their retirement. Presenters of leading football podcasts can earn up to an estimated £70,000 a month…

… and we’re seeing players start their media careers earlier and earlier. In case you hadn’t noticed, Luton’s Andros Townsend has even commentated over some of the Euros fixtures.

There’s no doubt that more needs to be done to protect players but for any accountants and financial advisors reading, you’re wanted more than ever.

Plus…

Son Heung-min’s father admits to hitting an academy player with a corner flag (More)

Phil Foden has temporarily left the England camp to be present for the birth of his third child (More) 

Manchester United is considering selling Old Trafford naming rights and deliberating ticket price hike (More)

The FA is facing a UEFA fine after England fans appear to throw beer cups at Gareth Southgate (More)

The 2024/25 English Football League (EFL) fixtures are out (More)

Stats Zone

Copa America Group C: Panama vs USA (Today at 23:00 BST)

→ After beating Bolivia, the USA could start a Copa America tournament with back-to-back victories for the very first time.

→ The USA have only failed to score in one of their previous 19 matches against Panama on home soil.

→ Christian Pulisic averages 0.93 goal contributions per 90 minutes in competitive matches for his country, the highest rate in their history.

Euros Group F: Georgia 2 - 0 Portugal (Highlights)

→ Georgia have qualified for the knockout stages of a major international tournament for the very first time, picking up four points in Group F (W1 D1 L1).

→ Georgia had just 28% possession in their victory over Portugal; the lowest by a team to win at the Euros on record.

→ Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first European player to make 50 appearances at major tournaments.

Euros Group E: Ukraine 0 - 0 Belgium (Highlights)

→ Group E at Euro 2024 is the first group in Euros history to see all four sides win one, draw one and lose one of their three games.

→ Ukraine have finished bottom of Group E and are eliminated – they become the first team in Euros history to win four points in the group stage and finish bottom of the group.

→ Belgium have failed to score in four of their last five group-stage games at major tournaments.

Yesterday’s results:

Group E: Ukraine 0 - 0 Belgium | Slovakia 1 - 1 Romania (Highlights)

Group F: Georgia 2 - 0 Portgual | Czechia 1 - 2 Türkiye (Highlights)

Round of 16 fixtures here.

Women’s Super League

Manchester United move women’s team out of training building

Manchester United are finally revamping their men’s training facilities with a £50 million budget… but it comes at the cost of moving the women’s team into a portable building this season to make space for the men's team. 

(Talk about making a good headline into a bad one.) 

The women’s team have only had one season with their £10 million state-of-the-art training site… 

… and the decision to prioritise the men’s squad has reportedly left the women’s squad and staff disappointed - understandably. 

The news comes in stark contrast to the Danish men’s national team which refused to take a pay rise in favour of working towards pay parity for the women’s side.

United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe hasn’t had the best time convincing people that he cares about the women’s team:

• He admitted in a Bloomberg interview that plans for United Women were “TBC”. 

• He referred to the side as the “ladies’ team” in February which met a backlash.

• And he didn’t attend the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley… which they won.

And this could be contributing to Manchester United Women losing four of their regular vital starters for free… 

… including Mary Earps, Katie Zelam, Lucía García and Nikita Parris. 

Look, it’s a tough balance to strike when many patches must be resolved for United’s main revenue generators. But, unfortunately, one of the biggest clubs in the world has made a few steps forward and many steps back for the women’s game.

Off The Pitch

🎨 A new portrait of Sir David Attenborough has been unveiled (More)

🧑‍🚀 Two US astronauts are stuck in space as Boeing has more problems (More)

🚙 Tesla recalls every Cybertruck again (More)

🎢 A first-ever Universal Studios theme park in Europe could generate £50 billion for the UK (More)

📺 Nineteen years after Prison Break, Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller will star in an upcoming series Snatchback (More) 

🥊 Anthony Joshua is set to face Daniel Dubois on September 21 for the world title after Oleksandr Usyk vacates belt (More)

Photo of the Day

History makers. Georgia made history and reached their first major tournament knockout stage with a 2-0 victory over Portugal at Euro 2024. Based on FIFA world rankings, Georgia’s win over Portugal is the biggest Euros upset in history. Georges Mikautadze has scored in each of his nation’s group-stages games, making him the current Euro 2024 top scorer. They will now play Spain in the last 16.

Around The Football World

🇭🇺 Hungary’s Barnabas Varga has been released from hospital following his collision in the Scotland game (More)

🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé’s lawyers have sent a final notice to Paris Saint-Germain to request that the club pay the wages he believes they owe him (More)

🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund will pay the release clause of €17.5 million to Stuttgart for their striker Serhou Guirassy (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and West Ham are all interested in signing Lille striker Jonathan David (More) 

🇮🇹 Striker Andrea Belotti has officially signed for newly-promoted Seria A side Como, with Cesc Fabregas as manager and minority shareholder (More) 

🇨🇱 41-year-old Claudio Bravo picked up the Man of the Match award for Chile’s game against Argentina for making eight saves (More)

Extra Time

De Bruyne tried to applaud Belgium fans but told the players to get off the pitch once the boos were too loud.

Why everyone is talking about Riccardo Calafiori.

Ronaldo Nazario doesn’t watch football anymore… he prefers tennis.

A Peruvian headbutt against Canada was VAR checked but no red card was given.

How would Joe Hart prepare for a Robert Lewandowski penalty?

Emiliano Martinez does what he does best by celebrating in front of the Chile fans.

Clickbait: Gary Lineker’s podcast empire is raking in millions – at England’s expense.

Game Face On

Question: There have been eight different champions in 22 editions of the World Cup. How many different champions have there been in 16 editions of the Euros?

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL

Copa America: Panama vs USA (23:00 BST)

Copa America: Uruguay vs Bolivia (02:00 BST)

CRICKET

ICC T20 World Cup Semi-final: India vs England (15:00 BST)

TENNIS

Wimbledon: Wimbledon Qualifying (11:00 BST)

WTA: WTA Eastbourne International (13:00 BST)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Ten. Germany and Spain have won it three times; France and Italy have won it twice; Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal and Russia have won it once.

Hottest Take of the Day

Today’s Hottest Take of the Day is: England lack creativity with Trent being dropped, that's why Luke Shaw, if he is fit for the knockouts, will be a key player in England's squad and will play a big role in creating chances for the team. Thanks to Dave from Latvia for the entry. Submit another Hot Take of the Day here.