Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca said that the controversy surrounding the VAR decision to award the winning goal scored by Erling Haaland against Manchester United should not overshadow the strong performance his team presented on its way to a 1-0 win at the top of the English Premier League last Sunday, despite completing the match with ten players.
Haaland scored a goal in the second half, which was counted after returning to the video referee technology, which made it clear that the Norwegian striker was not offside, and the referees committee admitted that the video referee technology made a mistake in counting the goal.
Manchester City completed the match with ten players, when Phil Foden was sent off for kicking Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes in the 23rd minute, but the team maintained its composure to win the match.
Maresca told reporters, today, Wednesday, before the third round match of the League Cup tomorrow, Thursday, against Norwich City: “Talking about one moment after that match in which we played for 70 or 75 minutes with ten players is unacceptable. “I think the performance was amazing and I am happy.”
He added: “It is known that there was a mistake, it happened, and that is all there is to it. Sometimes things go in your favor, and sometimes they go against you.”
The Manchester City coach also pointed to a controversial decision in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in January 2023, saying the club was still awaiting an apology after Fernandes scored despite Marcus Rashford being in an offside position.
Maresca was an assistant coach at Manchester City at the time.
He said: “Three years ago, when I was here, exactly the same thing happened against Manchester United. The goal was not correct and no one apologized. "We are still waiting for an apology for that."
Maresca stressed that VAR officials often have little time to make difficult decisions, and that mistakes are inevitable.
He said: “It is not easy for the VAR officials and those sitting in front of the screens. Making a decision within 10 or 20 seconds is a difficult task, and it is normal for some mistakes to occur sometimes.”
The Iraqi national team aspires to win the Arabian Gulf Football Cup title for the fifth time in its history and the second during the last three editions, when it competes in the “Gulf 27” tournament.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host the twenty-seventh edition of the Gulf Cup in Jeddah, from September 23 to October 6.
The draw for the group stage of the tournament, which was held on May 19, placed the Iraqi team, which is preparing to record its 18th appearance in the competition, in the first group, along with the teams of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait.
The Iraqi national team will open its tournament by facing the Oman national team on September 23, before facing the Kuwait national team three days later, while concluding its matches in the first round of the competition by facing the Saudi national team on the 29 of the same month.
The Iraqi national team is in second place on the list of teams with the most Gulf Cup wins, with 4 titles, 6 titles behind the Kuwaiti national team, which sits at the top of the summit with 10 titles.
The Iraqi national team won the Gulf Cup for the first time, when it hosted the competition on its home fields in 1979, ending the Kuwaiti monopoly on the tournament, which continued in the first four editions, before holding the cup for the second time during the seventh edition, which was organized by the Sultanate of Oman in 1984, after it suddenly withdrew from the previous edition that was held in the Emirates in 1982.
The team, nicknamed the “Lions of Mesopotamia,” won its third title in the ninth edition in 1988 in Saudi Arabia, only to withdraw in the next edition, which took place in Kuwait in 1990, after which it would not participate in the Gulf Cup until 2003, due to the Second Gulf War and political and economic circumstances.
The Iraqi national team waited until the 25th edition in 2023, when it organized the tournament for the first time in 44 years, to win its fourth Gulf Cup title after a 3-2 victory over the Omani national team after resorting to extra time in the final match in the Iraqi city of Basra.
The Iraqi national team is participating in the tournament under the leadership of its Australian coach, Graham Arnold, who took over in May 2025. He restored the sparkle to the team again, especially after he led it to qualify for the World Cup, which was held this summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada, for the second time in its history and the first in 40 years.
Despite the team's poor results in the last World Cup, which saw it exit from the group stage without a score of points, after losing to France, Norway and Senegal, the Iraqi Football Association decided to renew Arnold's contract until next year, which will witness the holding of the Asian Nations Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The Iraqi national team suffered a severe blow before the start of “Gulf 27”, after its star Muhannad Ali (Mimi) was injured while he was with his team Al-Shorta in the Iraq Stars League recently, which may cause the Australian coach’s calculations to change on the offensive line.
Despite this, Arnold believes that participating in “Gulf 27” is an opportunity for the Iraqi national team to regain its balance again after its disappointing participation in the World Cup, and to gain good momentum before competing in the 2027 Asian Cup.
The Iraqi national team is ranked 63rd in the world and eighth in Asia in the latest classification issued by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) for the teams last July, noting that it is ranked third in the classification among the teams participating in the “Gulf 27”, behind the Saudi and Qatari national teams.
During its previous participation in the Gulf Cup, the Iraqi national team won runner-up in 1976 and 2013 in Qatar and Bahrain, respectively, in addition to having 4 titles in the competition, noting that it had never achieved third or fourth place.
The Iraqi national team played 76 matches in the competition, during which it achieved 38 victories, 25 draws and 13 losses. Its players scored 134 goals during those matches, while the team conceded 69 goals from its competitors.
Retired star Hussein Saeed tops the list of all-time top scorers for the Iraqi national team in the Gulf Cup with 17 goals, noting that he shares second place on the list of all-time top scorers in the tournament with Saudi Majid Abdullah, with a goal difference behind Kuwaiti Jassim Yaqoub (the leader).
Al-Ahly Saudi Arabia will enter a different kind of test when it visits Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, on Saturday, September 19, at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, in the Confederations Cup, in a confrontation that puts the Asian champion face-to-face with the African champion, and gives the winner the opportunity to continue the journey in the global tournament.
The task does not seem easy for Al-Ahly, not only because of the technical value of its opponent, but also because Sundowns is hosting the match on its home soil and in front of its fans, and at a stage in which it enters the local season without losing, relying on a group of the most prominent players from the South African national team and continental experience that was enhanced by regaining the African Champions League title after a wait of ten years.
Today, Sundowns is considered the most prominent force in South African football, but the club’s story goes back to the 1960s, when its roots began in the Pretoria region, before it later settled on the name “Mamelodi Sundowns,” in reference to the town of Mamelodi, located east of the administrative capital of South Africa.
The club's history witnessed a major transformation with the entry of South African businessman Patrice Motsepe into the club in 2003, before he fully owned it the following year. Since then, the club's ambitions and investments have gradually risen until it has transformed from a local force into one of the most prominent names on the African continent.
The club has a huge local record, as Transfermarkt data indicates that it has won the South African League title 18 times, in addition to four South African Cup titles, while it has won the African Champions League title twice.
At the continental level, Sundowns achieved their first title in the African Champions League in 2016, before waiting a full ten years to add the second star to their shirt in 2026, so that their recent coronation ensured their place in the Confederations Cup and facing the Asian champion.
The team arrives at its match against Al-Ahly in a strong position locally, after starting its season in the South African League without defeat, and is at the top with 20 points from eight matches, collected from six wins and two draws, in an indication of the team’s continued local dominance.
As for the last match before facing Al-Ahly, it ended in a 1-1 draw against Chippa United, after Sundowns needed a stoppage-time goal scored by Antonio van Wyk to avoid loss.
But this particular match caused a problem for Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso, who was not satisfied with the circumstances that preceded it.
Changing the stadium to face Chippa led to amending the travel program drawn up by the technical staff, and Cardoso said that the decision “completely disrupted” the preparation plan to face Al-Ahly, after the team was forced to spend additional time away from Pretoria, at a time when the coach was planning to return his players early and give them two days with their families before entering the final preparations for the Confederations Cup. The change also affected the training program for players who did not participate in the match, making preparations for the confrontation less ideal than the coach wanted.
Despite this, Sundowns has one of its most important weapons against Saturday: the ground and the crowd.
The match will be held at the famous Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, which has a capacity of 51,762 spectators, according to Transfer Market data.
Sundowns supporters are known as the “Yellow Nation” or “Yellow Nation,” after the club’s primary color, and the team’s players do not view their presence as just a crowd spectacle.
Colombian striker Brian Leon spoke about this point specifically before facing Al-Ahly, stressing the importance of home ground advantage, and pointing out that the fans’ encouragement gives the players a great boost and makes them feel that they are not alone on the field.
The relationship between the team and its fans is not limited to statements that precede major matches. After winning the African Champions League, two experienced club players, Ugandan goalkeeper Dennis Onyango and Themba Zwane, spoke about the role played by the “Yellow Nation” in the team’s journey towards the title.
Onyango pointed out that the fans did not stop following and supporting the team, all the way to receiving the players and celebrating with them at OR Tambo Airport in the early morning hours, while Zwane considered that the second African star does not belong to the players alone, but rather belongs to the fans as much as it belongs to the team.
The total market value of Sundowns players is about 41.6 million euros, according to Transfer Market data. South African international midfielder Teboho Mokoena and striker Ikram Reiners share the top spot as the players with the highest market value on the team, with a value of 2.8 million euros each.
But technically, Cardoso has a group that includes a number of the most prominent South African football players. At the forefront of them is Ronwen Williams, the South African national team goalkeeper and one of the most important elements of the team, while Teboho Mokoena, one of the most prominent players in the national team, stands out in the midfield, along with Chilean Marcelo Allende, one of the main keys in building the game, in addition to the experience of Themba Zwane.
As for the attack, the coach has many options with the presence of Brian Lyons, Tashreeq Matthews, Kutluano Letlako, Ikram Reiners, and Lebo Mothiba.
Leon stands out in particular before the match with Al-Ahly, after the Colombian striker scored 18 goals in 35 matches last season, including five goals in Sundowns’ journey towards the African Champions League title, while he scored three goals in nine appearances this season so far.
Lyon himself showed clear respect for Al-Ahly before the confrontation, stressing that Sundowns is well aware of the level of players that the Saudi team possesses and the depth of its squad, but at the same time he stressed that Al-Ahly is the champion of Asia and Sundowns is the champion of Africa, and therefore the Saudi team is thinking in turn about the strength of its South African competitor.
In the last match against Chippa United, Cardoso started with a lineup that included Ronwen Williams in goal, with Thapelo Morena, Grant Kekana, Khulumani Ndamani, and Fawaz Basadine in front of him, and Teboho Mokoena and Marcelo Allende in the middle, with Sianda Ndlovu, Kutluano Letlako, and Tashriq Matthews behind Brian Lyon. It is the lineup that gives an indication of the nucleus that the coach can rely on against Al-Ahly, while the options remain open for any technical modifications.
On the other hand, Sundowns is missing one of its most prominent elements, the South African international right-back Khuliso Modau, who suffered a rupture in his Achilles tendon, an injury that Cardoso described as serious, stressing that the player will be absent “for a very long period,” with expectations that he will continue to be away until the end of the year.
Sundowns' injury list also included other names in the recent period, including Thapelo Morena, Keanu Cupido, Teboho Mokoena and Arthur Salles, but the status of some of them changed as the recovery process progressed and elements returned to participation, and therefore Mudau remains a major and certain absence from facing Al-Ahly at the present time.
However, Sundowns enter the match with clear confidence in their artistic identity. The team is accustomed to controlling the ball and building attacks patiently from the back, while relying on the quality of the midfielders and continuous movement between the lines, which is the method that made it the most present and dominant team in South Africa and one of the most stable African clubs in recent years, which means that Al-Ahly will not only go to Pretoria to face a big African name, but rather will face the continent’s champion on its soil, armed with the “Yellow Nation,” and in its ranks is a group of the most prominent South African stars.
