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MASTERCLASS: ROONEY VS CAMPBELL: BREAKING DOWN THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL PENALTY IN FOOTBALL HISTORY

Wayne Rooney discusses the 2004 Arsenal vs Man Utd "Battle of the Buffet." Read about Sol Campbell’s grudge and the January 25 clash.

Masterclass: Rooney vs Campbell: Breaking down the most controversial penalty in football history
Rooney was Arsenal’s ultimate nightmare.

Wayne Rooney says Sol Campbell wouldn't speak to him for half a year after Manchester United beat Arsenal at Old Trafford in 2004, ending their 49-game unbeaten streak. Rooney won a penalty in that game after going down under a challenge from Campbell, who thought Rooney dived.

Rooney said that Campbell held a grudge after that controversial game in 2004. It was Rooney's first time playing in the big rivalry, as Arsenal tried to hit 50 games without a loss. But Rooney won a penalty from Campbell and then scored himself. Campbell apparently felt wronged by the call and wasn't quick to forgive.

Rooney says Campbell wouldn't talk to him at international team camps for six months after the game. On his podcast, he remembered, “It was a big game for Arsenal. If they had won, it would have been their 50th game unbeaten. We beat them 2-0, and Campbell didn’t speak to me for over six months. When we met up for international duty, Sol wouldn’t speak to me.

“Sometimes, I was with Sol, and I’d say, ‘Come on, man, we're playing for England here.’ But he wouldn’t talk to me because he felt I dived. He left his leg out, and I think there was a little contact.”

Rooney also talked about some of the other famous clashes between the two teams: “I used to love playing against Arsenal. I remember my first game at Highbury for United was with Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira in the tunnel, and you could feel the tension.

“Then there was the time Cesc Fabregas threw pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson, and there were fights in the tunnel that everyone got into. The Martin Keown incident was a year before I got there, but the next year we beat them 2-0.”

After the game, someone threw a pizza in the tunnel, hitting Ferguson. Fabregas later admitted he was the one who threw it, as Rooney noted.

Ashley Cole wrote about the incident in his book: This slice of pizza came flying over my head and hit Fergie straight in the face. It echoed down the tunnel, and everything stopped—the fighting, the yelling, everything. All eyes turned, and all mouths gaped to see this pizza slip off that famous face and roll down his suit. I thought Ferguson was going to explode, but then he stormed off into the dressing room, cursing, brushing the crumbs off his collar. We all went back into the dressing room and fell about laughing. All I can say is that the culprit wasn't English or French.

Arsenal and United had a big rivalry in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but both teams have had ups and downs since then. Arsenal hasn't won the Premier League since 2004, and United hasn't been champions since the 2012-13 season. Rooney always played well in big games and had a great record against Arsenal, scoring 15 goals in 35 games and winning 17 of those games with both United and Everton.

What's next?

United will play Arsenal next on January 25. Arsenal is currently ahead of United by 15 points, and fans in north London are hoping they'll finally win the title this year.

OFFICIAL REPORT: BRAHIM DIAZ BECOMES FIRST MOROCCAN TO SCORE IN FOUR AFCON GAMES

Brahim Diaz’s record-breaking goal sends Morocco to the AFCON quarter-finals. Can the hosts survive a showdown with Cameroon?

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Brahim Diaz is Officially the Best Player at the 2026 AFCON

Brahim Diaz pushed Morocco through to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals on Sunday, knocking out Tanzania with his goal. Now, Morocco faces Cameroon, who edged past South Africa 2-1 in their own tense last-16 match.

Diaz, Real Madrid's winger, has been on fire—he scored in every group game and kept that streak alive with a 64th-minute strike that sealed a 1-0 win in Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium. That makes him the first Moroccan ever to score in four straight AFCON matches. After his goal, he held up a shirt for Azzedine Ounahi, their injured midfielder, and later dedicated the win to him. Ounahi showed up at the stadium on crutches; his tournament is over, thanks to a calf injury.

Morocco really made hard work of it, missing several chances before finally getting their breakthrough. Their unbeaten run stretches to 23 games now—their last loss was actually to South Africa at this very tournament.

Achraf Hakimi, fresh from injury and named African player of the year, set up Diaz’s winner. This was his first start of the competition, and he wasted no time making an impact.

Morocco came in as the big favourites. Home crowd? Check—almost 70,000 fans packed in. World rankings? They’re 101 places above Tanzania. But Tanzania didn’t read the script. Just three minutes in, Saimon Msuva nearly stunned everyone, but he couldn’t connect with Selemani Mwalimu’s cross.

Fifteen minutes in, Ismael Saibari headed home Abdessamad Ezzalzouli’s free kick, but the flag went up for offside. The hosts kept pushing in the second half, Hakimi smashed a free kick off the bar, and finally, Diaz broke through—Hakimi set him up, and Diaz beat the keeper at the near post.

Morocco’s coach, Walid Regragui, put it bluntly: “We only started playing in the second half, but we absolutely deserved to go through.”

For Tanzania, this was their first time in the AFCON knockout stages. They battled hard but still haven’t won a game in 13 tries at the tournament. Their coach, Miguel Angel Gamondi, was proud: “The gap between Morocco and us isn’t as big as people think. We’ll come back stronger.”

Now, Morocco gears up for Cameroon, which got past South Africa thanks to goals from Junior Tchamadeu and Christian Kofane. Tchamadeu, Stoke City’s London-born full-back, tapped in the first after a deflection in the 34th minute. Right after halftime, teenage forward Kofane doubled the lead with a well-placed header.

South Africa fought back late—Evidence Makgopa scored in the 88th minute, but Cameroon held on, a bit nervy at the end.

So, five-time champions Cameroon can relax a bit heading into their showdown with Morocco, with the pressure squarely on the hosts. Their coach, David Pagou, who only just took over the team, said, “I want to enjoy this win first. The Morocco game feels far away right now. We suffered today, even though we won, and all of us need a rest.”

For South Africa, it’s a tough pill to swallow after finishing third at the last AFCON. But coach Hugo Broos is already looking ahead: “We’re not going backwards, but we need to honestly assess what happened here and focus on the World Cup.”

JUST IN: SENEGAL SURVIVES SUDAN SCARE! TWO PAPE GUEYE GOALS FLIP THE SCRIPT TO REACH AFCON QUARTERFINALS

Senegal beats Sudan 3-1 in an AFCON 2025 thriller. Sadio Mane breaks records as Ibrahim Mbaye seals the quarter-final spot.

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Pape Gueye’s brace saves Senegal

Pape Gueye stole the show with two goals, leading Senegal to a 3-1 comeback win over Sudan at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. That result ended Sudan’s gutsy run—a bright spot for a country still deep in civil war.

Aamir Abdallah gave Sudan a dream start, curling a beautiful shot past Edouard Mendy just six minutes in. For a moment, it looked like we might see a real shock in Tangier. Mendy had to stay sharp, diving low to deny Mohamed Eisa midway through the first half, while the relentless drumming of Senegal’s fans kept pushing their team forward.

Senegal didn’t panic. They dug in and started to take control. Gueye struck twice before halftime, flipping the script. This was Sudan’s first knockout game at an AFCON, and, for a while, they looked ready to make history. But Gueye’s goals took the wind out of them, and by the end of the half, Senegal was comfortably on top.

Ibrahim Mbaye, just 17 and already turning heads at Paris Saint-Germain, sealed things late with a sharp finish at the near post. Senegal’s old pros, Sadio Mane and Ismaila Sarr, made the difference too. Mane’s clever assist for Gueye’s first goal actually made him the most productive playmaker in AFCON history—a nice little bit of trivia for the night.

Sudan hadn’t scored a single goal for themselves in the group stage, but they came out swinging here. Abdallah led the charge, taking on Ismail Jakobs whenever he could, and he got his reward with that early strike. Even after the goal, Sudan kept pressing, and Abdallah nearly doubled their lead.

But Senegal weathered the storm. Sarr and Mane started threading passes, and Gueye took his chances—his second, a gorgeous first-time finish, came deep in first-half stoppage time. Sudan didn’t quit, though. Right after the break, Sheddy Barglan forced a top-class save from Mendy.

The second half echoed the first: Sudan started strong but couldn’t keep it up. They ran out of steam, and Senegal just got stronger as the game wore on. When Mbaye scored late, that was that. Senegal marched on to the quarter-finals, and Sudan’s remarkable run was over.

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