The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has condemned anti-Muslim chants which were heard during the first half of Spain’s 0-0 draw with Egypt in Barcelona on Tuesday.

At half-time, a message warning fans against xenophobic remarks and singing was displayed on the screen at the RCDE Stadium with the stadium announcer also reading out a similar request.

The message was then repeated early in the second half, leading to whistles from some sections of the crowd.

“The RFEF stands against racism in football and condemns any act of violence inside stadiums,” they posted on social media.

The behaviour was also condemned by Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.

“It’s intolerable,” he said. “Violent people use football to carve out a space for themselves.

“They must be removed from society, identified, and kept as far away as possible.”

Tuesday’s game was due to be played in Qatar but was moved to the home of La Liga side Espanyol due to the war in the Middle East.

De la Fuente made 10 changes from Friday’s 3-0 friendly win over Serbia with Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal the only player to keep his place while Egypt were without injured Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah.

The result also saw Spain, one of the co-hosts of the next World Cup in 2030, lose their top place in the world rankings.

On January 30th, five days after the 2025 NFC Championship — where Sam Darnold punched the Seattle Seahawks’ ticket to the Super Bowl — the Minnesota Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, replacing him with interim GM Rob Brzezinski, who previously held the title of executive vice president of football operations. Two months later, Brzezinski is the frontrunner to keep the job full-time.

Minnesota’s next front-office move could stay internal, and Brzezinski has real momentum for the job.

Brzezinski embarks on the NFL draft in three weeks, and that might be his final test.

Brzezinski Has a Legit Path to the Top Job

Vikings’ general manager search may not be too external.

Ian Rapoport on Brzezinski

The NFL began its annual league meetings on Monday, and NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport was there with updates.

He said on Vikings Entertainment Network about Brzezinski, “He’s always had a strong voice in the organization… If a team was smart and they wanted to hire a GM who doesn’t just scout, doesn’t just grind tape, but really understands how an organization works, really operates it at a very high level, does great contracts, makes really good trades, someone who just runs the business of football.

“Like he’d be someone team should hire and for whatever reason, partially because he’s very loyal, has stayed in Minnesota. But to me, like this is someone who probably should have been a GM already, so I wasn’t surprised to see him get the interim title. I would expect him to be a pretty strong candidate for the full-time job as well, as he should be.”

It’s a pretty damn big deal for a man to be in charge of free agency, onboarding quarterback Kyler Murray, and running a draft. The clues suggest Brzezinski is a) trusted b) the frontrunner to keep his job.

Mark Wilf on Next GM Criteria

Vikings owner Mark Wilf also spoke at league meetings. He said about his GM criteria. “We’re gonna be deliberate about it, but we know we need to get moving for the next college season and all that and get ready.”

“Once the draft’s concluded, we’ll get going with interviews, and moving towards a relatively expeditious process to get it going. We certainly want someone who is a great leader. Someone who can lead. We feel we have a great scouting staff. Great coaching staff.”

Brzezinski has worked for the Vikings since 1999. He’s probably a keeper.

“Of course, never resting on any laurels. We want to be competitive every single year and have long-term success. So someone’s got to fit within that. It’s got to fit within what we have in our building right now, as well. So it’s a host of factors. Hopefully we’ll know it when we see it,” Wilf added.

Possibly a Rubber Stamp for Brzezinski?

Indeed, the Vikings will probably — and should — conduct a full interview cycle for a new general manager, but the writing is on the wall for Brzezinski as “the guy.” He joined the franchise one year after Randy Moss was drafted; he has that type of staying power. Players, coaches, and other coworkers seem to like him. His budget acumen is widely renowned.

So long as the upcoming draft doesn’t resemble a schematic train wreck, Brzezinski has the tools, intelligence, and experience to keep his current job with a full-time bump.

The only thing working against him? If the Vikings want a true scout of rookie talent, well, they may have to tap someone else on the shoulder.

But most fans believe that’s what O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores are for.

Letting Kevin O’Connell Sink or Swim

Another reason Brzezinski may remain in charge concerns O’Connell. It’s rare for an NFL franchise to only fire a general manager while retaining the head coach. Minnesota values O’Connell that much. So, in theory, O’Connell is the current Team CEO, the true mastermind calling the shots, with Brzezinski employed to run the budget and solve any decision-making tiebreakers.

Think of this way: Suppose the 2026 season goes off the rails, and the Vikings determine O’Connell isn’t the right fit. It will be more seamless to terminate O’Connell and tell Brzezinski “thanks but no thanks,” only to turn around and hire a fresh and official new leadership tandem.

By retaining O’Connell and firing Adofo-Mensah, Minnesota proved that it trusts O’Connell’s decision-making. It’s up to him to prove that Adofo-Mensah’s roster-building held the enterprise back.

Brzezinski, as the guy behind O’Connell, fits the current arrangement. He’s the silent guy with a title behind O’Connell, the guy who’s really in charge.

Canelo Alvarez has been vocal in his desire to return to the super-middleweight throne, with newly-crowned WBC champion Christian Mbilli the apparent target. However, the Frenchman is currently awaiting a decision from the WBC that will determine his next move.

Alvarez lost his undisputed super-middleweight title to Terence Crawford back in September and when ‘Bud’ retired from the sport, the belts became fragmented, with WBC Interim champion Mbilli being one beneficiary as he was elevated to full world champion.

The undefeated 30-year-old is yet to fight since, with his most recent outing coming on that Canelo-Crawford undercard in a draw with Guatemala’s Lester Martinez, where his perfect record came to an end.

Meanwhile, Martinez, a sparring partner of Crawford’s, has returned to action, defeating Immanuwel Aleem to become the new WBC Interim super-middleweight champion and move closer to a rematch with Mbilli for the primary WBC world title.

In an exclusive interview with Boxing News, Mbilli’s trainer Marc Ramsay revealed that the team are waiting on a verdict from the WBC as to whether Mbilli will be required to defend the belt, potentially against Martinez, ahead of hopes to land the Canelo clash later this year.

“Right now, he is on vacation with his family, but he is going to come back soon and train again. We are waiting on the WBC to see exactly what they want us to do, whether we have to face the interim champion or not, or if we have a proposal to fight Canelo.

“It is possible [that they mandate us to fight Lester Martinez] or maybe another contender, or that we get an offer from outside like Canelo. If they tell us to fight Martinez, we will follow [orders], we are not trying to escape from anybody.”

Canelo will return in September, meaning both he and Mbilli could fight one another off the back of a one-year spell of inactivity, if the WBC decide not to order the Martinez rematch.

Spain fans online were left disappointed with Pedro Porro’s performance in their 0-0 draw against 10-man Egypt in an international friendly on March 31. This marks their final friendly ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.

After the first half, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente made multiple substitutions to shuffle the squad. However, La Roja failed to find the back of the net. Egypt was notably reduced to ten men in the final ten minutes of the game, as Hamdy Fathy was shown a second yellow, leading to a red (84′). Defender Pedro Porro was in the starting XI and made only one interception and one tackle in 90 minutes. He also fouled players twice and committed a last-man tackle.

Fans took to X to react to Pedro Porro’s performance, with many criticizing the player for his showing. One X user wrote:

“Porro is fucking dogshit, Thank God Llorente exists 🤣.”

Some other fans also shared similar thoughts:

Fans continued to share their thoughts on Porro’s gameplay:

Pedro Porro made his national team debut in 2021 and has 16 caps for Spain. The 26-year-old Tottenham Hotspur defender hasn’t been the first choice for Luis de la Fuente to cover the left-back position, with Marcos Llorente being ahead of him in the pecking order. Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde is also expected to get a call-up for the 2026 World Cup if he recovers from injury on time.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente explains stance on starting Lamine Yamal once again in international friendly vs Egypt

In the pre-match press conference, Spain boss Luis de la Fuente was questioned about starting Lamine Yamal in the friendly against Egypt. Yamal was the only player to have started both the March friendlies for La Roja, with De La Fuente having shuffled the rest of the 10 players in the starting XI. He said (via Barca Blaugranes):

“He might be in contention to start because we want to win. We need to freshen up the team, but obviously to avoid tiring out the players, all of them. I understand that the Barça manager is interested, I understand that everyone has their own preferences, but I have to consider everyone’s feelings. I have to field a team that can win.”

Further, De La Fuente also called Spain contenders to win the World Cup this summer. La Roja remains one of the favorites to win the title, given their squad strength and their dominating performance in the 2024 Euros.