Hugo

France striker Hugo Ekitike will miss the World Cup after suffering a rupture of the Achilles tendon during Liverpool‘s Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain on Tuesday.

Ekitike left the pitch at Anfield on a stretcher after slipping in the first half and Liverpool fear a long absence for the 23-year-old, which could also rule him out of the start of next season.

He went for scans on Wednesday, which confirmed the extent of the damage.

In a statement on Thursday, Liverpool did not give a timeline for the recovery.

“Scans on the issue have subsequently confirmed a rupture of the Achilles tendon,” the club said.

“Ekitike will therefore be sidelined for the remaining weeks of the club season and unable to participate at this summer’s World Cup with France.

“Further updates will be provided at the appropriate time.”

On Wednesday night, France manager Didier Deschamps said in a statement published by the French Football Federation that Ekitike was out of this summer’s tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada.

He said: “Hugo is one of the dozen young players who have made their debuts with the national team in recent months. He had perfectly integrated into the group, both on the pitch and off it. This injury is a huge blow for him, of course, but also for the France team.

“His disappointment is immense. Hugo will regain his top form, I’m convinced of it. But I wanted to express all my support to him, as well as that of the entire staff. We know he’ll be fully behind the France team, and we’re all thinking of him very strongly.”

Liverpool boss Arne Slot says Hugo Ekitike’s injury “looks really bad” after the France striker was taken off on a stretcher during Tuesday’s Champions League loss to Paris St-Germain.

Ekitike went down off the ball 30 minutes into the quarter-final second leg, which the Reds lost 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate.

He was seen holding his ankle and was visibly in discomfort before being taken off the pitch.

“Hugo looks really bad but it is difficult to say how bad,” Slot said after the game.

“Let’s see. It doesn’t look good, that is clear. I didn’t see him at half-time and after the game he was already home. I have not spoken to him yet.”

Ekitike is playing his first season at Liverpool after signing last summer from Eintracht Frankfurt and has scored 17 goals in 45 games in all competitions.

A lengthy period of time out for the Frenchman will be a real blow to his hopes of being part of the France squad at this summer’s World Cup in North America.

Ekitike’s club and international team-mate Ibrahima Konate said this moment will be “very hard” for him.

“I think it is bad,” he told Amazon Prime.

“I don’t know, I have heard many things, I have no word to talk about that because with the World Cup coming it is very, very hard for him and I send him my prayers.”

AT 36, Millie Mackintosh is navigating divorce for the second time in her life, after her seemingly fairytale marriage to Hugo Taylor collapsed earlier this year.

It’s the latest hurdle after a difficult few years, which has seen the star quit drinking and come to terms with an ADHD and anxiety diagnosis, which she had previously numbed with booze and prescription drugs. As she faces the pitfalls of divorce, insiders tell us why she has been left worrying about money and the lengths she’s gone to, to protect herself.

After seven years of marriage, Millie and Hugo, who are parents to Sienna, five, and Aurelia, four, filed for divorce earlier this month. The pair are yet to comment on the break-up but insiders suggested that Millie’s massive lifestyle overhaul played a part in the decision.

Suddenly, Millie, who is worth roughly £6million from her various business ventures over the years, went from a shared income with Hugo, who runs a luxury eyewear company, to fending for herself once again.

Hugo is thought to be worth around £4million – he launched luxury eyewear brand Taylor Morris off the back of his MIC fame, and it’s been a huge hit with the likes of everyone from David Gandy to the Beckhams.

An insider explained: “Millie has always made her own money; she didn’t rely on Hugo, but it is, of course, very different when there are two people instead of just one.

“Almost overnight, friends noticed a huge difference in her spending habits. Suddenly, she started to cut back and seemed to be really thinking about what she was buying.

“She’s worked so hard for what she’s created, and it’s terrifying not knowing what will happen. It’s causing her crippling anxiety.

“It’s very surprising to see someone like Millie fretting about money, but like any couple who has separated, it’s a shock to the system, and it will take time and effort working out how she will maintain her current lifestyle.”

Most people know Millie as one of the original cast members of Made In Chelsea – the reality show about some of London’s wealthiest 20-somethings.

She was billed as a chocolate heiress when she first burst onto the scene in 2011, but was determined to be known as more than that. 

Her great-great-grandfather, John, was a Victorian entrepreneur, known as the Toffee King, who created Mackintosh’s sweet company.

A generation later, her great-grandfather and his brother invented Quality Street, which Brits know and love today, but they sold it in 1988.

Millie insisted: “People severely overestimate how wealthy I am.

“I’m routinely referred to as the heir to the Quality Street fortune, as though I hit 21 and inherited millions. If only.

“It’s not as if I get a cut every time someone eats a toffee. My family sold the business years ago. I’m comfortable, but I don’t live a flash life.”

Millie, real name Camilla, definitely has a comfortable life – her parents, Nigel and Georgina, brought her up in a  £1.4million townhouse in Bath.

And as soon as she was old enough, Millie started working. She was a waitress at first and was working in Space NK when she was approached about her place on MIC when she was just 21. 

She famously dated Hugo on the show, but then met and fell in love with rapper Professor Green. They married in  2013 and split in 2016.

It was a rocky relationship, with Pro Green — real name Stephen Manderson — recently admitting that he had nearly “called off” their nuptials, but they had both felt “pressured” to go through with it.

A decade on from the split, Millie and Pro have reconnected and have bonded over both being diagnosed with ADHD in recent years.

Speaking on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast last October, Pro branded her “beautiful”, but added that the pair were toxic for one another at the time of their marriage, describing it as a “trauma bond”.

In another interview, he admitted their quickie divorce had been costly for him.

He told John Bishop: “You know what they say about divorce, it’s expensive, you know why? Because it’s worth it.

“I can’t stop working right now, my mortgage isn’t paid, I am not a house owner. The bank own my house, I own a percentage of it depending on where it sits in the market.”

The summer after their split, she rekindled things with Hugo, and it looked like they would last forever.

Second marriage split

News of their split came as a surprise, but insiders have suggested the writing had been on the wall for some time.

Millie had changed a lot in recent years – she has been open about her massive lifestyle overhaul after quitting drinking in 2022, then dealing with the ADHD and anxiety she had previously numbed with booze and prescription drugs.

What’s more, she revealed last year that, having grappled with her sexuality, she had finally admitted to herself and Hugo that she was also attracted to women.

The pair have now both appointed legal teams and have quietly started divorce proceedings.

A pal said: “Fans will be sad to hear that their relationship is really over, but the pair just want a clean break.

“Millie and Hugo are committed to co-parenting their two young children and keeping everything stable. They are still very amicable with each other and have a lot of respect for one another.

“They want the divorce to go through as painlessly as possible and are focusing on work in the meantime.”

They want the divorce to go through as painlessly as possible

Pal

Millie has always been a grafter – she swiftly turned her reality TV fame into an online following as an influencer, which paved the way for many after her.

She launched her own fashion brand in 2014, proudly saying at the time: “I invested my own money into setting it up.

“I own it, I model it, and they’re my designs. So I would say, yeah, I’ve kind of created my dream.”

But by 2018, the dream was over, and she lost £178,000 of her own money when the company became unsustainable.

It didn’t stop her, though, and she transformed into a lifestyle influencer, with brand deals popping up left, right and centre.

Our insider says: “Don’t be surprised if you see more and more collaborations on Millie’s social media. Her arms are very open to any opportunities that come her way.”

She even wrote a book – Bad Drunk – about her boozing issues.

She has been sober now for over three years and admitted that one of the ways she realised it was such a problem was the fact that it was “stealing her money”.

It hasn’t been an easy road to being financially secure, and the work/life juggle has proved tricky at times since she became a mum.

As a self-employed woman, Millie went back to work just three months after Sienna’s birth and, while it was difficult, she believes it was the best thing for her.

She says she gets up at the crack of dawn to get a head start on emails and tasks.

She explained: “Since becoming a mother, I really want to get the most out of work.

“Your time is your most valuable thing.

“I get up at 5am so I feel I can start my day early enough to get everything I need to do, done.”

She admits she got the “balance wrong” at first when it came to juggling work with kids.

“It weighed on me quite a lot,” she says.

“So I was actually doing some work around this in therapy, and I figured out that my weeks weren’t structured in a way that was beneficial for me and my mental health.

“I had to change the balance.

“And I now have blocked out time in my diary every week, and the kids know that I won’t be working in that time.”

The juggle has no doubt been even harder since her split from Hugo, and just a few days ago, she candidly spoke about her fears, saying: “I think recently I have found it really hard to know how to show up online because of things I’ve got going on in my personal life that I am not going to share online.

“But because I do usually share so much of my life, I felt like this gap, this resistance to posting and like letting you guys in.”

Millie certainly seems to be well aware that sharing her life with fans is helping to pay her bills at the moment, but just how much she will share is yet to be seen.

One thing is for certain, though, with her divorce looming, there is likely to be another very big bill on its way. 

AUSTIN, Texas — Hugo Lloris finished with two saves for LAFC in a record fifth straight shutout to begin a season, and Brad Stuver stopped the only shot he faced for Austin FC in a scoreless draw on Saturday night.

Lloris and LAFC (4-0-1) began the season with four shutout victories, just one of four teams in league history to accomplish the feat. His scoreless stretch of 450 minutes is the longest in league history to begin a season.

Lloris nearly surrendered his first goal of the season in the 63rd minute, but a Myrto Uzuni netter off a corner kick by Facundo Torres was disallowed after Ilie Sánchez was charged with a foul following a video review — and that led to a yellow card on Uzuni.

Neither keeper faced a shot on goal in a scoreless first half.

Austin (1-2-2) swept LAFC last year during the regular season but couldn’t get past the Western Conference stalwarts in the playoffs. Both of the club’s losses this season have come on the road.

LAFC eliminated Alajuelense on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The club is 7-0-2 so far through all competitions.

LAFC began the day tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps for first place in the hotly contested West.

Up next for LAFC: vs. Orlando City at BMO Stadium on April 4.

In these times when it is once again fashionable to accuse Commander Chávez of mistakes, whether real or imagined. As we mark 13 years since his untimely death on March 5, 2013, I would like to highlight the value of truth in his political actions. Truth was manifest in the responsibility he assumed for his actions; the consistency between his words and deeds; the acknowledgment of his own mistakes, when it is easier for most people to point out the mistakes of others; and his sincere efforts to correct them. To the above, I would add that when he had to make tactical and strategic shifts in the course initially set, Chávez always had the political honesty to explain in detail why he was doing so, and he courageously took responsibility for them before the people.

There are countless examples which can be found in many of his speeches. I will mention just a few. Beginning with the day of his introduction to the Venezuelan people, February 4, 1992: “Unfortunately, for now, the objectives we set for ourselves were not achieved in the capital city, that is, we here in Caracas did not manage to control power… And I, before the country and before you, take responsibility…” Then in the streets and in the 1998 election campaign: “Let’s go to the Constituent Assembly,” and on February 2, 1999, in what would be his first act of government, he signed the decree calling for the constituent process, and we went to the Constituent Assembly.

In April 2002, he surrendered to the coup leaders, without thinking about saving his own “skin”: “I am an imprisoned president; you decide what to do with me.” After his release, with a cross in his hand, he stated that “it was necessary for all sectors of the country to make a greater effort, with all the goodwill we can muster, to be able to live together in peace, accepting the rules of the game.”

In 2005, he called for the Bolivarian Revolution to take on a socialist character. In the 2006 election campaign, he said, “Let’s go for socialism!” and explained in detail why this strategic shift was necessary. He outlined the characteristics of our socialism, 21st-century Bolivarian socialism, which, as he insisted until his last public words, had to be “essentially democratic” or it would not be socialism at all.

In the elections of December 6, 2006, Commander Chávez obtained the highest number of votes and was re-elected. In December 2007, while awaiting the results of the referendum on constitutional reform and hearing reports of a close count, he called a meeting of the party leadership in Miraflores. I said to him at that meeting: “President, let’s wait for the final count, and if we lost, we lost, but if we won, we won.” He replied with a sharp look: “I don’t want a victory like that, let’s go out and acknowledge defeat now.” And that’s what he did.

In September 2010, we won a majority in the National Assembly. Without a doubt, it was a resounding political victory. But Chávez identified a warning sign: in quantitative terms, the difference in votes between Chavismo and the opposition was minimal. Once again, he assumed political responsibility. In January 2011, he published the “Strategic Lines of Political Action,” a deeply self-critical document.

Late May 2011, he told me: “Elías, I feel like something is wrong with me.” June 2011, after undergoing the necessary tests, on national television: “Cancer cells have been detected in my body.” Easter Week 2012, during a mass in Barinas, broadcast live: “We must be aware that I have an illness that limits my life… Christ, give me your cross.”

On the night of December 8, 2012, in a public address, he raised the possibility of not continuing among us and explained in detail the constitutional procedures that would have to be followed if he were to be permanently incapacitated. That day, once again, he decided to tell us the truth, no matter how hard it was:

Some colleagues told me it wasn’t necessary, or have said in recent hours that it wasn’t necessary to say this. In truth, I could have said almost everything I said tonight from Havana… But I believe that the most important thing, what my soul, my heart, and my conscience tell me, the most important thing… has been this, Nicolás. The most important thing.

“The most important thing”: telling the truth, explaining the reality to the people, the decision he had made, and the steps that needed to be taken.

But that political honesty was not just an individual value. It was the political conviction that the people formed a collective wisdom, a conscious body that knew how to understand and draw its own conclusions about situations. That is why he was so careful to keep them informed at all times.

I once heard him say: “There are those who say that you shouldn’t speak plainly to the people, because then the adversary will seize on that truth and manipulate it against you.” That, Chávez said, is to think that the people are mentally eunuchs. The people understand, more often than not, more than some leaders. For Chávez, speaking the truth was always a decisive show of trust and respect for the people.

And “most importantly,” it was also to make clear for posterity his conviction about the democratic path of the revolution he had led:

In all circumstances, we must guarantee the progress of the Bolivarian Revolution, the victorious progress of this revolution, building the new democracy that is here mandated by the people in the Constituent Assembly; building the Venezuelan path to socialism, with broad participation and ample freedom, which are being demonstrated once again in this gubernatorial election campaign, with candidates here and candidates there. Freedom, complete freedom.

With the power of truth, the truth of his project and his life, Chávez managed to accumulate immense political strength based on the moral autoritas he gained by never peddling falsehoods or shirking his responsibilities, much less in defeat or when he made mistakes. That same moral authority comes not only from consistency between words and deeds, but also from trying to act despite difficult circumstances as well as from recognizing and explaining when and why it is not possible to achieve a certain goal. I stand by that way of doing politics. With Chávez forever!

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.

Translated by Venezuelanalysis.

Source: CEDES