When Lionel Messi and Inter Miami played Minnesota United in early May, it wasn’t just soccer supporters who turned out in droves to Allianz Field. More Latino reporters flocked to St. Paul to cover one of the greatest players of all time.

But the superstar Argentine midfielder only speaks Spanish and didn’t meet with reporters after United’s 4-1 win, so Loons head coach Eric Ramsay helped bridge a language gap for that community.

The second-year coach from Wales deems his Spanish speaking skills as “intermediate level” and often answers at least one question in Spanish during every press conference after home games. The volume of inquires just increased for the Messi match.

Noticias MN reporter Ricardo Manjarrez has been a regular at Loons games for years and has noticed an uptick in interest over the past two seasons.

“The Latin community is getting to know Minnesota United,” Manjarrez told the Pioneer Press. “They might have their team from Ecuador or Mexico, but now it’s also Minnesota United.”

Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay answers questions during a press conference after an MLS soccer match against FC Dallas in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, June 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

At age 33, Ramsay is the youngest head coach in MLS. Last spring, he left an assistant role at Manchester United in the English Premier League to be a first-team head coach and he didn’t want the first crack at it to be in another British dressing room.

Part of the appeal of MLS was the chance to constantly improve his language skills, which also includes French. He enjoys the every-day challenge of speaking with the Loons’ handful of Latino players and its one Frenchman.

And his quest for fluency in multiple languages remains a reason Ramsay stays committed to the Loons for the foreseeable future, despite reported interest and connections for coaching vacancies back home at West Bromwich Albion, Southhampton and Swansea City over the past few months.

“For the British coaches, (speaking only one language) has always been seen as a barrier,” Ramsay said. “It’s never been a necessity for British people in general. … I think it’s cost British coaches in the past. I think there’s a stereotype as to who can do what and where. Your average Portuguese coach has probably got the whole continent open, much more open than British coaches are seen on that island; very few are going to go afar and succeed.”

Since arriving in Minnesota in March 2024, Ramsay hasn’t shied away from his clear, grand ambitions to progress in the profession. That remained apparent when he sat down with the Pioneer Press to talk about his multilingual background.

When talking about his improving French skills, he said: “If, for example, tomorrow, I had an offer from PSG (Paris Saint-Germain FC) to go and be their manager, I feel pretty confident (that) in a couple of months, I’ll be able to get to a really proficient level.”

Home base

Ramsay grew up in a tiny Welsh village near England, but borders were constantly being broken down. His father was a drummer in a rock band, but in his 30s, and went to college to be a language teacher.

When Ramsay was small, he spent stints living in France and Spain. “Just a bit of a gentleman introduction (to those languages) for me,” he said.

Back in Wales, his home, which also included a multilingual mother, was often filled with foreign students.

“It was like the U.N.,” Ramsay said. “We’d have loads of Asian students, my dad would welcome as many French and Spanish students because they were his languages. We always had a touch point with that type of thing.”

Ramsay’s interest in Spanish and French increased when he was a teenager, and those foreign exchanges taught him how to try to communicate without a shared fluency.

“It’s being comfortable with the discomfort, I think,” Ramsay said about learning other languages. “That’s probably the first barrier that people fail to get past. It’s not an easy thing to do. If you want to learn language well, you really have to grind at it. You have to feel quite happy to make lots of mistakes.”

Ramsay’s parents are English and moved to Wales, where they raised Eric and his brother. Eric’s wife Sioned is from an area of Wales where the Welsh language is held dear and her family are staunch speakers of it.

Now Eric and Sioned try to speak a lot of Welsh while in their home in the Twin Cities suburbs. Eric’s commitment to language studies has deepened while abroad and he wants his kids, Jac and Lille, to be bilingual and value their heritage.

“I study it much more, and then it’s easy for me to be at a level above a 3 year old and a one year old,” he joked.

‘Would be a cold relationship’

Given the high level of diversity within MLS, Zarek Valentin — a former Loons player turned assistant coach — has seen other multilingual coaches on his previous teams, including Giovanni Savarese in Portland and Tab Ramos and Paulo Nagamura in Houston.

“Tactic can get explained multiple different ways, whether it’s translating apps or whatever it might be,” Valentin said. “But (the real value) in terms of relating to (players) emotionally (is) talking through some of the tough decisions, whether they’re playing or not.”

As a head coach, Ramsay wants a distance between himself and the players, but when possible he tries to have direct conversations with them in their native tongue as he breaks news about why, for instance, they are being left out of the starting XI.

“To not blur the lines in terms of why players are being taken out, because a lot of times the players’ minds can be very creative in negative ways,” Valentin said. “So, for him to be able to have a very clear conversation, nothing’s lost and the player is fully understanding.”

But Ramsay still feels he has room to improve.

“I haven’t got the same subtlety that I can go to in English,” he said. “So, if I’m having a difficult conversation with a player, it’s not quite as easy to soften it in the way that I would if it was (U.S. midfielder Wil Trapp) I was leaving out, or whatever. So, I think that’s also opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a level (of fluency) and then there’s a real level. … If I worked in a Spanish-speaking country, I would have to really improve on just the subtleties and the softness of what I say.”

But Ramsay’s effort is there. After one match last month, injured French midfielder Owen Gene was hanging out near the dressing room when Ramsay came up to him for a hushed one-on-one conversation. Ramsay was personally checking in on a new player sidelined for six weeks.

When Ramsay speaks to the team as a whole, he does it in English, while Valentin, a Puerto Rican, will live translate into Spanish for “La Banda” — the team’s band of half-dozen Latino players. Valentin can also help on the training ground or sideline during games, especially with slang.

Ramsay said his multilingualism skills can help recruit players to the club as the two sides are working on transfers. Before coming to MNUFC last summer, Argentine midfielder Joaquin Pereyra only had Spanish-speaking coaches in his native country. While he is now trying to learn English, Ramsay’s Spanish helps Pereyra feel comfortable sharing his perspective.

“If Eric didn’t speak Spanish, it would be a cold relationship and not as close,” Pereyra said in Spanish via club translator Marleine Calderon. “Since he speaks Spanish and is approachable, we are able to have a conversation with him.”

Los Angeles Galaxy’s Emiro Garces, right, vies for the ball against Minnesota United’s Joseph Rosales, left, as Minnesota United’s head coach Eric Ramsay looks on during the first half of an MLS Semifinal Conference playoff soccer match against Minnesota United, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Related Articles

How Julian Gressel can immediately help Minnesota United

Loons fearing worst on Hassani Dotson’s right knee injury in L.A. draw Saturday

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump bid farewell to Elon Musk in the Oval Office on Friday, providing a cordial conclusion to a tumultuous tenure for the billionaire entrepreneur.

Musk is leaving his position spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency, and he’ll be rededicating himself to running his businesses, including electric automaker Tesla, rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X.

Trump credited Musk with “a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington” and said some of his staff would remain in the administration. Musk, who wore all black including a T-shirt that said “The Dogefather,” nodded along as the president listed contracts that had been cut under his watch.

“I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job,” Musk said after accepting a ceremonial key from the president. “They’re going to continue to be doing an incredible job.”

He left a searing mark on the federal bureaucracy, including thousands of employees who were fired or pushed out. Some government functions were eviscerated, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had provided a lifeline for impoverished people around the world. Boston University researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have already died as a result of the USAID cuts.

Elon Musk attends news conference with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Despite the upheaval, Musk also fell far short of his goals. After promising to cut $1 trillion or even $2 trillion in federal spending, he lowered expectations to only $150 billion in the current fiscal year.

It’s unclear whether that target has been hit. The DOGE website tallies $175 billion in savings, but its information has been riddled with errors and embellishments.

Trump said Musk had led the “most sweeping and consequential government reform effort in generations.” He suggested that Musk is “really not leaving” and “he’s going to be back and forth” to keep tabs on what’s happening in the administration.

Musk had a bruise next to his right eye in the Oval Office, which he explained by saying he had been “horsing around” with his young son.

“I said, go ahead punch me in the face,” he said. “And he did.”

Related Articles

Trump’s list of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ includes some that support his immigration policies

US government is investigating messages impersonating Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles

Trump holding Pennsylvania rally to promote deal for Japan-based Nippon to ‘partner’ with US Steel

CDC removes language that says healthy kids should get COVID shots

Leadership shakeups at agency tasked with carrying out Trump’s mass deportations agenda

Musk, the world’s richest person, recently said he would reduce his political donation s. He was Trump’s top donor in last year’s presidential campaign.

Trump appeared eager to end Musk’s service on a high note.

“This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,” Trump wrote on social media on Thursday evening. “Elon is terrific!”

As a special government employee, Musk’s position was designed to be temporary. However, he had speculated about staying “indefinitely,” working part time for the administration, if Trump still wanted his help.

Musk has brushed off questions about how DOGE would continue without him, even suggesting it could “gain momentum” in the future.

“DOGE is a way of life,” he told reporters recently. “Like Buddhism.”

Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.

By ABDEL KAREEM HANA

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas said Friday it was still reviewing a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where 27 people were killed in new Israeli airstrikes, according to hospital officials.

The ceasefire plan, which has been approved by Israeli officials, won a cool initial reaction Thursday from Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

U.S. negotiators have not publicized the terms of the proposal. But a Hamas official and an Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Thursday that it called for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March.

In a terse statement issued Friday, Hamas said it is holding consultations with Palestinian factions over the proposal it had received from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

While changes may have been made to the proposal, the version confirmed earlier called for Israeli forces to pull back to the positions they held before it ended the last ceasefire. Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.

Each day, hundreds of trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza, where experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade — slightly eased in recent days — has pushed the population to the brink of famine.

“Negotiations are ongoing on the current proposal,” Qatar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani said Friday, referring to talks between her country, the United States and Egypt.

On Thursday, a top Hamas official, Bassem Naim, said the U.S. proposal “does not respond to any of our people’s demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine.”

The uncertainty over the new proposal came as hospital officials said that 27 people had been killed Friday in separate airstrikes. A strike that hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis killed 13, including eight children, hospital officials said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Meanwhile, the bodies of 12 people, including three women, were brought to Shifa Hospital on Friday from the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the bodies of two others were brought to a hospital in Gaza City.

Hospital officials also said Friday that at least 72 had been killed in Gaza during the previous day. That figure does not include some hospitals in the north, which are largely cut off due to the fighting.

Related Articles

What is a famine and who declares one?

Israel authorizes more settlements in the occupied West Bank. Strikes on Gaza kill 34, officials say

Israel accepts a US proposal for a temporary Gaza ceasefire and Hamas gives a cool response

Who is Mohammed Sinwar, the Hamas leader Israel says it killed?

Four Palestinians die in storming of UN food warehouse a day after gunfire at new Gaza aid site

Since the war began, more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children, have been killed according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead.

Some Gaza residents said their hope for a ceasefire is tempered by repeated disappointment over negotiations that failed to deliver a lasting deal.

“This is the war of starvation, death, siege and long lines for food and toilets,” Mohammed Abed told The Associated Press in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah. “This war is the 2025 nightmare, 2024 nightmare and 2023 nightmare.”

Abed said he and his family struggle to find food, waiting three hours to get a small amount of rice and eating only one meal daily.

“It’s heartbreaking that people are being starved because of politics. Food and water should not be used for political purposes,” he said.

Another Gaza resident, Mohammed Mreil, said about the possibility of a truce that: “We want to live and we want them (Israelis) to live. God did not create us to die.”

Edith Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs ’ former personal assistant testified at his sex trafficking trial Friday that she threw her phone across the room in terror and ran outside when she saw the hip-hop mogul calling her days after his longtime ex-girlfriend sued him two years ago.

“It was just so triggering to see that,” said the assistant, who was identified in court only by the pseudonym “Mia.” She was the second of three women expected to testify at the federal trial in Manhattan that they were sexually abused by Combs.

Bail was repeatedly denied for Combs following his September arrest after prosecutors argued he and his coconspirators reached out to potential victims or witnesses after the former decade-long girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, sued him in November 2023.

The suit, which alleged years of sexual abuse, was settled within a day for $20 million.

At a September bail hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said Combs had contacted at least one victim in November 2023 and was in constant contact with witnesses, including as late as last July.

Mia said she at first was elated to hear from D-Roc, one of Combs’ former bodyguards, when he reached out to her days after Cassie’s lawsuit — until she realized he was at the Bad Boy Records founder’s home and trying to reconnect her with her former boss.

Then, she said, she felt “terrified, threatened, scared, nervous.” Mia said she “wanted to play dumb” and needed a game plan to protect herself.

“I didn’t want my life to be in danger,” Mia said.

Still, when she soon saw Combs himself trying to call her, “I threw my phone as far as it would go behind the couch, and I ran outside.”

Sean “Diddy” Combs, right, blows kisses to people in the audience during his sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 19, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Combs’ lawyer Brian Steel launched into his cross-examination by quizzing the woman about several dozen posts she made about Combs, Cassie and other people and events in their orbit.

Among them: a still image she posted on Combs’ birthday in November 2013 from a comedy video featuring Combs as a doctor helping Mia give birth to a baby. “Shout out to my mentor,” she wrote, referring to Combs, “Thank you for always letting me give birth to my dreams.”

“Here, you have posted on your personal account your rapist delivering the baby,” Steel said.

Related Articles

Dozens sickened in expanding salmonella outbreak linked to recalled cucumbers

FAA demands an accident investigation into SpaceX’s latest out-of-control Starship flight

Winds push smoke from Canadian wildfires south into US and compromise air quality

Meet Hercules and Ned, the border collies fending off wildlife at West Virginia’s busiest airport

Army Corps analysis finds Great Lakes pipeline tunnel would have sweeping environmental impacts

On Thursday, Mia testified that she was awakened and then raped by Combs as she slept in a bunk bed in his Los Angeles home just months after he’d forcibly kissed her at his 40th birthday party in 2009. She said sexual assault continued sporadically, seemingly infrequent enough that each time she’d think it would never happen again.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges that could result in a prison term of from 15 years to life if he is convicted.

Mia, who worked for Combs from 2009 to 2017, including a stretch as an executive at his film studio, said there were exciting times in the job and the “highs were really high and the lows were really low.”

After she left Bad Boy Entertainment, Mia said, she received $250,000 of a $400,000 settlement to reimburse her for promised bonuses that were never paid and for unpaid overtime. But she said she never told her lawyers about the sexual abuse.

She acknowledged during her testimony that she referenced her co-workers as “family” and used the word “love” in her correspondence with Combs even after he sexually attacked her.

“That’s how we all talked to each other,” Mia said. While working for Combs, she said, she dated his sound engineer, although it wasn’t a typical relationship because they rarely saw one another outside work.

She said she hasn’t been able to work since leaving the job because of post-traumatic stress.

Mia said she’d misinterpret emails asking “where are you?” as scolding. She said someone calling her name from across the room would cause her alarm, even if it was an innocent attempt to get her attention.

Throughout his cross-examination, Steel struck a familiar, incredulous refrain, asking: “Why would you promote the person who has stolen your happiness in life?”

Mia told Steel that the posts were a facade.

“Instagram was a place to show how great your life was, even if it was not true,” she explained, adding that followers of her then-public account included many Combs fans. “Of course you post great times,” she said.