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World Cup winner Abby Dow quits rugby in shock move to focus on career
Rugby World Cup winner Abby Dow has announced her shock retirement from professional rugby, with the Red Roses coach, John Mitchell, bemoaning the fact England have lost âthe best right winger in world rugby at the peak of her powersâ.
Dow has made the surprise move to focus on her engineering career.
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The Spin | First-over destroyer Mitchell Starc deserves place among Australiaâs greats
Kerry OâKeeffe has called the veteran left-armer âone of the most underrated cricketers Australia have producedâ, and the figures back him up
When I close my eyes at night, Mitchell Starc is at the top of his run. It might be punishment for forgetting to vote for him in the Guardianâs all-time Ashes players list.
His 6ft 6in frame elongates and stretches until heâs uncomfortably filling my mindâs eye and then the legs start, a nightmare-beautiful rhythmic run. The arms piston, the eyes steady, the head as still as a marble mantelpiece. Heâs a cheetah in giant white wristbands, a moon-marauding wolf, a river of melted chocolate, that expensive, unpalatable, 95% stuff.
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Simon Harmer routs India and lifts South Africa to Test series sweep
2nd Test: SA, 489 & 260-5d, bt India, 201 & 140, by 408 runs
Spinner takes 6-37; Markram takes nine catches in Test
South Africa completed a memorable 2-0 series sweep against India after the off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed six for 37 to bowl the Proteas to a 408-run victory in the second Test in Guwahati.
Chasing an improbable 549 to win, India were all out for 140 in the second session on the final day, with only Ravindra Jadeja (54) offering some resistance with the bat. Aiden Markram took a record nine catches in the match for the world Test champions, who won the opening Test in Kolkata inside three days.
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New Old Trafford due on FAâs stadiums list this week for 2035 Womenâs World Cup
Uncertainty remains over planned 100,000-seat stadium
United have aspirations to stage tournamentâs final
The Football Association is planning to include a redeveloped Old Trafford in the UKâs bid book of stadiums to host matches at the 2035 Womenâs World Cup, which will be made public this week.
Old Trafford is in line to feature in the bid even though Manchester Unitedâs plans for a new 100,000-seat stadium amount only to artistsâ impressions and there are doubts over how the projected ÂŁ2bn project will be funded.
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âZero regretsâ: Tom Heaton on life at Manchester United after 1,029 days without a game
The former England keeper discusses his sometimes borderline deluded outlook and being proud to defend the values of the club he loves
Tom Heaton wears a scowl. Sodden and frozen, he trudges off a pitch at Manchester Unitedâs Carrington training base, gesticulating and muttering a goalkeeper-eyed analysis of the game his team have just lost. âWe got pumped,â he says loudly, his annoyance clear.
Sometimes the obvious question must be asked: even on days such as this, does Heaton still enjoy it? âI love it,â is his response, his near-permanent grin reappearing.
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EstĂȘvĂŁoâs delight at âperfect nightâ after Chelsea teenager helps see off Barcelona
EstĂȘvĂŁo Willian relished the biggest night of his short career after powering Chelsea to a 3-0 victory against Barcelona in the Champions League with a special solo goal.
The 18-year-old Brazilian struggled to make sense of his emotions after a special night at Stamford Bridge. EstĂȘvĂŁo, who joined Chelsea from Palmeiras for ÂŁ52m last summer, convincingly won his battle with Barcaâs Lamine Yamal and stole the limelight when he put Enzo Marescaâs side 2-0 up early in the second half.
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Grimaldo and Schick shock understrength Manchester City in Bayer Leverkusen win
You had to go back to September 2018 for the last time Manchester City lost a Champions League group match at home, when Pep Guardiola was in the stands because of a ban, and Nabil Fekirâs winner gave Lyon a 2-1 victory.
Guardiola stood down all but one of the XI that lost at Newcastle and witnessed an offâcolour display reminiscent of last season as Bayer Leverkusen ended a 23-match run.
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Why Feyenoordâs 1970 European Cup win was a sliding doors moment for Celtic
The final remains curious in a Celtic context because it is the showpiece occasion the club would rather forget
It feels cruel in part to use Thursdayâs meeting of Feyenoord and Celtic to reflect upon illustrious times. The Dutch side are 29th in the 36-team Europa League table, with Celticâs position in 27th only more slightly more palatable to supporters because Rangers are bottom of the pile.
Those fans disrupted an annual general meeting to the point of abandonment last week, demonstrating the disharmony that has engulfed Celtic for months. A club that progressed to the Champions Leagueâs knockout phase last season, looking an overdue but serious European force, have starkly regressed. Celtic have the spending power to outshine clubs who routinely embarrass them in a bigger pond than St Mirren and Motherwell occupy.
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Roman amphitheatre older than Colosseum gets accessible facelift for Winter Paralympics
Verona venue to host Milano-Cortina opening ceremony
Critics see changes to 2,000-year-old arena as blasphemy
A 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre is to be made fully accessible to people with disabilities before the Winter Paralympic Games in MilanoâCortina, as organisers prioritise legacy with 100 days to go.
The conversion of the Arena di Verona, which will host the Paralympics opening ceremony, includes the addition of a lift and toilets to a structure older than the Colosseum. Described by the Milano-Cortina 2026 chief executive, Andrea Varnier, as âthe symbol of our Paralympic Gamesâ, he admits the conversion has also been considered as an act of âblasphemyâ by some traditionalists.
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London Cityâs Freya Godfrey on her England call-up: âI didnât answer â I thought it was spamâ
Midfielder persevered through injury setbacks and nears completing her journey through the age-group ranks
When Freya Godfreyâs phone started ringing she glanced across, saw the call was from a number she didnât recognise and ignored it. âI am a very cautious person â if I donât have your number saved then I donât answer,â she says. âItâs just spam.â
The 20-year-old London City Lionesses midfielder was on the road heading to visit her brother, who she hadnât seen for a while, at university.
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England canât change now: Bazball approach must be seen through to its conclusion | Taha Hashim
This four-year experiment has produced exhilarating cricket â it is worth seeing the whole thing through before casting judgment
Travis Headâs latest masterpiece is three days old, the postmortems are complete and England supporters have done their pained vox pops in Australia. And somehow weâre still more than a week out from the second Ashes Test. Itâs a hefty gap bound to be filled by rage, moving from the defeat in Perth to the preparation for a pinkâball affair in Brisbane.
Englandâs first-stringers could pass the time with a dayânight knockabout against a prime ministerâs XI in Canberra. Instead, as planned, it will be a Lions side that plays this weekend, joined by Josh Tongue, Matt Potts and Jacob Bethell, unused squad members in Perth. It is understandable why this has annoyed many, why Michael Vaughanâs soundbite â that it would be âamateurishâ not to play the fixture â carries some substance.
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Sign up to the Sport in Focus newsletter: the sporting week in photos
Our editorsâ favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown in
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Sign up for the Spin newsletter: our free cricket email
Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writersâ thoughts on the biggest stories
Let our team of writers be your guide to the cricketing world, as they analyse the big stories, revisit the weekâs matches and other happenings, and look further afield. Sign up below to start receiving The Spin in your inbox. View the latest edition here.
Try our other sports emails: thereâs daily football news and gossip in The Fiver, a weekly rugby union catch-up in The Breakdown, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.
Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australiaâs daily sports newsletter
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Sign up for the Recap newsletter: our free sport highlights email
The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekendâs action
Subscribe to get our editorsâ pick of the Guardianâs award-winning sport coverage. Weâll email you the stand-out features and interviews, insightful analysis and highlights from the archive, plus films, podcasts, galleries and more â all arriving in your inbox at every Friday lunchtime. And weâll set you up for the weekend and let you know our live coverage plans so youâll be ahead of the game. Hereâs what you can expect from us.
Try our other sports emails: thereâs daily football news and gossip in The Fiver, and weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown.
Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australiaâs daily sports newsletter
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Sign up for the Breakdown newsletter: our free rugby email
The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the weekâs action reviewed
Every Tuesday, Guardian rugby writer Robert Kitson gives his thoughts on the headlines, scrutinises the latest matches and provides gossip from behind the scenes in his unique and indomitable style. See the latest edition here.
Try our other sports emails: thereâs daily football news and gossip in The Fiver, a weekly cricket catch-up in The Spin, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.
Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australiaâs daily sports newsletter
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England have no plans to reward Borthwick with new deal despite winning run
The Rugby Football Union has no plans to begin talks with Steve ÂBorthwick over extending his Âcontract beyond 2027 âfor the Âforeseeable futureâ despite Englandâs 11-match winning streak and autumn clean sweep.
Borthwickâs contract runs until the end of 2027 but with England halfway through the current World Cup cycle and currently third in the world Ârankings, the RFU chief Âexecutive, Bill Sweeney, has no immediate intention of discussing an extension in a sea change from the unionâs Âprevious approach.
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Undercooked England will not play for a year until Rugby League World Cup
Englandâs rugby league team will go into next yearâs World Cup without playing a fixture for almost an entire year after it was confirmed there was no room in the 2026 Super League schedule to give the national team a mid-season international break.
Following their whitewash defeat by Australia in the Ashes this month, the England coach Shaun Wane â whose own position is under review â insisted there needed to be more opportunities and priority given to the national team if they are to bridge the gap to the all-conquering Kangaroos.
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Cristiano Ronaldo clear to start World Cup after Fifa suspends two games of his ban
Cristiano Ronaldo has been cleared to play in the opening matches of Portugalâs World Cup campaign after he was handed a suspended sentence for his red card against the Republic of Ireland.
The forward, who was a guest of president Donald Trump in the White House last week, had a customary three-match ban for violent conduct commuted by Fifaâs disciplinary committee on Tuesday to a one-game ban, with two further matches suspended under a yearâs probation.
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Graham Thorpeâs widow says he would be alive if ECB had offered more support
Graham Thorpeâs widow believes that he would still be alive if there had been more support from the England and Wales Cricket Board after he left his coaching role with the governing body.
Thorpe â one of the most respected batters of his generation and Englandâs assistant coach as recently as 2021 â killed himself in August last year following a long battle with anxiety and depression.
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Cowboysâ Marshawn Kneeland died after police believed they were pursuing stolen car
Body and dash cam footage from law enforcement officials have charted the events leading up to the death of Dallas Cowboys player Marshawn Kneeland earlier this month.
The 24-year-old was found dead in the early morning of 6 November, hours after being pursued by officers who had attempted a traffic stop in suburban Dallas. Police say Kneeland took his own life.
In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
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âThey killed my only sonâ: the young west African footballers scammed by fake agents
Cheikh Touré died after being lured abroad in one of a growing number of extortion schemes tricking talented teenagers with dreams of making it big
The last time Diodo Sokhna spoke to her teenage son, he seemed subdued, his voice sapped of all the optimism he had set off with on a journey supposed to put him on the road to a career as a professional footballer.
After that call Cheikh TourĂ© went silent. His motherâs WhatsApp messages to his phone received only the dreaded single tick, indicating they had not been received. Soon afterwards a man with a foreign accent rang her from a number she did not recognise. He told Sokhna her son was dead and then hung up.
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Could the ânotchâ be key to understanding ACL injuries in womenâs football?
Research is on âan upward curveâ and the next five years could be vital in trying to limit cruciate ruptures
Players who compete in the top two levels of German womenâs football are four times more likely to rupture their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) than their male counterparts, according to the German Football Association (DFB).
The governing body has funded a central injury and illness registry in womenâs football for three years. So far in the Frauen Bundesliga, Germanyâs top flight, there have been a reported seven ACL injuries 10 games into the current campaign. In the menâs Bundesliga, meanwhile, there have been three such injuries.
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The Breakdown | A November to remember: letâs celebrate the good in international rugby
We turn the dial towards whimsy and revisit some of the moments that made the autumn internationals irresistible
South Africa and Ireland played out a slugfest for the ages and the discourse has been dominated by yellow cards and flying shoulders to the head. England held off a spirited Argentina to claim their 11th consecutive Test win and it seems all anyone can talk about is some alleged after-the-whistle shoving. Wales and New Zealand traded 11 tries in a ding-dong encounter and yet the narrative is weighed down by caveats concerning fading empires.
What, exactly, is the point of Test rugby? Beyond winning World Cups and regional crowns, does this chaotic sport hold any value? A bit of spice elevates almost every dish, sure, but it has felt as if this autumnâs brilliant rugby fare has been smothered in a sauce with a needlessly high Scoville count.
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EstĂȘvĂŁo outshines Lamine Yamal to show why he is Chelseaâs rare diamond | Jonathan Wilson
Brazilian teenagerâs goal in win against Barcelona was a classic and the winger could end up as one of the very best
Everything Lamine Yamal does oozes quality. Even when he is strolling about looking dejected, which he did quite a bit at Stamford Bridge, he does it with the nonchalant grace of a star. He caresses the ball rather than kicking it, generating remarkable power from limited back-lift. He plays on the balls of his feet, always alert, always able to go either way. He glides rather than runs, but does so at speed. He has already finished as runner-up in the Ballon dâOr. But he was not the best 18-year-old right-sided forward on the pitch on Tuesday, not even close.
In EstĂȘvĂŁo, brought in from Palmeiras for a fee that could rise to ÂŁ52m, Chelsea have recruited a player who could end up as one of the very best. He has been making more and more of an impression since scoring the late winner against Liverpool last month. His last four starts for Chelsea have brought four goals, and he also scored in both of Brazilâs friendlies during the international break. Itâs very early, but Brazil may at last have found the player they desperately wanted to have found in Neymar.
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Tennis burnout on the rise as grind of long season brings stars to their knees
Players are being worn down by a cluttered calendar and lack of unity over their welfare from governing bodies
Elina Svitolina simply could not go on. Her hopeful start to the 2025 season had given way to despair as the mental and emotional strain of constant competition, travelling and stress left its mark. The 31-year-old understood that competing would only make things worse and, in September, Svitolina decided to prematurely end her season, citing burnout.
The world No 14 is not alone in feeling suffocated by her sport. This has been another year filled with incredible performances and gripping matches, but the past 11 months have also been defined by the physical and mental ailments endured by many of the sportâs stars.
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The NBAâs dress code was seen as policing Black culture. Instead it inspired a fashion revolution
Twenty years after the league introduced its controversial policy, many players see it as helping them develop self-expression
Lonzo Ball froze in confusion. The question â âWhat do you think about the NBA dress code?â â hung in the air for a second before he cracked a sheepish grin.
âThereâs a dress code?â he said, smiling.
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Footballâs fight club: which players have fallen out on the pitch with a teammate? | The Knowledge
Plus: long waits to play at a World Cup, champions being thrashed and title-winners with a negative goal difference
âIdrissa Gueyeâs red card for slapping Michael Keane at Old Trafford made me wonder â which other players have put hands on a teammate during a game?â asks Conor Humphries.
We covered this in a question back in 2004 â but 21 years is a long time in football, never mind intersquad violence, so itâs due an upgrade. First, a brief summary of those we mentioned in the 2004 article.
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Championship roundup: Coventry sink Boro to go 10 points clear, Ipswich up to fourth
Late goals from Liam Kitching and Ellis Simms helped Coventry to extend their advantage at the top of the Championship table with a 4-2 win against Middlesbrough.
The Sky Blues landed two early blows in the opening 15 minutes, going ahead through Simmsâs stunning top-corner strike and Kitchingâs header.
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World Cup 2026 draw to adopt tennis-style system for the four top seeds
Spain, Argentina, France, England will be top seeds
Fifa says measure will âensure competitive balanceâ
The four highest-placed teams in Fifaâs rankings have had a pathway cleared to meet in the World Cup semi-finals after tennis-style seeding measures were introduced in the name of âensuring competitive balanceâ.
Spain, Argentina, France and England â the top four in descending order â are to be split into different brackets in the 48-team finals tournament, with the aim of preventing Spain from facing Argentina, or England from playing France, before a possible final.
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Arsenal in âdifferent universeâ to Bayern Munich due to lack of European success
âWe are not there yet,â Mikel Arteta said on clubâs standing
Bayern visit Arsenal in Champions League on Wednesday
Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal remain in a âdifferent universeâ to European heavyweights such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich given they have yet to win the Champions League.
The Premier League leaders head into their meeting with Bayern at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday having won all four matches so far in the league phase and are the only team yet to concede a goal.
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The 100 greatest menâs Ashes cricketers of all time
Sportâs famous rivalry began in 1877 and since then 853 men have featured in Australia v England Tests. But who are the very best of the best?
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It had to be Shane Warne: the Ashes Elvis had an aura that eclipsed all others | Barney Ronay
He coaxed greatness from teammates, bent occasions to his will and mastered the most complex of arts, but best of all he connected like few others in sport
Raise the Playboy pants like a pirate flag. Twirl the big brimmer in celebration. It was always going to be Shane, really, wasnât it.
We did of course have a countdown first, because people love countdowns, because cricket is basically one unceasing countdown, an endless pencil stub ticking off names and numbers. There were 99 members of the supporting cast to be ushered to their spots, the non-Shanes of history, meat in the Ashes room.
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Numbers crunched: how the votes were cast in the Guardianâs menâs Ashes top 100
Australians dominate at the very top of our list but the overall numbers are split evenly and England lead the way for all-rounders
More than 800 men have played in an Ashes Test. England picked most of them in the summer of 1989. But the process of selecting the Guardianâs Ashes Top 100 required something more scientific than that infamous shemozzle.
Letâs start with the small print. We asked 51 judges to select their top 50 menâs Ashes cricketers, from which we calculated a top 100: 50 points for No 1, 49 for No 2 and so on. The voting rules were simple. Players were assessed solely on their performances in Ashes cricket, though judges could interpret that any way they liked. (Yep, someone did vote for Gary Pratt.) The judges had to pick at least 15 players from each country and a minimum of five from each of five different eras: players who made their debut before the first world war; in the interwar years; from the second world war to 1974; from 1975 till 1999; and from 2000 onwards.
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Who is your favourite cricketer in the history of the menâs Ashes?
Our 51 judges have picked Shane Warne, Don Bradman and Ian Botham as their top three. Who gets your vote?
It had to be one or the other: the man who has scored the most runs in Ashes history or the man who has taken the most wickets. In the end, Shane Warneâs 195 wickets beat Don Bradmanâs 5,028 runs. But, Warne is about more than numbers. His style, humour and charisma made him the kind of player you rooted for even when he lined up against your team. He was a joy to watch.
In the spirit of joy, then, who is your favourite cricketer in the history of the menâs Ashes? Who gave you the best memories and biggest smiles? Botham for his sixes and wickets? Ricky Ponting for his centuries? Andrew Flintoff for his sledging and sportsmanship? This week our 51 judges have chosen their top 100. Who is your personal favourite?
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England must avoid Perth 2025 becoming the new Adelaide 2006 | Ali Martin
Losing the first Test to Australia by eight wickets after being 105 ahead with one man out could derail the entire tour
Stuart Broad was a highly meme-able cricketer and it turns out that talent now extends into commentary. As Joe Root chopped Mitchell Starc on to his stumps during Englandâs subsidence on Saturday afternoon, Broad summed up the mood of a nation without uttering so much as a word.
In a clip that has since gone viral, Broad is in the Channel 7 box with his eyes shut, arms folded, letting out an exasperated sigh; the kind of internal âFFSâ triggered by a toddler doing the very thing they were just warned against. Watching from the far end as two teammates fall to expansive drives on a bouncy, nippy surface, only to attempt a repeat against Starc, is a bit like pulling on the catâs tail. Root did it anyway.
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Ronaldo dines with Donald for glamour portion of grotesque Saudi-funded spectacle | Barney Ronay
A pension-pot World Cup looms and with Trump in the White House and a crown prince at his back, it is now a safe space
It was hard to choose one favourite photo from footballâs double-header at the White House this week. In part this is because the pictures from Donald Trumpâs state dinner with Mohammed bin Salman and his in-house hype men Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianni Infantino were everywhere, recycled feverishly across the internet, dusted with their own drool-stained commentary by the wider Ronaldo-verse.
Mainly there were just so many jaw-droppers. Perhaps you liked the one of Trump and Ronaldo strolling the halls of power, Ronaldo dressed all in black and laughing uproariously, like a really happy ninja. Or the one of Ronaldo and Georgina RodrĂguez standing either side of a weirdly beaming Trump at his desk, holding up some kind of large heraldic key as though theyâve just been presented with their own wind-up wooden sex-grandad.
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Commentary classics: McLean, Parrott and a week of unbridled content joy | Max Rushden
When you work in the game it is easy to get cynical but this week Iâve been consuming all the #limbs I can find
For the second time in a week, Iâm welling up. This time in a cafe on Northcote High Street in Melbourne at 9am. I punched the air when Kieran Tierney curled that one in. But Kenny McLean. From the halfway line. As the ball sails over Kasper Schmeichel my hands involuntarily shoot to the sky. What a moment. The commentary is amazing. Before long Iâm watching it on a loop. The unwritten rule of not talking over each other goes out of the window. In fact itâs better. You want the comms to feel like you feel.
On BBC Scotland, Liam McLeod, Steven Thompson and James McFadden absolutely nail it. McLeod: âTheyâve given it away.â Thompson: âSHOOT, SHOOT.â McLeod: âHeâs gonna shoot.â (McFadden is grinning wildly.) Thompson: âOH HEâS DONE HIM, HEâS DONE HIM, HEâS DONE HIM.â McLeod: âHAS THAT GONE IN? OOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOO THATâS UNBELIEVABLE âŠâ The fixed camera set on Thompson and McFadden is wondrous. Two grown men jumping up and down in unison like 10-year-old boys. They are just so happy.
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Jake Paulâs Joshua fight is all about fame and bluster, money and eyeballs | Jonathan Liew
When a prankster meets a puncher itâs not about sport but an elaborate viral hoax that keeps us wanting more
âIf itâs all straight up and proper, you would worry that he takes this kidâs head off,â reckons Barry McGuigan. âCould get his jaw broke, his head smashed in, side of his head caved in, God forbid he could get a brain bleed,â says Carl Froch on his YouTube channel. âIt could be the end of him. It could be his last day on Earth,â David Haye tells Sky News, with the sort of apocalyptic glare I try to give my children when they want to jump in a muddy puddle.
Yes, this week everyone appears to be deeply concerned for the wellbeing of 28-year-old YouTube celebrity Jake Paul. The announcement of his fight against Anthony Joshua next month has generated a flood of foreboding prognoses, and fair enough. Stepping into the ring with a two-time world heavyweight champion when a) youâre not even a heavyweight, b) your record consists almost entirely of novices and geriatrics and c) you still fight like a marmoset trapped in an empty crisp packet: on some level, we all know how this might go.
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David Squires on ⊠an Eze win for Arsenal in the north London derby
Our cartoonist on a simple win over Spurs that boosted the Gunnersâ title hopes, smug Australians and more
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Travball 1-0 Bazball: Headâs big numbers add up to a damning zero for England | Geoff Lemon
Australiaâs bold call as replacement for creaking Usman Khawaja in second innings set up a Test-winning 69-ball ton, the second-fastest in Ashes history
In short, England tried to play a certain style of Test cricket. Travis Head succeeded at it. As his numbers grew on the second afternoon here, what they represented grew more astonishing.
A normal 16 runs from 20 balls became brisk at 26 from 23. By the time it was 50 from 37, the frame of the usual had disappeared. Soon it was 68 from 49. Yes, players have scored faster now and then, but imagine batting in a fourth-innings Ashes chase on 84 from 59 balls. Imagine coming from behind in the first Test of a series to score 92 from 61.
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Boris Becker: âWhoever says a prison life is easy is lying â itâs a real punishmentâ
Former Wimbledon champion on how taking accountability for his crimes allowed for rehabilitation, watching Novak Djokovic from his cell and the new era of brotherhood in the sport
âI heard the screaming and I didnât know what it was,â Boris Becker says as he remembers staring into the dark in Wandsworth prison, just over two miles from Wimbledonâs Centre Court where he won the first of his three menâs singles titles at the age of 17 in 1985. âWere people trying to kill themselves or harm themselves? Or couldnât they deal with their loneliness? Or are they just making crazy noises because they have lost their minds already?â
Becker had been sentenced to a two-and-a-half-year jail term. Amid his insolvency, he was found guilty of not declaring all his assets so that additional funds could be distributed to his creditors. The judge confirmed that his money was used, instead, to meet his âcommitments to his children and other dependents, medical and professional fees, and other expensesâ.
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âNever, ever give upâ: fighting for Afghanistanâs sporting future in shadow of the Taliban
Samira Asghari, the International Olympic Committeeâs youngest member, says negotiation with Taliban is only way to help Afghan girls access sport
âMy message for all Afghan women who play is that if there is any small opportunity, do it,â Samira Asghari says. âMy solid message is never, ever give up. Afghanistan was always a war-torn country, unfortunately. We have grown up in a war country. And we believe in a future Afghanistan, and the future of Afghanistan is the people.â
Asghari is 31, the youngest member of the International Olympic Committee and an exile from her home. Resident in Europe, her role requires her to try to bring an end to current restrictions which prevent Afghan women and girls from taking part in sport. In this, the people she must negotiate with are the Taliban.
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A trooperâs shove showed stardom doesnât protect Black athletes from police | Etan Thomas
When I was a college basketball player, some believed we were treated differently from other Black and Brown people. An event last weekend suggests otherwise
It was 1996, my first day stepping foot on Syracuse Universityâs campus. I saw a big student protest was taking place so, with my freshmanâs inquisitive mind, I ventured over to see what was going on.
I listened to a passionate sista named Kathy Ade, the president of Syracuseâs student African-American Society. She stood there with her Bantu knots and a megaphone addressing the crowd, discussing the fact that campus security was now going to be able to carry pepper spray. In the 90s â which my daughter Baby Sierra calls âthe 1900s,â just to keep me humble â campus security carrying pepper spray was a big deal. Now, they all carry guns.
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Football Daily | Idrissa Gueye and warm feelings of a Keane-related stramash at Old Trafford
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When Jordan Pickfordâs time as England and Evertonâs eternal No 1 comes to its end, a career in peacekeeping, or failing that, manning the doors back in Sunderland, may await. As Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane, teammates let us recall, went for each other at Old Trafford in full hold-me-back, hold-me-back mode, in stepped Pickfordâs strong hands. Too late, it turned out. By then, Tony Harrington, the referee, had reached for his red card. Harrington had seen Gueye slap Keane, and the PGMO (no L these days, all you pedants) doesnât agree with that in the workplace.
I see Spurs have signed the perfect âglobal partnerâ for fans who found themselves pulling their hair out as the fourth Arsenal goal went in on Sunday: Turkish hair-transplant company Elithair. Sometimes, you just have to look in the mirror and acknowledge the bald truth of your shortcomingsâ â Justin Kavanagh.
Re: Patrick Connolly (yesterdayâs Football Daily letters). Mate being responsible for a player not being able to perform at their best? I didnât even know Ange Postecoglou had managed the Portland Timbersâ â Derek McGee.
Will Leo Messi and Inter Miami winning a playoff game mean they will now be invited to participate in the World Cup finals next summer?â â Martyn Shapter.
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Arsenalâs Premier League dominance is not under threat. At least not yet | Jonathan Wilson
Eberechi Ezeâs hat-trick and Manchester Cityâs loss to Newcastle means Arsenal are in control of their own destiny
So it turns out those who had already handed the title to Arsenal were right after all.
Itâs absurd, of course, to start handing out the title in November but a feature of modern football is how obsessed it becomes so early with title races. Itâs perhaps a legacy of the Pep Guardiola-JĂŒrgen Klopp rivalryâs peak, when being champion meant amassing more than 95 points. It made sense then to scan the track far ahead for any potential hurdles because there were so few. But less than a third of the way through this season, Manchester City, who remain probably the biggest danger to Arsenal, have already dropped as many points as they did in the entirety of 2017-18, their 100-point campaign.
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Is the Chelsea project finally working? â Football Weekly
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Sam Dalling as Chelsea beat Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League, while Manchester City and Newcastle both lose
Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.
On the podcast today: should we be taking Chelsea more seriously? They dominated Barcelona at Stamford Bridge and, in the battle of the wonder kids, EstĂȘvĂŁo came out on top.
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Gotham FC handed the keys to New York City after title win â Womenâs Football Weekly
Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Sophie Downey and Theo Lloyd-Hughes for an NWSL special, looking at the final between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit, as well as the season as a whole, and all of the latest news from the home nations
On todayâs pod: we have a National Womenâs Soccer League Special for you â after Gotham FC were handed the keys to New York City following their 1-0 Championship win over Washington Spirit in the final. Weâll reflect on the game itself as well as the season as a whole.
Also, itâs the International break so weâll also take a look at how the home nations are looking and react to the news that Tanya Oxtoby has left Northern Ireland to become Newcastle Unitedâs head coach.
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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekendâs football
Spurs punished for negativity, Dycheâs gameplan downs Liverpool and Whartonâs quality shines through again
Amid Liverpoolâs deepening crisis and the growing scrutiny on Arne Slot, it is only right that Nottingham Forestâs role in it is given some attention and acclaim. Back-to-back league wins at Anfield for the first time since 1963 deserves recognition, as does the willingness of Forestâs players to embrace the gameplan of the third different managerial voice they have heard this season. Sean Dycheâs instructions were implemented to perfection as Liverpool disintegrated. âWe changed the tactical side today,â said Forestâs recently appointed manager. âI told the players: âWeâre not passing it, we are going long, because Liverpool were going to press the life out of youâ â which is exactly what they did at the start. We dealt with that quite well and we mixed it tactically, which is credit to the players.â Forestâs tactics may have been straight out of the Dyche playbook but they were also encouraged, inadvertently, by Slot, who has regularly told opponents how to play his Liverpool team this season. He has meanwhile not found any solutions. Andy Hunter
Match report: Liverpool 0-3 Nottingham Forest
Match report: Newcastle 2-1 Manchester City
Match report: Arsenal 4-1 Tottenham
Barney Ronay: Eze finds his own plane just above ground level
Match report: Leeds 1-2 Aston Villa
Match report: Fulham 1-0 Sunderland
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Sports quiz of the week: Ashes sledging, Arsenal v Spurs and a young world No 1
Have you been following the big stories in football, rugby, tennis, cricket, basketball, darts and other mystery sports?
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