First-round stroll past Báez shed light on shapes, sounds and iconography of newfound Draper fandom at SW19

As Jack Draper arched his back to serve, a set and a break up on Court No 1, a well-groomed man in thick silver sunglasses stood up in his seat and posed for a photo in front of the action, chewing theatrically on the handle of his lustrously finished handbag, thereby conveying to his social media feed that he was (a) present, vital, right here in the moment; and (b) not very interested in tennis.

Nobody seemed to mind. In fairness Wimbledon’s big Tuesday best-of-British event did feel a bit like this. Less an act of white-hot sporting drama, more just, like, a really cool thing happening.

The narrative arc of women’s football in Switzerland is a familiar one: from apathy to hostility to mockery to inertia to change. Now the country will host one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar

In 1957 the Swiss newspaper Sport published a short editorial under the headline “Women’s Football?� Furious that a women’s friendly between Germany and the Netherlands was being hosted in Basel, the writer mocked: “This event is not about football, but rather should be classified as an exhibition or circus performance.�

On Wednesday evening, in front of a sell-out crowd, Switzerland will play their opening game of a home European Championship that will be one of the biggest sporting events held in the country. Sport newspaper, sadly, will be unable to chronicle the event, having folded in 1999. Life moves on you pretty fast.

• Ukrainian beats French Open champion 7-6 (3), 6-1

• Gauff’s loss provides biggest upset of tournament so far

“Yeah, this definitely sucks,� said a tearful Coco Gauff. She was trying, and struggling, to put her finger on why she had become the most high profile casualty of a typically consequential first round at Wimbledon. “I don’t know, I just feel a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today.�

The question before the tournament was whether Gauff could cement her standing at the top of the game by adding Wimbledon to this year’s French Open title for a “Channel Slam�. The answer turned out to be a rather decisive “no�. The second seed was knocked out in less than two hours on Tuesday evening, with the biggest shock how easily she was dispatched by the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska.

• Seven-time champion wins 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2

• ‘I have earned the right to think I can go all the way’

At Wimbledon they are calling it the massacre of the seeds. And it has been bloodier than any grand slam in history. On the men’s side, four of the top 10 have been knocked out in the first round. Another four have also fallen in the women’s singles. That makes eight top-10 players in total, a record in the Open era.

And yet Novak Djokovic survives despite looking desperately wobbly against Alexandre Müller. Despite needing a doctor’s attention for a stomach bug. Despite squandering 20 out of 27 break points and six set points in the second set.

• Last 16: Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus (G García 54)

• Mbappé makes first appearance of tournament

Kylian Mbappé at last made his debut at this Club World Cup as the competition enters the knockout phase, coming on to face Juventus two weeks and four games after he was hospitalised with a stomach virus that saw him lose five kilos. But while the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami chanted the Frenchman’s name, roaring as he made his way to the halfway line, and stood to hand him an ovation when he entered the fray, the excitement overflowing, it was the kid heading in the other direction for whom Rita Hayworth is family but most of them had not heard of a month ago, who had taken Real Madrid into the quarter-final.

For all the focus on the most famous names, for all that this month, this experimental event, needs them, every tournament has its revelation: this World Cup has a 21-year-old madrileño. “I knew this competition was the opportunity of my life,� Gonzalo García said after he again showed that it is one he is determined, and equipped, to take hold of. The Real Madrid academy striker, who had never started a game before arriving in the United States, scored his third goal here with a superb thumping header from a delicious Trent Alexander-Arnold delivery, doing what no one else could over 90 minutes here: beating the Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.

• 2nd T20i: India 181-4 beat England 157-7 by 24 runs

• India take 2-0 lead in series after crushing victory

England fell to a second successive defeat against India at Bristol on Tuesday, falling 25 runs short in their chase of 182, and face a nervous wait to see if the captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, will be fit for the third match of the series at the Oval on Friday.

Sciver-Brunt was unexpectedly absent for three-quarters of the India innings on Tuesday with a “tight hip�, and looked far from fluent in an innings of 13 from 10 balls. She will be assessed over the next 48 hours to determine the extent of the injury.

England team hang on their captain’s every word but he is on his longest run of Tests without a century

A day out from the second Test against India at Edgbaston and Andrew Flintoff was dog-sticking to England’s batters in the nets, his very presence bringing memories of 20 years ago flooding back. It was here where Flintoff wrote his name into Ashes folklore, igniting the afterburners for England’s statement first innings, rescuing the second with a six-laden counterattack, and then sending down a famous over on the third evening that vaporised Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting.

As well as driving England to that famous two-run victory, 141 runs and seven wickets across the four days made it Flintoff’s statistical peak as a fast-bowling all-rounder – the only time he went north of 100 runs and five wickets in the same Test. People often underestimate the physical and mental demands that the dual role places on those hardy enough to even attempt it; expecting both facets of their game to deliver consistently is unrealistic save for a handful of freakish greats.

• ‘Silverstone has the right characteristics to stay for ever’

• Domenicali to raise Brexit ‘complications’ with Starmer

The Formula One chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, has said he would like the British Grand Prix at Silverstone to remain on the F1 calendar for ever, with the event set to host what is expected to be the largest meeting in the sport’s history, reaching half a million people over four days this weekend.

The British GP, which has been on the calendar since F1 began in 1950, is expected to sell out with record numbers and Domenicali acknowledged it was part of a large and thriving F1 business in Britain, which he hopes can be improved by working closer with the UK government when he meets the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and other government officials at Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon.

Time is short in Australia to make an impression on Andy Farrell and be one of the 23 in Brisbane on 19 July

The British & Irish Lions have barely started their trek around Australia, but the all-important Test series is fast approaching. Some definitive selection calls will soon have to be made and this week’s games, against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday and the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday, will be pivotal for certain individuals. The Breakdown takes a look at the five main areas of debate.

Fans and ballkids find novel ways of beating the heat as temperatures hit 34C and leading female players dismiss merits of five-setters

With temperatures on day two hitting a high of 34C, the sun belted down on the grounds with little respite. Organisers have put preventive measures in place to ensure safety with more than 100 water stations and weather alerts on the big screens. But what happens when the heat does get to someone? Depending on the severity, they are either helped to or carried to one of the first-aid centres where trained first aiders assess the situation with an ambulance on site for any emergencies.

From LeMond’s astonishing comeback to Cavendish’s four victories, the final dash up the great avenue is now part of race folklore

It is impossible now to conceive of the Tour de France without two things: the race leader’s yellow jersey and the finale on the Champs-Élysées, a spectacle that is half a century old this summer. The finish has moved away from the great avenue once in the last 50 years, during the Olympic buildup in 2024, and the Tour cannot really be imagined without that final dash up the great avenue with its high-end shops and cafes, its gardens and plane trees.

The Tour had always finished in Paris, postwar on the velodromes at the Parc des Princes and the Cipale velodrome in the Bois de Vincennes, and it had frequently used the Champs for a ceremonial start; the idea for an “apotheosis� on the great avenue seems to have been inspired by the 1974 Giro d’Italia, which included a circuit race within Milan. The suggestion came from a television presenter, Yves Mourosi, who then had the honour of announcing the venture on his 1pm news show in November 1974.

Get to know every single squad member at the tournament. Click on the player pictures for a full profile and ratings

Enthusiasm is palpable as fans buy in to a tournament where progress should be made on and off the pitch

In any downtime from ensuring Euro 2025 passes smoothly, Uefa staff can take a short walk to watch Nyon’s summer jazz festival in full flow. Rive Jazzy is in its fourth decade and there should be something for everyone. The Greasers will be on stage to set a tone before England face Wales on 13 July; this Friday anyone with a penchant for swing can turn up at Place du Molard to enjoy harmonies by the Hot Shooters.

The more pressing hope is that there will be plenty of those on Switzerland’s football pitches across the next 25 days. At its elite level, the women’s game has never before been blessed with the depth of quality it can showcase this month. There is justified optimism that no weak link will stick out like a sore thumb among the 16 contenders in this European Championship; at the top end a valid expectation exists that, while Spain are obvious favourites, at least three or four others are highly equipped to test that status vigorously.

Spain are expected to win the tournament for the first time but England have a Golden Boot contender in Alessia Russo

It feels as if Spain and a revitalised Germany have the wind in their sails to meet in Basel, even if Aitana Bonmatí’s illness is a real worry for the world champions. Spain will win out on the night. England know the ropes and cannot be ruled out but their path to glory looks complicated. Nick Ames

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• British No 1 led 6-2, 6-2, 2-1 before opponent’s injury

• Draper to face Marin Cilic in the second round

For three long weeks, as Wimbledon has gradually drawn closer, Jack Draper has had to navigate the growing anticipation within himself and from the world around him; he has had to field countless questions about his ability to handle the pressure and, in the quiet moments, he has surely wondered how he would deal with it all.

Now, finally, he can simply focus on playing tennis. Draper took his first step forward at his home grand slam as one of the best players in the world by defeating the Argentinian Sebastián Báez with a dominant performance, establishing a 6-2, 6-2, 2-1 lead by the time his opponent retired because of a leg injury.

• Ten Britons will play in second round at SW19

• Jack Pinnington Jones leads charge with fine win

It was always asking a lot for there to be a repeat of the heroics of the opening day at Wimbledon but thanks to Jack Draper, Dan Evans and Jack Pinnington Jones, the world No 281, Britain has 10 players through to the second round, the joint-best tally since 12 won through in 1976. What’s more, the total of seven British men into round two is the best at any grand slam event since Wimbledon 1997.

Another searingly hot day began with a check through the history books to find out the highest number of British first-round winners in the Open era, which was 13, in 1968. That always looked out of reach but Pinnington Jones’s brilliant 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-5 win over Tomás Martín Etcheverry, the world No 53 from Argentina, took the tally into double figures.

• Premier bowler Bumrah could be rested at Edgbaston

• Captain Gill says decision will be made on Tuesday night

India chose to let speculation swirl around the potential involvement of Jasprit Bumrah in Wednesday’s second Test, insisting that a decision over whether to play their premier bowler would not be taken until late on Tuesday night.

Their fear is that should Edgbaston produce a pitch which favours batting, a prospect made more likely by the dry conditions in which the ground staff have been working, and the rain that is tentatively forecast for the weekend were to fall, a draw would become the most likely result. Playing the 31-year-old might end up doing little more than draining his reserves of energy ahead of a third Test that starts at Lord’s next Thursday. Shubman Gill, the India captain, would say only that Bumrah is “definitely available�.

• Penn settles Title IX case over Lia Thomas’ wins

• School will ban trans women from female sports

• Feds call it a victory for women and girls’ rights

The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender women from its women’s sports teams to resolve a federal civil rights case that found the school violated the rights of female athletes.

The US Education Department announced the voluntary agreement Tuesday. The case focused on Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022, when she became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title.

• YouTuber debuts at No 14 in WBA cruiserweight ranks

• Paul’s ranking reflects star power, not fight record

• Zurdo Ramírez or Badou Jack could be next opponent

Jake Paul has entered the World Boxing Association’s cruiserweight rankings, making the YouTuber-turned-boxer eligible to fight for a world title.

The WBA slotted Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) at No. 14 in the latest edition of its rankings late Monday night, two days after Paul beat 39-year-old Julio César Chávez Jr by unanimous decision in Anaheim, California.

• Breakthrough elusive at club relegated from League Two

• Panjab Warriors consortium have clearance for takeover

Morecambe are on the verge of entering administration after talks between the club’s directors and owner Jason Whittingham failed to find a breakthrough regarding a potential takeover.

The Panjab Warriors consortium received clearance from the Football League to complete a takeover of the Shrimps at the start of June but the process remains incomplete and on Friday Morecambe’s board said Whittingham and his Bond Group Investments “appear to be considering reneging on the deal�.

Former Wales international admits he ‘will have to win the fans over’ on unveiling at National League club

Off the roundabout at the summit of Spring Hill, the billboard on Another Way that usually displays Forest Green Rovers’ next opponents is shouting about their new manager. “Welcome Robbie,� it reads in block capitals. A club famous for doing things differently have appointed Robbie Savage on a four-year contract, enthused by his sole, record-breaking season in the dugout at Macclesfield FC – the 50-year-old led the team to the Northern Premier League title after transitioning from the role of director of football – rather than fretting whether he is qualified for the job.

“I know there will be a bit of scepticism because I’ve only had one year in management,� says Savage. “I know I will have to win fans over. But I’m not scared of that. I got released from the biggest football club in the world [Manchester United] at 19, told I wasn’t good enough. But I’ve always proved people wrong because I’ve got a great work ethic. I spoke to Brendan Rodgers, Martin O’Neill and Sean Dyche and they all said: ‘What an opportunity.’ Everybody wants to help me so that goes to show I must be OK because they’re willing to help.�

• Nottingham Forest have bid accepted for Lyon’s Fofana

• Sunderland complete £30m signing of Habib Diarra

Mikel Arteta has said Arsenal will benefit from Kepa Arrizabalaga’s experience and “real hunger to win� after the world’s most expensive goalkeeper completed a £5m transfer from Chelsea.

Arrizabalaga leaves Chelsea seven years after joining for £72m from Athletic Bilbao and will compete at Arsenal with his Spanish compatriot David Raya. After falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge Arrizabalaga has spent the past two seasons on loan, at Real Madrid and then Bournemouth.

• Spaniard substituted in fifth game since returning

• Guardiola blames profligacy for shock loss to Al-Hilal

After Manchester City crashed out of the Club World Cup 4-3 to Al-Hilal in Orlando, Pep Guardiola blamed a lack of ruthlessness, and said Rodri had sustained an injury setback.

City were eliminated by Marcus Leonardo’s 112th-minute winner on Monday night at the Camping World Stadium in the shock result of the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup. Guardiola’s team wasted a number of chances, with Jérémy Doku, Erling Haaland, Josko Gvardiol, Rúben Dias and Savinho among those who failed to put City out of sight in the opening half.

Super League clubs are expected to increase the foreign quota from seven to 10 players next season. Should they?

Saturday night’s cracker between Castleford and Wigan at Wheldon Road was typical of Super League’s multicultural nature. The bulk of the away team’s points were scored by Australians; a Samoa international from Christchurch, New Zealand, was the home side’s main creator; and a player born in Sydney with Maltese heritage was among the game’s outstanding performers. Castleford, with five overseas players, were narrowly beaten 26-20 by Wigan, who had four imports in their side.

Given that both teams are allowed seven overseas players, it seems strange that Super League clubs may vote next month to increase next season’s quota from seven players not trained in the European Federation to 10. Some clubs are already offering contracts based on the assumption that things will change.

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What a beautiful tale … right? The full-time whistle brought those scenes we know well from the real World Cup. Players on their knees: the victors turning to the heavens, the losers sucked into the dirt. Simone Inzaghi looked a particularly happy chap just weeks on from his nadir, that Bigger Cup embarrassment with Inter against PSG. Manchester City, the European heavyweights, had just been defeated by his brave underdogs, Al-Hilal. Yes, those same longshots who two years ago tried to buy Kylian Mbappé from PSG for £259m, shortly after coming under the ownership of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The incongruity of the situation escapes no one – except, of course, Gianni Infantino and his flatterers. From his ivory tower, which he tours around the world, the president shows no concern for the fate the international calendar reserves for top players. His [Copa Gianni] proves, to the point of absurdity, that it is urgent to stop this game of massacre� – France’s professional footballers’ union (UNFP) hits out at the Fifa overlord amid growing concern over fixture congestion and player welfare, including that from Fifpro, which has called on half-time breaks being extended to 20 minutes in extreme heat.

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around, does it make a sound? If a football team loses in a competition, and no one is watching, is it a shock?� – Darren Leathley.

From yesterday’s full email edition, many thanks for sharing with us the tale of Dorking’s Marc White and his dire attempt to recreate the Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club (kids, ask your nan why that was even a thing). Can I just point out that due to the consequent ban, your caption on that photo of the guy clearly standing on a touchline shouldn’t be ‘he’ll be here all week’. That’s the one place he won’t be for a bit� – Jon Millard.

Re: this news story. ‘Footage of three-a-side game shows humanoids struggling to kick the ball or stay upright.’ The best Football Daily headline opportunity ever provided by Big Website! I don’t know where to begin� – Nigel Sanders.

Using clever tactics and Messi clickbait, Egyptian creators racked up 14m views with highlights posted before kickoff. YouTube didn’t catch on until it was too late

This story was reported by Indicator, a publication that investigates digital deception, and co-published with the Guardian.

It was Thursday morning in America and something didn’t look right in the highlights of the Club World Cup match between Manchester City and Juventus.

Suzi Ragheb provided research support and translation of one of the videos in Arabic.

Seven inspired wins, David Beckham in the royal box and 10,000 fans at Wimbledon Park meant a memorable start to SW19

It might sound implausible, but this was a day where Wimbledon, that most quintessential of British sporting institutions, felt even more British than usual. The queues were lengthy, the weather hitting record-breaking heights. And over a glorious day of action, the All England Club reverberated to the rare sound of unheralded British players shattering expectations – and ripping up the record books.

By the time Katie Boulter left Centre Court with the cheers still ringing in her ears after defeating the No 9 seed Paula Badosa, there had been a magnificent seven British victories on day one – the most in a single day in the open era.

Spending may seem scattergun but new weapons, from Liam Delap to João Pedro, will help Chelsea tackle low blocks

When Enzo Maresca became Chelsea’s head coach last summer, those who had studied the Italian’s tactics at Leicester predicted his appointment would accelerate the end of Ben Chilwell’s time at Stamford Bridge. “Enzo doesn’t play with a left-back,� a source said. “Chilwell won’t be able to do what Enzo wants. He just won’t play him.�

The prediction was spot-on, with Chilwell quickly discounted from selection. It was nothing personal, though. The logic was merely that Maresca does not play with a conventional back four in possession but wants one full-back inverting and the other shifting inside to play as an extra centre-back in a 3-2-4-1 system.

The new Brad Pitt F1 movie offers a glossy exhilarating ride but its 1960s predecessor Grand Prix goes beneath the bonnet

‘Let’s try to get the season off to a good start, shall we? Drive the car. Don’t try to stand it on its bloody ear.�

Have you watched the movie? It’s about a rule-breaking American Formula One driver, the kind who blows past blue flags and crashes into his own teammate. You must have heard of it. They shot it in real race cars, across some of the most prestigious circuits in the world. It even had contemporary world championship drivers making notable cameos on the track.

I recently spent time coaching 80 girls at FC Midtjylland, the team where I began my career but had to leave in my teens as they had no women’s team

I will be on a plane on Monday with Denmark heading to Switzerland to take part in my fourth Euros, but before the tournament I went back to where it all began for me, to Danish side FC Midtjylland. I was there to spend time coaching 80 girls from the age of eight to 13.

More than 20 years ago, I began my own journey there and things looked very different then. There was no women’s team and no women who played football. For me to go back as a role model these girls gives me a lot of energy. There is no better way to ground yourself than to be reminded where you came from.

By standards of their most entertaining team in decades, this was one of the more humdrum of stunning victories

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Truth is I’ve thought the same way myself. India scored five centuries, their fielders dropped six catches, and missed two other opportunities besides. Their best bowler took an important wicket off what turned out to be a no-ball; Chris Woakes, the man leading England’s attack, managed one wicket in the match; Josh Tongue, their big strapping quick, dismissed only one member of the opposition’s top six, and that was when he had already scored a hundred runs, and Shoaib Bashir gave up the large part of 200 runs. Oh, and England put the opposition in, and conceded the best part of 500.

And at the end of it all, they won. And this time the No 11 didn’t even have to bat. It was a match which they might well have lost. Maybe they should have. But it was also a match which any number of England sides before them wouldn’t even have tried to win. In the first 142 years of Test cricket England scored more than 300 runs in the fourth innings to win a Test exactly three times, and in the past six years of Test cricket England have scored over 300 runs in the fourth innings to win a Test exactly three times, once when Ben Stokes scored his 135 here to beat Australia, and now twice when he’s been captain.

Football competitions are expanding, overlapping and bleeding into one another, but is a month off too much to ask?

Does it feel too much? Premier League bleeding into the playoffs into the Champions League into the international break … we’re still bleeding … rip off your shirt and make a tourniquet! The European Under-21 and Under‑19 Championships into the Club World Cup, overlapping with the Women’s Euros … oh look the Premier League fixtures for 2025-26 are out and the EFL ones come out next week … and there’s David Prutton paying (excellent) homage to David Mitchell’s pisstake of Sky Sports on Sky Sports: “Catch all of the constantly happening football here it’s all here and it’s all football. Always. It’s impossible to keep track of all the football.�

You start to imagine Billy Joel rewriting We Didn’t Start the Fire … an endless list of footballers and pundits, of owners and streaming services, of controversies and grimness amid the beauty and joy. Will it ever reach breaking point?

Our cartoonist visits Poenari Castle on Mount Cetatea to see what nonsense Vlad Dracula III has spouted this time

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Northamptonshire and England cricketer hailed as a fearless batsman who was nicknamed ‘Ned’

It was some time in the 1980s. The details have gone hazy: it could have been any county cricket ground and any captain being asked by the press why they had lost so badly to Northamptonshire: “What went wrong?� The answer was equally terse: “We got Nedded.�

A “Nedding� meant being on the receiving end of a blistering innings from Wayne “Ned� Larkins, who has died in hospital, while awaiting a heart bypass, aged 71. When he was hot, he could be the most thrilling batsman in the country. But demons of insecurity lurked beneath his cheery countenance and his 13 Test matches were a feeble reward for an exceptional talent.

Former F1 world champion gives a moving insight into dealing with his grief as a 15-year-old, and reflects on driving with Senna and against Schumacher

“It was awful and to this day I feel the tension that I experienced,� Damon Hill says of the moment he heard on television in November 1975 that his father, Graham, the two-time Formula One world champion, had died in a plane accident. Hill had to leave the living room to find his mother and tell her what had happened.

“It was like having a nuclear bomb and I dropped it on my mum. Of course it was accentuated by the fact I was 15, which is when you haven’t got the defences to deal with it.�

Spain’s icon, the world’s best female player, discusses her journey back from injury and going to the Euros to compete for ‘the trophy we are missing’

‘It wasn’t my knee that hurt, it was my soul,� the Queen says, but now she is back. There is a look in Alexia Putellas’s eye, a light. “You know that feeling, that sense of security when it’s like you’re capable of anything?� the double Ballon d’Or winner says, leaning forward on a sofa at Spain’s Las Rozas HQ.

“At that moment, I felt it. And now I’ve got that feeling once again. I’m happy; the desire for these Euros is huge. I can’t wait to start, to go and give my everything.� And Alexia Putellas’s everything is everything.

The Australian Open winner is ready for another tilt at Wimbledon after her injury heartbreak in last year’s tournament

Before she won her first grand slam tournament at the Australian Open in January, Madison Keys had spent more than a year talking to a therapist about her life rather than just her tennis career. “When I’d gone to see sports psychologists in the past it had been a little tunnel-focused on routines and big moments on the court,� she says on a sleepy Sunday afternoon in London. “So being able to talk to someone about broader life philosophies helped me get to the root of why I was feeling that way instead of just being uber-focused on decisive moments in a match.�

The 30-year-old American, who is ready for another tilt at Wimbledon, remembers some of the wayward suggestions that specialist sports psychiatrists would advise her to follow at crucial stages of a match.

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For Premier League footballers, the art of the post-match interview is simple enough, once you get the hang of it. All credit for a victory – the hallowed “three points� – must go to your teammates and “the gaffer�, even if you just scored a hat-trick to keep said gaffer in a job. Individual brilliance can be celebrated only in jokey, self-effacing terms. “I never hit them that well in training,� that sort of thing. Then it’s quickly on to “the next one�, all eyes on Bournemouth this Sunday. Shake hands, move on, and never, ever say anything remotely controversial.

It’s a pointless competition. Whoever wins it will be the worst winner of all time because they’ll have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league. There are people who have never been involved in the day-to-day business of football and are now coming up with ideas. It’s too many games. I fear next season we will see injuries like never before� – Jürgen Klopp goes in two-footed on the Copa Gianni.

Since LAFC’s fans are so keen to point out that the Galaxy are based in Carson, not LA, I feel I have to correct your reference to ‘Tinseltown’ (Friday’s Football Daily), which refers specifically to the Hollywood neighbourhood (despite most of the studios not actually being in Hollywood). LAFC are, of course, based in the Expo Park area of LA. And while we’re at it, English people, please stop pronouncing it as Los Angel-eez. You sound like jackasseez� – Tom Dowler.

Enzo Maresca’s outburst that ‘it’s not football’ in the wake of Chelsea’s near two-hour weather delay on Saturday in Charlotte brings up some very interesting points. Although he claims that the USA might not be the best place to hold a summer tournament (and he’s probably right), it might be more apt to say that it’s not football as it used to be played in the old world (meaning the world before ever-accelerating climate change and global warming, rather than Europe as seen in the eyes of Americans). This new reality of storm delays and unpredictable match lengths will add interesting new challenges for coaching staffs: How do you focus the minds of Internet-age players for an indefinite period of time, while they await a restart while cocooned in the bowels of a stadium? Should an assistant coach be ready to have the players start watching and analysing video of the game they are playing in as soon as they are rehydrated and fed appropriately? (Coaches who always look for the smallest advantage would surely demand this information download to players in the midst of a game?) Should cell phone contact with the outside world be banned while the players are in this forced lockdown? (Or is this counter-productive when players’ minds naturally dwell on the safety of watching friends and family inside the stadium?) Should the levels of air-conditioning in the American “locker room� be adjusted to avoid muscles cooling too rapidly before recommencement? (I’ve been in a few, and like most indoor spaces in the US in summer, they’re bloody freezing!) It would be intriguing to hear some of your writers’ and some coaching experts’ views on these new challenges, especially as they will apply to next year’s World Cup here in the USA� – Justin Kavanagh.

I want to be a football player, I know how to play ball� – Ella Sendra.

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Stuart Broad suffered and Herschelle Gibbs enjoyed himself in a World Cup but no one has come close in Tests

Six, six, six, six, six, six. The perfect over for a batter but for a bowler a double dose of the devil’s number and the ultimate humiliation. “My brain had turned to fuzz,� says Stuart Broad of 19 September 2007 when Yuvraj Singh took him for 36 runs at Kingsmead in Durban. England had already crashed out of the inaugural T20 World Cup and a 21-year-old Broad suffered a colossal prang to his pride, the events of that night for ever changing him as a bowler.

England’s match against India was the second in a double-header. The game before ran over and cut into the preparation time for the second. “I marked my run-up at the end I was starting from, but either forgot or didn’t have time to mark it at the other end. I’d also never really done any death bowling. I think maybe Colly [Paul Collingwood, the England T20 captain] had messed up the overs and he was like: ‘You are back on to bowl now.’�

Emma Hayes is leaning on NWSL players for friendlies to plan for individual development and vet wider playing pool

While national teams in Europe, Africa and South America prepare for the biggest tournaments in their region, the US women’s national team convene this month for three friendlies with a unique approach. For back-to-back tests against Republic of Ireland followed by a meeting with Canada, nearly all of their Europe-based players are on vacation.

“We’ve left out the vast majority of players that are playing in Europe bar one, and that’s Naomi Girma,� said the head coach, Emma Hayes. “The rest of those players have been playing non-stop [for the] last two years without a summer break and this is the only opportunity they will get for a much-needed break. It also gives us the chance to play players who are playing domestically.�

Australia coach Joe Schmidt has lifted team from lowest ebb and made a country feel it can win again

Australian rugby liked what it saw – and didn’t see – last week, as the British & Irish Lions got their 2025 tour off to a losing start against Argentina. Sure, it was the opening game of a 10-match odyssey and Andy Farrell’s men were lacking cohesion after only two weeks in camp. But for a young Wallabies side rising fast under their head coach, Joe Schmidt, it put blood in the water and proved the tourists are very beatable.

Schmidt’s 6-7 record in his first season in charge of the Wallabies might not cost Lions fans much sleep but Farrell, his former second‑in‑command at Ireland, will sniff the seeds of ambush. In their last start in November, the Wallabies led Ireland 13-5 only to lose 22-19. Schmidt won’t let that happen again. The 2025 Wallabies these Lions face are light years from the lambs Eddie Jones led to slaughter at the 2023 World Cup in France.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Tom Garry and Marva Kreel give a full preview to Euro 2025, with the tournament kicking off on Wednesday

On the podcast today: as send-offs go, England’s on Sunday was quite amazing. The Lionesses thrashed Jamaica 7-0 in Leicester before heading to Switzerland. Did we learn anything new from their performance? Can England or Wales escape the Group of Death at Euro 2025?

Everything you need to know is packed inside this podcast, with the panel discussing who the favourites are, which players should you be watching out for and potential dark horses. Spain are world champions and Nations League holders, but they’ve been dealt some late fitness worries. Germany are unbeaten so far this year. How scared should opponents be of their attacking line up?

Max Rushden is joined by Seb Hutchinson, John Brewin and Dan Bardell to discuss Club World Cup chaos, England’s U21s triumph, the Women’s Euros in Switzerland

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On the podcast today, the panel discusses the absurd scenes in Charlotte as Chelsea’s Club World Cup clash with Benfica was delayed nearly two hours due to lightning, before going to extra time and finishing more than four hours after it kicked off. Enzo Maresca declared “it’s not football�, while Jürgen Klopp called the competition “pointless�. The panel considers the implications of this ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

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Today’s rumours are juicing oranges

Everyone t’up north (London) wants Eberechi Eze. Fierce rivals Tottenham and Arsenal are ready to battle it out for the winger, eager to procure his dazzling dribbling and finishing. Crystal Palace know their position in this and are willing to sell, but he will set any suitors back around £68m. Last season the England international scored and created eight goals in 34 league appearances to make him one of the most sought-after attackers in the country.

Spurs do not plan to fund any of their summer business by selling Europa League winner Cristian Romero on the cheap. Atlético Madrid are flirting with the idea of signing him but the £60m sale demands will almost certainly put them off.