I just thought, What are they doing?’
That was Phil Neville s response when asked about members of the United States backroom team assessing England s hotel ahead of potentially moving into it for the Women s World Cup final.
He likely had similar thoughts – perhaps with more colourful language – when the USA team sheet came out for Tuesday s semi-final in Lyon and Megan Rapinoe s name was not in the starting line-up.
The player of the tournament so far, the woman whose four goals in the previous two matches had dragged USA to an eighth-straight World Cup semi-final and the name on everyone s lips – from US president Donald Trump to actor Zac Efron – not in Jill Ellis XI?
Conspiracy theories circulated. Was it something to do with her t…
Mohamed Salah has unsurprisingly won the Premier League s Player of the Month award for October after a scintillating few weeks.
The Liverpool talisman has been in irresistible form all season, but he took himself to another level last month as he scored five goals and set up another four.
His five goals came from an expected goals value of just 2.7, highlighting just how deadly Salah was over the period in question.
No one else scored or assisted more than three goals in October, while Salah s total of nine involvements was more than double his nearest challengers Mason Mount, Phil Foden and Roberto Firmino on four each.
In fact, the last player to register as many as nine goal involvements in a single calendar month was Salah himself in December 2018 (1…
Thomas Muller has not quite let his Robert LewanGOLski joke go, as the Bayern Munich star backed his team-mate to pip Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the FIFA Best Awards.
Lewandowski, who scored 55 goals across all competitions last season as Bayern won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League, is up for the Best Player award in Thursday s ceremony, alongside Barcelona talisman Messi and Juventus forward Ronaldo.
With the Ballon d Or having not taken place this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a win on Thursday would at least be some recognition for Lewandowski s outstanding year.
The Poland international has continued his hot form into 2020-21, netting 18 times in total already.
In August, Muller joked that Bayern had Robert LewanGOLski i…
According to a report from Sky Sports News, Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Ryan Bennett is on the verge of joining Leicester City after travelling to the top four side earlier today.
The back-up defender had been tipped with a move away from Molineux for a while, especially with the return of Willy Boly ensuring that he falls even further down the pecking order at the club. However, many fans noted the thin nature of Wolves’ squad, and that Bennett has been a valuable member of the first team squad for quite some time.
It’s been no secret that Leicester have wanted to try and bring in one or two new defenders to try and bolster their squad heading into the second half of the season, and now, it looks like they’ve got their man.
Whether or not he …
Harry Maguire’s retrial at a Greek court will be held in February, the PA news agency understands.
The Manchester United and England defender was handed a suspended 21-month sentence in August 2020 following an incident in Mykonos.
Maguire’s legal team immediately lodged an appeal against the conviction for assaulting a police offer and attempted bribery, which United said extinguished the initial court verdict and nullified the conviction.
The retrial was reportedly set to take place earlier this month until the defender’s legal team asked for it to be put back.
PA has been told it will now take place on February 7, 2024, three-and-a-half years after the event.
Maguire does not have to attend the retrial and it is understood the United capt…
Memphis Depay has taken a swipe at ex-NBA star and American TV analyst Charles Barkley following the Netherlands 3-1 win over the United States in the World Cup round of 16 on Saturday.
Depay opened the scoring in the victory, which came after Barkley had started trash talk in the lead-up to the knockout stage clash.
Barkley said on NBA on TNT: We re going for the Netherlands. We opening up a can of whoop-a** cause I guarantee the Netherlands is in trouble.
“I GUARANTEE THE NETHERLANDS IN TROUBLE
Charles is all in on the
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT)
The official Dutch team Twitter account responded with a hype video of Barkley s quotes shortly prior to kick-off with Barcelona attacker having the last laugh.
Lotta bark, no bit…
Robert Lewandowski shut out thoughts surrounding individual records and fixed his focus on firing Bayern Munich past Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals after notching another brace in Saturday s triumph over Chelsea.
The Poland international improved his season goal tally to 53 in all competitions as he scored twice and assisted another two in a 4-1 victory at the Allianz Arena that saw Bayern advance from the last 16 as 7-1 aggregate winners.
Lewandowski now has 13 goals in seven Champions League appearances this term, four behind the record Cristiano Ronaldo set for a single season in 2013-14.
But the prolific 31-year-old striker insisted he is more interested in helping his side progress from next Friday s single-leg quarter-final in Lisbon, wher…
Michael Beale may have revamped his Rangers squad but he still sees Tom Lawrence and Kemar Roofe having key parts to play this season.
The Gers boss, who has recruited nine new players this summer, welcomed back the duo for the cinch Premiership game against Ross County in Dingwall on Saturday.
Lawrence signed from Derby last summer but the 29-year-old attacker has only recently recovered from a knee injury which has kept him out since the 4-0 win over the Staggies at Ibrox last August.
Who will finish August on a high? Welcome to GW3
v – live on
— SPFL (@spfl)
Striker Roofe, 30, has been impacted by injuries since he signed from Anderlecht in 2020 but is fit again, he has made two substitute appearances this season against Ki…
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta remains uninterested by the other teams in the Premier League s top-four race, insisting it is all in the Gunners hands.
Arteta s side have lost just one of eight top-flight games since a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at the start of 2022, surging up the table to fourth in the league.
Arsenal are three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, who have played a game more, as they push for Champions League qualification, with their next fixture coming away at Crystal Palace on Monday.
That means Spurs, Manchester United and West Ham will have all played before the Gunners are in action at Selhurst Park, but Arteta does not see the late game as an advantage over his competitors.
We re going to focus on what we can do. That s …
Sergio Aguero might struggle for somewhere to put his birthday cards, given his living room cabinets are liberally decorated with hat-trick balls and man-of-the-match trophies.
But if the social media window into the home life of Manchester City s all-time leading scorer has shown he is unlikely to be celebrated for his approach to interior design any time soon, fans can relish one of the modern game s elite goal-getters soon returning to action.
Aguero brought up a double landmark at the end of January – completing a record 12th Premier League hat-trick with his 250th City goal in a 6-1 demolition of Aston Villa.
Eric Brook s previous best mark of 177 was overhauled in a Champions League win at Napoli in 2017 and, as he turns 32, Aguero has considerable dayli…