’Fearless’ France favorites for ex-All Black Sonny Bill Williams
PARIS: When Sonny Bill Williams retired from rugby union after the 2019 World Cup, he brought an end to one of the most glittering careers in the sport.
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Spain fire Vilda as women’s team coach, name his assistant as replacement
MADRID: Spain’s women’s team coach Jorge Vilda has been sacked, the football federation (RFEF) said on Tuesday, 10 days after FIFA suspended RFEF’s president for kissing team player Jenni Hermoso on the mouth in celebration of Spain’s World Cup victory.
Saudi national team hold training session in Newcastle ahead of friendlies
LONDON: The Saudi national team held a training session on Tuesday at South Shields FC, near Newcastle, ahead of two friendly matches during the training window, which runs from Sept. 3-12.
Spain resume Euro 2024 qualifiers without federation boss Rubiales, Italy start post-Mancini era
GENEVA: Spain return to national-team soccer this week amid turmoil since the men’s and women’s teams won international titles in the last games they played. The first two days of Spanish men’s preparation for a European Championship qualifying game Friday in Georgia started with captain Álvaro Morata reading a statement of support to the Women’s World Cup-winning players and denouncing “unacceptable behavior” by now-suspended federation boss Luis Rubiales. Off-field distractions continued Tuesday: an apology to world soccer for Rubiales’ conduct at and since the women’s final in Australia by his interim replacement Pedro Rocha, and firing beleaguered women’s team coach Jorge Vilda. Men’s team coach Luis de la Fuente — who won a UEFA Nations League title in June just months into the job — has kept that job despite also being a longtime federation ally of Rubiales. Unlike Vilda, De la Fuente did not face a walkout by his entire coaching staff and a player mutiny. Only Real Betis striker Borja Iglesias has said he won’t play for Spain until “things change.” Still, those Nations League victories over Italy then Croatia in the final, in a penalty shootout, seem a long time ago and the Group A table in Euro 2024 qualifying leaves fourth-place Spain lots to do. Group leader Scotland won two more games in June, after stunning Spain 2-0 in March, and are eight points clear ahead of playing last-place Cyprus on Friday.
Donald names ‘generational’ talent Aberg plus Rose, Lowry among Ryder Cup picks
LONDON: Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald picked rising star Ludvig Aberg plus major winners Justin Rose and Shane Lowry among his six wildcards for the tournament in Rome. His other selections for the 12-man team to take on the United States are Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka and Nicolai Hojgaard. They join automatic qualifiers Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntire in Donald’s team, which will attempt to regain the trophy at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club from September 29 to October 1. Europe suffered a record 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits in 2021. Aberg only turned professional in June, but the former world number one amateur won the final qualifying event in Switzerland on Sunday with a final round of 64 at Crans-sur-Sierre. The 23-year-old Swede has made the quickest transition from the amateur ranks to the Ryder Cup in the contest’s history, eclipsing the previous record set by Sergio Garcia, who made his debut in September 1999 after turning professional following April’s Masters. “We have great depth of talent in Europe, and that is perfectly illustrated with the team we now have confirmed for Rome, which is a strong blend of players with previous Ryder Cup experience combined with exciting and talented rookies,” said Donald. “I’m really pleased to have this team now in place and we are all looking forward to going to Rome later this month and trying to win back the Ryder Cup.” Speaking about Aberg, the Europe skipper said: “We obviously knew what he was doing in the college scene. You look at what he did in those four years and the only comparables really were Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm.
‘Hungry’ US demolish Italy to reach Basketball World Cup semis
MANILA: United States forward Mikal Bridges said his team were “just plain hungry” after they overpowered Italy on Tuesday to book their place in the Basketball World Cup semifinals. The US beat Italy 100-63 to rebound from their first defeat of the tournament, a loss to Lithuania in the second round two days earlier. The Americans fell behind early against Lithuania but they had no such problems with Italy, leading by 10 points by the end of the first quarter. Bridges, who led the US in scoring with 24 points, said the mantra heading into the quarter-final game was to “set the tone.” “That’s what the coach has been preaching to us,” he said. “The bench has been doing a pretty good job but I think the starters have been letting them down a little bit with a slow start. “The coach got us prepared and we were just plain hungry.” The US never gave Italy a chance to get started, learning their lesson after allowing Lithuania to nail their first nine three-point attempts. The Americans limited Italy to just 24 points in the first half — the second-lowest tally ever from a team appearing in a World Cup quarter-final. “We took a tough loss last game,” said US center Paolo Banchero. “It felt like we didn’t play up to our standards on the defense end, so we wanted to come out and make a statement on defense.” The US will face either Germany or tournament sensations Latvia in the semifinals on Friday. Head coach Steve Kerr said he was not worried about his players letting their energy levels drop after such a high-octane performance. He likened his team to “the horse turning back to the barn.” “The horse starts picking up the pace when it senses it’s near the barn, and that’s what is happening right now — our guys are sensing
Nketiah ready to seize England chance
BURTON UPON TRENT, United Kingdom: Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah believes his first England call-up has come at the right time as he stakes his claim to be Harry Kane’s deputy at Euro 2024. The 24-year-old is England’s all-time top goalscorer at under-21 level having netted 16 in 17 games. But after bursting onto the scene as an 18-year-old, Nketiah’s future at Arsenal looked in doubt until an injury to Gabriel Jesus gave him the opportunity to impress for Mikel Arteta’s men last season. Nketiah has also deputised for Jesus this season, scoring twice in four Premier League games, to earn his call-up to Gareth Southgate’s squad. “I think I am a much better player now than I was two or three years ago. It is really nice and I am coming in at a good time,” said Nketiah on Tuesday. “I feel confident and I feel ready to continue to improve.
NEOM Beach Games returns to host international athletes
Beach Games will host Super League Triathlon NEOM, NEOM Beach Soccer Cup, NEOM FIBA 3x3 Challenger 2023, NEOM Titan Desert Saudi Arabia, and NEOM IFSC Masters.