England defender Jess Carter is adamant even the prospect of playing Spain in Sunday’s World Cup final will not sway her steely nerves. While many footballers will claim they take a business-as-usual approach to even the biggest games, the declaration feels especially genuine when articulated by the laidback 25-year-old, who has been instrumental in ensuring the Lionesses have conceded just three goals in their unbeaten run to the title decider. The Lionesses have already assured themselves of a best-ever finish in a global showpiece by reaching this stage, and Carter is confident they can go one step further to secure England a first World Cup since 1966. Asked if she would have any stage fright on Sunday, Carter replied: “Personally, I won’t have. It’s football. “I’m not really a nervous person. I understand and know from the outside, it’s the World Cup final, your biggest moment. I play my best when I’m super calm. At the end of the day, it’s just a game of football. “We have to perform as we did in the first group game. Maybe some people have nerves but I think that will be challenged into positive energy come the night. “I’m super excited – I don’t think it has really sunk in yet. “There’s been such a quick turnaround between the last game and the next that you almost don’t have time to notice what’s been going on. It’s head down, rest, recovery and get ready to go again.” I think I chat with everyone and that’s something that a lot of the girls say, that I am super chill Jess Carter Each member of a team brings something different. Though Carter had not fully considered it, she acknowledged serenity could be seen as her signature strength. She said: “I think I chat with everyone and that’s something that a lot of the girls say, that I am super chill. I’ve had a couple of people feed back to say that it’s a really nice, I guess, aura to be around a little bit.” Carter’s journey to this point started later than many of her team-mates’. Though she started playing casually when she was “four or five”, the now 25-year-old did not join an academy until she was 15, following a successful trial with Birmingham and – in her own words – was not a “consistent presence” in England’s youth set-up. The Warwick native received her first senior call-up in 2017 and made her debut that November against Kazakhstan in a 2017 World Cup qualifier, but was not called back until nearly four years later, when then-new England boss Sarina Wiegman took a chance and named Carter in her first squad in September 2021. Carter has been vital this campaign, starting every game except England’s second – a 1-0 victory over Denmark – and rapidly adjusted when Wiegman switched systems from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 after that match with Carter, captain Millie Bright and veteran Alex Greenwood forming the back three. She said: “When I didn’t play against Denmark, I wasn’t not bothered, but it was just like, ‘I’ve just played in a World Cup, I had more minutes than I thought I was ever going to get coming into this tournament’. I didn’t come into the tournament expecting to play at all. “I was so honoured to be part of the team. Obviously, of course, you always want to play every minute and when I spoke to Sarina and (heard) her reasons and our tactics, she’s going to make the best decisions that she thinks are appropriate to go and win a game.” Carter, who can slot into both defence and midfield, does wonder how her career might have looked different had she instead been afforded the opportunity to nail down a single position, admitting: “That’s the question I ask myself every single day. “It’s definitely something that’s a massive positive, but at the same time, sometimes I do wish that if I could just play this one position, absolutely smash it. Then I wonder what level I could get myself to if I could just focus on that point.” Make no mistake, Carter is competitive and is as determined to win the World Cup as the rest of her team-mates, but the unfailingly calm and collected character comes out again when asked if she has stopped to think about how lifting the trophy could change her life. She replied: “No. I’m just going to go home. I’m going to go home to my apartment, really and I don’t know, just chill.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live The thrills, shocks and many brilliant moments of the World Cup in pictures Sweden beat Australia to win World Cup third-place play-off for fourth time We need to play game of our lives – Millie Bright issues World Cup rallying cry

Czech police have detained 16 people after violent clashes between West Ham United and Fiorentina fans marred the build-up to the Europa Conference League final in Prague. A group of black-clad Fiorentina fans attacked Hammers supporters in a bar in central Prague on Wednesday afternoon, injuring three patrons, authorities said. Videos on social media showed fans setting off flares and throwing tables at the bar located just off Prague’s Old Town Square. A police officer was also attacked. “Italy fans attacked West Ham fans in a bar on Rytirska street, injuring three,” Czech police said on Twitter. “A police officer was also attacked. We have restricted the personal liberty of 16 people.” More than 10,000 officers are on duty in the Czech capital with major security concerns around the game given the vast numbers of supporters who have travelled without tickets. An estimated 20,000 West Ham fans are believed to have travelled to Prague, even though the club’s allocation of match tickets was fewer than 6,000, given the small size of Slavia Prague’s stadium hosting the showpiece. Uefa have also promised a beefed-up security presence at the Eden Arena as the governing body are desperate to avoid a repeat of the chaotic scenes that marred last season’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Paris. Additional reporting by Reuters and PA Read More Carlton Cole on West Ham’s final, a coaching career and his surprise ‘love’ of the world’s most sustainable sport I might miss flight home if West Ham win European title, says fan in Prague West Ham fans take over Prague ahead of Europa Conference League final

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Kim Kardashian is used to facing criticism by now and is once again being called out by fans after making a comment about struggling to raise four kids with ‘no one there’. Last week, the Skims founder went on Jay Shetty’s podcast On Purpose. After their very public divorce, Kim has been openly talking about being a single mother, raising her and Kanye West’s four children. Talking about the struggles of co-parenting, Kim shared that she can find it very difficult to parent her children and manage their mood swings with ‘no one there’ to help her out. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter She added that parent "has been the most challenging thing." She told Shetty "there are nights I cry myself to sleep, like, 'what just happened?' With all the moods and the personalities." "Sometimes, it’s nights where we are going hour by house to see if we’re gonna survive. Night by night. If a tantrum comes in, oh my god. Your life is completely upside down," she shared. The internet were divided by Kim’s comments, with many noting the multiple nannies that Kim is often surrounded by, and that she failed to acknowledge that compared to average mothers she has a lot more support. With some accusing the billionaire of pretending to be 'middle class'. One person wrote: "She also talks as if she doesn’t have a full staff of people helping her wtf." Another added: "Kim has four nannies, one assigned to each kid. Motherhood is not hard. Nannies are raising her kids. She needs [to] stop trying to act like she’s middle class." However, others came to Kim’s defense saying that money and help doesn’t make being a mother any easier, especially a single mother. Fans said that her feelings and pain were valid and that she is still human. One person said: "She may be extremely successful, and [has] nannies…but what she speaks about with four kids and one mama…is spot on." Another wote: "Even though she’s a multimillionaire and famous, her story and her pain is still valid. She’s a human like the rest of us, and she’s allowed to feel and suffer, too." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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