List of All Articles with Tag 'ba'

Kevin De Bruyne insists he is “way ahead” of schedule on his return from a hamstring injury that cut short his appearance in Manchester City’s Champions League final win. The 32-year-old scored 10 goals and provided 31 assists as City won the treble last season, adding the FA Cup and Champions League to a fifth Premier League crown in six years. De Bruyne revealed that he was carrying a hamstring injury for the last two months of the campaign and was forced off just 36 minutes into the 1-0 win over Inter Milan in June. His first action back was off the bench as a second-half substitute in Sunday’s Community Shield meeting with Arsenal – where he set up Cole Palmer for the opening goal but then missed the first penalty as the Gunners won a shoot-out 4-1. “I’m way ahead of schedule,” he said after the Wembley clash. “I was probably looking to be back around the game vs Seville (in the Super Cup on August 16). I just enjoyed my summer, worked on my injury. “I came back and the scan was good so I trained mostly alone in Japan. That went well, I’m happy. “You don’t know how the injury will be. Mostly in the past I’ve always been quite a quick healer. It’s the body.” City begin the defence of their league title with a trip to Sky Bet Championship winners Burnley on Friday night. De Bruyne, though, admits he does not know if he will be fit enough to start at Turf Moor. “I don’t know how I am physically,” added the Belgium international. I'm getting better and there's still around 70-80 games this year so I should be fine! Kevin De Bruyne “I’ve probably trained five or six times with the team. I’m not too worried about it. I played 45 minutes at a good level so I’m happy with that. “I’m getting better and there’s still around 70-80 games this year so I should be fine!” Pep Guardiola has yet to confirm who will take over as City’s new captain this season after Ilkay Gundogan departed for Barcelona. Kyle Walker – linked with a move to Bayern Munich this summer – led City out at Wembley, while De Bruyne took the armband when he replaced Mateo Kovacic on 64 minutes. Asked about the captaincy, De Bruyne replied: “Nothing yet. I don’t know. “If I get it, I get it. It’s not going to change anything I do for the club. This is my ninth year, I know the club inside out and people know whatever they ask of me, I’ll do. “I’m not too worried. I try to do the same as always. It’s an honour if I get it and if not, it doesn’t matter.”

Donald Trump still a self-sufficient poster.

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Tottenham Hotspur have rejected Bayern Munich’s latest offer for Harry Kane. Bayern submitted their third offer of the summer for the England captain on Friday and an apparent deadline of midnight was also set by the German club. All weekend passed without any further development but Spurs have now responded on Monday and rejected Bayern’s latest bid, it is understood. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was reported to have met with Bayern officials last week, but the clubs remain around £25m apart in their valuation. Friday’s bid was expected to be the final offer made by the Bundesliga champions and it remains to be seen whether or not they will continue their pursuit of Kane. Kane has entered the final 12 months of his contract at Tottenham, but ignored the noise around his future to score four goals in a 5-1 friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Sunday. Dejan Kulusevski set up Kane’s hat-trick strike and hailed the professionalism of his team-mate. “He scored four goals, so very good,” Kulusevski exclaimed. “Nah, he’s unbelievable. Honestly, his mentality, I can learn from him like everybody. He just goes out and performs day in day out. “He’s a true professional. I’m happy I helped him score today but of course we want him to stay and we’ll do everything to make him stay.” Asked whether it would be beneficial to have Kane’s future sorted sooner rather than later, Kulusevski admitted: “I think it would. On the other hand, you can only control what you can control. We players cannot do anything about it. “We work our hardest, try to stay ready and the players that manage it, it’s up to them.” This latest twist in the Kane saga increases the likelihood that the forward will feature in Sunday’s Premier League opener at Brentford. Before Tottenham make the trip across the capital, Postecoglou will take his squad to Barcelona on Tuesday for their final pre-season match this summer. It will be another opportunity for Postecoglou to get his players attuned to his front-foot, progressive style of football and Kulusevski, after being accustomed to a pragmatic and counter-attacking approach under Antonio Conte previously, is relishing the attacking brand brought in. “It is fun actually. I love it,” he said. “You have to be physically very good, I love that too. I’m enjoying having a lot of ball higher on the pitch, so I’m very grateful to have him (Postecoglou). “I like him a lot. Also at half-time he was very angry because we stopped playing for five minutes and you cannot be like that. “You have to play always. Just because you’re tired, you (can’t) let them have the ball. Things happen like that. So I like him a lot and I’m looking forward to improving under him.” Kulusevski did concede there will be an adjustment period for Tottenham under Postecoglou’s new bold style. He said: “Everything takes time in life, but the thing is we really, really have to believe in it. It’s not enough if he’s trying to make us believe. We all have to do it. “But we’re in a good way, I think. This was the first game when we played 90 minutes. We’re happy, we ran a lot. It was quite good. “Last season, maybe we scored one and then we tried to protect the result. So, of course we have to improve but second half was very, very good. “He (Postecoglou) said we always have to play. Don’t shoot away the ball, don’t stop pressing, don’t waste time. Always play, play the same and don’t think about the score or the time. Just play and have fun. “We all want to score much more. When we go 1-0, we want to score the second, not back off. So, we all want to score much more.” Read More Dejan Kulusevski vows to ‘do everything’ to keep Harry Kane at Tottenham Postecoglou aims ‘deadline’ dig at Bayern over Kane transfer saga Harry Kane puts speculation to one side with four goals in Tottenham friendly Gary Lineker worried about Tottenham’s campaign with or without Harry Kane Bayern awaiting Tottenham response on ‘final’ offer for Harry Kane James Maddison wants ‘world’s best number nine’ Harry Kane to stay at Spurs

By James Oliphant and Gram Slattery WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The first Republican debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign is shaping

A bear being transported on an Iraqi Airways flight from Baghdad to Dubai Friday caused delays after it escaped from a crate in the cargo hold.

Today's USMNT newsincludes Matt Turner's imminent transfer from Arsenal to NottinghamForest.Malik Tillman's move to PSV is progressing and Haji Wright made his debut for Coventry City.USMNT news: Matt Turner to Nottingham ForestMatt Turner was on Arsenal's bench as they defea...

LONDON UBS announced an overhaul of its investment banking division on Monday, including naming the unit's M&A chiefs,

A top climate adviser to US President Joe Biden signaled the administration could phase in some requirements for

Bayern Munich learn the response to their club record bid for Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

Warning bells are ringing for US stocks from signs that high government spending, which underpinned economic growth this

If England are to win this World Cup, they will scarcely endure a game as testing or as tense as this. A positive spin on this penalty shoot-out victory over Nigeria is that it could again be the making of them, adding to their resolve, with Chloe Kelly once more offering a decisive kick. A negative is that this should bring a reconsideration about what is possible, especially with the likelihood that Lauren James will miss two games if not all three potential ties left. Her teammates did her a huge favour here. This World Cup still remains as hard to work out as James’ decision to stand on Michelle Alozie in the second half, receiving a red card. England came very close to another surprise elimination as Nigeria proved to be their equals throughout the match. England should have been their superiors, really. The great irony is that the red card almost served England better – at least in this situation. Before then, the system and the set-up had been all wrong, as it clearly didn’t suit the returning Keira Walsh. She picked up another injury during this arduous evening in Brisbane. This strategic misstep meant Nigeria did all the attacking and had all the play. After the red, though, it was as if Randy Waldrum’s side didn’t know how to play against 10 women. Both sides looked like they’d forgotten how to attack. That continued into the shootout as the first two were missed. It was only Bethany England that set things right. For all the criticisms and questions that could come with this game, one element should be noted. It would have been very easy for England to wilt here, especially given the very feel of this World Cup with the United States going out the night before. Instead, there was a mental resolve there, that was clearly set by last summer. It was visible in the penalties too. It does give Sarina Wiegman even more to think about, though. She must reshuffle this team again, accommodating the absence of James – maybe until the final, if England even get that far. Jamaica or Colombia will give Wiegman’s side as tough a test in the quarter-final in Sydney. It is England’s attack – and in fact their very attacking mentality – that now requires the most consideration. England had specifically prepared for Nigeria’s physicality in the tackle, seeking to step off so as not to play that game, but it quickly became apparent this was almost too meek. They were giving up too much space and too many chances. Nigeria had more shots in the first half than any team that Wiegman’s England have faced. One of them was Ashleigh Plumptre’s thunderous strike off the bar, before the former English underage international then forced a scrambled save from Mary Earps. England were looking for that spell of control, but it was almost too methodical, lacking real energy. The strangeness around the penalty decision only added to this. Even if it wasn’t a penalty in the first place, despite the fact there didn’t look to be enough obvious evidence to see it overturned. The referee made the call just as Georgia Stanway was motioning to shoot, making it all the more frustrating for England. This was the story of almost every move forward. It was also the story of Stanway’s penalty later on. James, admittedly, was being superbly shuttled out of the game by Nigeria. That surely led to the frustration she took out later. In the moment, it meant that any time England got forward there were vast differences between their attackers. On the one occasion in the first half when Nigeria’s occasional sloppiness brought a defensive error, Alessia Russo opted to smash the ball when she should have gone with more subtlety. Goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie, well off her line, was just waiting to be chipped. She instead got down well to save an effort that should have made it much more difficult for her. Space was so difficult to find for James, however, that she increasingly had to drop back and get the ball. England did gradually solve one issue, mind. For the first half, and going into the second, Nigeria were creating panic every time they got into the box. There was one desperate and defiant block from Jess Carter. There were more than a few moments when the ball could have gone anywhere. That did come with a cost, though. It almost seemed like England were so concerned with Nigeria breaking – especially when the half-fit Asisat Oshoala came on – that they were too reluctant to commit players forward. The wing-backs rarely crossed the halfway line. There were no real chances created. It said much that the best of normal time was a corner, Rachel Daly’s thunderous header just a little too central. Nnadozie still reacted superbly, though. The same, alas, could not be said of James. Alozie’s own reaction said enough. It was almost one of disbelief. She was far from the only person thinking that. The oddity was that the situation served England better. It was as if Nigeria weren’t able to capitalise against 10, especially with the onus now on them. From then, penalties seemed inevitable. England going through certainly didn’t look as inevitable as many would have thought. Read More Lauren James sent off for stamping on opponent during England’s World Cup clash England vs Nigeria LIVE: Score and updates as Women’s World Cup game goes to penalty shootout How ‘arrogance’ and ‘complacency’ led to United States’ decline A timeline of Donald Trump’s spat with Megan Rapinoe How many games will Lauren James miss at Women’s World Cup after red card? Keira Walsh: England’s deep-lying playmaker in profile