List of All Articles with Tag 'll'

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Drake Callender credits his team's preparations for the Leagues Cup final.

The Washington Mystics are coming off a win against the Indiana Fever in their last game, but things will be much tougher on Sunday when they take on the Dallas Wings.Dallas dominated the Connecticut Sun – the No. 3 team in the league – in back-to-back games, and now is favored on th...

England midfielder Georgia Stanway vowed the Lionesses would carry on fighting for top spot on the planet after finishing runners-up to Spain in the World Cup final in Sydney. The Lionesses were among the pre-tournament favourites in Australia and New Zealand, with punters pointing to their dominant run to last summer’s European title, but injuries to Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby and the retirement of Ellen White left Sarina Wiegman without four players who started every match of that triumph before she even named her World Cup squad. Wiegman barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief after learning key midfielder Keira Walsh’s knee injury, sustained in England’s second group-stage encounter, was not as serious as initially suspected before the influential Lauren James was sent off in the last 16 and issued a two-match ban. Stanway said after the 1-0 loss to Spain: “I think we can be proud. The last nine weeks, seven games, to wear a silver, it’s special. “It’s hard to watch another team celebrate when it’s your goal and your dream. When the dust settled, we’ll be really proud of this. “We hope everyone is really proud of us back at home. We hope we’ve inspired many many people. We’re the Lionesses, so we won’t stop what we’re doing, we’ll continue to break barriers, we’ll continue to push on.” Stanway was one of seven players named to Wiegman’s 23-woman squad who had also featured four years ago in France, where the Lionesses finished fourth. We’re the Lionesses, so we won’t stop what we’re doing, we’ll continue to break barriers, we’ll continue to push on. Georgia Stanway They guaranteed themselves an upgrade on their previous best finish, third at the 2015 tournament in Canada, when they knocked out co-hosts Australia with a 3-1 victory in the semi-final. But on Sunday in front of a capacity 75,784 crowd at Stadium Australia they could not quite get the job done, coming agonisingly close to a momentum-shifting goal when Lauren Hemp pinged an effort off the crossbar early in the first half. And after 29 minutes, Spain captain Olga Carmona struck the ultimately decisive strike past Mary Earps, who would go on to add a World Cup Golden Glove trophy to her 2022 FIFA Best award and save Jennifer Hermoso’s second-half penalty to give England a chance of staging a comeback that never came. Stanway, who successfully converted a penalty to secure England a 1-0 victory against Haiti in their tournament opener, admitted she was “a little too upset to listen” to Wiegman’s post-match chat, adding, “in those moments, it’s regrouping, realising how far we’ve come in this group. We’ve faced a lot in this tournament, before the tournament, people probably didn’t have us written to be in this situation, so to reach a World Cup final is achievement alone.” Defender Lucy Bronze, alongside Alex Greenwood, was one of just two Lionesses to have lived through the heartbreaks of 2015 and 2019 and after the loss admitted she was “just deflated”. The defender, who plays with nine of the Spain squad at Barcelona, added: “Obviously we went into the World Cup wanting to win it and we were so close, but in the end we couldn’t quite get it over the line. “I think we showed that, against adversity, we showed up. We were determined and resilient throughout the tournament – even before the tournament with missing a lot of players through injury and having a couple of different things happen throughout the tournament. We showed resilience to carry on and keep going and fighting. “I think I am proud of what the girls have achieved, what we have achieved, but I think everybody that knows me knows that I only like gold medals.” Kirby, Williamson and Mead could all return to tournament football should a Team GB qualify for next summer’s Paris Olympics through UEFA’s new Nations League, which begins in September. At 31, Bronze is one of the older members of Wiegman’s squad, but when asked if she would need to take some time to think about going for another trophy immediately, retorted: “I am not retiring from England if that is what you mean. “Olympics is always the goal, even if we would have won this tournament. The Nations League was the goal, the Olympics is the goal. “That’s a different team to this England team. The goal is always to win tournaments with this team. We have shown that we can do that. We have made a final today as well. There is no reason why the team can’t go and create more legacies and more winning legacies.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Aston Villa bounce back from opening league defeat to demolish dismal Everton We gave everything – Sarina Wiegman so proud despite ‘hard to take’ final defeat World Cup final in pictures: England fall to agonising defeat against Spain

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Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy described the case against former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents as "almost a slam dunk" and said he thinks Trump should drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

Opening-day results can set the tone for a season. Sometimes they don’t, however. Aston Villa’s heaviest defeat at the start of the season in almost four decades may have looked like an anomaly when they were destroyed by Newcastle. It certainly did eight days later. A game later, Villa have wiped out their goal difference. Hammered one week ago, today they inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Toffees. Everton were eviscerated. If there was a deceptive scoreline now, it was because the margin flattered Sean Dyche’s hapless team. They take the place at the bottom of the league that Villa had occupied: unlike them, they could stay there. Villa were terrific. Play like this and it is tempting to wonder how much higher a team who surged from relegation contention to seventh last season can go. Certainly, the ambition that accompanied Unai Emery’s appointment is reflected on the pitch. There was a speed of foot and thought, a sharpness and a style, an evident enthusiasm to suggest that the Spaniard’s impact will not be confined to his first few months. An eighth straight home win – the sort of statistic Everton can only dream of – came with a sense of normality. Villa Park now expects a side brimming with energy and ideas to secure this kind of result. They played with a confidence to bely three setbacks: the loss at St James’ Park and the loss of Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings. But Emery’s rebuilding job has taken on an auspicious look. Pau Torres cruised through his home debut. Moussa Diaby almost marked his with a stunning goal – Jordan Pickford excelling to turn a thunderous volley onto the post – and was still only the second most impressive former Bayer Leverkusen winger. Youri Tielemans was limited to a cameo: Villa’s midfield options are such that he may have to wait a little longer. But much of Emery’s brilliance has been reflected by his inheritance and how he has altered perceptions and results. Bailey has been an inconsistent presence, an expert at flattering to deceive in his first two seasons in the Midlands. An assist and a goal were allied with razor-sharp running. Bailey was a catalyst in a way he had been too rarely. The merits of Emery’s narrow 4-2-2-2 formation were shown by the first goal: one of the tucked-in, attacking midfielders crossed for the other to score, Bailey picking out John McGinn to finish from four yards. It is a system that also gives Villa a surfeit of players in the centre of the pitch and they cut through Everton; too easily, too often. There was a sense that Dyche’s team were too slow to react to everything, perhaps summed up when Pickford clattered into Ollie Watkins, rendering Nathan Patterson’s goal-line clearance from the striker irrelevant. Douglas Luiz has replaced Watkins on spot-kick duty – perhaps another illustration of Emery’s attention to detail and certainly rewarding a player transformed under his tutelage – and he converted from 12 yards. And yet, well-coached as Villa are, slick as some of their moves were, two of their goals stemmed simply from Everton errors. Maybe they were frazzled by Villa’s verve and relentlessness. There could be a few other excuses for Michael Keane’s twin mistakes: first, he only redirected a throw to Bailey, who dispatched a half-volley. Then, worse, came a wild swing at thin air, allowing Jhon Duran to run on and score a first Villa goal, 50 seconds after the introduction. It may have been especially welcome. Villa are well-stocked in several positions but not for out-and-out strikers. Watkins, who did everything but score, lacks a high-class deputy. His young understudy accepted the opportunity. Another substitute was more ill-fated: Philippe Coutinho was hamstrung and in considerable pain. Injuries have been Everton’s constant companion in recent years. On a day when virtually everything that could go wrong did, it was perhaps unsurprising that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s comeback lasted a mere 37 minutes with the striker hurt after colliding with Emi Martinez. Alex Iwobi went off, too, while Idrissa Gueye’s removal was probably to stop him being sent off. Everton could argue last week’s loss to Fulham offered encouragement, in the number of chances created. This offered none, a side devoid of organisation and fight showing no quality. Maybe there was a deceptive element to their start, too: it could be worse than being beaten by Fulham at Goodison Park implied. Read More Eddie Howe relishing selection dilemmas as Newcastle prepare for packed season Aston Villa suffer another blow as extent of Tyrone Mings knee injury revealed Ashley Young embracing challenge of turning things around for Everton

The women’s soccer World Cup has now ended with Spain winning the final on Sunday. A goal from Olga Carmona saw off England in a 1-0 win for Spain. That result in turn sets up an exciting next match for Scotland’s women but blocks their chance of a world champion claim.It’s bee...

Aston Villa bounced back from their heavy opening-day Premier League defeat by cantering to a 4-0 home win against Everton. Captain John McGinn and Douglas Luiz’s penalty gave Villa a 2-0 lead at the break and after second-half efforts from Leon Bailey and substitute John Duran, Unai Emery’s side put last week’s 5-1 loss at Newcastle behind them. It was all too easy for Villa as they cashed in on some wayward Everton defending, which prompted half of their fans to leave Villa Park long before the final whistle. Everton have lost their opening two games for the second successive season and their cause was not helped by the first-half withdrawal of the luckless Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The England striker, who scored only two goals last season after being dogged by injury, failed to recover from an early clash of heads with Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez and was eventually forced off in the 38th minute. Villa were without key players Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendia (both knee) and Jacob Ramsey (foot) due to long-term injury, but midway through the first half they had established a comfortable lead. McGinn fired them in front in the 18th minute, volleying home Bailey’s cut-back after the latter had wriggled his way to the byline. Villa doubled their lead from the penalty spot in the 24th minute after VAR ruled Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had taken out Ollie Watkins with a flailing arm. Watkins’ had moments earlier seen his shot cleared off the goal-line, while Pickford, making his 250th Premier League appearance, was booked for delaying the spot-kick, which was coolly dispatched by Douglas Luiz. England’s number one went some way to redeeming himself soon after when turning Moussa Diaby’s goal-bound volley on to a post. Everton troubled Martinez for the only time before the interval when a low, angled shot from Calvert-Lewin’s replacement, summer signing Arnaut Danjuma, forced the Argentinian into a near-post save. The visitors were forced into another change soon after the restart when Alex Iwobi hobbled off and was replaced by Neal Mapauy. It got worse for Everton in the 51st minute when Villa put the result beyond doubt. Bailey pounced after Everton defender Michael Keane had miscontrolled a throw-in into the box and fired home a low shot under Pickford. Watkins went close to adding a fourth when his angled effort rolled inches wide before Martinez superbly blocked Maupay’s close-range effort at the other end following a corner. Keane was caught out again in the build-up to Villa’s fourth, miskicking from former Villa defender Ashley Young’s throw-in and Duran ran clear to bury his first goal for the club, less than a minute after stepping off the bench to replace Watkins. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live We gave everything – Sarina Wiegman so proud despite ‘hard to take’ final defeat World Cup final in pictures: England fall to agonising defeat against Spain Katarina Johnson-Thompson on course for world championship gold

Kyle Harrison has long been the Giants’ most highly regarded prospect. He’s now being called up to the majors for his debut, sources tell FanSided.The San Francisco Giants are calling up left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, the team’s No. 1 ranked prospect, sources familiar ...

England had covered the gaps, they had filled the holes. They had adjusted, adapted, repositioned, created a new formation, and reached a first World Cup final. Then England changed again. Down 1-0 at half time in the World Cup final, Sarina Wiegman went for a last roll of the dice, a double substitution that saw Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly brought off and Lauren James and Chloe Kelly come on. That 3-5-2 that was England’s revelation of the tournament, that changed their World Cup? It was binned. England went back to 4-2-3-1. They disposed of the wing-backs and brought on the wingers. They stopped pressing Spain and abandoned their plan. With it, and for the first time at the World Cup, the Lionesses did not find the change that was required. James and Kelly brought moments of improvement, but the truth is that England were at their most dangerous when Lauren Hemp and Russo were combining as a front two. Hemp’s switch to a central role took away the threat that was everywhere in the first half and left Wiegman searching for something else. On came Beth England. Up went Millie Bright. But this was a situation England could not overcome. In a tournament that has been defined by England’s ability to adapt and solve the problems they have faced, the changes that were required against Spain were a step too far. Mary Earps’s save from Jenni Hermoso’s penalty gave England some momentum, but this was a final that stuttered and in the second half never found its rhythm, where stoppages played into Spain’s hands and covered the defensive frailties they had previously shown through the tournament. “When Mary saved the penalty I thought we’d go on and score the goal,” Wiegman shrugged. “But we didn’t.” Wiegman felt England improved with the changes and they certainly played with a better balance. But by then the game had changed and in its final moments, Spain managed to stay in control. While England never found the right combinations, Spain never quite felt threatened. While England played with two systems, neither one quite arrived at the right time. Perhaps this was always the natural conclusion for a World Cup that hit its first hurdle in November when Beth Mead suffered a torn ACL, then when England lost Leah Williamson, and then Fran Kirby; the deflating end to a tournament where Wiegman has not had the same consistency or continuity of last summer’s Euros, and where winning the final was beyond the resilience of this side. Perhaps it’s also the rebalance from last summer’s quarter-final in Brighton, where Spain were the better team and lost after England found a moment of magic through Georgia Stanway’s equaliser. England couldn’t produce another one; despite the introductions of Kelly and James, England were at their most threatening when they played into an open, frantic match, even if it left them more vulnerable at the other end and, ultimately, led to Olga Carmona’s winning goal. It was a quality finish, the moment to crown Spain’s golden generation, a magnificent team of sharp passers and quick minds. Aitana Bonmati was the clear player of the tournament and no one will be surprised when the Ballon d’Or follows at the end of the year. They looked a class above England, but the regret is that a head coach who appears to have no impact on how his team plays in Jorge Vilda did not need to have a tactical approach to beat the Lionesses. England gave Spain what they wanted. Wiegman committed to a brave plan but it gave England a hard time. They had pushed high and pressed Spain, hoping to force the error, with Lucy Bronze and Daly defending as forwards as much as wingers, gambling on a misplaced pass. But Spain were too good. They responded by playing through England, isolating a back three that had found strength in its unity. Spain pulled an already stretched team further out of shape and created another problem for England to solve. Bronze’s misadventure then led to another one. As Carmona fired past Earps, Bronze immediately sank to the pitch, as if her legs had been cut from beneath her, the sort of reaction that told you everything about where the goal had come from. It was a run that was too ambitious when what England needed to do was move it faster. Bronze was crowded out, England were outnumbered, and suddenly it was left to Russo to follow Carmona’s run. That was a gap in the team that England could not cover. There had been such a fine balance to it, an open game where the first goal was always going to be crucial. While the final was goalless, England had chances that came from their high press and then found spaces to hit Hemp down the channels. But when Spain scored, the space vanished and Wiegman needed to try something else to protect her side, even if it meant England lost some of their unpredictability. To reach this stage was a triumph of the team’s approach and its mentality; a campaign that always managed to deliver answers. Eventually, and on the biggest stage of all, England were unable to find another. Read More England suffer World Cup heartache as brilliant Spain show Lionesses what’s missing Jorge Vilda: Spain’s World Cup coach at the heart of a civil war England v Spain LIVE: Women’s World Cup final result and reaction as Lionesses suffer heartbreak England players ‘heartbroken’ after World Cup final defeat to Spain England suffer World Cup heartache as brilliant Spain show Lionesses what’s missing Sarina Wiegman has already made the biggest decision of England’s World Cup