List of All Articles with Tag 'pg'

Ederson has vowed to dye his hair blue again if Manchester City win the Champions League. The goalkeeper marked his fifth Premier League title by adopting a new look and will celebrate in the same style if Pep Guardiola’s team beat Internazionale in Istanbul. The Brazilian revealed the inspiration came from his daughter but is adamant his brighter hairstyle will only be a short-term affair. He explained: “My daughter asked me to dye my hair blue for that. It was a kid’s spray that comes out with water. Of course, if we are champions again, I’ll dye my hair blue again, but only with the kid’s spray that comes out with water – nothing permanent.” Ederson is waiting to discover if any of his teammates will join him in looking, if not feeling, blue. “I’m not sure,” he said. The 29-year-old has been practicing in case the game on Saturday goes to a penalty shootout, which would give him the chance to be the hero. He added: “We will work on every requirement: whether that is finishing, crosses, penalties. In this game, we need to be prepared for any circumstance over 90 minutes, and 120 or penalties if necessary. We need to be ready for any situation so that nothing surprises us.” Ederson is known for his composure as City try to pass the ball out from the back and he said he does not feel nervous. “I think any City keeper needs to be calm, to play with personality,” he added. “There are a lot of teams that try to pressure us, so you need to be calm, get the ball under control and have the vision to find the right pass. I remember a game against Tottenham where I misplaced a pass and it led to a goal. “I said to my teammates after, ‘You can still pass to me’, because errors are part of the process. Errors help us to grow, we learn a lot from mistakes. I mainly learn from errors. You can learn a lot more from making a mistake than you can from doing thigs right, or from winning. So I always try to keep calm, to pass this calmness onto my teammates as well, so that they know that they can play the ball to me and that I’m calm enough to make the right decision.”

A bit of hyperbole about Phil Mickelon's role in the PGA - LIV merger.

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

Jude Bellingham will join Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund this summer after the Germans announced a deal in principle worth €103 million (£88.5m) plus add-ons. The German club, who missed out on the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich after a heartbreaking final day of the season, confirmed the terms on the club website. The statement outlined how the add-ons could rise to 30 percent of the fixed amount. The 19-year-old will now undergo medical tests and agree personal terms with the Spanish giants. The England star joins Real’s collection of young midfield stars, including Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde. Read More Real Madrid agree deal to sign England’s Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund Why has Saudi Arabia become big player in world sport and what does future hold? Al-Ittihad confirm Karim Benzema deal after striker’s Real Madrid farewell

Leo Messi has agreed a deal in principle to join Inter Miami, in what could represent a first defeat for the burgeoning Saudi Pro League's new era. The Argentine great had huge offers from both since the conclusion of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, but it is understood he is being swayed by the prospect of a legacy in the United States, as well as his family's preference to live in the Florida city. Also of attraction were a prospective deal with Apple, who are huge broadcast backers of Major League Soccer. There is an argument that Messi could prove a transformative figure for the competition in the guise of Pele in the 1970s, although now where football is fast becoming the USA's fourth most popular sport, and ahead of the hosting of the 2026 World Cup. The Argentine's plan is currently to play in that and defend the trophy. That hasn't totally locked out the possibility of eventually playing in the Saudi Pro League and there was still a certain nervousness in Inter Miami that no deal is done until it is signed. The Messis have told those in Saudi Arabia that, even if they go with MLS now, they would be willing to return to negotiations in future. The 35-year-old has already faced criticism as regards "sportswashing" for being an ambassador for Saudi Tourism. Read More Why has Saudi Arabia become big player in world sport and what does future hold? Where might Lionel Messi go next after Paris St Germain spell ends? First Lionel Messi, now Sergio Ramos – Veteran defender waves goodbye to PSG

Bryson DeChambeau was asked about 9/11 on CNN.

First, Chris Billam-Smith was raised aloft. As Shane McGuigan hauled his fighter’s hulking frame into the air, for the adoring mass of fans to see, the cruiserweight’s face vanished behind his gloves. Somewhere under the battered leather, his left eye – swollen half-shut – closed completely. So did the right, trying to trap the tears. Inevitably, the dam broke. The stream washed away his sweat, while his bawls were drowned out by the flood of noise around him. Then, the cruiserweight sank to his knees, all 6ft of him reduced to the stature of a boy who once dreamt of this very moment. Or rather, this meshing of moments. To a young Billam-Smith, fighting in front of a sold-out crowd at the home of his beloved AFC Bournemouth would have represented a dream fulfilled; so would winning a world title. Doing both on the same night? If that plays like a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster, then it is the kind of moment that one would deride for stretching our suspension of disbelief a fibre too far. Boxing is not Hollywood. Boxing does not provide fairytale endings. Boxing is unforgiving, and cruel. But if any boxer has earnt a mote of kindness from this sport, it is Billam-Smith. It was granted in the form of his decision win over former teammate Lawrence Okolie last month, but it should not be taken for granted. Nor could it have been when “112-112” was the first scorecard to boom over the PA at Dean Court. “I remember listening and thinking... like frowning,” Billam-Smith, 32, tells The Independent, with stitches still hovering over his left eye. “I wasn’t really listening to the [other] scores, but I just knew it was obviously a majority decision. If I had listened, I think I would have known [I’d won] because obviously one of them was a 107, and that couldn’t have been me because I had no points deducted and wasn’t knocked down or anything. Obviously I was just waiting for them to say ‘and new’. He said it, and a wave of emotion came over me. I was just thinking, ‘I’ve done it.’ I just couldn't believe it. It was such... it’s been such a long journey.” As Billam-Smith knelt in the ring, his face soaked in tears, his mother came to his mind. Dedicating his victory to her, Billam-Smith revealed in the ring that she is battling cancer. “Obviously at the moment, with my mum being unwell and stuff,” he tells The Independent, “for it to be all worth it and worth all the hard graft put in over the years, the years of not earning any money as an amateur and even early on as a pro – not earning a huge amount of money and scraping by at times... To finally to do it and achieve my ultimate dream of winning a world title at the stadium, it was just... You can’t really put it into words to be honest with you. “I had so many reasons to win; I had 15,000 people there that I couldn’t let down, my mum, my wife, my son. I was never going in there without giving it 100 per cent, because of all those reasons. And obviously for myself as well, with the growth through the years. Yeah, my mum obviously was a huge part of that as well.” So was Billam-Smith’s son, Frank, as he says. “Having to miss my son’s first birthday the day before the fight, that’s a completely different emotion. It’s weird; he has no idea what’s going on, doesn’t know that I missed his birthday – thankfully – to stand half-naked in front of loads of people at Bournemouth pier. You know, it’d be amazing for him to grow up and hopefully be proud of his dad.” These various factors, and the emotional weight loaded into each of them, had to be put aside for the sake of performance; so did the sense of occasion around fighting at Dean Court. “On the Friday, I went and sat in my old season-ticket seat and just looked at the set-up,” says Billam-Smith. “I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ The ring-walk rehearsal was very important for me to visualise how everything was going to be, so it wasn’t overwhelming and I wasn’t like, ‘Oh my God, this is actually happening.’ [During the actual ring walk], there’s a point where I sort of look around and just nod to myself. Like, I’m still very much in the zone and focused and staying calm, but I thought: ‘This is awesome.’ “[In the fight], I very much had blinkers on. All the visualisation helped. I was very calm in the ring and the whole time in the build-up, just thinking about those 12 rounds and how I was going to react – making sure I reacted logically to every situation.” Billam-Smith did just that, capping off an eclectic trilogy of fights across the last 11 months. First, there was his war with Isaac Chamberlain, which ended as a points victory in Billam-Smith’s favour, then his knockout-of-the-year candidate against Armend Xhoxhaj in December, before this often-bitty bout with Okolie. The 12 rounds against Okolie will not be what fans remember from this particular night, however. They will remember the aftermath – the stirring scenes of a dream being realised in real time. “Now it’s about creating another dream,” says Billam-Smith, looking ahead to the future. “You know, I’d love to fight in Las Vegas, but most importantly I need to secure my family’s future financially. And I’m not the finished article as a boxer. “In any sport I’ve ever played, I’ve always just wanted to give it 100 per cent and improve. That’s still the same me now.” Lorton Entertainment’s“STABLE”, a four-part documentary series covering Shane McGuigan’s work with his fighters, will be released this Autumn. Read More Leigh Wood and Chris Billam-Smith win world titles with victories over familiar foes How a unique night of action could lay groundwork for future super-fight ‘I could kill a guy and get away with it’: Teofimo Lopez is treading a disturbing path through boxing How unique night of action could lay groundwork for future super-fight Leigh Wood and Chris Billam-Smith win world titles with victories over familiar foes Boxxer’s Ben Shalom: ‘I sacrificed my twenties, I sacrificed absolutely everything’

Conor McGregor’s team suffered another tough week on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, as one of the Irishman’s mentees was declared unfit to compete and another was stopped in Round 1. McGregor and Michael Chandler, who are due to fight each other later this year, are coaching opposing teams of athletes on the new season of the UFC television show. In Episode 1, McGregor’s team member Nate Jennerman was knocked out inside eight seconds, and there was more misfortune for the Irishman’s group in Episode 2. In the episode, which aired on Tuesday (6 June), Trevor Wells developed a cold sore and was deemed medically unfit to face Timur Valiev, before Mando Gutierrez was beaten by Cody Gibson in Round 1. Gutierrez was dropped with a clean knee to the chin, before Gibson applied ground and pound to secure a TKO win. McGregor, wearing a cowboy hat given to him by Gutierrez, was visibly frustrated at ringside. “Ah, unlucky, Mando,” the former dual-weight UFC champion said. In a post-fight exchange in the team’s locker room, McGregor, 34, told Gutierrez: “Right here with you, Mando. Here with you, my man. Back to the gym now.” Gutierrez replied, “I just wanted to give my heart,” to which McGregor said: “That’s what you did, man! That’s what you f***ing did, my man!” Gutierrez responded, “Coach, I’m way better than that,” to which McGregor replied, “I know that.” “It was a tough fight, that was,” McGregor later said in an interview. “The flying knee was a good shot. Mando’s a great little fighter. I would’ve liked him to stand his ground more; he was on the float a little bit too much for my liking. We were working on cutting the Octagon in [training].” A tearful Gutierrez, sporting a severely swollen eye, added: “You know, I fought my heart out, and it wasn’t enough. I love this game, sometimes it just don’t love me back. I’ll be back, it is what it is.” All you need to know about season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter can be found at the highlighted link here, and you can read our review of the new documentary McGregor Forever here. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Conor McGregor mentee loses in eight seconds on The Ultimate Fighter How to watch The Ultimate Fighter 31 in the UK McGregor Forever: The problem with the new Conor McGregor documentary

By Frank Pingue (Reuters) -The world of golf was left stunned on Tuesday as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour

What if LIV only existed to soften the blow of a PGA "merger."

How the news is released is important, and the PGA Tour knew what it was doing by giving CNBC the scoop.

Donald Trump said the PGA would be disloyal.