List of All Articles with Tag 'sp'

Tottenham have opened talks with Rosario Central for striker Alejo Veliz and are willing to meet his £13m release clause.

Morocco has beaten Colombia 1-0 to make it to the Women’s World Cup knockout round – and to make even more history

Germany has failed to reach the knockout stage for the first time at the Women’s World Cup after being held to a 1-1 draw against South Korea

Lizzo is addressing a lawsuit filed against her by three of her former dancers.

Outreach from Fitch Ratings to the Treasury Department on Monday afternoon set off a frenzy inside the Biden administration to respond to news that would once again put President Joe Biden's handling of the economy under the microscope.

The company has denied the allegations, saying the man committed "several security violations".

Southampton boss Russell Martin says James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia will be involved in Friday night’s Sky Bet Championship opener at Sheffield Wednesday “as it stands”. Both players have been linked with an exit from St Mary’s this summer following last season’s relegation from the Premier League, with Ward-Prowse linked with Fulham and West Ham and Lavia attracting bids from Liverpool. But a transfer for either men have yet to materialise and Martin will utilise them at Hillsborough. “Both will be involved tomorrow night, as it stands, I dont know what will change between now and then,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “Do I think they will be Southampton players at the end of the window? I have not got a clue. What I hope, what I think, is probably very different. “It would be pointless for me to come out and say, ‘I think they will be here, I don’t think they’ll be here’, because ultimately I have no control over that. “If they are both not here, or one is not here it is because the club and the player think they have something which is beneficial for everyone. “That will be the case, that is why it has dragged on and why it will probably continue to drag on. But while they have been here, both have been great and both will be involved tomorrow night. As it stands.” Kamaldeen Sulemana is injured and will miss the trip to South Yorkshire, while Sekou Mara is a doubt. Read More Football rumours: Harry Kane will not sign new Tottenham deal Women’s World Cup LIVE: Scores, updates and latest news Josko Gvardiol close to making £77.5m move to Manchester City

A BBC presenter has been subject to a backlash on social media after making a reference to a female cricketer’s appearance live on air. Former Love Island contestant and TV host Chris Hughes was interviewing cricketer Maitlan Brown for the broadcaster when he called her a “little Barbie”. Hughes was working as a reporter during limited-overs competition The Hundred when the awkward exchange took place. He was speaking to Australian player Brown about her experiences as a member of the Southern Braves team during their match against the Trent Rockets. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The pair were discussing her time with her teammates when Brown said: “We watched Barbie the other night all together and it was really good team bonding and the group is gelling really well together.” Hughes replied by saying: “You’re a little Barbie yourself, aren’t you, with your blue eyes.” He then added: “She’s blushing now.” The comments came in for criticism online, and a spokesperson for the BBC said: “We have spoken to Chris and explained that his comment was not appropriate.” Others reacted to the comments online, calling out the inappropriate moment. 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.

NFL great Tom Brady has become a minority owner of English second-tier soccer team Birmingham and wants to bring a winning mentality to an underperforming club

Tom Brady has become the latest US celebrity to buy a stake in a British football club, and we have to admit it’s one sports story we didn’t see coming. The NFL legend has announced he’s become a minority shareholder in Championship side Birmingham City. He’ll get involved in the operation of the club itself, too, with Brady becoming the chairman of the club's advisory board. The new role will see him work with the sports science department to give expertise on the health of the players and advise on recovery programmes. He’ll also work with the marketing team as part of his position. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Brady follows the likes of Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McInerney in buying a stake in a British club, as well as golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas who were recently confirmed as minority investors in Leeds United. It comes a few months after Brady confirmed his retirement from the NFL after an illustrious career spanning more than two decades with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady said on Thursday (August 3): “Birmingham City is an iconic club with so much history and passion and to be part of the Blues is a real honour for me. BCFC is built on teamwork and determination and I’m excited to work alongside the board, management and players to make our Second City club second to none. "I’ve been part of some amazing teams in my day, and I’m looking forward to applying my perspective to create that same success here in Birmingham.” Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner also said: “Tom Brady joining the Birmingham City team is a statement of intent. We are setting the bar at world-class. Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise. As Chair of the Advisory Board Tom will have a direct impact on the Club. "The Men’s, Women’s, and Academy teams are going to benefit from the knowledge. The goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham City a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football.” The news was announced on Thursday morning and it’s already sparked a big reaction. Birmingham City start their season this weekend when they kick-off their Championship campaign against Swansea. 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.

Former NFL star Tom Brady has become a minority owner of Championship club Birmingham City. The seven-time Super Bowl champion, recognised as one of the sporting greats, has partnered with the club’s holding company Knighthead Capital Management LLC and becomes chairman of a new advisory board. The club say Brady will “apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the club, including working alongside the sports science department to advise on health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery systems and programs”. He said on the club’s official website: “Birmingham is an iconic club with so much history and passion and to be part of the Blues is a real honour for me. “BCFC is built on teamwork and determination and I’m excited to work alongside the board, management and players to make our second-city club second to none. “I’ve been part of some amazing teams in my day, and I’m looking forward to applying my perspective to create that same success here in Birmingham.” Brady has partnered up with Knighthead Capital on several other ventures and new Blues chairman Tom Wagner is looking forward to Brady’s “direct impact”. He said: “Tom Brady joining the Birmingham team is a statement of intent. We are setting the bar at world class. “Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise. As chair of the advisory board Tom will have a direct impact on the club. The men’s, women’s, and academy teams are going to benefit from the knowledge. “The goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football. “A commitment to Blues fans was made on Monday May 8 2023, to add experts from the world of sport and football to the team, putting in place the building blocks for future success. With Garry Cook as CEO, Hope Powell as women’s technical director and now Tom Brady we are off to a fast start. “Success does not come overnight. It takes time. But when you have great leaders in place everything becomes possible.” Read More A new era for old empires? How a summer of rebuilding could change the Premier League Man United join Lavia chase as midfield transfers shape the market Liverpool left with midfield muddle – but Reds have reason for optimism A new era for old empires? How a summer of rebuilding could change the Premier League Man United join Lavia chase as midfield transfers shape the market Liverpool left with midfield muddle – but Reds have reason for optimism

New faces, same issues. Pre-season is not the proving ground, more the moment to set the tone of what’s to come and, where needed, prune and alter approaches. For Liverpool, this summer is shaping up to be more of a change than manager Jurgen Klopp had expected, but perhaps just enough of the same remains to serve as a reminder that alterations were required before and that is still the case now. On the one hand, that isn’t unexpected. Defensive issues plagued the season in 2022/23, even among the improvement of the final third of the campaign, and while the new in-possession shape has brought definite improvements on the ball, it was still jarring and lacking cohesion by late May. Fast forward a few mostly meaningless games and that same mix of output remains on show – and that’s all the more the case after a totally new midfield trio looks to be in place once the 23/24 Premier League season starts. Wednesday’s friendly 4-3 defeat with Bayern Munich showed the good and the bad of the past few months, in the most relevant and difficult encounter of the summer for the Anfield club: great interplay at times, plenty of players in goalscoring areas, ragged running back against transitions and a mix-up in responsibilities inside the defensive third. New signings Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister look increasingly likely to start the campaign as the two advanced midfielders, left and right-sided respectively. The former appears to have brought more of his A-game so far, showing good ball-carrying and chance creation, but sheer numbers probably dictate they’ll both be in the line-up anyway – six senior midfield options have left since last season, with just those two through the door so far. Behind them, Curtis Jones once more operated as the No.6, the stand-in replacement for the departed Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, having starred for two or three months last term in the left-sided role now occupied by his new Hungarian teammate. Between the trio, the build-up approach, playing from deep and manipulation of the ball around a press can at times look exceptional. Jones in particular can be seen taking more risks in individual movements than his predecessors did, but against that comes his lack of natural positional awareness and lesser tenacity in ball-winning. Certainly, the latter is a big trait currently missing in the Reds’ heart of operations, along with aerial ability and overall aggression to get goal-side against counter-attacks or direct balls over them from deep. Of more importance remains the ability for the team to organise itself after Trent Alexander-Arnold roves centrally or beyond the midfield line, in his still-new, impactful style. Two of Bayern’s goals came in this regard while he was still on the pitch; one more came down that side after the new vice-captain departed. It’s clearly an area that Klopp and his coaches have not yet reached a consensus on, or else been able to transmit to the players who is responsible for each area according to different phases of play: the person covering centre-back if the right-sided defender is pulled across, where Alexander-Arnold himself is most effective getting back to and where the left-back needs to track if runners are both centrally and on his side. Andy Robertson has been a victim of this indecision and lack of clarity more than once, and the same proved true against Bayern, missing a tackle and tracking a runner in the wrong area before a goal ends up being scored from his side of the box. And yet so much of this is a knock-on from the No.6, the defensive midfielder. Jones has impressed on the ball and has the diligence to fight for a place in the team, yet again, and his summer with the England U21 team saw him get game-time in that role. But runners surging past him, still-to-improve tackling technique and just the natural inclination to be in place against the best central passers and runners are, naturally, not going to be his forte. Should he remain in place for the opening league match of the season, Chelsea vs Liverpool could be an epic opener for the top flight: both have clear attacking excellence, but neither have secured the ball-winner in the middle they desire. It could be that Romeo Lavia or an alternative arrive at Anfield between now and then, leaving Klopp to decide between the lack of cohesion between three new signings who have never played together – but one has natural defensive tendencies – or three players who are new to their roles in this team, but one who at least has had a regular role over the past few months. Either way, it won’t be perfect. And either way, the set-up doesn’t yet look fully prepared for the rigours of bigger challenges ahead– just as was the case three months ago, albeit with very different faces in place. Read More Jurgen Klopp wanted a midfield change at Liverpool – instead he got a revolution Man United join Romeo Lavia chase as midfield transfers look set to shape the market Klopp hits out at the Saudi Arabian transfer window length: ‘Not helpful’ Man United join Lavia chase as midfield transfers shape the market A new era for old empires? How a summer of rebuilding could change the Premier League Liverpool transfer news: Lavia, Andre, Doucoure, Thiago and more