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football

ENGLAND HAMMER NORWAY 8-0 TO REACH EURO 2022 QUARTER-FINALS

England secured their place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2022 in stunning fashion as they hammered Norway 8-0 at the Amex Stadium to record the biggest win in the competition’s history.

The tournament hosts scored six times in a rampant first-half display, with Georgia Stanway’s 12th-minute penalty and a finish from Lauren Hemp three minutes later being followed by a brace apiece from Ellen White and Beth Mead.

That equalled the most amount of goals scored by one team in a Euros match, and England went on to set a new record for the most emphatic victory at a finals, surpassing their 6-0 win over Scotland in 2017, following an effort from substitute Alessia Russo and Mead completing her hat-trick.

With the remarkable win seeing them seal top spot in Group A, the Lionesses will be returning to Brighton a week on Wednesday to play the runners-up in Group B – which features Germany and Spain – in the last eight.

The demolition job was watched by a crowd of 28,847, from which cries of “football’s coming home” rang out at various stages as England’s unbeaten run under boss Sarina Wiegman extended to a 16th match with a 14th victory.

Their group fixtures conclude with Friday’s meeting at St Mary’s with now-eliminated Northern Ireland, who had lost 2-0 to Austria earlier on Monday.

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football

JACK WILSHERE RETURNS TO ARSENAL AS UNDER-18s HEAD COACH

Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has returned to the club to take up a coaching role.

The 30-year-old, who announced his retirement as a player last week after battling a series of injuries, has been appointed head coach of the Gunners’ under-18s.

Wilshere, who spent some time at London Colney last season working with the club’s young players, told Arsenal’s official website: “It’s a huge honour to have this role.

“It’s no secret that I love this club. I love what we stand for and a big part of my life was spent in this academy, some of the best days of my life. This is a big opportunity for me and I’m ready.

“I’m hungry and can’t wait to help these young players thrive and be the best they can be on and off the pitch.

“It’s a special feeling to be part of the Arsenal family. It never left me and, even though I moved on for a few years, my heart was always still at Arsenal. I can’t wait to get started and help these young players thrive with a great team around me.”

Academy graduate Wilshere, who also had spells with Bolton, Bournemouth, West Ham and Aarhus, made 197 appearances for the Gunners and was part of the FA Cup-winning sides of 2014 and 2015.

Academy manager Per Mertesacker said: “Everyone knows how passionate Jack is about Arsenal. He understands what we want to achieve here and he really impressed us last year.

“He knows exactly what it takes to progress through the academy into first-team football.”

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football

EURO 2022: GERMANY AND SPAIN GO HEAD-TO-HEAD IN HEAVYWEIGHT CLASH

Powerhouses Germany and Spain have a chance to further enhance their Euro 2022 credentials when they go head-to-head on Tuesday evening.

The Group B rivals meet at the Brentford Community Stadium with the Germans having launched their campaign with 4-0 victory over Denmark while the Spaniards beat Finland 4-1.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to Tuesday’s fixtures in the wake of a big night at the finals on Monday.

Spain coach Jorge Vilda is refusing to be cowed by Germany’s formidable reputation ahead of their showdown.

Despite the loss of star player Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas to an anterior cruciate ligament injury before the opening game, Vilda is confident his side are capable of ending their barren run against the eight-time European champions.

He said at his pre-match press conference: “We’ve played Germany in recent years and not managed to win but have drawn with them on a couple of occasions.

“The last time, we were five minutes away, we were very close. That means we’re there.”

Finland coach Anna Signeul has warned her players not to be taken in by Denmark’s opening result as they prepare to lock horns at Stadium MK on Tuesday.

The Danes went down 4-0 to the eight-time winners on Friday, but Signeul said at her pre-match press conference: “Perhaps Germany made Denmark not look so good, but we know they are a good team.

“They have world-class players like Pernilla Harder that everyone knows. We respect Denmark but we are also ready for tomorrow.”

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Tennis

NOVAK DJOKOVIC SEASON IN LIMBO AFTER WINNING SEVENTH WIMBLEDON

Wimbledon belonged to Novak Djokovic once again, but the seven-time champion now finds himself relying on political intervention to continue his season.

Djokovic defeated Nick Kyrgios in four sets to make it four titles in a row at the All England Club and 21 slams in total to move him back to within one of Rafael Nadal.

Quite where Djokovic will play next, though, remains to be seen. After a couple of low-key weeks where most players take the chance for a break, the tour picks up again in North America at the end of July with the hard-court swing building up to the US Open beginning on August 29th.

But the United States and Canada both still require travellers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter, meaning Djokovic, who has made it repeatedly clear that he will not take the vaccine, faces another major hole in his schedule.

“Whether or not I’m playing any tournament soon, I’ll definitely be resting for the next couple of weeks because it has been quite an exhausting and demanding period for me the last few months,” he said. “A lot of tennis, which I was very happy about. I got what I wanted here.

“Then I’ll wait hopefully for some good news from USA, because I would really love to go there. If that doesn’t happen, then I have to see what the schedule will look like.”

The removal of ranking points from Wimbledon over the barring of Russian and Belarusian players means Djokovic has dropped from three to seven in the standings, while Kyrgios has slipped from 40 to 45.

Djokovic will not be overly concerned about his place in the rankings and may not play much again until the tour returns to Europe in the autumn, with his place at the ATP Tour Finals virtually guaranteed by virtue of his Wimbledon victory.

“To be honest, I doubt that I’ll go and chase points,” he said. “I don’t really feel any pressure or necessity to play a certain schedule.

“I achieved that historic weeks at number one that I worked for all my life. Now that that’s done and dusted, I prioritise slams and big tournaments really and where I want to play, where I feel good.

“Could be Laver Cup (in London in September), Davis Cup is coming as well. I love playing for my country. I’m going to try to be part of that.”

Djokovic spoke after his victory about the emotional toll his deportation from Australia in January took, and the three-year ban on returning to the country that is automatically imposed in such scenarios means he may not be able to play another grand slam until the French Open next spring.

The Serbian’s team have lived through it all with him, and coach Goran Ivanisevic said: “It’s very emotional. If I can say it was a sh*t year, a tough year, especially for him, but also for us that were close to him.

“This was a huge thing what happened to him. We all expected from him after a couple of weeks, ‘OK, forget about Australia, let’s go back and practise’. It’s not happening like this. It took a long time.

“For some people, they don’t recover. They will never play tennis. This was a big shock. It was a shock for me, and I was there. I was free. Imagine for him.

“Unbelievable how he recovered and how he got through that. It’s really for me heroic because it was not easy to digest all the things and come back to play tennis.”

A huge amount of anticipation surrounded the final match-up, with Kyrgios playing for a slam singles trophy for the first time, but Djokovic handled the occasion exceptionally well, recovering from losing the first set and calmly exploiting his opponent’s moments of weakness.

Ivanisevic said: “You cannot prepare for a match against Nick Kyrgios. Nick Kyrgios is a genius, tennis genius. He doesn’t know what he’s going to play next in the point.

“We just concentrated on what Novak has to do, the things he has to be careful of. When somebody is serving like Nick Kyrgios, for me he is the best server in the game by far. Unbelievable tennis player.

“But also he knew, on this stage, when Nick starts to talk, he’s going to be vulnerable. It happened in the third set when Nick was 40-0 up, 4-4, suddenly Novak broke him and he was talking to his box. You need to take every chance you get because you don’t have too many.”

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football

LIVERPOOL NAME NUNEZ, OTHERS IN PE-SEASON SQUAD AHEAD OF MANCHESTER UNITED FIXTURE

Liverpool have included summer signing Darwin Nunez in their 37-man squad ahead of Tuesday’s pre-season friendly against Manchester United in Bangkok.

Just 24 hours after United arrived in Thailand on Saturday morning, Liverpool arrived in the country on Sunday, greeted to a similar reception to the one Erik ten Hag and his players received the day before. Hundreds of fans and photographers were eager to catch a glimpse of the squad and manager Jurgen Klopp.

After facing United in the The Match Bangkok Century Cup at the Rajamangala National Stadium, Liverpool will continue their tour by travelling to Singapore. United, meanwhile, will travel to Australia for matches against Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.

Just like Ten Hag this pre-season, Klopp had to wait until last Monday before his international contingent returned to the AXA Training Centre, meaning they have not had as long as other members of the squad on the training ground. However, the tour will represent Klopp’s chance to assess the whole of his squad, starting with the clash against United.

The German has been able to name many of his star players in his 37-man squad, including Alisson, Andy Robertson, Thiago and Mohamed Salah. New recruits Fabio Carvalho and Nunez have also made the cut.
However, fellow new recruit Calvin Ramsay — signed from Aberdeen — has been left out because of a minor injury problem. Earlier this week, Klopp said: “Unfortunately, Calvin is now not training with us at the moment, he has a little injury.

“Nobody knew, we found it when he did his medical check. Until today he has had no problems but the medical department tells us if we don’t take care of that now, he will have a problem in the future.

“So, when you are that young then of course he has a long career ahead of him, so we are very responsible in these moments, so he didn’t train yet with the team but is doing a lot of fitness work. So, it will not take too long I think.”

Full Liverpool squad available ahead of pre-season friendly vs United:

Goalkeepers: Alisson, Adrian, Harvey Davies & Fabian Mrozek.

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Nat Phillips, Rhys Williams, Sepp van den Berg, Stefan Bajcetic, Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Luke Chambers & James Norris.

Midfielders: Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Fabinho, Thiago, Harvey Elliott, Tyler Morton, Leighton Clarkson, Melkamu Frauendorf, Isaac Mabaya & Thomas Hill.

Attackers: Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Roberto Firmino, Fabio Carvalho & Bobby Clark.

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football Sports News

WOLVES SUFFER MAJOR INJURY BLOW IN PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY

Wolves have confirmed that winger Chiquinho will undergo surgery after suffering a serious injury during pre-season.

Wolves played a behind-closed-doors friendly on Saturday against Championship side Burnley. Goals from Morgan Gibbs-White, Daniel Podence and Chiquinho saw Wolves come out as comfortable 3-0 winners .

The win comes after a 4-1 win over Forest Green Rovers the previous weekend. There was however a big blow to come from the match vs the Clarets.

Rumours circulated on social media on Sunday morning that Chiquinho had suffered a serious injury. Those rumours have since been confirmed by the club, who have said that the 22-year-old has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

“Chiquinho has been assessed after suffering a knee injury following a collision in yesterday’s friendly,” the club wrote on Twitter.

“Unfortunately, scans confirm an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament and plans are being made to undergo surgery and rehabilitation.

“Stay strong Chiqui, we are with you!”

The winger joined Wolves in January from Portuguese side Estoril Praia. He made a total of nine appearances for the first team last season, but will now face a significant spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery.

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football

MANCHESTER UNITED INSIST ABSENT CRISTIANO RONALDO IS NOT FOR SALE

Cristiano Ronaldo remains absent from pre-season training but Manchester United maintain the frustrated star is not for sale.

Over the weekend it emerged the 37-year-old had asked to leave Old Trafford if an acceptable offer arrived following a disappointing first season back with a club he won medals aplenty at between 2003 and 2009.

Ronaldo was conspicuous by his absence on Monday when new boss Erik ten Hag welcomed United’s international players to Carrington for the start of pre-season training.

The club accepted his explanation that family reasons meant he was unable to report for training, which they still do as the veteran forward’s absence rolled onto Thursday.

It is unclear whether Ronaldo will be on the plane when Ten Hag’s side head to Thailand on Friday for the start of their pre-season tour, but United insist he will be part of the squad this season.

Having repeatedly said in recent weeks that Ronaldo is not for sale, the club maintain that stance remains unchanged amid reports they are in fact willing to sell the Portugal international.

There look to be landing spots for the vastly-paid former Real Madrid forward and the PA news agency understands Chelsea are still weighing up their level of interest.

Fan favourite Ronaldo only returned to Old Trafford last summer, joining from Juventus for a fee rising to €23 million.

Ronaldo scored 24 goals in all competitions and was named Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, but individual quality was unable to prevent his first season back at United ending trophyless and with a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League.

Europa League football awaits as Ten Hag starts his rebuild, which will go up a gear when United travel to Thailand to face rivals Liverpool in Bangkok on Tuesday.

United then head to Australia, where fixtures against Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace in Melbourne are followed by a friendly against Aston Villa in Perth.

Ten Hag so far only has one new face to call upon after United completed the signing of Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia, meaning there are still key areas of the squad that need strengthening.

The club’s well-documented pursuit of Frenkie de Jong continues and is understood to have been complicated by Barcelona owing the Holland international wages.

Christian Eriksen has verbally agreed to join, with a three-year contract being drawn up, and the Old Trafford giants have a firm interest in Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez.

Discussions have been held about Ajax winger Antony, while Brazilian compatriot Andreas Pereira is heading for an Old Trafford exit.

Fulham have seen their offer of an initial £8 million and a further £2 million in potential add-ons for the 26-year-old midfielder accepted by United.

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Tennis

RAFAEL NADAL WITHDRAWS FROM WIMBLEDON DUE TO INJURY

Rafael Nadal’s bid for the calendar year grand slam is over after he withdrew from Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury.

The 22-time grand-slam champion battled through the issue to beat Taylor Fritz in five sets on Wednesday to progress into the semi-finals in SW19 but scans a day later revealed the severity of the injury.

Nadal was set to play Nick Kyrgios in Friday’s semi-final but his Australian opponent will now receive a walkover into a maiden major final.

At a press conference on Thursday evening, Nadal said: “Unfortunately as you can imagine I am here because I have to pull out from the tournament.

“As everyone saw yesterday I have been suffering with a pain in the abdominal and something was not OK there. That is confirmed, I have a tear in the muscle and the communication is too late.

“I was thinking the whole day I was thinking about the decision to make but I think it doesn’t make sense to go, even if I try through my career to keep going. It is very tough circumstances but it is obvious if I keep going the injury will be worse and worse.”

Nadal looked set to retire during his quarter-final against American Fritz on Wednesday evening, but somehow recovered to claim a 3-6 7-5 3-6 7-5 7-6 (4) victory after a gruelling four hours and 20 minutes.

The 36-year-old had strapping on his stomach and at times appeared in so much pain that his father and sister, watching from the players’ box, were gesticulating for him to quit the match.

He practised at Wimbledon on Thursday afternoon but, in a 7.20pm press conference, he announced he was unable to continue, ending the Australian Open and French Open champion’s hopes of winning all four majors in the same year.

The Spaniard insisted he made his tough decision due to the abdominal issue preventing him from being able to serve.

“I never thought about the calendar slam, I thought about my diary and my happiness,” Nadal said.

“I make the decision because I don’t believe I can win two matches under the circumstances. It is not only I can’t serve at the right speed, it is I can’t do the normal movement to serve.

“After that to imagine myself winning two matches, and for respect for myself in some way, I don’t want to go out there and not be competitive enough to play at the level I need to play to achieve my goals.”

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football

TOTTENHAM AGREE FEE WITH AJAX FOR STEVEN BERGWIJN TRANSFER

Tottenham have agreed on a €32.5million (£27.8m) fee with Ajax for Steven Bergwijn. Signed in January 2020 from PSV, the attacker has been linked with a return to his home country for some time due to a lack of first-team opportunities at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Ajax were keen on signing the Dutch international during the January transfer window but a deal never came to fruition with Antonio Conte keeping him in the capital instead. Having bolstered their attack with Richarlison signing in a big-money transfer from Everton, Bergwijn will now head back to Holland and get the regular first-team football under his belt that he requires ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar that commences in November.

Tottenham will receive €30million (£25.8m) for the 24-year-old and that fee could rise to €32.5million with adds-ons, which in turn would see the club recoup the £27million they paid to PSV for the talented winger. Bergwijn, who will undergo his Ajax medical today, will now exit the club after scoring eight goals in his 83 appearances in all competitions for the Lilywhites.

Very active in the transfer market so far this summer with the arrival of four new players, Spurs are still looking to bring a few more fresh faces in to help take Conte’s squad to the next level. A new right wing-back is required at the club this summer, with Middlesbrough’s Djed Spence a player managing director of football Fabio Paratici wants to bring to N17 after a standout season on loan at Nottingham Forest.

Agreeing on a fee has proved to be a stumbling block so far and football.london understands that Spurs have still yet to agree on a deal with the Championship side for the England U21 international. Another potential incoming in defence is Barcelona’s Clement Lenglet, who Tottenham tried to sign on loan 12 months ago.

The club have held talks over another loan move for the French international but football.london understands that a move is not close to completion just yet. Conte and his players head to the South Korea on Saturday for their summer tour, meaning that time is now ticking if they want to have any further new additions on the flight with their new Tottenham teammates.

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football

WOMEN’S EURO 2022: NORTHERN IRELAND GO DOWN TO DEFEAT ON TOURNAMENT DEBUT

Northern Ireland were outclassed on their major tournament debut as Norway romped to a comprehensive 4-1 Euro 2022 victory in Southampton.

First-half finishes from Julie Blakstad and Frida Maanum, plus a Caroline Graham Hansen penalty, put the two-time European champions on course for a routine success to dampen a historic occasion for their opponents.

Defender Julie Nelson – Northern Ireland’s most-capped female player – gave the competition’s lowest-ranked nation brief hope of an unlikely comeback by heading in a landmark goal just after the interval.

But Guro Reiten’s free-kick sealed a routine success for Martin Sjogren’s side to move them level on three points with hosts England at the top of Group A.

A difficult evening for Kenny Shiels’ underdogs was compounded by forward Simone Magill – who has just moved from Everton to Aston Villa – leaving the field in tears late on due to injury.