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Claude Puel has been sacked by Southampton after one season in charge. The 55-year-old’s position had been the source of speculation and rumour for some time with a section of Saints supporters displeased with their team’s style of play and results under the Frenchman. Thomas Tuchel, the former Borussia Dortmund manager, has been linked with taking over at St Mary’s. The former Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, the recent Alavés manager Mauricio Pellegrino and Reading’s Jaap Stam could also be contenders. Whoever does so will be the club’s fourth manager in a little over four years, following on from Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman. Bayern Munich sign Corentin Tolisso from Lyon in ￡35m deal Read more A club statement said: “Everyone at Southampton would like to express our thanks to Claude for his hard work and commitment this year. The highlight of the season was a memorable day at Wembley in the EFL Cup final, a day our fans will always treasure. “We wish Claude well for Jatavis Brown Womens Jersey the future. The search for a new management team is underway. We are confident we will find the right fit in line with the long term vision of the club.” Having arrived last June as the successor to Koeman following the Dutchman’s departure to Everton, Puel led Southampton to eighth in the Premier League and to the final of the EFL Cup, where they were somewhat unlucky to lose 3-2 to Manchester United. Despite the positivity around Southampton’s Wembley appearance in February, they lost 16 league games to slip down the table after Koeman had delivered sixth place before moving to Goodison Park. Saints also suffered early exits from the FA Cup and the Europa League. Come the final game of the season, a 1-0 home defeat to Stoke, fans appeared to have turned against Puel, chanting “You don’t know what you’re doing” and booing the manager. Rumours of player unrest have continued into the summer and, on the day which saw the 2017-18 fixtures released, Puel has departed just 12 months into a two-year contract. Southampton start the season at home to Swansea on 12 AugustLeBron plus four random people you see at the grocery store is enough to win the East. His presence alone on an NBA roster makes his team a super-team. But his current roster in Cleveland clearly isn’t enough to beat the super-team. And while we may all be resigned to a future controlled by our Warriors overlords, there’s no way LeBron James is. No doubt he’s already been on the phone with some of his super-friends – from Dwyane Wade to Carmelo Anthony and Paul George – to try to talk them into joining up. If the Cavs can add a fourth standout player to their team – alongside James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love – to match the star power Golden State has, maybe next year’s Warriors-Cavs Finals can have a different outcome. Or at least a closer outcomeBefore adding Durant, the Warriors were a homegrown team. Steph Curry is a former seventh-overall pick, Thompson an 11th and Green a second-rounder. Those guys won a championship in 2015 and then went 73-9 the year after. Then the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the finals and they went out and got Durant. But building a winner can be done “the right way” with some good fortune. Maybe http://www.sandiegochargersauthorizedstore.com/jeremiah-attaochu-jersey-elite it’s the Milwaukee Bucks if they can add more young talent around the freakishly talented Giannis Antetokounmpo. Maybe it’s the Sixers if all the talent drafted via The Process can ever get healthy. The pre-Durant Warriors provide some hope to the rest of the league. That said, it’s unlikely any new super-team can rise to prominence in time to stop a Golden State dynastyThe best bet to defeat the Warriors is, unfortunately, injury. Age won’t come for them for at least five years, but injury can happen at any time. Durant has shown that while his game is close to rivaling LeBron’s, his body isn’t as durable; he has only played an average of 53 regular season games over the past three seasons. While Curry has not had Durant’s injury struggles (although he was hurt during last yer’s playoffs), he has a slight build that can be battered over a long NBA career – or at least can be in the NBA of old where most of the action didn’t occur outside the three-point line. But even the biggest Warriors hater shouldn’t wish injury upon two of the best players in the game. Five years of Golden State sweeping every NBA finals is far better than seeing careers cut short. So here we are: marveling at the greatness of the Warriors while at the same time wondering if they’re so good that they ruined the entire league. That’s some kind of dominance. And maybe giving up hope is actually the way past all this. The Warriors can’t beat anyone if all their opponents just forfeit firstHarry Kane claimed England’s performance was “not good enough” as they succumbed to France, with the manager Gareth Southgate critical of his team’s game management after playing almost all the second period against 10 men. Ousmane Dembélé gives 10-man France 3-2 win despite Kane’s England double Read more The visitors had drawn level courtesy of Kane’s penalty early in the second half, with the Italian officials using the video assistant referees to confirm the award of the spot kick and the dismissal of Rapha?l Varane, who was deemed not to have made an attempt to play the ball. That system is expected to be trialled in the FA Cup and League Cup Joe Barksdale Authentic Jersey next season, and could be implemented in the Premier League after the 2018 World Cup. Yet, while neither manager complained at the video officials’ intervention, England’s inability to make inroads against depleted opponents, and tendency to present France with opportunities, left them infuriated. “Scoring twice in France should be enough,” said Kane, who captained the side. “We have got to find a way to win that. We just weren’t good enough. They were getting too much space in vital areas, even with 10 men. We want to be brave and play from the back and mistakes will happen. It’s disappointing. We were in the driver’s seat but we didn’t step it up another gear. Not good enough.” While England remain comfortable leaders of their World Cup qualifying group, they have lost in Germany and France, and conceded two late goals to draw 2-2 with Spain in their high-profile friendlies under Southgate. The manager is using those fixtures as an education for a relatively inexperienced side. “We’ve been competitive in all three games for long periods of time,” he said after seeing England concede three for the first time since late 2012. “But I think we’ve had to play at our absolute limit to stay in all three of the matches, which has shown in the latter stages of those games. The three games have provided a different test. Kylian Mbappé’s rapid rise highlights the youthful promise of Les Bleus Read more “With Spain it was their ability to keep the ball better than us, and we were chasing, chasing, chasing. Today we kept the ball better than France at times but, physically, the demands their players impose on you meant we had Ha Ha Clinton-Dix Authentic Jersey problems and that led to tiredness, which is one of the reasons for the mistake for the third goal. Those teams are the best. In the last few years we’ve not got anywhere near those teams when it’s come to tournaments and finals, so that’s why we need to play them. We need to see the reality of where we are, to test yourself against the best, so you don’t mask where you are in terms of a team. Advertisement “We should have got a result. In the space of 90 minutes we saw the things we’re very good at. With the ball we caused a lot of problems, looked a threat, created good openings, took our first goal very well. And equally saw the things we have to get better at. Defending as a team, and managing the game once France went down to 10. You have to control possession and stay calm, but we looked more anxious while they stepped up. We didn’t manage that period of the game as well as we need to. Part of that was because we tired. We put a huge amount into the game to try and press and deal with the physical capabilities France had, and it was a problem for us all night, their pace and athleticism.” On the use of the video assistant referees, Southgate added: “I’ve not seen it again but, from my initial view, I thought it was the right call. It looked a clear penalty and therefore a sending off. I assume the referee wanted to make sure. If he’s got that technology to do that, then a sensible decision. Clearly, even with video, not every decision will be 100%. You won’t get every decision right. There’ll still be an element of one person’s judgment in that
Those in positions of authority may be soft targets for vociferous abuse but nobody has matched http://www.greenbaypackersauthorizedstore.com/davon-house-jersey-elite the United States Golf Association’s fuelling of such fires. The rules farce that overshadowed Dustin Johnson’s maiden major win, at last year’s US Open at Oakmont, would have been damaging enough for the USGA had it arrived in isolation. Twelve months earlier, the world’s best players had erupted in fury regarding the dreadful condition of greens at Chambers Bay. US Open: Rory McIlroy happy to take smooth with the rough at Erin Hills Read more Golf’s governing body in the US was embroiled in further chaos in April, a women’s major having descended into farce after a ruling based on contact from a television viewer; 24 hours earlier. And there is more; at the conclusion of the US Women’s Open of 2016 the USGA’s president, Diana Murphy, continued a propensity for erratic speech-making by continually calling the winner by the wrong name. Pieced together, this is like professional sport meets Eldorado. In their traditional, eve of tournament address at the US Open, the USGA’s leading lights were not 100% convincing over whether a repeat of the Johnson scenario will be avoided. There has, at least, been an admission that things went badly wrong in Pennsylvania and a move to improve on archaic processes. “Something Demetri Goodson Womens Jersey like the last couple of years affects our whole organisation,” Mike Davis, the USGA’s executive director, said. “Any time your competency comes into question that affects the people who are dealing with the history of the game and helping to grow the game. Of course, we want to avoid these things but sometimes things happen.” Specific issues at Erin Hills are partly within the USGA’s control and partly not. A huge property – some capital cities are smaller – will inevitably lead to tediously long rounds. The USGA slashed back areas of thick fescue rough early this week but deny that was a response to widespread complaints from players. “It is not as if we don’t listen to feedback from players,” Davis said. “But in this case it had absolutely zero to do with what the players were saying. We look at some spots and said, simply: ‘This is not going to play properly.’” Advertisement The great unknown comes in the form of weather, which is infamously changeable at this time of year in the Midwest. Early predictions suggest heavy rain will have an impact, most notably on the first round. Almost a fortnight has passed since Phil Mickelson informed the USGA he likely would not participate in the one major thus far absent from his CV, with the left-hander keen to attend his daughter’s high school graduation on http://www.atlantafalconsauthorizedstore.com/derrick-coleman-jersey-elite Thursday lunchtime in San Diego. Davis – with a straight face – claimed it was pure coincidence Mickelson was given a late time for the first round, thereby keeping alive the possibility of competing should a significant weather delay arise. This situation is not particularly impressive, with the clear inference the pin-up boy of US golf is being assisted in a manner that would not be forthcoming towards others. Given the timescales involved, and in avoiding uncertainty for others, Mickelson should have been told either to commit to playing or not. Johnson arrived in Wisconsin on Tuesday afternoon, his partner having given birth to the couple’s second child a day earlier. Glory at Oakmont was sufficient for Johnson to finally endorse underlying talent. He is now established as No1 in the world; a course where long, straight driving will be essential is surely of benefit. Jason Day and Rory McIlroy retain precisely the same weapon, with the latter’s performance after an injury absence of particular intrigue. It is a curious truism that none of the world’s best players enter this major in particularly striking form. The expectancy is of a lower winning score than has been typical over the past 20 years, provided the course is set up in a sensible manner. “We want to afford players a completely clear stage to perform and do their job,” Murphy said. “We want to stay out of the way and not be part of the Authentic Derrick Shelby Womens Jersey story.” The very fact this point had to be made at all rather told one of its own
Ryan Burnett’s split decision win over the Briton Lee Haskins for the world bantamweight title in Belfast on Saturday was scored incorrectly and should Asdrubal Cabrera Womens Jersey have been an unanimous win, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) has confirmed. The Northern Irishman knocked down defending champion Haskins in the sixth and 11th rounds with two of the three judges handing him favourable scorecards of 119?107, but there was widespread disbelief when the last judge, the American Clark Sammartino, scored him losing 118-108. Dillian Whyte can win world heavyweight title, says Eddie Hearn Read more Burnett’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, had already called for an investigation into the decision and the IBF has now announced that Sammartino had made an error. “On Saturday, the IBF bantamweight bout between Lee Haskins and Ryan Burnett held at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland, was ruled a split decision victory for Burnett as a result of an error with the scorecards,” the IBF said in a statement. “Due to this error … the bout was declared a split decision when it should have been ruled a unanimous decision in favour of Burnett. An error of this nature and at this level of the sport should not have occurred. The IBF remains committed to recommending qualified and reliable officials to work its sanctioned bouts, and is fully intent on deterring a situation such as this one from occurring again.” After the fight, Hearn http://www.officialpadrestore.com/Bj_Upton_Jersey said: “Thankfully we got the decision, but when we looked at the scorecards we realised that the judge in question [Sammartino] had actually scored the fight the wrong way round. “We knew this by the 10-8 rounds and luckily we had those 10-8 rounds, because otherwise there is not necessarily a way of telling. He scored the two 10-8 rounds to the guy who had been knocked down, so again quite amusing at the time, because we got the win, but [it’s] actually very serious.” The British Boxing Board of Control’s general secretary, Robert Smith, was at the fight and made his views clear afterwards. “I’ve certainly made my thoughts felt to the supervisor of the IBF, who is in agreement with me,” he told Sky Sports. “I can tell you one thing – [Sammartino] will not be coming back to this country, and I will make sure the IBF are told of that. “There’s only one winner tonight, and I think Mr Sammartino and Mr Haskins will understand that. It’s just disappointing. It was a good fight and this has kind of ruined it a little bitExactly five years ago Kevin Durant faced LeBron James in his first NBA finals matchup, ultimately losing 4-1. This year the tables were turned. Durant led the Golden State Warriors to a 129-120 victory over James and the Cleveland Cavaliers http://www.officialmarinershop.com/Ken_Griffey_Jersey in Game 5, earning his first championship. It is the supremely gifted Warriors’ second title in three years. Durant, who was later named the series MVP, put in another great performance, scoring 39 points and becoming the first player with five straight 30-point games in the finals since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. “It’s just a great group of guys, great community, great arena, great fans,” Durant said after the game. “I’m just so happy to be a part of it. I can’t wait to celebrate with my team-mates in the locker room.” LeBron James refuses to be drawn on future: 'I need to figure this thing out' Read more Stephen Curry and Durant combined for 41 points in the first half, their most in this postseason. Golden State are the first team to score at least 100 points in every game of the playoffs. “We learned from everything we’ve been through,” Curry said. “Our perspective, being blessed to play on this stage three years in a row, it’s for these fans, for Elias Lindholm Womens Jersey our organization, for these families. To be back here, bring [the trophy] back home, I’m just excited to do something special. I’m ready to do it again
The athlete welfare crisis in Olympic sport continues to grow with the revelation that a bobsleigh coach was accused of racism amid an alleged “culture of fear” pervading the high-performance programme. News of yet another governing body accused of duty of care failings follows the Guardian’s revelation on Monday that a police investigation has been launched into allegations a suspended senior canoeing coach groomed teenage girls for sex. The BBC reported that a group of athletes wrote anonymously to the chief executive of the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA), the sport’s governing body, this year to “share concerns over the behaviour of key performance and management staff”. One alleged they had experienced “racism several times” from a senior coach and that the coach referred to black people as “lazy” and had “a blatant dislike towards people of colour”. According to the BBC, several letters were sent by athletes and staff to Richard Marcus Semien Womens Jersey Parker. One claimed there was “a racial bias in favour of Caucasian males” on the performance programme and “a racial stigma against black drivers”. Others remarked that “sexist comments are regular, there have been claims of racist remarks which all get ignored,” and that “the culture is one of fear … athletes are literally terrified of putting a foot wrong,” and there was “dictatorship within the management”. Parker met with a group of athletes in April and an internal review to investigate the allegations was set up, led by three members of the BBSA board. But last month he told his athletes: “No formal complaints were made against individual staff members and therefore no disciplinary action will take place.” The BBSA said it “condemns racism, sexism and any other form of discrimination in the strongest possible sense. Such attitudes have no place in our sport.” Advertisement In a statement, it added: “Having received a set of anonymous athlete comments regarding the performance environment following the conclusion of the 2016-17 sliding season, the BBSA immediately instigated an internal review. “Athletes were asked to formalise any complaints as part of the process to start an official investigation and allow any persons involved a right to respond but no such complaints were made. The BBSA acted swiftly to address the situation and steps have been taken to ensure all athletes and staff are clear on the process in which to address any concerns. We are proud of the diversity in our team and the success it http://www.officialathleticshop.com/authentic-25-mark-mcgwire-jersey.html brings.” It comes on the eve of the release of a report into claims of discrimination and bullying at British Cycling. That inquiry followed allegations, originally made by Jess Varnish and disabled cyclists, accusing former technical director Shane Sutton of discrimination, claims he wholly denies. But the independent investigation, headed by the British Rowing chairman Annamarie Phelps, was widened to look at the culture of British Cycling in its entirety. The process of interviewing respondents to the inquiry began 14 months ago but its publication has been delayed several times with some claiming a draft version of the report was unrepresentative of the real situation. Nevertheless, the Guardian understands it will make miserable reading for both the governing body and the funding agency UK Sport, which allocates lottery and exchequer money to Olympic sports. The pressure on UK Sport to develop a coherent plan to combat duty of care failings will only increase with recent developments in British Canoeing and British BobsleighRyan Burnett’s split decision win over the Briton Lee Haskins for the world bantamweight title in Belfast on Saturday was scored incorrectly and should have been an unanimous win, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) has confirmed. The Northern Irishman knocked down defending champion Haskins in the sixth and 11th rounds with two of the three judges handing him favourable scorecards of 119?107, but there was widespread disbelief when the last judge, the American Clark Sammartino, scored him losing 118-108. Dillian Whyte can win http://www.officialathleticshop.com/authentic-9-reggie-jackson-jersey.html world heavyweight title, says Eddie Hearn Read more Burnett’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, had already called for an investigation into the decision and the IBF has now announced that Sammartino had made an error. “On Saturday, the IBF bantamweight bout between Lee Haskins and Ryan Burnett held at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland, was ruled a split decision victory for Burnett as a result of an error with the scorecards,” the IBF said in a statement. “Due to this error … the bout was declared a split decision when it should have been ruled a unanimous decision in favour of Burnett. An error of this nature and at this level of the sport should not have occurred. The IBF remains committed to recommending qualified and reliable officials to work its sanctioned bouts, and is fully intent on deterring a situation such as this one from occurring again.” After the fight, Hearn said: “Thankfully we got the decision, but when we looked at the scorecards we realised that the judge in question [Sammartino] had actually scored the fight the wrong way round. “We knew this by the 10-8 rounds and luckily we had those 10-8 rounds, because otherwise there is not necessarily a way of telling. He scored the two 10-8 rounds to the guy who had been knocked down, so again quite amusing at the time, because we got the win, but [it’s] actually very serious.” The British Boxing Board of Control’s general secretary, Robert Smith, was at the fight and made his views clear afterwards. “I’ve certainly made my thoughts felt to the supervisor of the IBF, who is in agreement with me,” he told Sky Sports. “I can tell you one thing – [Sammartino] will Rickey Henderson Authentic Jersey not be coming back to this country, and I will make sure the IBF are told of that. “There’s only one winner tonight, and I think Mr Sammartino and Mr Haskins will understand that. It’s just disappointing. It was a good fight and this has kind of ruined it a little bit
The problem for England, as Gareth Southgate acknowledged, is that if they insist on choosing http://www.authenticcoloradoavalanche.com/authentic-jarome-iginla-jersey elite opposition there is always the risk it will expose their own shortcomings. There were plenty of them here, the first time England have sieved three goals since a 4-2 defeat in Sweden in November 2012, and the cold, harsh reality for Southgate at the end of a punishing night is that it was a demoralising way to go into their summer break. England should certainly feel distressed bearing in mind France had to play with 10 men after the moment, early in the second half, when Rapha?l Varane brought down Dele Alli inside the penalty area and the video assistant referees confirmed it warranted a red card. Harry Kane’s penalty gave him his second goal, after he opened the scoring nine minutes into an eventful night, but France still managed to outdo their opponents in just about every department. England were fortunate not to suffer an even heavier defeat and it must have alarmed Southgate to see his team looking so vulnerable, particularly during the period of the match when they had an extra man. France 3-2 England: international friendly – as it happened Minute-by-minute report: Sloppy England were outclassed by 10-men in Paris, with Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba and Ousmane Dembélé particularly brilliant Read more His players will have a better idea now why Kylian Mbappé is being touted for a possible world-record transfer. Paul Pogba, the man who currently holds that record, also reached the kind of heights that England will not encounter from opponents in their World Cup group. Yet the outstanding performer in Didier Deschamps’s team might actually have Adidas Joe Colborne Authentic Jersey been the quick, elusive Ousmane Dembélé. France, to put it bluntly, were a cut above and there was something ironic about seeing a 4-4-2 team shimmering with this kind of menace while England experimented with 3-4-3, the de rigueur formation of modern football, and produced the same old flaws. In fairness to Southgate, England’s shortcomings could not be pinned on the team’s new structure. More often than not, it was a question of players winning tackles, making clearances, remembering to mark their opponents and an old-fashioned tactic known as keeping the ball. Southgate had Phil Jones, John Stones and Gary Cahill in central defence but they all suffered against the speed and directness of Mbappé and Dembélé. Olivier Giroud also had a fine game and Southgate, a man who knows a thing or two about the art of central defence, seemed genuinely taken aback by his team’s second-half performance. For the first time as England manager, his voice was hoarseOn a more positive note, Kane has now scored three times in two games for England and, factoring in his performances for Spurs, 10 in his last five appearances. Kane wore the captain’s armband again and showed again why, post-Rooney, Southgate intends to give him the captaincy on a full-time basis. Advertisement Ultimately, though, no team can defend this generously and expect to get away with it. Giroud also had a volleyed goal ruled out for offside and it was difficult to keep count of the number of times Mbappé was denied by either Tom Heaton or Jack Butland, England’s first- and second-half goalkeepers respectively. Mbappé struck the crossbar with another shot and his speed on the break was a significant http://www.authenticcoloradoavalanche.com/authentic-joe-sakic-jersey factor when it comes to England’s failure to take advantage after Varane’s dismissal. As friendlies go, it had turned into an entertaining contest once Alli’s cross, followed by Raheem Sterling’s clever back-heel, left the overlapping Ryan Bertrand in a position to set up Kane for the opening goal. England had started well but once Les Bleus shook their heads clear of any early uncertainty they quickly must have realised their opponents were fragile at the back. Samuel Umtiti made it 1-1 midway through the first half, turning in a follow-up shot after Giroud had headed a free-kick to Heaton’s right, and France’s second goal was a case of deja vu. Again, Heaton dived at full stretch to save, one-handed, and once more a France player was first to the loose ball. This time it was from Dembélé’s shot. The ball came back out and Djibril Sidibé fired in from eight yardsIf there was a criticism of Heaton, it was that on both occasions he turned the ball back into a dangerous area rather than pushing it further wide. The biggest problem for England, however, was the way they had defended to put Heaton in this position. Stones lost Dembélé before France’s second goal by diving into a challenge when he would have been better advised to stay on his feet. Advertisement Cahill was also partly to blame and Giroud, France’s target man, was not even marked before the first goal. Strangely for a nation that prides itself on the physicality of its footballers, England also found it difficult to cope with the size and athleticism of their opponents. Southgate talked about his side looking tired in the last 20 minutes but that overlooked the fact he was entitled to Adidas John Wensink Youth Jersey make six substitutes and France had just come back from a World Cup qualifier in Sweden. At 2-2, England ought to have been in a strong position to win in France for the first time since 1997. As it was, it was remarkable to see their lack of control and football intelligence against France’s 10 men. Eric Dier’s carelessness to give the ball away before the decisive goal was just another example. Pogba and Mbappé combined again, expertly moving the ball into Dembélé’s path, and his diagonal shot flew past Butland for the winner
Harry Kane claimed England’s performance was “not good enough” as they succumbed to France, with the manager Gareth Southgate critical of his team’s game management after playing Dustin Byfuglien Jersey almost all the second period against 10 men. Ousmane Dembélé gives 10-man France 3-2 win despite Kane’s England double Read more The visitors had drawn level courtesy of Kane’s penalty early in the second half, with the Italian officials using the video assistant referees to confirm the award of the spot kick and the dismissal of Rapha?l Varane, who was deemed not to have made an attempt to play the ball. That system is expected to be trialled in the FA Cup and League Cup next season, and could be implemented in the Premier League after the 2018 World Cup. Yet, while neither manager complained at the video officials’ intervention, England’s inability to make inroads against depleted opponents, and tendency to present France with opportunities, left them infuriated. “Scoring twice in France should be enough,” said Kane, who captained the side. “We have got to find a way to win that. We just weren’t good enough. They were getting too much space in vital areas, even with 10 men. We want to be brave and play from the back and mistakes will happen. It’s disappointing. We were in the driver’s seat but we didn’t step it up another gear. Not good enough.” While England remain http://www.officialwinnipegjets.com/Adidas-Jack-Roslovic-Jersey comfortable leaders of their World Cup qualifying group, they have lost in Germany and France, and conceded two late goals to draw 2-2 with Spain in their high-profile friendlies under Southgate. The manager is using those fixtures as an education for a relatively inexperienced side. “We’ve been competitive in all three games for long periods of time,” he said after seeing England concede three for the first time since late 2012. “But I think we’ve had to play at our absolute limit to stay in all three of the matches, which has shown in the latter stages of those games. The three games have provided a different test. Kylian Mbappé’s rapid rise highlights the youthful promise of Les Bleus Read more “With Spain it was their ability to keep the ball better than us, and we were chasing, chasing, chasing. Today we kept the ball better than France at times but, physically, the demands their players impose on you meant we had problems and that http://www.atlantafalconsauthorizedstore.com/deion-sanders-jersey-elite led to tiredness, which is one of the reasons for the mistake for the third goal. Those teams are the best. In the last few years we’ve not got anywhere near those teams when it’s come to tournaments and finals, so that’s why we need to play them. We need to see the reality of where we are, to test yourself against the best, so you don’t mask where you are in terms of a team. “We should have got a result. In the space of 90 minutes we saw the things we’re very good at. With the ball we caused a lot of problems, looked a threat, created good openings, took our first goal very well. And equally saw the things we have to get better at. Defending as a team, and managing the game once France went down to 10. You have to control possession and stay calm, but we looked more anxious while they stepped up. We didn’t manage that period of the game as well as we need to. Part of that was because we tired. We put a huge amount into the game to try and press and deal with the physical capabilities France had, and it was a problem for us all night, their pace and athleticism.” On the use of the video assistant referees, Southgate added: “I’ve not seen it again but, from my initial view, I thought it was the right call. It looked a clear penalty and therefore a sending off. I assume the referee wanted to make sure. If he’s got that technology to do that, then a sensible decision. Clearly, even with video, not every decision Authentic David Bakhtiari Womens Jersey will be 100%. You won’t get every decision right. There’ll still be an element of one person’s judgment in that
The ball was just fine. The speed gun clocked it at 89mph, which made it one of the quickest the left-armer Trent Boult would bowl all day. It landed short, in line with http://www.greenbaypackersauthorizedstore.com/corey-linsley-jersey-elite leg stump, and, delivered from over the wicket, shot on towards the top of off. Only this time, just fine wasn’t good enough. Jos Buttler was on strike and before Boult had even released the ball he had begun to move his right leg square across his stumps, switch his grip, and bring the bat down and around to lift the ball over his left shoulder and away above the head of the wicketkeeper. Buttler turned to watch it fly, with the wind, up over the sightscreen and into the gantry, where a startled cameraman had to turn and stoop to fetch it and toss it back down below. Boult spun on his heel and walked back to his mark, head down. Boult, who takes his ODI wickets at 25 each, is ranked sixth in the ICC’s ODI rankings but before the Champions Trophy the BBC polled the team captains and asked them who is the best bowler in the world. Boult finished second behind Mitchell Starc. Mark Wood enjoying making the difference for England in Champions Trophy Read more Here, though, he was helpless. It was a breathtakingly brilliant bit of batting, premeditated because Buttler saw fine leg was up and had second-guessed the length Boult was going to bowl. It was a shot that would have seemed, still did seem, completely inconceivable to a batsman who played only a few years before. Nasser Hussain did a verbal double-take as he tried describe what he’d just Amos Youth Jersey seen. “What a shot that is,” he said, as if he were speaking to himself rather than the rest of us, “what an incredible shot!” Buttler flicked his bat as it made contact, like a chef tossing a pancake, to hoist the ball extra high. He had been quite restrained. He was 36 off of 38 balls when he played it and it was only the third boundary and first six he’d hit. But his bat works like a steel trap, so quick to snap into action it seems he has rubber sinews and springs in his wrists. It takes audacity to even conceive of such a hare-brained shot and bravery to commit to it. This last quality, Buttler says, is key. “It comes foul when you’re thinking: ‘Shall I do it? Shan’t I do it?’ I say, at end of his mark: ‘Look, I’m going to take this on, 100% commitment.’” Advertisement These are fragile traits, easily depleted. England have been doing their best to build them up in Buttler and his team-mates ever since Paul Farbrace took charge in that watershed ODI series against New Zealand in 2015, when they ran up consecutive scores of 408, 365, 302, and 350. In the third of those games, England were all out with 28 balls of the innings left unused. Eoin Morgan, just last week singled out by Farbrace as the “biggest factor in England’s success in the last two years”, decided to defend his team and their approach from everyone else’s criticism. “From http://www.atlantafalconsauthorizedstore.com/brooks-reed-jersey-elite time to time we will get bowled out,” Morgan said, “so it doesn’t disappoint me that we didn’t bat the 50 overs.” As Farbrace said, before that series, Morgan “talked to players about going and playing your way – there’ll be no one getting stuck into you if you get out playing an ordinary shot.” It is a line Morgan has held to ever since and it explains why he and Trevor Bayliss stuck with Jason Roy even though he has scored 52 runs in eight ODI innings this season. Only five days before Buttler hit that six against New Zealand, Roy had tried a similar sort of shot against Bangladesh. He scuttled across his stumps and flicked the ball straight to fine leg. While Buttler had taken a little time to get his eye in, this was in the third over and Roy had faced only seven deliveries. It looked a damn-fool way to get out, which is precisely why you need to be so brave to play it. The Recap: sign up for the best of the Guardian's sport coverage Read more Most cricketers grow more averse to risk the older they get, as they come to better understand the stakes they are gambling with but Morgan wants his batsmen to feel that they are allowed to fail. And the best way to do that is by protecting them from the old culture of English cricket that saw batsmen be pilloried for playing the reverse sweep, or for failing to play themselves in before they started taking risks. As RC Robertson-Glasgow wrote of Harold Gimblett: “Some remarked that perhaps he is too daring for the grey-beards. My own view is he is also too daring for the majority of the black-beards, the brown-beards, and the all-beards who sit in judgment on batsmen; in short, too daring for those who have never known what it is to dare in cricket.” This is an extract Courtney Upshaw Womens Jersey taken from The Spin, the Guardian’s weekly cricket email. To subscribe, just visit this page and follow the instructions
Things like this are not supposed to happen. In just her eighth grand slam event, the unseeded, fearless Jelena Cameron Artis-Payne Jersey Ostapenko produced a stunning fightback to win the French Open title here. Her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Simona Halep, the pre-tournament favourite, who would have been world No1 had she won the title, made her the first unseeded woman to win here in the open era. At 20, she is the youngest woman to win here since Iva Majoli of Croatia in 1997, the first Latvian to win a grand slam singles title and the first person to win their first tour title at a grand slam since the Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten lifted the first of his three titles here in 1997, something he achieved on the day Ostapenko was born. French Open: Ostapenko stuns Halep with remarkable fightback to win title – as it happened Jelena Ostapenko won her first ever title after beating world No4 Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 after Halep had charged into a first-set lead at Roland Garros Read more Halep will wonder how she failed to clinch victory, having led by a set and 3-0 and having three break-point chances in a long fourth game of the second set that would have put her two breaks up. The Romanian also led 3-1 in the third set but, in truth, nothing about Saturday’s final was in her hands against Ostapenko, whose outrageous ball-striking sent the ball flying past her outstretched racket time and time again as her hopes of a first grand slam title were dashed in the dirt. It was a stunning victory for a woman who went into the French Open as the world No47, a 100-1 shot and not even spoken about as a contender. The junior Wimbledon champion three years ago, Ostapenko had never even been beyond the third round of a grand slam until this fortnight but the way she played here suggests that she will be here for many years to come. It was also fitting, on a sultry day at Roland Garros, that she should finish it off with yet another backhand return down the line, one of 54 clean winners http://www.officialmagicstoreonline.com/Elfrid_Payton_Jerseyshe struck in the final. “I still cannot believe I am the Roland Garros champion and I’m only 20,” said Ostapenko, who showed no nerves and never deviated from her simple, devastating gameplan of attack, attack, attack. “I know Simona is a great player and she was playing great but I kept trying, stayed aggressive and I’m very happy things turned around for me. I have no words,” she added. Advertisement In the absence of Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, all missing for a variety of reasons, this year’s French Open had been considered one of the most open of all time. Halep, most people’s favourite after winning in Madrid and reaching the final in Rome, was expected to be able to tame Ostapenko and when she withstood an early barrage of groundstrokes from the Latvian to take the first set, the 25-year-old was on track. Knowing Ostapenko was http://www.officialcelticsproshop.com/Bob_Cousy_Jersey capable of reeling off winners seemingly at will, Halep was well aware she needed to stay patient, accept when she was outhit and wait for the mistakes, while taking any chance she had to be aggressive. She must have hoped that Ostapenko would freeze on the big occasion but instead the Latvian looked relatively relaxed. The simplicity of her game means she does not second-guess herself, as she proved in beating players such as Sam Stosur and Caroline Wozniacki en route. She had also come from a set down three times on her way to the final and when Halep failed to take any of her three break points at 3-0 in the second set, she had hope. That translated into belief when she cracked several winners on her way to levelling at 3-3 and when she broke for 4-3, she whipped up a crowd who were already willing her on, gasping at times at the ferocity of her flatly-struck groundstrokes. Though Halep broke back for 4-4, Ostapenko broke again and served out to force a decider. British teenager Alfie Hewett fights back to win French Open wheelchair final Read more At the start of the third, Halep saved two break points and then broke on her way to a 3-1 lead as Ostapenko’s radar went astray as she sprayed the ball long and wide, her focus dipping for a moment. However, from 3-1 down she broke back for 3-3 and then, thanks to a bit of outrageous fortune when she got a dead net cord on a backhand that had been heading way wide, the 20-year-old broke to lead 4-3. Finally in front in the match for the first time, Ostapenko might have blinked but she held serve brilliantly for 5-3. At 30-40 on the Halep serve, Ostapenko had match point and she rifled an unstoppable backhand down the line to clinch victory, leaping in the air and turning in delight in Brandon Pirri Womens Jersey the direction of her two coaches, her mother and the former Spanish player, Anabel Medina, who had been on the edge of their courtside seats throughout. Both players struggled on second serve and though Halep may chastise herself for not attacking more, she rarely had the chance. Ostapenko defended well when she needed to and as soon as she got in position, or even sometimes when she was not, she slapped the ball at break-neck speed. Halep will be world No2 when the women’s rankings are updated on Monday and she was gracious in defeat. “All the credit for what you have done,” she said. “It’s an amazing thing. Enjoy it be happy and keep it going because you’re like a kid.” She may be a kid but the kid is a grand slam champion and if she can continue to play without a semblance of fear for as long as possible, then this may be the first of many
Alfie Hewett became the first British winner of the men’s wheelchair singles title at the French Open http://www.authenticcoloradoavalanche.com/authentic-john-wensink-jersey with a dramatic victory over the defending champion, Gustavo Fernández. The 19-year-old from Norwich lost the first eight games and saved two match points in the second-set tie-break before going on to win 0-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2. “I played him a week and a half ago in another final and I was 6-0, 3-0 down, and when it went 6-0, 2-0 this time I was thinking: ‘Oh no, here we go again,’” Hewett said. “But I remembered coming back that time so I knew I could come back. When it got to that tie-break, it was very up and down, he had I don’t know how many match points, I had set points. The Recap: sign up for the best of the Guardian's sport coverage Read more “Mentally that was a big positive for me to just keep in there and hold out. I felt good after I won that second set. I knew I needed to get off to a good start in the third and when that happened I just grew in confidence.” Hewett showed his nerves in the first set, making far too many errors as his Argentinian opponent clinched the set in 17 minutes. The British player, ranked seventh, finally got on the board in the third game of the second set and it was nip and tuck after he fought back from 3-1 to make it 3-3. The tie-break proved to be the decisive moment, with Fernández, who beat Scotland’s Gordon Reid in last year’s final, unable to take either of his two chances. Hewett carried his momentum into the third set to add his first grand slam singles title to double Paralympic silver from Rio last summer and a Wimbledon doubles title. There were a few tears but no great outpouring of emotion from Hewett who had a doubles final to come after with Reid. The British pair went on to lose against France’s Stéphane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer 6-4 6-3. Celebrations on Saturday night will be limited to a pizza before he heads home to see his parents, brother and sister, who were following from the UK. “I can’t imagine what they were feeling in that second set tie-break,” said Hewett. “I’ve always believed I can beat anyone on my day. Clay is one of my favourite surfaces. Norwich only has about three clay courts but there’s something about it I love. “I had a Adidas Jonathan Huberdeau Womens Jersey good feeling about this week. This time last year I was outside the top 10, hadn’t really won anything. A year on I’ve got two silver medals, Wimbledon doubles champion and now singles grand slam at Roland Garros. I can’t believe itAndy Murray leaves Roland Garros in much better shape than when he arrived, even if losing in the semi-finals to Stan Wawrinka over five sets in four and a half hours on Friday afternoon was not the way he would have chosen to bid adieu to one of his favourite tournaments and cities.
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