“People are calling us the mentality monsters and I believe it,” says Sam Kerr, “because sometimes we’re down and out and this team goes up another gear. Not many teams can do that.”
The Chelsea striker has not been surprised by the level of competition in the Champions League, but she has been surprised by the resilience of a team that was not playing in Europe when she joined them 15 months ago from Chicago Red Stars.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Kerr says as she reflects on Chelsea’s passage to their first Champions League final, against Barcelona on Sunday. “We’ve fought our way back into so many games.
“We’ve had a really hard draw to get to the final. The Atlético…
Joao Moutinho s late strike downed an insipid Manchester United as Wolves recorded a 1-0 win in the Premier League on Monday.
Wolves had not played since December 19 due to COVID-19 issues but dominated the opening proceedings at Old Trafford, United only holding on thanks to David de Gea repeatedly thwarting Bruno Lage s side.
Substitute Bruno Fernandes and Roman Saiss traded second-half strikes against the woodwork, either side of Cristiano Ronaldo – stand-in captain in the absence of Harry Maguire – seeing a goal ruled out for offside.
Moutinho then struck with eight minutes remaining to condemn Ralf Rangnick to his first defeat in charge of the Red Devils, who sit seventh in the league – four points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
4 João Mout…
Bitter rivals USA and Mexico are set to square off in one of the final warm-up games for the 2014 World Cup, with a lot of fireworks expected despite the fact that this is a friendly game.
The match takes place on April 2 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and tickets for the big game are already .
United States will play three warm-up games in the build up to the 2014 World Cup, with the Mexico game sandwiched between international friendlies against Ukraine and Nigeria.
Team USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann plans to use the high-profile match against their arch rivals to test his charges before he delivers the final verdict on a 23-man squad that will represent the country in Brazil.
We are going to be watching our players very carefu…
Virgil van Dijk will take time to consider his future at club and international level after the Netherlands suffered Euro 2024 heartbreak against England.
Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score a last-minute winner as the Three Lions came from behind to stun Ronald Koeman s team with a 2-1 victory in Dortmund.
The Netherlands have now been eliminated from seven World Cup or European Championship semi-finals, with only Germany (eight) losing more.
After the defeat, Oranje captain Van Dijk – who turned 33 earlier this week – was asked whether he planned to continue representing his country.
The centre-back, who has also been linked with a Liverpool exit as he enters the final year of his contract, was giving nothing away regarding his future.
With a new year upon us, it s only natural to look ahead at the next 12 months and the footballers who could enjoy breakthroughs at the top level.
From one player who bears a striking resemblance to Diego Maradona, to another hoping to follow in the footsteps of Erling Haaland, Stats Perform has identified eight youngsters who could be worth keeping an eye on in 2023.
Gavin Bazunu – goalkeeper, 20, Southampton
It s been a difficult introduction to the Premier League for Bazunu. The Republic of Ireland international joined from Manchester City at the end of last season for a reported £12million, highlighting just how highly rated he is in the game.
But his 30 goals conceded (excluding own goals) have come from 21.3 expected goals on target (xGOT), which…
Manchester City were the highest earners in last season s Champions League, as UEFA confirmed record funds paid out to participants.
The Premier League leaders progressed to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in 2015-16, where they fell 1-0 on aggregate to eventual winners Real Madrid.
But City earned a total of €83.8m from their Champions League participation, €3.8m more than Madrid, as UEFA shared more than €1.345billion between the 32 clubs that took part last term and the 10 knocked out in the play-off round – an increase in excess of €315m on the previous season.
Each club was entitled to a minimum payment for taking part in the Champions League after the 20 teams to contest the play-off phase shared €50m. Performance bonuses f…
It has been 10 years since Barcelona seemingly changed European football forever with a stunning 2-0 Champions League final win over holders Manchester United.
Samuel Eto o opened the scoring early on and Lionel Messi s 70th-minute header clinched a second Blaugrana triumph in four seasons.
This side were very different to the 2005-06 vintage, though, with new coach Pep Guardiola dictating an incredible passing style that quickly became the envy of their rivals.
They get you on that carousel and can leave you dizzy.
That was Alex Ferguson s description of Barca s approach and here we take a look at the 11 starters who subjected United to that punishment in Rome part of a historic treble.
VICTOR VALDES
Goalkeeper Valdes was per…
The Green Bay Packers welcomed back Aaron Rodgers last week and he led them to another win. On Sunday, they face a Vikings team who are four wins below them in the division.
Can the Vikings get one over on their old rivals and increase their wild card hopes? Prepare for the game by studying our NFL picks and predictions for the Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, November 21.
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It’s always awkward bumping into an ex. You have to smile through your teeth and do that weird “ass out” hug while pretending to be neutral on all the history between you.
The Philadelphia Eagles are in the midst of all that awkwardness as they prepare to visit former franchise quarterback Carson Wentz and the Washington Commanders in Week 3.
“Wentz Week,” as the Philly media has dubbed it, has Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni doing what we all kind of do with our exes — a little light stalking — calling around to former coaches and tapping anyone in the building with added info on Wentz ahead of this run-in.
Undefeated Philadelphia was the offseason betting darling for futures and after a 2-0 start, th…
The New York Giants will hit the road for the second week in a row when they take on the San Francisco Giants tonight on Thursday Night Football. Daniel Jones and the G-Men orchestrated an impressive second half comeback against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but they’ll be facing a serious step up in competition against the undefeated Niners, and will be doing so without Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley, who sprained his right ankle against the Cards. His absence could make all the difference in a game in which San Francisco is favored by 10.5 points.
While there are a number of different subscription-based TV channels and streaming services available to watch this game… did you know that you can also live stream Giants vs. 49ers directly from legal s…