
On This Day in 2014: Steven Gerrard retires from England duty
Former England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard announced his retirement from international football on this day in 2014. Gerrard was one of the best midfielders of his generation, making 114 appearances for England, which places him fourth on the men’s all-time list. But while he regularly tops fan polls as Liverpool’s greatest player, Gerrard rarely hit the same heights for England during his 14-year international career. His decision came after England’s dismal showing in the 2014 World Cup, where Roy Hodgson’s side crashed out at the group stage after defeats to Italy and Uruguay and a 0-0 draw against Costa Rica. Gerrard was handed his debut by Kevin Keegan aged 20 in a 2-0 win over Ukraine at Wembley in 2000 and was named in the squad for the European Championship later that summer, coming on against Germany in the group stage. It was against the Germans that he bagged his first goal the following year, a memorable strike in a famous 5-1 World Cup qualifying win which, along with two strikes at the 2006 World Cup, made for arguably his best moments in an England shirt. He would have had a place in history as the only Englishman to play in four World Cups had injury not kept him out of the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea. On a personal level he enjoyed a fine England career, captaining his country 38 times and scoring 21 goals. But the disappointing 2010 and 2014 World Cup campaigns – England exited the latter in Brazil bottom of their group and without a win – were tough for Gerrard to take and, like the rest of the ‘Golden Generation’, he retired without a major international honour. He went on to play another season for Liverpool in 2014-15, becoming the third player to make 500 or more Premier League appearances for one club after Ryan Giggs and former team-mate Jamie Carragher. He joined LA Galaxy in 2015 and made 19 appearances for the Major League Soccer club before announcing his retirement as a player in November 2016, aged 36. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live
2023-07-21 13:00

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Saudi spending won’t compromise owners’ aims for Newcastle, says Mapgies CEO
Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales is convinced eye-watering Saudi Arabian investment in domestic football will not derail their mission on Tyneside. The Gulf state’s Public Investment Fund, which owns an 80 per cent stake in the St James’ Park outfit, bought majority holdings in four of the nation’s biggest clubs – Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Ittihad – in June, sparking a transfer flurry which has taken some of the game’s biggest names to the Saudi Pro League in return for vast pay packets. Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and French counterpart Karim Benzema are among those to have headed for the Middle East, while the Magpies have themselves benefited – to raised eyebrows in some quarters – with Allan Saint-Maximin’s move to Al-Ahli, having unlocked a Financial Fair Play conundrum with what is understood to have been a £30million cash injection. Asked to explain the difference between that and the more modest approach adopted on Tyneside, where the total transfer spend over the four windows since the new owners took charge currently amounts to around £350million, Eales said: “An investment was made and Financial Fair Play is the regulation, so within those parameters everybody knew what the guard rails are in terms of what you can spend and how you can spend it. “Our job is to try to now grow Newcastle United to where we want it to be within the regulations which every club has to follow.” While Newcastle’s spending has been huge in comparison to that under previous owner Mike Ashley, PIF’s investment in the club, which has prompted repeated accusations of sportswashing, has been relatively modest for a sovereign wealth fund worth in the region of £514billion. However Eales, who admitted the success or otherwise of the Pro League could spark pressure for a change to spending regulations in Europe, insists the owners are not frustrated by their inability to throw money at the Premier League club as they have been able to do at home. He said: “The reality is they came in and it has been incredible, fighting relegation to finishing 11th, then finishing fourth. We have very shrewd operators in our ownership group. “We have got a great skill-set and set of people who have experience in various businesses. They understand it is a long-term plan not short-term.” Summer swoops for Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento had bolstered Eddie Howe’s squad for a campaign in which the club will look to build upon last season’s top-four finish while at the same time renewing their acquaintance with the Champions League after a 20-year absence. However, the arrivals of Barnes and Livramento were eased by Saint-Maximin’s departure amid questions over a PIF-backed club buying from another within the fund’s sporting portfolio. We are trying to build the plane while we are flying it Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales However, sporting director Dan Ashworth, who confirmed there was no other formal bid for the Frenchman despite interest elsewhere, insisted the undisclosed fee represented the player’s market value. Ashworth said: “We are absolutely convinced it is fair market value and without going into the actual price it was, there is plenty evidence of players of similar age, similar position, similar ability, similar CV that are moving for similar amounts outside the Saudi league.” The trajectory since Amanda Staveley’s consortium took up the reins at St James’ in October 2021 has been inexorably upwards, and the plan is to continue that resurgence both on the pitch and off it, where £10million has been invested in the training ground and a feasibility study commissioned to look into ways in which the 52,000-capacity stadium could be expanded. Commercial revenue and global supporter engagement are also major focuses for a club which has high hopes for sustained success. Eales said: “We are trying to build the plane while we are flying it. We won’t always get everything right. For us, it’s about getting Newcastle United rightfully back to where it should be.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Today at the World Cup: Spain and Sweden set up semi-final clash Dewi Lake puts injury troubles behind him to lead out Wales at Twickenham Roberto De Zerbi insists Brighton retain their ‘soul’ despite star departures
2023-08-12 00:00

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Saints in extension talks with sack leader Jordan, add receiver Washington
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‘Small, pathetic man’: Inside the bitter rivalry between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom
It’s been more than two decades since a state governor was elected to the White House, but you wouldn’t know it looking at the 2024 presidential race. Six current or former governors have entered the 2024 GOP primary so far. But no statehouse rivalry is more pronounced in US politics than the one between Florida governor and 2024 Republican candidate Ron DeSantis, and his Democratic counterpart from California, governor Gavin Newsom. The two, both seen as serious presidential prospects, if not now then someday, have been trading barbs for years, and things have only heated up as a presidential election season approaches. Most recently, Mr Newsom lashed out at Mr DeSantis this, calling him a “small, pathetic man,” after Florida officials facilitated a large group of South American migrants being dropped off without warning at a Sacramento church, a repeat of the Florida governor’s highly controversial move to do the same in Martha’s Vineyard last year. The California governor said Florida officials could face kidnapping charges. It’s far from the first time the two men – each the leader of a large, economically important state, whose policies typify each party – have locked horns. Their battles have much to say about where each party is going, and the political fate of these two men could suggest which vision of politics and leadership the American people want more. In March, during a visit to California to speak at the Reagan Presidential Library, the Florida Republican blasted Mr Newsom for following the advice of public health experts at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, accusing him of “subcontract[ing] ... leadership to health bureaucrats,” and claimed that Californians were flocking to Florida. “When the world went mad, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, Florida stood as a refuge of sanity, a citadel of freedom for people throughout the United States and indeed, throughout the world. We refused to let our state descend into some type of Faucian dystopia, where people’s rights were curtailed, and their livelihoods were destroyed. We made sure people had a right to work and we got people back to work and businesses back open,” he said. The Florida governor also said the Californian’s leadership showed how Democrats “coddle the criminals and put the rights of the criminals over the safety of the public and the rights of victims.” Mr Newsom, for his part, has made a point of showing how on issues like Covid and gun crime, California is empirically a safer place to be. "Just look at the data – California residents are safer, healthier and more prosperous than those unfortunate enough to have you as their Governor," Mr Newsom told CBS News during the Florida governor’s visit. "Oh by the way, you’re going to get smoked by Trump." Mr Newsom has made his own high-profile incursions into his rival’s state, including donating thousands to Mr DeSantis’s rivals. In April, the California Democrat met with students of Florida’s New College, a public liberal arts college that has recently become a target in Mr DeSantis’s wide-ranging campaign to bend Florida’s education system in a hyper-conservative direction by limiting access to materials concerning gender and sexuality, as well as the history of racism. “I can’t believe what you’re dealing with. It’s just an unbelievable assault,” Mr Newsom said at an appearance at a library near campus. “It’s common with everything he’s doing, bullying and intimidating vulnerable communities. Weakness, Ron DeSantis, weakness masquerading as strength across the board.” Last summer, Mr Newsom had an even bigger provocation for Mr DeSantis, using extra campaign cash to release a 30-second ad in Florida urging residents of the Sunshine State to move to California. "Freedom, it’s under attack in your state,” the spot claimed. “Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors," the governor said in a voiceover narration accompanying images of Mr DeSantis and former president Donald Trump. Indeed, the two states couldn’t be more different across a variety of areas, with Florida all but banning abortion, while California ceased doing business with Walgreens because the company wouldn’t sell abortion pills. In addition to a debate over their state’s respective policies, it seems a deep dislike of the other man has fueled the back-and-forth, with the Florida governor painting Mr Newsom as an out-of-touch hypocrite, while the California leader accuses the Republican of being a spiteful bigot and a “bully.” “As he was locking down his citizens, he would then go and have these extravagant dinners at the French Laundry to basically rub his citizens’ noses in the fact that he was treating them like peasants. You know in Florida we weren’t locking them down, we lifted our people up. We made sure to protect individuals’ freedoms,” Mr DeSantis said in July. That same summer, Mr Newsom flatly told an interviewer, “I don’t like DeSantis, the way he talked about Fauci,” after the Florida governor joked about throwing “that little elf” Dr Anthony Fauci into the Potomac River. “My entire life, I don’t like bullies…That’s being celebrated in American politics. DeSantis is the worst of it.” Things escalated further in September, with Mr Newsom challenging the Florida governor to a televised debate, further cementing an idea at the time that the men were running a kind of unofficial presidential campaign against each other, even though at that time Mr DeSantis hadn’t yet declared, and even though Mr Newsom would eventually endorse Joe Biden and formally swear off a primary challenge. The rivalry has extended outside of the presidential contest to the world of business. In May, the Walt Disney Company announced it was pulling out of a planned $1bn development in Florida, keeping thousands of jobs in California, as the Magic Kingdom feuded with Mr DeSantis over the state’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law and its decision to dissolve Disney’s special municipal district privileges in the state. But a political face-off between the two doesn’t seem too far away, and any contest would likely be even more intense than the shadow campaign the men have been running against each other for the previous two years. Mr Newsom has admitted a kind of grudging respect for Republicans like Mr DeSantis, who he feels have successfully convinced the country to go along with their vision on culture war issues. The California governor has argued Democrats have a serious “messaging problem.” “We allow these culture wars to take shape, and we are constantly on the back end,” Mr Newsom said. Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called a presidential run from Newsom, whose term ends in 2027, a “no-brainer.” With Mr DeSantis badly trailing Donald Trump in the polls, it seems a Newsom-DeSantis election may not be happening just yet, but may not be too far away in the future. Read More DeSantis news – latest: Texas sheriff backs Newsom and also recommends criminal charges over migrant flights Gavin Newsom suggests kidnap charges over Ron DeSantis’s migrant flights Ron DeSantis called out for ‘ignoring’ Hollywood beach shooting: ‘He doesn’t care’
2023-06-08 23:03

As temperatures climb, pilgrims ascend Mount Arafat for hajj climax
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