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Liverpool winger Luis Diaz enjoyed an emotional reunion with his parents after flying home to Colombia for the first time since their kidnapping earlier this month. Diaz arrived in Bogota before flying to Barranquilla – the national team base for Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against Brazil – on Tuesday where he was greeted by his father Luis Manuel and mother Cilenis Marulanda. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Colombia Football Federation published pictures of the family’s reunion alongside a short statement which read: “This was Lucho’s exciting meeting with his father Mane Diaz and his family. “We love you and we are more united than ever! @LuisFDiaz19. We are all Colombians.” Diaz’s parents were snatched off the street just over a fortnight ago and, while his mum was freed almost immediately, his dad was held for 12 days before being released on Thursday. The 58-year-old said of his experience: “It was a lot of horseback riding, really hard, a lot of mountains, a lot of rain, too many insects.” A weak Díaz, who was helped to and from a chair by his family, told journalists in his home town of Barrancas in Colombia: “I couldn’t sleep peacefully, it was very difficult, almost 12 days without sleep.” Read More LaLiga president says Jude Bellingham ‘like he’s from a different planet’ Rory McIlroy aware ‘loose lips sink ships’ as progress made towards golf future ‘Drained and stressed’ Ronnie O’Sullivan withdraws from Champion of Champions

LaLiga president Javier Tebas says Jude Bellingham is from a “different planet” and hailed the England midfielder’s impact on the Spanish league. Bellingham has made a stunning start to life at Real Madrid following his summer switch from Borussia Dortmund, scoring 13 goals in his first 14 games in all competitions. The 20-year-old, who has pulled out of international duty with England this week due to a shoulder problem, has been the star attraction at the Bernabeu and is already the new star of LaLiga. Tebas admits people are surprised by how good Bellingham is and it is too early to estimate just how important he will be for the Spanish league from a commercial perspective. “It’s only been a few months, it’s too soon to know the full extent, but in the viewing levels in the UK Bellingham is having a big impact in our league,” Tebas told the PA news agency. “He’s an important player and the United Kingdom and other English-speaking areas are attracted to our league because of him. “Bellingham is a top player, we knew he was a great player but we didn’t realise the level he could reach, at Real Madrid it’s like he’s from a different planet. “I’m sure he’ll stay for a few more seasons.” Tebas, who was speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon, admitted that the Premier League was bigger than LaLiga, but it was his league that had the best player in Europe. “We have got the best player in Europe who is English,” Tebas said of Bellingham. “We can’t compare the two countries. “Obviously the Premier League is bigger but the best player in Europe is playing in Spain. “So we have the choice to get the best players to come to Spain.” Read More Rory McIlroy aware ‘loose lips sink ships’ as progress made towards golf future ‘Drained and stressed’ Ronnie O’Sullivan withdraws from Champion of Champions Liam Cooper wants Scotland to ‘do ourselves justice’ at Euro 2024 Virgil van Dijk backs Liverpool to challenge Manchester City for Premier League title Anybody can beat anybody on the day – Kane Williamson hopeful NZ can upset India Denver Broncos capitalise on second chance to beat Buffalo Bills

Bayern Munich has signed an agreement for 17-year-old Australian winger Nestory Irankunda to join the club in July

A Spanish judge has decided that Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves will face trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a night club last year

Germany's defence minister says a pledge to tackle Ukraine's shortage will not be met.

Liam Cooper insisted Scotland are intent on doing themselves justice at Euro 2024 after failing to win a game in their last tilt at the tournament. The Scots go into their concluding two qualifiers – away to Georgia on Thursday and at home to Norway on Sunday – having already qualified for the finals in Germany next summer. Steve Clarke’s men suffered group-stage elimination at Euro 2020 – delayed until 2021 due to Covid – after taking just one point from three games against Czech Republic, England and Croatia. Leeds defender Cooper – speaking from the Scots’ training base in Turkey ahead of Thursday’s match in Tbilisi – feels they will be better equipped this time to make it to the knockout phase. “As professionals, I think we put that expectation on ourselves immediately after the last Euros,” he said. “I don’t think we did ourselves justice in that tournament. “It was a lot of lads’ first taste of a major tournament, including myself, and straight after that we agreed among ourselves that we didn’t really do ourselves justice. “We’ve got a lot of people, including ourselves, to prove to that we belong there and we can get through the group stages. “We’ve got an honest bunch of lads and we hold ourselves accountable. We want to be satisfied with the way we performed. We’ve done well in this qualification campaign, to qualify with two games to spare is amazing, but it can’t stop there. https://x.com/ScotlandNT/status/1724198526597415041?s=20 “To be even more successful, we’ve got to go and do ourselves justice at the Euros. I’m lucky enough to have been at the last Euros, but if the goalposts don’t change once you’ve had a taste of that and you don’t want to go and improve on it next time, then there’s no point in you being here.” Cooper admits it is a good feeling to go into the last two matches having already qualified but he is adamant the Scots will not be taking things easy over the next week, with top spot in Group A as well as a place in the squad for the finals at stake. “It’s nice to have qualified with two games to spare, but there’s also that carrot there that if Spain drop points, we can go and win the group,” said the 32-year-old. “That’s our motivation right now. We’ve got to be professional and take our chance if Spain slip up. “We’ve only got this camp and the next camp to get ourselves in the manager’s thoughts and get in the squad for Germany so that’s also added motivation. We’ve got to put ourselves forward and prove we should be on that plane to Germany. “I had a taste of that before and it was an amazing experience albeit in difficult times for the world (due to Covid). There were limited people in the stadium so you didn’t get the full experience. “It was still an amazing experience but I think the Euros next summer will be unbelievable. It’s something you always dream of as a kid so you’ve got to do all you can by playing well and being successful in these next couple of games and into the March camp as well.” Excitement is building among the Scotland support and players ahead of the draw for the Euros group stage on December 2. “We’re obviously buzzing for that,” said Cooper. “We can then get booked and our friends and families can start getting booked up. “It’s been a bit of a nightmare not knowing where we’ll be playing, every person I’ve spoken to has booked about 20 hotels on free cancellation so it will be nice to know where we’re going to be based. “Once all the logistics of it are sorted out then you can really start to look forward to it. But we’re professionals and we understand there’s a lot of football to be played before then and there’s still a big decision to be made by the manager (regarding squad selection) so there will be no getting too carried away.” Read More Virgil van Dijk backs Liverpool to challenge Manchester City for Premier League title Anybody can beat anybody on the day – Kane Williamson hopeful NZ can upset India Denver Broncos capitalise on second chance to beat Buffalo Bills World trampoline champion Bryony Page eyes landmark Olympic appearance in Paris Pep Guardiola not concerned that Manchester City only had eight subs at Chelsea John Carver urges Lawrence Shankland to make the most of late Scotland call-up

A life-changing few days await a number of globally unrecognized players in Dubai this week as they head into the World Tour Championship with far more than winning the season-ending European tour event on their minds

Jayson Tatum took some time out after his 35-point outburst against the New York Knicks to congratulate his father on his recent promotion to interim head coach of the Australian National Basketball League team Illawarra

Virgil van Dijk is hopeful Liverpool have rediscovered what it takes to push Manchester City all the way in the Premier League title race again. The two had epic battles in 2018-19 and 2021-22, when City pipped their north-west rivals by just a single point, while in between those campaigns the Reds clinched their first championship in 30 years. Having experienced a huge dropoff last season in finishing fifth, Jurgen Klopp’s side have bounced back after a summer midfield rebuild and will resume after the international break with a trip to the Etihad in a first-v-second clash. It is the closest Liverpool have been to City in 18 months and Van Dijk believes with consistency in results and fitness they can mount a sustained challenge. Asked whether he thought they were capable of running City close for the title, the captain said: “I hope so. “You have all these aspirations, dreams, goals and you want to compete until the very end in every competition we are in. “That is definitely the case at the beginning of the season and then you grow into a season. It’s November and there is still so much to play for. “It’s going well, but if we had not got a result against Brentford (a 3-0 win at the weekend) we would have been in that downward spiral – from the outside world of course – because you don’t set it up nicely for the game after the international break. You want to compete until the very end in every competition we are in. It's November and there is still so much to play for Virgil van Dijk “Overall this season we have been doing well but the season is not decided in November and there could be so many twists and turns, we all know that.” Key to that will be staying injury-free. Against Brentford, Liverpool’s options were down to the bare minimum with Alexis Mac Allister suspended and Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic – plus defenders Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate – all unavailable. Klopp fielded a bench in which only one outfield player was aged over 20 but they got the job done to move into second and set up the intriguing trip to the Etihad a week on Saturday. “I looked in the dressing room and it felt like we were the under-23s but we still we have the quality, if you are good enough you are old enough,” Van Dijk added. “But we need to see, we need a bit of luck, we need no injuries and need consistency. “We finished on a positive feeling and now it is time to focus on something else (internationals). “When we come back there is a very big one away and we will see if we are ready for that test.” Read More Anybody can beat anybody on the day – Kane Williamson hopeful NZ can upset India Denver Broncos capitalise on second chance to beat Buffalo Bills World trampoline champion Bryony Page eyes landmark Olympic appearance in Paris Pep Guardiola not concerned that Manchester City only had eight subs at Chelsea John Carver urges Lawrence Shankland to make the most of late Scotland call-up Ben Davies keen to prove doubters wrong as Wales target another major tournament

A clip of Aaron Ramsdale in conversation with Ian Wright is being dubbed the reason he was removed from the Arsenal starting line-up. While the clip was released back in May of the keeper seemingly uninterested in football, David Raya was signed just weeks later. “If you ask me to concentrate on a game of football for 90 minutes, I’m finished, I can’t do it", Ramsdale admitted. “So that’s why I get involved with the fans and I’ll sing along with the songs.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

American footballer Megan Rapinoe says an injury in her final professional game is “proof” that God doesn’t exist. Rapinoe suffered a game-ending injury in her final ever appearance in professional football and the National Women’s Soccer League Championship, following her final game for the US national women’s football team in September. On Sunday 12 November, Rapinoe’s team OL Reign took on Gotham FC in a final. But, the football star suffered a suspected Achilles injury in the 6th minute of the game, leaving her unable to continue. OL Reign eventually lost 2-1. The sad way she ended her career had Rapinoe getting philosophical, as she said it was a sign that there is no God. In a post-match press conference, Rapinoe said: “I’m not a religious person or anything and if there was a God, like, this is proof that there isn’t.” She added: “This is f**ked up. It’s just f**ked up. Six minutes in and I eat my Achilles.” The seemingly innocuous incident happened as Rapinoe was running to get into a defensive position and didn't involve any other player. In an interview with The Seattle Times, she explained: “Everyone is always like, ‘Who kicked me?’ And obviously, no one was even around me, and I was pressing.” “That’s what it felt like. Just a huge pop and I can’t even feel where the Achilles is, but pretty sure I tore my Achilles. The worst possible outcome.” She added: “Thank God I have a f**king deep well of a sense of humour. It’s devastating to go out in a final so early.” Over her illustrious career, Rapinoe has achieved several accolades, including winning the Ballon d'Or Féminin and being named The Best FIFA Women's Player in 2019. She scored over goals at the international level and 66 for her clubs. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham has withdrawn from England’s squad for its upcoming European Championship qualifiers because of a shoulder injury