List of All Articles with Tag 'port'

When England and Spain meet in the World Cup final on Sunday, millions of football fans will be

What the papers say Liverpool are ramping up their bid for 23-year-old midfielder Cheick Doucoure after missing out of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea this summer, the Independent reports. The price to lure the Crystal Palace star to Anfield is reported to be around £60million, but the Eagles could be hesitant to sell Doucoure after already losing a number of players this summer. The Daily Mail says Liverpool are also interested in Netherlands international midfielder Ryan Gravenberch. The 21-year-old at Bayern Munich is reportedly open to leaving the club due to a lack of playing time. Newcastle United are set to pay £30million for 18-year-old full-back Lewis Hall after Chelsea put him up for sale, according to the Telegraph. West Ham are hoping to use some of the money gained from the monster Declan Rice sale to sign a flurry of players. The Guardian says Montpellier striker Elye Wahi, Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos and Bayer Leverkusen defender Odilon Kossounou are all on the club’s watchlist. Social media round-up Players to watch Jesse Lingard: West Ham are scoping out the 30-year-old midfielder who is now a free agent after his contract expired with Nottingham Forest, Football Daily said. Aleksandar Mitrovic: The Guardian says the Fulham and Serbian striker is looking like the next Premier League player to head to the Saudi Pro League. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Lauren Hemp didn’t need to look; she already had the picture in her head. After 86 minutes of being everywhere for England, Hemp found another burst to turn away from Katrina Gorry and ease into the space, gliding to the left to create room on the right. As Australia backed off, Hemp opened up the angle and reversed the ball back to Alessia Russo - her target all along. Then came the finish, low, controlled, a clinical way to round off a ruthless performance on a gutsy night. Cool, calm and collected, it booked England’s place in the World Cup final and summed up how they beat Australia. “Incredible finish, incredible pass,” Sarina Wiegman said. For the second match in a row, her front two were both on the scoresheet, Hemp and Russo on target in the semi-finals, just as they were in the quarter-finals, just as Wiegman had planned. Except, of course, that no one would have planned for this, in a tournament where rarely anything has gone to script for England and they have been forced to adapt. The Lionesses came into the World Cup with seven forwards and they will likely start Sunday’s final with only two in attacking positions; Hemp and Russo stand as their unlikely combination. But it is a partnership that is a game away from winning the World Cup, and who have come to represent the qualities of this England team: one that battles and digs in from the front, but that has quality to deliver when it counts. Hemp has gone from England’s dynamic winger to a roaming threat in a team that doesn’t play with wide forwards, and who instead offers so much more, covering the work of two positions. “She is just a nuisance,” said Ella Toone. “A nightmare to play against.” Hemp saved her best performance of the World Cup for the semi-finals and led the way to show what England needed as they faced the hosts and an entire nation in Sydney, on what was their biggest night in a generation. “I feel really fearless at the moment,” the 23-year-old said. “I’ve taken up a new role, I guess, in the team, running in behind players and getting the ball, creating something. I feel like I’m playing some of my best football.” Hemp has always been an attacker who has played with a mental picture of what is around her and an understanding of where defenders are. Hemp has always had the pace to hurt teams, the acceleration to just glide away, but Wiegman’s decision to bring the Man City forward inside the touchlines has made her threat more consistent. Unlike the Euros last summer, teams are not able to double-mark her. It has also brought her closer to Russo, who started the tournament isolated, a target for crosses swung into the box but who really just wanted to be involved and have the play near her. “They are complimentary in their qualities,” Wiegman said. With Hemp alongside her, Russo has found her position and her confidence, growing into the tournament like England as they have reached the final. The Lionesses, though, are faced with a decision ahead of Spain on Sunday. England’s deadly duo was their attacking trio, one that could now be reunited against in the World Cup final. James will be available after serving her two-match suspension for stamping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie in the last-16. If that was a moment that threatened not only her, but England’s participation in the tournament, then the fact that James is free to play against Spain is thanks to the spirit and resilience of her teammates, as well as the discretion of Fifa’s disciplinary panel. The Lionesses overcame not only the immense challenge of getting through Nigeria with 10 players but the battles against Colombia and Australia. Nothing has come easy for England at the World Cup and James, through a moment of madness in which she did apologise for, made it harder. James remains a tempting option, however. She is England’s greatest talent, a player who lit up the group stages with her two-goal, three-assist display against China, shining in a system that was designed and revolved around her in the No 10 position. Wiegman, though, has since been made to adapt, and the attacking triangle of James, Hemp and Russo has shifted to the midfield trio of Ella Toone, Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway. Against Spain, the fixture in world football where individual battles in midfield are the most important, Wiegman is unlikely to move away from the formula that is working for this England team. Nor should she. After a difficult tournament, Toone had her moment against Australia, scoring another big-game goal for the Lionesses. It would be extremely harsh to drop her now, while having James as an impact substitute alongside Chloe Kelly is an excellent option for Wiegman to have. So too, suddenly, is the front two. "This team has ruthlessness,” Wiegman said, and it’s a spirit led from the front. Read More England finally reach the world’s greatest stage — and that is worth celebrating How England deployed dark arts and cool heads to silence Australian noise With one sublime pass, the Lionesses have unlocked the door to football Narnia

England are through to the Women’s World Cup final for the first time after a stunning 3-1 win over Australia in Sydney set up an all-European title decider against Spain on Sunday. The Lionesses broke the hearts of the home nation as goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo sealed a historic victory, after Sam Kerr sent the got the Matildas and capacity crowd of 75,784 rocking with a stunning individual goal. England manager Sarina Wiegman said she was “in a fairytale” after guiding England to the final for the first time, while defender Lucy Bronze was overcome with emotion after playing in two previous semi-final defeats in 2015 and 2019. The Lionesses will play Spain on Sunday in England’s first World Cup final since 1966 and the nation is set to come to a halt as England look to bring the game’s biggest prize back home. Follow all the reaction to England’s win against Australia in the semi-finals and get all the latest Women’s World Cup odds here: Read More Sensational England capitalise on Sam Kerr’s missed moment to make World Cup history How England deployed dark arts and cool heads to silence Australian noise Will Lauren James play in the Women’s World Cup final?

Christopher Morel clubbed a three-run, walk-off homer in the ninth inning as the host Chicago Cubs rallied for a 4-3

Mookie Betts went 3 for 4 and scored four runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers won their 10th in a row with a 7-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers

Bryce Harper hit two solo home runs, Aaron Nola pitched five innings to snap a four-start winless streak and the Philadelphia Phillies won for the first time in four games by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 9-4

There was some shoving and pushing and hollering at the University of Colorado's football practice on Wednesday, and Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders wasn't at all happy

Big league ERA leader Blake Snell pitched six strong innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. stole home in the seventh inning to electrify a sellout crowd at Petco Park as the San Diego Padres beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 to take two of three from the best team in the AL

Teoscar Hernandez hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5

Christopher Morel hit a dramatic three-run homer off Gregory Santos in the ninth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3

Angels left-hander Reid Detmers took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and two-way star Shohei Ohtani hit his 42nd home run as Los Angeles beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 2-0