Cricket-Cricket looks beyond 2028 after much-awaited Olympic return
By Amlan Chakraborty and Sudipto Ganguly NEW DELHI/MUMBAI Cricket celebrated its much-awaited return to Olympics on Monday and
1970-01-01 08:00
Mohamed Elneny daring to dream about leading his new club to the Premier League
Mohamed Elneny is no stranger to people baulking at his footballing ambitions – which is why he is happy to declare he wants to take his newly-founded club all the way to the Premier League. The Arsenal midfielder announced the launch of Elneny FC last week, a new team which he hopes will give a chance to players who have fallen through the cracks of pre-existing clubs. A number of try-outs across north London and Essex have been planned, with the hope of finding enough players of the desired quality to train and play in friendly matches for the next year before Elneny FC enters the football pyramid. For Elneny, though, the dream is to then lead his eponymous club to the very top and defy any critics – much like his earlier playing days. “I remember one journalist was talking to me in Egypt and he asked me, last question, he said to me: ‘Mo, where you do you want to play?’,” Elneny said. “I was playing for a club (Al Mokawloon) in the middle of the table in Egypt but I said to him ‘I want to play at the Nou Camp in Barcelona’. “I swear to you, he just walked off and didn’t continue the interview with me, no thank you, no goodbye or anything, he just walked off. If you don’t dream big in football you will not get anything. If you dream big at least you’re going to be close Mohamed Elneny “My friend said ‘look where you are. Look where you are in the middle of the table in Egypt, how are you going to get to one of the best teams in the world’? “If you don’t dream big in football you will not get anything. If you dream big at least you’re going to be close. This is what I really believe.” After a stint in Basel, Elneny joined Arsenal and went on to play – and score – in a Champions League tie against Barcelona in their iconic stadium. Now the 31-year-old will set out to prove any doubters wrong once again as he aims high with his own club. “I have told so many people and they are just laughing at me because when I say I want to play in the Premier League one day, they just say ‘How? The Premier League is the best in the world and you want to get there from zero?’ he added. “Some people just don’t get the idea but for me, I love to dream, that is why I need good people around me. “I think the players we sign will be excited and then I am going put the idea every time when we train them: ‘we want to be in the Premier League one day’. “Of course, it could take 15 years, 20 years but we have the target where we want to be. “I love to dream. What am I going to lose? I’m going to work every day about this (Elneny FC).” Elneny is hoping to get some crossover support from the Arsenal fanbase and also arrange coaching sessions with some of his Emirates Stadium team-mates and one day hopes Elneny FC will meet the Gunners in the FA Cup. The Egypt international believes his club will only tighten his close ties to north London, with Elneny currently Arsenal’s longest-serving player. He admits to shedding a tear when the club offered him a one-year extension towards the end of last season – despite the fact he was absent with a serious knee injury that was not healed until his old deal would have expired. “It was one of the happiest days in my life, really,” he added. “The way they talked to me, the way all the club was happy about this decision, they made me cry this day. I said ‘oh my God’. Arsenal Football Club, they know I love them 100 per cent so much, they know I don’t want to leave. I want to stay and finish my career there.” Read More Owen Farrell deserves more credit from England fans – Richard Wigglesworth Biggest game of my life – Danny Care excited for England’s South Africa showdown Harry Wilson fully behind Wales boss Rob Page after ‘noise from the outside’ New sports given go-ahead for Olympic Games in 2028 Lacrosse’s Olympic return hailed as ‘immense’ and ‘watershed moment’ for sport The sporting weekend in pictures
1970-01-01 08:00
Spain coach De la Fuente able to silence doubters after lackluster start at La Roja's helm
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has found a way to turn the doubters into supporters
1970-01-01 08:00
Harry Wilson fully behind Wales boss Rob Page after ‘noise from the outside’
Wales hero Harry Wilson has backed manager Rob Page and says he has the full support of his players while taking an apparent swipe at the Association’s chief executive Noel Mooney. Page’s position came under the spotlight before Wales’ stunning 2-1 home win over Croatia in Euro 2024 qualifying on Sunday. Mooney revealed that Page’s future will be reviewed next month should Wales fail in their bid to qualify automatically for next summer’s tournament. Captain Ben Davies said on the eve of the Croatia game that Mooney’s comments were “not helpful”, a point picked up on by Wilson after the Fulham forward had scored twice to lift Wales into the second automatic qualifying spot in Group D. “We’re 100 per cent behind the manager,” Wilson told S4C after Wales’ win over the world’s sixth-ranked team. “We know there’s been a lot of noise from the outside and some comments that weren’t helpful for us in our preparation from people we didn’t really expect the comments to come from to be honest.” Wilson marked his 50th Wales appearance with a first brace for his country, a deft chip over Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic and a glancing header from Daniel James’ cross taking his goal tally to eight. It came 10 years to the day since Wilson made his debut against Belgium to become Wales’ youngest-ever player at the age of 16 years and 207 days. Wilson said: “It was a big night for me personally, representing my country 50 times is something I couldn’t have dreamed of. I’m super proud of that. “But it wasn’t about me, it was about the team and putting on the performance we all wanted.” Wales’ victory over the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists puts automatic qualification for the European Championship in their own hands going into the final two group games. They meet Armenia in Yerevan on November 18 before hosting group leaders Turkey in Cardiff three days later. Turkey’s 4-0 win over Latvia on Sunday secured qualification for next summer’s showpiece in Germany. Wales will join them by winning their final two games, even if Croatia do likewise against Latvia and Armenia next month. Teams are ranked according to their head-to-head performance if level on points. Wales drew 1-1 away to Croatia in March and took four points from them – and would actually top the group by winning their final two games. Wilson said: “We watched their game on Thursday night (Croatia lost 1-0 at home to Turkey) and the result went against us. So we knew we had to produce something special and thankfully we’ve done that.” Read More New sports given go-ahead for Olympic Games in 2028 Lacrosse’s Olympic return hailed as ‘immense’ and ‘watershed moment’ for sport The sporting weekend in pictures PA Sport Trivia (16/10/2023) Peter O’Mahony proud despite Ireland’s World Cup disappointment Rob Page delighted with Wales response after speculation over future
1970-01-01 08:00
New threats closing in on college sports, including antitrust lawsuit to force TV revenue sharing
As the NCAA works to find a way to manage the way athletes are compensated for name, image and likeness, other threats are gathering
1970-01-01 08:00
Hardline Republican Jim Jordan to push bid for US House speaker
By David Morgan WASHINGTON Hardline Republican Jim Jordan is set to take his sputtering bid for speaker to
1970-01-01 08:00
Analysis: Eagles, 49ers beat themselves, leaving NFL with no undefeated teams
The NFL’s last two undefeated teams beat themselves
1970-01-01 08:00
Kyle Larson locks into NASCAR championship race. Has no intention of slowing down next 2 weeks
Kyle Larson has suddenly stepped into the spotlight as a NASCAR title favorite
1970-01-01 08:00
STAT WATCH: K-State freshman QB Avery Johnson sets FBS season high with 5 touchdowns rushing
Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson topped the list of statistical achievements in college football this past week
1970-01-01 08:00
Dillon Danis thinks he ‘won the war’ despite losing to Logan Paul
Dillon Danis has taken to Twitter/X to claim he "won the war" despite his recent disqualification loss in the ring against Logan Paul. The two fought in a six-round heavyweight match which resulted in Paul defeating the MMA fighter by disqualification after a mass brawl broke out in the ring, prompting security to act. It's no secret that there was bad blood between the pair in the lead-up to the fight as Danis has posted misogynistic trolling online relentlessly about Paul's fiancé Nina Agdal who in response filed a lawsuit and restraining order against him. The model has accused Danis of "a relentless, ongoing campaign of cyber harassment and bullying against her” that included “unlawfully posting nonconsensual, sexually explicit photographs of her on the internet without her consent". Meanwhile, there have also been physical altercations between Danis and Paul at pre-fight events where on one occasion Danis hit Paul with a microphone. Taking to Twitter/X post-fight, Paul branded Danis a "peasant" and a "clown" following his victory. "I think Dillion perfectly embodies the problem with society. All s*** talk behind a screen. No action," he wrote. "Just another peasant running his mouth contributing nothing to this world but negativity. So happy I got to expose this clown." This clearly irked Danis who posted a lengthy response where he believes himself to be the real winner as well as accusing Paul of taking steroids and claiming everything was in Paul's favour for the fight. "What did you prove? You didn't even tickle me. You backed out of an MMA fight against me," Danis wrote. "Everyone knew I'm not a boxer, but unlike others, I took on the challenge even with everything in your favor: weight, steroids, rounds, rules, judges, referees... the list goes on. I won the War." Although he has been defeated by one Paul brother, Danis is keen to fight another as he took to Twitter/X once more to challenge Jake Paul to a fight. "Hey @jakepaul your brother hits like a bitch if you knock me out I’ll retire forever and give everyone who likes this 2k," he tweeted, Though it appears Jake has not yet responded to Danis's request. 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.
1970-01-01 08:00
Pulsating Rugby World Cup quarterfinals highlight enduring strength of the southern hemisphere
Talk of a potential shift in the balance of power in world rugby toward the northern hemisphere might have been premature
1970-01-01 08:00
Jordan faces uphill climb to win speaker vote as House chaos drags on
Rep. Jim Jordan is racing to shore up support for his bid for speaker among skeptical GOP House members, but an entrenched bloc of lawmakers opposed to him leaves the Ohio Republican with an uphill climb ahead of a planned Tuesday vote on the House floor.
1970-01-01 08:00
