Phil Cuzzi And Astros Bench Exchange F-Yous

The former girlfriend of an NFL football player has offered to pay the fines of anyone who injures him. Getting on the wrong side of an ex-partner is never fun, but when that ex is offering to cover your rivals’ fines for intentionally injuring you in your sport, you know you’re on dangerous ground. Instagram model Destani, on Instagram as @nee.ariiii, is the former girlfriend of Miami Dolphins cornerback Eli Apple and has offered up the money to any other players who injure him on the field and face fines. She made the comment on her Instagram story, urging other players to go after her “baby dad”, targeting the knees and hamstrings. She wrote: “If you play against my baby dad this season, please go for the knees, maybe a hammy. No.33 for the Dolphins. I'll gladly Zelle you back any fines.” According to Boardroom, players can face a $15,914 fine for an illegal blindside block, while a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct can cost them $13,261. It’s not the first time Apple has been involved in controversy in his footballing career. The player is fairly notorious among NFL fans for gameday antics and feuding with other players on social media. One of Apple’s ongoing social media feuds was with Tyreke Hill, who is now his teammate at Miami Dolphins. When the team signed Apple, Hill said: “Now, my looking from it is now I get to embarrass him every day.” Sign up for 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.

England forward Lauren Hemp feels the Lionesses have moved on from their Euro 2022 triumph and are determined to refocus attention on their World Cup campaign. Manchester City’s Hemp started every game for boss Sarina Wiegman during an historic run that ended, one year ago Monday, with England lifting their first major trophy at Wembley, igniting unprecedented interest in women’s football across the UK. As a result of injuries and retirements, the England boss’s World Cup squad features seven players who were not part of that monumental match, while Rachel Daly, last summer’s left-back, is a forward for this competition. Asked if it was fair to place sky-high expectations on her largely changed side, Hemp said: “I think, as a team, yes that happened last summer, what a fantastic summer it was, but obviously it’s a new summer now, new challenges. You’ve seen in games in this tournament that anything can happen, but we’re ready for each one. “So yeah, it’s exciting to be a part of but obviously it’s a massive tournament where anything can happen, so as a team we’re just focusing on each game as it comes.” Norfolk-born Hemp, 22, was speaking from the palm tree-lined Central Coast Stadium north of Sydney, home of the A-League’s Central Coast Mariners and the Lionesses’ training base for the remainder of the tournament. After beating Haiti 1-0 in their opener, England will now play Denmark in the New South Wales capital on Friday before travelling to Adelaide to face China in their final group game on Tuesday. There were 49 places separating world number four England from Haiti, but they are just nine clear of their more familiar European opponents Denmark, who Hemp said feature “a very big attacking threat” in ex-Chelsea forward Pernille Harder. The Lionesses began their Australian adventure on the Sunshine Coast before travelling to Brisbane for the Haiti match, and have now settled into the beachside town of Terrigal, New South Wales. The full squad took part in Tuesday’s training session, which was attended by approximately 2500 locals, mostly school groups, with many sticking around for autographs and pictures with obliging players – though a strong contingent were also hollering for Wiegman herself to pay them a visit. The England boss has demanded her side be more “ruthless” after Georgia Stanway’s retaken penalty was the only goal against Haiti. Hemp said: “I think we are all working really hard in training to make sure we are being more clinical, creating more chances and obviously getting our goal percentage higher. “But we know it is something we need to improve on and we are working really hard as a team to make sure we are ready for the next game. We will be raring and ready to score some goals. “We have seen in games that we are capable of doing that, so it’s not like we have not scored before. We are all capable of scoring. It is just about making it click and getting those connections working. “I think obviously being at a World Cup is new for a lot of us – a lot of us have never been to one before. It’s across the other side of the world and I’m not making excuses but it’s important that each game we build on and we’ve seen that last summer, so we’re more than capable of doing that.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Erik ten Hag says Manchester United are making progress in striker search Palace boss Roy Hodgson ‘really sad’ to lose Wilfried Zaha to Galatasaray Premier League chief ‘not too concerned at moment’ about Saudi Arabia rise

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Manchester City and Sevilla will meet in the Uefa Super Cup in the annual showpiece starter to the European season. The event has been played annually for more than 50 years, and sees the winners of the Champions League and Europa League meet at a neutral venue. Between 1998 and 2012, the Super Cup was held in Monaco, but for the last decade has visited different European cities, with Real Madrid beating Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki last year. While not considered a major trophy, the match nonetheless provides the two competing sides with an ideal chance for some early-season silverware and the chance to build momentum into the more consequential business to come. When is the 2023 Uefa Super Cup? Manchester City take on Sevilla in the annual meeting between the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League on Wednesday 16 August at Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis near Athens in Greece. Kick-off is scheduled for 8pm BST. The match was originally due to be held in Kazan, but the Russian city was stripped of hosting rights in January due to the invasion of Ukraine. After securing their first major European crown, this will mark Manchester City’s first involvement in the fixture, while regular Europa League challengers Sevilla will make a seventh appearance. The Spanish club last won the Super Cup in 2006, recording a surprise 3-0 victory against Barcelona in Monaco. Atletico Madrid were the last Europa League winners to secure Super Cup triumph, beating cross-city rivals Real Madrid in 2018 to win the trophy for a third time. Read More Real Madrid announce transfer of Jude Bellingham from Dortmund for initial £88m Sportswashing is about to change football beyond anything you can imagine Bellingham gone but who’s next? Midfield merry-go-round will define summer

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Erik ten Hag knows Manchester United “have a way to go” as they look to kickstart their season with a statement derby victory against rivals Manchester City. All eyes will be on Old Trafford this Sunday as Pep Guardiola’s treble winners look to halt the Red Devils’ wholly unconvincing three-game winning streak. United required their latest ever Premier League comeback to beat Brentford 2-1 before an international break they returned from with a win by the same scoreline at rock-bottom Sheffield United. Ten Hag’s team toiled to a third straight victory in all competitions on Tuesday, when Andre Onana’s last-gasp spot-kick save sealed a crucial 1-0 win against Copenhagen in the Champions League. It was another narrow escape for a United side that need to be far better if they are to stand any chance of winning the 191st Manchester derby. “We are in the right direction, and we have a way to go,” Red Devils boss Ten Hag said. “I see positives, I see also negatives. We are not consistently, in possession, on the level where we can be, where we show in games we can be. “Like for instance, Arsenal away. Also, the first 30 minutes in Bayern Munich away. But we should do this on a consistent basis. “But pressing, we are quite good. We have the most ball regains from the whole Premier League, we have the most middle regains from the whole Premier League. “So, there you see, our defensive organisation, our pressing organisation. I said before the season how we wanted to play, that is us. “But then, we don’t take the benefit in the attacking transition moments, and we should be because we have the abilities in our team, the players there who can take benefit from it. “We paid some attention to it, and this has to grow, this has to progress. Then games will become easier.” United’s spate of defensive injuries has undoubtedly impacted them this term, so too their inability to show a clinical edge in front of goal. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have only managed one goal apiece this term, while summer signing Rasmus Hojlund is looking to open his Premier League account after scoring three European goals. Asked if the lack of goals was the forwards’ fault, Ten Hag said: “Fault? It’s co-operation and that has to click. “We showed this week some examples where we are in overload positions going to the opponents’ goal and we don’t net, or we don’t even hit the target. We should do this better. “I’m sure we don’t have time to train this fact, but we get some coaching and I’m convinced with the qualities from our players, that they will go and score more goals.” The form of Rashford – who scored the winner when these sides last met at Old Trafford back in January – has been particularly alarming. The England forward has looked a shadow of the player that plundered 30 goals in 2022-23 during the opening months of the current campaign, but there is confidence he will soon open the floodgates. “Especially give him the trust, I play him every game,” Ten Hag said. “Most of the games also he finishes. I have a strong belief he will return to scoring a lot of goals.” Read More Son Heung-min hails Guglielmo Vicario for ‘unbelievable saves’ in win at Palace Luka Doncic scores 49 with four straight three-pointers to beat Brooklyn Texas Rangers win World Series opener in extra innings On this day in 2017: Anthony Joshua beats Carlos Takam to retain world titles Wolves v Chelsea on Christmas Eve means ‘unhappy wife’ for Mauricio Pochettino Matthew Mott wary of ‘raging favourites’ as England look to avoid further shame