England are "about breaking records", assistant coach Jeetan Patel said on Friday as the home team contemplate a huge run chase against Australia in the...

Sarina Wiegman named an unchanged starting line-up for England’s first-ever World Cup final to face Spain in Sydney. Ella Toone retained her place, while Lauren James returned after serving a two-match suspension and began on the bench. Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas was named amongst the substitutes for Jorge Vilda’s Spain, who also made it to a first final in their history, while Salma Paralluelo earned the start. The 19-year-old has scored twice in this World Cup, including the extra-time winner against the Netherlands in the quarter-final. England and Arsenal footballer Beth Mead, who missed out on a spot in the Lionesses squad due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, has told the BBC she is “not surprised” they are in the World Cup final. Mead told BBC Breakfast: “I’ve been super-proud of them and what they have achieved so far. Obviously they weren’t all guns firing in the group stages, but now they have grown into the tournament, a great semi-final against Australia and hopefully they peak today. “I’m not surprised where they are, I know the quality we have in the squad and the direction that Sarina (Wiegman) is putting us in.” Social media is already awash with memes and good luck messages to the players. Here are the best of reactions as the match played out in real-time. Additional reporting by PA. 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.

England’s players will rally round Lauren James after her “Beckhamesque moment of madness” in the team’s penalty shoot-out victory over Nigeria in the World Cup last 16. Former men’s national team striker Gary Lineker likened the 21-year-old Chelsea forward’s red card for petulantly standing on Michelle Alozie as she lay on the floor to Beckham’s kick-out at Argentina’s Diego Simeone at the 1998 World Cup. “The @Lionesses down to 10 as Lauren James has a Beckhamesque moment of madness,” Lineker wrote on Twitter. However, while the former Manchester United star’s sending-off contributed to the team’s difficulties, Sarina Wiegman’s side have progressed to the quarter-finals. Criticism of James, receiving the side’s first red card since Millie Bright’s dismissal in the World Cup semi-final defeat to the United States in 2019, has been well short of what Beckham received and team-mate Lauren Hemp said she would receive the full support of the squad. “It’s things that happen in football, it’s not nice to see a red card but I felt like going down to 10 players we dealt with it very well, we were super-resilient and didn’t let them score,” Hemp told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It’s one of those things. We will get around Lauren James in the coming days, she’s still very young.” James is likely to face a three-match ban for violent conduct, which would rule her out for the remainder of the tournament. “We all know Lauren is magic, she is our weapon and it’s a big loss for us but we can’t change that now,” team-mate Beth England added on Radio 5 Live. “We have an unbelievable squad and players who can fill in in that position and hopefully we can see her again in the tournament.” Wiegman told Radio 5 Live it was a “very hard lesson to learn”, adding: “It happens unfortunately and of course she doesn’t want to harm anyone.” Former England defender Anita Asante was critical of James’ 87th-minute reaction to her growing frustration in the game, which finished 0-0 after extra-time. “I’m really disappointed. One act has kind of tarnished all the good work that Lauren James has done up until this point,” she told Radio 5 Live. “She is a superstar and hopefully she will grow from this experience.” Asante was also critical of a lacklustre performance. “England will go back, analyse the game and hopefully there will be some hard truths in the changing room,” she added. “They need to hold each other accountable, including that moment with Lauren James. “England are very lucky to have progressed to the quarter-finals and they definitely need to step up performances if they want to get all the way to a final.” Another former international Alex Scott was more positive, however, telling BBC One: “When you think about how you go on to win tournaments you need moments of luck, magic, finding a way – which they did.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live England Rugby World Cup squad hits and misses How much added time? Football’s new guidelines and the impact they will have Dejan Kulusevski vows to ‘do everything’ to keep Harry Kane at Tottenham

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Middleweight contender Hamzah Sheeraz believes fighting in Dmytro Mytrofanov’s “lion’s den” in Poland will make victory even sweeter when the pair face off on Saturday night. Sheeraz has the chance to extend his unbeaten 17-0-0 record against former Olympian Mytrofanov (13-0-1) as part of the undercard to Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois’ heavyweight bout. The London fighter acknowledged his opponent’s quality but remains confident he is stronger in every department ahead of their hotly-contested clash. “It’s going to be my toughest fight to date, but with the sparring and training I’ve been doing I’m confident in my ability,” Sheeraz told the PA news agency. “It’s in his back yard and I’m walking into the lion’s den and that’s something I’m going to thrive off, it’s going to make victory that little bit more sweet. “He’s been to the Olympics, he’s got a good amateur pedigree, he’s undefeated, he’s had a few knockouts and knows his way around the ring, so it will be a good test for me. “In every department I am that bit better than him – close fighting, long-range fighting. The only thing he’s banking on is that he’s never been stopped or hurt in the amateurs, but when you get in there with someone who can whack a bit it’s a bit of a different story, and so when I fire shots and land we’ll see what happens.” Sheeraz boasts an impressive record of 11 straight fights since 2018 where he has stopped or retired his opponent. But the 24-year-old insisted he is ready to go the distance if required, adding: “All of these fights which I’ve won by knockout I was prepared to go the distance and as a pro fighter and future elite fighter, that’s what you are ready to do. All of these fights which I’ve won by knockout I was prepared to go the distance and as a pro fighter and future elite fighter that’s what you’re ready to do. Hamzah Sheeraz “The knockouts come naturally and I haven’t not had one for a few years now and long may it continue.” Sheeraz is relishing the opportunity to gain exposure through fighting on a big card and backed fellow Brit Dubois to claim heavyweight glory against WBO, IBF and WBA king Usyk. “It’s a great undercard to be on, someone like Usyk, I aspire to get to his level,” Sheeraz said. “Even though I’m focusing solely on my fight, the cameras, the interviews and going over to Poland, getting that different bit of exposure on that eastern block of Europe, it will be good for me and I’m looking forward to it. “In terms of boxing and what it actually is, he’s an elite heavyweight and he has a puncher’s chance, so all he’s got to do is land his shot and once he lands his shot – such as a right hand – it could be over (a Dubois win). “It’s definitely a tough ask, but it’s not an impossible one.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Spain captain Olga Carmona dedicates World Cup triumph to late father Who will win the frantic battle for the final two Super League play-off slots? Everton condemn ‘vile’ racist abuse aimed at midfielder Amadou Onana

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The peak that Pep Guardiola has been building this club towards, and a point that European football has long been leading towards. Manchester City have not yet won the Champions League or the treble, but they passed the most difficult challenge in eliminating the defending champions, and did so with a 4-0 victory that went beyond easy. The first half-hour was perhaps Guardiola’s finest spell of football in Europe, and maybe the best ever by an English club on this stage. It will surely be seen as the statement performance should City go and finally lift the trophy in Istanbul, as they reach the stage for the second time. Real Madrid, of all clubs, were humiliated. The entire game has been left trailing in City’s wake. Internazionale are going to need something close to a miracle to beat them, such is City’s level. It is why so many referred to this as the real final. City ended up reaching Istanbul without much of a struggle of all. They have only gone behind in games - in any competition - three times in the last four months. This just never looked like being another of those. From the very start of the game, City came out ferociously determined to ensure they couldn’t possibly have a repeat of last season’s elimination. It was a storm. The manner they came at Madrid, and the way that Thibaut Courtois initially performed miracles of his own to stop them, briefly made it seem like it was going to be another one of those nights. City just came with so much force they utterly blew that away. It instead became one of the club’s great nights. It wasn’t all about that force either, irresistible as it was. The game was ultimately cut open, and effectively decided, by the most remarkable finesse from Kevin De Bruyne. After an opening period where City had looked to pummel Madrid with crosses towards Haaland, the Belgian then played the most divine reverse pass to just put Bernardo Silva into space to drive the ball past Courtois. The goalkeeper this time had no chance. It was the least Bernardo deserved for his performances of late, and he soon had more. Madrid again buckled under the pressure. Bernardo headed home. That was it, after just 37 minutes, but it had felt done long before that. A 76th-minute Eder Militao own goal only added insult to punishment for Madrid, as City played around and through them. Julian Alvarez then wrapped it up to turn a comprehensively convincing victory into a humiliation. It was maybe the defeat that had long been coming for Madrid. It was always going to be City that subjected them to it. The fans were joyously doing the “Poznan” as their players just enjoyed possession in that way Guardiola demands, the very dance a reminder of earlier times when the club had started this journey under this project but still weren’t on stages as grand as another Champions League final. It was joyous. That should also provoke more complicated discussions, that very few people really like to have as they are enjoying shows like this. Any discussion of best-ever English performances in Europe really needs to bring in context like the fact this is an Abu Dhabi state project, that has also become the most lavish sporting project ever seen. It is why this incredible level of superiority was as inevitable as that City goal in the early stages. Even the randomness of cup football can’t withstand it indefinitely. Guardiola has been able to reach a point of perfection, from perfect conditions, and an infrastructure almost built to him. This is brilliantly intelligent planning. It is also obvious, and the sort of thing very few other clubs can afford because they just don’t have the backing over that time. That time also explains modern football. The story of the modern game is really that, around 15 years ago, a group of autocratic states motivated by an acutely regional rivalry looked at football and saw it as powerful new area of expansion. This, similarly driven along by the sport’s embrace of western capitalism, has led to the long-term distortion. Is this good for the sport? No one can deny it’s good to watch, although often at a level that goes beyond sport as a competition. This was certainly an illustration of that. It was never a contest. The European champions were humiliated. New European champions are about to be crowned. That’s all part of the show. It’s also part of wider political ambitions, that do bring in questions about sportswashing and human rights records. There's also the context of those charges brought by the Premier League, and how this return to the Champions League final would also have been the club's return to Europe had the Court of Arbitration for Sport not overturned Uefa's punishment in 2020. None of this should be taken as sympathy for Madrid. They have been one of the most responsible factors in the football landscape looking like it does. The game was for so long disproportionately influenced by their demands. The world they created just got out of their control, and they have now been considerably brutalised by it. City’s rise just continues that process, though. For the last 40 years, football has been increasingly financially staggered and stretched, with the top end getting narrower and narrower. Every few years, fewer clubs can win. State ownership has taken that to new extremes. Guardiola has taken this City to extremes. Another treble now awaits, but this is the most triumphant of all. City aren’t there yet. But, like so much else with the game right now, it feels inevitable. Read More Man City’s greatest Champions League night, Real Madrid need Jude Bellingham and five things we learned Man City vs Real Madrid player ratings as Kyle Walker dominates Vinicius Junior Bernardo Silva’s unique talents lead Man City’s evisceration of Real Madrid Five things we learned as Man City thrash Real Madrid to reach Champions League final Man City vs Real Madrid player ratings as Kyle Walker dominates Vinicius Junior

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