Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper was ejected from a game against Colorado after charging at the Rockies’ dugout following the last out of the top of the seventh inning, setting off an altercation that cleared both teams’ benches and bullpens

South Africa has claimed a record fourth Rugby World Cup after a phenomenal defensive effort against the All Blacks

Manchester City seems to win every competition it enters these days except the English League Cup

Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold was asked for an update on the club's proposed takeover during a recent fans' forum.

Long before the Barnsley Beckenbauer was reinvented as the Barnsley Busquets, he was the Barnsley benchwarmer. John Stones enters the Champions League final as a revelation, the man whose career has progressed in an unexpected way by moving forward: literally, given that the centre-back doubles up as a midfielder now. Rewind three years, however, and the most stylish English central defender of his generation had adopted a different, unwanted status: of the substitute, and not even the resident super-sub. When Manchester City exited the Champions League in 2020, he had a watching brief, unused as they were beaten by Lyon. Even that was perhaps not the worst element. Even as Pep Guardiola picked an unusually defensive team against the side who finished seventh in Ligue 1, Stones was not one of his three centre-backs. Eric Garcia was, though he was a teenage rookie. Fernandinho was, though he was a 35-year-old midfielder. Aymeric Laporte was, though he had spent much of the season injured. The backdrop may have been still more damning for Stones: Vincent Kompany had left the previous summer and, after City failed to buy Harry Maguire, the captain had not been replaced. Stones should have been the main man; instead he was the spare man, starting just 12 league games, only featuring for 16 minutes of City’s final five matches in all competitions, fifth in line, with Nicolas Otamendi probably ahead of him too. “It was probably one of the hardest times in my career,” Stones said. “Any game that you don’t play, or feel maybe that you should be playing, every player feels like that when they don’t play, especially here because we’ve got an incredible team, it’s always difficult.” The summer of 2020 felt a crossroads in Stones’ career. After erring by not recruiting a centre-back the previous year, Pep Guardiola bought two, in Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake. The competition for places increased. Perhaps that could have been that for Stones at City; he may have been remembered as a gifted player who fleetingly showed his potential, whose goal-line clearance against Liverpool helped decide the 2019 title race, but who was cast aside in Guardiola’s perpetual quest for improvement. But Stones was adamant he would not be making way. “No, I never thought about that,” he said. “I think as soon as you accept that or have that mindset then you have killed yourself. So I always wanted to stay, I have stayed and I absolutely love it. “I wanted to prove to myself, I didn’t say to anyone, ‘It was because I want to prove to you’. I think, if anything, you have to prove to yourself first and foremost that you deserve to be here, you are good enough to be here, and what you bring to the team. Everyone’s so unique here and I feel that’s why we’ve been so successful.” For Stones, the start of his revival was to look in the mirror. “I literally went back to firstly looking at myself, being super-critical of myself and what I could do better on the football pitch, and then looking into every fine detail, down to food, what food, training, what training, what extras,” he added. “That’s come down to doing stuff here and then going home and doing work, even late at night, or straight after the training and all these kinds of specific things, finding these small margins, put them all together to kind of break where I was at after coming back to playing. It was a big learning curve for me and maybe who I am today.” If there were two phases to his return to prominence, the first was to feature more frequently in his preferred position. He leapfrogged Garcia and Fernandinho in the queue for places. Yet this year has brought another aspect, with an evolution that has come at Laporte’s expense. He has proved City’s renaissance man, taking his assurance in possession – he has a pass completion rate of over 90 percent in both the Premier League and the Champions League in each of his seven seasons in Manchester – to a role further up the pitch. He was long seen as a centre-back with a midfielder’s skillset. It is another thing to spend much of each match in midfield. “People have always said from a young age that they can see me playing in there,” Stones reflected. “I did and still do love playing as a centre-half and I’ve absolutely loved this role as well. I think I have showed myself that I’m able to do it. Maybe I am showing some attributes that I didn’t know that I had, but the manager has seen in me.” He has become the midfield metronome who still spends part of his time marking strikers. He partners both Rodri and Dias whereas three years ago, when City’s Champions League campaign concluded, he was alongside Adrian Bernabe, Tommy Doyle and Claudio Bravo among the unneeded replacements. A transformation in his fortunes has included a makeover as a player. The journey, from bench to defence to midfield, could make the eventual achievement even better. Stones said: “If I hopefully look back after Saturday, with a winner’s medal, it will be super-sweet.” Read More How to cure ‘City-itis’? Pep Guardiola has new template to end Champions League woe Kyle Walker recalls ‘tough’ memory and reveals three teams Man City want to emulate The fresh perspective driving Kevin De Bruyne to Champions League glory John Stones relishing key role as Manchester City chase treble glory Injury concerns for Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish ahead of FA Cup final Pep Guardiola convinced Man City can make most of opportunity to win treble

After so many first-time winners on the LPGA Tour, Lilia Vu raced ahead of the pack with her second major and third LPGA title of the year, gaining the AIG Women’s Open title at 14-under.The LPGA Tour has been an open field the last few years, with many first-time winners and nary a domina...

England boss Sarina Wiegman believes simply nullifying the threat posed by Australia striker Sam Kerr will not be enough to see the Lionesses through to a first-ever World Cup final. The European champions take on the Matildas in their semi-final tonight at 11 am BST at Sydney’s sold-out Stadium Australia, where the majority of the 75,000 in attendance will be backing the co-hosts. Captain Kerr is her country’s leading goal-scorer of either gender, but has not yet started a match in the global showpiece after injuring her calf pre-tournament, making her much-anticipated return as a substitute in Australia’s 2-0 last-16 victory over Denmark. Though the Chelsea forward is, at least in Australia, the poster-woman for this tournament, Wiegman insisted: “Australia is not just Sam Kerr. Yes, we have a plan [if she starts]. She can play and she can start on the bench, so that’s the situation. Of course she is a threat, she’s a very good player, so a lot of respect [to her]. “But there is more than Sam Kerr, because at the end it is always a team performance. When the team does really well an individual can do even better. That’s the same for Australia and it’s the same for England. “There is a lot of pressure on her because everyone expects things from her. I think Australia have grown in the tournament too, they had some difficult situations they had to come back from and they did really well. We expect a very strong Australia tomorrow.” The winner of Wednesday night’s contest will take on Spain for the trophy, after they beat Sweden 2-1 on Tuesday to book their trip to the final. Kerr’s calf was arguably the most talked-about calf in Australian history when it was announced she would miss the first two matches of the Matildas’ World Cup campaign, and speculation has swirled about her fitness ever since. The 29-year-old declared she would be available for Australia’s final group stage contest against Canada but remained on the bench, before appearing to a raucous reception for the first time in the 80th minute against Denmark. She featured more in her side’s quarter-final against France, coming on for Emily van Egmond in the 55th minute and scoring one of the penalties that would see Australia win a 7-6 shootout and advance to the final four for the first time. England captain Millie Bright, Kerr’s club team-mate at Women’s Super League champions Chelsea, echoed her manager’s assessment, adding: “I think everyone knows [Sam] pretty well. On the worldwide stage, I think she’s made a name for herself. “It’s pretty hard not to know Sam and her abilities, but like Sarina said there’s other players in the team. I think we’re prepared to play against Australia as a team.” Those other players have stepped up considerably in their skipper’s absence. Mary Fowler and Hayley Raso – who has netted three times this tournament – are emerging alongside Kerr as new household names Down Under. It remains to be seen if Kerr will make her first World Cup start against England, or if Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson will once again use her as a talismanic threat off the bench – either way, Wiegman insists England have a plan. Gustavsson perhaps hinted at the latter in his press conference on the eve of their historic encounter, where one side will become a World Cup finalist for the first time, The Swedish boss said: “We’ll look at all of this trying to start as strong as possible, but finish even stronger. Meaning, what kind of starting line-up do we want to have, what finishing 11 do we want to have? “What kind of tools and game-changing do we think we need in a game like this? Type of players, whether it’s speed or aerial presence. There will be some tough decisions to be made because a lot of players deserve to start, but a lot of players also deserve to finish the game and win it for us.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ben Stokes tipped to make one-day U-turn and make England squad for World Cup Harry Maguire looking set to remain with Manchester United Impressive win for Gateshead on the road at Dagenham

Tampa Bay probably will give right-hander Tyler Glasnow one more minor league rehabilitation start before activating him from the injured last

Adolis García hit an opposite-field homer in the 11th inning, after Corey Seager’s tying two-run blast in the ninth, as the Texas Rangers opened this surprise World Series of wild-card teams with a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks

Bethany England says she stayed longer than she should have at Chelsea feeling “wasted” as the striker looks to take her fine form for Tottenham into the World Cup. After an impressive 2019-20 campaign with the Blues which saw her named PFA player of the year, the 29-year-old subsequently found herself in and out of their starting line-up, and was part of it only twice in the first half of the 2022-23 Women’s Super League season. She subsequently made a January move to Tottenham, went on to score 12 goals in as many league starts and earned an England recall – her first involvement since last September – when boss Sarina Wiegman named her squad in May for this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. England said: “They (Chelsea) brought Sam Kerr in halfway through the (2019-20) season and I built up a great relationship playing with Sam, and then obviously it didn’t transpire to the next season where we didn’t play with a front two. “Emma (Hayes, the Chelsea manager) opted for singular number nine, which made my chances much more difficult based off Sam being who she is – and she is a prolific goalscorer. “So it was hard to kind of fight my way back in from that point and I think I probably overstayed maybe a year, a year-and-a-half too long, where I felt like I was just wasted there, and I wasn’t being used enough. “It was a very difficult time, but I think I built up a lot of resilience from that and was able to take that into other scenarios in football.” I think I probably overstayed maybe a year, a year-and-a-half too long, where I felt like I was just wasted there, and I wasn’t being used enough. Bethany England on Chelsea England, who joined Chelsea in 2016 and scored a total of 74 goals for them, added: “I think there was ultimately lots of reasons why I left, the World Cup being one of them. “I think the move has paid off for me and, as you would say, (it has been) vindicated. Ultimately, I think if I had stayed where I was, sat on the bench, I would never be here today.” England’s wait for an international recall initially went on after the January transfer despite her hitting goals for Spurs from the off, and she said: “I didn’t get selected for the (February) Arnold Clark Cup, and then I went and scored against Manchester United (running with the ball) from the halfway line. “I think that was my ‘have some of that’ type thing. It was more like: ‘Look, I know I am good enough’. “But equally, I had to balance not focusing too much on what was going on (with England), because ultimately if I didn’t do the job at club level, I wouldn’t have been here.” Having continued to flourish with Tottenham, England, who was a member of Wiegman’s Euro 2022-winning squad as an unused substitute, is now among three main number nine options in the World Cup 23, along with Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly. “I want to help the team and put the ball in the net, however they may go in,” said England, who has scored 11 goals in 21 international appearances. “The biggest thing I would say is leading into the World Cup Sarina has been able to see me more, playing regularly, scoring goals. “I am hoping, as a collective, everyone can see what qualities I can bring. They know I can bring that to this team and hopefully I am put in a position where I can help showcase that. “I think me and Alessia are very different players. I would say I am more similar with Rachel. I think we are all great in our own way and whatever tactics suit the game at that time is going to showcase that. “It’s a tough decision because we have all got different qualities, but whoever Sarina chooses to go for is her preference.” England open their campaign by playing Haiti in Brisbane on Saturday. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live ICEC: Recommendations ‘too important to be put on back burner for lack of money’ FIFA criticised for lack of pro LGBTQ+ stance in new ‘Unite’ armbands England blind footballer targeting Paris 2024 alongside educational ambitions

Barcelona register Clement Lenglet to play in La Liga in a move that could signal a departure from the club is on the cards.

Liverpool maintained their pursuit of Champions League football next season and pushed Leicester ever closer to the Championship as Curtis Jones scored twice in a 3-0 win...