Major League Soccer has began to foster young talent in recent years, as clubs from abroad have taken notice.

Italy has changed the front row and switched its best backs around for the Rugby World Cup match against France on Friday after being blown away by New Zealand

Sergi Darder reveals why he rejected summer transfer to Barcelona.

Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan says the club are now aiming to be “number one” after their transformation from relegation strugglers to Champions League participants. The Magpies finished fourth in the Premier League and reached the Carabao Cup final last season, just over a year they had been battling to get out of the bottom three. The catalyst for the improvement was the club’s takeover by the Saudi-led consortium headed by Al-Rumayyan and Amanda Staveley in 2021. “It is a great achievement to start with,” Al-Rumayyan told NUFCTV in an interview reflecting on his first full season at the helm. “Did we expect to do that? Yes. We have the ingredients for success. We have the will. We want to achieve the best positions we can. “(We) have the right people in management – the technical director (Dan Ashworth), the manager (Eddie Howe) – and we have the right players. To top it all, we have a great fanbase. “If you have the right people and the will, and the right processes and funds, if you put all these together I think it is a great recipe for success and that is what we are achieving right now. “Finishing in the top four, our revenue is increasing. Remember, you have to work within the financial fair play framework, so the more revenue we will have, the more players we will have ready. “Then the Champions League will add more revenue for us. The sponsorship is improving and that’s more funds and more revenue. “If you put all these things together, I think we should have an ambition and aspiration to be number one.” Al-Rumayyan, who was wearing a suit lined with black and white stripes and the club crest, described his first visit to St James’ Park as “one magical, electrical moment for me.” He added: “We have one of the best fanbases in the EPL and potentially the world.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Tammy Beaumont hits superb century as England fight back in Ashes Rafael Benitez set to be named new Celta Vigo boss Carra hits Glasto and Frankie sings Frank – Friday’s sporting social

Kedon Slovis threw for 127 yards and two touchdown passes, and BYU forced five turnovers to power a 27-14 victory over Texas Tech. LJ Martin piled up 93 yards rushing on 10 carries

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Qualifying for Euro 2024 is almost complete with a final play-off tournament being held in March to determine which three of 12 nations secures a place at the tournament in Germany. Consecutive 1-1 draws against Armenia and Turkey during the most recent international break meant Wales slipped beneath Croatia in Group D and must now go through the play-offs to reach the tournament proper. Rob Page’s side are no strangers to using this route of qualification for major tournaments having reached the 2022 World Cup by beating Austria in a home semi-final before overcoming Ukraine in Cardiff. Ukraine themselves will be hoping for a better outcome this time around as they join Wales in the play-offs once more along with several of the best third place finishers from qualifying. With a minimum of four sides needed for each of the three play-off paths, teams from lower Nations League tiers make up the numbers. The play-off semi-finals will be held on Thursday 21 March before the finals take place five days later on Tuesday 26 March. Follow the Euro 2024 play-off draw live below:

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Harry Toffolo’s deteriorating mental health and belief that his football career was over were “very substantial mitigation” for him breaching Football Association betting rules, according to an independent regulatory commission. Toffolo was given a suspended five-month ban after admitting 375 breaches of FA betting rules and was also fined just under £21,000. The Nottingham Forest full-back placed the bets between 2014 and 2017. In written reasons published by the commission, it was stated Toffolo – who admitted the charge in full – placed 202 bets on matches in competitions in which his clubs were participating or had participated. There were also two spot bets placed by the player on events which involved himself as well as 15 identified to have been made against his own clubs. Of the 375 bets, he staked £1,323.92, averaging £3.53 per bet. His total return was £956.22 – a loss of £367.70. Toffolo placed a bet on himself to score in the 2015 League One play-off final at Wembley for Swindon, who lost 4-0 to Preston. The independent regulatory commission accepted Toffolo’s explanation of having placed that bet “in excitement”. The commission found Toffolo began placing bets on football, as well as other sports, when he was 18 and stopped at 21, with stakes “generally small”. He lost money overall, although he did profit from certain categories of bet. There was no suggestion Toffolo was involved in match fixing or benefited from “any particular inside information” and he was “driven principally, if not exclusively, by his own belief as to what the outcome of a particular match or event might be”. In the witness statements served on Toffolo’s behalf and also his own oral evidence, it was demonstrated the player “had a number of very difficult times in the period” when he was coming to terms with being told, during January 2014, he did not feature in the plans of then-Norwich manager Chris Hughton but could also not go out on loan to gain experience. The commission reported “as a result he perceived that his future at NCFC (in the U23 development squad) looked bleak” and it was around that time Toffolo began gambling, partly to “alleviate his low mood but principally because he wanted to ‘fit in’ with players who were claiming to be gambling regularly and successfully”. Following a loan move to Stoke, Toffolo said away from the pitch he “struggled with his mental health for a variety of reasons” which led him to gamble with increasing frequency. The player also talked about feelings of loneliness when staying in a hotel during a short-term stint at Rotherham and that he became depressed when sent out on loan to Preston until the end of the 2015-2016 season, when he considered his career in football “to be over”. The commission accepted there “appears to have been a link” between the state of Toffolo’s mental health and his gambling and noted when he joined Scunthorpe in August 2016 he “thrived far better”, with his family having also made the move. The frequency of his gambling decreased considerably and eventually stopped altogether. On the basis of the evidence, the commission concluded the bets placed by Toffolo during the relevant periods “were the result, at least in large part, of the significant mental health challenges” he endured over those periods. The commission found, with the support of his family and those around him and with external help from a sports psychologist, Toffolo made huge efforts to “turn things around”. “That he did so, and did so so successfully, is a credit to him and, we hope, might serve as inspiration to other participants who might find themselves struggling with mental health issues,” the commission’s statement added. On the sanctions, the commission stressed Toffolo’s breaches were “significant” and could not be described as “trivial despite the low stakes involved”. While there was “substantial mitigation”, the commission felt a sporting sanction was nonetheless “appropriate and proportionate in light of the serious nature of the breaches committed over a lengthy period of time”. It was acknowledged the suspended sanction could be viewed as “too lenient” but was concluded the “particular circumstances of this case justified the nature, duration and terms of the suspension”. Forest have declined to comment on the sanctions imposed on Toffolo. Manager Steve Cooper was among those to provide evidence to the commission, describing the defender as a ‘true professional’ and family man who has a positive impact on the dressing room and in the wider community. The sanctions on Toffolo follow the imposition of an eight-month ban on Brentford striker Ivan Toney in May for breaches of FA betting regulations. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Mauricio Pochettino wants Chelsea to be ‘naughty’ Gareth Anscombe reveals his relief at avoiding an unwanted World Cup double Klopp likes new Liverpool hoodie and lizards visit F1 – Friday’s sporting social

Barcelona coach Xavi knows from his own experience that taking a chance on youngsters at the club’s famous La Masia soccer academy usually pays off