Jurgen Klopp has admitted he expected a longer touchline ban for his criticisms of referee Paul Tierney. The Liverpool manager will have to watch Saturday’s game against Aston Villa from the stands after being given a two-game suspension, with one postponed, and a £75,000 fine. Klopp, who queried what the FA will use the money for, had already served a touchline ban after being sent off against Manchester City earlier in the season and said: “I expected a punishment with all the things we know, and all the things we could hear and stuff like this. It’s okay. I would like to know as always where the money goes, if it’s for a good cause then I’m more than happy to pay it. “If not, the FA keeps it then we have to talk again, and I think it’s a bit harsh. Apart from that, people around me were pretty negative, they thought it would be longer. So, one game is okay. It’s like the Southampton game, it will be pretty much the same process, I can watch the game from a better position. I’m in contact with my coaches, so that’s okay.” Klopp said it would spare his players from him yelling at them, adding: “Nobody will shout like me at them if they don’t track back but I will tell the boys if they don’t want me to do that in the future they just have to do that now without me shouting.” Darwin Nunez will miss the game with a toe injury while Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be denied Anfield farewells before they leave in the summer. But Roberto Firmino and James Milner are fit for their last home games. Klopp also said goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will be at Anfield next season, rather than leaving for first-team football. He added: “Kelleher has a contract. You want us to say goodbye just in case? I honestly can’t see Caoimhin leaving, it must be an extraordinary offer.” Read More Jordan Henderson knows Liverpool will miss James Milner and Roberto Firmino Firmino’s exit marks end of an era with Anfield’s brightest smile Why was Jurgen Klopp banned for his referee comments?

First baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers was traded from the New York Yankees to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league outfielders Jace Avina and Brian Sánchez

Football fans can’t resist celebrating last minute goals – even while clearly visible in the background of a national news broadcast. An Arsenal fan couldn’t help but enjoy his side’s late win against Manchester United while working in the Channel 4 newsroom on Sunday. News reader Ciaran Jenkins was delivering a live report from the studio when a figure in the background could be seen standing up and raising both arms aloft. The excited fan was celebrating the goal from Declan Rice which secured the win for the north London side. “That’s all we have time for this evening,” Jenkins said during the broadcast, with the figure jumping to his feet during the winning moment behind him. The game had been poised at 1-1, with the match seemingly heading for a draw. However, Rice fired home to take the result away from United, with the game eventually ending 3-1 after Gabriel Jesus also scored during the eight minutes of added time. Despite the third goal, Rice’s strike proved the decisive moment in the game. He spoke to Sky Sports after the match and said: “We were knocking at the door on the corners, I had a chance in the first half but I felt we were a constant threat. The one at the end I scored, [I] stayed at the back post, I controlled it on my chin and scored.” On the importance of the result, he added: “Man City have won four out of four. We would be five points behind them if we didn’t win. To catch up points on them is a massive task so we couldn’t afford to give them that after four games. “To win that today was a must-win. We said that before the game and to now go into the international break with a couple of wins and a draw is really good.” 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

Lauren James lit up the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday, scoring two sensational goals and bagging three assists as England ran out 6-1 winners against China. The Lionesses emphatically secured the top spot in Group D and progression into the knockout rounds, where they will face Nigeria next Monday (7 August). Speaking after the game, James said she is enjoying her football and felt “free” playing in a No 10 role. “Obviously what dreams are made of,” James said post-match, adding that she is “looking forward” to scoring her next goal.

With so much still unsaid around this Spain team, three statements over the last 48 hours stood out all the more, that illustrate much of the story of their Women’s World Cup run. One was Tere Abelleira immediately after the semi-final victory over Sweden in Auckland. “Now we can talk about a ferocious team spirit,” she said. It was as the midfielder was saying this in the Eden Park mixed zone that Jenni Hermoso was striding behind and shouting: “Come on! We’re in the final of the f***ing World Cup!” That is now the most important fact of all. It was amid this mood of jubilation, however, that the abrasive Spanish federation boss Luis Rubiales came out with something that was much more open to dispute. “What we have endured is a lot,” said Rubiales. “That questions have been asked of Jorge Vilda, who is a hard-working man, a world-class coach, who has turned down other federations that have offered more money and stayed with Spain. We have stuck with those who have always wanted to be here, that have valued the great work that he has done to grow, and we have forgotten the people with resentments. He has continued working with his people and not paid attention to those who wanted to destroy him.” It was the first time at this World Cup that anyone in the camp has publicly raised the squad mutiny that has shaped Spain’s entire run, since most of it has been set aside in an uneasy truce. The description of “people with resentments” sounds like the most cavalier way to blow all this up, especially as the biggest game of all remains. While that “ferocious team spirit” should be more than enough to keep Spain together through the build-up, there is still the possibility for a huge fall-out if this team is defeated by England on Sunday. Rubiales’ words only add another edge to a situation that is already hugely complicated, both in terms of how it came to this and how everyone is dealing with it. It is not just about Vilda, although he is the most public face, visibly ignored by some players in victory but embraced by others. The 15 players who last year sent the email resigning from the national team – with the tacit support of Alexia Putellas, Jenni and Irene Paredes – had several complaints. Most focused on how oppressively disciplinarian Vilda’s managerial regime was but they were also unhappy about how outdated the entire international set-up seemed. Some of the arrangements, like travelling long distances on bus or not having staff in certain key roles, fell well below their club standards. They did not feel any of this gave them the best possible chance of fulfilling a generation of talent. Unsaid but undeniably perceived by so many around the situation is that some of the players do not think Vilda is a good enough manager. There is at least a fair argument to this, even as Rubiales protested he is “a world-class coach”. Many would certainly dispute that. That Vilda has such a strong relationship with Rubiales is just another complication. With the federation risking the chance of a generation, and some players realising the same, overtures were made. Hermoso and Paredes returned, opening a way back. The federation’s director of women’s soccer, Ana Alvarez, met with every single player individually over May and June. All complaints were heard. Only some players were accepted back, and that involved having to send an email declaring their willingness to be called up again. They were Ona Batlle, Mariona Caldentey and – above all – Aitana Bonmati, perhaps the best player in the world right now. Vilda decided to stick with the players involved in preparation for this World Cup, just as Rubiales decided to stick with him. It has resulted in a squad that is partly made up of rebels and replacements. Some have set aside grievances for the greater good. Others are grateful to Vilda for persisting with them. All have overlooked this for the time being, which was why Rubiales so abrasively addressing it before the final is such a risk. It has only complicated already conflicted feelings around this Spain team. A growing view at this World Cup and back home in Spain has been that most support the players but do not want the national team to win because that is a vindication for the federation and Vilda. It doesn’t help Rubiales that he is not a popular figure, commonly seen as one of the most divisive in Spanish sport. There is also some inevitable backlash against the players, since there is the constant threat of the issue getting subsumed into the usual culture wars, but this is where the general public parking of the mutiny has at least offered something like a positive. One figure with insight into the situation spoke of how there can be internal conflict for some players, too. They want to do the best for themselves, but know that every success makes the federation and the manager look good. For the moment, at least, it has been a more unusual example of the classic dynamic of adversity creating success. There has also been compromises and common ground. Vilda’s staff have softened some approaches. The federation has listened and acted on other concerns, such as the willingness to move camp when the players were bored out of their minds in Palmerstown North. Some of Vilda’s calls have worked, such as bringing teenage sensation Salma Paralluelo on as a substitute to break games. Others would say that’s just an obvious move. There is also a more obvious fact here. In a historic football shift that long preceded Rubiales, and greatly influenced the English Football Association, Spain were one of the first wealthy western European football cultures to implement the kind of coaching revolutions that has characterised the modern game. The country industrialised talent production, while going further than most similar federations in underpinning it with a defined football identity. While that has almost come back on itself in the men’s game, creating this self-repeating and now almost self-defeating cycle of the ball endlessly getting circulated, the more developmental stage of women’s football means it can be much more effective. Spain are one of the few teams at this World Cup with such an ingrained style, made in Barcelona, that goes much deeper than any coaching decision. The wider national coaching structure has meanwhile honed the natural talent of stars like Putellas and Bonmati, producing elite athletes that also have that resilience that has been so apparent at this World Cup. The likelihood is that this supersedes any of Vilda's decisions. The squad’s mentality has helped, which is why they didn’t buckle after the collapse against Japan during the group stage. In a strange way, that 4-0 defeat might even have served them, helping to solve further tactical issues. Bonmati even said at the time “this is going to unite us more than ever”. It could mean Spain become the only world champions in either men’s or women’s football to have also lost by more than three goals in the same competition, other than West Germany 1954. Japan 2011 are the only previous Women’s World Cup winners to have even lost a game, adding one other little twist. There is then one final layer. It was the frustration at a defeat to England in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals that brought all this to a head. It is now an even bigger game against England that might fully illustrate how they have adapted. A lot may remain unsaid after Sunday but, to use an old Spanish football saying, some of the truth will be on the pitch. Read More Gustaf Lagerbielke set for Celtic bow after Stephen Welsh sustains knock Theo Walcott shares career highlights as he announces retirement from football Ange Postecoglou insists Tottenham have to be ‘united on and off the field’ Gustaf Lagerbielke set for Celtic bow after Stephen Welsh sustains knock Theo Walcott shares career highlights as he announces retirement from football Ange Postecoglou insists Tottenham have to be ‘united on and off the field’

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