List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

Steve Clarke has not sought any kind of guarantees from Elliot Anderson about the midfielder’s Scotland future. The Whitley Bay-born Newcastle United player, who has a Scottish grandmother, has played at youth level for both Scotland and England. The 20-year-old was called up by the Scotland boss for the first time for the Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus in Larnaca on Friday and the challenge match against England at Hampden Park next week after deciding against switching allegiance to England following positive discussions with Clarke. However, Anderson officially withdrew from the squad on Wednesday night after picking up an injury in training. Asked at the pre-match media conference in Cyprus if he had sought any assurances from Anderson, the Scotland boss said: “No. He just went home.” The Scotland boss had already been asked if he had any fears surrounding international allegiances, and had said: “It is not something I can control. “There’s not a lot I can do about it. “Obviously (disappointing not to have the chance to work with Elliot), that’s why we brought him into the squad. “Disappointing to lose Elliot and Liam (Kelly) on the same day but that’s part and parcel of international football, you deal with it. “Obviously we had to replaced Liam because we couldn’t come with two goalkeepers so we brought in young Robby (McCrorie). who has been part of the squad before, he understands. We didn’t need to replace Elliot because we have enough midfielders.” Scotland top Group A with four wins from four and have gone eight competitive games without defeat. An expected victory against Cyprus, who were beaten 3-0 at Hampden Park, could see Scotland qualify for a second successive Euros next Tuesday if results elsewhere go their way. However, Clarke – whose side is expected to be backed by around 6,000 fans in a stadium which has a capacity of 8,058 – played down the exciting prospect of going to Germany next summer. He said: “I am not really the excitable kind, am I? Just concentrating on the game coming up. “The players are in a good place, they are a good place in the group. “At halfway we have maximum points, you can’t do much better than that. “Some of the moments within the game we can improve on. “We don’t think for a minute that we are the finished article, we will look to improve and the players have said that we will. “We want to keep improving and improving but always respect the opponent. “It will be difficult. They are a proud team, proud to represent their country, Cyprus. “They are always difficult opponents for us. “Two late goals probably put a little gloss on the scoreline (at Hampden) so we expect a tough game.” Much is being made of the high temperatures in Cyprus but Clarke was relaxed about the 9.45pm local time kick-off. He said: “When we came off the plane last night at the back of 10 the conditions were OK. “It was pretty hot in Norway when we went there so we have some experience and it was nice and sunny in Glasgow when we left so you just have to deal with the conditions as they are and make sure we get the result that we want.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ben Stokes excited about ‘really good plan’ to fix knee problem after World Cup Ireland’s Rob Herring ‘raring to go’ ahead of overdue World Cup debut Warren Gatland says Wales ‘looking sharp’ ahead of World Cup opener against Fiji

Since being called up to the Chicago Cubs, Alexander Canario has gotten very little playing time. Manager David Ross explained the situation.

Quite a tangent.

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Turkish Super Lig clubs Besiktas and Trabzonspor are competing to sign Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe. Both sides have had £2.6m bids accepted.

Eddie Nketiah has reflected on how being released by Chelsea as a youngster helped make himself and Declan Rice the players they are today.

It began with 128 contenders, but now the women's draw at the US Open is down to just four.

The Champions League risks becoming a travelling circus if matches are taken outside Europe, according to the boss of one of the continent’s leading clubs. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hinted in April that a Champions League final could be played in the United States in the future, while sources close to the European Club Association have also spoken favourably about playing a revamped Super Cup in the US in the years ahead. However, the chief executive of Bayern Munich, Jan-Christian Dreesen, gave the idea short shrift at the ECA’s General Assembly in Berlin on Thursday. “For sure we have to develop our tournament, but on the other side my personal view is quite clear. We are not the Cirque du Soleil,” he said. “We have a European championship, and we have to play our matches in Europe.” Dreesen, one of the ECA vice-chairs, also insisted European football did not need to be “afraid” of the rising influence of the Saudi league, with its clubs having spent more than £700million on Europe-based players this summer. “I think we shouldn’t be worried about that,” he added. “We will have to see in the future if it’s sustainable and then we will handle it. And as Nasser (Al Khelaifi, ECA chairman) has said already, we have a fantastic competition, we have this tradition with the European clubs, so we don’t have to be afraid.” UEFA announced a new Memorandum of Understanding with the ECA on Wednesday which included an agreement on how money earned from European club competitions should be split. Solidarity payments to clubs not playing in European competitions will rise from four to seven per cent in the 2024-27 cycle, while there is also a combined 10 per cent uplift in the percentage of revenue set aside for participation and performance. The proportion allocated to clubs based on their historic coefficient and the size of their country’s television market pool will be reduced by the same amount. While the new distribution model has been widely welcomed, two bosses from mid-sized European clubs said the disparity in revenues between domestic leagues was the bigger issue affecting competitive balance across the continent. Celtic chief executive and ECA vice-chair Peter Lawwell said: “Celtic as the champions in Scotland receive just over £3m, if you are relegated from the EPL (English Premier League) you get £140m. “The main factor is the domestic competitions.” Dariusz Mioduski, the president of the management board at Polish club Legia Warsaw, added: “What has been done now with the (European) distribution….doesn’t fix the leagues. It will never fix the problem. “This is the challenge for Europe in the future to look at that because today what you have is an inherent issue in European football where clubs are limited in their revenues to the domestic markets but they have to compete across Europe for talent. “Unless you somehow fix that, or at least address it, the problem will be getting bigger and bigger and there is no way to fix it by sharing more and more money through European competitions, it has to be done through something else.” ECA chair Al Khelaifi was asked whether he expected the three clubs still outside the organisation following the 2021 Super League breakaway attempt – Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid – to have returned within a year’s time. Juventus have begun the process of leaving the Super League, but have not yet been readmitted to the ECA. “They (the three clubs) are most welcome back,” Al Khelaifi said. “(They were a group of) three, but now only two. So every six months there’s one less, which is good. They are going slowly, but in the right way.” Earlier in the day, Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano was elected as the Premier League’s sole representative on the ECA board. Lawwell and Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham were appointed to the separate ECA-UEFA Joint Venture board which manages commercial matters related to Europe’s club competitions. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Rory McIlroy: Late birdies glossed over a pretty average day at Irish Open France ready for ‘wonderful’ World Cup opener with New Zealand – Fabien Galthie Johnny Sexton to make Ireland return in World Cup opener with Romania

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The semifinal matchups for the 2023 FIBA World Cup are set. Dennis Schroder and Germany eliminated Davis Bertans and Latvia, and Shai Gilgeous Alexander and Canada eliminated Luka Doncic and Slovenia. They’ll face Team USA and Serbia respectively.

It is their transfer deadline day but the biggest Saudi Pro League news today could be John Terry being set to become the manager of Al-Shabab.

Koninklijke Philips NA officials have agreed to pay at least $479 million to resolve part of a sprawling