List of All Articles with Tag 'eppersons'

Eric Bailly is in talks with Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr over a potential transfer from Manchester United, and Alex Telles may join him.

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Rory McIlroy says he still has a "really good chance" of winning a fifth major despite languishing nine shots behind leader Brian Harman at the halfway stage...

England goalkeeper Mary Earps says Nike’s decision to not sell her kit during the Women’s World Cup is “hurtful” and “hugely disappointing”. England’s home and away kits are available for fans to buy, but the Lionesses goalkeeper kits have not been put up for sale by the team’s kit supplier. Earps was England’s goalkeeper when they won the Euros last summer and the Manchester United star was named Fifa’s Best Women’s Goalkeeper for 2022. Earps said England captain Millie Bright had told her she wanted to buy her kit for her niece, only to find it wasn’t available for purchase. "I can’t really sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try," Earps told reporters ahead of England’s opening game against Haiti on Saturday. "It is hugely disappointing and very hurtful. "My shirt on the Manchester United website was sold out last season. It was the third-best-selling shirt, so who says it is not selling?" "It is the young kids I am most concerned about. They are going to say, Mum, Dad, can I have a Mary Earps shirt?’ and they say, ‘I can’t, but I can get you an Alessia Russo 23 or a Rachel Daly 9.’ “What you are saying is that goalkeeping isn’t important, but you can be a striker if you want." Meanwhile, the FA has confirmed England captain Millie Bright will wear armbands advocating for inclusion, Indigenous People and gender equality in the Lionesses’ respective first three World Cup matches. Players have the choice of wearing one or more of eight FIFA-sanctioned armbands at this tournament, but not the rainbow OneLove design that sparked the threat of sanctions being issued to countries – including England and Wales – during the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar. Should the Lionesses progress past the group stage, which begins with Saturday’s opener against Haiti, the player-led decision is for their skipper to switch out her armband to a new cause for each match. Bright said: “As a group, we felt really strongly about all the causes, and we couldn’t separate one from the other. We feel that they are all important and deserve recognition and our support. “We have only just come to a decision recently as we wanted to take time to process it all and to make sure we spoke collectively. “Supporting Indigenous People is massively important to us as a team, both staff and players. We wanted to come to this country and respect the past, the present and the future. We are aware of the past, but we want to move forward collectively and make the world a better place. It is something that we always pride ourselves on.” Read More Women’s World Cup 2023 LIVE: Spain open against Costa Rica after Canada held to Nigeria draw How to watch England vs Haiti: TV channel and start time for Women’s World Cup opener England make decision on armbands for Women’s World Cup matches Netherlands made to train on cricket pitch at Women’s World Cup: ‘It’s amateurism’ England Women’s squad for World Cup 2023 England women World Cup fixtures and route to the final

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One of the Lionesses’s brightest prospects in Australia and New Zealand is Katie Robinson, a pacy winger who only made her debut for Sarina Wiegman’s side last November when she came on as a substitute in a friendly against Norway. The 20-year-old hails from Newquay in Cornwall where she had to play for Newquary Boys and Goldphin Boys until she turned 16 due the lack of girls’ football facilities in the south west. After honing her skills at the Cornwall Girls Advanced Coaching Centre and playing for the Plymouth Argyle Boys' Centre of Excellence, she lived with a host family in Bristol in order to be part of Bristol City’s youth system. She broke into the first team there in 2018 – a period in which she also starred for England at under-17 level, scoring eight in 11 – before joining her current club Brighton and Hove Albion in 2020. Her progress on the south coast was badly hampered by an anterior cruciate ligament injury in September 2020, however, which caused her to miss the rest of that season and subsequently sent out on loan to Charlton Athletic to continue her recovery. Wiegman clearly believes in Robinson’s potential though, having picked her for the World Cup squad ahead of much more established names like Manchester United’s Nikita Parris. How inclined the manager is to gamble on such an inexperienced prospect remains to be seen. Read More How to watch England vs Haiti: TV channel and start time for Women’s World Cup opener Women’s football world rankings: Who could take No 1 at the World Cup? FIFA Women’s World Cup fixtures and full schedule

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has explained why he identified Andre Onana as his top goalkeeper target this transfer window, with the Cameroonian replacing David de Gea between the sticks.

Before being called up by Sarina Wiegman for the Lionesses squad to take part in the Arnold Clark Cup earlier this year, defensive midfielder Laura Coombs had not played for her country since October 2015. The manager was clearly persuaded to bring Coombs in from the international wilderness by her exceptional performances for Manchester City this season, watching her anchor a midfield that had seemingly been significantly weakened by the sales of Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Caroline Weir the previous summer. The oldest member of the 23-strong England World Cup squad at a stately 32, Coombs has a reputation among her teammates as a grafter who will bring plenty of experience to a youthful side, even though her time on the world stage has been somewhat limited thus far. Originally from Gravesend in Kent, Coombs came through first the Charlton Athletic and then the Arsenal youth academies, breaking into the Gunners’ first team in 2007 aged 16 before being loaned out to Nottingham Forest and Los Angeles Strikers before finally being sold to Chelsea in 2011. There she played 52 times over six years and won the Women’s Super League and FA Cup in 2015 but was again loaned out to Barnet, the Strikers and eventually Liverpool, who made that deal permanent in 2017. A regular for the Reds for two seasons, she moved to City in 2019 and won the FA Cup in 2020 and league cup in 2021 before truly excelling as a starter this season. Like goalkeeper Mary Earps, Coombs has a business degree and harbours entrepreneurial ambitions once she hangs up her boots. Read More How to watch England vs Haiti: TV channel and start time for Women’s World Cup opener Women’s football world rankings: Who could take No 1 at the World Cup? FIFA Women’s World Cup fixtures and full schedule

England and Chelsea right-back Niamh Charles, now 24, began her career at an early age on the Wirral in Merseyside. Charles spent her youth at the West Kirby Wasps and excelled as the only female on the pitch, playing against boys up to the age of 14. “Playing in boys’ teams growing up was all I knew so I can’t really compare it to anything else but I loved it,” she has said. “Some of the things that I had to learn as the boys got older and stronger and some of the things I had to adapt and grow about my game have helped me now in terms of the physical side of football. I wouldn’t change playing for boys’ teams because I really liked it.” After that success at junior level, Charles became a member of Liverpool’s FC Academy youth setup and found herself climbing the ranks. She made her Women’s Super League debut at just 16 and appeared 59 times for Liverpool, scoring 11 goals, but left the club following their relegation and signing for Chelsea in 2020, where manager Emma Hayes has hailed her as “tenacious” and a “willing competitor”. She has since won back-to-back doubles with the Blues and started in the Champions League Final against Barcelona in 2021, aged just 21. She has also represented England at under-17, under-19 and under-20 levels. In 2018 at the Under-20s World Cup, Charles made an impression as she helped the young Lionesses win bronze. That same year, she was voted “Rising Star” at the North-West Football Awards. Her debut for the senior side came in a friendly against France in 2021 and she has since added six more caps, a total she will be seeking to increase further in Australia and New Zealand this summer. Read More England Women’s squad for World Cup 2023 England women World Cup fixtures and route to the final England’s World Cup hinges on a defining question

Why Andre Onana has worn the number 24 shirt throughout his time at Ajax, Inter and now Manchester United.

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