List of All Articles with Tag 'f'

Republic of Ireland defender Louise Quinn is confident the Girls in Green have a plan in place to shut down prolific Australia striker Sam Kerr when they face the hosts in their World Cup opener. Quinn’s side, after all, have done it before, spoiling the Chelsea forward’s 100th appearance for the Matildas with a 3-2 victory when they met for the first time in history at Tallaght Stadium in September 2021. Dublin native Quinn powered in a second-half header to break the deadlock and memorably hand the Republic their biggest win over a higher-ranked opponent in over two decades. “It’s rare but I felt like I got one up on her with the Irish team in Tallaght and that is something that I will carry forward with me,” said Quinn, speaking during a team training session at Brisbane’s Meakin Park. “But she’s very impressive, she’s very strong, easily one of the best strikers in the world now. For me, you concentrate on the whole thing but I definitely have an individual battle on my hands that is essentially what I want. “What I want to so is to not let her score essentially. Keep her out of the game. She really creates moments out of nothing but it has to be 100 per cent for the 90 minutes. “Yeah, she runs off the back shoulders a lot. She is so nippy that she can come around the front and come off your blindside and make runs in behind. I can’t wait for the challenge to be honest, this is what you play for, to play against the very best in the world. And she is one of the best. “We’ve proved before against Australia that we can put something up against her and she was on the pitch that day and had her chances.” Matildas captain Kerr, Australia’s top goal-scorer of either gender with 63 from 121 caps, was named the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Women’s Footballer of the Year for a second straight season after a 2022/23 campaign that saw her score 17 goals and pick up six assists across the Women’s Super League and Champions League. She was largely shut down at Tallaght, where Mary Fowler netted two to keep Australia in a game Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson would later tell media he felt was “some kind of record” for the number of technical mistakes he observed in his side. They will have to do better to impress the 80,000-plus crowd who have sold out Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Thursday night, the second contest on a two-match opening day beginning with co-hosts New Zealand’s meeting with Norway in Auckland. Sunday was a recovery day for the Republic, who are hoping midfielder Denise O’Sullivan will be fit in time for the biggest day in team history after she was injured in their aborted friendly with Colombia. An initial X-ray and CT scan encouragingly showed no fracture to O’Sullivan’s shin, and she will be assessed again on Monday afternoon. Quinn’s name will forever go down in history as one of 23 selected to represent her country in their first World Cup. It is an astonishing accomplishment that has struck her sharply and sporadically, often when she has least expected it. She said: “I had a really random one after the Zambia game and we had a weekend off. “I was just chatting to my girlfriend about something, and I was saying ‘I’ll do that after I get back from the World Cup.’ And I actually stopped for a second and realised that yes, I am going to a World Cup. “And I had to stop for a moment. I got emotional. Because we’ve been talking about this all along but now it’s really confirmed. It hit me. We were just getting the dinner ready and chatting, ‘We’ll do this after the World Cup. It was really bizarre, a really emotional moment and I didn’t think that was going to happen.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On this day in 2016: N’Golo Kante swaps Leicester for Chelsea Carlos Alcaraz out to end Novak Djokovic’s reign in Wimbledon final for the ages Somerset’s Lewis Gregory relieved to shed ‘nearly men’ tag after Blast title win

France midfielder N’Golo Kante joined Chelsea from Premier League champions Leicester for a reported £32million, on this day in 2016. Kante’s only season with the Foxes, following his arrival from Caen the previous summer, saw him play a pivotal role in their title-winning campaign. He was offered a bumper new contract at the King Power Stadium but opted to leave for Chelsea. “Despite the offer of a substantially-improved, long-term contract, it became apparent that N’Golo’s wish was to join Chelsea,” said a Leicester statement. Kante cited the opportunity to work under then-Blues boss Antonio Conte as a major reason for moving to Stamford Bridge. “I am so happy to have signed for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s adream come true for me,” he said. “The opportunity to work with a brilliant coach and some of the best players in the world was simply too good to turn down.” Chelsea won the Premier League during Kante’s first season in London as the now 32-year-old became the first player since Eric Cantona in 1993 to win back-to-back top-flight titles in England with two clubs. Kante also won the FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League before leaving Stamford Bridge this summer for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Chiefs Twitter has had enough with fans hating on Patrick Mahomes' wife Brittany Mahomes after a clip Netflix's "Quarterback" went viral.Patrick Mahomes is the most beloved man in Kansas City. His wife, Brittany Mahomes, doesn't get to feel the love from NFL fans in quit...

Another major recruiting win came Miami football's way in 5-star commit Joshisa Trader, who picked the Hurricanes over three prominent schools.The Miami Hurricanes beat out college football titans in Ohio State and Georgia, along with Florida State, as five-star wide receiver Joshisa Trader...

The Nationals and Cardinals game today, July 15, was delayed because of weather in St. Louis. Check here for updates on the Cardinals rain delay.Saturday started off with a bummer for Cardinals fans as the first game of the doubleheader, which continued from Friday night, ended in a 7-5 defeat t...

DENVER — After an 0-for-3 performance to open the second half of the season on Friday night here at hitter-friendly Coors Field, it needed to be asked if Josh Donaldson of the New York Yankees is really healthy.After missing nearly two months because of a hamstring strain, Donaldson has no...

The Dodgers and Mets game today, July 15, was delayed by bad weather in New York. Check here for updates on the new start time and more.The second half of the MLB season started up on Friday as the Dodgers blasted the Mets 6-0. New York may have hoped to bounce back on Saturday but the weather i...

There are four months until "The Game," but it's never too early to stir the pot when discussing Ohio State vs. Michigan.Eleven days ahead of 2023 Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis, the tension between Ohio State and Michigan has only become more heightened, thanks to Michigan me...

Stephen Curry has made a hole-in-one at a celebrity golf tournament, draining his tee shot on the 152-yard par-3 seventh at Edgewood Tahoe

The Yankees slinked to the bottom of the AL East in the first game back from the All-Star break, further burying Aaron Boone's reputation among fans.Earlier this season, Hal Steinbrenner angered fans when he said he was confused as to why they were so frustrated by the state of the 2023 sea...

If Bijan Robinson and the Atlanta Falcons get some lift from their defense, this up-and-coming team could really take flight this fall.While there are plenty of positive things to say about Bijan Robinson and the Atlanta Falcons' ground-centric offense, the defense could be sneaky-good this...

Brent Venables is building his Oklahoma football team way differently than how Deion Sanders is rebuilding his Colorado football program.It is a shame that Brent Venables' Oklahoma Sooners and Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes aren't conference rivals.Venables is entering year...