List of All Articles with Tag 'football'

The Black and Gold is well represented in Canton, Ohio. These five talented members of the Pittsburgh Steelers are worthy candidates as well.The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is in the books. Nine new members bring the total of busts in Canton, Ohio, to 371. It won’t be long befo...

Roy Keane has told Arsenal they paid too much for England midfielder Declan Rice when they handed West Ham £105million for his services. Keane, who worked with Rice as Martin O’Neill’s assistant when the player won his three senior caps for the Republic of Ireland, rates him highly, but is not convinced he is worth his price tag. Asked about the midfielder’s prospects in north London ahead of the Gunners’ Community Shield clash with Manchester City on Sunday in which he made his competitive debut, Keane told ITV1: “He is obviously going to be surrounded by better players, different demands. “If he is going to play a little higher up the pitch, I think he definitely has that quality in terms of adding more goals. He’s obviously got that physical strength, he can get in the box. “They have obviously paid way too much for him. He’s certainly not worth over £100 million, Declan Rice, but a really good player. “We’ll find out over the next year or two how good Declan is. He turns up every week, he is a big strong boy – again, you talk about that physicality, they lacked that in the last month or two (of last season). They have obviously paid way too much for him. He's certainly not worth over £100 million Roy Keane on Declan Rice “Has he got that really top quality in terms of seeing a pass and getting nine, 10 goals? We’ll soon find out.” Rice’s move to the Emirates Stadium last month after he had helped the Hammers win the Europa Conference League set a new British transfer record. The London-born player, whose paternal grandparents are from Cork, has been capped 43 times by England, but made his senior international debut for Ireland, playing in friendlies against Turkey, France and the United States in 2018 before switching allegiance. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Mikel Arteta was the first victim and the first beneficiary of the new law changes after Arsenal won the Community Shield 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw against Manchester City. Gunners boss Arteta was booked in the first half by referee Stuart Attwell for protesting a decision, part of the new clampdown on the touchline behaviour of managers. But the fiery Spaniard was celebrating after the new law on timewasting and keeping the ball in play – meaning extended periods of stoppage time – allowed his side to equalise with 101 minutes on the clock. “It is really good to do that,” he said. “It was going too far and now teams are going to have to think twice. We have to prepare to play 100 minutes. It is going to happen every single week.” On his yellow card, Arteta added: “I cannot change my behaviour in three days and I can’t say tomorrow that we play with no offsides and what is the linesman doing? I try my best.” Pep Guardiola felt the amount of stoppage time was excessive even before the initial eight minutes stretched to 13 after a clash of heads between Kyle Walker and Thomas Partey. City’s treble-winning boss now also expects matches to regularly extend to 100 minutes and even longer. “We have to get used to it,” he said. “I had the feeling, not because we were winning 1-0, but that not much happened to extend it for eight minutes. “It’s a good question for the international board and people because they don’t consult with managers and players and we have to accept it with this amount of games. “Now the games will be 100 minutes. Nothing happened today and there was eight minutes. They extend for goals. If the score is 4-3, you put 45 seconds on for seven goals, tomorrow morning I am (still) here playing.” Young forward Cole Palmer, who was on as a substitute for the quiet Erling Haaland, appeared to have won it for City in normal time after a fine curling finish. But Leandro Trossard’s shot deflected in – off Manuel Akanji – to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw and take the game to a penalty shoot-out. The Gunners scored all four of their spot-kicks, while Kevin De Bruyne fired against the crossbar and Rodri’s weak effort was saved by Aaron Ramsdale. Fabio Vieira stepped up to hit the final penalty with Arsenal winning the shootout 4-1 to land the first piece of silverware of the campaign and go some way to lifting a mental block after last season’s disappointment at losing the title to City. “It feels great. I don’t think it gets much better than winning a trophy at Wembley against the best team in the world, and especially the way we have done it,” added Arteta. “It’s great if the players are convinced they can beat every team. I think we showed a real determination and fight to win the game. “The reason why we are here to win trophies for this club and make it successful. I have seen so many happy and proud people.” City lost last year’s Community Shield to Liverpool and although they did not do too badly over the rest of the season, Guardiola was still irritated by the defeat. “(We’ve lost) three in a row,” he added. “We came here to win it. We were so close, but winning or losing, I know the position of the team. “We would love to win today but sometimes you have to accept that.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Arsenal ‘obviously paid way too much’ for Declan Rice, says Roy Keane England head coach Jess Thirlby ‘incredibly proud’ despite World Cup final loss Kyle Sinckler not taking England World Cup call as a given after Lions omission

Running through a new Fantasy Football Mock Draft for the 2023 season in a 12-team PPR league, picking at No. 5 in a snake draft.Forget Christmas, what's actually better than fantasy football draft season? You know, that magical time when you aren't staring down the barrel of 24 hours ...

Arsenal took home the first piece of silverware of the new season as they beat treble-winners Manchester City on penalties to lift the Community Shield. Substitute Cole Palmer appeared to have won it for City in normal time after a fine curling finish, only for an unfortunate last-gasp deflected Leandro Trossard goal to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw and take the game to a shoot-out. The Gunners scored all of their spot-kicks while Kevin De Bruyne fired against the bar and Champions League final match-winner Rodri’s poor effort was saved by Aaron Ramsdale. Just as 12 months ago, Erling Haaland had a quiet afternoon in this fixture but his replacement, Palmer, had appeared set to add another trophy to the brimming cabinet at the Etihad Stadium. Arsenal had their moments and arguably got the goal their play had deserved when a late Trossard effort took a deflection off Manuel Akanji. Fabio Vieira then converted the winning penalty in the shoot-out, handing the Gunners a 4-1 win. Arsenal showcased their big three summer additions with Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber all starting, while Havertz’s former Chelsea team-mate Mateo Kovacic was the only new name in City’s line-up. New refereeing guidelines saw both Thomas Partey and Julian Alvarez booked for kicking the ball away, while the former showed ring rust in passing straight to Haaland on the edge of his own box, with the forward teeing up Rodri – whose shot deflected inches wide. Mikel Arteta fell foul to the same tightening of the rules as he was furious that Rodri was not cautioned for a pull of Havertz’s shirt, his gesticulating of a card instead earning the Arsenal boss a booking. Despite City dominating play it was Arsenal who came closest to breaking the deadlock at the midway point of the half, Stefan Ortega managing to keep out a Havertz shot before Gabriel Martinelli’s follow up was blocked by John Stones. It was Havertz again who almost opened the scoring as half-time approached, the Germany forward seeing another effort saved by Ortega after Martin Oedgaard and Bukayo Saka had combined. At the other end, goalkeeper Ramsdale would have been relieved to see Rodri’s speculative effort from the halfway line land of the roof of his net as he scrambled back towards goal. With just over an hour gone, City boss Pep Guardiola opted to take off Haaland, last season’s 52-goal man restricted to just 13 touches in a similarly-peripheral performance to that in defeat to Liverpool in the fixture a year ago. Palmer came on in his place and the England Under-21 European Championship winner was soon in the thick of things. His first chance at goal saw his shot glance off the thigh of Timber for a corner as City looked to regain their earlier dominance. He went one better soon after, once again receiving the ball on the right-hand side of the Arsenal penalty area but this time bending a fine strike past Ramsdale. Fellow substitute Phil Foden should have doubled the lead only for Ramsdale to make a fine last-ditch save, repeating the feat from the resulting corner to keep out Rodri’s near-post header. Arsenal would level in fortuitous circumstances as, deep into stoppage time, Trossard’s shot took a deflection off Akanji, wrong-footing Ortega and sending the Arsenal fans behind the goal into raptures. Skipper Martin Odegaard put Arteta’s men ahead in the shoot-out before substitute De Bruyne rattled the frame of the goal with his own effort. His Belgium team-mate Trossard put Arsenal in control of the shootout with Bernardo Silva scoring City’s only penalty as Bukayo Saka – who missed at the same Wembley end during the Euro 2020 final – also stroked home. The writing was on the wall when Rodri’s poor effort was saved by Ramsdale and Fabio Vieira fired the ball home from 12 yards to seal victory.

Facundo Pellestri ensured Manchester United avoided defeat in their final pre-season friendly as Harry Maguire atoned for his first-half error to help secure a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao. Maguire, whose mistake had allowed Nico Williams to open the scoring before the break, set up the Uruguay international to level in stoppage time in front of a sell-out crowd at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Maguire, who was replaced as United captain by Bruno Fernandes during a summer of speculation over his future, was included as one of 11 changes to the side which beat Lens 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday, but there was no place for injured £72million signing Rasmus Hojlund a day after he had been presented to the club’s fans. Erik ten Hag’s men might have got off to the perfect start when Pellestri played Jadon Sancho in behind the Athletic defence with just four minutes gone, but his attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Unai Simon. Goalkeeper Tom Heaton was called upon to claim Inaki Williams’ 15th-minute strike as the Spaniards responded and they though they had been awarded a 25th-minute penalty seconds after United had seen their appeals waved away at the other end. Referee Neil Doyle initially pointed to the spot after Nico Williams had been brought down by Alvaro Fernandez, only for the official to change his mind and award a free-kick, with which Heaton dealt comfortably. However, the LaLiga side took the lead with 29 minutes gone when Oihan Sancet capitalised on Maguire’s slip-up to feed Nico Williams, who fired past the advancing keeper. Eighteen-year-old Dan Gore tested Simon as the second-half got under way with neither side taking a backward step. But Bilbao’s hopes of retaining their advantage were dealt a blow with 24 minutes remaining when last man Aitor Paredes was given a straight red card for hauling back Hannibal Mejbri after conceding possession to the Tunisia midfielder. Hannibal passed up a glorious opportunity to level when he volleyed the ball over from Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross, but redemption arrived deep into stoppage time when Maguire headed down another Wan-Bissaka delivery for Pellestri to steer home the equaliser. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou insists only one transfer deadline counts as he aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Bayern Munich’s public pursuit of Harry Kane after the forward scored four goals against Shakhtar Donetsk. Kane put the uncertainty over his future to one side to produce a classic display of predatory finishing in what could prove to be his final appearance in Spurs’ colours. Bayern are reported to have lodged their latest offer for Kane on Friday and an apparent self-imposed deadline of midnight was set by the German club, but there has been no further news on the outcome of that bid and Kane grabbed a hat-trick in 55 minutes of a 5-1 friendly win over Shakhtar. Kane added another goal in the 79th-minute before he left the pitch a minute later to a standing ovation following more chants of ‘he’s one of our own’ and at the conclusion of the clash the club’s record goal-scorer walked around the pitch to clap all four corners of the ground in what felt a significant moment. “We know there’s one deadline and that’s the end of the transfer window,” Postecoglou pointed out. “Beyond that, I’m in open dialogue with Harry and with the club on a regular basis. I’ve said to them that if the status quo changes then inform me. “I don’t need to know about the comings and goings in between. I just want to deal with what’s in front of me because, irrespective of the outcome of that, I’m building a team here. I can’t wait (around) for a decision either way to get going. “We don’t have the time or the luxury to do that. I’m working with what’s in front of me. You saw today that Harry certainly is invested in what we’re doing and we’ll keep on doing that unless something changes.” Bayern have been public about their desire to sign Kane all summer, with their honorary president Uli Hoeness and president Herbert Hainer talking openly in the media last month about trying to sign the England captain. We know there's one deadline and that's the end of the transfer window Ange Postecoglou Postecoglou added: “That’s up to Bayern to decide. If that’s the way they want to conduct things, it’s not up to me to judge that. “It doesn’t affect me. I don’t sit there on a daily basis and worry about what other clubs are doing. “I think what is factual right now is that he is a contracted player of our football club. “I certainly wouldn’t talk about contracted players at other football clubs but I’m not at Bayern mate so they can go the way they want.” While a lot of the focus on Sunday was on Kane, amongst the spectators at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was Wolfsburg centre-back Micky van de Ven. Netherlands defender Van de Ven is scheduled to have a medical at Spurs’ training ground on Monday. But asked about Van de Ven, Postecoglou replied: “It hasn’t been done yet, so it’s not right for me to talk about but there’s no doubt we need some bolstering in that central defensive area. “Hopefully we’ll get one or two done in the next couple of days to bolster us in that area.” While Van de Ven’s future looks certain to be at Tottenham, Kane’s club for this campaign remains up in the air. Postecoglou refused to be drawn into the significance of Kane walking alone to applaud all four corners of the stadium at full-time. “You are reading something into it, aren’t you,” he added. “I don’t even know what’s in Harry’s mind, let alone anyone else’s. I think all these things will obviously play out over the next period, we’ll deal with what happens from there. “From my perspective, I’ve got a team to build here. Today showed me that we’ve made some progress but there’s still a lot of work to do. “There were areas today I wasn’t delighted with, so we need to make sure we focus on getting this team right. We’ll see what happens after that. “He’s a fantastic striker, one of the world’s best. I think the way the team plays will help him as well. He loves scoring goals and you saw today we created a load of chances and he was the beneficiary of that.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live 5 things we learned from the opening round of Scottish Premiership action Harry Kane puts speculation to one side with four goals in Tottenham friendly Leicestershire-born Ashleigh Plumptre out to beat England at Women’s World Cup

Rangers suffered a shock defeat away to Kilmarnock on the opening weekend of the cinch Premiership season, while Hibernian and Aberdeen also started the campaign with frustrating results. Brendan Rodgers kicked off his second spell in charge of Celtic with a victory, while there were winning starts for Hearts and St Mirren. Here, the PA news agency looks at five things we learned from the weekend’s fixtures. David Turnbull stakes his Celtic claim The former Motherwell midfielder was handed his first league start in almost nine months when Rodgers picked his first team for a competitive Celtic match since returning as manager. Turnbull seized his opportunity with two goals and would have had another if it had not been for a double stop from Ross Laidlaw. Rodgers challenged the 24-year-old to continue working hard off the ball and make the most of his chance. It never rains but it pours The Scottish football season closed in farcical fashion last term as torrential rain led to a major delay in Scotland’s win over Georgia. And the wet weather also delayed the start of the Premiership campaign in Perth as water got into the electrics and led to the VAR technology failing initially before Hearts’ win against St Johnstone. Dens Park was also affected as Dundee’s draw with Motherwell was briefly held up to clear a massive puddle from near the corner flag. Rangers still looking to find their groove Michael Beale deployed an all-new front trio of Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers at Rugby Park and Brazilian striker Danilo would come on later for his debut. But Rangers only managed four shots on target in their 1-0 defeat by Kilmarnock. Rangers only failed to score on two occasions in the Premiership last season and already find themselves chasing Celtic. Killie signal their intent One of Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes’ pre-season ambitions was to take something off the Old Firm and that was achieved on the opening day against Rangers. Midfielder Brad Lyons scored only his second goal for Killie after 65 minutes and the hard-working home side held out at Rugby Park with a degree of comfort. It was an early confidence-booster for the revamped Ayrshire outfit who battled at the wrong end of the table for most of last season. Hearts steal an early march on Dons and Hibs Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen have all enjoyed third-placed finishes over the past three seasons and the trio of big city clubs are widely expected to battle it out for the ‘best of the rest’ tag behind Celtic and Rangers this time round. All three kicked off the campaign with fixtures against teams that finished beneath them last term, but Hearts were the only side to emerge victorious after a 2-0 triumph at St Johnstone. Aberdeen and their huge away support were left frustrated by a 0-0 draw at Livingston, while Hibs suffered a demoralising 3-2 home defeat by St Mirren. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Harry Kane puts speculation to one side with four goals in Tottenham friendly Leicestershire-born Ashleigh Plumptre out to beat England at Women’s World Cup Dozens of triathletes stuck down with diarrhoea and vomiting after ‘swimming in s**t’

Ex-England youth international Ashleigh Plumptre insists it was a simple choice to switch allegiances to Nigeria, who on Monday night could knock her native country out of the World Cup. Leicestershire born and raised Plumptre, 25, has represented England from under-15 to under-23 level, but in January 2022 received FIFA’s approval to join the Super Falcons. Plumptre, who three weeks ago left Leicester after making 79 appearances for the Women’s Super League side, grew up with a half-Nigerian dad whose own father was born in Lagos. The defender said: “For me, it wasn’t difficult because I knew exactly what I wanted from football and I think that just came down from understanding who I am. On my journey, I’ve learned more about myself and I know what I want from football. “And I always say, ‘for me, it’s more than just playing.’ It sounds really weird but I always say I’m not obsessed with football, specifically, I’m obsessed with what I can learn about myself from playing. “And that’s why playing for Nigeria would probably be the most fulfilling thing I could do. “Not to say that my experiences were ever bad with England, they never were, but it was just more that my life went on a different course. “And I’m like, hmm, this is important for me, for my sister, for my family and for the young people who identify as being mixed heritage.” In an interview for the Nigerian Football Federation, Plumptre describes her younger half-sister Bayleigh Bisi as having a darker skin tone and different hair texture, which initially led to her more strongly resonating with their Nigerian heritage. Plumptre feels her own journey is entwined with her sibling’s – going so far as to say that the road to this World Cup, which saw world number 40 Nigeria oust Olympic champions Canada en route to the knockouts, is one shared by them both. She added: “I feel like people have different reasons for wanting to play for a different country. “For me, obviously, I grew up playing for England and I enjoyed my time with them but I always say it was always more of a life decision than a football decision. “I felt like I had a responsibility to try and play for Nigeria, if I could. “And that just came from experiences within family. I’ve got my younger sister, I used to coach an under-12s team with girls with mixed heritage girls, and I feel like I have a responsibility to learn about my heritage and I have the privilege of being able to play football and use that to be able to learn, so it came about like that for me.” Nigeria have contested all nine World Cups, reaching the quarter-finals in 1999. Should they wish to equal or better that feat they will have to find their way past European champions England. Plumptre is prepared to face the Lionesses, a side which includes several former team-mates. She said: “I was like, ‘it’s gonna end up that way’. I know a lot of the players, I grew up playing with a lot of them, play against them. So I would completely relish that opportunity. I would love to play them.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Harry Kane puts speculation to one side with four goals in Tottenham friendly Dozens of triathletes stuck down with diarrhoea and vomiting after ‘swimming in s**t’ Finn Russell expects different challenge from full-strength France next week

Harry Kane put the uncertainty over his future to one side to score four times in Tottenham’s 5-1 pre-season friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk. Kane has been the subject of interest from Bayern Munich all summer and the German club are reported to have lodged their latest bid for the forward on Friday. An apparent self-imposed deadline of midnight was also set by Bayern, but there has been no further news on the outcome of that bid and Kane showed no signs that he was distracted by grabbing a hat-trick in 55 minutes against Shakhtar while being continuously serenaded by the home crowd. Sunday’s fixture was new boss Ange Postecoglou’s first match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he was introduced before kick-off to strong applause. The decibel level were raised even more when Kane’s name was announced after he was included in the starting line-up and given the captain’s armband in the absence of Hugo Lloris. After Kane had two early shots saved, he scored the first of his four-goal salvo in the 38th-minute when he fired home from the penalty spot after James Maddison had been brought down in the area. Shakhtar did level on the verge of half-time when Kevin Kelsy headed in from close-range, but it was soon back to the Kane show. Maddison again combined with his England team-mate in the 50th-minute when his floated crossed was nodded in at the back post by Kane. The hat-trick was completed five minutes later when Son passed into Dejan Kulusevski, who slipped the ball between Mykola Matviyenko’s legs and Kane drilled into the bottom corner. Spurs’ record goal-scorer had already heard several renditions of ‘he’s one of our own’ before his treble but a section of the South Stand chanted ‘we want you to stay’ after his third goal. There was still time for one more Kane goal when substitute Manor Solomon saw his curled shot saved and Kane was there to tap in from close-range in the 79th-minute. Postecoglou replaced the forward a minute later and Kane left the pitch to a standing ovation before he responded with applause to all four corners of the ground. Academy graduate Dane Scarlett replaced Kane and scored with the last kick of the game with a fine left-footed effort from Kulusevski’s cross. The full-time whistle followed and Kane walked over on his own to each side of the stadium to clap the fans still in attendance in what Tottenham supporters will hope is not the last time they have seen their all-time leading goal-scorer. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Leicestershire-born Ashleigh Plumptre out to beat England at Women’s World Cup Dozens of triathletes stuck down with diarrhoea and vomiting after ‘swimming in s**t’ Finn Russell expects different challenge from full-strength France next week

The Community Shield is always a game for the calendar - the official opening of elite action in England’s men’s game. This time around it’s treble-winners Manchester City and last season’s Premier League runners-up Arsenal who meet at Wembley, fighting for the first prize of the new campaign. Mikel Arteta has added the likes of Declan Rice and Kai Havertz to his squad this summer, while Mateo Kovacic has traded Chelsea for Man City as a replacement for Ilkay Gundogan. While not usually a match which foretells the fortunes of the season ahead, it’s still an intriguing opportunity to see where these respective squads are ahead of the opening game of the 2023/24 league next term. Follow live updates from the Community Shield at Wembley below:

The United States got the result that was coming, but in a manner that no one could have predicted. The USA’s reign of dominance at the Women’s World Cup is over; after two consecutive titles and four overall, they suffered their earliest-ever exit from the competition at the hands of a familiar opponent. After victories over the USA at the previous two Olympics, Sweden struck again. This time it was by the finest of margins, with Lina Hurtig’s winning penalty crossing the line by barely an inch, awarded by VAR amid confusion, madness and heartbreak. It brought one of the most successful eras in sport to a close. The USA set the standard and led the way at the Women’s World Cup, but now the rest of the world has caught up. Megan Rapinoe could only laugh, and then cry, as her penalty was blazed over the bar. Player of the tournament in 2019 and a winner in 2015, her final touch at her final World Cup in 2023 was an ignominious one. Kelley O’Hara, another stalwart of the USA’s golden age, also missed at a crucial moment, setting up Hurtig’s final blow. The USA will now turn to a new generation, but this defeat will leave its mark. Sophia Smith, the next star of the USA team, missed the chance to send the defending champions through to the quarter-finals, firing high and wide. That could have been her moment, instead it could also spell the end for Vlatko Andonovski. The head coach faced an arduous task in following the two-time World Cup winner Jill Ellis, but he has now resided over the USA’s worst ever campaign at the tournament. His substitutions, or lack of them, against Sweden contributed to their undoing. But defeat, although perhaps not like this, always felt inevitable. It could have come even earlier. After scraping past Portugal in the group stages, the writing felt on the wall. Yet the USA were improved against Sweden. Had it not been for an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Zecira Muscovic, then the USA may have survived long enough to face former foes Japan in the quarter-finals. Muscovic was sublime, another goalkeeper to win player of the match at this World Cup, yet the ironic twist was Sweden won the shoot-out without her needing to make a save. A painful exit at least offers the USA a chance to start again. How they needed it, with a squad that looked trapped between sending out the old generation in a blaze of glory and bringing in the new. The problem for the USA as it attempts to build its next great team is that they are no longer the powerful force in women’s football. The past four years has seen the stunning rise of the European club game and its league, powering England and Spain to new heights, while the past two weeks at the World Cup has demonstrated how other countries around the world have been lifted up by advances in coaching and player development. The USA are no longer at the forefront of that change: the best players in the world are being born in countries like Colombia, and are being nurtured at the powerhouses in Europe. This will be a wake-up call not just for the USA but their entire structure, from its domestic league to its youth development. There was plenty of evidence at this World Cup that the USA’s next line of talent aren’t at the level of previous generations. The USA may have been hit by injuries ahead of the tournament, and were certainly held back by Andonovski’s stale tactics, but none of Smith, Alyssa Thompson or Trinity Rodman lived up to the expectations, especially when compared to the young talent elsewhere at the World Cup. The USA again played a front three that showed little cohesion, a collection of straight lines that failed to connect. There was Rodman, and then Lynn Williams, charging down the right wing, unable to find the crosses. Alex Morgan herself starved of service and confidence, struggling to find the space to make an impact, or the finishing to make her chances count. Smith represents another disjointed fragment, who would surely be starting through the middle if not for Morgan’s history at the World Cup. There was very little change from the bench: Andonovski’s side were more competitive in midfield against Sweden, but failed to find an extra gear when they were clearly on top. The problem for the USA was everyone wanted to be the match-winner: Rapinoe, looking to take a thrown in quickly at the halfway line after coming on as a substitute in extra time, instead launching the ball downfield to where she should have been standing. A different USA side, perhaps of four years ago, wouldn’t have allowed this to reach its dramatic but wildly unpredictable conclusion. It’s been a brilliant World Cup, but this wasn’t a classic, at least in terms of attacking plan. Instead, it was a classic of a different genre, that of a tense and nervy knockout stage clash. Sweden were passive: they had an opportunity to trouble the USA, given the noise around the build-up to the fixture, but ceded control. Sweden played for moments from set-pieces, as if feeding off scraps. The inswinging deliveries from Joanna Andersson targeted USA goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and a packed six-yard box. Naeher at least dealt with the threat, punching and swinging to clear the danger; Sweden offered little else. For the first time in three games, the USA had the brighter moments: Smith struck at Muscovic after finding space on the right, with Rodman also able to create some moments of danger when roaming inside. Lindsey Horan, goalscorer against Vietnam and the Netherlands, hit the crossbar with a header on the half-hour, the USA almost using Sweden’s strength against them. Horan threatened again in the second half, curling a first-time shot that beckoned the far corner before Muscovic made an excellent diving stop to her left. The contest was destined for extra-time from as early as the first half - it took until the 85th minute for Sweden to have their first shot on target - but much of that was also down to the outstanding Muscovic. The goalkeeper kept Sweden alive with her best save of the match, denying Morgan’s late header when the USA striker seemed set for her moment of the World Cup. Instead, after she was spurned again by Muscovic with a snap-shot, Morgan soon departed. A joint-winner of the Golden Boot in 2019, Morgan left goalless at the World Cup in 2023. Morgan could only watch on at what happened next, powerless to stop what in the end was the inevitable. This was a World Cup too far, for a team who need a new plan. Read More From Megan Rapinoe’s miss to VAR drama: How the USA and Sweden’s penalty shoot-out unfolded Women’s World Cup TV schedule: How to watch every match today Sarina Wiegman reveals stunning Keira Walsh fitness update on eve of Nigeria clash Women’s World Cup golden boot: Who’s leading the top-scorer standings? South Africa exit the Women’s World Cup having left their mark When do England play next? Women’s World Cup fixtures and route to the final