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As part of their preparations for big tournaments in recent years such as this summer's World Cup, USA Basketball has been taking a few extra players to help in practices and workouts

Spain head coach Jorge Vilda batted away questions about his country’s absent stars on the eve of their World Cup final clash with England. Vilda has guided Spain to their first final amid a backdrop of controversy and rows over the treatment of the team. The showpiece game in Sydney takes place on Sunday morning, less than a year after 15 players staged a mutiny. The arguments, which broke out in September last year, threatened to derail Spain’s hopes before an uneasy peace was brokered ahead of the World Cup. Dubbed ‘Las 15’, the players who walked away were Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmati, Mapi Leon, Mariona Caldentey, Sandra Panos, Claudia Pina, Lola Gallardo, Ainhoa Moraza, Nerea Eizagirre, Amaiur Sarriegi, Lucia Garcia, Ona Batlle, Leila Ouahabi, Laia Aleixandri and Andrea Pereira. If an accommodation has been reached, it appears to be a delicate one. Only three members of the 15 – Bonmati, Caldentey and Batlle – were included in Vilda’s squad for the finals. Despite the unrest and uncertainty, Spain have made it through to the final following a late win over Sweden in the last four. What we want to do tomorrow is to be the best in the world and we'll do this by winning the final Jorge Vilda Asked early on at his pre-match press conference about the relations between himself and some of his players, Vilda replied: “Next question please.” Pushed on whether not having some key players in Australia made him “sad”, Vilda seemingly ignored the line of questioning. “What we want to do tomorrow is to be the best in the world and we’ll do this by winning the final,” he said. Spain lost 2-1 to England after extra-time at the quarter-final of the Euros last summer as the Lionesses went on to lift the trophy on home soil, with Sarina Wiegman and her players looking to add further silverware on Sunday. “It was a game that we know we were on top, but the result is what counts,” Vilda said of the loss at the Amex Stadium, “Games against England really require our best. She (Wiegman) is a trainer that with her results has shown the fruits of her work, it’s not easy what she has achieved. “You don’t achieve this without excellent preparation and star players. It will be a tactical match and it’s a final that we’re going to fight with everything.” 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 2017: England win first day-night Test to be held in UK Steve Cooper feels Nottingham Forest showed a new side to them with late winner Manchester United’s new-look midfield must click quickly – Erik ten Hag

Sarina Wiegman says England feel buoyed by the levels of support for the team ahead of the World Cup final. The Lionesses take on Spain on Sunday as they bid to win the trophy for the first time. Boss Wiegman said: “It’s incredible what happened. We felt the support, we felt the support here, but also from the other side of the world in the UK. That’s something that we dream of. “I feel privileged. I’m very happy in the place where I am now. There’s a lot of support, we have everything we need to perform at the highest level. It is a pleasure to work with these incredible people.” Wiegman was concise when asked how the team had reintegrated Lauren James, who could start on Sunday after serving a two-match suspension following her red card against Nigeria in the last 16. She said: “Of course she kept training and it’s really nice to have 23 players available for tomorrow.”

The Spanish squad is built on a core of Barcelona players who have triumphed with their club

England are counting down the hours until they play in their first Women’s World Cup final as Sarina Wiegman and her players prepare to face Spain for the title in Sydney on Sunday. It’s the first time the England men’s or women’s team have reached a football World Cup final since 1966, with the nation set to come to a halt as the Lionesses look to bring the game’s biggest prize back home. And manager Wiegman is well aware of the 57 years of hurt that the nation has endured and is backing her side to end that on Sunday morning. Wiegman will give a press conference this morning ahead of the final, after she confirmed she is happy as England manager and wants to see out the remainder of her contract, despite speculation linking the Lionesses boss to the United States, Meanwhile, Australia will look to finish their home World Cup on a high as they face Sweden in the third-place play-off in Brisbane. The Matildas were beaten by England in the semi-finals but will hope to sign off with a win after capturing the hearts of the nation during their record-breaking run. Follow all the build-up to England’s clash against Spain in the final, get all the latest Women’s World Cup odds here and find latest tips for the game itself here. Read More Sarina Wiegman: ‘Stop talking about the result — we know what we want’ Ella Toone or Lauren James? Sarina Wiegman has already made the biggest decision of England’s World Cup Sarina Wiegman commits future to England after USA speculation

Despite the Angels turning their first triple play in 26 years and Shohei Ohtani hitting his second grand slam in the majors, Los Angeles still found a way to lose

Instead of the third most expensive footballer in history, Liverpool have unveiled the third most expensive midfielder they have signed this summer and the third they targeted in swift succession. A dizzying week that began with a British record bid for Moises Caicedo ended with Romeo Lavia joining the Ecuadorian at Stamford Bridge and the arrival of Wataru Endo at Anfield, almost £100m cheaper than one of the men who preferred Chelsea to Liverpool and seemingly out of the blue. This, Jurgen Klopp accepted, was not how many supporters hoped their search for a No 6 would go. “It is a transfer that is not in the public eye,” he said. “It’s not ‘Oh my God!’ and probably nobody at this moment is texting a new song for him.” That said, though, Klopp did get a text from an influential figure in German football, congratulating him on the signing of the former VfB Stuttgart captain. If Caicedo can be billed as the new N’Golo Kante, and not merely because of the Ecuadorian’s choice of club, Klopp looked into Liverpool’s recent past for a comparison for his latest buy. He settled on perhaps the most unglamorous figure of their recent glory years, James Milner. He urged fans to look beyond the bare facts about Endo – a 30-year-old relegation firefighter in the Bundesliga – and embrace an unlikely addition. “I know how football fans are, they would prefer to bring in a player who is £110m,” he said. Normally when a manager pleads that a player should not be judged on his price tag, it is because he is costly, not cheap. “But wait: he has something that Liverpool supporters will love, definitely,” added Klopp. “He is already used to red a little bit [from Stuttgart], so that’s good, and when he puts that shirt on he will throw everything on the pitch and the people will love that, I know that. We had this with James Milner a little bit. Obviously a slightly different profile but could you respect James Milner more for playing 15 minutes at the end and just closing a game down?” Milner, Klopp added, was “one of the biggest Liverpool legends of my time and arrived here he was 29”. The German came to Anfield a few months later and since then he had only signed one outfield player in their thirties: defender Ragnar Klavan in 2016, also from a bottom-half Bundesliga club. But if Klopp has to convince the Anfield public Endo is not too near the end, he also had to persuade his employers. “The way our owners see it he was already too old when he joined Stuttgart,” he said. “The owners really want 200 games at 20 years old. That is pretty difficult. I didn’t need any kind of convincing. I know that the best time for a football player is from 27 to 33 in a normal career.” If Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai conform to the usual model for Liverpool signings in the Fenway Sports Group era, Endo is an anomaly. His new manager’s view is that the Japan captain is a young 30. “When you see him, you think ‘is he allowed to drive a car?’” Klopp asked. Certainly, a four-year contract reflects Liverpool’s belief that, like Milner before him, Endo will retain his running power deep into his thirties. His age, he feels, is a reason his new recruit was overlooked; why he is the exception to FSG’s rule. “He is a late bloomer and he improved every year since he was on the proper football screen,” he said. Klopp has always savoured an underdog tale; for him, there is much to enjoy in the way Endo took a long and winding road to Liverpool, via Shonan Bellmare, Urawa Red Diamonds, Sint-Truiden and then Stuttgart. “I am really happy these kind of stories are still possible in this crazy world of football,” he said. “It feels just right.” And Liverpool definitely feels right for Endo. “A dream come true,” said a player for whom such a move would long have seemed utterly unrealistic. After Caicedo and Lavia showed rather less enthusiasm to sign, Klopp grinned as he stressed Liverpool finally reached an agreement with “the club and the player”. There can be no pretence Endo was Liverpool’s first choice but he sought to address the perception that desperation ruled. “He was on my list from the beginning,” he said. He had watched Endo since he joined Stuttgart in 2019. He moved for him after Liverpool had just 35 per cent possession against Chelsea – “crazy,” Klopp said – when, in the absence of a specialist defensive midfielder, Mac Allister had to impersonate one. But it was such a shock that even Endo pronounced himself surprised. He is the £15m man, not the £115m midfielder. “But in the end the pitch is the same size,” Klopp said. “The player will not grow with the money he costs, it’s rather the other way around.” But even Endo has grown into a Liverpool player late in his career, Klopp is hoping he has a Milner-esque impact for a price a fraction of Caicedo’s. Read More Wataru Endo: Liverpool strengthen midfield by signing Bundesliga ‘machine’ Moises Caicedo completes Chelsea’s dream midfield — but £115m deal could haunt them Chelsea and Liverpool serve up entertaining glimpse of football without defensive midfielders

The Miami Marlins snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers' 11-game winning streak with an 11-3 victory

Cardinals rookie shortstop Masyn Winn did get a souvenir baseball to take home after recording his first major league hit in his MLB debut

Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer in the second and added an RBI single to back Kyle Gibson’s winning start, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics 9-4 on Friday night

Fernando Tatis Jr. capped San Diego’s four-run eighth inning with a two-run homer, and the Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0

The Los Angeles Angels turned their first triple play in 26 years during the ninth inning of Friday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays