List of All Articles with Tag 'sport'

England has signed its leading men’s players to multi-year central contracts for the first time

PARIS (AP) — South Africa and New Zealand will collide in the Rugby World Cup final and the latest chapter in their ferocious century-old rivalry guarantees history.

Dejan Kulusevski has acknowledged Tottenham have an advantage over their rivals with no European football this year and feels it could make the difference come the end of the season. Spurs returned to the Premier League summit on Monday night with a 2-0 win over Fulham courtesy of goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison. Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent side are next in action on Friday at Crystal Palace, where they could go five points clear at the top with a victory and while Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have European fixtures to contend with this week, Tottenham can focus purely on league action. “Honestly, it helps a lot. Physically, I remember last season was very hard playing three games a week,” Kulusevski said. “You feel very tired in the warm-ups. Also, mentally not having to travel to Spain or Italy to play games helps. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year. “You can feel the difference and hopefully you will see even more at the end of the season. “It is early because we will see what happens. Everything can change every day so we don’t need to talk about (title), but we must live for the day with a smile, train hard and not forget who we are. We must try to get better every day. “It is not important what people say. The important thing is to work hard, be humble, listen to the coach and keep the smiles on faces. Then at the end of the season we will see where we are.” Tottenham’s young side produced a mature display against Fulham, creating early chances before Son broke the deadlock in the 36th minute. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year. Spurs' Dejan Kulusevski on no European football Calvin Bassey’s misplaced pass under pressure from Spurs’ press was latched onto by Micky van de Ven, touched into Richarlison where he recycled the ball for Son, who dribbled past Tim Ream and curled superbly into the top corner for his seventh goal of the campaign. Son turned provider nine minutes after half-time when Bassey again gave away the ball and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fizzed possession into Son, who played in Maddison for his first home goal as a Tottenham player. The hosts took their foot off the gas during the final exchanges with Fulham wasteful late on, which led to Postecoglou lambasting his team for taking “liberties” post-match. Kulusevski added: “Number one, we have to keep playing football and that is why we are winning. We have to get back to playing the way we can and be ready for Friday.” Spurs were without the suspended Yves Bissouma for the visit of Fulham, but Hojbjerg slotted in to good effect on his first league start of the season. The Danish midfielder expressed his delight at starting and urged his team-mates to “live with the pressure” amid talk of a potential title challenge. “Honestly it felt amazing to play. It was really nice to play. It felt really good,” Hojbjerg said. “First half I thought we played some good football. I think we had to score more than the one and second half we lost a bit of intensity. We let Fulham back into it but especially first half I thought was strong. “It is up to the coach to analyse (second half) now and to show us a bit what we needed. Personally, I felt the quality on the ball dropped a bit, but again we always know the first game back from the internationals is always a challenge. “I think it is game by game and it is important to try to improve. Improve every single week and try to see where we can take it. I think you have to live with the pressure, assume the pressure but again it is about improving and looking at yourself week in, week out.” Read More Sandro Tonali trains with Newcastle team amid betting investigation in Italy Super League case binding ruling due to be handed down on December 21 Texas Rangers see off Houston Astros to reach first World Series since 2011 On this day in 2018 – Christian Wade quits rugby in bid to launch NFL career Mikel Arteta hopes to be talking about football after Arsenal’s trip to Sevilla Jean Kleyn: RWC final with South Africa ‘outside realm of thinking’ months ago

Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali trained with his team-mates on Tuesday morning amid speculation that an investigation into breaches of betting rules was close to reaching a conclusion. Reports from Italy have suggested the 23-year-old former AC Milan player could learn his fate before Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund at St James’ Park, with some predicting a lengthy ban. However, the Italy international was among the group which trained at the club’s Darsley Park training headquarters as they completed their preparations for the Group F fixture under grey skies and incessant rain. Tonali’s representatives reportedly spent Monday in discussions with prosecutors, who launched an investigation while he was away on international duty earlier this month. He and compatriot Nicolo Zaniolo, currently on loan at Aston Villa from Galatasaray, are subject to a probe by the Italian Prosecutor’s Office and Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in relation to illegal betting activity. Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso had claimed the player was living with a “gambling addiction” and if breaches were found to have taken place, he could face many months on the sidelines. The midfielder, who joined the Magpies in a £55million summer move from Milan, is accused of placing bets on the Rossoneri and former club Brescia during his time with them. He has made 11 appearances to date for Newcastle, including a start in the 4-1 Champions League victory over Paris St Germain earlier this month. Read More It helps a lot – Dejan Kulusevski says Spurs must make absence from Europe count Super League case binding ruling due to be handed down on December 21 Texas Rangers see off Houston Astros to reach first World Series since 2011

A binding ruling in the Super League case will be handed down on December 21. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice will rule that morning on whether or not UEFA and FIFA acted lawfully in blocking the creation of the Super League in April 2021, and in seeking to sanction the clubs involved. The ruling is a binding interpretation of European Union law, and once handed down the case will then be referred back to the Madrid commercial court that will apply it to the facts of the Super League case. Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 which is promoting the concept of a new European league, said: “Club football is on the eve of major change. We hope the European Court of Justice will end the monopoly of UEFA and enforce the fundamental freedoms of the European Union in the world of football. “Fans, clubs, players and the sport of football would be the winners in a market that is open for a competition of ideas and in which clubs could govern and organise a European football competition without fear of threats.” Read More England players sign multi-year deals but Ben Stokes takes one-year extension Texas Rangers see off Houston Astros to reach first World Series since 2011 On this day in 2018 – Christian Wade quits rugby in bid to launch NFL career

Wisconsin’s magic touch in close games started to wear off late last season and led to a rare absence from the NCAA Tournament

Second-ranked Duke is opening Year 2 under Jon Scheyer with four returning starters and a top-tier recruiting class

North Carolina coach Hubert Davis has overhauled his roster for his third year leading the 19th-ranked Tar Heels

Illinois coach Brad Underwood is confident he’s addressed the issues that caused his team to underachieve last season despite finishing 20-13 and making its third straight appearance in the NCAA tournament

It’s been a while since Iowa went into a season without a big-name player

Nebraska more than doubled its number of Big Ten wins last season to mark the biggest improvement in Fred Hoiberg’s four years coaching the Cornhuskers

Every season there's a weekend where the officials become as big a part of the story as anything the teams do and that's what happened in Week 7