List of All Articles with Tag 'sport'

Newly acquired wide receiver Van Jefferson reported Wednesday as the Atlanta Falcons prepared for Sunday’s home game against the Washington Commanders

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor’s return to action helped trigger a split between the league and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency

The four sons of Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen are scheduled to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the NL Division Series

Rob Page has revealed Charlie Savage will be staying with the Wales squad for the Euro 2024 qualifier with Croatia on Sunday. Savage, the 20-year-old son of former Wales midfielder Robbie, made his full senior debut on Wednesday as the Dragons cruised to a 4-0 friendly win over Gibraltar in Wrexham. The Reading midfielder was due to join up with the under-21 side ahead of their European Championship qualifier away to the Czech Republic on Friday. But Savage and Wycombe central defender Joe Low – who also made his senior debut against Gibraltar – will remain with Page’s squad ahead of the vital Croatia clash in Cardiff. “We’ll keep Savage and Joe, not just off the back of tonight,” said Wales manager Page. “They’ve done themselves the world of good. “Sav has earned the right to be with us and I’ve got a lot of time for Joe. “He’s earned the right to be there with injuries we’ve got.” Savage claimed an assist for a Kieffer Moore header as Wales brushed aside Gibraltar with all four goals coming in the first half. Bournemouth striker Moore scored twice to take his Wales goals tally to 12, the same number as Ryan Giggs and one fewer than John Toshack. Ben Davies, who wore the armband in the absence of injured captain Aaron Ramsey, and Nathan Broadhead were also on target. “He has taken my advice and left,” Page said of Savage’s move from Manchester United to Sky Bet League One outfit Reading in the summer. “It must have been hard for him. I spoke to Rob who had to leave United to go to Crewe. It’s no different for Charlie. “He did it because he’s playing week in week out in competitive football. He trains as he plays and has personality. We blocked Robbie from speaking to him all week which was a big achievement. “Joking aside, Rob has got his back, he’ll look after him. He’s got his feet on the ground. “Sav’s best position is an old-fashioned box to box eight. The ball for Kieffer was first class, right on his head. He showed he can do both sides of it and he’s a great talent.” Wales’ comfortable win saw them secure back-to-back victories for the first time since November 2021. “The results were not great in June, but it’s how you bounce back and we did that in September with class (winning 2-0 in Latvia),” Page said. “The environment is brilliant. We won’t get carried away beating Gibraltar, but I see work in progress. “My challenge to them was to be clinical and we were. We have to put it all together on Sunday. “We picked a team here knowing what we’ll face on Sunday. “From the first minute on camp we knew the team we’d pick here and we know the team on Sunday. We are ready and can’t wait for Sunday’s game.” Wes Burns has returned to Ipswich and will be assessed by his club after the wing-back suffered an arm injury that forced him off in the early stages against Gibraltar. Read More Harry Maguire supported by ‘role model’ David Beckham after Hampden experience I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue England forward Ollie Watkins: I no longer go shopping due to recognition Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme England rewatch Fiji Twickenham defeat to ‘fuel the fire’ for World Cup showdown Kieffer Moore bags a brace as Wales put four past Gibraltar in Wrexham

No. 21 Notre Dame might be out of the college football playoff chase

Under-fire Harry Maguire says a supportive call from former England captain David Beckham after being hounded at Hampden Park “meant everything” to him. Just over two years after being a Manchester United ever-present and part of the European Championship team of the tournament, the 30-year-old defender now finds himself as the butt of jokes. Many opposing fans have revelled in Maguire’s drop off and Scotland supporters goaded him mercilessly after coming on and scoring an own goal in England’s 3-1 win last month. Maguire immediately laughed it off as a “little bit of banter” but hearing from somebody that knows a thing or two about intense criticism meant the world to him. Few have faced sharper focus in an England shirt than Beckham, who has laid bare the pain he suffered after his 1998 World Cup red card against Argentina in a new Netflix documentary. “I actually spoke with David about three weeks ago, after the Scotland game,” Maguire said. “He got in touch with me, so it was really nice of him and I really appreciated that. It meant everything. I’ve spoken throughout my career about David Beckham being someone I looked up to and watched when I was a young boy. “Unfortunately, I didn’t end up on the right wing scoring and assisting as many goals as he has. But he was a big role model when I was growing up. “It shows how classy he is to reach out to me and to message me. It was something I really appreciated. It was touching really.” “You’re going through tough moments you’ve got to go through past experiences and past memories and where you’ve gone in your career and what you’ve been through,” he said at St George’s Park. “Every career is so up and down, especially when you reach what I’ve reached, in terms of being the captain of the biggest club in the world for three and a half years. He’s been in that position and knows what it’s like. “Obviously having watched the documentary I couldn’t believe how much he went through at the time. In the documentary Gary Neville speaks about how resilient he is as a person. I think he’s been a huge role model for many footballers growing up, especially in my era.” That chat and his experiences have helped Maguire retain belief and confidence, as has the continued faith shown in him by Gareth Southgate. The England boss has been in charge for all 59 of his caps and snapped in Glasgow at treatment he said was “ridiculous”, “a joke” and “beyond anything I’ve ever seen”. “I try and stay away from it all,” Maguire said, who says he posts on social media but avoids reading online comments. “Obviously you can’t stay away from it as your family and friends are probably seeing things, they probably read a lot more than I do. “Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about me over the last year. For that talk to happen, you have got to have built your way up to be a top performer like I’ve done over the previous five years to that. “Things haven’t gone to plan over the last year or so, but I am sure it will get back on track. A career is a long path. Many ups, many downs, it probably has been a little blip and I am trying to be back to where I was.” Maguire knows he needs to repay Southgate’s faith by playing more minutes with Euro 2024 looming large and says he can continue to “block” out any abuse. But he knows that is “a bit tougher” for his loved ones and his mother Zoe last month criticised the “disgraceful” abuse her son has been subjected to, which she claimed went far beyond football. “If she felt like that and wanted to do that, then I fully support her in terms of that,” Maguire said. “My mum’s been a big part of my career, she’s someone I go to for support and she was in the stands in the Scotland game. She probably felt affected by it and annoyed by it. “But she is more worried for myself, but I reiterate to her that I am all good and I’m strong mentally and I can deal with it. “It probably affects (my friends and family) a lot more than it does myself because they obviously do get affected by it but they also worry for me and how I’m dealing with it. But I reiterate to her all the time that I’m good.” Read More I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue England forward Ollie Watkins: I no longer go shopping due to recognition Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme England rewatch Fiji Twickenham defeat to ‘fuel the fire’ for World Cup showdown Kieffer Moore bags a brace as Wales put four past Gibraltar in Wrexham Steve Clarke confident Scotland’s best performance is good enough to match Spain

The Chicago Bears are showing growth on offense

England forward Ollie Watkins is so averse to the public spotlight that he no longer goes shopping, but knows his profile is only going to get bigger. The Aston Villa striker has earned a recall to the England squad for forthcoming games against Australia and Italy after his season burst into life with four goals in two games at the end of last month. Watkins, who was not included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the September games, does not feel comfortable walking around his local supermarket. But he also accepts that if he keeps banging in the goals for Villa and England, he is only going to get more attention. “I go under the radar, maybe,” the 27-year-old admitted. “I’m not talked about enough profile-wise. But I know I have been producing on the pitch since Unai Emery came in. But I do go under the radar. “I don’t know if it’s me being at Villa. You get some players that are just likeable and out there. I’m not really too fussed about that. “I just like playing football. Maybe a lot of people said to me I need to push my profile. But I am happy with what I am doing on the pitch and that’s all that matters to me. “The bigger you are, the more you are in the spotlight. It’s not that I don’t want that, it is doing my job. If I am doing my job and playing well, my profile will raise naturally. “I remember when I moved from Brentford to Villa, I used to just go and shop in Sainsbury’s normal at Brentford. “I came to try to do it at Villa and I couldn’t. I came home and I was fuming and I said to my missus I am never going out again, you will have to do the shop. “Since then I don’t do the shopping, I don’t get ‘bothered’ but a lot of people want photos. “I had my earphones in and people were like – they take two looks – is that him? When I see that people have clocked me, normally I try to avoid (them). Not because I don’t want to interact with them…once one person asks for a photo then two or three do and it’s hard to do shopping.” I’m not talked about enough profile-wise. I do go under the radar Ollie Watkins Watkins believes the arrival of Villa boss Emery last year was the catalyst for kick-starting his career. “Definitely, under (Steven) Gerrard, I know he played me all the time – I’ve played under all managers – but I wasn’t really getting the best out of my game,” he said. “That wasn’t down to him, I had just kind of fallen into a rut, but I feel like I have gone on a different path and really focused on being a striker. “Before I was trying to do everything, trying to cross it and get on the end of my own cross and head it. Now I am just focused, being the main man. “He put a lot of faith in me and gave me confidence to go out and perform, just focusing on scoring goals and helping the team. “I definitely felt like, I came from Brentford, I scored a lot of goals and in my first year I did well and then I found I hit a little bit of a rut. “It is hard. When you are in that rut, you don’t know where you are going to end up or what is going to happen. “I didn’t see my career anywhere else but Villa but it was hard to try and get out of the rut when it wasn’t going great for me.” Read More Harry Maguire supported by ‘role model’ David Beckham after Hampden experience I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme England rewatch Fiji Twickenham defeat to ‘fuel the fire’ for World Cup showdown Kieffer Moore bags a brace as Wales put four past Gibraltar in Wrexham Steve Clarke confident Scotland’s best performance is good enough to match Spain

Houston coach Dana Holgorsen faces his former team for the first time when the Cougars host West Virginia on Thursday night

Harry Maguire admits he cannot keep just playing once a month for Manchester United but remains confident of winning back his place and helping Erik ten Hag’s team climb the table. It has been a bumpy ride since the 30-year-old starred in England’s run to the Euro 2020 final, with the defender falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford and then losing the captaincy. A widely-discussed summer move to West Ham did not materialise and settled Maguire remained at a club where he is trying to get his career back on track with next summer’s Euros looming large. Gareth Southgate has been a staunch supporter of the centre-back throughout his ups and downs but admitted to concerns over his level of involvement, which the ex-United skipper is determined to improve. “I have belief in my ability and what I have done in my career as every player should,” Maguire said. “Every player who is on the bench should believe they should be starting, otherwise they wouldn’t be playing at a high level. I am no different. “Listen, it’s been tough. I want to play games. I want to feel important to the club and I want to feel important to the rest of the team. “At the moment I haven’t been playing anywhere near as much as I’d like. It’s the bottom line of it. “I’ve just got to make sure I am ready to take the opportunities when they come along.” Asked when gametime becomes an issue and, given Euro 2024 is coming up, whether that could be sooner rather than later, said: “Yeah, of course. “I mean, I’m not going to sit here all my life and play once every month and if it carries on then I’m sure myself and the club will sit down and have a chat about things. “But, honestly, at the moment I’m fully focused on two games for England, two big games. “Then I’m fully focused on fighting and trying to get back my place at Manchester United and helping the team climb up the league to where we should be.” England face Australia in a Wembley friendly on Friday before attention turns to the crunch Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy. Maguire has kept his England place despite his struggles to break his way into Ten Hag’s line-up, making his first Premier League start of the campaign in Saturday’s 2-1 comeback win against Brentford. “It’s not my decision whether I start the next game or not,” said the defender, who provided the assist for Scott McTominay’s winner. “I’m unsure on that. I’m sure in a couple of weeks I’ll go back and find out. “Listen, if you look back on my last 15 to 20 starts for club and country, I would be happy to sit here and say ‘I’m really happy with my performances’. “My record under this manager speaks for itself. I haven’t started as many games as I’d like, but my win percentage when I’ve played is ridiculously high. “And of course there’s times when I can do more and times when I can improve and help the team, but, yeah, I’m just wanting to help the team. “I’m wanting to help the team get out of this position that we’re in at the moment and hopefully we can do that in the coming weeks.” Maguire benefitted from a string of defensive absentees as he made just his ninth Premier League start since Ten Hag arrived. The Dutchman has always spoken positively about the defender in public, saying in August that he “has the abilities to be a top-class centre-back” and must “fight for his place”. “I can only do what I’ve been doing in terms of when I’ve come into the team, bringing positive performances,” Maguire said. “I’ve started two games this season and come on in a few off the bench, but, yeah, keep working hard in training. “The manager can only watch training and make his decision from training and the games when I get the opportunity to play. “I’ll keep working hard, I’ll keep pushing. I have great belief in myself.” Read More Harry Maguire supported by ‘role model’ David Beckham after Hampden experience England forward Ollie Watkins: I no longer go shopping due to recognition Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme England rewatch Fiji Twickenham defeat to ‘fuel the fire’ for World Cup showdown Kieffer Moore bags a brace as Wales put four past Gibraltar in Wrexham Steve Clarke confident Scotland’s best performance is good enough to match Spain

The family of Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton says she is “continuing to fight.”

The Jacksonville Jaguars are hoping to avoid another “London hangover.”