List of All Articles with Tag 'sports'

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are preparing to face the backup Kansas quarterback that beat them last year

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has written to the Israel Football Association to express sorrow from the football community over the loss of life following the attack by Hamas. Rockets were launched from Gaza and Hamas breached the border fence into Israel on Saturday, storming villages and taking dozens of hostages. Israel has said more than 1,200 people were killed. Since then, retaliatory airstrikes by Israel have killed another 1,200 civilians in Gaza, which is now subjected to a blockade preventing power and supplies reaching the inhabitants of the 25-mile-long Strip. A letter from Ceferin has now emerged whereby he writes of “profound sorrow” for the “violence” towards the people of Israel, addressed to Israeli FA president Shino Zuares. The letter neither makes any reference to Israel’s retaliation nor those living in Gaza. “I am writing to express our profound sorrow upon learning about the tragic acts of violence that occurred last week in Israel, resulting in the loss of innocent lives,” it reads. “My heart goes out to all the victims and their families during these difficult times. It is an unimaginable tragedy, and the pain and sorrow are profound and resonate across the entire football community. We sincerely hope no one will ever again experience such grief. “I pray for these deep wounds to heal and for a world where such senseless acts of violence have no place.” The letter, a copy of which was posted on social media by Sky’s Rob Harris, is the first communication seen by any Uefa or Fifa officials, with neither governing body officially releasing a statement regarding the attacks over the past week. More than 5,000 civilians are estimated to have been injured or wounded since the strikes on Gaza began.

Frankie Dettori isn’t done with horse racing just yet

UEFA has postponed Israel’s European Championship qualifying game against host Kosovo on Sunday

Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first on an untested wicket against South Africa in the Cricket World Cup

Kamaru Usman will face Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event of UFC 294, after replacing Paulo Costa on 10 days’ notice. Usman, who reigned as welterweight champion from 2018 until 2022, will make his middleweight debut in the bout, which pits him against one of the most dominant prospects in mixed martial arts. Swedish-born Russian Chimaev is 12-0 as a professional with 11 stoppage wins. The match-up was confirmed on Wednesday (11 October), when Costa revealed that he would need two elbow surgeries this week, having already undergone one two weeks ago. As such, the Brazilian is out of UFC 294, which takes place in Abu Dhabi on 21 October. The 32-year-old’s withdrawal was the second by a Brazilian in the space of two days; on Tuesday (10 October), Charles Oliveira withdrew from the main event of UFC 294 due to a severe cut over his right eye. Oliveira was due to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in a rematch – 12 months after the Russian submitted him in the same venue in Abu Dhabi. Alexander Volkanovski, who holds the featherweight title, is stepping in to replace Oliveira and contest his own rematch with Makhachev, who narrowly outpointed him to retain the lightweight belt in February. Usman, 36, last fought in March, suffering a decision loss to Leon Edwards while challenging for the welterweight title, which Edwards took from the Nigerian-American with a brutal head kick last August. Chimaev, 29, last fought in September 2022, submitting Kevin Holland in Round 1. Chimaev was originally set to face Nate Diaz on that occasion but missed weight, leading the card to be altered on short notice. Diaz instead fought and submitted Tony Ferguson in the main event. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Usada ends UFC partnership over ‘untenable’ Conor McGregor situation Charles Oliveira replaced by Alexander Volkanovski in Islam Makhachev fight UFC schedule 2023: Every major fight happening this year

Maja Stark and Wichanee Meechai have each shot 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke first-round lead at the LPGA Shanghai event in the tour’s return to China after the COVID-19 pandemic

Ollie Watkins is the man of the moment: seven goals and four assists this season in a free-flowing Aston Villa side, including a recent hat-trick against Brighton in front of Gareth Southgate, meant it wasn’t a surprise when he was called up to play for England last week, 18 months after his last cap. Except that three weeks ago, he wasn’t the man at all. He still hadn’t scored in the Premier League. He was struggling to take chances and he was getting some stick, which is why he celebrated his first league goal of the season, against Chelsea in late September, with his fingers in his ears. Zoom out and his form has been exceptional for a year, but criticism is never far away. “I think all fans are quite fickle,” Watkins says. “If you go a few games without a goal, people will be saying, ‘he’s on a drought, he can’t score’. Then I score four goals in two games and everyone kind of loves you.” Watkins is sitting in a quiet room at St George’s Park, at ease with his surroundings at England’s headquarters. He is 27 and has just signed a new long-term contract with Villa. After a sporadic international career to date, he seems ready to add a lot more to his seven England caps, and is striving to make a first major tournament at Euro 2024 in Germany next summer. But getting there isn’t necessarily a given. Since Unai Emery took charge of Villa 12 months ago, no English player has recorded more than Watkins’ 25 Premier League goal involvements, yet he has not played for his country all year. “I think I go under the radar, maybe,” he concludes. “I don’t know if I’m not talked about enough, profile-wise.” Watkins is up against a truism of international football, certainly when it comes to England, that established names playing for renowned clubs find it a little easier to get in the team. It only takes a glance at the current squad to see that. And when there is a manager at the helm who has built up loyalties to long-serving players, they can be hard to dislodge. I’m content with where I am. The fame, the followers on Instagram – if it does come, it does. If it doesn’t, I’m not bothered really Ollie Watkins So perhaps players like Watkins need to do something special, like his role in thrashing Brighton, to get the same recognition as more experienced internationals who can rely on Southgate’s faith through rocky form. “I know I need to be scoring as much as them, if not more, to get into the team,” he says of his fellow strikers. He’s also conscious that his name does not carry the cachet of other England players. This is a curse of the modern game, a place where sporting talent meets celebrity hype, where players are scrutinised for what they do off the pitch as much as on it. It is a world Watkins has largely shunned, perhaps to his detriment. He doesn’t have Twitter, and his 374,000 followers on Instagram are dwarfed by teammates like Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford, who have online audiences of 16 million. A commercial guru at his agency has encouraged Watkins to use social media, to raise his status a little, but it doesn’t come naturally. “I wouldn’t want to put anything out there that’s not authentic and not myself,” he says. “You see how much money you can make on Instagram. But my saying has always been just be good at football and the rest will take care of itself. If I’m scoring 30 goals a year and someone wants to do a sponsorship deal with me then they are going to want to do it because I’m doing well on the pitch. “I’m content with where I am. The fame, the followers on Instagram – if it does come, it does. If it doesn’t, I’m not bothered really.” Being a Premier League striker at a historic club still brings its fair share of attention, something Watkins admits he doesn’t revel in. Life was different playing in the Championship for Brentford. “I used to just go and shop in Sainsbury’s, normal, and I came to try and do it at Villa and I couldn’t,” he laughs. “I had my earphones in and people took two looks and went, ‘Is that him?’. Once one person asks for a photo, then maybe it’s two or three, and then it’s hard to do shopping... I came home and I was fuming. I said to my missus, I’m never going out again. And since then I don’t do the shopping.” But he appreciates living at the gentler end of the mania scale, and cites Jack Grealish as an example. “I can imagine for Jack, it’s 10 times worse. He’s on another level, he’s like a superstar.” Out of the spotlight, Watkins has been playing some of the best football of his career. He credits his form to his demanding Spanish manager, who has given him direction to be a pure goalscorer after his struggles under Emery’s predecessor, Steven Gerrard. “It wasn’t down to him but I was just falling into a rut. I feel like I’ve gone on to a different path and really focused on being a striker. Before I’d be trying to cross it and then get on the end of my own cross and head it. Now I’m focused on being the main man.” This is his fourth season at Villa and he is producing his highest numbers so far. His expected goals and actual goals per 90 minutes are up on previous seasons, he is shooting a yard closer to goal, on average, and he is taking more than three shots per game under Emery, compared to only two under Gerrard. Those numbers are translating into eye-catching performances. He has set a target of 20 goals this season and it is a sign of his form over the past year that it almost sounds unambitious. But if he keeps delivering for Emery on the pitch, slowly but surely, the recognition will come his way. “I'm confident I'm gonna get to that number, and then I think people start talking and you get put into a bracket of the top players. I've got to where I am today from doing everything I believe in – the social media element is not my No 1 priority at the end of the day, football is – so I’ll just keep doing what I'm doing.” Read More Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen make England return but Raheem Sterling left out England squad announcement LIVE: Southgate names players for international break Josh Magennis determined to keep giving his all for Northern Ireland Josh Magennis determined to keep giving his all for Northern Ireland How Scotland became the one team Rodri could not defeat Charlie Savage impresses Rob Page during his Wales debut

The Arizona Diamondbacks made postseason history by becoming the first team ever to hit four home runs in one inning

Mikko Rantanen had two goals and a pair of assists, Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists and the Colorado Avalanche opened their season with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ third straight 100-win season led to a third consecutive postseason flop

Carlos Correa waited on deck with two outs in the ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins trailing by one run, eager for another at-bat against his former team