The Guardian

Argentina great’s last game was in World Cup final Player’s father Jorge passed away earlier in August Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international duty with Argentina after winning 207 caps. Messi, who made his Argentina debut in 2005, won the World Cup in 2022 and was a runner-up this summer and in 2014. He also secured two Copa América titles. Continue reading...

France international says title ‘one of my biggest dreams’ He is second winger to join in window, after Victor Muñoz Bradley Barcola is aiming to win the Premier League after completing his move to Liverpool from Paris Saint-Germain for an initial £106m, which could rise to £123m. The France international has signed a five-year deal. Andoni Iraola has prioritised signing wingers this summer after…

Xabi Alonso’s side have scored seven and conceded five in two wins so far, a product of the squad’s constant churn Sign up for our free newsletter here Two Premier League games played for Chelsea under Xabi Alonso: two wins and seven goals scored. It’s the sort of start that would delight many new managers – only two other clubs can boast about a six-point start this Premier League season (albeit…

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Ailing Djokovic goes out | Williams loses after 2am start You can email Taha and follow us on TikTok and Bluesky A 12.13am start! It’s a no from me. Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another day of action at Flushing Meadows. We’ve got two weeks left of this thing and, somehow, Novak Djokovic is already out of the picture, having suffered his first first-round loss at a slam since January 2006. …

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Mark Langdon as Bruno Fernandes scores a hattrick in Manchester United’s 5-2 win over Ipswich and Spurs remain on zero points after their 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle. Continue reading...

Cape Town stunt sparks major debate over safety risks Airlink insist flyby conducted according to regulations A pre-game stunt involving two passenger jets flying dramatically low over a stadium in South Africa drew huge cheers from the estimated crowd of around 56,000 people, but also sparked a major debate over safety risks. The flyby by two Embraer jets, operated by local airline Airlink, happ…

The champions extended their lead at the top but Somerset and Warwickshire are lurking behind them By the 99.94 Cricket Blog This article is from The 99.94 Cricket Blog Continue reading...

The home game against Frosinone seemed a perfect way to celebrate their landmark. It did not work out that way Fiorentina’s 100th birthday party had been going for four days, starting with a fan procession through the historic centre of Florence on Wednesday night and extending to their home game against Frosinone on Saturday afternoon. The club was founded on 29 August 1926, but a decades-old di…

Cricket is a brutal game – you are basically being judged all the time. It’s no wonder players seek out ways of coping I once played with a young cricketer who would physically harm himself when he didn’t score enough runs. I won’t go into the detail of how because that isn’t really the point. The point is that a young professional cricketer had reached a place where getting out in a game of cric…

German football has long insisted there is more to their elite league than a title race. Now they have a story that shows the world that surprise and wonder does live here too Friday night was no first day fun for VfB Stuttgart as they got first-hand proof of what the rest of the Bundesliga feared: that Bayern Munich are perhaps mightier than ever. The curtain-raiser, though, didn’t actually set …

With millions of club shirts going to waste every season, a radical recycling rethink is needed When Joanna Czutkowna buried a Manchester United jersey, a cotton T-shirt and a wool-cotton jumper in her Lancashire farm and dug it up a year later, the video went viral. The T-shirt had disappeared, apart from the seams (sewn with polyester thread), the jumper was 80% gone, but the United shirt remai…

Interim coach Trescothick hopes for unchanged lineup England secured series win over Pakistan on Sunday Marcus Trescothick is determined to sign off as England’s interim head coach with a 100% record and has no plans to meddle with a winning formula in next week’s final Test of the summer, despite securing the series win by beating Pakistan at Lord’s . Two successful games into a series, the most…

Atlético say they will not allow Barcelona to buy Álvarez Jesus poised for Barça and Martinelli for Al-Hilal Arsenal are running out of time to persuade Julián Álvarez to join them from Atlético Madrid after agreeing to sell Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fábio Vieira in deals collectively worth more than £70m. Álvarez has his heart set on Barcelona despite Atlético’s insistence they will …

Palace poised to sign Atalanta defender Ahanor on loan Forest closing in on Palace’s Muñoz in £22m deal Nick Woltemade is close to a loan move from Newcastle to Juventus, a year after arriving at Newcastle in a club record £69m deal from Stuttgart. The gifted Germany forward has struggled to impose himself amid the high-intensity gameplans choreographed first by Eddie Howe and now Matthias Jaissl…