The Guardian

A special occasion for Andy Robertson saw Scotland flirt with embarrassment. Collection of his 102nd cap moves Robertson level with Kenny Dalglish in the all-time Scottish list. By Monday night, Robertson will be a record holder. This was, however, John McGinn’s night. A double from McGinn, the second a penalty, spared Scottish blushes against a North Macedonia team who threatened to gatecrash Ro…

Americans set tournament record with 85 shots on goal Harvey and Winn score twice each in 14-0 rout Canada edge Czechs 3-2 to set up Sweden semi-final Defending champions the United States marched into the semi-finals of the women’s ice hockey world championship with a crushing 14-0 victory over hosts Denmark on Friday. The Americans stormed out of the blocks, racing into a 5-0 lead inside eight …

FC Andorra goalkeeper collided with De Miguel Owono: ‘I feel immense pain over the loss of Jesús’ The FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono was suspended for 12 matches by the Spanish football federation’s disciplinary committee on Friday after his challenge on Jesús de Miguel resulted in the death of the Tenerife striker last week. Owono, an Equatorial Guinea international, was sent off in the secon…

The sandpaper affair is back, and the reason it has hit Australia so hard is because it is sneaky – or basically quite English Any plans for the weekend? Personally I’m all set. I will be watching the full Pat Cummins sandpaper denial press conference , filmed live on location in Sydney on Friday morning, and now preserved uncut and un-redacted on YouTube. I will not speed it up, or flick through…

Manager calls Sunday’s Nations League decider a ‘final’ as preparations for Euro 2028 ratchet up a level Proof of concept. It is Thomas Tuchel’s latest buzz phrase. The England manager has dropped it into the conversation pretty regularly since the Friday of last week when he named his squad for this international window, the one that was always going to decide whether his team finished first or …

England visit Madrid for first time since fan abuse in 2004 ‘We had the same discussion before the Serbia game’ Thomas Tuchel will remind his ­England players of the anti-racism protocols as they prepare to play Spain in Madrid for the first time since the notorious meeting between the countries in 2004. Spain won 1-0 at the Bernabéu but the occasion was ruined by racist abuse directed at England…

Neither side have lost in the league yet but a more competitive division should take title race to the wire There was a time when the games between the top three – traditionally Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal – were title-deciders. Where every point taken off a title rival was key. Such was the gap in investment and quality between those teams and the rest of the Women’s Super League, it wa…

Popular chaser victorious but ground issues, horses slipping and the low sun are all negatives for Cheltenham One of the more remarkable career records in jumping was extended again on Friday as Jonbon, one of the most popular chasers in training, won the Shloer Chase for the third time in the last four seasons and maintained his lifetime streak of never having finished outside the first two in 2…

Coach was ‘transparent’ in dealings with club, federation Pochettino had signed deal to stay with US through 2030 There were always going to be tears at Mauricio Pochettino’s news conference at US Soccer’s national training center on Friday. It was only a matter of when. Pochettino is famously emotional, and nobody in attendance had to wait long for the waterworks – they came during his introduct…

Midfielder’s old-school attributes came to the fore during Nottingham Forest’s win against Manchester City Modern football is more systematised and data-driven than ever but some things never change. Winning the first ball is important but the second ball – the holy grail for Sunday league footballers – is often more so. Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 win against Manchester City last weekend featured a …

Finals have hit California desert after a stormy few years and pre-tournament kerfuffle has added to the fun Towards the end of a positive day for Mirra Andreeva, one of the brightest young stars of women’s tennis, the 19-year-old approached the broadcast cameras to dissect her excellent 6-4, 6-0 win against Elina Svitolina in her first match at this year’s WTA Finals. Andreeva took her place alo…

She was the world No 1, whose fight for equal prize money changed women’s lives. As competitive as ever in her ninth decade, she discusses sexuality, tenacity and what it was like to finally graduate college this year Every day, Billie Jean King tries to come up with a “gratitude list” in her head, identifying the people who have played a part in making her life so fulfilling. On the day we speak…

Steve Borthwick has picked a team to excite fans – let’s see them beat the Brave Blossoms at their own game on Saturday Based on England’s performance last week, there was part of me that thought about writing a piece that would light another fire under the squad. As predicted a week ago , England were galvanised by events leading up to the game against Australia and I cannot remember the last ti…

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Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! So farewell then, Pierre Sage . Many coaches leave under a cloud, not many have their departures completely obscured by the foul, retch-inducing one emanating from another team’s managerial circus, but such was Sage’s fate . The news section of Crystal Palace’s website helpfully tells you the amount of time it might take you to read each story i…