After enduring a difficult start to their Euro 2025 campaign, Sarina Wiegman's England bounced back strongly and are now preparing for a blockbuster quarter-final clash against Sweden. The Lionesses boss remains confident in her squad’s trajectory and believes the team is ready to take on the Group C winners.

• England gearing up to face Sweden
• Lionesses wary of the Swedish threat
• Wiegman confident ahead of last-eight clash

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Following a 2-1 loss to France in their opening Group D match, the Lionesses responded with emphatic victories over the Netherlands and Wales, securing second place in the group and a ticket to the knockout rounds. Sweden sailed through the group stage with three straight victories, as the Scandinavians triumphed over Poland, Denmark, and, most notably, against a resurgent German side.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  With established stars like Stina Blackstenius and Kosovare Asllani leading the charge, Sweden now turn their focus to dethroning the current European champions. The fixture also offers them a chance to right the wrongs of their 2022 semi-final exit at the hands of the Lionesses.

• WHAT WIEGMAN SAID

  Wiegman, who guided England to their historic Euro 2022 title and a World Cup final in 2023, knows the magnitude of the challenge ahead. While Sweden’s consistent group-stage performances have caught attention, she believes England’s recent turnaround has created crucial momentum.

  "I expect a very competitive game where it is hard to predict the outcome," she said. "They have had a very good group stage with the three wins they had. But I think we are in a very good place and we are ready to go, so I hope we can show that tomorrow."

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  DID YOU KNOW?

  Defender Lucy Bronze, a veteran of England’s backline, believes the squad has grown stronger and insisted that the loss to France served as a wake-up call, sparking unity and improved performances.

  Bronze said: "Coming from the French game, it has brought the team a lot closer together and you saw that in the two performances that came from that. We are not focused on the noises around other teams or us, we are only focused on what we do on the training pitch and what we do in-game."

Bangladesh’s chances of making the semis took a big hit after they faltered with both bat and ball

Srinidhi Ramanujam10-Oct-2024Karishma Ramharack’s four-wicket haul and Hayley Matthews’ quickfire 34 helped West Indies coast to an important eight-wicket victory against Bangladesh, in Sharjah. Having chased down the target of 104 in 12.5 overs, West Indies, with their second win in three matches, moved to top of Group B. Three teams from this group are now in contention for the two semi-final spots with South Africa and England also on four points, but the latter have played only two matches.Bangladesh succumbed to their second straight defeat in three matches and their chances of advancing to the knockouts took a big hit. Batting once again hurt Bangladesh as they lost six wickets for 27 runs after they were sent in to bat.

Ramharack rips through Bangladesh

West Indies used as many as seven bowlers but it was Ramharack who stood out by taking a wicket each in her four overs across different phases of the game. The offspinner struck with her very first delivery when opener Shathi Rani tried to sweep and missed. Shemaine Campbelle took the bails off in a flash to effect a stumping. In her second over, the last one in the powerplay, Dilara Akter moved across to sweep but missed, only to expose her middle stump and be bowled. When Ramharack came out to bowl in the 13th over, she mixed her lines well but kept the ball outside off. She had Sobhana Mostary stumped by making her come down the track to an outside offstump delivery. That ended the 40-run third-wicket stand for Bangladesh.Stafanie Taylor and Hayley Matthews added 52 for the opening wicket•ICC/Getty Images

Just when Nigar Sultana and Ritu Moni were looking to stitch a stand during the death overs, Ramaharack came back and knocked Moni out. Chinelle Henry took an excellent running catch after the batter came down and miscued a lofted shot to deep midwicket. Ramharack finished with 4 for 17.

Sultana’s slowdown

Bangladesh showed positive intent with the bat early on, with the openers charging down as early as the second over to go aerial. Nigar started briskly after the openers fell in the powerplay. She particularly took legspinner Afy Fletcher on and smacked three fours off her second over and moved to 20 off 17 balls. However, once Mostary fell in the 13th over and Fletcher struck twice in the 15th, Nigar, who was on 27 off 27, slowed down despite West Indies’ sloppy fielding. Her next 17 deliveries fetched just 12 runs and eventually, she fell to Matthews in the final over attempting a big heave towards deep midwicket.

Matthews steers WI’s chase

Bangladesh struggled to pitch the ball up and got punished as they erred on the shorter side. It allowed the West Indies batters to rock back and play their shots. Matthews, in particular, pounced on this opportunity in the powerplay and blunted the Bangladesh attack. After being on a run-a-ball seven, Matthews lined up the left-arm spin of Nahida Akter with a punch off the backfoot, piercing the gap between cover and extra cover. Two balls later, Nahida bowled short again and received the same treatment.Legspinner Fahima Khatun, after having given away just four runs off her first over, bowled short on off stump in the fifth over and Matthews stayed back and punched uppishly to find her third boundary on the off side. Marufa Akter overpitched the last ball of the powerplay, which Matthews drove through cover to bring up her sixth boundary. But she was bowled by a nip-backer from the fast bowler in the eighth over for a 22-ball 34. At the end of Marufa’s over though, West Indies needed just 49 off 72 balls which was taken care of by Stafanie Taylor – before she limped off retired hurt – and Deandra Dottin, who smashed an unbeaten 19 off just seven balls.

Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant claims he rejected a "crazy" Real Madrid transfer but wishes he could go back and change that decision.

Pennant spent three years at LiverpoolSays he rejected chance to join Real MadridEx-winger admits he regrets decisionFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Former England Under-21 international Pennant says that the Spanish giants "wanted him" back in 2010 as they needed a right winger for their "squad depth". The ex-Birmingham City player admitted the opportunity was "exciting" but he had no real desire to be a benchwarmer. However, 15 years on, Pennant admits he would go back and change his decision.

AdvertisementAFPWHAT PENNANT SAID

The 42-year-old told Adventure Gamers: "This is a crazy one and many people can’t believe this, but Real Madrid wanted me back in 2010. It was my last year at Liverpool, I wasn’t going to sign a new contract, and things weren’t really working out between Rafa Benitez and me. Madrid came in needing a right-winger for their squad depth, so we had that conversation, and it was exciting, but then I asked myself if I wanted to go there and sit on the bench for three years or do I want to go somewhere to be a first team starter and kick-start my career again? It was exciting, but I wasn’t keen at the time. Would I go back and change my decision? I wish I could!"

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Pennant, who scored three goals in 81 games for Liverpool, spent the second half of the 2008/09 season on loan at Portsmouth before sealing a three-year deal with La Liga side Real Zaragoza in July of that year. From there, he played for Stoke City in the Premier League, followed by stints at FC Pune City in the Indian Super League and Bury in League One, before finally retiring at Billericay Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division. His career could have been very different if he had joined Madrid all those years ago.

Getty Images EntertainmentWHAT NEXT?

Former Arsenal and Wigan Athletic player Pennant, who retired in 2018 after making 448 appearances and scoring 27 goals in his career, has since gone into punditry work and can often be heard on talkSPORT.

In the midst of the gloom that is South Africa’s World Cup campaign, their captain hasn’t lost his smile. Can his positivity rub off on his squad?

Alan Gardner in Cardiff14-Jun-2019″Hope can set you free.” So goes the famous strapline from . Then again, according to John Cleese’s character in , it’s the hope that kills you. “Who ever hoped like a cricketer?” That was RC Robertson-Glasgow, the great cricket writer of the mid-20th century.Now Faf du Plessis has added a new variation on the theme. “Hope is a very dangerous thing,” he said, as he mulled the gauntlet South Africa face at this World Cup, after losing their opening three games and suffering a washout in their fourth. His team are “in a position now where we need to win five games in five”, starting with Afghanistan in Cardiff on Saturday, and du Plessis has been focusing his players on the need to grab destiny by the lapels rather than just let things run their course.Who doesn’t love a sporting comeback story? Whether it’s Mumbai Indians losing five of their first six matches on their way to the 2015 IPL title, or the emotion-sapping turnarounds effected by Liverpool and Tottenham on their way to the Champions League final a few weeks ago; making insurmountable positions surmountable is what great teams do. So where is Faf taking his inspiration from? How does his team rope-a-dope their way to the World Cup title from here?”I’ll keep my secrets to myself,” he said with a smile. “No, it’s just been checking in with each guy individually, seeing where he or she is, making sure that I make clear to them that there needs to be purpose in what’s coming up. You can’t just hope for things to change. Hope is a very dangerous thing, try and get yourself out of that space as quickly as possible. Finding different keys in different players, where I feel that they can be better, where they can take more responsibility, more ownership. Trying to unlock players’ best that is lying somewhere underneath.”Faf du Plessis finds a reason to smile in overcast conditions•IDI via Getty ImagesThe rain that has bedevilled the tournament over the past week has given du Plessis the chance to hone his motivational patter. South Africa came in playing the chilled-out, under-the-radar card; now it’s “backs against the wall” and no room for mistakes. “Everyone has written the team off,” said du Plessis, which might be just the motivation they need. “Hopefully that allows guys to come out and play the way that they want and the way that they can. I truly believe if we do that, we’ll be a very dangerous team. We just haven’t fully unlocked the potential we have in our side.”We had a bad start to the tournament. But that’s done now, we have to make sure we put all our energy and focus into the now and what’s coming up next. I truly believe that if we carry those ghosts of the last week with us, it’s going to be tough to get out of the hole, so the conversations of the last couple of days, especially with all the rain around, gives me more time to check in with the players, make sure guys are on the right path and have put that week behind them.”Because you can’t be looking back. If we’re looking back we’re just going to float through this tournament, win one or two games, we’re not going to achieve what we want, so the fact there has been a bit of rain has given me clarity on the discussion we have with the team, and I feel that’s been really good off the field. In an ideal world, yes, you would like more practice, but also one net session now is not going to make the team play better. It’s more the conversations we are having, making sure that we’re strong and knowing exactly what we need to do. I felt in the first week the intensity in our play was down, that’s not good enough and that’s why our results weren’t the way we wanted.”The South Africa players form a huddle before play•Associated PressSouth Africa are not yet a certainty for the World Cup knackers yard, but it will take some top-level horse whispering from du Plessis to get them back into the chasing pack for the knockout stage. Still, with his easy manner and relaxed drawl, there is no sign that the pressure is beginning to tell. Rather than animatedly explain “I hate losing”, as his predecessor AB de Villiers did after a group defeat in the 2015 tournament, du Plessis is likelier to focus on the positive – or what “raises your tank”, as he put it.”I try and look at myself first and find ways that are my pillars and my keys to being strong. My family, my faith, my positive talking, my visualisation. Those are things that I draw energy from and it’s important you spend as much time on things that raise your tank and not spend too much time on things that drain you. I start with myself and then try and speak to the guys about what is it that keeps you in that real place where you feel like you’re at your best when playing cricket.”He could also manage to still crack a smile or two, despite admitting this was his biggest challenge leading South Africa. “But I suppose it’s what the last two years of captaining the side have prepared you for,” he said. “Whether it’s for good situations or bad situations, you try and mature as much as you can as a captain, try and be ready for when it’s really, really tough, because then your team looks to the leaders in the side. It’s a hard time but also a time I’m really owning up to the fact I need to step up and make sure I lead the team in a time when they need me.”Hope might be dangerous. But when du Plessis twinkles, well, who wouldn’t want to live dangerously?

The in-form Josh Inglis steadied Western Australia alongside Cooper Connolly

Tristan Lavalette21-Oct-2024

Josh Inglis continued his strong start to the season•Getty Images

Opener Cameron Bancroft’s bid for a Test recall took a hit after a third consecutive failure to start the Sheffield Shield season. But in-form Josh Inglis and Cooper Connolly rescued Western Australia out of trouble against Tasmania late on day two at the WACA.Replying to Tasmania’s first innings of 277, Bancroft made just 8 before nicking off to seamer Kieran Elliott in the sixth over. WA slumped further when captain Sam Whiteman and Mitchell Marsh fell cheaply.Related

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An aggressive Hilton Cartwright raced to a half-century by tea, but he didn’t re-emerge after the interval as he dashed to be at the birth of his second child. He could still bat on day three, but is believed to require approval from the match umpire and Tasmania to continue his innings.Allrounder Aaron Hardie fell on the first over after tea as Tasmania edged ahead before Inglis turned the match on its head much like he did with a century in the season opener against Queensland.Inglis made it look easy under the shadows as he raced to a half-century off 57 balls. He found good support from Connolly as they combined for an unbroken 119-run partnership to turn the tide as WA set their sights on a handy first innings lead.After Tasmania were bowled out at the stroke of lunch, the spotlight firmly shone on Bancroft at the resumption. With the surface appearing to be flattening and as Perth’s famous sunshine emerged after a rain-interrupted first day, Bancroft eyed a big score to ignite his Test candidacy after making a pair against Queensland.Bancroft was tested immediately by quick Riley Meredith and unable to get off the mark from his first nine deliveries. The pressure was building before he scored his first runs of the Shield season in streaky fashion when he slashed Meredith past third slip.He hit a more controlled boundary through point on the next delivery, but could not kick on after shuffling across his stumps to edge a back of a length delivery from Elliott, who soon had Whiteman caught behind for 13.Marsh entered in strong form after a powerful 94 in the second innings against Queensland. For the second straight match he is playing as a specialist batter at No. 4. Marsh had publicly stated that he would build his loads in this match ahead of next month’s first Test, but his bowling return is being put on hold for now.Marsh started watchfully before hitting a gorgeous straight drive to the boundary off seamer Mitch Owen. But Marsh had a rush of blood on the next delivery as he mistimed a short delivery straight to deep square leg. He immediately started walking off after realising he had thrown away his wicket.Owen had earlier led a recovery for Tasmania after blasting 69 from 60 balls at No. 8. Tasmania were in major trouble at 190 for 8 before Owen combined with Matt Kuhnemann for a ninth wicket partnership of 87.Offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli, fresh off being selected for Australia A, finally ended Owen’s entertaining knock before dismissing Meredith on the next delivery to finish with 4 for 70 from 24.3 overs.Recruit Brody Couch was the pick of the quicks with 3 for 33 off 17 overs in a lively performance where he reached speeds of 143kph.Hardie did not enter the attack in the morning session having bowled six overs on the opening day as he works his way back from a quad injury that ruled him out of the match against Queensland.

Sunderland have had some of the Premier League’s most iconic strikers down the years, but one man in particular has been praised as one of the best talents of his era.

No one at the Stadium of Light will forget the name Tommy Watson in a hurry regardless of how his move to Brighton pans out, but as the dust settles on a memorable campaign and that stunning late win at Wembley, the Black Cats must now turn their attentions to building a squad capable of surviving football’s toughest task.

Sunderland's promotion season in pictures

Regis Le Bris’ side were the lowest scorers in the Championship’s top six, with 58 goals to their name in 46 games, as Wilson Isidor (13) and Eliezer Mayenda (10) were their only players to score more than five league goals.

And it’s fair to say this is a club who have lived off the backs of great number nines down the years, with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn all thriving on Wearside.

1. Kevin Phillips

61

2. Jermain Defoe

34

3. Niall Quinn

29

4. Kenwyne Jones

26

5. Darren Bent

24

6. Steven Fletcher

23

7. Adam Johnson

19

8. Stéphane Sessègnon

17

9. Fabio Borini

14

10. Kieran Richardson

14

Many of the club’s most iconic moments have come from their front men, from Darren Bent’s famous ‘beach ball goal’ against Liverpool to Fabio Borini’s incredible late effort to sink Alan Pardew’s Newcastle.

But while no one comes close to “Super Kev” Phillips from a statistical standpoint, few would argue that Defoe is right up there alongside him as one of the most talented players to ever put on the red and white shirt, and England legend David Platt once revealed he may be even better than that.

Platt: Defoe was as good as Michael Owen and Luis Figo

Speaking about his time as Defoe’s manager in the England Under-21 set-up, Platt, who earned 62 caps for the Three Lions himself, once revealed a 19 year-old Defoe was one of the greatest talents he had ever seen.

Defoe scored 163 Premier League goals in total, placing him inside the division’s top ten and behind only six other Englishmen – Alan Shearer, Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Andrew Cole, Frank Lampard and Robbie Fowler.

While his longest spell in England’s top flight came with Tottenham Hotspur, some of his most iconic moments were produced in a Sunderland shirt, most notably that stunning strike against Newcastle at the Stadium of Light, and fans will also never forget his relationship with Bradley Lowery.

Defoe’s love for the club hasn’t waned either, as the 42 year-old was spotted at Wembley celebrating their promotion, also praising Le Bris for the impactful substitutions of Patrick Roberts and Watson: “We spoke before about the manager not panicking, and the substitution, Patrick Roberts came on and done his thing.”

Sunderland lining up centre-back signing who Van Dijk said is "outstanding"

He could be perfect for Regis Le Bris.

ByHenry Jackson Jun 3, 2025

It’s hard to imagine the likes of Isidor and Mayenda will be able to replicate the Englishman’s stunning influence in the North East, but the young Spaniard’s equalising goal against Sheffield United was certainly a good start.