Emi Martinez has been branded a “moron” and “unbearable” by Argentina team-mate Cristian Romero ahead of the 2024 Copa America.
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Michael Richarson, Alex Lees guide Durham to victory with half-centuries
ECB Reporters network28-Apr-2019Durham made it three wins in a row at home in the Royal London One-Day Cup by defeating Derbyshire by three wickets at Emirates Riverside.The hosts restricted Derbyshire to 255 for 8 from their 50 overs due to tight bowling from Ben Raine and James Weighell, who claimed two wickets apiece. Matt Critchley and Tom Lace led the way with the for the visitors, although neither batsman was able to pass fifty.Durham were measured for the majority of their run chase, despite losing an early wicket. Alex Lees made 55, scoring his third half-century in a row. Michael Richardson (72 not out) saw his side over the line, upping the ante with five sixes to secure the victory for the hosts, leaving them in a strong position in the north group after five matches.Derbyshire openers Luis Reece and Billy Godleman were prevented from scoring freely, which forced a mistake by Reece as he pulled a delivery from Weighell straight to Graham Clark. Godleman had made three centuries in a row, but his outstanding run was ended when he was caught down the legside for 23 off a delivery from Weighell.Wayne Madsen looked in prime touch, dispatching two sixes over the rope. However, the arrival of Liam Trevaskis was to end his innings, bowling the South African for 38. Alex Hughes then became the first victim of Scott Steel in List A cricket, slicing the ball straight to Brydon Carse at backward point.Leus du Plooy and Lace were able to stem the tide. The two players reached their fifty partnership from 52 balls, guiding Derbyshire past 150 in the process. Ben Raine ended their stand as du Plooy smashed an attempted pull straight to Lees for 32, leaving the visitors five down for 157.However, Lace continued his impressive knock, and having already reached his highest List A score, the 20-year-old was on course for a fifty before he edged a Salisbury delivery behind to Cameron Bancroft.Derbyshire were in need of a late surge from the lower order. Critchley provided the power, blasting three sixes in his unbeaten innings of 49 that allowed the visitors to post their highest List A total at Emirates Riverside.Clark lasted just two deliveries into Durham’s reply, slicing a ball from Sam Conners up in the air for Lace to claim with ease. Steel responded to kick-start the innings with a flurry of boundaries. He and Lees put on fifty in 55 deliveries before Steel was run out by a great throw from Conners from short fine leg to the bowler’s end for 32.Lees built his innings steadily with Bancroft before he upped the ante with three boundaries off a Reece over, bringing up the hundred for Durham and the fifty partnership with his skipper. Lees notched his third List A half-century on the bounce before giving his wicket away for 55 tamely driving a Ravi Rampaul delivery to Conners.Rampaul then claimed the major scalp of Bancroft, who edged an attempted hook behind to Harvey Hosein for 45.Richardson and Jack Burnham were able to calm the nerves for the home side, establishing a fifty partnership. Du Plooy had a huge opportunity to break the stand when Burnham skied a Critchley delivery straight to square leg, but the South African shelled the simple catch.Burnham capitalised on his second chance, blasting two huge sixes to take his team within touching distance, although he fell for 45 to Lace. There was still time for Trevaskis and Carse to be dismissed before Richardson took control to blast Durham over the line, earning their fourth win in five games in the competition.
Ireland are on a seven-match losing streak against Afghanistan in T20Is going into the three-match series in Dehradun
Peter Della Penna20-Feb-2019Coming into last week’s Oman T20I Quadrangular series, Ireland were winless in their previous five T20Is and had also lost five straight T20Is to the Netherlands. It took a last-ball six by Stuart Poynter in a thrilling one-wicket win to break the latter streak and batsman Andy Balbirnie is hoping Ireland can use that as a turning point to break another lengthy losing streak against Afghanistan.”We would have liked it a bit easier than it was but when you’re a team that haven’t won a lot of games recently in T20 cricket, just to get over the line anyway is a big relief, particularly going into a big series against Afghanistan who are one of the top T20 teams,” Balbirnie told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the T20I series opener.The two sides play the first of three matches in Dehradun on Thursday before subsequent games on Saturday and Sunday. Balbirnie says Ireland showed great resilience against the Dutch, who were 116 for 0 in the 10th over before being held to 182. The win helped Ireland move up one spot in the ICC’s T20I rankings to 17th and for Balbirnie, who top-scored with a career-best 83 off 50 balls, the fight they showed is evidence that they have turned a corner in T20s after recent struggles.”If we play good cricket and compete like we did [against Netherlands] in the field when we were staring down the barrel, we should come out with some good results,” Balbirnie said. “As long as we’re playing good and we’re fighting in the field, we should be okay.”Balbirnie is well aware of the recent history between the two sides though, with Ireland having lost seven straight T20Is to Afghanistan. The last time Ireland beat Afghanistan was in the final of the 2013 T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi when the side posted an Ireland record total of 225 for 7 in a 68-run win.Only three Ireland players remain from the last starting XI that beat Afghanistan: Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien and George Dockrell. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s reversal of fortunes has coincided with the emergence of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, a dual threat that Balbirnie is keenly aware of.”We know what threat Rashid and Mujeeb have and people like [Mohammad] Shahzad in their squad,” Balbirnie said. “So there’s a lot of threats all over the park.”We’ve not been playing great T20 cricket so to go into a series like Afghanistan who have world class players in their side that are playing franchise cricket at every franchise opportunity, playing in their backyard is gonna be a huge ask. In T20 cricket there’s no denying that we’re massive underdogs against them but I think we’ve got a bit of freedom in our squad at the moment. We’ve got some players that can come in and out and do a job. I think we’re gonna enjoy it.”
Batting on 27 in the 53rd over, Kusal took his eyes off a Jhye Richardson bouncer, and essentially ducked into it
Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Feb-2019A day after Dimuth Karunaratne was stretchered off, Kusal Perera was also forced to retire hurt after sustaining a nasty blow to the side of the helmet in Canberra.Batting on 27 in the 53rd over, Kusal took his eyes off a Jhye Richardson bouncer, and essentially ducked into it – the ball hitting him flush on the side of the helmet, next to his right ear. Although Kusal remained upright, the side protector on his helmet disintegrated due to the force of the blow, and the rear inserts that protect the neck also came off the helmet.Kusal received some medical attention immediately after the blow, and initially continued batting, facing out four more Richardson deliveries, and even pulling the bowler for two late in the same over. Next over, however, Kusal appeared to be feeling the effects of the blow. He was at the non-strikers’ end when he made the decision to retire hurt, and even appeared slightly unsteady as he approached the boundary. Sri Lanka’s team physio ran out to assist him off the ground.Sri Lanka confirmed later in the session that Kusal would undergo a mandatory concussion test. No decision had been made on his further participation in the Test.Following Kusal’s exit from the ground, Dimuth – who had been felled by a Pat Cummins delivery on day two – returned to resume his innings, having been cleared by doctors overnight. He moved to a gutsy half-century before being caught in the gully off Mitchell Starc.
Sri Lanka fought hard on day four, seeing out the early swing and seam of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, riding what seemed like a billion Neil Wagner bouncers, defusing the gentle spin of Ajaz Patel, but for all their grit, they are still facing a gigantic defeat. The lost four wickets, which was at least two too many to give them half a chance of avoiding a series loss.Just as importantly, they also lost Angelo Mathews – their form batsman – to a suspected torn hamstring, which means that although Sri Lanka are technically only six down, New Zealand are now properly into their tail. Whether Mathews bats or not on day five, he is likely to be substantially hampered by the injury, his footwork and his running between the wickets severely affected.
Readers from the US can also watch the match LIVE here, on ESPN+
Unsurprisingly, it was Wagner who did much of the legwork for New Zealand, after Boult and Southee had gone wicketless in their opening spells. Wagner broke Sri Lanka’s best partnership of the innings – the 117-run, 318-ball third wicket stand between Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal – having Mendis caught brilliantly at short cover by substitute fielder Matt Henry.In the evening session, he struck twice. The first felled Chandimal, who had been ducking and jiving out of the way of Wagner’s bouncers all day, but finally found himself in an awkward position against another throat-high ball. He could do nothing more than fend at it with his gloves, the ball popping up for a simple short leg catch. Roshen Silva, who had frustrated New Zealand for 72 balls, was Wagner’s next victim, an angled length delivery shaving the outside edge on its way to wicketkeeper BJ Watling.The only other wicket of the day fell to Southee, when halfway through the third session, wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella became the only batsman on the day to be dismissed without facing at least 50 deliveries. Eyeing a wide length ball, he threw his hands, and ended up chopping the ball back on to his stumps for 19 off 31.At stumps, Sri Lanka’s batsmen were the dogged Dilruwan Perera, batting on 22 off 60 balls, and Suranga Lakmal, on 16 off 22. Given Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara do not seem to possess a defensive technique of note, New Zealand could potentially wipe out the remainder of the Sri Lanka innings within a matter of a few balls on day five.While Mendis and Chandimal were together, though, Sri Lanka entertained thoughts of another great escape. The pair had largely been careful to avoid pushing at balls that were not threatening the stumps, even if on occasion a loose drive produced a play-and-miss. Southee and Boult swung it appreciably – but not prodigiously – in the morning, but failed to create any clear-cut chances. After the first hour, sun fell on the track, and the ball grew softer, and run-scoring became easier.Mendis, in particular, grew in confidence as lunch approached, hitting five boundaries in the final half-hour of the session. One of those boundaries took him beyond 1000 Test runs in the calendar year, making him only the second batsman after Virat Kohli to achieve the feat. That he has got to the milestone at 23, when Kohli had himself been five years older before making his first 1000-run year was particularly remarkable. He got to his half century shortly before the end of the first session ended, and Chandimal got to the milestone soon after play resumed.Chandimal was more reticent than Mendis for much of the partnership, contributing only 45 off 171 to the stand, but given his propensity to instinctively play the hook, he was also perhaps exercising the greater self-denial. Chandimal’s negotiating of the short ball was more-or-less been perfect before tea.He ducked extremely well, and on the occasions when he has felt he must play the ball, he had middled it and struck it into the ground. Wagner, though, eventually bowled the ball that shook Chandimal out of his zen. With Mathews having hobbled off the field at tea, and having failed to take the field after that break, Chandimal’s wicket meant that Sri Lanka had no more senior batsmen remaining.Silva’s resistance was admirable, but it was also somewhat lucky – he played and missed at length balls angled across him often, and his defence was not quite as tight as those of Mendis, Chandimal and Mathews had been. He did, however, play the short balls reasonably well, never really being tempted into a hook or a pull.Perera was also excellent in the period leading up to stumps, even copping a nasty blow on the gloves from Wagner in the last 20 minutes. Lakmal was solid enough for a No. 9 as well.
TalkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan believes that it is now or never for Marcus Rashford's career, suggesting he should leave Manchester United immediately.
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Rashford told to leave Man Utd Has lost place as starter for England Simon Jordan calls him 'not world-class' GettyWHAT HAPPENED?
Rashford has all but lost his place as a starter in Gareth Southgate's plans for England at Euro 2024 and Jordan believes that the forward has to leave the Red Devils this summer if he doesn't want his career to stagnate even further than it already has.
AdvertisementWHAT JORDAN SAID
Writing for Daily Mail, the talkSort pundit said: "He came off the bench for 15 minutes against Brazil and didn’t get on against Belgium. He’s not been a central figure for some time and his career appears to be going backwards. He’s become an impact substitute, someone who can come on for the last 20 minutes when the game is stretched. He might not like it but that’s where he is at the moment.
"I do, however, find a lot of what has been said about Rashford unfair. He’s not a world-class player so I always felt that judging him by those standards put him in a position where he’s always going to fall short. What he needs to do is apply himself, look like he’s interested, engaged and motivated again otherwise he may never reach the levels we saw from him at the beginning of his career.
"For whatever reason, whether it’s the life that he leads or the way he views the world, the pressure of playing for United or having too much money and too many distractions, I don’t see a player who has evolved," he continued.
"The best we saw of him was at the start of his career and a brief rally last season. It’s certainly hard to argue he has become a better player in the last five years. I think he’s got worse, I don’t see any area of his game that has developed. Normally when you get older and move into your prime in sport, and in life, you get better or you find your level. I would suggest he’s found his level.
"For a man who protests to love Manchester United so much it’s a difficult situation but I think it’s perhaps time for him to move on. He’s run his course at Old Trafford and could flourish again at a new club," he explained.
"There has been endless links to Paris Saint-Germain which could be an option if it’s a move he’d be interested in. He won’t go short of a bob or two in France, he’ll win league titles, play in the Champions League and be away from the goldfish bowl of United and the British media. That has its benefits. But I don’t see him moving to a top-six rival which speaks volumes about where both he and United currently are, so he’s limited to potential interest from overseas."
GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Rashford broke onto the world football scene in 2016 having come up through Manchester United's academy. On his debut with the club, he scored a brace in the Europa League and followed it up with a winner on his Premier League debut against Arsenal three days later. He also scored in his first Manchester derby, as well as on his Carabao Cup and Champions League debuts. However, Rashford's career has seen multiple ups and downs due to inconsistency in form.
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WHAT NEXT FOR RASHFORD?
The 26-year-old will now work hard until the end of the club season with Manchester United as he hopes to regain his lost form before he joins Southgate's England side for the European Championship in Germany.
The Auburn Tigers earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 men's NCAA tournament, but when March Madness rolls around, there's no guarantee for an easy run to the Final Four. Programs like Virginia and Purdue know that all too well.
The top seed doesn't even necessarily mean that a program will have the clearest path among No. 1 seeds. Auburn's road to the Final Four could go through big-time programs like Michigan State, Iowa State, Texas A&M, Michigan, Louisville and Creighton.
During a appearance, ESPN college hoops analyst Seth Greenberg said that Auburn got "screwed" by the draw, particularly because Michigan is the No. 5 seed in the South Region.
"The overall No. 1 seed got screwed! You can't explain it any [other] way," Greenberg said. "… They're going to have to play Michigan to advance. Michigan just won the Big Ten tournament. Michigan's got two 6'11", seven-foot guys in [Vladislav] Goldin and Danny Wolf."
Greenberg believes that not only will the Wolverines frontcourt duo give Auburn trouble, should the two sides meet, but also that Michigan would have the added edge of junior guard Tre Donaldson having played his first two college seasons with the Tigers.
A date with Michigan in the Sweet 16 wouldn't be the only sticky spot that Auburn could find itself in the first half of the tournament, however. Greenberg believes a potential Round of 32 game against No. 9 seed Creighton (which faces No. 8 Louisville in round one) would be the most difficult draw for any of the one-seeds.
"I think they've got the toughest second-round game in the tournament, even if they win their first game, they get a Creighton team. Creighton is good. The big kid [Ryan] Kalkbrenner is like a one-man zone, they play fast, a really good passing team, a sneaky defensive team stylistically. I think Auburn got the toughest one."
Of course, Auburn can't look past its first game, as we've seen multiple No. 16 over No. 1 upsets in the last few years. The Tigers will face the winner of Tuesday's St. Francis (PA) vs. Alabama State game. Auburn's first-round game tips off at 2:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 20.
The Boston Red Sox met with star free agent outfielder Juan Soto for three hours on Thursday night, in a meeting that was reportedly productive for both sides.
Soto came out of the meeting impressed with Boston's pitch, which included a video that noted Boston's history of star players from the Dominican Republic, according to a report from Sean McAdam of . If Soto were to join the Red Sox, he would be the latest star player from the D.R., joining David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez and current star third baseman Rafael Devers.
Soto and agent Scott Boras met with Red Sox brass in California, a meeting that included team president Sam Kennedy, chairman Tom Werner, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora. The meeting was meant to be informational with no official offer of terms being made. That is expected to occur Soto meets with all interested teams.
The 26-year-old was instrumental to the New York Yankees' run to the World Series this season, which ended in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Soto hit 41 home runs and drove in 109 runs while batting .288 on the season. His 41 home runs were a career-high.
Небезызвестный billbil-kun назвал еще одну бесплатную игру, которую раздадут в Epic Games Store. Официально акция начнется в следующий четверг.
Скоро пользователи сервиса смогут забрать песочницу-головоломку Infinifactory про строительство фабрик. Игроки будут заниматься оптимизацией производства и решать инженерные задачи. Рейтинг в Steam составляет 95%.
Сейчас, напомним, в магазине можно забрать красивую морскую адвенчуру Sail Forth. А уже в 19:00 МСК ее сменит новый тайтл.
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💍 Китаец построил пантеон Hello Kitty за 7 млн рублей, чтобы сделать предложение девушке-фанатке
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With three matches left to play in the Premier League this season – on top of an FA Cup final in the middle of May – Manchester City still have a chance to cling onto some crumbs of pride from a sobering campaign.
Indeed, Pep Guardiola’s men are now only three points off being on the same points total as Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in second, whilst a FA Cup final victory at Wembley versus Crystal Palace would be an impressive hat-trick of successes for the Spaniard in the esteemed competition.
Restoring some pride now could also set City up for a Premier League title chase when the ball gets rolling for the eventual 2025/26 season, with the upcoming transfer window further giving the Citizens apt time to rebuild before going again.
Manchester City's midfield rebuild
Guardiola has already started to add new flavours to his regimented City side, seen in seven-goal hero Omar Marmoush immediately making an impression on the English game after a statement January move.
With Kevin De Bruyne exiting the building this summer, the midfield is in slight need of a revamp too, leading to City now being linked with players like Morgan Gibbs-White and now Barcelona ace Frenkie De Jong to bolster centrally.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
As per reports from Spain, the Dutchman is an in-demand figure from a whole host of Premier League outfits, with Liverpool, Man CIty and Arsenal interested in signing the 27-year-old.
It’s further stated that a £34m bid could be made by Arne Slot’s title-winning Reds to try and tempt De Jong to Anfield, but City and the Gunners are still closely monitoring the Barca star’s situation to see if they can steal his services.
If De Jong can recapture the heights of his Ajax best at the Etihad, picking up such a talent for £34m will go down as a sterling bargain, with the 27-year-old also a potential upgrade on an ageing Gundogan if everything goes swimmingly.
Why De Jong could be a Gundogan upgrade
Before delving deeper into why the Dutchman might well be an inspired pick-up, it’s only right to look back at Gundogan when he was at his unbelievable peak in England.
After all, the German veteran hasn’t just fluked his sensational tally of 62 goals and 43 assists from 351 first-team appearances, but his numbers have been on an unfortunate slide this campaign.
Only five goal contributions have come his way in the Premier League this season, with De Jong amazingly only one off his ex-Borussia Dortmund’s counterpart’s total for the campaign back in La Liga.
This is a surprise considering the Barca number 21 has had many an injury setback to endure in the Camp Nou dressing room of late, but an impressive two goals and two assists have still managed to come his way, even as a mere seven league starts have been handed to him.
Games played
75
98
Games scored
6
13
Assists
6
18
Pass accuracy *
91.6%
87.3%
Progressive carries
3.37
2.20
Progressive passes
9.56
6.19
Passes into final 3rd
9.73
5.21
Tackles won
1.08
0.64
Aerials won
1.10
0.47
However, it’s over the last few seasons where we can really see the difference between the two players. Described by former Barca boss Xavi as “one of the best midfielders in the world”, he’s notably a more progressive passer and dribbler, with that no doubt a key attribute as Guardiola aims to refresh and rebuild his midfield.
Gundogan has, of course, displayed his class in the past for his current employers, but it does feel as if he’s reaching the end of his playing days now.
Whereas, De Jong – who has amassed 42 goal contributions and counting in Spain – has plenty of room to grow and impress, especially if he’s soon supplying the likes of Marmoush and Haaland with chances galore up top.
Rodri 2.0: Man City make "one of the best CMs in the world" a top target
Man City have earmarked potentially their next Rodri as a top target this summer
ByRoss Kilvington May 2, 2025