A record crowd of 48,112 at Vancouver’s B.C. Place — renamed Christine Sinclair Place for the night — was on hand to salute the Canadian captain as she led the team to a 1-0 win over Australia.

The match ground to a virtual halt after 12 minutes as fans rose to give a prolonged ovation to Sinclair, who wears the No. 12 jersey.

The 40-year-old was involved in the build-up to Canada’s winning goal after 40 minutes, scored by Quinn, before eventually being substituted 12 minutes into the second half for fellow veteran Sophie Schmidt.

Sinclair embraced Schmidt and her other teammates before applauding the crowd as an international career that included 331 appearances and a world record 190 goals drew to a close.

“I’m always a competitor so I feel great,” Sinclair said after the win. “We won the game. Super proud of the team. This is nuts, absolutely nuts.”

Sinclair could be seen wiping away tears during pregame formalities, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led the tributes on social media, hailing the veteran as “the world’s greatest goalscorer.”

“Thank you for inspiring all of us,” Trudeau wrote. “Your impact on the game, and on sports in Canada, is something we’ll be celebrating for quite some time.”

Sinclair, who famously shunned the spotlight during her career, said she had been determined to enjoy her farewell appearance.

“This type of stuff is never my favorite. But I promised myself to enjoy it. And it’s been overwhelming,” she said. “Surreal and the perfect ending.”

Asked what she planned to do after the game, she replied: “Celebrate with my teammates and then enjoy a little bit of downtime.”

Sinclair, affectionately known as “Captain Everything” by Canadian fans, competed in six World Cups and four Olympics, winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

She announced her decision to retire from international soccer in October, drawing a line under a 23-year career.

Source: The Japan Times

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Undefeated in 17 games in the last 15 months, Ireland has beaten every rugby union world champion, three of them twice – just for humiliation. Historically, the Irish never got past the last eight of a Rugby World Cup. In this year’s tournament they are on fire: fans have faith that Ireland will finally seize The Webb Ellis Cup on 28 October, final day of the struggle.

Low-scoring but epic: a 13-8 win over the defending champion South Africa in Pool B of the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Saturday – a brutal statement from the Irish. Poor flummoxed South Africa never knew what hit them: they had only conceded 3 points from their previous two games in Pool B (creaming Scotland and Romania). Not only did the Springboks not concede tries in those two games – in fact, they only conceded two tries in their last eight Rugby World Cup games.

Ireland managed to breach that defense with Mack Hansen’s try, the second time in the last 15 months that Ireland has walloped South Africa: a 19-16 win when the two sides met in Dublin on 5 November 2022, with tries from Josh van der Flier and Hansen.

Hansen succinctly declared what the win to his team means: “They are the defending champions and they know exactly what it takes to win this World Cup”. “To get a win over them is as good as it can get really. It gives us a lot of strength and a lot of belief.”

Ireland has every right to assume this year’s tournament will be theirs: hey, they are the current world number one, on a burning winning streak since July 2022. What a campaign: Ireland shellacked every rugby union world champion, three of them twice. Johnny Sexton and Co. whomped New Zealand 23-12 and 32-22 on July 2022.

In November 2022, Ireland snatched a 19-16 win over South Africa, a feat that they repeated last Saturday. In the same month, Ireland was triumphant 13-10 in a match against Australia. This year, Andy Farrell and his team managed to defeat England twice: 29-16 on 18 March at the 2023 Six Nations Championship and 29-10 on 19 August, for good measure.

The victory over South Africa leaves Ireland clear at the top of Pool B, aiming them at host France or New Zealand in the quarterfinal. Ireland already did the job on France at a humiliating 32-19 last February, at the 2023 Six Nations Championship.

Ireland glows with an aura of invincibility – but they’re on their guard. “It doesn’t get any easier at all. We’ll take this win and enjoy it for now, then it is straight on to the next,” said Hansen, pointing out that his side will switch their focus to Scotland on 7 October, to ensure their place in the knockout stages. “We have a tough week against a really good Scotland side and if we get the win there, and everything goes well, it’s either France or New Zealand.”

“We are glad to keep rolling and get another four points on the board, but we have to dust ourselves off now and remain focused on Scotland in two weeks’ time,” added Farrell. “As the competition goes on we’ll need to be better,” he concluded.

Yeah, win the battle but don’t lose the war.

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Although the U.S. dominated the game, hitting the woodwork on several occasions and forcing five saves from Sweden’s goalkeeper, Sweden won 5-4 on penalties after Lina Hurtig’s spot kick crossed the line by a fraction of a centimeter.

The loss was the earliest World Cup exit ever for the team, which had won the past two tournaments.

Prominent figures on the right — most notably the former president and current Republican presidential front-runner — took aim at the team following the match, specifically veteran Megan Rapinoe, who missed a crucial penalty kick.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. team’s loss to Sweden “is fully emblematic of what is happening to the our once great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden.”

“Many of our players were openly hostile to America — No other country behaved in such a manner, or even close,” he wrote on Sunday. “WOKE EQUALS FAILURE. Nice shot Megan, the USA is going to Hell!!!”

Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly also took aim at Rapinoe on her podcast.

“Long-time team leader and activist Megan Rapinoe was smiling and laughing to herself after missing the crucial penalty kick. It was overall just an embarrassing performance for this team from the start,” she said this week on “The Megyn Kelly Show.” 

“They donned the uniforms of the United States of America but they refused to honor anything we stand for. And therefore, I’m thrilled they lost, good, I’m glad you went down. You don’t support America, I don’t support you,” Kelly said.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham echoed Kelly’s sentiments on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” Monday night.

“I know a lot of folks are angry that anyone could be happy about this outcome but let this be a lesson for Rapinoe and a lot of her teammates: If you don’t support America or at least are not perceived to support America, don’t expect for America to blindly support you either,” Ingraham said. 

Rapinoe has been a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team since 2006 and has helped the team win two Olympic medals and two World Cup championships. Off the field, she’s almost as well known for her activism on behalf of LGBTQ rights and women’s equality.

In 2016, Rapinoe and four other U.S. Women’s National Team players filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the U.S. Soccer Federation, alleging gender discrimination. Then in 2019, 28 members of the team, including Rapinoe, filed a similar lawsuit, citing years of gender discrimination in pay, medical treatment and overall workload.

The group of five players reached a settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation in February, receiving $24 million and securing an agreement from the federation to pay men and women equally in all exhibition games, or friendlies, and tournaments.

Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday criticized Rapinoe for “constantly kneeling” during the national anthem and calling out the U.S. for oppression, racial profiling and police brutality. 

“Her abrasive and self-centered style was divisive,” Watters said.

“When U.S. women’s soccer plays in the the World Cup, we expect the team to put its best foot forward — but the kneeling, the no hand on the heart, celebrating ties — did not meet the high expectations the American public has for our athletes to conduct themselves,” he said. “There’s also a way to go about getting a pay raise. Injecting sexism and ignoring arithmetic leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths.”

Watters added: “Americans are dying to be proud of our athletes, especially ones who are proud of our country, but it’s hard to root for an athlete who disparages our country in front of the world again, and again, and again.”

Source: NBC News

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Pep Guardiola’s declaration that he will not leave Manchester City this summer is bad news for other clubs in the English Premier League. On 20 May, Manchester City secured their fifth Premier League title under Pep Guardiola.

With the commanding Spaniard managing the team for seven seasons straight, since 2016, Manchester City only failed to become the champion on two occasions: 2016-2017 and 2019-2020. During those seven seasons in the Premier League, The Citizens collected an impressive 624 points from a possible maximum of 798.

There seem to be no more challenges for Guardiola in English football. He already collected every piece of domestic silverware that could have been won by Manchester City: Premier League, the FA Cup, EFL Cup, and the FA Community Shield.

The only thing that is missing is the Champions League trophy. And Guardiola is one step away from getting that. His Manchester City will play in the 2022-2023 Champions League final against Inter Milan of Italy on 10 June.

There is a rumor that Guardiola might leave Etihad Stadium if he wins the Champions League this season. In recent interviews, however, Guardiola insists that he will not be tempted to walk away from Manchester City. He would like to stay, even if they “land the Treble”, aka win the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League in a single season.

“I would like to continue here next season independent of the results,” he said as quoted by the Daily Mail. “I would like it, but I don’t know what I am going to feel, winning or losing, the two chances we have ahead of us. My feeling is that I have a contract, and when I sign, I want to respect the club.”

The former manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich is under contract with Manchester City until 30 June 2025. If he does stay until his contract expires, it’s probably safe to assume that Manchester City will continue to dominate the Premier League for the next two years. In the hands of Guardiola, Manchester City are almost invincible.

Guardiola has built a Manchester City team so strong that many of their rivals now see second place as the best they can hope for. Manchester City have a squad that is so rich in talent, their way of play is stunning, and they have incredible consistency. Backed by a seemingly no-limit budget, Guardiola always gets his man to make Manchester City better.

After the exploits of Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Ederson, Kyle Walker, Rodri, and Erling Haaland, anyone who is recruited by Guardiola in the summer definitely has a chance to become the next star of Manchester City and the Premier League. The story of Manchester City’s success in the 2022-2023 season reveals how good they are in wrapping up the Premier League title.

For most of the season, Arsenal stayed at the top of the table: Arsenal led for 93 percent of the season, a new top-flight record for the longest amount of time a team has been on top and did not win the title. However, in the end they found they could not overcome Manchester City’s endurance.

Now an exciting new season of the Premier League awaits. Chelsea will have a new manager as Mauricio Pochettino is close to signing. Liverpool will probably perform better than they did in 2022-2023, with Juergen Klopp learning the hard way: from his mistakes. Manchester United will perhaps steady their ship in Erik ten Hag’s second season. A new powerhouse in the form of Newcastle United is also emerging.

But the question remains: who can really compete with Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City?

The post Pep Guardiola Dominates Premier League – the Rest are Fighting for Second appeared first on The Victoria Post.

It seems that the 2022-2023 season is not going according to Liverpool’s plan. Liverpool is struggling with losses and the Champions League may be able to save their season.

As the team that fought for the title in the Premier League in the last four years, Jurgen Klopp’s men are now nearly impossible to win the league. The sale of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich in the summer turned out to be a mistake. Liverpool cannot replace the Senegalese or has yet to find an effective way of playing without their former winger.

Since the beginning of the season, Liverpool has suffered many minor results. They can not win against Fulham and Crystal Palace in the first two Premier League games. The Reds even lost to fellow strugglers, Manchester United, in the third game.

It is worth noting that, unlike Liverpool, Manchester United manages to bounce back from their difficulties. Since mid-November, Manchester United has suffered only one defeat in 11 Premier League games.

On the other hand, Liverpool continues to struggle. Another defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers put Liverpool in a bad position. Liverpool is now occupied 8th place in the Premier League table. They only have 35 points from 22 games.

At the top of the table, Arsenal already has 54 points, 19 more than the Reds. Mathematically, Mohamed Salah and co. can still win the league. But it would be something of a miracle considering the pace that Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United are doing.

It is safe to say that Liverpool is no longer a candidate for the Premier League title. Liverpool is also out of domestic cup competitions, as they crashed in the fourth round of both the FA Cup and League Cup. The Champions League is now the only trophy that Liverpool could win, this is their only chance to save their season.

Curiously, Liverpool performs much better in the top-tier European club competition. After a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Napoli in the first game, Liverpool sweeps the next five games to finish as runner-up of Group A. In the round of 16, Liverpool faces the defending champion and the best team in the Champions League which, recently also became the best team in the world, Real Madrid.

“Real’s European record is the best around,” said Klopp. “We know this. But we also know that ours is not too bad. On top of this, we know that we have Anfield and everyone knows what this means.” It’s not an easy task.

Real Madrid has been a thorn in Klopp’s side for decades in the Champions League. Since beating them in the semi-finals of the competition with Borussia Dortmund in the 2012/13 season, Klopp has lost two quarter-final ties against the Spanish giants and two finals in Kyiv and Paris.

Liverpool fans should prepare for the worst. If that happened, Liverpool would then have to rescue their season by qualifying for next season’s Champions League. This one is a more realistic target for the 19-time English champion.

Liverpool only has a 7-point deficit from Tottenham Hotspur, who occupy 4th place in the Premier League table. While the Spurs have already played 24 games, the Reds have two games in hand so they have a genuine chance to catch up.

Unlike the top-three teams, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Fulham, and Brighton & Hove Albion are not so consistent. They also do not have the level of resources as good as Liverpool in terms of quality players, tradition, and experience. With that calculation, Liverpool should be able to make the 2022-2023 season, not a total bust.

Martin Rino (631)

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Despite the difficulties they have endured in the last few weeks, Real Madrid proved that they are still the king of football world.

Since last October, Real Madrid did not look like an unbeatable team. The team that won almost nearly everything in 2021-2022 season are struggling. Luka Modric and company are losing a lot of ground to their arch-rival in LaLiga, Barcelona. Real Madrid lost their position on the top of the league table with a 2-3 loss at the hand of Rayo Vallecano.

Things went worse for Carlo Ancelotti’s team. Another defeat in the match against Villarreal and Mallorca made Real Madrid now have 8 points deficit from Barcelona, who sit comfortably at the top.

Last month, Real Madrid also missed on one of the trophies that they could get this season. Barcelona beat them 3-1 in the final of Supercopa de Espana. Ancelotti’s situation does not help. Many rumours linking him with the Brazil national team job.

After their failure in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Brazilian team looked for a replacement coach, Tite. Many suggested that Ancelotti was already counting his last days at Real Madrid. So, Real Madrid headed to Morocco for the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup with a lot of questions need to be answered. Their response were great to say the least. Real Madrid gave a performance that made them conquered Europe last season.

A performance that based on conviction that they are the best team in the world. The All Whites easily defeat Al Ahly, runners-up of the 2021-2022 African Champions League, in the semi-final of the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup. With goals from Vinicius Junior (42′), Federico Valverde (46′), Rodrygo Goes (90+2′), and Sergio Arribas (90+8′), Real Madrid beat Al Ahly 4-1.

Real Madrid delivered another goal fiesta in the final against Al Hilal, Saturday (11/2/2023) at Rabat. Los Blancos sealed their fifth Club World Cup title in spectacular way. Goals from Vinicius (13′, 69′), Valverde (18′, 58′), and Karim Benzema (54′) made sure that Real Madrid defeat Al-Hilal with a 5-3 scoreline.

According to Opta, Real Madrid have been crowned world champion more times than any other club in history. They now have three Intercontinental Cup titles and five Club World Cup titles. Real Madrid starting to break away from other clubs in the FIFA Club World Cup, just like they did in the Champions League. Their closest rivals are Barcelona with three titles and Corinthians and Bayern München with two titles each.

In the Champions League, Real Madrid have 14 titles, already twice of the next best team, AC Milan, who have only seven titles in their trophy cabinet. “We’re very happy. For the eighth time Real Madrid is World Champion,” said Ancelotti as quoted from Football Espana. “We played a good game, with lots of quality up top. Vinicius, Benzema, Valverde. They did very well. We had skill and quality.”

Now Real Madrid can go home to Spain in a very good mood. It is very important for them to have a feeling that they are still the best team in the world. In the coming weeks, Real Madrid will be facing a crucial and hard period.

They will come up against Barcelona again in the Copa del Rey semi-final. There are also a Champions League last 16 double header against Liverpool. Real Madrid will need all inner world champion spirits that they could get to overcome these challenges.

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Football isn’t for tough guys anymore and that suits Nik Lewis just fine.

The Hall of Fame pass-catcher joined The SportsCage in Regina this week to discuss his recent hiring as the Calgary Stampeders’ new receivers coach. He shared his excitement about returning to the CFL by noting how it has changed since he first arrived in Calgary in 2004.

“I love this game. I think it’s a game of skill with two downs to make a first down instead of three, the motions and everything else. I just feel like this game is a lot more entertaining to watch and the game has gone more toward that entertainment space,” Lewis said. “You look at the rule change in 2014 and how the rules have changed where it’s less physicality and more skill and entertainment. I really love that aspect of the game and look forward to being a part of it.”

Lewis was still playing when the CFL placed more emphasis on offence by beefing up pass-interference penalties and outlawing illegal contact on a receiver. Though he had a well-earned reputation as one of the league’s most physical pass catchers, the Southern Arkansas product found the change to be revelatory and can’t help but wonder what his production might have been like had those rules always been in place.

“You start to compare,” Lewis admitted. “Like when I was in Montreal, I put up I think it was 1,200 yards in year 13 of my career, when I was a couple of years removed from a major injury that they’d never thought I’d play again. And honestly, the game was so much easier from that standpoint for me — not saying for everybody — because everybody’s playing the same game now.”

A nine-time thousand-yard receiver during his time with the Stamps, Lewis had seen his output diminish to a career-low 377 yards in 2014. Thanks to the new rules and a move to Montreal, he set a career-high of 102 receptions two years later, amassing 1,136 yards at  34 years old.

“I went from playing a game where you can be held, the DB can grab you and hold you or tackle you, as long as the quarterback doesn’t throw you the ball, they’re not throwing the flag,” Lewis remarked.

“It was a lot different back then. We used to see a lot of man-to-man, press man at the line of scrimmage. Now you see a lot more cover four versions, you see a lot more playing off so you don’t get pass interferences. Just being able to see multiple people and do things, it creates a lot more space and entertainment for the offence.”

“Thick Nik” retired in 2017 with a league-record 1,051 receptions for 13,778 yards and 68 touchdowns to his name, entering the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2021 as a first-ballot inductee. However, we may never know how much higher his totals could have crept had he played his entire career with today’s wide-open rule set.

Source : 3Down Staff

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