Megan Rapinoe was left devastated after her career swansong came to an early end as she limped out of the National Women’s Soccer League final.
The 38-year-old suffered a suspected ruptured Achilles in just the third minute of the season-decider in San Diego and then had to watch her side OL Reign lose 2-1 to NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Rapinoe won two World Cups and an Olympic gold medal in a brilliant 203-cap career for the United States, but the defeat means she ends her domestic stint without an NWSL title.
“Thank you to everyone who’s been on the journey for all this time.” s final words after the .
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird)
She admitted that it was the “worst possible outcome” to her finale.
“It felt like just a huge…
Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw
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Almere City and FC Emmen will lock horns with each other in the first leg of the 2022–23 Eredivisie playoff final this week. The match between Alex Pastoor’s side and Dick Lukkien’s team will be held at Yanmar Stadion and is scheduled to kick off at 7pm UK time on Tuesday.
Almere City
Almere City are having a very good season, and the fans will be looking forward to the 2022–23 Eredivisie playoff final. Alex Pastoor’s side finished as high as third in the 2022–23 Eerste Divisie table with 70 points from 38 matches. Although De Zwarte Schapen ended up as many 15 points behind Heracles Almelo and PEC Zwolle in the standings, they were the best of the rest and will now fancy their ch…
Pep Guardiola said John Stones had proven he belongs at Manchester City after a derby win over United in the EFL Cup semi-finals.
Stones scored his first City goal since November 2017 and Fernandinho sealed a 2-0 win at Old Trafford on Wednesday as the three-time defending champions booked a spot in the final against Tottenham.
The City defender, who was relieved to see the flag raised after the ball bounced off him and into his own net during the semi-final, has been in good form this season, and his six possessions gained against United were the equal best for his side.
City manager Guardiola was full of praise for Stones, who had appeared on the outer at the club before beginning to impress.
He came back and he made another outstanding performance –…
Roberto Mancini was not entirely satisfied by Italy s Nations League win over Hungary, while Marco Rossi hailed Gianluigi Donnarumma as the best goalkeeper in the world .
Goals from Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco saw the Azzurri leapfrog their hosts to top Group A3 and qualify for next year s finals, alongside Croatia and the Netherlands.
Yet the visitors were forced to weather a late onslaught from Hungary, kept in the game through Paris Saint-Germain keeper Donnarumma, who lived up to his reputation with a string of impressive saves.
That gradually eroded control over the match frustrated Mancini, who felt his side rested on their laurels too much across the closing stages of Monday s encounter.
It was a difficult game, he told RAI Sport. It wa…
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Juventus will welcome AC Milan to their Allianz Stadium in Turin on Sunday evening, and the two teams will take each other on in a game that will be a part of round 12 this season s Serie A roller coaster. The clash of these teams still carries significant weight due to the fact that they are the two most successful clubs in the history of the league, with Juventus holding the record with 35 titles and Milan, along with their city rivals Inter, currently on 18.
Juventus
Last season saw Juventus win their 35th title, and it was the eighth consecutive time they ve been crowned national champions. Their domination in Italian football in recent years simply cannot be questioned. Sometimes it feels the league doesn t even present a challeng…
Paul Pogba had a penalty saved by Rui Patricio as Manchester United could only draw 1-1 at Wolves in the Premier League on Monday.
Anthony Martial s 50th United goal opened the scoring in the 27th minute, the France forward reaching the milestone by converting the first shot of the game.
Wolves levelled in the 55th minute with a goal that survived lengthy VAR checks for offside, Ruben Neves smashing home a 20-yard drive after a clever set-piece routine.
Pogba had the best chance to take all three points but saw his spot-kick kept out by Patricio, with United unable to make amends for two defeats at Molineux last term.
Daniel James was booked for his second dive in the 24th minute as both sides, preferring to play on the break, felt their way into the matc…
The shirt worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the Hand of God goal has fetched over £7million at auction, the highest price ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia.
Maradona scored two of the most memorable goals in World Cup history to knock England out at the quarter-final stage in the 1986 tournament in Mexico.
The late, great former Argentina captain rose above Peter Shilton to knock the first in with his fist at the Azteca Stadium, with the officials failing to spot the infringement.
Moments later, he beat a series of England players with a sublime dribble on the way to scoring a magnificent solo goal as Argentina won 2-1 and went on to be crowned world champions.
The football shirt worn by Diego Maradona for “The Hand of God” t…
Gareth Southgate insists England are among a select band of teams that can win the World Cup – but to land glory in Qatar they must be close to perfect .
As he waited to learn his team s fate in Friday s draw, Southgate was taking confidence from the upturn in England s performance on big stages in recent years.
A semi-final run at the 2018 World Cup in Russia was followed by another appearance in the last-four stage of the Nations League, before England went close to landing a long-awaited trophy in the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.
Reaching the final of the European Championship means England should head to Qatar in November with plenty of belief as they attempt to land a second World Cup, some 56 years after Geoff Hurst s hat-trick against West Germany in…
Sparta Prague have completed the signing of long-serving Lille captain Rio Mavuba, who has signed a three-year deal with the club.
Mavuba had been at Lille since January 2008, with an initial loan deal at the Ligue 1 side converted into a permanent move from Villarreal at the end of the season.
The 33-year-old helped Lille to claim the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double in the 2010/11 season, but only made 14 Ligue 1 starts last term.
New Lille coach Marcelo Bielsa has allowed Mavuba to leave the club but the former France international, who won 20 caps for his country, is already planning to return.
We have agreed together with the Lille directors that one day I can return to play a future role within the club, Mavuba said.
I am really gla…
According to Marca, AS Monaco s Radamel Falcao has offered his services to Real Madrid ahead of the upoming January transfer window.
The 33-year-old striker already spent two years in Madrid. He signed for Atletico in 2011 after stints with Lanceros Boyaca, River Plate and Porto. By the time he joined Monaco in 2013, he had scored an impressive 70 goals in 91 appearances for Real s city rivals.
Halfway through his first season with the Ligue 1 side, he suffered an ACL injury which ruled him out of the rest of the campaign along with the 2014 World Cup, derailing his career for a long time. Upon recovery, he had loan spells with Manchester United and Chelsea before another injury forced him back to Monaco.
However, he has found his form since then and hit the tar…