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The England striker is finally grabbing the limelight, but her route to stardom began long before she became a Lioness…

Above all, she remembers the beach. She would wake every morning to a view of the sea, spend her days splashing in the surf, playing football on the sand with her brothers. They would talk into the night, eating and drinking, the waves crashing below them. These are her earliest and most treasured memories: Nettuno, the coastal town an hour south of Rome, where her nonna still lives and which Alessia Russo still describes as her favourite place in the world.

The story goes – and so fondly is it recounted in the Russo family that it has long since passed into lore – that one day Alfonso was up from Sicily, visiting Rome with a friend, when he saw a girl stepping on to a train at the railway station. No, not just a girl. The girl. Two fairly major issues: he didn’t know her, and it wasn’t his train. But Alfonso was a true romantic, the train was about to leave the station, and above all he knew that some moments in life just need to be seized.

• Says United are ‘the team whose shirt I wore growing up’

• Rashford to complete Barcelona loan on Wednesday

Bryan Mbeumo said he had joined “the club of my dreams” after completing a £71m move to Manchester United, where the Cameroon international has signed a five-year deal, from Brentford.

The 25-year-old was intent on moving to Old Trafford after learning of United’s interest at the start of the summer. United made a number of bids for the forward, who scored 20 Premier League goals last season, and eventually struck a deal worth an initial £65m with a further £6m in add-ons.

• Former player’s representative gives update on condition

• He was reported to have been found ‘semi-conscious’

The former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne is back home and “doing well” after being admitted to hospital over the weekend, his representative said on Monday.

“Paul voluntarily went into A&E on Friday after struggling with a throat condition he has had for a while,” Carly Saward at the MNT talent agency told the Associated Press. “He is already back home and doing well.”

• Eintracht Frankfurt to get guaranteed £69m for striker

• He will join squad in Hong Kong subject to medical

Liverpool are to take their summer spending to almost £300m after agreeing to pay £69m plus £10m in add-ons for the Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitiké.

Ekitiké emerged as the Premier League champions’ favoured No 9 after they received no encouragement regarding their interest in the Newcastle forward Alexander Isak.

• Sarina Wiegman’s team to face Italy on Tuesday night

• Viewing figures increasing as tournament progresses

ITV is poised to surge ahead of the BBC in the European Championship ratings battle, with an audience of more than 8 million people expected to watch England’s semi-final against Italy on Tuesday night.

The commercial broadcaster took a gamble by choosing to have first pick of the semi-finals in pre-tournament negotiations with the BBC, which in return got live coverage of three of the four quarter-finals, including England’s thrilling penalty shootout win against Sweden. The broadcasters will share live coverage of the final on Sunday.

• Bologna winger Ndoye would be Elanga replacement

• Manchester City raise McAtee asking price to £35m

Nottingham Forest are working on a deal for the Bologna winger Dan Ndoye and weighing up whether to make an offer for James McAtee, who Manchester City value at £35m.

Ndoye, a Switzerland international, is regarded by Forest as a replacement for Anthony Elanga, who joined Newcastle for £55m. Forest were interested in signing Johan Bakayoko but he elected to leave PSV for RB Leipzig. Ndoye, who scored eight goals in 30 Serie A games last season, has interest from Napoli but is keen on testing himself in the Premier League.

Two recent shootouts in the women’s Euros show why the dramatic tiebreaker remains a fascinating fixture of soccer

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England’s victory over Sweden at the women’s Euros came after one of the worst penalty shootouts in history (or at least, worst in terms of how many penalties were missed; in terms of drama, it was arguably one of the greatest ever). Of the 14 penalties taken, only five were scored. That led, predictably, to the usual tedious criticism of the women’s game and suggestions that the penalty spot should be moved closer to the goal.

Which is, of course, nonsense. Four of the five penalties that were scored were excellent, hit firmly into the corners, and the other, the kick that turned out to be the winner, was smashed sensibly and without fuss, straight down the middle by Lucy Bronze as the goalkeeper Jennifer Falk dived out of the way. Two nights later, as Germany beat France in a shootout, 12 of the 14 penalties were scored. In the Women’s Super League last season, 90.32% of penalties were converted. Nobody has used those examples to suggest moving the penalty spot further away to give goalkeepers more of a chance.

Italy’s No 9 has been pivotal to their run to Euro 2025’s semi-finals and is finally getting the recognition she deserves

The clock showed 89 minutes and 18 seconds. That was how close a weary Italy were to extra time against Norway in a tense quarter-final in Geneva. It was clear from the frayed nerves and unusually dishevelled appearance of the coaching staff on Italy’s bench that they were concerned those on the field did not have much left in the tank. All their stamina and emotions had been left on the pitch after almost 90 energy‑sapping minutes of a game they knew they should be winning.

What they seemed to forget for a minute, however, was that they have Cristiana Girelli. Their talismanic centre-forward can do many things on a football pitch but nothing is more certain than her scoring goals. They needed just one chance, one delivery and the odds were on that their captain would take it.

• Nikita Parris to have medical before free transfer

• Forward joins six new recruits at Michelle Kang’s side

Nikita Parris is poised to join London City Lionesses in their first season in the Women’s Super League, following the expiration of her Brighton contract.

The Guardian understands the 31-year-old forward will have a medical with the Michelle Kang-owned side on Tuesday. Parris joined Brighton from Manchester United on deadline day last summer, and has scored seven goals in 22 games for the side.

Sarina Wiegman’s team can’t forget they are lucky still to be in Euro 2025 and there are areas where they must get better

For all the well-deserved praise England have received since Thursday’s victory over Sweden, relating to their never-say-die attitude, spirited comeback and the gamechanging impact of their substitutes, it should not be forgotten that the defending champions are lucky still to be in Euro 2025.

The Lionesses were somewhat fortunate that Sweden failed to convert two penalties to win the contest and England will know they need to make notable improvements if they are to progress past Italy and reach a third consecutive major tournament final. Here are six areas in which the players and Sarina Wiegman must do better.

New head coach on the need for his team to find an identity, the challenge of the second tier and on managing Dembélé, Doué and Doku at Rennes

Julien Stéphan had been enjoying his break from football for about two months when his wife’s patience finally gave in. “She said to me: ‘I hope you will manage again quickly – and very quickly – because I want to see you on the pitch and to see you back in your own environment,’” says the new Queens Park Rangers head coach.

Stéphan left Rennes for the second time last November and estimates that as well as spending precious time with his two children he watched 20 to 25 games a week as he waited for his next opportunity. That finally arrived last month when the Frenchman took over at Loftus Road from Martí Cifuentes, who has since joined Leicester. But the chance to take a breather after six years as a manager during which he guided Rennes to the Champions League for the first time and led Strasbourg to sixth in Ligue 1 – their highest position since 1980 – was most welcome.

World champions set up Germany semi-final after Swiss success while England play Italy following shootout drama

Spain’s quest to win their first European title continues at full pace. Their quarter-final victory against Switzerland was more difficult than expected and required significant patience. They were not at their best – the hosts did not allow them to be – but the calibre of the world champions’ squad means the opposition cannot switch off, even for an instant. Finding a way is relatively easy when you have Aitana Bonmatí on the field, and her back-heeled assist for Athenea del Castillo’s opener on Friday night was the moment of inspiration they needed. Winning in front of a partisan host crowd is also an achievement mentally.

With three matches to go, the tournament in Switzerland is clear of the 2022 edition in goals per game, but what’s behind all the extra scoring?

And frankly, have you not been entertained? If, of course, we are willing to stretch our definition of “entertainment” to include some of the other popular sensations. Suspense. Terror. Existential despair. Cold sweating. Temporary breakdown of the nervous system. Loud screaming at inanimate items of electrical equipment.

But as we approach the final week of this operatic Women’s European Championship, this tournament has a fair claim to be one of the most thrilling in recent memory. And not just on the more intangible metrics: noise, penalty drama, side-eye, flying saves, players singing unprompted into pitch-side microphones, quality of fan walks. With three matches remaining, Euro 2025 has surpassed Euro 2022 in terms of goals, averaging a staggering half a goal more (3.57 against 3.06).

• FA working with authorities to track down abusers

• Lionesses to stop taking the knee in wake of attacks

England have condemned the “online poison” of racist abuse directed at the defender Jess Carter during the ­European Championship in ­Switzerland and said they would stop taking a knee before matches because “football needs to find another way to tackle racism”.

Carter received criticism after her performance in England’s defeat against France in their opening game of the tournament and was subsequently shifted from left-back to centre-back. She struggled again ­during Thursday’s quarter-final ­victory against Sweden and has now revealed the unacceptable ­vitriol she has been a victim of while on ­international duty.

Get to know every single squad member at the tournament. Click on the player pictures for a full profile and ratings

All the latest Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide

• Women’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves

Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

• Men’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves

• Manager addresses situation regarding former midfielder

• Partey denies charges of rape and sexual assault

Mikel Arteta says he is “100%” comfortable with the way Arsenal handled the case of Thomas Partey, who played for the club for more than three years while under police investigation for alleged rape. Partey, who left Arsenal upon the expiry of his contract on 30 June, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault on 4 July.

The midfielder has denied the allegations, which relate to three women who reported incidents between 2021 and 2022. Detectives started an investigation in February 2022 after police first received a report of rape. Partey is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 5 August. His lawyer, Jenny Wiltshire, has said he “welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name”.

Today’s fluff is feeling fresh

There can be little more affirming for a player than being deemed not good enough by Pep Guardiola. Over the last few years, James Trafford, Morgan Rogers, Roméo Lavia, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Douglas Luiz and Cole Palmer have all been allowed to leave Manchester City before proving their former manager wrong, and James McAtee could become the latest addition to that list. His price has been set at £35m; both West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt are interested.

Across Manchester, the opposite is so: rather than leave to get good, players arrive to get bad. Bryan Mbeumo is the latest to jeopardise his prospects and reputation and, with his medical complete, his transfer from Brentford will soon be finalised. But to leave requisite appalling mess before getting sacked during the November international break, Ruben Amorim needs more, and a centre-forward is next on his list. He still fancies ruining Viktor Gyökeres, for whom Arsenal have been unable to do a deal with Sporting, but Pio Esposito will be remaining at Inter despite interest from United and Atalanta.

Tottenham beat Reading thanks to fine outings for Thomas Frank’s new signings Mohammed Kudus and Luka Vuskovic

It is rarely wise to read deeply into pre-season fixtures. Especially the opening one. Yet when it is the first game for a manager at a club, the temptation is there. How can it not be? The initial glimpses offer the outline of the plan.

Thomas Frank got his Tottenham tenure under way with a 2-0 win over Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday afternoon. He played different XIs in each half and the goals came early in the second period from Will Lankshear and Luka Vuskovic. For the latter, it represented the gloss on an eye-catching first appearance.

Mikel Arteta’s latest signing from Chelsea is a driven individual, confident in his ability, according to his fitness coach

If Noni Madueke finds time to head to Marbella for his annual personal pre-season training camp this summer, you probably won’t find Arsenal’s new signing frequenting any of the Spanish seaside city’s glamorous hangouts. “His peers are all partying – they’re at the beach clubs and stuff like that,” says the winger’s individual skills coach, Saul Isaksson-Hurst. “But he’s turning up every day. Even I’m telling him: ‘You need one rest day, a couple of days.’ But Noni is so driven. He understands the importance of working hard – the more you put in, the more you get out. The reality is that he wants to do more.”

Madueke was spotted letting his hair down with Jadon Sancho at the Wireless festival in north London’s Finsbury Park last weekend, which was understandable given the week he had. Having been used sparingly by Enzo Maresca during Chelsea’s first five games at the Club World Cup, the 23-year-old flew back from the US last Friday, before the final, after an agreement was struck for him to become the sixth player Mikel Arteta has signed from Stamford Bridge since the Spaniard became the Arsenal manager in late 2019. Kepa Arrizabalaga trod the same path at the start of this month.

• Fee for forward could reach £71m with add-ons

• Mbeumo wanted United despite Spurs interest

Manchester United have agreed a deal worth more than £70m to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford. A fee of £65m will be paid up front and a further £6m could follow in add-ons.

The Cameroonian, who scored 20 Premier League goals last season, has been a key target for Ruben Amorim. United first made an offer for Mbeumo six weeks ago and had a number of bids rejected. Mbeumo made clear he wanted to move to Old Trafford despite interest at Tottenham from his former head coach Thomas Frank, and personal terms are not thought to be an issue.

Early moves in the market are revealing about the state of the Premier League title contenders and their priorities

The transfer window at this stage is essentially fan fiction. What if Dr Frankenstein had turned up at Pemberley and conducted a waspish romance with Elizabeth Bennet? What if Akela was not just a wolf but a werewolf? What if famous and attractive Tennis Player X were having a fling with famous and attractive Tennis Player Y? And what if Arsenal actually signed a centre-forward?

There hasn’t yet been time for reality to intervene. It’s like the day after the World Cup draw when everything exists in a realm of pure perfection and you can imagine the platonic ideal of each country facing off, unsullied by form, injury or disputes over bonuses.

The Swedish striker has become more meme than man but he is the very good thing fans asked for, on a tray, ready to go

The current edition of France Football magazine has a photo of Viktor Gyökeres on the cover. Not that I’ve looked at it much, or pored over its details searching for meaning, but the photo shows Gyökeres half in shade, half in sun, displaying his famously shredded physique, not so much the standard male musculature, more a selection of lines and bulges, like he’s made entirely from giant walnuts, like a perfect human challah loaf designed by a robot.

In the photo Gyökeres is smiling with a kind of fervour, as though he’s about to sell you a miracle muscle powder. And I for one would buy this powder. Make me into a cyborg, Viktor. Maximise my hidden hyper-potential. Basically, I want Viktor Gyökeres to hold me brusquely in his arms while he talks about good proteins and explains the blockchain, in a way that isn’t sexual. Not for me anyway, but that definitely is for him.

The tournament in Morocco has produced some fine football but has yet to win over the general public

From deep inside the Stade d’Honneur came a beautiful sound as 26 voices united in song. The loudspeaker quietened in respect. The few dozen people at the ground braved the summer swelter to crowd near the players’ tunnels. Ghanaian players walked out in no noticeable combination with slightly puzzled looks on their faces. The noise grew louder and more distinctive as one voice called and the others responded. There was definitely the beating of a drum.

Then, they emerged. Defending champions South Africa announced their arrival at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) with nothing but notes of pure joy. For about 90 seconds, they kept the tune going. Even before they had kicked a ball, Banyana Banyana had offered something special.

The football was at times intriguing, but the true meaning of the first expanded Club World Cup will be debated for years

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For the first four weeks of the 2025 Club World Cup, there had been the danger that the tournament would soon be largely forgotten. There is no danger of that after the final. There had been unease after the 2022 World Cup final at the way Qatar inserted itself into the trophy presentation by draping a bisht over Lionel Messi, but at least the Emir kept his distance. Donald Trump, by contrast, placed himself front and centre of the celebrations – and he was soon joined by the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, who has a pathological fear of missing out, and must follow his great ally in all things.

And so we were presented with a grimly perfect image of this misguided tournament, a celebrating football team struggling to be seen from behind the politicians who took centre stage. The confusion of Cole Palmer and Reece James at Trump’s continued presence was clear. History, and not just football history, will not forget such shameless grandstanding, or Fifa’s complicity in allowing football to be hijacked by a national leader.

We asked readers if they enjoyed the tournament, how it could be improved and if they will watch in four years’ time

It is a senseless attempt to line Fifa’s already gilded pockets and increase the demands on already exhausted players who must be close to breaking point. The idea of the world’s top clubs playing each other is dull because of the mismatch in resources between Europe and the rest. No one needs more games in an already crowded calendar. Playing it in the heat of the American summer is another mistake. I suspect the clubs that participated will pay for it next season. Scrap it. Max, an Arsenal fan

A tournament won by Chelsea exposed international divides and sparked questions about workload and weather

Fifa: The world’s governing body had hoped to gain more of a foothold in the club game with the expanded version of this tournament. Now that it has taken place without major disruption or mass protest, chances are it won’t go away any time soon. In many respects, that alone is mission accomplished – Fifa now runs a property that will allow it to control the global profile of some of the world’s biggest soccer properties, which had been mostly out of its reach. There are also plenty of positive storylines Fifa can pick to tout (more than 2.4m cumulative attendance and any number of highlights on the field), even if some of those are balanced out by some less flattering realities (more than 1.5m empty seats).

• Footballer revealed details in social media post

• Test failure after match against Manchester United

Athletic Bilbao’s Yeray Álvarez has been provisionally suspended because of a failed doping test after a Europa League game against Manchester United, with the defender saying he unintentionally ingested a banned substance in medicine used to treat hair loss.

Álvarez said he had tested positive after Bilbao’s 3-0 home defeat in the semi-finals of Uefa’s second-tier club competition in May. The Spanish side also lost the return leg 4-1.

Announcement disappoints her legions of fans who hoped she might one day retake the field

US international and two-time World Cup winner Tobin Heath announced her retirement on Thursday, after years away from the sport due to injury, disappointing her legions of fans who hoped she might one day retake the field.

Famed for her cool demeanour and extraordinary intelligence on the pitch, Heath picked up two Olympic golds and won the NWSL championship twice with the Portland Thorns.

• Former Real manager will not spend any time in jail

• Ancelotti convicted of failing to pay tax on image rights

The Brazil coach and former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has been given a one-year prison sentence and a fine of almost €400,000 (£345,000) after a Spanish court found him guilty of one count of tax fraud.

Ancelotti, who managed Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015 and between 2021 and 2025, appeared in court in Madrid in April to stand trial on charges of defrauding Spain’s tax office of more than €1m (£836,857) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.

The US lost a final but gained competitive options at multiple positions, which should make some entrenched yet absent stars nervous.

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In the end, the status quo went unchanged. Mexico won its second consecutive Concacaf Gold Cup trophy in a heated final with the United States in Houston’s NRG Stadium on Sunday. The oddly angular cup will be tucked into Mexico’s federation trophy case next to El Tri’s first Concacaf Nations League title, lifted in March. The program was unquestionably on top of Concacaf before the Gold Cup – now that it’s over, they still are.

If anything is changing, it’s the momentum in Mexico’s favor. The 2-1 victory over the United States men’s national team was the first time the Mexicans vanquished their arch-rivals in six years – minus one day.

Donald Trump is closing the borders even though the World Cup and 2028 Olympics will take place in the US

Call it big, beautiful timing. On Tuesday, Fifa announced it had taken an office in Trump Tower. On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced he would attend the Club World Cup final. And who could begrudge the US president a little sporting entertainment after the week he has had? Those Nobel peace prize applications don’t write themselves.

Trump’s attendance at a tournament we can be 95% sure he doesn’t understand is, doubtless, a huge coup and political victory for football. This is a sport that only a decade ago was openly considered un-American, scrawled into the rightwing commentator’s list of pet peeves between meteorologists and Judy Blume. Ann Coulter described soccer’s growing popularity as a “sign of the nation’s moral decay”. Glenn Beck likened it to Obamacare: “It doesn’t matter how you try to sell it to us, it doesn’t matter how many celebrities you get … we want nothing to do with it.”

Despite objections from the Premier League, a regulator tasked with protecting the whole of the sport has moved a significant step closer to reality

It seems like a lifetime ago that the fan-led review into football governance emerged from the wreckage of the failed European Super League. The ideas that underpin the independent regulator were born out of that crisis: an attempt to stop the drift of our national game toward private greed, corporate overreach and ownership disconnect from local communities. Years later, we are probably on the verge of finally seeing those ideas enshrined in law.

Tuesday’s resounding 415 to 98 vote on the football governance bill. in the House of Commons means the process should come to a resolution with royal assent in the coming days. Although that may feel inevitable given the overwhelming cross-party support in the Commons, anyone who has worked in politics knows better than to celebrate before the final whistle. But we are, at last, in what looks like the final minutes of the game.

Unexpectedly cheap tickets gave my boy an overwhelming soccer experience, and me a jolt of faith in a flawed tournament

My son had never been to a professional soccer game.

Soccer is, shall we say, not really his thing. It’s also never been particularly important to me that he likes soccer, that he likes what I like. Our sons will be their own men, come what may.

Spurs signing Klinsmann or selling Waddle were bolts from the blue. Now, transfer influencers track private jets and almost nothing is unknown

Which transfer fee blew your mind? It was probably Spurs signing Gazza for £2m in the summer of 1988. TWO MILLION. No one is worth that kind of money. The following year, I distinctly remember running into the living room – Spurs had just signed Gary Lineker. I was preparing for the season ahead, invisible football at my feet, commentating to myself: “Gascoigne, to Waddle, in for LINEKERRRR.” The next moment I switched on the TV and someone (let’s say Ray Stubbs) was telling me that Spurs had sold Waddle to Marseille. I was bereft. There was no warning. For me, or for Lineker it turns out.

I heard the striker talking about the transfer recently on the excellent What Did You Do Yesterday? podcast hosted by David O’Doherty and generic broadcaster Max Rushden (perhaps the second-best podcast he hosts).

Our cartoonist on the US president’s central role in the final of a tournament that seemed like it would never end

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Pre-season trips to Asia may not be new for English clubs, but they remain a huge global engagement opportunity

Fifty years ago, Arsenal lost 2-0 to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, with jet-lagged players struggling to deal with frogs bouncing around the Merdeka Stadium pitch as well as the legendary local striker Mokhtar Dahari.

Since then, however, many aspects of Asian tours by English clubs have changed. They have become, mostly, slick affairs. This summer, Arsenal will visit neighbouring Singapore for games against Newcastle and Milan. Then to Hong Kong for an unusual north London derby against a Tottenham team that will also travel to South Korea to face Newcastle. Liverpool visit Japan and Hong Kong just weeks after Manchester United were in action there on a post-season tour, which they finished in Malaysia.

Win over the Netherlands shows Sarina Wiegman has kept spirits high in the Lionesses’ camp as decisive matches loom

England are back on track. They really needed that display against the Netherlands and it was a pivotal moment for them. It was a very, very commanding performance.

Physically, they showed their dominance and exposed the Netherlands’ weaknesses at the back. With Lauren James, in what I think is her best position, playing from the right and being able to drift in, you can maintain your midfield structure. Her performance showed why Sarina Wiegman has selected her and the team performance showed why she stuck with the group that she did.

Shakhtar Donetsk coach on staying calm on the touchline and learning from Diego Simeone and Luis Enrique

Arda Turan knows the question is coming. How has the firebrand who thrilled and exasperated during a successful, sometimes wildly controversial, playing career become a manager with the temperament to take on one of Europe’s most delicate jobs? It comes down to taking a breath. “When there is something going on, right now the first thing that comes into my mind is thinking rather than reacting,” he says with a grin.

There will be plenty to occupy that fizzing brain at Shakhtar Donetsk, where he was appointed head coach in May. His competitive debut comes on Thursday, against the Finnish side Ilves, but it is a Europa League first qualifying round tie and the Ukrainian giants are not used to that stage. This is only their second year since the turn of the century without any form of Champions League football and they have rolled the dice by asking one of Turkey’s greatest ever footballers to set them straight.

Under the guidance of a former Manchester United assistant, Minnesota United are finding MLS success with a surprising tactic

Not many soccer players are as passionate about dead balls as Anthony Markanich. Then again Minnesota United, under the 33-year-old first-time head coach Eric Ramsay, don’t play soccer like most teams.

“All the guys get really excited about set pieces, especially myself,” Markanich gushed last Friday after scoring a goal off a long throw-in by the center back Michael Boxall for the second time in a week. “I told Boxy I love when he has the ball for throw-ins and stuff – I get so excited about that.”

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The strongest contender that Football Daily could find for the worst penalty shootout of all time was predictably held between two English teams. In January 1998, under-10 pair Mickleover Lightning Blue Sox and Chellaston Boys faced off in the Derby Community Cup. After the regular game finished 1-1, a total of 56 penalties failed to break the deadlock, with referee Peter Shieff even moving the spot two yards closer and offering a coin toss to decide the result (which the sides declined). Despite saving 31 consecutive spot-kicks in the sudden-death decider, Chellaston Boys’ goalkeeper Ben Hodder ended up on the losing side as Blue Sox romped home 2-1, after a grand total of 66 kicks had been taken, a world record verified by David Barber, the FA’s official statistician. A thought, then, for the parents that day 27 years ago, stood on the sidelines, outwardly encouraging their youngsters while internally being tortured and scorched with the fires of a thousand flamethrowers.

There is such a feeling of sadness and disbelief around this awful tragedy that we wanted to make this tribute of our own as soon as we could. Like everyone else, we’ve been stunned by events, and we remember what a wonderful player Diogo was for Wolves during that unforgettable promotion season under Nuno and our early years back in the Premier League. His record of 44 goals at Wolves, and then 65 at Liverpool as a Premier League title winner, speaks volumes. So many fans across the game – especially in Portugal after he helped them win the Nations League this summer – are feeling his loss deeply. We saw no reason to delay this decision” – Wolves induct Diogo Jota into their hall of fame.

The north (in the west) starts at the Cheshire/Staffordshire border. This puts Stoke in the midlands (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) and Crewe in the north. This isn’t just my opinion (I went to grammar school in Crewe) but also the opinion of a person originally from Merseyside who wrote a book about the north that started by him defining where the north started and the first chapter was him visiting Crewe” – Mike Walsh.

Looking at the James, Parker, Chapman, Jack golfing quartet (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition), I couldn’t help but wonder which one of them would have the flag showing ‘Fashion, Golf, Arsenal. In that order’” – Ken Muir.

Further to Yannick Woudstra (yesterday’s letters) wondering if a move to Old Trafford could materialise for Jordan Henderson. I seem to recall that Alex Ferguson once put the kibosh on a move for Henderson in the early-2000s over concerns about his running style. Well the good news for Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s brains trust is that, at the age of 35, running won’t be something Henderson will be doing a lot of. Sign him up!” – Joel Flood.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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Football Daily has long believed that no good can come from the prefix “multi”. Multi-storey car parks have been causing spikes in blood pressure ever since City & Suburban Electric Carriage Company opened the first anxiety maze at 6 Denman Street, London, in May 1901. Multiplexes are for watching films that have been dubbed over by some gobby ne’er-do-well crunching on a never-ending bucket of popcorn. Multiperspectivalism looks an interesting concept, sure, but we’re too thick to understand it properly and now we’ve got a headache. And the multiverse? This one not causing you enough misery?

Re: Hamrun Spartans’ shoot-out win over Zalgaris and it being ‘the first time a Maltese side have made it beyond this round, becoming part of football history’ (yesterday’s Football Daily). I am sure I won’t be the only football geek to point out that Malta was represented regularly in the European Cup’s early decades – eg Floriana (beaten 10-0 at Portman Road) and Hibernians, who held the Busby Babes 0-0 in Valletta before going down 4-0 at Old Trafford” – Alan Cooper (and no other football geeks).

I’m interested in the view that the north of England starts at Stoke (yesterday’s Football Daily). If so, does the south of England also start at Stoke? Asking for a friend who claims to live in somewhere called ‘the Midlands’” – Tony Rabaiotti.

After your comment on Jordan Henderson joining yet another club playing in red and white (Tuesday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition), I couldn’t help but think which other Premier League clubs in red and white kits he has to cross off before he goes full circle and rejoins Sunderland. Arsenal seem the logical next move, as it’s just a short drift down the Regent’s Canal away. But would he survive ‘The Theatre of Dreams’? I sincerely hope Amazon will be there to film it all” – Yannick Woudstra.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Montse Tomé’s side have scored 11 goals in two games with Aitana Bonmatí on the bench – but all is not lost for rivals

One week of Euro 2025 has passed and already there is unquestionably a frontrunner. Spain with their glittering array of talent have already shown the levels that they can reach in their opening two matches.

Even though two-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí is yet to return to the starting XI after suffering from a brief bout of viral meningitis, they have caught the eye with their goalscoring prowess and command of the ball. In among the goals and dominant play, however, are there some gaps in the armour that can be exploited?

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When Real Madrid refused en masse to turn up for last year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony because they knew their man on the shortlist hadn’t won the main award, their snub was widely and correctly perceived to have been an act of the most extreme petulance. And while their players and coaching staff did deign to attend last night’s Copa Gianni semi-final at the MetLife EnormoDome, they certainly didn’t turn up in any meaningful sense of the word and were duly humiliated by Paris Saint-Germain, the Bigger Cup holders Kylian Mbappé famously abandoned last summer to pursue his dream of … winning Bigger Cup. Subjected to the footballing equivalent of being attacked by a swarm of angry bees, Real simply had no answers for PSG’s terrifyingly energetic onslaught across 90 minutes.

Chelsea did offer me another contract, but I decided to go to Aston Villa because they were in the Championship. And I had an agreement with Villa that if we got promoted that year – we lost in the playoff final to Fulham – that I wouldn’t play against Chelsea the following year in the Premier League. So the two games I would have missed the next year would have been Chelsea, it just wouldn’t have felt right” – Plain Old John Terry tells TalkSport that his Aston Villa contract included a ‘won’t play against Chelsea’ clause.

Max Rushden is joined by Lucy Ward, Jonathan Wilson and Philippe Auclair as the Euro 2025 semi-finals are decided and Manchester United try to move on unwanted players

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On the podcast today; an extraordinary comeback from the Lionesses against Sweden that culminated in a hugely entertaining penalty shootout. Whatever ‘proper English’ means in the context of this team let’s hope they can manage it for two more games.

Today’s rumours were up all night

Given Victor Osimhen is one of the world’s best No 9s, definitely available for transfer and with a £64m release clause is a cheaper option than both Viktor Gyökeres (who is older) and Hugo Ekitike (who is relatively unproven), it seems a little bit wild that Arsenal, Liverpool or any other elite European team are not in for the Nigerian striker. Having impressed last season on loan at Galatasaray, winning the Golden Boot in Turkey on the way to a Süper Lig title, Osimhen could complete a remarkable permanent move to Istanbul in lieu of any other interest. Napoli are happy to sell, given Osimhen has one year remaining on his contract, but have reportedly inserted a clause preventing the striker from joining Juventus at a later date.

Like a sophisticated nuclear submarine patiently lying in wait or just a middle-aged man trying to get out of a bathtub, West Ham have emerged as a potential loan destination for Jack Grealish. The Manchester City winger’s gargantuan wages are too dear for a permanent move but a loan deal may suit and the Mill is wholeheartedly in favour of the deal, mainly because Grealish and West Ham mascot Danny Dyer will undoubtedly be thrown together in the name of #content. Everton could yet scupper the Englishman’s move to east London, offering Grealish a chance to stay in the north-west.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Tom Garry, Marva Kreel and Jonathan Liew to relive England’s dramatic win on penalties and Italy’s late heroics

On the podcast today: England reach the Euro 2025 semi-finals after an astonishing 3-2 penalty shootout win over Sweden in Zurich. The panel discusses the game in detail, from Sarina Wiegman’s super subs and Michelle Agyemang’s breakout moment to secret notes, Hannah Hampton’s heroics, and Lucy Bronze’s nerveless strike. They also weigh up the Lionesses’ chances against their semi-final opponents, Italy.

Elsewhere, Italy knocked out Norway with a dramatic Cristiana Girelli double, including a 90th-minute winner, to make their first Euros semi-final in 28 years. The panel asks what went wrong for Norway, and where do they go from here, and from those celebrations, are Italy getting ahead of themselves?

Plus: most champions-in-waiting beaten en route to Champions League glory and the hottest English match on record

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“Arsenal have signed a new keeper, Kepa,” noted John Marsden last week. “Are there any other examples of players with a name so similar to their position?”

While we can’t find a player named Left Back, there is a former Anderlecht defender by the name of Mark De Man (which, admittedly, is an on-pitch instruction not a role). The Belgium international earned five caps for his country and retired in 2012 with a spell at third-division KSK Hasselt, having rejected the chance to make the move to Kilmarnock. “I have two children and my wife has a good job. I did not want to move to Scotland on my own,” said De Man.

Best players, best managers, best matches, best goals, biggest flops and biggest gripes: our writers have their say

Mohamed Salah. The numbers don’t lie – 47 goal contributions in the Premier League was an outstanding return from the Egyptian, who seems to be getting better with age. Ed Aarons

Arne Slot’s first season could not have gone any better while Wolves fans drank to Vítor Pereira’s arrival

By winning the league, the Dutchman surprised pretty much everyone. He faced the daunting task of succeeding Jürgen Klopp and inherited the German’s squad, adding only Federico Chiesa, who barely kicked a ball in anger. Not much changed from the previous year, except Ryan Gravenberch became the designated defensive midfielder as Slot’s Liverpool looked to get on the ball as much as possible. Slot was never going to be a personality who generated headlines like Klopp did, keeping his cards close to his chest, but he always comes across as someone who is very personable and has brought the players closer together. Slot made Liverpool an efficient winning machine – rarely thrashing teams, often winning by the odd goal or two – and that allowed them to race to a second Premier League title. No one could compete with the Reds, which was partly down to rivals dropping their standards but most of it can be attributed to the fact Slot made his team superior.

Managers, teams and players who have disappointed over the campaign – including the reigning footballer of the year

Ruben Amorim’s average points tally of a point per league game since arriving at Manchester United in early November puts him just above Malky Mackay’s record at Cardiff and Paul Jewell’s Premier League record with Bradford, Wigan and Derby. While Sporting won the Primeira Liga title without Amorim, United have fallen down the table to 15th since the Portuguese took the reins from the interim coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy. Much of the ire towards United has been directed at the owners but on the pitch Amorim has failed to adapt his squad of expensive, experienced internationals into anything approaching a cohesive unit. The Europa League final defeat by Tottenham showed how much work is left to do.