Chelsea and other European giants are said to have a "massive fear" over making an approach to sign Real Madrid star Rodrygo this summer.

Rodrygo linked with Real Madrid exitChelsea and others credited with interestTop sides have "massive fear" over signing himFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Rodrygo has been linked with a Madrid exit for months now amid reported concerns over feeling less important at the club. However, no team has yet made a concrete move for the Brazil international, raising the possibility of him staying at the club next season.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE EXPLANATION

And one reason why he may stay at Los Blancos, according to journalist Matt Law, is his hefty wages. The 24-year-old is said to be on an annual salary of around £10 million ($13m), and if he moves on, he will want an increase on that. Law claims that is why top sides have a "massive fear" over recruiting him.

WHAT MATT LAW SAID

He said on the London Is Blue Podcast: "The Rodrygo thing I never really saw as a goer. He is on huge wages and wants even bigger wages to move. I think there's a massive fear among European clubs of committing to the sort of money it would take to sign Rodrygo. Because if it goes wrong… we've talked about Chelsea being able to sell well as their wages are at a certain level. If it goes wrong with Rodrygo, you're stuck with an enormous problem. Chelsea already have a problem in [Raheem] Sterling this summer. It doesn't really fit with what Chelsea have been doing well and Chelsea have had success with to go and sign Rodrygo. I don't see Rodrygo [signing], and I never have."

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

The arrival of Kylian Mbappe has impacted Rodrygo's game time at Madrid and that has led to interest from Arsenal, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and more. Whether he stays at the Spanish giants remains to be seen.

Pakistan defended 134 in Christchurch as New Zealand lost 6 for 19 against spin

Ashish Pant21-Jan-20242:09

Shaheen: ‘Main aim of series was to build for T20 World Cup’

After four crushing losses, Pakistan had something to smile about at the end of a tough tour as they defended 134 to take the final T20I against New Zealand by 42 runs and keep the series scoreline to 4-1.Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi at the toss reckoned that on a used Christchurch surface spin was likely to play a role. He was proved right as Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir combined to pick six wickets to bundle New Zealand out for 92, their second-lowest total on home soil.Batting first, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman got 30s but most of the Pakistan batters suffered on a two-paced track to reach 134 for 8 in their 20 overs. New Zealand started the chase brightly, but the Pakistan spinners orchestrated a middle-overs collapse. Iftikhar led the way with 3 for 24, while Nawaz and Mir picked up frugal two-wicket hauls each as New Zealand were bowled out in 17.2 overs.New Zealand struggle from the get-goFinn Allen started the chase brightly, smashing Afridi for a four around deep midwicket and then going one better against Nawaz in the same region. But, Rachin Ravindra, slotted into this game for Daryl Mitchell, failed to get going as he sliced Nawaz to short third for 1.Allen struck two more crisp fours off Afridi before falling to Zaman Khan, his miscued attempt taken well by debutant Haseebullah Khan diving forward at mid-on. The powerplay ended on 35 for 2.Iftikhar Ahmed trapped Tim Seifert lbw•Getty ImagesPakistan apply the spin chokeOnce it got clear that the surface was aiding spin, Afridi went on an all-out spin squeeze. With the required rate climbing, Will Young tried to break the shackles by looking to slog sweep Nawaz. His attempt only reached as far as Iftikhar at deep backward square leg, who completed the catch on the second attempt.The day went from bad to worse for Mark Chapman. He dropped Babar Azam twice in the first innings, and was run out for 1. This was before Iftikhar ended Tim Seifert’s difficult innings of 19. He went for a reverse sweep to a straight ball, missed and was trapped right in front, with Pakistan’s review confirming the ball would have smashed into the middle pole.Mir then had Mitchell Santner caught and bowled while Iftikhar removed Matt Henry and Ish Sodhi in the same over as New Zealand collapsed from 53 for 2 to 72 for 8 in the space of 32 balls.Glenn Phillips tried his best to take New Zealand closer but with eight wickets down, it was a bridge too far even for the man in form. Afridi finished off the game with two wickets in two balls as Pakistan won with 2.4 overs to spare.A powerplay to forget for PakistanHaseebullah Khan had a dream PSL debut season in 2023, where he walloped a 29-ball 50 against Karachi Kings . The same can’t be said about his T20I debut, which lasted all of three balls and ended with him advancing and getting a leading edge on an ungainly swipe to point. Pakistan took 11 balls to get their innings rolling and got their first boundary in the fourth over, courtesy Rizwan, but Babar struggled big time. He could only manage 4 off 15 in the powerplay with Pakistan crawling to 29 for 1 after the six overs.A brief revival and another middle-order collapseSodhi put Babar out of his misery for a 24-ball 13 when he slogged a tossed-up wrong’un straight to Phillips at deep midwicket.With 53 for 2 after ten, Pakistan needed some impetus to get the innings flowing. That was provided by Fakhar. He laid into Lockie Ferguson, tonking him for two sixes before crashing Sodhi for a four and a six the next over. Southee returned and was taken for another six by Fakhar, but the bowler had the last laugh. The left-handed batter failed to pick a slower offcutter and could only mistime his heave to long-off to fall for a 16-ball 33.Nawaz came and went before Henry sent Rizwan packing for a run-ball-38, his swing across the line only travelling as far as deep square leg. Iftikhar then clubbed Henry straight to mid-off as Pakistan lost 4 for 16 in 22 balls.Abbas Afridi came in at No. 9 and hammered two sixes to take Pakistan past the 130-mark. For New Zealand, Southee, Henry, Ferguson and Sodhi managed two wickets apiece.

علق سيد عبد الحفيظ، مدير الكرة السابق بالنادي الأهلي، على واقعة طرد محمد هاني، ظهير أيمن المارد الأحمر، خلال مباراة فاركو الماضية في الجولة الثانية من بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز، والتي انتهت بفوز الأهلي 4-1.

وقررت رابطة الأندية إيقاف محمد هاني، لاعب فريق الأهلي، مباراة واحدة وتوقيع غرامة مالية عليه قدرها 2500 جنيه، بعد طرده لحصوله على إنذارين في المباراة.

وقال سيد عبد الحفيظ في تصريحات عبر برنامج “اللعيب” على قناة “MBC مصر”: “أنا ضد طرد محمد هاني، هذه أول مرة أرى الكابتن محمد معروف يركض خلف لاعب، دائمًا اللاعبون هم من يركضون نحوه، لكنه أخذته العزة بالإثم ولا جدال في ذلك”.

وتابع: “محمد هاني كان يركض للخروج من الملعب في الدقيقة 94 وفريقه متقدم 4-1، بأي منطق يكون متعمدًا إهدار الوقت؟ لم أتوقع طرده إطلاقًا”.

طالع أيضًا | “أنا عرباوي”.. محمد هاني يكشف عن حواره مع محمد معروف قبل طرده من مباراة الأهلي وفاركو

وأشار: “الكابتن محمد معروف دائمًا يقف في وسط الملعب سواء بين الشوطين أو بعد اللقاء، وكل اللاعبين يركضون نحوه، فكونه يركض خلف محمد هاني فهذا أمر غريب جدًا”.

وأضاف: “المفترض أن نكون فاهمين للائحة ولا نردد أي شيء، الاتحاد الدولي نص على خروج اللاعب من أقرب نقطة حتى لا يُهدر الوقت، لكن ما حدث أن محمد هاني كان يخلع الشارة ليعطيها لزميله وكان يركض بالفعل ولم يُهدر الوقت، لكن كما قلت الكابتن معروف أخذته العزة بالإثم”.

واختتم: “الكابتن معروف نفسه في موسم 2023-2024، كان الزمالك يواجه البنك الأهلي، وكان الأخير متقدمًا بهدف، والحكم طرد محمد عواد، حارس الأبيض، طردًا غير مستحق، وبعد دقيقتين انتهى الشوط، والجميع ركض نحوه؛ عبد الواحد السيد وزيزو وعبد المنصف وشيكابالا، وعمر جابر أمسك بيده، لكن معروف ظل واقفًا ولم يركض خلف أحد”.

After losing their fifth game in a row, this time out-hit at the Chinnaswamy as Sunrisers Hyderabad’s smashed a record 287 for 3, Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis admitted that such results could take a mental toll.Even though RCB scored an impressive 262 for 7 in response, the runs conceded in the first innings were simply too many to overhaul, and he put it down to a lack of confidence in the bowling group. RCB came into this match having leaked 199 in 15.3 overs against Mumbai Indians in their last outing but started the match with only five bowlers, with Mohammed Siraj on the bench.”It’s tough, we tried quite a few things, a few different things, and they weren’t quite working,” du Plessis said after the match. “So it’s a sign of confidence in the other group. When your confidence is low, there’s nowhere to hide in the game.Related

• RCB have Narine to tackle, again, with their campaign starting to go belly-up

• Maxwell takes a break to refresh after asking to be rested by RCB

• Shock and awe all around at Head's hair-raising hundred

• Report – Head, Klaasen play decisive hands in Chinnaswamy big bash

• Stats – SRH break their own record for highest-ever IPL total

“The game is moving forward and so fast these days from the batters, so when you are not on top of your game [as a bowler], it’s hard. Obviously, with five bowlers, it’s tough on a wicket like that. We are going to keep trying different things.”Du Plessis said taking a break to reset might be the best thing for his side before their next game on Sunday against Kolkata Knight Riders. As it stands, RCB have very slim qualification chances; even if they win each of their remaining seven games, it may not be enough.”One thing really important is you need to go away and freshen your mind, it’s such a mental game,” he said. “Sometimes when we have a couple of back-to-back defeats, it feels like your mind is going to explode.”It’s important to stay away from it and make sure that we do get back to the next challenge – which is obviously a little bit of an uphill task for us at the moment – but when we do get back to the contest, we show full commitment 100%.”Faf du Plessis made 62•BCCI

‘Proud to see the boys fought tonight’

After being stunned into silence by Sunrisers’ assault, the home fans at the Chinnaswamy did get to enjoy their own side putting up the season’s fourth-highest score of 262.It was set up by du Plessis’ 28-ball 62, Virat Kohli’s 20-ball 42 and a 35-ball 83 from Dinesh Karthik, who together took RCB to a score only one short of the franchise’s highest IPL score of 263 for 5 from IPL 2013. Du Plessis said he was most pleased with how the team did not “fall like a deck of cards” in the chase.”Great effort from the team to get closer to the target,” he said. “Similarly from the batting perspective, we need to work on a few areas. There were some errors we need to address as a batting unit, there was a little bit of dip after the powerplay, [that] is something we want to work on. Need to make sure the run rate doesn’t go down and we keep going because the game has evolved and changed with the scores the teams are putting now.”But really proud to see the boys fought tonight and put up their hand and never gave up. In a big chase like this, you often see teams falling like a deck of cards. Great to see the fight tonight. But from a bowling perspective, 30-40 runs too much.”

MatériaMais Notícias

No dia 2 de janeiro começa a Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, torneio que dá o pontapé inicial para o ano futebolístico no país e é a principal competição de base do Brasil. Uma das principais equipes que ainda não conquistaram o caneco, o Grêmio está no grupo 8, juntamente com o Guarani, Cruzeiro de Arapiraca e a Francana.

O zagueiro João Ramos é um dos remanescentes do Imortal da edição de 2022, mas para 2023 o torneio promete ser diferente para ele. Enquanto na edição deste ano foi como terceira opção na zaga gremista e atuou em apenas em jogo, a tendência é que além de ser titular, João também seja o capitão do Tricolor Gaúcho.

– Expectativa muito grande, não só minha como de todo o grupo. Nós queremos entrar para a história e vencer o torneio pela primeira vez. Pra mim a ansiedade é a mesma, mas o fato de já ter jogado esse ano dá uma certa experiência em já saber como é a competição e o nível de dificuldade que vamos enfrentar – contou o defensor.

O Grêmio estreia na Copinha já no primeiro dia de jogos, contra o Cruzeiro-AL. Na reta final dos treinamentos, o zagueiro destacou a preparação gremista para o torneio.

– A nossa preparação é intensa, o grupo vem se dedicando bastante no dia a dia para que estejamos preparados para qualquer tipo de adversidade que encontrarmos lá e para que nada nos surpreenda no lado negativo – finalizou.

Após enfrentar o Cruzeiro-AL, no dia 2, o Grêmio volta a campo no dia 5, quando enfrenta o Guarani, e encerra a primeira fase contra a ‘mandante’ Francana, no dia 8.

RelacionadasGrêmioLucas Leiva se manifesta sobre possível aposentadoria e pede respeitoGrêmio20/12/2022Atlético Mineiro‘A Massa vai gostar dele’, diz Zaracho sobre CoudetAtlético Mineiro20/12/2022Futebol LatinoNo Valencia, Samuel Lino destaca necessidade de ‘mentalidade rápida’Futebol Latino20/12/2022

Sunderland's ambitious summer transfer window is set to continue after striking a loan deal for Chelsea striker Marc Guiu.

Chelsea's Guiu to join Sunderland on loanFollows capture of Swiss star Granit XhakaBlack Cats continue ambitious summerFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Fabrizio Romano claims that the Chelsea youngster will head on a season-long loan to the newly-promoted Premier League side, but there is no option to buy the former Barcelona academy player. This comes shortly after the Black Cats signed Swiss veteran Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen in another statement signing.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

In a time when all three promoted teams have been relegated straight back down to the Championship for the past two years, Sunderland, Leeds, and Burnley, arguably, face a tougher task than ever to survive in the Premier League. The established teams have such a huge advantage financially, thanks to TV deals and merely staying in the Premier League, making the gap between England's two top divisions more and more vast. The Mackems have spent around €130 million (£112m) on signings so far, and while that is an eye-catching amount, realistically, they have to go big if they want to maintain their top-flight status.

DID YOU KNOW?

Guiu, 19, joined Chelsea from Barcelona last year for a reported fee of €6m and since then, he has scored six goals in 16 appearances for Enzo Maresca's team. But most of his game time came in the Conference League, so this move represents a big opportunity for the teenager to shine.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Spain Under-19 international Guiu, who made just three Premier League appearances last season, could make his Sunderland debut when they begin their 2025/26 top-flight campaign at home to West Ham on August 16.

Georgia Plimmer has been called up as Devine’s replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2024

Sophie Devine, the New Zealand captain, has been ruled out of the fifth and final T20I against England because of a quad injury, which she sustained while bowling during the fourth T20I on Wednesday.New Zealand Cricket said on Thursday that a scan has confirmed that Devine “had sustained a grade one quad strain which would require a short period of rehabilitation”.She will remain with the squad in Wellington – the venue for the fourth and fifth T20Is – and “undergo a rehabilitation programme”. Her participation, or not, in the three-match ODI series starting April 1 will be determined after that.Related

Glenn released from England ODI squad due to concussion

Devine: 'There's not much depth coming through'

Georgia Plimmer, who was with the New Zealand A squad that has been playing a parallel series against England A, has been called in to the squad as Devine’s replacement.”We’re obviously disappointed for Sophie, but the focus is now to make her available for as much of the ODI series as possible,” New Zealand head coach Ben Sawyer said. “Sophie will be monitored over the next few days and that will give us a better idea of what her availability is before the first game on Monday.”The ODI series is an important series for us with ICC ODI Championship points on the line so we’re hopeful that Sophie will make a quick recovery.”New Zealand would desperately want Devine to be in the mix when the ODIs begin, having conceded the T20I series with one game left to play. Devine has been one of New Zealand’s better performers in the series so far, scoring 77 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 150.98 and picking up four wickets.Devine, as well as Amelia Kerr, had missed the first T20I of the series as they were yet to travel back to New Zealand after taking part in the Women’s Premier League in India. Plimmer, as well as Mikaela Greig, had been called up to the squad for that game.

LSG rise to fourth spot on the table with two wins in three games, while RCB are just one off the bottom after third defeat in four games

Deivarayan Muthu02-Apr-2024
Mayank Yadav set the speed gun on fire once again and ripped out Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green on his way to figures of 4-0-14-3 as Lucknow Super Giants successfully defended 181 to hand Royal Challengers Bengaluru their second successive defeat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.It was Quinton de Kock who laid the base for LSG’s victory with his second successive half-century. KL Rahul returned to action as their captain but he could only manage 20 off 14 balls. But Nicholas Pooran, who had captained LSG in their last game against Punjab Kings, clicked into a higher gear, smashing an unbeaten 40 off 21 balls to drag his team past 180 on a two-paced pitch.The back-of-the-hand slower balls from Reece Topley and Yash Dayal were sticking in the surface, but Mayank doesn’t do slow. He repeatedly breached 150kph – and even cranked it up to a season-high 156.7kph – to shut down RCB’s chase.Quinton de Kock has reasserted his authority at the top this IPL with back-to-back half-centuries•BCCIDe Kock dashes out of the blocksDe Kock had started the last IPL season on the bench as Kyle Mayers was preferred ahead of him. De Kock was then removed as Durban’s Super Giants captain ahead of SA20 2024, which followed. In the SA20, he got only two innings as an opener, but he has now reasserted his authority at the top this IPL with back-to-back half-centuries.When Topley, de Kock’s team-mate in the SA20, offered him width, he stayed leg side of the ball and crunched him through the covers. Mohammed Siraj didn’t offer de Kock as much width, but when he erred on height and bowled at the thigh, de Kock picked him over square leg. De Kock claimed 32 of the 54 runs LSG scored in the powerplay for the loss of Rahul.De Kock could have been dismissed for 32 in the next over, but Maxwell dropped him. He added 49 to his tally before Topley eventually had him holing out to long-off for 81 off 56 balls.Maxwell impresses with the ballOn a night when RCB’s specialist spinner Mayank Dagar bowled just two overs for 23 runs, Maxwell stepped up with 4-0-23-2, including 12 dots. He fronted up to bowl two overs in the powerplay, where he had Rahul caught at extra-cover with a hard-length delivery.He then returned after the powerplay to remove another right-hander – Marcus Stoinis (24 in 15) – by hiding the ball away from his reach. Maxwell also won his match-up against de Kock, keeping him to four off eight balls. That Maxwell, with four strikes, is RCB’s highest wicket-taker this season after four games shines the spotlight on the inefficiency of the frontline bowlers.Pooran tees offPooran had a slow start: he was on eight off ten balls at one point. He then smote five sixes off the last two overs to silence a capacity crowd at the Chinnaswamy. The pick of the lot was the shanked six off a 110.4kph slower ball from Topley that landed on the roof the stadium.The margin for error is wafer-thin against elite power-hitters like Pooran. When Topley missed his wider yorkers marginally, Pooran scythed him for a brace of sixes at point and put LSG back on top.M Siddharth dismissed Virat Kohli early in big chase•BCCISiddharth arrives in the IPLM Siddharth, the Tamil Nadu fingerspinner, was born in Chennai and then grew up in Jakarta in Indonesia. He moved back to Chennai along with his family to become a professional cricketer. He wanted to become the next Irfan Pathan, but the coaches at his academy noted that he didn’t have enough pace to become a fast bowler.So, Siddharth switched to left-arm spin, but he continues to the new ball. That’s his calling card in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. LSG’s team management had so much faith in him that they backed him to bowl with the new ball against Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis on the night.After darting inswingers at speeds north of 110kph, Siddharth slowed his pace down, found grip, and drew a leading edge from Kohli. In the next over, du Plessis was run-out, leaving RCB at 42 for 2 in the sixth over.Mayank’s rocketsMaxwell managed to evade the first bouncer from Mayank, but when he dug one in and got it to climb towards Maxwell’s ribs at 151kph, the batter was rushed into flapping a catch to mid-on to leave for a duck.Then, in his next over, Mayank nailed the top of Green’s off stump with another scorching delivery. The reading on the speed gun was 146.2kph but the belated response from Green suggested that it might have been a lot quicker than that.Green was bred on the pacy, bouncy tracks in Perth, but an Indian rookie, only playing his 12th T20 game, made the international allrounder look like a rookie. Green simply stayed leg side of the ball and wafted at it. Mayank wheeled away in celebration and there would be no stopping him.He proceeded to bounce out Rajat Patidar for 29 off 21 balls. RCB needed 79 off 34 balls at that point and though Mahipal Lomror hit 33 off 13 balls, the chase was always beyond RCB’s reach.Mayank didn’t get a single game at LSG over the past two seasons, largely because of injuries. He has now become the first player in IPL history to win two Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two matches.

Harry Kane is "delighted" to play alongside Luis Diaz after the Liverpool star made his debut against Lyon on Saturday. Despite the game not being a flawless introduction for Díaz, the Colombian international displayed flashes of his talent that have already impressed the English forward.

• Diaz made his debut against Lyon
• Had a decent outing at Allianz Arena
• Kane lavished praise on the Colombian

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The friendly against Lyon marked Díaz’s first appearance since completing his £65.5 million ($88 million) switch from Liverpool earlier this week, making him the third-most expensive acquisition in Bayern Munich's history. And while he didn’t find the net or register an assist, Díaz left a strong impression on his teammates, particularly on Kane.

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  WHAT KANE SAID

  Kane had glowing words for Diaz and told Sky Sport Germany: "Díaz did a great job today. We've only had a couple of training sessions together so far, but he seems hungry and lively. You can tell he's happy to be here. He's playing with a smile on his face. Today you could see how effective he is in the final third, and we'll need him this season – so I'm delighted he's here."

  The England star also spoke about communication with his new team-mate. He added: "His English is not too bad. He communicates well with the team. Hopefully his English and maybe his German as well picks up so some of the other players can talk to him as well. But with the coach talking English I don't think he has a problem"

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Although Liverpool were initially reluctant to part ways with Diaz, the sizeable financial offer from Bayern forced their hands. Now, Kane believes Diaz will further enhance Bayern's attack and added: "He's a fantastic player who obviously showed his quality in the Premier League – a really dangerous player with great end product as well. It's great to have him in the squad. I hope he settles in and we'll do our best to help him settle in as best as we can. Hopefully, he'll hit the ground running because we know what a fantastic player he is."

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• Getty
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR DIAZ?

  Díaz’s next opportunity to impress will come in a highly anticipated pre-season clash when Bayern face Tottenham on August 7. The match will see Kane come up against his old club, a subplot sure to attract plenty of attention. For Diaz, it will be another chance to get on the scoresheet and make a statement early in his Bayern career. 

استهل فريق النصر مشواره في الدوري السعودي للموسم الجديد 2025-2026 بانتصار ساحق على مضيفه التعاون بنتيجة 5-0.

وأقيم اللقاء بين النصر والتعاون مساء الجمعة على ملعب مدينة الملك عبدالله الرياضية ببريدة، ضمن منافسات الجولة الأولى.

طالع.. فيديو | الهلال يفوز على الرياض بثنائية في افتتاح الدوري السعودي

وشهد اللقاء تألقًا كبيرًا للبرتغالي جواو فيلكس، حيث افتتح الأهداف في الدقيقة السابعة من عمر المباراة، قبل أن يضيف مواطنه كريستيانو رونالدو الهدف الثاني في الدقيقة 54.

وجاء الهدف الثالث عن طريق كينجسلي كومان في الدقيقة 55 وأضاف فيليكس الهدفين الرابع والخامس في الدقيقتين 67 و88، ليبدأ موسمه الأول بهاتريك.

ورفع النصر رصيد إلى 3 نقاط في بداية مشواره بالدوري السعودي للمحترفين الموسم الجديد، بينما يظل التعاون بدون نقاط. أهداف مباراة النصر والتعاون