Posts

Moraes, a Brazil-born striker, is enjoying a fine season at club level with Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, the country in which he has played much of his senior career. He received his first call-up to the Ukraine team ahead of recent qualifying matches against Portugal and Luxembourg and played in both games, having reportedly been granted a passport. However, both opponents have questioned his eligibility to play for Ukraine as a naturalised player, as FIFA regulations state a player must have “lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18” in the relevant country....

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in a statement expressed its “utter disgust for the violent clashes that occurred in the city centre of Marseille and its serious concern for the incidents at the end of the match inside Stade Velodrome”. “This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has no place in football,” UEFA said. A decision regarding sanctions would be made within days. UEFA has not charged England of misconduct....

Last time the two sides faced each other, it was in a friendly fixture at Wembley in November 2016 and the final score was 2-2, as very late goals from Iago Aspas and Isco stole what would’ve been a great victory from under the nose of then-interim England boss Gareth Southgate. Of course, plenty has changed in the two years since that match, and the fortunes of both sides have certainly differed....

European football’s governing body had previously stated its intention to introduce VAR only from the start of the 2019/2020 season. “If we can do it before, why wait? We cannot afford any mistakes if we can do it earlier,” said UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin after a meeting of the European football body’s Executive Committee. “We are ready to use VAR earlier than initially planned and we are convinced that it will be beneficial for our competitions as it will provide valuable help to match officials and will allow to reduce incorrect decisions....

People scrutinize her every move. Fail to finish or dominate a fight and the cat calls rain down. VanZant, the critics will say, isn’t as good as she claims to be. MORE: Astonishing UFC photos | Five reasons to watch UFC 190 | UFC 190 odds, picks | “Rumble” admits mental mistake VanZant has come to expect that as she prepares for Saturday’s UFC 191. He meets Alex Chambers in a strawweight main card fight....

While there wasn’t a ton of excitement surrounding this event leading into the action in the Octagon, the athletes delivered as always and provided a number of takeaways for us to discuss. Here’s a look at the key talking points from UFC 221. MORE: UFC 221 results, recap, scoring and more Ageless Romero lays out Rockhold Yoel Romero turns 41 next month, but the former Olympic silver medalist continues to compete at an elite level inside the Octagon....

The UFC announced Thursday night that McGregor had signed a six-fight contract with the promotion that will begin when he fights lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229 on Oct. 6. UFC president Dana White incorrectly told ESPN on Thursday that McGregor had signed an eight-fight contract. White said the deal could help the Irishman remain the highest-paid fighter in the sport. “It’s not hard to do a deal with Conor McGregor because we know what he’s worth,” White told ESPN....

In case you didn’t know… Khabib Nurmagomedov completely dominated Conor McGregor on the ground, and on the feet, and submitted him with a super-tight RNC (rear naked choke) in their historic fight on Saturday Night. The Dagestani jumped the cage after his first successful title defense against the biggest star in the sport, McGregor, and attacked his teammate Dillon Danis. McGregor got sucker punched by Khabib’s teammate who found his way into the octagon....

On this occasion, Jones overwhelmed the Swede with his power, taking his time to earn the TKO win with a sprawling mount and relentless punches. Despite the controversy, Jones got the job done and became the new Light-Heavyweight Champion. The Women’s Featherweight Championship was on the line in the co-headliner as Bantamweight Champion, Amanda Nunes stepped up in weight to challenge her fellow Brazilian, Featherweight Champion, Cris Cyborg. In a shocker, Nunes upset the odds once more and brutally knocked Cyborg out after a series of beautiful flurries....

Sunday’s event is headlined by a cobbled together clash between Tony Ferguson (25-3) and Justin Gaethje (21-2) after Khabib Nurmagomedov couldn’t go due to travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Other main card fights include Henry Cejudo vs Dominic Cruz and Greg Hardy vs Yorgan de Castro. Instead of taking place in Brooklyn, N.Y., as initially scheduled, the event will take place in Jacksonville, Fla., with no fans in attendance....

Outside of The Division 2, the franchise has more broadly been subject to a torrent of exciting announcements of late. It’s been known for a while now that The Division is set to make its theatrical debut with a Netflix movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain, but this isn’t the extent of the upcoming Division content. Ubisoft has recently announced two brand new Division-based projects: The Division Mobile and The Division: Heartland, a free-to-play game....

The Knights (9-1, 6-0) won for the sixth straight time following a three-point loss to South Carolina, retaining sole possession of first place in the AAC — one game ahead of Louisville and Cincinnati. MORE: SN’s Week 13 picks | Scoreboard | Bowl projections Bortles threw a 4-yard TD pass to Breshad Perriman in the opening quarter and UCF scored on its first four offensive possessions to build a 28-7 lead....

The Bruins have lost to Monmouth and Wake Forest this season, but they put that behind them Thursday night as they took on the top-ranked Wildcats. MORE: College basketball AP Top 25 | UCLA’s Prince Ali posterizes Alex Poythress with royal dunk Sophomore center Thomas Welsh led a balanced scoring attack with 21 points and 11 rebounds. All five Bruins starters finished in double figures. Kentucky (7-1) came into the game having won 38 straight games as a No....

Mora, who wasn’t scheduled to address reporters, said Jack suffered a “significant knee injury” and will be out for the rest of the season. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley added later Wednesday that Jack injured his knee toward the end of Tuesday’s practice. MORE: SN Week 4 Pac-12 Power Rankings | HAYES: Will SEC be left out of playoff? Jack’s primary position is linebacker, but he’s been a versatile athlete at UCLA and has played a significant amount of running back as well....

As expected, last season’s champions Liverpool dominate the positional award shortlists, with as many as five players from the trophy-winning squad in Madrid making the cut. Ballon d’Or favorites Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Virgil van Dijk lead the list in their respective categories. In case you didn’t know… The UEFA Champions League positional awards, namely, UCL Goalkeeper of the Season, UCL Defender of the Season, UCL Midfielder of the Season and UCL Forward of the Season were introduced two years ago to recognize the season’s best player in each position in Europe’s elite club competition....

Theo Walcott was Arsenal’s wrecker-in-chief and scored a first-half brace to hand The Gunners their first win in the Champions League this season, following their 1-1 draw in the opening game of the tournament. The North London outfit have hit top form following the draw against Paris Saint-Germain at Parc Des Princes and have recorded four comprehensive victories on the bounce. Walcott opened the scoring for The Gunners in the 7th minute, heading home Alexis Sanchez’s cutback....

The group, which also has Napoli, has a bottleneck at the top at the moment with the Italian side leading it with six points, Liverpool second with six, and PSG following closely with five. Liverpool have a terrible away record in the Champions League this season and they will be hoping to put that behind them when they travel to Paris. PSG LIKELY TO MISS NEYMAR AND MBAPPE Paris Saint-Germain are likely to miss marquee players Neymar and Kylian Mbappe through injuries that the duo picked up during the international break....

The same could not be said about Luka Modric. Inter are said to have enquired about the midfielder and, more surprisingly still, it is claimed he is interested in a switch to Serie A. Florentino Perez has already proclaimed they would need to match Modric’s €750m release clause to get him, but it is likely an offer 10 times lower than that figure would tempt Madrid if the player starts agitating for a move....

Rousey said she was going to make Correia suffer and extend the fight. Well, she extended it by 20 seconds after she defeated Cat Zingano in 14 seconds at UFC 184 in February. “Rowdy” went in there and beat Correia at her own game. She stood and traded with “Pitbull”. A straight right hand to the temple face planted Correia and the champion added a short left to boot before the Brazilian crashed to the mat....

The main event features Eddie Alvarez defending his lightweight title against featherweight champion Conor McGregor. In the co-main, Tyron Woodley puts the welterweight title on the line against Stephen Thompson. Then, Joanna Jedrzejczyk will put up the women’s strawweight title vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz. MORE: Greatest boxing, MMA upsets of past 25 years UFC 205 is the first major mixed martial arts event to be held in New York since the state made the sport legal in April....