Nicki Flannery is on the substitutes bench with her head in her hands. It is the 34th minute of Canberra United’s match against Adelaide United in the 2018-19 W-League season. Former Canberra striker Michelle Heyman is kitted out in red and yellow, facing the club she had represented for almost 10 years. The narrative of betrayal quickly unfolds as Heyman crosses for teammate Veronica Latsko to score the opening goal.
Just after the half-hour, Flannery sends a shot high and wide of the far post. It hasn’t been the young winger’s best match, but it is still early and she needs to find her rhythm. A minute later, her jersey number flashes up in red on the substitution board. She bursts into tears before she reaches the bench.
How Foot…
Emma Hayes is serene in a small bungalow in Cobham as, amid the uncertainty, one era sweeps into another at Chelsea’s heavily monitored training ground. Two weeks ago, a short walk from here, Thomas Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea’s owners the morning after his 100th game at the club. Hayes had just passed 10 years in charge of Chelsea Women, in a reign made remarkable by five Women’s Super League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups.
The second half of her career at Chelsea coincided with the arrival of her son, Harry, born only half an hour before Hayes gave birth to his twin brother, Albie, who had died inside her after 28 weeks. Now it feels as if she has been released from four years of hidden trauma.
Ha…
Arsenal’s form in April looks like costing them dearly again this season after they exited the Champions League and fell behind in the title race.
After costly defeats to Aston Villa and Bayern Munich, the PA news agency looks at the Gunners’ recurring failings at this time of year.
Same old story
Manager Mikel Arteta backed his side to “write our story very differently” against Bayern and had previously called on them to recreate the aura of the 2003-04 “Invincibles”, who won the league without losing a game.
They may instead be following the pattern of Arsenal teams since then who have narrowly missed out on success, particularly last season when they began April eight points clear.
They maintained that margin by beating Leeds on April 1 bu…
Two of football s most iconic jerseys often go hand in hand for football romantics.
Over recent decades, those who dazzle brightest in Brazil s effervescent yellow and green have tended to try their luck in Barcelona s blue and red.
Stars of the Selecao have slipped seamlessly into the role of Blaugrana darlings since the master marksman Romario embellished the end of a golden era for Johan Cruyff s Dream Team.
The taste for a Brazilian number nine in Catalonia was whetted further by Ronaldo s fleeting and destructive brilliance at Camp Nou. The powerhouse forward scored 47 goals in a single season for Bobby Robson s Barca.
It became a tale of the 10s, with Rivaldo illuminating some relatively dark hours for the club around the turn of the century, before…
Mick McCarthy s Wolves take on the might of Manchesater United at just the wrong itme as the title race hots up.
Mick McCarthy will be quite happy with his seasons work so far, although Wolves are obviously far from safe. At the beginning of the season they were many people s candidates for the drop but so far they have bucked that trend, despite a poor start to the season. Despite only being clear of the relegation zone by goal difference alone they can be encouranged that the highly unpredictable Wigan Athletic sit just a point above them, and below them lie Hull City and Burnley, two teams unlikely to pick up too many points between now and the end of the season. Obviously Wolves have a mountain to climb on saturday but they will have confidence that their fans will make Mol…
Prediction: Real Madrid to win 3-0
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Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart will lock horns with each other in the UEFA Champions League this week. The match between the La Liga club and the Bundesliga outfit will be held at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and is scheduled to kick off at 8 pm UK time on Tuesday.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid are arguably the biggest club in the world and are the most successful one in the UEFA Champions League. Los Blancos have clinched the title as many as 15 times, including the one from last season. Madrid are the defending European champions.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side are expected to go far in the UEFA Champions League this season and possibly to win it again. After all, it was not so long ago when Madr…
Belgium s Pro League have pushed back the date for a meeting to decide whether or not the 2019-20 season should be cancelled.
Last week, organisers recommended rendering the season void, with the coronavirus pandemic having seen all but a handful of sporting competitions across the world put on hold.
The unprecedented move would have seen Club Brugge declared champions and Waasland-Beveren relegated.
UEFA later insisted that any such decision was premature and that cancelling the whole campaign must be seen as a last resort by all member associations.
A Pro League general assembly had been called for April 15 to discuss the findings of a working group tasked with assessing the sporting and financial implications of declaring the season over.
Howe…
Italy s Euro 2016 knockout meeting with Spain will not be similar to their one-sided contest in the Euro 2012 final, according to Mauro Camoranesi.
Spain thrashed Italy 4-0 in Kiev four years ago to claim a second consecutive European title and the two teams are now set to meet in the last 16 of the current competition at Stade de France on Monday.
Camoranesi – a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006 – feels Italy head coach Antonio Conte s different tactical plan compared with that of his predecessor, Cesare Prandelli, will ensure this meeting is not as open.
Italy are completely different, the former Juventus winger told Goal. This time it is more traditional. The other one [Prandelli] was more experimental.
For the first time in a long time, Prand…
The NFL season is hitting the midway point in Week 9 and with it comes a ton of opportunistic prop markets. We’re looking into every market to uncover some of the week’s best side, team, player, and derivative prop bets. We do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to!
Week 9 is here and we’re hitting a pair of New York pass catchers, fading an injured running back on a high total, and betting on a receiver to bounce back after a dud.
We bring you our favorite free prop picks and predictions for Week 9.
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The NFL season is here as Week 1 continues on Sunday, following the Bills trouncing of the Rams in the Thursday night opener.
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our collection of NFL betting picks. Let’s also dive deeper into the three big matchups this week and take a further look at how the NFL odds have moved, as well as the looming weather conditions that may play a role in Sunday’s results.
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