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Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez has claimed he did not set out to hurt anyone by singing a controversial song aiming at the France team during Argentina's Copa America celebrations in 2024. The midfielder issued a public apology after footage emerged of several Argentina players singing a song that questioned the heritage of France's black and mixed race players.

• Fernandez came under fire for France song

  Fernandez came under scrutiny after filming himself and several of his Copa America-winning team-mates singing a song that was deemed "racist and discriminatory" as part of celebrations after the Albiceleste picked up another trophy. Wesley Fofana, who is one of a host of France stars in the Chelsea dressing room, hit out and called the song "uninhibited racism", while Chelsea reacted by opening up disciplinary proceedings. Fernandez ultimately escaped disciplinary action, although he did subsequently post a public apology and admitted the song used "highly offensive language." The Chelsea star has now spoken about how he was not trying to hurt anyone and revealed the lengths he went to in an effort to try and apologise for his actions to his team-mates.

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  'Part of football folklore'

  Fernandez told Givemesport: "I remember that period. What happened is not typical of who I am. It was a really hard time for me personally and I suffered during it. I’ve always understood my teammates’ position, so the first thing I did was to phone them and tell them I wasn’t going to go on holiday because I wanted to travel back to speak to them in person to tell them what sort of guy I am and about my values. They understood that and now we all get on well. It all fizzled out and there’s now very good harmony in the dressing room.

  “It was a euphoric moment in which I didn’t want to hurt anyone. It was just a song that we sing in Argentina as part of ‘football folklore’, which is what we call it. It was a really difficult time for me, and I tried to apologise to the squad to show my teammates that I’m not the type to discriminate or judge others. They understood my message and that’s where it all ended

  "Originally, I called them while I was away. And then I cut short my holiday and travelled to where the team was for pre-season in America. The first thing I did when I arrived was to go and speak with them to apologise in person.”

• Enzo grateful for support from Chelsea

  Fernandez also says he enjoys a great relationship with the France stars in the Chelsea squad and hailed the support he received from Chelsea during what was a difficult time.

  “I have a very good relationship with them,” he added. “We often eat together and do things outside of the dressing room. When we have team dinners or are in the dressing room, everything is normal. Nothing else happened because they know what I’m like as a person.

  “The club has always shown faith in me and I’m grateful for that because I was given the captain’s armband at a tough time. But that shows a lot about me and what I mean to the club and my teammates who showed faith in me from the start. The support was unwavering, so I’m ever so grateful to them for that.”

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  Chelsea set to continue title push

  Chelsea and Fernandez are currently enjoying a strong season and sit in third place in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders Arsenal. Fernandez has been a driving force for the Blues so far in 2025-26, scoring five goals in all competitions for Enzo Maresca's side. Both teams are back in action in midweek, with Chelsea up against Leeds at Elland Road and Arsenal taking on Brentford at the Emirates.

Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke will surely be pleased with how his side has adapted to Premier League football after their promotion from the Championship.

The last six teams to have come up from the second tier have all been relegated at the first time of asking, and the Whites, Sunderland, and Burnley are hoping to avoid making it nine from nine.

Leeds have racked up eight points in seven matches in the Premier League so far this season, lifting them above the relegation zone, in what has been an impressive start to the campaign.

They lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur last time out in the top-flight at Elland Road, but they had a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth and a 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, which included a stunning goal from Anton Stach, prior to that.

The German central midfielder smashed his free-kick right into the top corner for his first goal for the club after his move from Hoffenheim in the summer window.

Another signing from the summer transfer window who has impressed since his arrival at Elland Road is exciting wide attacker Noah Okafor.

Where Noah Okafor ranks among Leeds United's attackers

It may not be unfair to suggest that the Switzerland international is the best and most effective attacker within Farke’s first-team squad in the Premier League this season.

Okafor, who was signed from AC Milan, has hit the ground running in English football with two goals in four starts in the Premier League, per Sofascore, which is twice as many goals as any other player in the team has managed.

He is the only Leeds player who has scored more than one goal this season in the top-flight, with his strikes against Wolves and Spurs, and that suggests that the forward is, at the very least, the most effective goalscorer in the attacking ranks.

As you can see in the table above, Okafor ranks either first or second in a host of key attacking metrics for the Whites in the Premier League, which speaks to how influential he has been at the top end of the pitch in the early stages of the campaign.

The Swiss speedster, who scored in the 2-1 defeat to Spurs last time out, is an electric dribbler who can score goals and create chances for his teammates, which makes him an invaluable part of Farke’s attack.

Despite that, Transfermarkt have Okafor as the 13th-most valuable member of the squad, at £11m, and the seventh-most valuable winger or striker, even below Jack Harrison at £12m.

Market Movers

Football FanCast’s Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club’s star player or biggest flop worth today?

Another player who is worth even more than the Switzerland international, despite his impressive form in the Premier League, is central defender Pascal Struijk, whom the Whites have hit the jackpot with since his move to the club from Ajax.

Leeds have hit the jackpot with Pascal Struijk

The Dutch central defender joined the club at U21 level on a free transfer at the start of 2018, as his contract with Ajax was due to expire, and he was able to rise through the ranks at Thorp Arch.

Struijk made seven appearances for the U21 team before he emerged as a regular first-team squad member in the 2020/21 Premier League season under Marcelo Bielsa, playing 27 times, per Transfermarkt.

The left-footed star has since racked up 166 appearances for the first-team in all competitions for the West Yorkshire outfit, and has started all seven of the club’s league matches this season.

Struijk was particularly important to the club’s promotion to the Premier League last season, scoring five goals in 35 appearances, as he formed a reliable partnership with Joe Rodon.

The 26-year-old titan, who scored two late goals in a dramatic comeback against Sunderland, kept 14 clean sheets in 31 starts in the second tier last term, per Sofascore, which speaks to how defensively solid the team were with him in it.

Farke has kept his faith in both Rodon and Struijk, despite the signings of Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw, in the Premier League so far this season.

The German boss described him as a “crucial” player back in 2023, and he still relies on the Dutchman, even if his performances this term have not quite been up to scratch.

As you can see in the table above, Struijk currently ranks among the worst centre-backs in the division in a host of defensive statistics, which suggests that he needs to improve his performances if he wants to remain in the side.

Despite his slightly concerning form at this moment in time, the Dutch star is valued at a whopping £15.6m by Transfermarkt, which means that he is worth more than Okafor (£11m). He is also the joint-fourth most valuable player at the club, per Transfermarkt.

Considering that the Whites picked him up from Ajax’s academy and he started his career in England at U21 level, it is fair to say that Leeds hit the jackpot when they signed Struijk back in 2018.

He has developed into, at the very least, a Championship promotion-winning central defender, and one of the most valuable players in the squad at £15.6m.

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At the age of 26, Struijk also has plenty of time left ahead of him to increase in value, but he must first turn his Premier League form around and show that he is good enough to start week-in-week-out in a top-flight side that can avoid relegation.

As many as five Afghanistan batsmen fell for ducks in the second innings

Firdose Moonda03-Mar-2021Zimbabwe sauntered to a big win over Afghanistan in the first Test meeting between these two sides, which lasted just two days, in Abu Dhabi. After bowling Afghanistan out for scores of 131 and 135, Zimbabwe needed just 17 runs to win and got them unscathed in 3.2 overs in their second innings.On a surface that was green-tinged to start where there was ample movement to be found and good bounce throughout, scoring was tough but not impossible. Zimbabwe’s captain Sean Williams, who brought up his third Test century and second as captain, and 19-year-old Afghan opener Ibrahim Zadran, who top-scored for his team with 76 in the second innings, showed the application required to craft an innings on this pitch. Solid defensive technique was a must and any errors in length could be punished, which they both did.No other batsmen on either side managed more than 44 runs, with only four Zimbabweans other than Williams getting into double figures and one other Afghan player, Afsar Zazai, making more than 30. Eight Afghan batsmen were dismissed for single figures in their second innings, five of them for ducks. Neither Zimbabwe nor Afghanistan played Test cricket for a year before this and the struggles of their batsmen was as much an illustration of the dearth of long-form cricket as it was an indication of the comparative strength of their bowling styles. Zimbabwe’s quicks Victor Nyauchi, Blessing Muzarabani and Donald Tiripano shared 16 of the 20 Afghan wickets among them while left-arm spinner Amir Hamza took a career-best 6 for 75, his second successive five-for in Tests.Ultimately Williams, and the two half-century stands he shared with Sikandar Raza and Regis Chakabva, proved to be the biggest difference between the two sides. While Raza and Williams stabilised Zimbabwe from 38 for 4 on the first day, Chakabva’s proactive presence helped push Zimbabwe into a commanding lead, while Williams acted as the fulcrum around which the innings was build.Williams lost his overnight partner Ryan Burl in the second over of the second morning, but Chakabva transferred pressure back on to Afghanistan. He scored 24 runs off the first 34 balls he faced, and struck Zimbabwe’s only six.Williams’ approach had been watchful throughout and he scored 11 runs in 22 balls in the morning before he had the opportunity to drive Yamin Ahmadzai through extra cover. Ahmadzai thought he had Williams caught behind on 70, and there seemed to be a sound, but umpire Ahmed Shah Pakteen was unmoved. But, Afghanistan did find a way to break the partnership. With less than 15 minutes for lunch, Zahir Khan drew Chakabva forward in an attempt to defend a ball that took the inside edge onto the pad and to Abdul Malik at short leg.Williams entered the 90s with a pull off Zahir before Tiripano departed in similar fashion to Chakabva. Muzarabani took the lead over 100 with a heave over square leg, and Williams went to lunch on 97. He reached his hundred in the third over after the break with a single to square leg, but only scored five more runs before flicking Hamza to midwicket. Williams’ hundred was his second successive three-figure score in Tests and he showed the temperament required to succeed in the longest format.To a lesser degree, so did Zadran, with good awareness of his off stump and an eye for any small errors in line or length. He was especially comfortable against spin and will serve as an example to the rest of the line-up, especially those in the top order.Debutant opener Abdul Malik has work to do on his technique against shorter deliveries after he picked up a pair, edging Nyauchi to Regis Chakabva in the second over. No. 3 Munir Ahmed, also in his first match, played down the wrong line to a full Muzarabani ball and Rahmat Shah was undone by swing from Nyauchi, and tried to turn a ball that dipped on him square but was hit on the pad to be dismissed lbw for a duck. Hashmatullah Shahidi top-edged a short ball to deep square leg, Zazai went forward to defend a Williams delivery that pitched on middle stump and spun past the edge to trap him lbw, and Asghar Afghan left a bat-pad gap that Muzarabani burst through with a delivery that jagged back in.By tea, with Afghanistan 49 for 6, Zimbabwe had an innings victory in their sights, which only got closer when Burl bowled fellow legspinner Abdul Wasi shortly after the interval. Hamza stuck with Zadran and shared a 48-run eighth-wicket stand that ended when Zadran’s concentration waned and he drove a wide Tiripano delivery only to edge behind. Tiripano had Ahmadzai caught at second slip off the next ball and Zahir toe-ending a slog to mid-off to end the Afghanistan innings and leave Zimbabwe with a small target to take the series lead.The second Test starts on March 10 at the same venue.

One of the recent developments at Aston Villa will have an impact on Unai Emery’s future as manager, it has been revealed.

Emery loses key ally as Monchi departs

Sporting director Monchi is known to have been a key Emery ally, which is why the 57-year-old’s recent departure has set off alarm bells, but the manager has been quick to dispel the rumours that there was a falling out.

The Villa boss said: “He was very good, but after two years he needed to have another chapter in his career. Mutual agreement with the club. I wish him the best with his new chapter.

“We reacted quickly to get one person who I know personally. I have a lot of confidence with Roberto Olabe and he is going to help us.”

Indeed, the club hierarchy moved quickly to appoint Roberto Olabe, formerly of Real Sociedad, as Monchi’s successor, with the 57-year-old joining at a difficult time, given that the Villans are currently languishing in the Premier League relegation zone.

After Monchi’s exit, there were some rumours suggesting that Emery could be soon to follow, but journalist Graeme Bailey has recently suggested that Olabe’s appoitment is a clear show of faith in the Spaniard, who could now be in it for the long haul.

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Speaking to TBR Football, Bailey said: “They’re fully committed to Emery. They know they’ve got a world-class manager there.

“And I think the Olabe appointment is a clear sign that they brought him in to help Emery, to be part of the Emery project. It’s a clear sign the Emery project is still green-lit, full steam ahead. If it hadn’t been someone like Olabe, I would have had my doubts.

“But the fact it’s Olabe coming in, I think really underlines the commitment of the owners to Emery, and should give the fans who want Emery to stay some real comfort in that appointment.”

Villa must stick with Emery despite difficult spell

It is fantastic news that Aston Villa plan to stand by their manager, as it would be incredibly rash to dismiss him after going through his first difficult spell since taking over from Steven Gerrard, at which point playing in the Champions League was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Manchester United have reportedly identified Emery as a major target to replace Ruben Amorim, and it is no surprise, given the job he’s done at Villa Park, setting an impressive record last season.

That said, results and performances alike have not been good enough, with Villa recording an xG of just 3.79 across their opening five games, and the 53-year-old needs to put things right sooner rather than later to avoid further scrutiny.

Thomas Frank says Tottenham's 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal was the "complete opposite" of what he had intended for this north London derby. Eberechi Eze grabbed a hat-trick in a very one-sided encounter at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, as Spurs barely laid a glove on their bitter rivals. Now, manager Frank has apologised for this "painful" defeat.

• Frank apologises to Tottenham fans

  Tottenham put in one of their worst performances of the season in arguably their biggest game of the campaign. They mustered an Expected Goals tally of just 0.07 and a paltry three shots on goal to Arsenal's 17. Other than Richarlison's wonder goal, there was very little to be positive about. Spurs approached the game with a 'try not to lose' attitude but ended up being ripped apart by the Gunners. And after the contest, the former Brentford boss struck a contrite tone. 

  He told Sky Sports: "I think it is extremely painful. I won't talk away from that. It was a bad performance. It was completely the opposite of what the intention was when we came here. We can only apologise to the fans for the performance. I think no matter if both teams wanted to play shirt, they got more out of that and we couldn't get out. When the team went long, we didn't win enough duels. That is exemplified by the 2-0 goal and the 3-0 goal, where a player went through two or three players. Bad performance and we lost. I have seen a lot of character and fight in this team but we didn't win enough duels. We can call that whatever we want but we didn't win enough."

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  Tottenham's creativity issues continue

  In Tottenham's 1-0 loss to Chelsea earlier this season, Spurs were widely criticised for producing next to nothing in attack. That happened again against Arsenal, but the scoreline was much less flattering. And Frank stressed they need to address this problem right away.

  He said: "That [lack of creativity] has been an ongoing theme that we are working hard to improve. It doesn't look good today or against Chelsea. We need to keep working on it. There were a lot of things in this game we need to do better. We are four months into it and they are further in their journey as a team and that was very obvious today. Of course there will be noise. We played against our biggest rivals and we lost badly. But we keep noise out and we focus. I know this tam is very competitive. I know this team is competitive and we showed that against Man City and PSG. Of course it looks bad today and it was not good enough."

• Tottenham's plan failed to deliver

  Frank also took full responsibility for getting his approach to the game wrong. However, he felt the way his players performed would have meant that any strategy would have come unstuck against Arsenal.

  The Dane added: "I tried to play a 5-4-1. I will always take responsibility as my choice in the end to take the system then and we changed it at half-time. My view is that no matter what formation we play today, we don't have enough duels or intensity in the decisive moments, and it is very difficult to win a football match. The goals I want to see more in detail. The whole game I need to watch tonight an it will be a difficult watch. We were not aggressive and stepped forward when we could and they played it round us."

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  Daunting PSG test looms

  For the Arsenal game, Frank admitted that he tried to replicate the tactics Tottenham deployed so well in their narrow UEFA Super Cup loss to Paris Saint-Germain in August. But as they fell well short of that against the Gunners, this trip to PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday may be quite daunting. 

  He said: "That's an extremely hard defeat to take. We are all emotional and frustrated and need to look at it with calm heads. I was very confident going into the game that we could be competitive and we weren't, which was disappointing. We tried to do something different that was very successful against PSG. Today it wasn't and I always take responsibility for my decisions and then when it doesn't go the way we want it to go, that's on me."

Technical consultant during the World Cup says the team needs to find a way to score 300-plus consistently in ODIs

Mohammad Isam14-Nov-20233:00

Shanto: ‘Know how to score 260, need to make a habit of getting 300-350’

Bangladesh’s batters were easily satisfied with their first milestone – a half-century – during the 2023 ODI World Cup and that contributed significantly to their eighth-place finish in the league stage, according to S Sriram, their technical consultant during the tournament.With no hundreds from any of their batters apart from Mahmudullah, Bangladesh won only two of their nine matches – against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka – and just about secured qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Sriram said the team needed to find a way to score 330-plus to remain competitive in ODI cricket.”Our inability to get meaningful hundreds is what hurt the team the most,” Sriram told ESPNcricinfo. “The top-four batters not getting even one hundred is the most disappointing part of the team. The teams that qualified, they have guys who are scoring double-hundreds. I think you win 50-over games in India when someone gets 130-140, and then if you have enough power around that guy, we can put up scores of 330-340. That’s where the game is in India, especially where the wickets are so good. It is slightly different than what we see in Bangladesh. I think that’s where we missed out a little bit.”Related

• Shanto to lead Bangladesh in home Tests against New Zealand

• Confused, chaotic, controversial: picking through Bangladesh's World Cup

• Bangladesh could have done without batting shuffle – Shanto

The ODI World Cup was Sriram’s second stint with the national team, and as a former India cricketer with knowledge of the conditions as player and coach, the expectation from the board was for him to provide information that would enhance Bangladesh’s performance. While Sriram stressed on the importance of a big top-order hundred, Bangladesh and Netherlands were the only teams without a hundred from their top-three batters during the World Cup.The new opener Tanzid Hasan , Sriram said, showed a lack of hunger even when he had the bowling under control, like during his 51 against India in Pune.

“Shanto is someone who wants to get better every day as a batter, person and team man. He wants his team to win. These two are his greatest qualities”Sriram on Najmul Hossain Shanto

“[Tanzid] had everything going for him in that fifty against India. The bowlers were under his control. The wicket was so good. Kuldeep Yadav was only one over away from being taken off the bowling attack. Somebody else would have come [to bowl]. Bangladesh were 97 (93) for no loss, so if he had converted that fifty into a hundred, you wouldn’t even ask me this question. That’s where he let himself down big time. That’s where the mentality has to change. They are satisfied with an international fifty.”Sriram said Tanzid could learn from Najmul Hossain Shanto, who had a stellar 12 months leading into the World Cup across formats. He converted four of his 13 50-plus scores into centuries and cemented his place as the No. 3. Sriram also said New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra was the World Cup’s best example of a young batter fulfilling his potential.”I think Shanto has raised the bar for younger players, by converting his fifties to hundreds in the last six to eight months. If Tanzid doesn’t get satisfied whenever he gets a fifty, and puts the foot on the pedal, he can get hundreds. I think he has huge potential.”My genuine concern is with these players getting satisfied with fifties. You have to push their boundaries and get big scores. That’s where world cricket is going nowadays. All the youngsters coming through are being able to convert fifties to hundreds. Rachin Ravindra is a great example. Take a cue and lead from these players, and be hungry for bigger scores.”Mahmudullah’s 111 against South Africa was Bangladesh’s only hundred in the World Cup•ICC/Getty ImagesThe most visible of Bangladesh’s problems during the World Cup, however, was their constant shuffling of the batting order. The prime focus was to utilise Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s good form, often at the cost of stability in the line-up. Mehidy batted at five different positions – from No. 3 to No. 8 – in nine World Cup innings.”It has been discussed a lot, and a lot of people have spoken about it,” Sriram said. “I don’t know the conversations that happened before the World Cup, whether they wanted stability or the team wanted to play the match-up game. My understanding was, how can we make best use of Miraz as an allrounder. He sometimes doesn’t have the power to hit sixes from No. 8. But he has a good temperament, he can build partnerships, he is busy, he can rotate strike, he can soak in the pressure. If we can make use of that, wouldn’t that give us more firepower at the back end?”We know how [Towhid] Hridoy can bat in T20s and the way Mahmudullah got the experience. It was mainly the conversation to lengthen the batting and give us a little more firepower at the back end. Miraz is a touch player. He has qualities as a batter. I think the main thing was, can we maximise his potential? That was the thinking, as far as I am concerned.”Among those who got displaced was Shanto, Bangladesh’s most in-form batter coming into the World Cup. He ended the tournament with just two half-centuries in nine innings and reached double-figures just three times.”Shanto is someone who wants to get better every day as a batter, person and team-man,” Sriram said. “He wants his team to win. I think he was unlucky couple of times. Getting run out for 45 in the last game would have hurt him. He could have got a hundred against Sri Lanka. So little things like that would hurt him a lot more. Getting out early is part of the game. He got out caught down the leg side twice. There were a few unlucky dismissals in between. His biggest learning would be to get a big score whenever he gets a start.Litton Das averaged only 31 at the World Cup•Associated Press”There is not even a question [that he won’t bounce back]. You have seen his form in the last two games. His 90 against Sri Lanka was an amazing innings. Even the 45 against Australia showed the ability to carry on the run rate, which was excellent. His run out was unnecessary and unfortunate.”Another batter who didn’t live up to his potential was Litton Das. Often described as the most elegant batter in the team, Litton got out to soft dismissals often in the tournament, and the BCB is reportedly worried about his lack of focus.”He [Litton] is frustrated with himself more than anyone else,” Sriram said. “He knows his potential. He plays world-class shots but to not be able to do it for longer period of time, frustrates him a little bit. He is also frustrated by the ways he gets out.”Our last conversation was that he said, ‘Coach, I know what you are thinking. Don’t even talk about it. I will figure this out and come back strongly’. Some players go through this. They take longer to unlock their potential. I think it is good that he is thinking that he has the potential but he is letting himself and the team down.”Going forward, Sriram said Bangladesh needed to work out a way of scoring 300-plus consistently in ODIs. “I don’t think they have much other choice,” he said. “That’s the minimum score you need to start winning games. You have to find ways to get 300-350 runs. Once you know you can get 85-100 runs in the last ten overs on a consistent basis, it will make batting in the first 40 overs a little bit easier.”There are a lot of ways to do it. One way is to keep wickets in hand and bat deep. Another way is to keep going hard right through. Bangladesh should figure out what works for them, and give people the right roles. I think getting hundreds from the top four is non-negotiable.”

Shohei Ohtani's brilliant performance in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series led one former MVP to issue an apology.

During Fox's pregame show before Game 4 of the World Series, Alex Rodriguez was asked about recovering from an 18-inning game and playing the next day. He said comparing how he would handle it to how the Dodgers superstar would wasn't fair because, "I'm human and Ohtani's not."

"You know, Major League Baseball is the greatest, the baddest, the most amazing league around the world of baseball. I now want to take an opportunity to apologize to Shohei Ohtani because he belongs in a higher league if this is all we have to offer," Rodriguez said. "But in all seriousness, this is uncharted territory… we've never seen this before and we'll probably never see this again."

That's high praise from Rodriguez, who, like Ohtani, was a three-time MVP and won a World Series in 2009.

Shohei Ohtani's historic Game 3 numbers

Ohtani was incredible during L.A.'s 6–5 win in the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3. He was 4-for-4, with two home runs and two doubles, then the Blue Jays smartened up and stopped pitching to him. Toronto walked him in each of his next five at-bats, four times intentionally. He reached base times, which is an MLB postseason record and tied the all-time record.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider all but said his team would continue walking Ohtani when his up rather than pitch to him moving forward.

Ohtani set several records during Game 3, including becoming the first player with two home runs and two doubles in a postseason game. He is also the first player to have five walks in a World Series game, while becoming the first player in MLB history to have four hits and five walks in a game, regular season or postseason.

The soon-to-be four-time MVP is also the first player to have four extra-base hits in a World Series game since White Sox second baseman Frank Isbell smacked four doubles against the Cubs in the 1906 Fall Classic.

It's not hard to see why Rodriguez is so in awe of what Ohtani is doing.

England booked their place in the last 16 of the Under 17 World Cup courtesy of a commanding 2-0 victory over South Korea in Qatar. Reigan Heskey, son of former Liverpool striker Emile, was on the scoresheet with a superb header and an own goal eased the Young Lions into the next round in what was ultimately a comfortable win for Liam Bradley's side.

• Three Lions cruise into last-16 as South Korea fade in Qatar

  There was a real scare for England inside the opening minute after Manchester City's Dante Headley was bundled off the ball by Kim Ji-sung who thrashed his shot into the roof off the net, but there was huge relief when referee Abdou Abdel Mefire awarded a foul for the push. The Young Lions enjoyed much of the possession in the early stages, but had to wait until the 21st minute to test South Korea keeper Park Do-Hun as Tottenham's Luca Williams-Barnett saw his fierce drive from the edge of the box well saved. 

  The deadlock was broken in the 28th minute following a bustling run down the right from the England captain Seth Ridgeon, and the Fulham star’s pass was directed into his own net by Jung Hui-seop. And England doubled their lead six minutes later after City’s Heskey headed home from close range after a brilliant searching cross from Aston Villa youngster Bradley Burrowes. 

  England had chances to extend their lead in the second-half, with Chelsea's Chizaram Ezenwata missing the target from just inside the box and Williams-Barnett saw an audacious effort, from just inside his own half, slide agonisingly wide. The Young Lions will now face either Austria or Tunisia in the next round. 

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  The MVP

  Williams-Barnett may not have got on the scoresheet, but he was right at the heart of everything England did well. He covered acres of ground, helping in defence when required and offered some excellent touches around the opposition box, too. If anyone deserved to score from their own half it was the Tottenham youngster who's enjoying the opportunities offered to him in his breakthrough season. The Luton-born midfielder made his senior debut in September 2025, becoming the club's youngest player in the Carabao Cup and the 900th player to appear for the club. He signed his first professional contract last month, too. 

• The big loser

  It was a truly calamitous moment for South Korea centre-back Jung who made an absolute mess of trying to block a pass. He only succeeded in getting his feet in a tangle while attempting to clear the danger, stumbled, fell and directed the ball into the back of his own net to give England the lead. You could almost feel sorry for him, it was a shame for a mistake of that magnitude to happen to a young player on such a big stage.

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  Match rating (out of five): ⭐⭐⭐

Bangladesh head coach backs the side to win their first ever series in New Zealand

Mohammad Isam18-Mar-2021Bangladesh’s head coach Russell Domingo believes his team have a “great opportunity” to upset New Zealand in the upcoming three-match ODI series that starts in Dunedin on Saturday. Bangladesh have never beaten New Zealand in their backyard before, but Domingo, who as South Africa’s head coach won in two tours in 2014 and 2017, said that the build-up towards the 2023 World Cup can get a major boost if the visitors can pull off their maiden series win in New Zealand.Related

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“It is a great opportunity for us to do something that no Bangladeshi side has done before,” Domingo said. “We are all excited by it. It is my first tour to New Zealand with Bangladesh. I have been here previously with South Africa. I know it’s a tough place to tour, but it is a great opportunity for some of these younger players. There’s a World Cup three years away and New Zealand is one of the top sides in the world. If you want to be serious contenders in India, you have to put in big performances in a series like this.”Bangladesh beat West Indies at home 3-0 in January, while New Zealand haven’t played any ODIs since March last year. Domingo said that ODIs are Bangladesh’s strongest suit, and with a fast-bowling attack that has depth, they can potentially surprise New Zealand.”I think the 50-over format is our strongest format at the moment. If you look at the team’s performance in the World Cup and if you look at the averages of the players, we have some good numbers in one-day cricket.”I think we have some good young fast bowlers who are coming through that maybe New Zealand haven’t seen before. They maybe weren’t expecting to see. We have got some good potential, guys like Hasan Mahmud and Taskin Ahmed are bowling nicely. We are excited about some of our fast bowlers.”Domingo said that he expects a high-scoring encounter at the University Oval in Dunedin although the 11.00am start can be an advantage to the bowlers as he has spotted considerable moisture on the pitches during the morning.”I have been following domestic cricket quite a bit. I think average score in this venue is about 307 runs. I think the boundary is pretty short in some sides, 65 metres. We are expecting some good runs.”(It is) difficult to say with an 11am start. Quite a bit of moisture this morning. It will be interesting to see what happens in the first hour.”Bangladesh could also get some leeway in the absence of Kane Williamson (elbow injury) and Ross Taylor (hamstring injury), but Domingo has warned that taking New Zealand’s replacements lightly could be dangerous for his side.”It is a bit of a boost for us, not having (Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor) in the first game in particular. But we know that new players are always keen to establish themselves, so they will be highly motivated to do well,” he said.Domingo was pleased with how his players responded to the two-week quarantine, including the first seven days of in-room isolation, since arriving in Christchurch in mid-February. The Bangladesh team spent the last week in Queenstown in a training camp that was added after the initial tour schedule had to be changed.”Quarantine allows you a bit more time to prepare when you do get out it. I think the initial schedule had us playing our first ODI three days after the Christchurch lockdown so the rescheduling has been very good for us. After we had couple of individual sessions in Christchurch, we spent a good week in Queenstown.”The preparation has been spot-on. The guys have been fantastic. Lockdown was tough but no complaints from any of them. I am really proud of the way the guys have gone about their work in the last three weeks,” he saidBangladesh’s not-so-secret weapon on this tour has also been Daniel Vettori, their spin-bowling coach who joined the side after missing out for 12 months due to Covid-related travel restrictions from New Zealand. Domingo said that Vettori has been a refreshing inclusion, as he has intimate knowledge of conditions and players in New Zealand.”It is great to have Daniel (Vettori). He has been working with us for the last one year. He has been in and out of Bangladesh. We haven’t seen him for a while because of Covid but it is great to have his knowledge and experience here, not just about the venues but some of the players too.”He has connected with some of our bowlers and batters. We know what an important a batter Dan was for New Zealand. He has given us a fresh energy and dimension that maybe we didn’t have in the past.”

He dug in when needed, but also displayed skill and nous to go in an exhilarating direction

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jul-2023Some days, you get to be on the ground floor of something special.Before this game, Saud Shakeel had a Test average of 72.50, seven fifty-plus scores in 10 innings, and a reputation for being a little old-school. His Test strike rate was 41.66.In balls-to-the-wall 2023, this reads like a stat out of the Triassic. An object of curiosity.Related

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If Shakeel has not moved the needle a lot outside of Pakistan, though, that’s not really his fault. In Multan, in December last year, there was a defiant 94 off 213 in the second innings. But England won that game, narrowly, after Shakeel was out, though not without controversy.He made 125 not out off 341 (you read that right) against New Zealand in January, before following up with a 32 off 146 in the second innings. But because fellow Karachiwallah Sarfraz Ahmed hit a second-dig century to seal an excellent comeback series in his hometown, the Shakeel slow-burns were lost in the grand narrative.Innings with strike rates like 36.65 and 21.91 kinda have a habit of getting lost.In Galle, he arrived with the score on 67 for 3, and soon worsened to 101 for 5. But not long after that, Shakeel was 33 off 53, then 50 off 69, then 64 off 82. Uhhh, is this the same guy? The guy who played the innings that felt like they’d been dug up by archaeologists? Is that him slog sweeping hard and flat? Him flitting down the track, making room, blasting the left-arm spinner over cover?In between, he played a believable impression of the batter international cricket had previously known him to be. The defence against quicks was almost always organised, even if his stance more open than most, though not nearly as open as that of, say, Fawad Alam, who he replaced in the Pakistan batting order, and who also learned his craft in Karachi, but spiritually, is from outer space.Against spin, Shakeel was judicious. Moving forward quickly when the bowlers pitched too close, sliding backwards when the length was short. And crucially, between the fours, he picked the gaps like a master.Visually, you might say, there is not a lot to recommend his batting. But he doesn’t seem the type to care. The whip through midwicket, the chop square of cover, the boring old conventional sweep to the legside sweeper – the kind where the fielder moves towards the ball because even the batters know there’s only one run there – these are the Shakeel specialties.Saud Shakeel’s 208*, unlike his previous innings, won’t get lost in the grand narrative•AFP/Getty ImagesHe said as much after play on day three.Is it because of your Karachi training that you play spin so well, he was asked.”Usually, in first-class cricket in Karachi, we don’t get many turning pitches,” he said. “But my strength is I like to rotate the strike. You’ll have noticed I like to take singles as regularly as possible, and I can find singles on both sides of the ground. I tried to apply that strength, First-class cricket also helps, but the way I’ve been brought up and learned the game actually helps me way more than any first-class cricket I might have played.Essentially: It’s hard not to love.But for those of us who need the boxes, Shakeel swept exceptionally well, and scrapped when the scrapping needed to be done, which are both understood to be Karachibatting things. Most predictably of all, he stepped happily back into the defensive version of himself when he ran out of batting partners and had only the tail to work with.At one stage in his innings – in the company of Agha Salman – Shakeel made 83 off 88 deliveries. After Salman was out, slow-burn Shakeel returned, blocking out the first few balls of every over, turning down the singles on offer, pouncing on only the bad deliveries. His batting partners played bravely at the other end. The journey from 100 to 200, took 223 deliveries.

“The grand pronouncements are tempting, but in this case it is important to let the innings breathe. Let it rest in its greatness”

Oh, okay. So it him. There’s our guy.We don’t know if Shakeel will be the next great Pakisan batter, because we don’t make predictions here. We only make observations.Observations such as his having arrived at the crease during an incredibly difficult period, his having adopted a batting tactic that he’s never tried at Test level before, and his having marshalled the tail to spectacular effect on this occasion.Whatever the long-view of his career becomes, even from just this innings, it might be fair to conclude that his ceiling is outrageously high. At the end of his 11th Test innings, Shakeel went back into the dressing room on 208 not out, having faced more than four balls on average of the last 44 overs.The grand pronouncements are tempting, but in this case it is important to let the innings breathe.Let it rest in its greatness.Let those of us who saw it in person wonder for a little while longer whether we really were on the ground floor. Wonder how special this something might become.Let it coalesce gently, because while for 88 balls there was the skill and nous to go in an exhilarating direction, Shakeel seems more at home in the ebb of Test cricket, rather than its flow.More at home in its gentleness.