EDGBASTON, Birmingham: England captain Eoin Morgan has urged his side to embrace their World Cup dreams as they prepare for Thursday’s blockbuster semifinal against old rivals Australia.
Morgan can lead England to their first World Cup final since 1992 if they beat the holders at Edgbaston.
Advancing to Sunday’s title match at Lord’s would be the culmination of four years’ hard work for Morgan and his squad after their dismal performance at the 2015 edition.
On the eve of the crunch clash, Morgan issued a passionate plea for his players to take pride in their achievements so far and to relish their moment in the spotlight rather than be weighed down by pressure.
“Sometimes I’m guilty of it, you can lose sight of the position you’re in and the fact you’re living your dream,” Morgan told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think it’s possible to play with a smile on your face tomorrow.”
Asked if the World Cup hosts were feeling excited, nervous or simply focused on the task at hand, Morgan added: “All of those things. But I think excitement probably should be the dominant one.
“Everyone is excited to play this semifinal. The fact that through the group stages getting to this stage looked unlikely, or was called into question, makes it even more exciting for us.”
Morgan’s side have established a proud recent record against Australia, winning 10 of the last 11 one-day internationals between the old rivals prior to this tournament.
That counted for nothing in the group stages, when Australia claimed a 64-run win at Lord’s that left England’s hopes of top-four finish in doubt.
Morgan admits England were not themselves in that match, knocked off course by a tame defeat to Sri Lanka and the absence of injured opener Jason Roy.
Roy is back from his torn hamstring and England looked far more formidable in the wins over India and New Zealand that took them to the semifinals.
“We’re probably more confident than we were three games ago, we’re a different team,” Morgan said.
“The loss against Sri Lanka hurt us. I don’t think we were playing anywhere near our best cricket, there was a hangover from the Sri Lanka game. It feels like we’re back to the team we are.”
Eoin Morgan urges England to embrace World Cup ‘dream’
Eoin Morgan urges England to embrace World Cup ‘dream’
- On eve of crunch Australia clash, Morgan issued passionate plea for players to take pride in their achievements
- Morgan can lead England to their first World Cup final since 1992
Joint wins Eastbourne title to end Eala’s history bid
- Joint survived a tense clash lasting two hours and 26 minutes, emerging with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (12/10) win to seal her second WTA Tour title.
- It was a painful defeat for Eala, who was so close to becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour title
EASTBOURNE, UK: Australian teenager Maya Joint saved four match points to clinch the WTA title at Eastbourne with a dramatic victory over Alexandra Eala that ended the Filipino’s history bid on Saturday.
Joint survived a tense clash lasting two hours and 26 minutes, emerging with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (12/10) win to seal her second WTA Tour title.
In the youngest Eastbourne final since 1981, world number 51 Joint staved off the four championship points in a gripping final-set tie-break.
She finally wrapped up the title by drilling a backhand winner before collapsing to the turf in delight.
“I’m very happy right now, feeling very relieved as well. It was a very difficult match, I’m proud of myself for coming back and staying in the match,” Joint said.
“I’m glad I was able to find a way back. Alex played really well today. She definitely tested me and after the first set she got very aggressive.
“What an amazing crowd, you guys came and supported me every day so thank you.”
Having also defeated former Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu at Eastbourne over the last week, Joint has underlined her status as one of the rising stars of the women’s tour.
After winning on clay in Rabat in May, the 19-year-old has proved she can thrive on grass as well ahead of the start of Wimbledon on Monday.
Joint was unable to make it two trophies in one day as she and partner Hsieh Su-wei were beaten 6-4, 7-5 by Marie Bouzkova and Anna Danilina in the doubles final.
It was a painful defeat for Eala, who was so close to becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour title.
The 20-year-old wiped away tears of frustration during the on-court trophy presentation.
Eala had become the first Filipino to reach a WTA final after beating Varvara Gracheva in the last four at Eastbourne on Friday.
“I want to congratulate Maya for a great match and great tournament,” Eala said.
“This is my first WTA final, it’s a big deal for me and for my country too because it’s historic. I guess that’s also why I’m so emotional.
“Wimbledon is next week so hopefully I’ll forget about this match soon.”
Eala’s run to the final has made the world number 74 one to watch in the coming months.
After progressing through qualifying to make the main draw, Eala beat Lucia Bronzetti, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, Nottingham Open finalist Dayana Yastremska and France’s Gracheva.
She had burst onto the scene with three shock victories over Grand Slam winners Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek to reach the Miami Open semifinals in March.
Eala is due to face reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova in the Wimbledon first round on Center Court on Tuesday.
But Krejcikova is struggling with a thigh injury that forced her to pull out of the Eastbourne quarter-finals on Thursday, putting the Czech’s title defense in doubt.
Pegula eases past Swiatek to win Bad Homburg title
- US star denies the Pole her first career title on grass, days before the start of Wimbledon
BAD HOMBURG: Top seed Jessica Pegula contained Iga Swiatek’s heavy topspin game on grass to earn a 6-4 7-5 victory on Saturday and lift the Bad Homburg Open title.
The American held serve throughout and gave up just one breakpoint in the match, denying the Pole her first career title on grass, just two days before the start of Wimbledon.
Swiatek has not won a singles title since her 2024 French Open victory.
“I know you say you can’t play on grass but you are very, very good on grass,” Pegula said, addressing Swiatek after the match. “It was a special week.”
Pegula won a break at 3-3 in the first set to move 5-3 up.
The 31-year-old world No. 3, chasing her third title of 2025 and her first since April, landed the first set soon afterwards when the Pole sent a forehand long.
Swiatek put up a fight in the second set, edging close to a break but failing to carve out a break point.
It was Pegula who earned a breakpoint at 5-5 and she converted it with a sizzling crosscourt forehand.
Pegula held serve to seal her second career title on grass, following last year’s win in Berlin.
For Swiatek, who shed tears while waiting for the trophy ceremony, it was still a successful week after reaching her first career final on the surface.
“You have an amazing game and you showed it throughout the tournament,” Swiatek told Pegula. “Hopefully we will have many more finals together.”
“I feel it is going a good way and thank you for the opportunity to play here. This tournament shows there is hope for me on grass,” Swiatek said.
Separately, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is hoping an outburst after her French Open final defeat to Coco Gauff will prove a turning point in maintaining her emotional control in the biggest matches.
The three-time Grand Slam champion threw away a one-set lead to lose to the American in Paris earlier this month.
Afterwards, Sabalenka described her performance as the “the worst final I’ve ever played.”
The Belarusian later apologized to Gauff for her comments and the pair put their differences aside by performing a dance together on the Wimbledon lawns for social media.
“I was just completely, like, upset with myself, and emotions got over me. I just completely lost it,” said Sabalenka at a pre-Wimbledon press conference on Saturday.
“I believe I get overemotional at the last stages of the tournaments because I have this desire of winning.
“Sometimes it (gets the better of) me and I can lose control over my emotions. So, I would love to improve that at the last stages of the tournament.
“But honestly I’m kind of glad what happened to me at Paris because I was able to learn a lot. I was able to sit back and being open to myself, not just to ignore some things. I think I realized a lot of things about myself in those last stages of the tournaments.”
Sabalenka’s comments after the French Open were fiercely criticized in the US for taking the shine off Gauff’s second Grand Slam title.
“Of course, she got my respect. She knows it,” added Sabalenka.
“I’m happy that she was, like, ‘yeah, it’s all good, don’t worry’. As you saw the (dancing) video, I was talking, we are good, we are friends. I hope the US media can be easy on me right now.”
Sabalenka has never gone beyond the semifinals on the Wimbledon grass and begins her quest for glory against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine, a player she admitted to having limited knowledge of.
PSG Club World Cup reunion with Messi recalls unhappier times
- PSG achieved their crowning glory in their first season after definitively shifting their focus away from signing superstar players to instead allow a brilliant coach to work with a hungry, dynamic young team
ATLANTA: Paris Saint-Germain have come to the Club World Cup as newly crowned champions of Europe, but a meeting with the Inter Miami of Lionel Messi in the last 16 this Sunday brings back memories of unhappier times for the French club.
PSG’s stunning 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in Munich at the end of last month which allowed them to win the UEFA Champions League for the first time completed an incredible season for the Qatar-backed side under the coaching of Luis Enrique.
It is no coincidence that PSG achieved their crowning glory in their first season after definitively shifting their focus away from signing superstar players to instead allow a brilliant coach to work with a hungry, dynamic young team.
Kylian Mbappe’s move a year ago to Real Madrid followed the departures in 2023 of Neymar, the world’s most expensive signing when he joined in 2017, and Messi, in the same summer Luis Enrique was appointed.
When PSG pounced in August 2021 to sign Messi after a cash-strapped Barcelona were unable to keep him, the French side logically thought the Argentinian could be the man to deliver elusive Champions League glory.
Messi, who was 34 at the time, thought the same thing.
“My dream is to win another Champions League and I think I am in the ideal place to have that chance and to do it,” he said at his unveiling.
Alas, it did not work out that way, either in Messi’s first season in Paris, under compatriot Mauricio Pochettino in 2021/22, or in the next campaign under Christophe Galtier.
PSG had got to the Champions League final and then semifinals in the two seasons prior to Messi’s arrival, so he looked like the final piece in the jigsaw.
Instead they went backwards with him in the side, going out of Europe’s elite club competition in the last 16 two years running.
Having to fit in Messi — with his estimated annual salary of 30 million euros ($35.2 million) after tax — as well as Neymar and Mbappe may have increased the star appeal, but it weakened them as a team.
Towards the end the Barcelona legend was even being jeered by some sections of the PSG support who felt Messi’s commitment to the cause was not what it should have been.
Messi was a PSG player when he inspired Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in late 2022, but there were only flashes of his genius at club level in France.
His statistics stand up to any scrutiny, with 32 goals and 35 assists in 75 appearances, and he did win two Ligue 1 titles while helping increase PSG’s value as a brand.
But one memorable quote by a columnist in French sports daily L’Equipe rather summed things up.
“PSG have not been better than they were before because of him...and he seemed to have as much desire to play in Ligue 1 as he did to go to the dentist,” wrote Vincent Duluc.
Fast forward two years and Messi is enjoying the twilight of his career in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, the team he has helped to qualify for the knockout stage of this Club World Cup.
Fate has therefore thrown up a last-16 showdown with PSG on Sunday in Atlanta, at the same stadium where he scored a marvellous free-kick to secure a 2-1 win over Porto last week.
“All is not forgiven,” said the front page of L’Equipe in France on Friday as it described the feelings of “failure and bitterness” left behind from the Argentine’s spell there.
Miami coach Javier Mascherano, meanwhile, believes the unhappy memory of his time in Paris could spur Messi on.
“It’s clear that for us it’s better if he plays angry, because he’s one of those players who, when he has something on his mind, gives an extra effort,” Mascherano told ESPN.
With Luis Enrique and PSG boasting big ambitions of adding a world title to their European crown, there would be even more bitterness felt if Messi — days after his 38th birthday — managed to knock them out on Sunday.
Palmeiras edge Brazilian rivals Botafogo in extra time at Club World Cup
- Winners of the Copa Libertadores in 2020 and 2021, Palmeiras will now stay in Philadelphia
- All eyes were on Estevao, the 18-year-old winger who will join Chelsea once the tournament is over
PHILADELPHIA: Substitute Paulinho scored an extra-time winner to settle a Brazilian battle of attrition as Palmeiras edged Botafogo 1-0 on Saturday to win through to the Club World Cup quarter-finals.
The winger came on at the same time in the second half as Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira withdrew teenage sensation Estevao Willian, a move that appeared baffling at the time but ultimately proved inspired.
The tie had reached the 100th minute when Paulinho collected a pass by Richard Rios on the right flank and was afforded the time and space to come inside into the box before slotting a low shot into the far corner.
That sparked wild celebrations among the Palmeiras fans who made up the vast majority of the 33,657 crowd inside Lincoln Financial Field, and the side from Sao Paulo held on to win the last-16 showdown despite having captain Gustavo Gomez sent off late on.
Winners of the Copa Libertadores in 2020 and 2021, Palmeiras will now stay in Philadelphia for a last-eight tie next Friday against either Benfica or Chelsea, who meet later Saturday in Charlotte.
They had been the more dangerous side throughout in this meeting of the top two in last year’s Brazilian league, with almost all of the chances falling the way of the men in green.
Rio de Janeiro side Botafogo pipped Palmeiras to the domestic title and also won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history in 2024.
They then lost their coach and several key players, but still managed to beat European champions Paris Saint-Germain during the group stage of the Club World Cup as they qualified for the knockout phase ahead of Atletico Madrid.
Nevertheless Palmeiras were the more lively of the two teams in a game played in warm midday conditions in Philadelphia.
All eyes were on Estevao, the 18-year-old winger who will join Chelsea once the tournament is over and is seen as Brazil’s next big thing.
He found it hard to make an impact in what was for long spells a disappointing game pockmarked by moments of quality.
Colombian midfielder Rios came close to scoring in first-half stoppage time with a thunderous shot from the edge of the box that was deflected onto the roof of the net.
Estevao then came to life after the restart, forcing a good save from Botafogo goalkeeper John Victor and then putting the ball in the net only to be denied by an offside flag.
There was surprise around the stadium when the starlet was taken off just after the hour mark alongside striker Vitor Roque, with Luighi and Paulinho sent into the attack.
A Mauricio header from a Joaquin Piquerez cross was tipped over and Paulinho then blazed high from a good position as normal time ended goalless.
Into the extra half-hour they went, and a Rios piledriver was parried behind before the goal finally arrived thanks to the once-capped Brazil winger who played in the Atletico Mineiro side beaten by Botafogo in last year’s Libertadores final.
The substitute was then promptly substituted, his job done for the day.
Botafogo pushed for an equalizer that would have led to a penalty shoot-out, but could not find it even after Paraguayan center-back Gomez walked for a second booking in the 116th minute for grappling off the ball with Alexander Barboza.
Coco Gauff says criticism of Aryna Sabalenka’s French Open comments went ‘too far’
- The Belarusian later wrote to apologize to Gauff and said her comments were “unprofessional”
- Gauff is trying to make sure the criticism stops
LONDON: It didn’t take long for Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka to patch up their relationship after this month’s French Open final.
Now as Wimbledon is about to start, Gauff is hoping everyone else can also forget what the top-ranked Sabalenka said in the wake of her loss to the American at Roland-Garros.
A day after dancing together on Wimbledon’s Center Court in a TikTok video, the two tennis players faced more questions on Saturday about the aftermath of Sabalenka’s comments right after the final, when she said her loss had more to do with her own mistakes than Gauff’s performance.
The Belarusian later wrote to apologize to Gauff and said her comments were “unprofessional,” but not before she faced some major backlash from fans and pundits — especially in the United States.
Gauff is trying to make sure the criticism stops.
“I’m not the person that will fuel hate in the world,” said Gauff, who opens her Wimbledon campaign against Dayana Yastremska on Tuesday. “I think people were taking it too far. … It was just really targeting and saying a lot of things that I felt were not nice. I didn’t want to fuel that more.”
Sabalenka, who faces Carson Branstine on No. 1 Court on Monday, said she hopes the
TikTok video shows that all is well between the two.
“We are good, we are friends,” the three-time major winner said. “I hope the US media can be easy on me right now.”
Sabalenka reiterated that she never meant to offend Gauff.
“I was just completely upset with myself, and emotions got over me,” she said. “I just completely lost it.”
Gauff did acknowledge that she was initially tempted to hit back publicly at Sabalenka, who said the American “won the match not because she played incredible; just because I made all of those mistakes from ... easy balls.”
But after Sabalenka reached out to apologize, she was quick to bury any grudge.
“I preach love, I preach light,” Gauff said. “I just want us to be Kumbaya, live happily, hakuna matata, and be happy here.”
