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Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco did not want to blame the VAR for their loss against Slovakia on Monday.

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Tedesco refused to blame VAR for defeatBelgium saw two goals ruled outSuffered a shock loss against SlovakiaWHAT HAPPENED?

The Red Devils suffered a major setback in their opening match of Euro 2024 as they shockingly went down 1-0 against Slovakia courtesy of a seventh-minute strike from Ivan Schranz. Belgium found the back of the net twice, however, both attempts were ruled out by VAR.

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Despite the frustrating outcome, manager Tedesco refused to blame the officials as he claimed he did not want to sound like a sore loser. He even backed VAR and the referees for doing their job fairly as he accepted the loss gracefully.

WHAT DOMENISCO TEDESCO SAID

Speaking to reporters after the match, the head coach said: "It’s tough for me to speak now. If we would have won, I could probably share my opinion a little more. But we lost and I want to be a good or at least a fair loser; we shouldn’t be talking about VAR. We trust these guys, we trust the VAR and the referees and if they blow and say it’s handball we have to trust and accept it and that’s that."

GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BELGIUM?

Belgium will hope to get back to winning ways and keep their hopes alive of making it to the knockout stage as they next face Romania on Saturday.

As Everton get their pre-season underway, The Friedkin Group are reportedly preparing a £35m proposal to welcome another key reinforcement for David Moyes and his side.

Everton commence Hill Dickinson era

A new era is officially underway at Everton after they squared off against Port Vale in their first-ever game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. In many ways it was, of course, an insignificant game. But it will have its place in history and so will Carlos Alcaraz for scoring the first-ever goal for Everton men’s at their impressive new ground.

After sealing a 2-1 victory against their latest pre-season opponents, Everton will now travel to the USA to take part in the Premier League Summer Series. It’s there that they will square off against Bournemouth, West Ham United and Manchester United in three tough tests to hand them a glimpse of what could be to come next season.

It’s not just pre-season that those in Merseyside should be concerning themselves with between now and next season, however. There’s also still plenty of work to be done on the transfer front.

Friedkin reportedly want to splash out as much as £150m this summer, having already welcomed Thierno Barry, Mark Travers and Alcaraz to kick things off.

Eyeing a replacement for Abdoulaye Doucoure, as well as another midfielder, plus a new right-back and right-winger, Everton have already reportedly set their sights on the likes of Douglas Luiz and James McAtee.

The latter would be a particularly impressive signing, given how he still starred for Manchester City last season even in the face of little game time. The last time that City sold such a prospect, it was Chelsea who benefited and Cole Palmer who thrived. Now, the Toffees could be next in line.

Before then, though, Friedkin are seemingly planning to turn their focus towards an impressive La Liga star.

Everton preparing Takefusa Kubo offer

According to reports in Spain, Everton are now preparing a formal €40m (£35m) offer to sign Takefusa Kubo from Real Sociedad this summer. The Japan international has enjoyed a standout spell at Sociedad at times in the last three years, having swapped Real Madrid for the chance to become the star that he is today in 2022.

He's a dream for Barry: Everton open talks to sign £50m "superstar"

Everton initiate talks to sign LaLiga star in bold bid to strengthen attack

ByWill Miller Jul 23, 2025

Now, the Premier League could be calling and Everton could yet make an impressive statement. Once a Liverpool target, Kubo may come back to haunt those at Anfield at the opposite end of Merseyside next season.

Previously dubbed “amazing” for his form by scout Jacek Kulig, Kubo is still just 24 years old and still has plenty more to come. There’s no doubt that he’d also be an instant upgrade on Jack Harrison.

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Alongside Barry, Kubo’s arrival would continue the much-needed attacking changes taking place at Everton this summer, as they step into a new era at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Fans have been left stunned at seeing Frank Lampard “bodied” by Gary Lineker, with an “outrageous” balding joke made at the Chelsea legend’s expense.

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Ex-Three Lions stars on Euro 2024 dutyFace of Blues legend dropped after jokeBBC presenter has vowed to say sorryWHAT HAPPENED?

Two former England internationals were on punditry duty as the BBC covered Germany’s 2-0 victory over Hungary at Euro 2024. At one point, those in the studio turned their gaze in the direction of a fan park that is positioned behind their vantage point, with their view of the Brandenburg Gate being blocked by a giant screen.

Advertisement(C)GettyImagesWHAT LINEKER SAID

Ex-England striker Lineker said: “I wish they'd take that screen down, then we'd see all the punters. But if they took the screen down, they wouldn't be able to watch the game.”

Lampard responded by saying: “The back of our heads… who wouldn't turn up for that?”

Lineker then chipped in with what is considered to be a swipe at Lampard’s thinning locks. He added: “No one wants to see the back of your head these days, do they Frank? That's for sure.”

WHAT THE FANS ARE SAYING

Having seen the smile on Lampard’s face drop as the realisation of what had been said began to sink in, fans were quick to air their shock on social media. Sharing a clip of said exchange, @Slaughts_1 said: “Gary Lineker has just absolutely bodied Frank Lampard on live TV. Lampards face is killing me. The fume.” @ladbible added that Lampard’s face was “pure gold”, while @Footballhub said the ex-Chelsea star’s expression is “killing me”. @ggdotcom6787 claimed that Lineker’s comment was “outrageous” and @JordanBrown91 said: “Can’t see myself getting tired of that clip of Lineker calling Lampard a slap head.”

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Lineker has responded to unwittingly going viral, telling podcast: “Obviously Frank’s slightly thinning, I’m slightly thinning, and I actually meant it about everyone. But when it came out, it came out a bit wrong. And you know Frank does that thing where he smiles, and then he suddenly doesn’t smile? Frank’s great fun, he won’t mind. I must admit, when I got back to the hotel I saw it on social media and thought, ‘Oh you f*cking idiot.’ I felt really bad, I’ll have to apologise. I will apologise because it wasn’t deliberate but I get how funny it was. Those things happen on live TV.”

Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Wrexham are targeting back-to-back-to-back promotions, according to midfield star James Jones.

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Red Dragons up into League OneHollywood owners continue to spendSights set on the ChampionshipGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

The Red Dragons have enjoyed a meteoric rise after making their way out of the National League and bouncing straight through League Two. They are now back in the third tier of English football for the first time in 20 years.

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More money has been spent improving Phil Parkinson’s squad ahead of that campaign and Jones admits that a place in the Championship has to be the ultimate target for all concerned. He said: “Not many teams can say they have won back-to-back promotions. I don’t know if anyone has done it three times but that has got to be the aim. To the world it is probably going to be a case of just consolidate, find our feet and see how we get on but everyone in-house will be thinking ‘let’s see if we can do it’. There’s no point playing if you are not trying to get promoted. We have got that mentality in the group. We have got a group that are used to winning and enjoy winning so who knows where that momentum can take you.”

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Wrexham have shuffled their pack after taking another step up the EFL ladder, with Jones conceding that departures are inevitable in the most ambitious of projects. He added: “Players have gone that came in at a similar time as me and they will be missed. I think Ben Tozer signed a day or two after me and we roomed together. He was at Wrexham literally the whole time I have been here and he was a big character; he played a big part in the club’s success. It is sad to see players like him move on but I suppose that is the nature of football and especially Wrexham because it is not a normal club in many respects.”

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WHAT NEXT?

Hollywood co-owners, with an award-winning documentary put in place, have ensured that Wrexham are not your standard Football League outfit. They have just enjoyed another pre-season tour of North America and will be raring to go when the 2024-25 campaign kicks off on August 10.

The “brutal experience” boasted by Cristiano Ronaldo means that Portugal boss Roberto Martinez is prepared to overlook some defensive deficiencies.

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All-time great ready for 11th international tournamentFresh from hitting 50 goals for Al-NassrCoach has no concerns regarding effort or workloadWHAT HAPPENED?

With Euro 2024 fast approaching, one of the pre-tournament favourites are mulling over what role their talismanic No.7 will play. Ronaldo may be one of the best to have ever graced a football field, but he is now 39 years of age and plying his club trade in the Saudi Pro League for Al-Nassr.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT MARTINEZ SAID

He has never been the most committed to defensive work either, despite often being required to press and close from the front, and that has led some to question whether he should be starting for his country at another major competition. Martinez has said of Ronaldo working for the greater good: “It is important for us to attack and defend with 11. Cristiano has brutal experience. There is no other with this experience. He is a player who knows very well how to use space in the area and is a special finisher, a special player. Cristiano's focus, reaction to loss and defensive positions were perfect during the games we played, the last 11 games. So for me, there are no doubts, there are no worries.”

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Ronaldo is also facing questions of whether he can handle the demands of tournament football, where the games come thick and fast, but Martinez added on an evergreen frontman that hit 50 goals across the 2023-24 campaign: “What happens with European and world tournaments that we need to evaluate every day, all games have different incidences. Cris had 51 games last season and had no problems playing all the games, he played many competitions, but the dates to club level are not the same as at the national team level. I think there is no problem, but we evaluate this in real-time and during the tournament.”

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Portugal will be in friendly action against the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday, as they complete their European Championship preparations, while competitive action will resume on June 18 when facing Czechia.

The changes come after Afghanistan lost all their World Cup 2019 matches under Gulbadin Naib, who had taken charge just before the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2019Rashid Khan will lead Afghanistan across all formats, while former captain Asghar Afghan has been appointed his deputy.The change comes after Afghanistan lost all their matches at the World Cup under Gulbadin Naib, with his decisions on the field during a thriller against Pakistan, in particular, coming under the scanner.Rashid, currently No. 1 in T20I bowling rankings and No. 8 in ODI rankings, had a forgettable World Cup too. In eight innings, the legspinner manage to pick up just six wickets at an average of 69.33 and a strike rate of 71.8. Against England at Manchester, he went for 110 from his nine overs – the joint second-most runs conceded by a bowler in an ODI.ALSO READ: The Cricket Monthly’s profile of Rashid Khan, Afghan, nomad, superstarRashid, 20, had led Afghanistan during the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe last year – they lost three of those four games – when Asghar was unavailable. He has also led Band-e-Amir Dragons and Kabul Zwanan 16 times in T20 cricket, with ten wins and six defeats.In an interview after Afghanistan’s World Cup ended, Naib told that Rashid was offered the ODI captaincy before the World Cup as well, but had declined the offer*. He was then named vice-captain to Naib in the ODI side and captain of the T20I side. Rahmat Shah was supposed to take over the Test team but he will relinquish the post without captaining a single game.Rashid and Mohammad Nabi, two of Afghanistan’s biggest players, publicly criticised Asghar’s removal prior to the World Cup, saying that it had the potential to disrupt the team’s performance.Apart from their dismal showing on the field, Afghanistan have also had to deal with the controversy surrounding Mohammad Shahzad, who was sent home by the ACB for being unfit, only for Shahzad to hit back saying that was not true.Then, the ACB removed Dawlat Ahmadzai from the senior selection committee and named him as head of the junior selection panel. In his place, Andy Moles, who was Afghanistan’s coach at the 2015 World Cup, was appointed to the senior selection panel along with Mujahid Zadran, who has worked as a coach with Afghanistan A.There also seemed to be a fallout between head coach Phil Simmons and Ahmadzai, leading Simmons to tweet: “I am in the middle of a World Cup and trying to get our team to perform to the level we expect but at the end of the World Cup I will tell the Afghanistan people about the part that Mr Dawlat Ahmadzai had to play in our preparation and his part in the dismissal of #AsgharAfghan.”Later fast bowler Aftab Alam was withdrawn from the squad following allegations of serious misbehaviour with a female guest at the team hotel in Southampton and was subsequently handed one-year suspension.*12.30amGMT, July 13: The story was updated to reflect Naib had spoken to BBC Pashto

Cody Gakpo has revealed what it was like to work with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and the valuable lesson he learned from the German.

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Klopp signed Gakpo from PSVDutchman hails manager's influenceLearned vital lesson from Liverpool bossWHAT HAPPENED?

Gakpo has paid tribute to Klopp after waving an emotional farewell to the German at the end of the season. Klopp brought Gakpo to Liverpool in January 2023 from PSV and the Dutchman has already picked up his first trophy with the Reds, winning the League Cup back in February. The trophy was also Klopp's last as Liverpool manager and one the German described as the "most special" of his time at the club.

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Klopp's impact at Liverpool will be felt for a long time to come after also winning the Premier League and the Champions League during his nine years at Anfield. Gakpo has revealed just how important Klopp was to the players and the one "gift" the German gave him that has helped him enormously in his career.

WHAT GAKPO SAID

He told : "If you look at the impact he has had on the club, the fans, the players, many of whom have experienced him for much longer than I have these one and a half years: that has been very valuable to everyone,” he said.

“The most important thing I learned from him? That you don’t have to prove anything to anyone but yourself. When that really hit me? That is not a specific moment, but it is a gift that he was able to trigger us as players in a different way every time, to give just an extra percentage or one and a half. That was special.”

GOAL WHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL

Arne Slot has replaced Klopp at the helm and has big shoes to fill at Anfield. Gakpo says he's yet to speak to his new manager but added that when he came up against the Dutchman previously with Feyenoord "he always made it very difficult for us at PSV."

Chelsea defender Tiago Silva has a blunt message for his Blues team-mates ahead of his Stamford Bridge farewell.

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Silva will leave Chelsea following clash against BournemouthBlues again missed out on the top four39-year-old told team-mates they must 'do more' WHAT HAPPENED?

Silva has pulled no punches in a farewell message to his Blues team-mates, telling them that their performance this season 'is not worthy of Chelsea'. The 39-year-old is preparing for a Stamford Bridge swansong on Sunday afternoon and paid tribute to the club's fans.

AdvertisementWHAT SILVA SAID

He said: "Thiago knows what it means to wear a Chelsea shirt, you know. And if I have a message to send to the boys that are here today, I hope they understand that everything they did to get to Chelsea has to be worth it. Because the season we're having is not worthy of Chelsea. It's not. And I think they have to do more next year, they need to do more."

SILVA'S TRIBUTE TO CHELSEA FANS

Silva also paid tribute to the Chelsea fans, adding: "If you look at the games, the fans never left the team, never. We were in ninth place, eighth, right? And the fans were always there.

"They booed us off a little at the end of the match, but they're always there in the stands, always with 40,000, 45,000. If we were somewhere else, they could throw rocks at us – we know that happens in our country.

"So these boys need to be aware that Chelsea has to fight for the top positions. If we take a little of our ego and put it in favour of the team, I think it will work. If we don't do that, the situation will hardly change unfortunately."

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Chelsea host Bournemouth on Sunday with an outside chance of a top-five finish. The Blues would need to beat the Cherries and see Tottenham lose at Sheffield United. However, Newcastle United can overtake them in sixth place, should Chelsea lose and the Magpies win at Brentford.

They were lighting up stadiums in India as opening partners three months ago. All that will be forgotten on Tuesday when England meet Australia at Lord’s

Melinda Farrell at Lord's24-Jun-2019Three months ago, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were lighting up the IPL with a record-breaking partnership for Sunrisers Hyderabad. On Tuesday their bromance will be forgotten as they plot each other’s downfall when England and Australia meet at Lord’s. Such is the nature of the modern game where players regularly swap T20 franchise jerseys for national colours.Bairstow has used his column to question the fairness of Australians asking fans to cease booing Warner and Steven Smith in light of previous calls by the then Australia coach Darren Lehmann for fans to show less charity towards England players, Stuart Broad in particular. While that may seem incongruous after their feats as team-mates in India, Aaron Finch says it’s a natural part of the T20 era.”I think that’s the great thing about domestic tournaments around the world is that you get an opportunity to play with guys you might have had perception on, just from playing against them, about how they play, what kind of bloke they are, or something like that,” Finch said.”I think that’s opened up everyone’s eyes to [the idea that] 99 per cent of people that you play with are good blokes, regardless of what tournament it is or who you’re playing for. But that’s pretty easy to flick back into international mode, no doubt. It’s a game representing your country. There’s a lot of pride on the line. There’s a couple of points in a World Cup, which is so tightly contested.”David Warner and Aaron Finch walk out to bat•Associated PressFinch has in some ways had a similar, albeit reversed, relationship with Warner; they have been opponents when playing for their states in domestic competitions in Australia and T20 tournaments abroad, while also combining forces to form a dynamic and aggressive opening partnership for Australia.”Yeah, I think a bit like anyone who plays with Davey,” Finch said. “They see a side of him and they play against him and they see one when they play with him, and he’s a great man. He’s someone that obviously Jonny and him have had some run-ins on the ground, too. It’s good to see that when you do get an opportunity to get to know somebody, that you take that advantage.”The other facet of the T20 era is that players come back from tournaments into the national side with far more knowledge about franchise teammates’ strengths and weaknesses, something Finch actively aims to exploit.”Absolutely,” Finch said. “Everyone is involved in sort of planning meetings and things like that. You get an opportunity to talk, whether it’s in a structured meeting or over coffee or dinner or a beer or whatever it might be. I think as cricketers, we’re all nuffies at the end of the day for the game; so you’re always talking about the game and coming up with different strategies and things that you’ve seen over time.”A lot of times, that changes. When a guy has come in as a youngster into international cricket, their game changes dramatically over a period of time, so you always have to be adapting, and that’s what’s a great thing about these domestic T20 comps, is that you get to play with so many players that you wouldn’t have had the access to in the past, that you do get to see more of them.”

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes paid a heartfelt tribute to Toni Kroos as Germany legend announced retirement.

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Kroos announced retirement from footballEuro 2024 will be his last dance Bruno Fernandes paid tribute WHAT HAPPENED?

On Tuesday, the Real Madrid midfielder announced that he has decided to hang up his boots after Germany's Euro 2024 campaign. As Kroos brings the curtain down on an illustrious career, United and Portugal star Fernandes paid a heartwarming tribute to the iconic player.

AdvertisementWHAT BRUNO FERNANDES SAID

The Red Devils midfielder reposted Kroos' Instagram post as a story and wrote, "One of the best in this generation! What a pleasure it was seeing you playing all these years."

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Earlier in the season, some reports suggested that the German international would extend his stay at Santiago Bernabeu by at least one more year, however, the 34-year-old ended all speculations by announcing he would be calling time on his professional career. Kroos has won a total of 21 trophies with Los Blancos and has an opportunity to add one more Champions League title to his cabinet as they face Borussia Dortmund in the final on June 1.

GettyWHAT NEXT FOR TONI KROOS?

The player will be next seen in action on Saturday as Carlo Ancelotti's side play their final La Liga game against Real Betis at home.