Lamine Yamal sung praises of Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick when reflecting upon his relationship with the German.

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Yamal praises Flick's leadership qualitiesRelationship not affected by age gapCalled Flick among the best coachesFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Lamine Yamal has described his relationship with Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick and explained why he was thoroughly impressed with the German manager's personality and leadership skills. Yamal also indirectly highlighted how Flick has played a part in helping him become one of world's best players at just 17 years of age.

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It is well-known that Flick really admires Yamal and has been very protective of one of his most effective players. Whether it's taking Yamal off a bit early when the game has been put to bed to afford him some rest, or singing his praises in press conferences, Flick has brought his managerial acumen to the fore.

Despite the fact that the former Bayern Munich manager is more than three times Yamal's age, the La Masia graduate feels no awkwardness with his head coach. Yamal also mentioned that Flick shows the same level of affection and care for all of his players.

WHAT LAMINE YAMAL SAID

"Very good from the start," Yamal began when Mundo Deportivo asked him about his relationship with Flick.

"Before I came here in the summer, he was at the Euros and I was talking to him. Honestly, I was really surprised by the affection he has for all of us; he tries to talk to everyone," he added.

"He tries to explain the reasons behind things, whether he’s substituting you or you’re not playing. Anything. He tries to explain things. He makes an effort to ensure we’re all doing well, and I think he’s one of the best coaches I’ve had. I haven’t had many so far, but honestly, he’s a ten."

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR LAMINE YAMAL?

The 17-year-old will be expected to feature in the starting lineup in Barcelona's next game on Saturday, February 22, when they visit Canary Islands to take on Las Palmas in what appears to be a tricky LaLiga fixture.

As has often been the case for Sri Lanka in the past year, the bowlers took the game by the collar, and the batters then let the match slip. Having restricted Australia to 149 for 9 on a decent batting deck, Sri Lanka lost two wickets in the first three overs, and never really recovered. They’d been chasing 143, after an over of the chase was lost to rain.Australia’s quicks had made those initial inroads, but Adam Zampa then sealed the match through the middle overs, claiming 3 for 18 from his four overs, to precipitate a collapse that saw Sri Lanka lose 5 wickets for 26 in 5.2 overs. Josh Hazlewood, who had taken the first wicket of the innings, claimed three more late in the innings to finish with figures of 4 for 12.The hosts too had lost wickets rapidly in the second half of their innings, but had two solid performances that carried them to their score – Ben McDermott’s 53 off 41, his maiden international fifty, at the top of the innings, and Marcus Stoinis 30 off 17 in the middle overs.Gunathilaka and Avishka hole outSri Lanka’s top three just couldn’t get the boundaries away in the powerplay. There were plays-and-misses, defensive pushes, good shots that found fielders, and a steady building up of frustration. Mitchell Starc’s first over cost only one run. Hazlewood only conceded one off the bat in the first five balls of the next over. With Sri Lanka on just three runs after 11 deliveries, Danushka Gunathilaka attempted to blast Hazlewood over the leg side, but succeeded only in mis-hitting it to midwicket.Two overs later, Avishka Fernando cracked Pat Cummins over the deep midwicket boundary for six, but sent a high catch behind the wicket attempting to repeat the shot. In the end, Sri Lanka mustered only 30 runs for the loss of those two wickets, by the end of the Powerplay. The required rate had climbed past 8.5 by this stage.Zampa and Hazlewood rip through the middle orderPathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka put on Sri Lanka’s best partnership of the match, even if their 43 together took 41 balls to make. But as was the case right through the World Cup last year, Zampa didn’t take long to sap what little momentum the opposition was building. He dismissed Nissanka first, having him caught by an advancing wide long on, before getting Asalanka to hole out to deep square leg. In the last over of his spell, he got Wanindu Hasaranga to spoon one to cover too.Sri Lanka’s lower-middle and lower order needed to hit out desperately, but Hazlewood is hard to clobber. Dasun Shanaka and Dushmantha Chameera were both caught off top-edges, as the batters tried to clear leg-side boundaries. Chamika Karunaratne, was out caught and bowled when a leading edge popped up down the pitch, and Hazlewood took a good low catch. Between them, Zampa and Hazlewood claimed seven wickets.Australia close poorly after McDermott fiftyAustralia were never explosive at any stage of their innings, but thanks to McDermott’s solidity, they had got to 75 for 1 after 10 overs, and seemed headed for a total in the vicinity of 170, given the firepower to come. Sri Lanka repeatedly dented Australia’s advance through this period, however, with Karunaratne and Hasaranga striking twice apiece, in the space of five overs.There was a brief Australia resurgence while Stoinis was at the crease, but Binura Fernando and Chameera both had double-wicket overs in the death. Sri Lanka conceded only nine runs and took four wickets in the last three overs of Australia’s innings.

It’s been a bizarre season for Tottenham Hotspur so far this year.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have looked hopeless at times, such as in their losses to Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town, but simply electric in others, like the wins over Manchester United and Aston Villa.

However, the North Londoners’ 4-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday was so emphatic and so incredibly impressive that it could just be the catalyst for them to now go on a genuine run of good form.

That said, for all the brilliant displays on the side of the Lilywhites, there were plenty of abject ones on the side of the hosts, including former Spurs ace Kyle Walker, although as bad as he’s been this season, there is a former Tottenham defender who has been even worse.

Kyle Walker's dreadful season

Walker left for Spurs in the summer of 2017 to join City for a whopping £53m, which was a record for a full-back at the time, and while there was an adaptation time for the Englishman, it would be fair to say it’s been a move that’s since worked out.

For example, in the seven and a half years since, the 34-year-old has made 311 appearances, in which he’s won six league titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, two Community Shields, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and, of course, the Champions League.

However, time catches up with us all, and to say the former Spurs ace has deteriorated this season would be a massive understatement.

His decline was on full show against his old club on Saturday when he looked miles off the pace and was comfortably beaten by Timo Werner for the Lilywhites’ fourth goal.

Moreover, former professional Tony Cascarino described the Englishman’s performance as being similar to when Gareth Bale ran “Maicon, the great Brazilian full-back ragged,” and that it was a similar situation against Brighton & Hove Albion’s Kaoru Mitoma earlier this month.

In all, it’s hard to look at Walker’s performances this season and not come to the conclusion that his career at the top level is coming to an end. Yet, there is another former Spurs defender who is younger and is having an even worse season than him this year.

The former Spurs player who's been worse than Walker

So, to cut straight to the point, the player in question is fellow full-back Emerson Royal.

The 25-year-old, who was described as a “liability” during his time with Spurs by Jamie O’Hara, joined Italian giants AC Milan in the summer for around £13m, in a transfer that Italian football writer Kaustubh Pandey described as “a deal for the ages,” but not for the right reasons.

Instead, he was shocked at how much the Italian giants were willing to pay for the Brazilian defender, as aside from very few glimpses here and there, he’s been dreadful since leaving N17.

For example, in the club’s game against Juventus over the weekend, Football Italia gave him a paltry 4/10 match rating, while he didn’t do much better in the clash with Cagliari either, with Gazzetta dello Sport giving him a 5.5/10.

In all, the São Paulo-born ace has made 14 appearances for Milan, 12 of which have been starts, of which six have ended with victories, three have ended in draws, and five have been defeats.

Appearances

14

Wins

6

Draws

3

Losses

5

Points per Game

1.50

Goals

0

Assists

0

Ultimately, it’s hard to look at Emerson’s time at the San Siro as anything other than a complete disaster, especially when experts like James Horncastle write that his transfer to Milan ‘looks like the biggest donation in the history of Fondazione Milan as the club charitably tries to make his wish to become a footballer come true.’

Therefore, while Walker is having an undeniably poor season, another former Spurs full-back is having an even worse one.

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Brandon King is among the next generation of West Indies batters•PCB

Phil Simmons has echoed his limited-overs captain Kieron Pollard’s analysis that West Indies “have a batting problem” but insists he is not worrying about his job as head coach after a shock 2-1 ODI series defeat at home to Ireland.West Indies were bowled out for 269, 229 and 212 in their three ODIs against Ireland at Sabina Park in Jamaica, with Pollard describing their scores in the last two games as “totally unacceptable”, adding that “overall, holistically, I think we have a batting problem”.Speaking from Barbados ahead of West Indies’ five-match T20I series against England, which starts on Saturday, Simmons said that his batters were failing to translate their progress in training into results on the pitch, but stressed that scapegoating players already in the squad would only serve to mask the systemic failings to develop them at a domestic level.Kensington Oval at 50% capacity

CWI have launched ticket sales for the T20I series against England with a strict 50% limit on capacity due to Covid-19 regulations in Barbados.

Only fully-vaccinated fans will be permitted entry, and those in the ‘party stand’ will also require negative antigen tests, while all fans will be encouraged to socially distance and wear masks.

Tickets are half-price for Barbados nationals and CWI said there was “a high chance” all games would sell out.

All five games will be played at Kensington Oval, with the first T20I on January 22.

“It’s there to see: our batting quality is not there,” Simmons said. “Everything comes from lower down: if you’re coming into our squad and you’re averaging 30s when you come to the top level, you’re not going to average 40 or 50.”The holistic approach means that all through the ranks, all the way from the Under-19s, we have to be looking at preparing people to play at the international level. Averaging 20s and 30s at the domestic level doesn’t prepare you for the international level.”How much the players are assessing the situation and playing the situation… it’s not really happening. Yes, [Sabina Park] was a difficult pitch to bat on for all three days at the start [of the innings], but we got through most of the difficult period and then things went astray. It’s about bad shot selection … that’s a huge part of the batting failure.”Simmons, who was re-appointed as head coach in October 2019 and oversaw West Indies’ failed defence of the T20 World Cup he won with them in 2016, insisted that he was only focused on improving the players at his disposal, not his future in the role.”If I start worrying about my job then I have problems,” he said. “I am worrying about the success of the team and I am worrying about how we get players to be playing their roles. That’s all I’m concerned about. You’re always under pressure as coaches when the team’s not doing well, in any sport you play, and when the team is doing well, the coaches are forgotten. That’s the nature of the job.”I enjoy it everyday. My role is seeing the players and working with them, trying to bring out different things in them. To be honest, when we practise, there’s a lot coming out, there’s a lot being shown. It’s just how they adjust and assess the situation when they cross the rope … because that’s where it’s falling down.Related

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“Every ball is a situation in the game and we’ve got to be able to assess that situation and know how to play. If you’re 20 for 3, you play differently to if you’re 40 for 0. These are the situations that we need to highlight and need to assess properly.”West Indies’ squad for the England T20Is contains only six players who made appearances during their Super 12s exit at the T20 World Cup, with a handful of young players including Dominic Drakes, Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith included. The trio all featured in December’s 3-0 series defeat in Pakistan – where the squad was depleted due to a Covid-19 outbreak – and Simmons said that he hoped they would continue to bring “energy” to the group.”There’s a lot of difference from the World Cup, as you saw in Pakistan,” he said. “Yes, we lost the three games, but there was a lot more energy, a lot more enthusiasm and that’s the same with this group for this series against England. There’s an influx of maybe six or seven guys who were not there against Ireland and there’s a lot of energy coming in.”It [would be] a difficult situation if we had the same team from the World Cup but we have a lot of new faces and a lot of guys who want to make an impression and be a part of the team going forward. From that point of view, it’s not as difficult as it might seem.”We as a cricketing nation always have players who have the ability to hit the ball over the fence and it’s something I don’t want to take away from my players, but I also want my players to be clinical. In situations where you don’t need to do that, well, we must be able to get ones, to get twos.”[I want them] to bowl yorkers at the end instead of missing them, and hitting them more consistently than we are right now. There’s a few things that we haven’t been doing properly and we’re working very hard on them. The important thing now is for the youngsters to come in and hone their skills and be able to execute them in the middle, not just in practice.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in signing a £12 million-rated midfielder whose profile has been likened to Chelsea star Moises Caicedo, according to a recent report. There will be a lot of smiles around Molineux for the next two weeks, as Gary O’Neil’s men picked up their first Premier League win of the season on Saturday.

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Fans had to wait 11 games, but they claimed their first league win over the weekend, as they beat Southampton 2-0 with relative ease. It is a result that leaves Wolves on six points and just two behind Ipswich Town in 17th place.

Pressure was and is still on O’Neil – It has recently emerged that Luton Town boss Rob Edwards is an option for Wolves should a managerial change be needed. But with draws against Brighton and Crystal Palace and now a win against the Saints, he can head into this international break a little calmer.

Edwards would be an interesting choice, as Luton are currently struggling at the bottom end of the Championship, and he is an unpopular figure among the Hatters fanbase. But while talk continues over O’Neil’s future, Wolves have their eye on a player who would no doubt improve their midfield options.

Wolves plotting transfer raid for Liverpool outcast

According to Caught Offside, Wolves are interested in signing Wataru Endo from Liverpool, as the midfielder is looking for a move away from Anfield. The 31-year-old joined the Merseyside club from Bundesliga side Stuttgart in August 2023 and is still under contract until 2027.

Endo featured heavily under Jürgen Klopp last season, playing 43 times in all competitions, scoring two goals along the way, but the same cannot be said this season, as he’s yet to start a game in the Premier League.

This report states that top European clubs are keeping an eye on his situation, and they could be able to provide him with an exit in the coming weeks and months. Wolves are one of those clubs interested in signing the midfielder, who, when looking at FBRef, has Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo listed as one of his statistical comparisons.

Endo

Caicedo

Apps

29

35

Starts

20

33

Goals

1

1

xG

0.5

0.4

Goals per 90

0.05

0.03

Assists

0

3

xAG

1.7

2.6

Progressive passes

101

173

Shots (On target)

3 (30%)

4 (30.8%)

Shots per 90

0.52

0.41

Passes attempted

1315

2119

Passes completed

88%

90%

Tackles (Won)

48 (28)

91 (46)

Interceptions

20

37

Endo, who is valued at €15-18 million, which is roughly £12-14 million by Liverpool, is looking for a new club as he is unhappy with his playing time at Anfield.

Alexander Isak's absence from Newcastle's squad to take on Liverpool on Wednesday night has been explained.

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• Isak missing Newcastle's game at Liverpool
• Swede has been in superb form
• Absence is explained

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Magpies announced their team for the Premier League clash with Isak nowhere to be seen. They then followed up by explaining that the striker as a minor groin injury.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Isak has been one of the star players across the entire Premier League, scoring 19 goals so far this season. He netted twice in Sunday's 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest and is key to Eddie Howe's sides chances of qualification for Europe and in next month's Carabao Cup final.

• WHAT NEWCASTLE SAID

  On X, Newcastle said: "Alexander Isak misses out through a slight groin problem this evening."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ISAK AND NEWCASTLE?

  Howe will hope to have his talisman back involved for Sunday's FA Cup clash against Brighton, before they head to West Ham in the Premier League the following Monday. The EFL Cup final is then on Sunday, March 16.

Leeds United moved back to the top of the Championship table on Wednesday night with a comfortable win over Luton Town at Elland Road.

The Whites secured all three points in style, with a 3-0 victory, and kicked it off with an impressive, Paulo Di Canio-esque, volley from full-back Sam Byram.

Joel Piroe made it 2-0 just before half-time with a close-range poacher’s finish, before Dan James wrapped up the win with a terrific lobbed finish off the bench in the second half.

One of the team’s top performers on the night was not directly involved in any of those goals, however, as Ao Tanaka once again impressed in midfield.

Ao Tanaka's performance against Luton

The Japan international was constantly available to his teammates in the middle of the park and ended the 90 minutes with an eye-catching 114 out of 120 passes completed.

Tanaka, who had 135 touches of the ball, was always looking to take responsibility to progress the play for his side and played his passes quickly to put Luton on the back foot.

The former Fortuna Dusseldorf star was also strong out of possession. He won five of his seven ground duels, although lost his only aerial contest, to make three tackles and two interceptions to cut out Luton attacks.

These statistics illustrate how important he was to the side in and out of possession, despite not being directly involved in any major moments.

There was one Leeds player, however, who provided similar qualities on and off the ball and was even better than Tanaka – centre-back Pascal Struijk.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

Expand Collapse Pascal Struijk's performance against Luton

The Whites captain was the real hero for Daniel Farke’s side on the night with his terrific showing at the heart of the defence, as he showcased his ability on both sides of the game.

His biggest moment in the match came just after Leeds had taken the lead through Byram, as the defender incredibly cleared a shot that seemed destined for the back of the net off his own goal line, after it had been dinked over Illan Meslier

The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Graham Smyth described it as an “acrobatic” clearance and started his post with “WOW”, which was also the collective response heard from the crowd afterward.

Vs Luton

Pascal Struijk

Ao Tanaka

Touches

131

135

Passes completed

116

114

Long passes completed

5/7

5/7

Duels won

8/11

5/8

Dribbled past

0x

1x

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Struijk also completed more passes and won more duels than Tanaka, whilst he was not dribbled past a single time by the Luton players.

These statistics show that the Dutch titan dominated the game with his defensive work and helped to control and dictate the match with his use of the ball.

Couple that with his miraculous clearance to prevent the away side from drawing level at 1-0 up and that is why he was Farke’s real hero and even better than Tanaka on Wednesday night.

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علق أسطورة نادي آرسنال، بول ميرسون، على مستقبل الثلاثي محمد صلاح، فيرجيل فان دايك وترينت ألكسندر أرنولد، مع ليفربول، في ظل اقتراب عقودهم من الانتهاء.

وتنتهي عقود الثلاثي في نهاية الموسم الحالي يوم 30 يونيو المقبل، وليس هناك أي اتفاق مع ليفربول على الاستمرار.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ديني: محمد صلاح سبب تأخير تمديد عقد فان دايك مع ليفربول

وتحدث ميرسون عن وجهة نظره عبر مقاله في شبكة “سكاي سبورتس”، وقال: “لقد كنت أقول ذلك منذ ثمانية أو تسعة أشهر، لا أتوقع أيًا من محمد صلاح، ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد وفيرجيل فان ديك يجددون مع ليفربول”.

وتابع: “لأنني ببساطة لا أعرف لماذا لم يوقعوا حتى الآن، لماذا تستمر في خسارة 80 ألف جنيه إسترليني أسبوعيًا، أسبوعًا بعد أسبوع طوال الـ18 شهرًا الماضية؟”.

وأضاف: “سأكون مندهشًا إذا استمر الثلاثة مع ليفربول، إلا إذا كان النادي مستعدًا لمنحهم 30 مليونًا أو 40 مليونًا في حساباتهم البنكية”.

وواصل: “إذا أراد ليفربول الاستمرار في النجاح والمنافسة بقوة مرة أخرى في الموسم المقبل، يجب عليهم الاحتفاظ بالثنائي محمد صلاح وفان دايك، على افتراض أن أرنولد قد غادر بالفعل (إلى ريال مدريد)”.

واستمر: “أعتقد أن محمد صلاح وفان دايك هما الأفضل في مراكزهما، إذا كان بإمكاني شراء أي لاعب جديد، سأفعل كل شيء لشرائهما”.

وزاد: “إذا خسرت فان دايك وأرنولد، فأنت خسرت نصف الدفاع، وإذا خسرت محمد صلاح، فأنت تفقد 30 إلى 40 هدفًا في الموسم، ومن سيتعاقد معه سيكون سعيد الحظ لأنه سيضمن هذا العدد من الأهداف”.

واستفاض: “عندما يكون لديك هؤلاء اللاعبين بتلك الموهبة الكبيرة وبهذا المستوى الرائع، يجب عليك كناد ألا تتركهم بلا عقود على الأقل عامين أو عامين ونصف وتقول علينا التفاوض الآن”.

واستمر: “لا يمكن أن تترك الأمر هكذا حتى يصبح لديهم 32 أو 33 عامًا دون أن يرغب بهم أحدًا، فهم أعمدة أساسية في الفريق”.

وأتم: “من الناحية الرياضية، هذه جريمة، لأنك تسمح لثلاثة من أفضل اللاعبين في العالم بأن تنتهي عقودهم، وقد يرحلون بدون مقابل، ويذهبون إلى أي مكان يريدونه”.

With just over four months to go to the Euros, Sarina Wiegman's side made a huge statement on Wednesday by defeating the world champions

England's Lionesses made it clear in the build-up to Wednesday's Nations League encounter with Spain that this was not a fixture that was about revenge, after their last meeting ended in a 1-0 loss in the World Cup final. What about a chance to send a statement, then? After 18 months of up-and-down results since that showpiece event, and with little over four months until their European title defence begins, Sarina Wiegman's side had the opportunity to remind the continent of their top quality in this fixture – and they took it gladly, beating the world champions 1-0 thanks to Jess Park's first-half goal.

It was an intriguing affair, with La Roja starting the better of the two before their hosts grew into things. After Lucia Garcia had smacked the crossbar and Claudia Pina had fired an effort just over Hannah Hampton's goal, it was time for England to pose a threat, and while it was Lauren James who spearheaded that, it was an enterprising run from Alessia Russo and an opportunistic finish from Park which broke the deadlock just past the half-hour mark.

With the same 10 outfield players who dropped points in a disappointing fashion in Portugal on Friday, the Lionesses nipped at Spain's heels in midfield, chose the right moments to press and didn't get dragged out of shape by their movement. They conceded chances, sure, but they were playing the reigning world champions, and when Spain did breach England's back line, they found Hampton in fine form to keep them out.

It was a night for the home team and their fans to savour, and perhaps their best performance in any fixture since that run to the World Cup final almost two years ago. England have not always been convincing since that tournament, but maybe this was a sign that they can tune up just in time for this summer's European Championship.

GOAL rates England's players from Wembley Stadium…

Getty Images SportGoalkeeper & Defence

Hannah Hampton (8/10):

Had one iffy moment in possession early on, but that was it in an otherwise strong display. Made a few great stops, with an outstretched leg to deny Garcia particularly impressive.

Lucy Bronze (8/10):

Supported the attack really well, always offering a option for a pass, and pressed well when England turned the ball over high up the pitch.

Leah Williamson (7/10):

Made good decisions to ensure she was always in a good position at the back and not dragged around by Spain's movement.

Millie Bright (8/10):

Intervened effectively when necessary, including when Paralluelo was through on goal, and sprayed some nice passes around. Was like a magnet to the ball in the latter stages as England saw the game out.

Niamh Charles (7/10):

Grew into the game, with some nice runs and contributions to the attack balanced out by some solid defensive moments.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportMidfield

Keira Walsh (6/10):

Made a few timely interceptions to get England going on the attack, but also had a couple of lapses in concentration in big moments.

Grace Clinton (7/10):

Nipped in a few times to dispossess Spain in good areas.

Ella Toone (7/10):

Smart with when to press, when to cut lines of passes off and when to sit back. Was always looking to run in behind, but the pass didn't come.

AFPAttack

Jess Park (7/10):

Didn't shy away from a challenge out of possession and was always aware in the final third, particularly for her goal.

Alessia Russo (7/10):

Her direct and confident run into the box provided the goal-scoring opportunity for Park, who made it 1-0.

Lauren James (8/10):

Added a different dimension to England's game with how she could pick up and run with the ball to unsettle Spain. Honoured her defensive duties brilliantly, too.

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Nikita Parris (6/10):

Made her first England appearance for 834 days when she replaced Russo just past the hour. Offered a good outlet on the counter as Spain piled the pressure on and never stopped running.

Chloe Kelly (6/10):

Also on for a good half hour, and winning her 50th cap, but was the quieter of the two subs going forward. Put in plenty of effort defensively to help England keep their clean sheet, though.

Jess Naz (N/A):

Introduced in the final few minutes to help inject fresh legs into England's attempts to see the game out.

Sarina Wiegman (8/10):

Stuck to her guns with the same 10 outfield players who succumbed to a disappointing draw with Portugal on Friday and her faith was repaid. Drilled her team well with the press and that allowed England to put Spain on the back foot often, and in positions that were uncomfortable for the visitors.

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Se contra o São Bernardo, na última quarta-feira (16), o Corinthians teve o ‘quinteto fantástico’, com Giuliano, Paulinho, Renato Augusto, Róger Guedes e Willian, foi escalado como titular, neste sábado (19) somente Guedes iniciará jogando diante do Botafogo-SP, fora de casa, pela oitava rodada do Campeonato Paulista, no estádio Santa Cruz, em Ribeirão Preto.

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O treinador interino corintiano Fernando Lázaro, que vai para a sua quarta partida consecutiva no comando do clube, e ainda não perdeu, promoveu a escalação inicial diante do Pantera com muitas surpresas e estreias nas duas laterais.

Pela ala direita, João Pedro fará a sua partida como titular desde que chegou ao Timão, no ano passado. Contra o Bernô, no último meio de semana, o camisa 2 entrou aos 29 minutos e foi, durante apenas 20 em campo, o melhor driblador do clube alvinegro no jogo, com três acertos em três tentativas. Já do lado esquerdo Bruno Melo, contratado por empréstimo vindo do Fortaleza no início da temporada, terá a oportunidade de fazer os seus primeiros minutos com a camisa corintiana.

O lateral-direito Fagner, o zagueiro Gil e o atacante Jô são desfalques, porque fazem trabalho de controle de carga. O meia Gabriel Pereira segue em isolamento por ter sido contaminado com a Covid-19.

Outras surpresas são as entradas de Roni, Luan e Adson no time titular. Todos eles ainda não haviam sido titulares nesta temporada.

Gustavo Mosquito ganha nova chance como titular. O camisa 19 havia começado entre os resarvas nas duas últimas partidas do Timão, contra Mirassol e São Bernardo. A mesma situação ocorre com o volante Cantillo.

A escalação titular do Corinthians contra o Botafogo-SP é: Cássio; João Pedro, João Victor, Raul Gustavo e Bruno Melo; Cantillo, Roni e Luan; Gustavo Mosquito, Róger Guedes e Adson.