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Channel 4
23 minutes ago
- Channel 4
Lionesses parade through London crowds after Euros victory
Tens of thousands of England fans turned out in central London this afternoon to cheer on the Lionesses who celebrated their Euro 2025 victory with an open top bus parade. Jubilant supporters cheered and waved England flags as the team drove past on their way to a ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace. Captain Leah Williamson declared their story was 'not done yet'. Producer: Ed Gove Editor: Einab Leshetz
Scottish Sun
24 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Former SPFL player's bizarre new career as he hopes to lead his country to World Cup glory in different sport
PAR FOR THE COURSE Former SPFL player's bizarre new career as he hopes to lead his country to World Cup glory in different sport Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HE was once considered to be one of the most exciting young talents of his generation when Liverpool came calling in the early 2000s. But by the time he rocked up at Dundee United at the age of 31, injuries had robbed him of his promising career. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Florent Sinama-Pongolle struggled with injuries at Dundee United Credit: Keith Campbell - The Sun Glasgow 3 Florent Sinama-Pongolle was a promising talent at Liverpool before injuries Credit: Getty 3 Florent Sinama-Pongolle is now involved in professional FootGolf Credit: INSTAGRAM @flosinama_pongolle4 Now, almost a decade after that ill-fated spell at Tannadice, Florent Sinama-Pongolle is combining his natural talent and love of the game, with something that's a little less taxing on the body. As well as being a pundit on Canal +, the 40-year-old former France international is now helping to develop footgolf in his country. He is the coach of the French footgolf team, who are hoping to retain their World Cup title next year in Mexico after success in Florida in 2023. And a recent post on his Instagram shows he can still play a bit as well! As he holed a shot from distance with precision and perfect weight at the Golf de Saint Donat in Cannes. He told Quotidien Du Sport earlier this year: "It's a sport that can be very frustrating because, on an 18-hole card, you can play really well for 17 holes and, if you mess up on the last one, it ruins everything. "So, to be consistent, you have to manage your nerves." A feeling most golfers and footgolf players alike can relate to! Sinama-Pongolle started out his football career in France at Le Havre before catching the attention of Liverpool and then-boss Gerard Houllier. He famously helped Liverpool win the Champions League in 2005 - even if injury prevented him from actually playing in the final - after his significant intervention against Olympiakos to keep them in the tournament. In an nomadic career after leaving the Reds, he played for Recreativo Huelva and Atletico Madrid in Spain, before moving to Sporting Lisbon in Portugal. He had unsuccessful loan spells with Zaragoza in Spain and Saint-Etienne in France, before switching to Rostov in Russia in 2012, where he ruptured his ACL in his right knee. Where are they now: The unusual careers of former footballers He had a brief spell in MLS with Chicago Fire before joining Lausanne-Sport though he never made an appearance after rupturing his ACL in his right knee for a second time during a training session. Then came his spell with Dundee United in the 2015-16 season after Mixu Paatelainien brought him in following a successful trial. But it never worked out after his three cruciate injuries, and he made just four appearances in his six-month spell as United were relegated from the top flight. He then moved to Thailand and played for Chainat Hornbill, winning the second division in 2017, before finishing his career for Saint-Pierroise on the island of Reunion where he started out as youngster. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
How would Liverpool fit Ekitike and Isak in the same team?
Liverpool's summer window was already the most curious we've ever seen from a Premier League Bundesliga stars en masse and swapping out both full-backs implies a major tactical shift that will emphatically end the Jurgen Klopp era and herald the dawn of a new bringing in Newcastle's Alexander Isak would push Liverpool's transfer business into unprecedented territory, having already also signed Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht since the age of good old-fashioned 4-4-2s - when little-and-large strike partnerships were borderline mandatory - have we seen a top club sign two elite number nines in the same exactly is Arne Slot thinking?Here are five ways it might work… An ultra-narrow 4-2-3-1 with Wirtz, Ekitike and Salah behind Isak All of our theories here are going to require some square pegs in round holes - except this could deploy a squeezed 4-2-3-1, in which the nominal wingers Salah and Ekitike are so narrow they operate more as number 10s either side of Florian Wirtz, with the width then provided by two flying Frimpong is a very attacking right-back, whose presence is likely to push Salah more infield anyway, while Ekitike tends to drop into 10-ish positions even when starting as a nine, as we see in the graphic below. This system would allow for fluid movement among that trio of number 10s. For example, when one of Salah and Ekitike drifts wide the other would remain narrow alongside Wirtz, creating the box-shape (with Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch) that is so important in modern Premier League other moments, Ekitike or Salah may drive ahead into more of a centre-forward role next to Isak, in turn shuffling the box up a line, connecting with two number 10s behind is arguably the most dynamic formation Slot could use to get all four players into his starting XI - but it would be quite a departure from what went let's look at a more conservative idea... Ekitike replacing Diaz as left-winger in Slot's conventional 4-2-3-1 The simpler thing to do is fully convert Ekitike into a Luis Diaz replacement, assuming the Colombia forward completes his move to Bayern has played just nine games (two starts and 324 minutes total) as a left-winger, although he has often tended to drift out to that side, most notably throughout 2023-24. More importantly, the way Slot has used Cody Gapko and Diaz - as one-on-one dribblers, using their acceleration to cut inside full-backs - corresponds with Ekitike's best the Bundesliga last season Ekitike came fifth for attempted dribbles (126) and for shot-ending carries (44). He also provided eight assists and ranked fifth (again) for 'attacking sequence' involvements. He hasn't done it much before, but Ekitike has the makings of a Slot left-winger. Ekitike and Isak together, Frankfurt-style, in a 4-2-2-2 Ekitike's best football at Frankfurt came as part of a proper strike partnership with Omar Marmoush before his January departure to Manchester City saw the end of Dino Toppmoller's 3-5-2 and Ekitike regularly swapped positions, dove-tailing instinctively as one dropped and the other went in behind. It was a swirling, rhythmic balance that confounded defenders and propelled Frankfurt into a title challenge until late are unlikely to move to a back three any time soon, not least because a 3-5-2 with Ekitike and Isak would mean benching Salah. But there is a way to put Isak and Ekitike together, albeit a pretty risky Liverpool regularly line up in a 4-2-4/4-4-2 when not in possession, but crucially that's with a 10 (Dominik Szoboszlai) playing very much as a third midfielder when Liverpool have the we're suggesting here is notably more fragile through the middle, requiring a two-man midfield to cover all the space when a quick turnover triggers an opposition also the problem of playing Wirtz on the left, a position he has only very occasionally played for Bayer Leverkusen and all likelihood, this is one for when Liverpool are chasing a game. It's a bit kitchen-sinky for anything earlier than that. Ekitike and Wirtz as dual eights in the De Bruyne and Silva mould If number three sounded a bit weird, then you won't like this idea. But it really could is regularly compared favourably with Kevin de Bruyne, while Marmoush (Ekitike's old strike partner and a player with similar characteristics to the new Liverpool forward) has been plonked into the De Bruyne role at Man plausible Ekitike could adapt into that hybrid eight/10 position, playing alongside Wirtz much in the way Pep Guardiola has historically used two aggressive eights in front of a number has always been a big influence on Slot, who once described the Catalan's playing style as "the ultimate joy in football". Maybe, just maybe, the Liverpool manager plans to take the Pep influence to a whole new level and regularly start with two eights/ Premier League football is increasingly transitional and end-to-end, with slower possession-hogging on its way out, which is why Guardiola is far more likely to play with two sixes - in a 4-2-3-1 - than the dual playmaker system we saw in his early title elite teams start to see less of the ball, and when the opposition isn't so pinned back, it becomes more important to have a solid midfield base that can block those quick-fire of the time, Ryan Gravenberch won't be able to do it all on his own. But a City-esque 4-3-3 would be exciting to see. Ekitike as competition for four separate forward positions We don't necessarily need to come up with a wildcard formation that crams all the new signings into the same all goes well Liverpool will play over 60 games next season, meaning they will need a regularly rotating front line to keep legs fresh and opponents as a £69m cover option probably doesn't sound very appealing, but he will arguably be the second-best player in four separate positions for Liverpool - although Szoboszlai, rivalling Wirtz, might say you consider injuries, the need to rotate for twice-weekly football, and Slot's tactical adaptations to the opposition, Ekitike could easily tot up over 30 starts in all competitions even if he wasn't technically considered to be in the club's best that managers of elite clubs tend to think in terms of 'best XIs' anymore - schedules are too busy and injuries too common for fact, what fans assume to be their team's best XI rarely actually play together, as many Liverpool supporters know all too most mind-blowing example of this phenomenon was first highlighted by Duncan Alexander,, external who pointed out that the supposedly-iconic Liverpool XI under Klopp - the one that started the Champions League final - had never played together before that game and never played together after how do you solve the riddle? How do you get all of Liverpool's new signings into the same team? Answer: you don't.
