Soccer-Porto appoint Farioli as head coach
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
41 minutes ago
- The Star
Rugby-Evergreen Nonu re-signs with Toulon, aged 43
FILE PHOTO: Daniel Carter, Richie McCaw and Ma'a Nonu of New Zealand (L-R) pose with the Webb Ellis trophy after winning the Rugby World Cup Final against Australia at Twickenham in London, October 31, 2015. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo (Reuters) -New Zealand great Ma'a Nonu has extended his stay with Toulon after signing a one-year deal with the Top 14 club at the age of 43. The evergreen centre made a surprise comeback to Toulon in February, arriving as medical cover for the last months of the 2024-25 season and becoming the oldest Top 14 player when he took the field against Castres in March. A twice-World Cup winner capped 103 times for the All Blacks, Nonu is in his third stint at Toulon after spells from 2015-18 and 2020-21. Toulon also confirmed the arrival of seven new players including former England number eight Zach Mercer, Italy centre Ignacio Brex and New Caledonia-born talent Patrick Tuifua, a hulking 20-year-old flanker who turned down a Super Rugby contract with New Zealand side Wellington Hurricanes. Toulon were knocked out of the 2025 semi-finals by runners-up Bordeaux-Begles. The new Top 14 season starts on September 6. (Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Portugal's Seica hails fans after battling draw with Italy
GENEVA (Reuters) -Portugal centre back Ana Seica credited the support of the team's fans for inspiring them to a 1-1 draw with Italy on Monday that kept alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage of the Women's Euros. After suffering a 5-0 loss to world champions Spain in their Group B opener in Bern on Thursday, Portugal would have been forgiven for being low on confidence heading into the clash with Italy. Not so their fans, and the drums of the Navegadoras pounded across the Stade de Geneve long before kickoff while chants and cheers urging the players to resist the Italians continued until the final whistle. "Our fans are amazing," Seica, who was an unused substitute, told Reuters after the game. "Even in the warm up, they're already there. They're already making noise ... it's what keeps us going until the 90th minute." The Portuguese players responded to the cacophony of support with a performance of true grit as they held back wave after wave of Italian attacks. "In this game, we came in a lot harder. We won more duels, something that we needed to improve, and it was shown on the pitch that we fought for it," Seica said. Goalkeeper Patricia Morais roared in relief to the crowd after making a save just before halftime but she was unable to stop Cristiana Girelli's beautiful, curling finish in the 70th minute that looked to have sent Italy into the quarter-finals. Portugal and their fans had other ideas. Diana Silva's header hit the back of the net in the 80th minute only to be disallowed for offside but, with only a minute left on the clock, the Portuguese fans exploded in delight as Diana Gomes equalised. "We kept pushing, we kept our heart. That's what we are known for ... and we got that goal," said Seica. The drums are sure to pounding again in Sion on Friday when Portugal face an already eliminated Belgium, looking for the victory they need to have a chance of staying in the tournament. (Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, editing by Nick Mulvenney and Peter Rutherford)
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-No end to Swiatek's new-found love of Wimbledon's green, green grass
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 7, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts during her round of 16 match against Denmark's Clara Tauson REUTERS/Isabel Infantes LONDON (Reuters) -Before this year, there was no love lost between Iga Swiatek and the grass courts of Wimbledon. So what if it was called the spiritual home of lawn tennis? So what if it was the tournament that tennis greats such as Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic picked out as the one they always wanted to win above any other? She may not have uttered the words "grass is for cows", as Ivan Lendl once did when he opted to skip the tournament to go on holiday, but Swiatek seemed to share that sentiment as Wimbledon was never a happy hunting ground for her. The five-times Grand Slam champion always looked like she could not wait to escape the leafy confines of the All England Club during her five previous visits, which often followed her run to the French Open title. It was the only major where she had failed to reach at least the last four and there was little evidence that she had the desire to improve that record -- until this year. On Monday, the Polish eighth seed found her grasscourt wings to fly into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a soaring 6-4 6-1 victory over Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson. "It's pretty amazing, this is the first time ever I've enjoyed London," she told the crowd who started laughing. "Sorry guys, I mean I've always enjoyed it. I feel good on the court when I feel good off the court." That feelgood factor was missing during her opening two service games with Danish 23rd seed Tauson on Monday as Swiatek kept misfiring her serve. Cries of "ohh" rang around Court One as she opened her account with two double faults en route to dropping her serve to love. When she produced another two successive double faults to drop her serve again in the third game the gasps grew louder and Tauson must have thought it was game on for her to knock out another Grand Slam champion following her success over 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina two days ago. But from 3-1 down in the first set, and fuelled by her favourite Wimbledon diet of pasta tossed with strawberries and yoghurt, Swiatek sprinted away with eight of the last nine games. After extending her perfect record against Danish opponents to 4-0, she delved deeper into what had clicked for her on grass. "I felt this year that I could really develop as a player. I'm doing the job no matter what the results are going to be," said the Pole, who will next face Russian Liudmila Samsonova. "I feel like I'm doing a great job at just learning how to play on grass. First time I feel, like, more comfortable. I feel like the process has some kind of logic. "It's tough when the expectations are high and people talk to you like you're underperforming. I guess this year is just different." The transition from the clay to grass has not been easy for Swiatek, who has had to get out of her comfort zone to come up with a winning formula. While she has mastered the art of sliding across clay, tennis's slowest surface, in order to conjure up shots that are beyond the capability of most of her rivals, she has had to abandon that manoeuvre on the slicker turf courts. "I've been watching Carlos (Alcaraz) a little bit and Novak (Djokovic). I see them slide (on grass). Obviously it's possible but you just need to kind of trust it," she said. "Since I never played so many matches on grass as this year, I've never had time to really trust it." But at least she now has faith that she can do well on grass, especially as she has a great chance to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time considering she has a 4-0 record over Samsonova. Just in case any doubts lingered about Swiatek's chances of finally lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish come Saturday, Tauson said: "She's probably impossible to beat." (Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Clare Fallon)
