Race to sign Igamane heats up
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The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lionesses to stop taking the knee after Jess Carter suffers ‘vile' racist abuse
England's players will not take the knee before Tuesday's Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy after defender Jess Carter was sent 'vile and abhorrent' racist abuse online following their quarter-final win over Sweden. The Football Association confirmed they are working with UK police and the relevant social media platforms, while Carter said she would be 'taking a step back' from social media as a result of the abuse she has received. In a statement, the Lionesses said 'we need to find another way to tackle racism' and confirmed they will remain standing before kick-off on Tuesday. Carter played the first 70 minutes of England's quarter-final win over Sweden on Thursday but struggled during the first half as the Lionesses conceded two goals. The Lionesses launched their comeback after Sarina Wiegman made four changes during the second half, with Morgan replaced by Esme Morgan and forwards Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead and Michelle Agyemang all having an impact in attack. 'From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse,' Carter said in a statement released by the FA. 'Whilst I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result I don't agree or think it's ok to target someone's appearance or race. As a result of this I will be taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with. 'As ever I am grateful for all of the support from the genuine fans but I am taking this measure to protect myself in a bid to keep my focus on helping the team anyway I can. 'Hopefully speaking out will make the people writing this abuse think twice so that others won't have to deal with it. We have made some historic changes with this Lionesses squad that I am so proud to be a part of and my hope is that by speaking out about this it will make another positive change for all. 'I'm now looking forward and focusing on putting all of my energy into helping my team.' The Lionesses have taken the knee before all four matches at the Euros and have performed the anti-racism gesture ever since the murder of George Floyd in 2020. But the team said it could not continue taking the knee while players suffered racist abuse and called on the authorities to 'come together' and do more to prevent 'online poison'. 'We stand with Jess and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism,' a team statement read. 'No one should have to endure such vile abuse, be that in football or any walk of life. 'Representing our country is the greatest honour. It is not right that while we are doing that, some of us are treated differently simply because of the colour of our skin. 'Until now, we have chosen to take the knee before matches. It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism. We have agreed as a squad to remain standing before kick-off on Tuesday. 'We hope the game can come together to see what more can be done. For now, we will return our total focus to an important semi-final. In the meantime, we know the FA are working with UK police and the appropriate bodies. 'Those behind this online poison must be held accountable.' 'Our priority is Jess and giving her all the support she needs," FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said. 'We strongly condemn those responsible for this disgusting racism. 'As soon as we were made aware of the racist abuse Jess received, we immediately contacted UK police. They are in touch with the relevant social media platform, and we are working with police to ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice. 'Regrettably, this is not the first time this has happened to an England player, so we had measures in place to allow us to respond quickly and where possible provide information to support any potential police action. 'We will continue to discuss with the relevant authorities and social media companies about what more can and should be done to prevent this abhorrent abuse.' England manager Sarina Wiegman said: 'I stand with Jess, and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism.'
The Sun
9 minutes ago
- The Sun
Viktor Gyokeres' father ‘reduced to TEARS as Sporting star's Arsenal transfer could collapse… and Man Utd reenter race'
VIKTOR GYOKERES' distraught dad was reportedly 'reduced to tears' after hearing that the striker's move to Arsenal might COLLAPSE at the final hurdle. The ongoing saga over Gyokeres' future is taking its toll on the Sporting ace and his family, with negotiations stalling after initially agreeing on a fee. 4 4 Arsenal and Sporting are apparently battling over bonus payments and the schedule of instalments, with Sporting pushing for more up-front cash. It emerged last Sunday that the clubs have verbally agreed a five-year-deal in principle worth an initial £55million plus £8.6m in add-ons and bonuses. But the two sides have hit a deadlock in discussions over the structure of said add-ons. With talks dragging on, Arsenal have been unable to sign Gyokeres in time for their pre-season tour of Asia, kicking off on Wednesday against AC Milan. And the delay is reportedly effecting the Gyokeres family, who are worried that his dream move might he slipping away. A new report from Portuguese outlet Abola has detailed how the player's dad Stefan burst into tears over Sporting's handling of the situation. Sporting are showing no signs of softening their stance over their demands, with Arsenal 's latest bid remaining unanswered for the last SIX DAYS. Gyokeres is close with his family, with his uncle revealing during Sporting's title celebrations in May, that several people close to the Sweden striker wanted him to stay in Portugal at the time. 4 But that seems miles away from where Gyokeres stands now. The 27-year-old couldn't make it any clearer that he doesn't want to return to Sporting, with new footage of a removal van outside his Lisbon home quickly going viral a few days ago. Noni Madueke joins Arsenal in £52million transfer from Chelsea as Arteta's spending spree set to reach almost £200m 4 Sporting president Frederico Varandas said Gyokeres could face disciplinary action after he refused to return to pre-season training and missed out on travelling to the Algarve for their camp. Varandas has been outspoken on negotiations and continues to insist the player will not be allowed to leave unless the club's demands are met. But Arsenal's failure to agree terms for their most desperate position on the pitch could come back to bite them. It comes after Manchester United reportedly made a last-gasp move to hijack the deal this weekend. Record report that United are prepared to offer a higher bid than Mikel Arteta 's side, worth between £60million to £69million. The newspaper notes that Gyokeres - who played under Ruben Amorim at Sporting - still only wants to join Arsenal, but it is still a curveball. If the club get a deal for Gyokeres over the line, the striker would likely have to wait until August 6 when the Gunners host Villarreal in their first pre-season game back from Asia. After that, Arteta's side conclude their summer preparations against Athletic Club, before ironically kicking off the Premier League season away at Old Trafford.
The Guardian
35 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ann-Katrin Berger follows up biblical miracle with penalty heroics for Germany
Ann-Katrin Berger is flying. The ball is flying. A few yards away, near the penalty spot, Clara Mateo of France already has her arms raised in celebration. A heroic German defensive rearguard is about to end in a misdirected defensive header, a looping own goal and a heartbreaking defeat. But a 34-year-old double cancer survivor, largely written off by her own country's media before this quarter-final, has other ideas. The mechanics of the save itself are easy enough to explain. Berger is about five yards out of her goal, and so has to back-pedal furiously while also keeping her eye on the flight. At the last moment, it looks like the ball is about to beat her. Which is the point at which Berger flings herself backwards and upwards, finding every last gram of strength, straining every last muscle, the sort of moment you spend a lifetime training for. She claws it away with her fingers. Falls heavily on her shoulders. Accepts the congratulations of her teammates, who look like they have just seen a biblical miracle. And, you know, perhaps they had. Was this the moment Germany wrote their destiny? It certainly didn't feel that way at the time. Twenty minutes still remained. France still had all the possession and an extra player. But maybe it was the moment when Germany's mission sharpened to the finest of points, when they determined above all that a save of such cosmic brilliance must not be for nothing. It had been an epic night, an excruciating night, and for the depleted, exhausted Germany a night of sheer refusal. Forced to play for almost two hours (including added time) with 10 players after the early dismissal of Kathrin Hendrich, boasting a passing accuracy of just 51%, they withstood one of the deadliest attacks in the tournament with their bodies and every last breath in them. By this point the game had long since ceased to take any recognisable form or shape: just two tired teams finding increasingly creative ways to collide with each other. At one point in extra time the sensational Jule Brand went on a dribble past halfway and, seeing three blue shirts congregating on her, basically changed her mind, let the ball go and decided to get back into position. As for France, it was a night for reverting to type. For confirming every pre-existing stereotype of them. For demonstrating why this team of such incredible individual talent have never been able to fulfil that talent as a collective. Forced to break down a team with no intention of giving them the space in behind they love to exploit, they were utterly devoid of ideas, of creativity, of passing guile, of any real strategy beyond giving it to the wingers and seeing if the next stepover might work any better than the last. Perhaps you could argue that Hendrich's red card for pulling the hair of Griedge Mbock actually simplified Germany's task. Even so, it would have taken a brave seer to predict anything but a French victory at that point, especially after an injury to Sarai Linder at right-back. But her replacement, Sophia Kleinherne, was immense, as were the two big pre-match selections by Christian Wück: Giovanna Hoffmann up front and Franziska Kett at left-back. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion Kleinherne completed just two passes all night, Brand just eight. But of course these were not the key milestones. Try Rebecca Knaak's 13 clearances, Janina Minge's 11, the 16 tackles, Sjoeke Nüsken's first tournament goal. And of course there were nine saves from the hands of Berger, a goalkeeper who could have been cherry-picked for this assignment, one relying less on silky ball-work than on sheer, gravelly defiance. Berger had come in for considerable criticism after some misplaced passes in the 4-1 defeat by Sweden. And of course her old-school style sometimes feels at odds with the more progressive, possession-based kind of football the modern Germany want to play. But give her a goal and she will protect it with her life. She's beaten thyroid cancer twice. She can probably deal with your inswinging cross. As the minutes leaked away, as France had a goal disallowed, as Germany missed their own penalty, the German fans behind Berger's goal slowly began to warm to their task. Increasingly the French players were bearing forlorn expressions, negative body language, crushed by the burden of having to win this match several times over simply to win it once. Or perhaps not at all. Because after two hours and 13 penalties, Berger was flying again. Amel Majri had been the first to fail, then Berger had scored a penalty of her own, and now Alice Sombath had put her kick at a pleasant height, and once more Berger was the commander of angles and time. She palmed the ball away. Rose to her knees. And in the moments before her victorious teammates mobbed her, Berger was simply kneeling there: imploring us to adore her, a woman who through everything had never stopped believing in herself.
