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Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Entire team pays tribute to Diogo Jota with brilliant celebration
The tributes to Diogo Jota continue to roll in. Now an entire team has paid homage. The football world has done what it can to recognise Diogo Jota over the last few days. His tragic death has rocked absolutely everybody, even those with no real connection to him. Advertisement But it's become increasingly clear that few were as loved and respected as Jota. He appears to have been about as humble and down to earth as an elite footballer possibly can be. That, of course, makes this all look even more senseless. It's a genuine tragedy and one that will take even those with as small as a link as supporting his football team years to process. We may never really process it, in truth. It's all still so surreal and unbearably sad. Those playing at the moment, though, are looking to celebrate and pay tribute to Jota as best they can. We've seen it at the Club World Cup and now in MLS, too. Advertisement Nashville SC pay Diogo Jota tribute Nashville SC played out a dramatic win on Saturday. Down to 10 men against Philadelphia, they won a 101st-minute penalty. Up stepped Hany Mukhtar to convert and win the match. Even with all that emotion, though, Mukhtar composed himself after scoring to tell every teammate to drop to the ground and do Jota's video game celebration. That's become the trademark of Jota and something that certainly non-Liverpool fans remember him for. The most recognisable way to show some love to the man. Ousmane Dembélé did similar after scoring for Paris Saint-Germain at the FIFA Club World Cup and we imagine it's one that will be done a lot more over the next season. And with good reason - it's very Jota. Advertisement This was all wonderful to see, though. We'll continue to point out the tributes to Jota made across football because seeing him recognised over the world is honestly the only nice thing to come out of all of this. He deserves all the love.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Contenders or pretenders?
Two weeks ago, for the first time in her career, Breanna Stewart lost to the Seattle Storm, as her depleted New York Liberty, without three starters in Jonquel Jones (ankle), Sabrina Ionescu (neck) and Leonie Fiebich (EuroBasket), failed to muster enough against her former team. Since then, things have remained shaky for the defending champs. The game in Seattle was a second-straight loss, and they're 2-2 in their subsequent four games. Ionescu's absence was limited to one game, but she's mostly struggled to find her stroke since returning to the court. She finally turned in a Sab-level stat line in New York's Thursday win over the Los Angeles Sparks. The victory against LA also was Fiebich's first game back, while Jones is still sidelined. Advertisement All the while, Natasha Cloud's stellar start the season also stalled. In the month of June, she put up a single-digit scoring average as she shot 36.8 percent from the field and 24.2 percent from 3. (But as with Ionescu, the Sparks might have helped Cloud solve her struggles, as she scored a season-high 23 points.) Fill-in starters Nyara Sabally, Rebekah Gardner and Kennedy Burke have been serviceable, but not particularly impactful, low-usage options. That's left a large burden on Stewart, something she's assumed with her typically unfazed style. Even if she's still coming up empty from behind the arc, shooting under 21 percent from 3, she's finishing 50 percent of her overall shots, an indication of how automatic she's been on 2-pointers as she averages 20.5 points per game. Except for a slight dip in her rebounding, her numbers are in line with her career averages. That Stewart is still one of the best players in the world is a positive sign for the Liberty's repeat chances. The team's recent struggles easily can be explained away as absence-induced tumult. The eventual return of Jones, with whom the Liberty are undefeated when she plays at least 10 minutes, should get the team back on their championship course due to her status as the most complete—and completely unguardable—true center in the W. Presumably, both Ionescu and Cloud will shoot better, Fiebich will fully adjust to being back in the States and all will be well. Live, laugh, love, Liberty. Or, does such a presumption ignore real problems? Will the contender switch flip back on when the Liberty are at full-strength? Or, will we discover that their back-to-back prospects have dimmed? Advertisement The Storm's status as a title threat is certainly specious. At times, they look like a championship-caliber team, with a top-notch defense that turns into efficient, transition offense. Conversely, an absence of offensive firepower that is exacerbated by their low-volume 3-point shooting, along with a lack of reliable depth, raises questions about their ability to advance out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. There's no question, however, about the continued excellence of Nneka Ogwumike. Like Stewart for the Liberty, she remains a tide-raising superstar, one who is fresh off reaching No. 7 on the WNBA's all-time scoring list. One of her best games of the seasons came against New York, when she scored 26 points while shooting better than 70 percent from the field. On Sunday, Ogwumike's Storm meet Stewart's Liberty for a nationally-televised afternoon date in Brooklyn (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Quite possibly, it could prove to be a WNBA Finals preview. Or, it could produce an outcome that exposes the deficiencies of one of these championship hopefuls. Here's a key question for Sunday's other two WNBA games: Advertisement Can the Aces get some Vitamin D in CT? Can the Las Vegas Aces get back to .500? The Las Vegas Aces are in a dark place and in need of some sunlight. Or, maybe just an opportunity to light up the Connecticut Sun? A game against the two-win Sun should, at least temporarily, present an opportunity for A'ja Wilson's supporting cast to rediscover their games. Yes, it will be against Connecticut, but a 25-point game from Jewell Loyd, a points and assists double-double from Chelsea Gray, a efficient scoring afternoon from Jackie Young and some spark-plug moments from new addition NaLyssa Smith would be encouraging. So far this season, the Aces' only two wins of 20 or more points, a formerly routine occurrence for the the two-time champs, have come against the Sun. Can they make it three on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, League Pass)? Advertisement Can Angel (again) slow Phee? Napheesa Collier is guarded by Angel Reese during a preseason game. Is Angel Reese the Napheesa Collier stopper? Reese has successfully induced Collier, a queen of efficiency, into some of her most inefficient outings. Last season, the Minnesota Lynx were 3-0 against the Chicago Sky, but, in the two games in which Reese played, Phee shot under 40 percent from the field, including a 6-for-19 effort. Then, there was Unrivaled, where Reese's Rose, the eventual inaugural champs, upset Collier's then-undefeated Lunar Owls, holding Collier, who would be named Unrivaled MVP, to a season-low 16 points on 6-for-19 shooting, her poorest shooting performance of the season. In the third matchup between Rose and Owls, Collier again scored just 16 points and experienced her second-worst shooting night. Angel, of course, was Unrivaled's Defensive Player of the Year. Advertisement The now-WNBA sophomore has the length to bother the MVP favorite, in addition to the athleticism to contain Collier and her fancy footwork. And despite some spicy on-court moments, the two players have showered each other with support and respect, establishing the kind of organic, good-natured rivalry the WNBA should promote. With Reese's history of causing trouble for Collier, on top of the fact that the Lynx will be on a back-to-back, the Sky might have a chance of pulling off the upset (7 p.m. ET, League Pass). Game information Seattle Storm (11-7) vs. New York Liberty (12-5) When: Sunday, July 6 at 1 p.m. ET Where: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY How to watch: CBS Las Vegas Aces (8-9) vs. Connecticut Sun (2-15) When: Sunday, July 6 at 4 p.m. ET Where: Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT How to watch: WNBA League Pass Advertisement Chicago Sky (5-11) vs. Minnesota Lynx (16-2) When: Sunday, July 6 at 7 p.m. ET Where: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN How to watch: WNBA League Pass More from


Washington Post
35 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Mets ace Kodai Senga could rejoin rotation next weekend in Kansas City
NEW YORK — Mets ace Kodai Senga could rejoin the rotation next weekend in the final series before the All-Star break, a little over a month after straining his right hamstring. Senga allowed four runs — three earned — and six hits in 3 2/3 innings during Saturday's minor league injury rehabilitation start for Double-A Binghamton at Hartford. Senga struck out four, walked two and threw 44 of 68 pitches for strikes.