Saturday's briefing: Saying goodbye to Diogo Jota and England start Euros
On the pitch, England and Wales both launch their Euro 2025 campaigns in Switzerland with the defending champions in action after Rhian Wilkinson's finals first-timers.
Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is facing a court appearance after being charged with five counts of rape.
Mourners pay respects to Diogo Jota
The funeral of Liverpool striker Diogo Jota and his younger brother Andre Silva will take place in Portugal on Saturday morning.
Mourners will gather to pay their respects to the two men at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar at 10am a day after a wake was held at the nearby Capela da Ressurreicao.
Jota, 28, and his 26-year-old brother died in a car crash in Zamora, Spain, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Their deaths prompted an outpouring of sympathy for Jota's wife Rute, who he married less than two weeks ago, their three children and the wider family from the football world and beyond.
Lioness Leah raring to go
England captain Leah Williamson revealed she finally felt free to let go of 'anxiety' on the eve of the Lionesses' European Championship opener against France in Zurich.
The Arsenal defender, who famously lifted the trophy in 2022, was forced to miss England's first run to a Women's World Cup final two summers ago in Australia after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
'I've probably held some anxiety, I suppose, up until this moment,' said Williamson, when asked if missing the World Cup and her recovery had given her a new appreciation for this opportunity.
'I wanted to experience another tournament for England, and being away from home is special. It's a bit different to England in 2022, so I'm just taking everything in. I'm very excited. Obviously so much has changed, so I'm intrigued to come back and enjoy that tournament football.'
The time has come for Wales
Rhian Wilkinson is confident Wales are ready for their 'watershed moment' on a first major tournament stage at Euro 2025.
While few expect Wales, who kick off their campaign against the Netherlands in Lucerne on Saturday evening as the lowest ranked team in the competition, to progress from a daunting group which also includes England and France, Wilkinson believes the game has changed in the country forever.
Speaking at her pre-match press conference, she said: 'This is a wonderful team, great people, fantastic footballers, and we're going to be tested against some of the best in the world.
'That's what we've been wanting. To showcase Wales as a country, this team and their talent.'
Thomas Partey charged
Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has been charged with raping two women.
The Metropolitan Police said the Ghana international, whose contract at the Emirates Stadium expired on June 30, faces five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault following alleged offences between 2021 and 2022.
Partey's lawyer Jenny Wiltshire said he 'denies all the charges against him', adding: 'He now welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name.'
The player, who is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on August 5, is accused of two counts of rape against one woman and three counts of rape against another. The sexual assault allegation relates to a third woman, police added.
What's on today?
European champions England launch their defence with a tough Group D opener against France in Zurich.
Debutants and group rivals Wales also get under way when they face the Netherlands in Lucerne looking to gain a foothold in the competition.
At the Club World Cup, Champions League winners Paris St Germain go head-to-head with Bayern Munich in Atlanta with a semi-final against either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund, who meet at the MetLife Stadium, at stake.
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Telegraph
15 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Poignant scenes at Diogo Jota's funeral cut through traditional football tribalism
Sunglasses concealing his tears, Virgil van Dijk carried a wreath of flowers artfully sculpted into a replica of Diogo Jota's Liverpool '20' shirt, a jersey so freighted with pain that it would never be worn again. Beside him Andy Robertson offered an identical tribute marked '30', the squad number that Jota's brother, Andre Silva, made his own at Portugal's FC Penafiel. The juxtaposition, reflecting the close fraternal bond that endured until the night they died together on a remote Spanish highway, felt almost unbearably poignant. 'Força!' cried one woman outside the little Baroque church in Gondomar, seeking to give the players strength on a day when they looked ready to dissolve. The desolation that assailed Van Dijk was acute. Captaincy of Liverpool confers many heavy responsibilities, but none so sorrowful as attending the funeral of a team-mate five years your junior. Twenty-eight years old: it is no time to die. Silva, who like Jota began playing at their hometown club within walking distance of the church, was just 25. The magnitude of the tragedy was such that even Manuel Linda, the bishop of Porto, acknowledged as he addressed the brothers' mother, Isabel, that no words of consolation were adequate. Faith is supposed to offer a blessed sanctuary at times like these. But Jurgen Klopp, a devout Christian and the man who brought Jota to Anfield, has expressed the prevailing sense of numbness, reflecting: 'There must be a higher purpose – but I can't see it.' These agonies were expressed most starkly by the sight of those left behind. Just two weeks earlier, Rute Cardoso had been at church in Porto to marry Jota, her childhood sweetheart, in a ceremony watched by the couple's three children, all under the age of five. On Saturday she was his widow, trailing behind his coffin, rosary beads hanging from her wrist and a photograph of the man she had lost clutched tightly in her hand. 'My dream came true,' she had written, excitedly posting a few pictures of her wedding dress. Just two days later, that dream would be destroyed in the most violent fashion on a dark road in remote northwestern Spain, where the car containing Jota and Silva veered out of control from a tyre blow-out before exploding in flames. It was the cruellest reminder of the ephemeral nature of hope, of the arbitrariness with which an entire family could be shattered. Visibly traumatised, Jota's peers travelled across the oceans to converge in solidarity. Ruben Neves, his closest friend in football, had been playing for Al-Hilal in a Club World Cup quarter-final in Orlando 13 hours earlier. But no sooner were his team eliminated by Fluminese than he and Joao Cancelo scrambled 4,000 miles east as Neves assumed his duties as pallbearer, the only non-family member to be given such a role. Bruno Fernandes, the Manchester United captain, was also present, alongside Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, exemplifying the connections they had built across club lines with the Portuguese national team. The shattering impact of Jota and Silva's deaths so young has cut through the typical parameters of football tribalism. Even Oasis, a band so synonymous with City that they performed the opening concert of their reunion tour in Cardiff with a cardboard cut-out of Pep Guardiola on stage, felt compelled to honour Jota, beaming an image of his Liverpool strip on the giant screens over the closing strains of Live Forever. The tribute was wordless, but still genuinely affecting. For at a moment of shock so inexplicable, the best response is not rationalisation but simple respect. As Jose Mourinho put it: 'Three kids without a dad, a young woman without her husband, parents losing both sons? It's difficult to understand. Maybe one day we will, but not now.' A plangent Ave Maria, often chosen for Catholic funeral masses, hung in the air as the guests filed out of church into the mid-morning sunshine. It would be sure, in any circumstances, to make even the most stoic observers cry. But this time the significance of the musical choice was almost too much to absorb: it had, after all, been performed for Jota and his wife at their wedding a fortnight before. This time the same ensemble, from the Our Lady of the Lapa church, were back to recite it as he lay in a wooden casket. It was little wonder the Liverpool players in the congregation looked so bereft. One moment, they had been waiting to welcome him back for pre-season training. The next, they were assembling for his last goodbye.
BBC News
17 minutes ago
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Rate the players in France v England
England's Euro 2025 opener against France - which you can follow here - is under can rate the players out of 10 below and come back 30 minutes after full-time to see the final ratings.
Rhyl Journal
41 minutes ago
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Vivianne Miedema nets landmark goal as Wales lose Euro opener to Netherlands
Wales, the lowest ranked team in the competition, had made an encouraging start to the Euro 2025 Group D opener at the Allmend Stadium, but were undone by two clinical Dutch goals either side of the break. After Jill Roord's shot had hit the woodwork, Wales' solid defensive line was eventually breached when Miedema clipped home a fine dipping effort in stoppage time at the end of the first half to bring up her century in style. ⏰ FT | 🏴 0-3 🇳🇱 Defeat in our opening game at #WEURO2025 in Lucerne. — Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) July 5, 2025 Victoria Pelova then struck from close range just three minutes into the second half before Esmee Brugts added a third to put the result beyond Rhian Wilkinson's side, who next play France in St Gallen on Wednesday. Despite being pushed deep for long spells, Wales – with Esther Morgan handed a surprise start in a back three – had held their own as the Netherlands struggled to break them down in the final third ahead of the first drinks break. Wales, cheered on by around 3,800 supporters, were again well organised when play continued as the Dutch, who were European champions in 2017, looked to find a cutting edge to all of their possession. Cymru yn creu hanes 🏴 First Women's EURO game ✅#WEURO2025 — UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 5, 2025 The Netherlands, though, were soon within inches of taking the lead in the 35th minute. Rhiannon Roberts headed out a long pass which had been launched towards the Wales penalty area. The ball dropped out to Roord, who took a touch before sending a 20-yard drive flying past Wales keeper Olivia Clark but her strike came back off the post. Wales created a decent opening late in the first half when Jess Fishlock laid the the ball off to Lily Woodham, only for her shot to fly over. The Netherlands then broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time through a brilliant finish from Miedema. Historical. 🇳🇱💯#NothingLikeOranje — OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) July 5, 2025 There looked little on for the Manchester City forward when she collected the ball on the left just outside the Wales penalty area, before then switching back inside to clip a fine effort up over Clark and into the far corner. Wales fell further behind three minutes after the restart when Danielle van de Donk latched on to a long ball and had the time to pick out Pelova, who fired home from inside the six-yard box. Former Manchester City midfielder Roord then saw another shot crash back off the bar before the Netherlands did get a third goal in the 57th minute. ⚽️ Pelova (48')⚽️ Brugts (57') 🇳🇱 @oranjevrouwen's second half… 🥵#WEURO2025 — UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 5, 2025 Jackie Groenen's long-range strike rattled the crossbar again and after Wales failed to clear the danger, Brugts volleyed in a deep cross at the back post. Wales head coach Wilkinson looked to minimise further damage by making some substitutions going into the last 25 minutes, sending on Ffion Morgan, Kayleigh Barton and Rachel Rowe to replace Fishlock, Hannah Cain and Josie Green. Clark was out quickly to make a brave stop at the feet of Lineth Beerensteyn as she raced clear on goal before the Netherlands substitute then saw her late angled strike ruled out for offside.
