Latest news with #DantePolvara
Daily Record
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Aberdeen star's Bond link as he dates Sean Connery's granddaughter
Dante Polvara has been spotted on social media spending time with Sean Connery's granddaughter, Natasha. Aberdeen star Dante Polvara celebrated Scottish cup glory, with a bond girl on his arm. The midfielder was a hero at Hampden as the Dons pulled off a shock Scottish cup victory over Scotland, and by his side was none other than Natasha Connery, granddaughter of Sir Sean Connery- the original James Bond. Polvara came off the bech during the match and calmly scored a penalty in the shootout as Aberdeen won 4-3. The 25-year-old American signed for Pittodrie straight from New York City FC's youth sides. After a loan spell in the US with Charleston Battery, he enjoyed a breakthrough 2023/24 season, making 40 appearances and scoring five goals. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. Sir Sean was the first actor to bring 007 to life on the big screen, starring in classics like Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever. He also bagged an Oscar for The Untouchables and was knighted in 2000 for his contribution to film. Adding another twist, former Rangers chairman Sir David Murray revealed that Connery secretly invested £1million into the club. Murray wrote in his book Mettle: "For years, Sean and I would share a catch-up call every weekend to chat through the football and we would inevitably kick off with Rangers. "After all, he had put £1million into the club which no one knew about at the time or even since. "I was raising £50million in 2004 and Sean asked if he could invest. "I told him that it was football, that there were no guarantees and he should get professional advice but he was adamant - he wanted in."
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sean Connery's glamorous granddaughter Natasha finds love with Scottish footballer following split from Gregory Peck's grandson
Sean Connery 's glamorous granddaughter Natasha has found love with American footballer Dante Polvara, who plays for Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen. The stunning fashionista, 29, was previously in a relationship with Gregory Peck's grandson Harper, 26, but their romance eventually fizzled out last year. Taking to Instagram on Sunday, Natasha confirmed her new relationship with the sportsman, who has been described by the team's manager as a 'good weapon'. 'I love doing life with you. Happy 25th my ❤️', she wrote, alongside a carousel of snaps showing the couple lounging on a yacht, embracing at a football match, and cuddling at home with their dog. Dante, originally from New York, joined Aberdeen FC in 2022 after playing for Georgetown University in Washington and USL side Charleston Battery. The club's location is especially poignant for Natasha, whose late grandfather was born nearby in Edinburgh and remained fiercely proud of his Scottish heritage throughout his life. Natasha is the daughter of Sean's step-son, Stephane, himself the son of the actor's second wife, Moroccan-French beauty Micheline. She grew up in the Bahamas - where Sean spent his later years - and has two sisters, Saskia and Samara. The beauty is now based in the UK and travels frequently around Europe, the Caribbean and the US. Despite his American roots, Dante's Scottish club connection adds a neat full circle to the famous family's story. Sean, who grew up in Fountainbridge and supported Scottish independence, often said he felt most at home in Scotland - even after moving abroad. The late actor, who died in 2020 aged 90, became a global star as James Bond in Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. He later won an Oscar for The Untouchables and was knighted in 2000 for services to film drama. In his later years, he was equally known for his philanthropy and cultural advocacy in Scotland - a legacy now carried on by his granddaughters. 'I love doing life with you. Happy 25th my ❤️', she wrote, alongside a carousel of snaps showing the couple cuddling at home Connery was known to be very close with his grandchildren before his death in 2020. Captioning a photo of the star at the time of his death, Natasha she wrote: 'I will never forget the day I came to see you. 'I had just turned 12... You weren't happy because my posture was terrible and I had somehow quickly developed a very nervous stutter. 'I was never like this before I was bullied. 'You insisted that we meet for lessons each day of the week. 'You would fold up a small piece of paper and place it between my teeth and give me certain phrases/sentences to practice my projection. 'You taught me how to stand up for myself and hold my head up high. You saw that I was hurting and you made it your priority to help me. I love you to the �� and back 300000x. 'Knowing you and your modesty I just hope you realize the hell of the legacy left behind.'
Press and Journal
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Dante Polvara takes Aberdeen teammates to Charleston Battery homecoming
Aberdeen midfielder Dante Polvara was the guest of honour at his former side Charleston Battery on Saturday. The 24-year-old was acknowledged for his part in helping the Dons win the Scottish Cup with a warm reception from the Charleston support before their USL Cup match against Greenville Triumph kicked off. Polvara also had some of his Dons teammates in South Carolina watching on as Jack Milne, Gavin Molloy and Hibernian-bound Jamie McGrath also attended the game. The American spent time on loan at Charleston Battery in 2023, making 21 appearances and scoring one goal. The Dons players will return for pre-season training towards the end of the month.
Daily Record
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Dante Polvara left Aberdeen pals thinking ‘I can't f*** this up now' as he reveals Celtic penalty advice during shootout
Polvara struggled to watch the penalties and used the reaction of the Red Army as his Hampden guide Dante Polvara revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson's Scottish Cup advice was simple - "All that matters is getting the win'. The Dons' greatest ever manager sent a good luck message and motivational video to Jimmy Thelin and his class of 2025, ahead of their historic Hampden win over Celtic. It certainly proved the case as an Aberdeen team lifted their first trophy in 11 years and its first Scottish Cup in 35 years. Polvara confirmed: 'The message Sir Alex told us there's always a chance and all that matters is getting the win.' Thelin has met Ferguson on several occasions and has built up a rapport with the Swedish boss. He has now followed in his footsteps by delivering a trophy to Aberdeen and by giving Brendan Rodgers' treble-chasing Celtic a bloody nose. This Scottish Cup final went the distance and to penalties but the American was always confident the footballing gods would shine on them. He also felt they were due one on Celtic after they beat them on spot kicks in last year's Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden. Polvara admitted: 'When we equalised everything was a bit still and when it went to penalties, I felt we'd do it. 'Because of what happened in last season's semi-final, I thought we'd have a bit of fortune this year. It was crazy. 'Barry Robson told us about the League Cup final and put a picture on the slide before that one. So it was nice to finally see it, it was amazing.' It has been three-and-a-half decades since Aberdeen got a Scottish Cup parade that they were able to celebrate at the weekend. The midfielder and his team lapped it up. He acknowledged: 'The history of this cup is incredible, it was 35 years since Aberdeen last won it and someone said it's 31 years since there was a proper upset in it. 'I wanted to do something like this when I came here so we'll look forward to next season now.' Polvara came off the bench and netted his penalty in the shootout. It helped that Dimitar Mitov had saved Callum McGregor's opener and Graeme Shinnie had put his away. Johnny Kenny levelled for Celtic but Polvara kept the Dons 2-1 ahead. He insisted he had done his homework in advance. He explained: 'I wanted to take a penalty, one hundred percent. As soon as I knew I wasn't starting, I wanted to come on and make a mark. 'I researched all the stats about penalties, where to hit them and where people miss them. 'I'm a bit of a maths guy because in college I missed a few so I looked into it. So I started researching everything to find the best way. 'If we get to another one I'll maybe have to change it, but we'll see.' He then came back and told those still to take that it was easier than it looked. Polvara added: 'Walking down to take it, I couldn't feel my body but once I scored I came back and told the boys it's so much easier than you think! 'They said that made them way more nervous because they were left thinking 'I can't f*** this up now'. 'When it hits the net it's just pure relief, your body is just numb when you step up to it and I didn't really see the ball. 'I just saw the keeper dive the wrong way and the ball was in the net. 'Your whole body just goes, you let out every piece of energy you have - just pure relief." Polvara was confident with his own penalties but struggled to watch the others. He turned away and didn't know that Dimitar Mitov had saved Alistair Johnston's penalty until he saw the Red Army celebrating. Polvara, talking to RedTV, confirmed: 'I couldn't watch so I turned around then noticed the big screen, so that kind of ruined the purpose of it. 'I glanced at it, thought 'oh sh**' and watched the crowd instead. 'So I then saw their reaction, 20,000 people going wild and thought 'no way, he's just saved it'. 'I was going to watch the next one because I knew Mats would score, I told him he'd do that so I would have watched his.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tears, cheers & beers as 100,000 Aberdeen fans greet heroes
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin called it all "a little bit surrealistic". Captain Graeme Shinnie spoke with glistening eyes about taking an open-topped bus down a heaving street where he used to shop as a child. And chairman Dave Cormack wondered whether he might have been "swinging off the chandeliers" in celebration had it happened a few years before now. But perhaps Scottish Cup final game-changer Shayden Morris encapsulated a remarkable afternoon in the Granite City most succinctly. "This is just unreal man," the Englishman said, awestruck at the sight of close to 100,000 Aberdeen fans engulfing the city's streets to welcome home their Hampden heroes. Morris reckons it was "the best day of our lives" and few of his team-mates would disagree, judging by the smiles on their bleary faces as they hung off the slow-moving bus and cavorted on the Town House balcony. A "couple of the boys are hanging", confirmed midfielder Dante Polvara when asked about the riotous celebrations both on the road back north from Glasgow and when Aberdeen party arrived home. Captain Shinnie's crackly voice hinted it had been a big one. He reckoned he might have got "a couple of hours sleep". As a local boy, he already understood what the likes of Morris and Polvara have learned this weekend, but even the Aberdonian was taken aback by what he experienced on Sunday. 'Aberdeen savour the most perfect game ever played' Shinnie 'could retire today and be a happy man' Aberdeen end 35-year Scottish Cup wait after stunning Celtic in shootout "I always knew that this was possible if you won a trophy for this club," the 33-year-old said of the city centre scenes. "But I didn't expect it to be as good as what it is. "This is what I was always desperate to do. It's phenomenal. You've shared it with your team-mates but now you're sharing it with the city. "There are close to 100,000 fans and you can see what it means to all of them. It's a very special weekend." Cormack has been part of crowds hailing Aberdeen trophy successes in the 1980s, so also had an inkling about what Sunday's celebrations would hold. "This is very special," he said. "It's supposed to be raining today and the sun has come out as well. Maybe if I was 40 I might have been swinging off the chandeliers." The chairman also paid tribute to Thelin, whose debut season at the club has been one of the most polarised that anyone could have imagined. Cormack insisted the Swede is at Pittodrie for the long term and is "not a job-hopper", should his success attract interest from elsewhere. Certainly, days like this should help convince Thelin to stay where he is. "It's been unbelievable. Much, much bigger than I thought," he said, looking every inch his a man who had enjoyed his evening. "You imagine what's going to happen but it was much, much bigger than that. It was actually a little bit surrealistic. "I'm so happy for all these people and all the effort they have given us the whole season, travelling and the tough times. They have been there every time and now they can celebrate together." When Aberdeen last won the Scottish Cup in 1990, I was on a bus embarking on a school trip to Germany, listening to it all unfold on my pocket radio. So being at the celebrations really hammered home how long – too long – it has been since the club last won this trophy, and what it means to the city. The Dons fans lined the streets in their thousands - well into the tens of thousands, in fact - as the open-top bus weaved its way through the city centre. They were in fine voice too, with 'Shinnie, he is one of our own' and the now trademark 'Shady Mo' song being among the choruses belted out as the bus crawled through the throng that filled the granite streets. Prior to the final, there was a mood of trepidation, and very little expectation among the Red Army. What a difference a day can make – this was a scene of jubilation and celebration. It was a fitting reception for the Aberdeen players and staff, who now have their names etched in to the club's history books. As they took it in turns to hold the trophy aloft from the balcony at the Town House at the Castlegate end of Union Street, each lift was greeted with delirious joy. Of course, the challenge will be to build on this success. But this was about savouring the moment, one which saw a city and its football team united as one. Fans lined the streets to see the bus go down Union Street, along Union Terrace and Schoolhill before making its way onto Broad Street. Chris Nicholl, 30, who was at the game, said the experience was "amazing". "It was 35 years of emotion held in for my dad," he said. His wife Leah, 30, added: "He didn't even cry for our wedding!" The win was especially sweet for a father and son who travelled from Australia to support Aberdeen. Allan McCarlie, 51, and his 18-year-old son Jamie flew more than 10,000 miles (16,000km) from Sydney for the match on Saturday. They admitted beforehand people thought they were making a pointless long journey as Celtic were heavy favourites. "I was told I was mad," Allan said afterwards. "Spending so much money to travel from Sydney. "But [now] I am the richest man in the world - priceless memories."
