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Almost three months since he blasted his way to the fastest-ever World Cup hundred, Kevin O’Brien returns to international action as Ireland take on Pakistan in a two-match ODI series. Though looking back at Ireland’s impressive World Cup campaign, during which they upset England, still puts a smile on his face, his focus now is helping Ireland rise up the ODI rankings starting with the Pakistan series.”These games are massive; with the one-day international status comes the ranking points,” O’Brien said on Irish radio show . “If we get a couple of wins here, we hopefully can climb up that table, and get as close as we can to ninth place.”Ireland are still some way off ninth-placed Bangladesh in the rankings, and even two wins would still leave them several points behind. But it would put some distance between them and Zimbabwe.O’Brien said the World Cup had been wonderful for the Ireland team, but they now had to start again against a strong Pakistan outfit. “The World Cup was a fantastic experience for all the players and the management. But we’ve got to put that to the back of our mind and start again on Saturday with a big game against Pakistan.”They’ve got some experienced players and they’ve got some young guys who are coming in looking to show what they can do at international level. So it’s going to be two very tight games, and hopefully we can perform well, to our abilities, and get a win or two.”Phil Simmons, the Ireland coach, said a big change in the mentality of the Ireland side was that they now thought about winning rather than just survival or putting up a fight. O’Brien said he doesn’t think about the result of a game and concentrates on the basics. “We’ve got to go in with a positive mentality and hopefully we can hit our areas with the ball and bat well. We can’t really look too much at the result before the game; we’ve just got to go in and do our basics well.”Ireland will be missing two key players for the series: O’Brien’s brother Niall O’Brien and left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who are both injured. Kevin O’Brien said his brother would be a big miss because of his form in the English domestic season for Northamptonshire, but it would give someone else a chance to perform on a big stage.”Niall has started the season over in England fantastically well. He has scored a couple of hundreds and five fifties, so he is in great nick. I suppose it gives another guy a chance to come in and show what they can do, and hopefully we can all pull together, the 14 guys out here, and hopefully play well.”Kevin O’Brien has also been playing in England, in limited overs-matches for Gloucestershire.

اعترف نجم التنس العالمي، نوفاك دجوكوفيتش، بأن قائد منتخب الأرجنتين وجناح الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي باريس سان جيرمان، ليونيل ميسي، هو مثله الأعلى في الرياضة.

ونجح ميسي في التتويج ببطولة كأس العالم قطر 2022، في عمر الخامسة والثلاثين مع الأرجنتين بعد التغلب على فرنسا بركلات الجزاء الترجيحية بنتيجة 4-2.

اقرأ أيضًا.. باتريك فييرا عن سخرية مارتينيز من مبابي: قرار غبي أخذ مما حققته الأرجنتين

وتحدث دجوكوفيتش في تصريحات نقلتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية، وقال: “كنت محظوظًا حقًا بتواجدي في نهائي كأس العالم”.

وتابع: “إنه أفضل نهائي كأس عالم على الإطلاق، يا لها من نتيجة رائعة، الطريقة التي فازت الأرجنتين بها والطريقة التي استقبلوهم بها في بلدهم”.

وعن ميسي: “كمشجع للرياضة، كمشجع لكرة القدم، بالطبع ميسي مثلي الأعلى، أحترمه كثيرًا”.

وأضاف: “أعتقد أن معظم العالم سعيد بإنجازاته وما استطاع أن يفعله، كونه متواضعًا، لديه شخصية قوية في الملعب، لم يغير النجاح شخصيته”.

واختتم: “لطالما اعتقدت أنه يمثل نموذجًا مثاليًا لجميع الأطفال الذي يتطلعون إليه ويريدون أن يكونوا مثله”.

تقدم الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم برئاسة  جمال علام، والنادي الأهلي برئاسة محمود الخطيب، بالشكر للمنتخب المغربي، وجموع الجماهير المغربية الشقيقة، عقب انتهاء مباراة اليوم أمام كرواتيا، للمنافسة على المركز الثالث في كأس العالم قطر 2022.

وحقق منتخب كرواتيا الفوز على المغرب بهدفين مقابل هدف اليوم السبت، ليحصد برونزية مونديال قطر.

وأقيمت مباراة المغرب وكرواتيا على أرضية ملعب استاد خليفة لتحديد المركزين الثالث والرابع في المونديال.

وكتب الاتحاد المصري عبر صفحته الرسمية على موقع “تويتر”: “يتقدم الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم برئاسة جمال علام بخالص التهنئة لنظيره المغربي وجموع الجماهير المغربية الشقيقة، بعد المشوار التاريخي للمنتخب المغربي في نهائيات كأس العالم 2022، وتقديم مسيرة مشرفة للكرة العربية والأفريقية، واحتلال المركز الرابع في المحفل العالمي الأكبر على صعيد كرة القدم، كما يتمنى له دوام التوفيق والتميز في المنافسات المقبلة”.

وكتب النادي الأهلي عبر حسابه الرسمي بتويتر: “شكرًا للمنتخب المغربي الشقيق.. شرف الكرة العربية”.

طالع…فيديو | المغرب يخسر أمام كرواتيا بثنائية ويكتفي بالمركز الرابع في كأس العالم

وكان منتخبا المغرب وكرواتيا قد تواجها في دور المجموعات وانتهت المباراة بالتعادل السلبي. 

🔴 | يتقدم الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم برئاسة الأستاذ جمال علام بخالص التهنئة لنظيره المغربي وجموع الجماهير المغربية الشقيقة، بعد المشوار التاريخي للمنتخب المغربي في نهائيات كأس العالم 2022، وتقديم مسيرة مشرفة للكرة العربية والأفريقية pic.twitter.com/RYEpyTTcd2

— EFA.eg (@EFA) December 17, 2022

According to Sky Sports pundit Kevin Campbell, having Kurt Zouma fully fit again is ‘massive’ ahead of West Ham’s upcoming Europa League semi-final second leg clash against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night.

The Lowdown: Zouma back in contention

The Frenchman recently returned to action following a spell on the sidelines after sustaining an ankle injury in the Irons’ 2-0 Premier League defeat to Brentford in April.

The 27-year-old was named in David Moyes’ starting XI to face Arsenal last weekend in place of the suspended Craig Dawson, and whilst it may have been a risk for the manager to play Zouma against the Gunners given the dearth of available centre-back options, the duo are likely to partner each other at the back in Germany later this week.

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The Latest: European priorities

In a recent interview, Campbell told Football Insider’s Dylan Childs: “They badly needed a centre-half. Even if Kurt Zouma was only fit to play an hour it’s massive.

“Of course, if he got injured the question would be to Moyes, ‘Why did you risk him?’ The Europa League semi-finals are the priority.

“I was hoping David Moyes would get a game! I was hoping he’d sign up for one game.

“Listen, these things happen at this stage of the season. West Ham have to prioritise the semi-final. It is an amazing achievement already but they will want to get to that final.

“It is unfortunate that the injuries have come at the time they have but at least Zouma is back now.”

The Verdict: Huge boost for West Ham

The 11-cap France international has been an absolute colossus at the back for the Hammers this season, winning 2.4 of his aerial duels per game on average across all competitions, showing his physical strength. He has also demonstrated a calmness to play out from the back, with a pass success rate of 87.7%, as per WhoScored.

Dubbed an “eye-catching” player by his former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, the recent return of Zouma will come as a huge boost to Moyes, especially given the fact that Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna might both be out for the rest of the season through injury.

West Ham will need all of the defensive experience available to them when they face Eintracht Frankfurt with a need to overturn a 2-1 deficit, and having someone like the £100k-per-week Frenchman in the side could prove to be the deciding factor when it comes to turning the tie around and making it to the final.

In other news… a journalist has dropped some big injury news ahead of the Irons’ Europa League clash

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead

The Bulletin by Andrew Fernando25-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Bravo’s classy 80 ended in the day’s penultimate over•AFPA masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead. Darren Bravo was assured as he notched up his second half-century in as many innings in Tests, even as his more illustrious team-mates struggled to come to terms with the skill and variation of the Sri Lankan attack. The visitors looked good to end the day just three down as the gloom set in over Premadasa Stadium, but a double-strike from Tillakaratne Dilshan minutes before stumps meant Sri Lanka were still well in the hunt for a win and the visitors were left to ponder how they might save the Test.Darren Bravo was difficult to tie down in his 129-ball stay, happy to settle into a steady rhythm of singles for the majority of the afternoon, but taking the attack to the spinners and forcing Kumar Sangakkara to adjust the field when it became too tight for his liking. He hit four sixes and they may as well have all been carbon copies of each other. Thrice he waltzed down to left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, getting to the pitch of the ball to launch him over long-on and long-off, while Mendis, too, was treated to a lofted wallop that sailed over the ropes in the same area.Darren Bravo fell in the penultimate over of the day to a stunning catch. Having watched Brendan Nash perish two balls prior, Darren Bravo tried to hit out against Dilshan, but his attempted slog over midwicket – perhaps the first rash stroke he played all day – took the leading edge and looped in the air on the off side. Herath, who was fielding at backward point, ran towards cover and flung himself horizontally, arms outstretched, and the ball landed in his palms mid-flight and his ecstatic teammates converged to congratulate him.Sri Lanka looked to step up the scoring in the morning, as they attempted to force a win in the rain-hit match, declaring at 387 for 9, after the tail had chipped in with some valuable runs. Kumar Sangakkara departed early on, having hit a couple of imperious boundaries off Kemar Roach, and Prasanna Jayawardene’s 34 guided Sri Lanka steadily towards a formidable first-innings total.Herath batted well in the company of the other lower-order batsmen, and exploited some negative field placements to make some quick runs, tempering occasional aggression with a series of canny ones and twos. He remained unbeaten on 24 when the declaration came and the hosts had left themselves just enough time before lunch to knock over Adrian Barath.Chris Gayle began the afternoon session with some typically brutal strikes off the wayward Suranga Lakmal and his 30-ball stay was littered with glimpses of the kind of arrogance with which he flayed the Sri Lankan attack during his triple-ton in Galle. Gayle drilled boundaries through cover and point, but was not always his domineering self, as he survived a couple of close lbw shouts off Lakmal, who bowled the odd good delivery amid the rubbish. Gayle was out hooking for 31, top-edging a steepling bouncer to Angelo Mathews, who shuffled around at the square-leg boundary to snaffle the chance, giving Lakmal his first wicket in Tests.Shivnarine Chanderpaul didn’t last too long, falling to a Mendis legbreak and Nash never looked comfortable at the crease during his strained 29. The spinners tormented him outside the off stump while Lakmal, too, caused some nervous moments with the short ball. He was given a reprieve on 15 when a well-directed bouncer from Lakmal induced a top- edge, but Prasanna Jayawardene’s valiant effort – running full tilt towards backward-square for about thirty metres – was not enough to end his stay, the ball brushing past the wicketkeeper’s gloves as he put in a full-length dive. He was eventually adjudged lbw by Asad Rauf, giving Dilshan the first of his two quick wickets. Bad light intervened soon after Darren Bravo had departed and caused yet another premature end to play, with two days remaining in the Test.

أجرى الاتحاد المصري للكرة الطائرة، اليوم السبت، قرعة بطولة كأس مصر، بقاعة المؤتمرات الخاصة بملعب استاد القاهرة الدولي.

وأسفرت القرعة عن مواجهة الزمالك للفائز من مباراة بايونير والحوار، في دور الـ 32، والمقرر إقامتها يوم 17 ديسمبر المُقبل.

ومن المقرر أن يلعب دور الـ 16 من بطولة كأس مصر للكرة الطائرة، يوم 17 يناير المُقبل، بينما تُقام مباريات دور الثمانية يوم 21 من الشهر ذاته.

طالع أيضًا | اتحاد اليد يعلن مواعيد المباريات المؤجلة من بطولة الدوري “رجال”

ويسعى فريق كرة الطائرة بنادي الزمالك للحفاظ على لقب كأس مصر الذي توج به في الموسم الماضي.

ويقود الجهاز الفني لطائرة الزمالك شريف الشمرلي مديرًا فنيًا، أحمد مصطفى عاشور مدربًا عامًا، وليد عبد العال مدربًا مساعدًا، شريف السادات مخطط أحمال، أحمد سعودي طبيبًا، عبد الرحمن غانم أخصائي للعلاج الطبيعي، أحمد شعلان مدير إداري، وحسن عبد الرازق إداريا، ويشرف على ألعاب الصالات أحمد مرتضى منصور عضو مجلس إدارة القلعة البيضاء.

Crystal Palace recovered from an early setback to draw 1-1 with Norwich City on Wednesday evening.

Patrick Vieira is still waiting for a first Premier League victory in 2022, with the Eagles now winless in their last four top-flight fixtures.

Wilfried Zaha equalised with a brilliant strike in the second half to cancel out Teemu Pukki’s opener after 38 seconds, however, he then failed to convert from the penalty spot to put the visitors in front.

We’ve used statistical experts SofaScore to analyse who the three worst Palace outfield performers (to have played at least 45 minutes) were.

In total, these three players lost the ball a whopping 35 times, were second best in 60% of their aerial and ground duels and made just three tackles all evening… could these players be worried about their place in the XI ahead of the trip to Brentford?

Joachim Andersen – 6.7/10

First up is centre-back Andersen, who lost the ball 15 times. He also lost four of his five duels and was unsuccessful in nine of his 14 long passes.

Andersen was the only Palace defender who didn’t record a rating of more than 7/10, with the 25-year-old making just one tackle all evening. It was a night to forget for the promising defensive stalwart.

Jean-Philippe Mateta – 6.7/10

Next up is Mateta, who also recorded a rating of 6.7/10 in what was his first league start after making his loan move at Selhurst Park permanent last month.

The striker didn’t celebrate his move in the best fashion, though, having just 23 touches of the ball in his 80 minutes on the pitch. Mateta lost five of his eight duels, gave the ball away eight times and registered just one shot all night.

Jeffrey Schlupp – 6.9/10

Last up is Schlupp, who was one of a number of players to end with a score of 6.9/10.

Playing alongside Will Hughes and Conor Gallagher in a three-man midfield, Schlupp lost the ball on 12 occasions and was second-best in six of his 12 duels.

He was brought off by Vieira with 10 minutes remaining having made more fouls than he did tackles (3-2).

In other news: Palace handed more injury woes as Matt Woosnam shares news on ‘very good’ player. 

MatériaMais Notícias

Everton have officially sacked Rafa Benitez, becoming the fifth manager to be shown the door since Farhad Moshiri became the majority shareholder at the club in 2016, and there are already a number of managers being named as potential suitors for the position.

Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Roberto Martinez have all been identified as rumoured targets as Benitez’s successor at the club, after Sky Sports journalist, Ben Ransom, named the trio live at Finch Farm on Sunday afternoon.

However, there is a manager that was closely linked with the Everton job before they appointed the Spaniard in the summer.

Nuno Espirito Santo is currently out of work, after being sacked by Tottenham Hotspur following a poor start to the season, and was replaced with Italian manager, Antonio Conte, but could become the perfect appointment for Everton in their current situation where they find themselves 16th in the Premier League this season.

The Portuguese coach earned his credibility and respect in the top-flight during his tenure at Wolverhampton Wanderers taking them from midtable in the Championship to a Europa League quarter-final and an FA Cup semi-final, establishing themselves as a Premier League club finishing as high as seventh in two consecutive seasons in the league under his guidance.

His 47.7% win ratio at Molineux surpasses the 47.1% Wolves completed as they won three league titles in the 1950s under Stanley Cullis, earning him high praise from respected figures in English football, with Gary Lineker hailing the manager “fabulous” upon his mutual departure from the Midlands club.

Lineker told viewers of Match of the Day after Wolves were defeated in Nuno’s last game in charge:

“Ultimately, a disappointing farewell for Nuno but he’s done a fabulous job there over the years and turned them into a real, proper Premier League club.”

Moshiri could hire Nuno and utilise his proven experience in building a club up from mediocrity to challenging in Europe and domestic competitions, finally giving Everton fans something to smile about after a nightmare season so far, with an ongoing lack of success, going further back then Moshiri’s Everton journey, which has seen the club without a trophy for almost 27 years.

Everton have confirmed in a statement that they will announce the new manager at Goodison Park in due course, with currently no word of any official approach being made for any prospective appointment so far.

That said, we think it should be the former Wolves and Tottenham boss who is handed the keys to Goodison Park.

In other news: Sky Sports journalist reveals favourites for the job

Tanguy Ndombele could still remain a Tottenham Hotspur player past January 31st despite reports suggesting otherwise…

What’s the word?

The Frenchman, who cost a club-record £55m in the summer of 2020, was booed by supporters in last weekend’s FA Cup third-round triumph over Morecambe.

As the jeers got louder, Ndombele got slower as he was substituted in the 69th minute, all whilst the side were still 1-0 down to the League One minnows.

After the match, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano delivered an update on his future, claiming that “Tottenham are looking for a solution to sell or loan out Tanguy Ndombele in January,” whilst The Athletic believe the 25-year-old is hopeful for a move away.

However, according to Sky Sports reporter Lyall Thomas, Ndombele isn’t unhappy at the club and he could yet stay despite the controversy.

“I’ve done plenty of probing around on this – to see if there’ll be any potential suitors out there for him. The kind of level of club that could potentially pay that money, certainly – let’s obviously talk hypothetically first about any permanent options for him – they’re not desperate for that position,” he revealed to the ‘Last Word on Spurs’ podcast this week.

“I just don’t think there’s the options out there for him this month, Ndombele. And I’ve been told by sources close to the player as well that he’s not unhappy at Spurs, despite his body language the other day.”

Likely to stay?

It would seem that Ndombele is more likely to stay than go right now and that’s hardly a surprise given his reported £200k-per-week wages – who on earth is going to pay that, along with a transfer fee, for a player that has failed to cut it in the Premier League for quite some time?

He missed the midweek defeat to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup but weirdly, manager Antonio Conte hinted at the decision being from above his head. “It was a technical decision, but before to take the decision, I don’t take the decision if I don’t consult the club, there is the club line and I have to follow the club line,” he claimed after the game.

If Conte is still keen to use him and the player isn’t actually unhappy behind the scenes at Hotspur Way, as Thomas suggests, then you’d imagine there are going to be several sections of the Lilywhites’ faithful absolutely fuming.

Once the crowd turns against you in that manner, there is surely no way back but we’ve been here before with Ndombele. He reportedly wanted out under Jose Mourinho. He reportedly wanted out under Nuno Santo. And now here we are with a third successive manager.

It’s no wonder the fans have given up with their club-record signing. He arrived with so much promise from Lyon, only to deliver ten goals and nine assists in 91 appearances, via Transfermarkt.

That means he has a direct contribution once every 4.7 matches, which isn’t good enough for an attacking playmaker.

All in all, there won’t be many pleased with this behind the scenes bombshell from the Sky Sports journalist. With a little over two weeks to go, only time will tell if Ndombele will remain a Spurs player for the foreseeable future.

AND in other news, Spurs eye 1st Jan signing in “crazy” £7.2m-rated beast, he could be Conte’s next Pirlo…