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Law, Song, Concolino share lead at Pure Silk Championship
Published in
Golf
Friday, 24 May 2019 12:02
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Playing partners Jennifer Song and Jacqui Concolino stuck together in the Pure Silk Championship. Bronte Law kept up, too.
Rebounding from a bogey on the par-4 14th with three straight birdies, Law shot a 3-under 68 on Friday afternoon at Kingsmill Resort to match early starters Song and Concolino at 9-under 133.
''It was a battle,'' Law said. ''Seemed to feel like every time I would make a birdie and try and build on it I would have an unforced error couple holes later and make bogey and be back to where I started.''
The Englishwoman had six birdies and three bogeys.
''Mistakes happen,'' Law said. ''I'm just going to try to minimize that for the rest of the tournament. I'm creating enough chances to where I can keep shooting some low scores.''
Song, tied for the first-round lead with Law and Anna Nordqvist, also had a 68.
''Overall, very happy with my round,'' Song said. ''I managed to make great scrambles here and there and just made a couple birdies coming in. Very happy about my round.''
Concolino had five birdies and a bogey in a 67 alongside Song in the first group of the day off the 10th tee.
''Jennifer and I are good friends,'' Concolino said. ''We were just talking about it in the tent. We fed off each other. She made a birdie, I made a birdie. She was making birdies on top of me.''
Song had five birdies and two bogeys.
''I had a rocky start. I started with a bogey on the first hole and managed to come back with a birdie on my third,'' Song said. ''Just while I was just struggling, Jacqui was having a birdiefest so I was just like, 'Wow, I need to keep up with her.'''
The three leaders are winless on the LPGA Tour.
Carlota Ciganda and Madelene Sagstrom were a stroke back in the final event before the U.S. Women's Open next week at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina. Ciganda had a 65, and Sagstrom shot 66.
The tour was off the previous two weeks.
''I think it's been good these two weeks,'' Ciganda said. ''I feel rested. I feel ready to go again. I was quite tired after San Francisco. I went back to Spain for two weeks and just rested, stayed with my family, friends, ate some good food.''
Nelly Korda, Nasa Hataoka and Ashleigh Buhai were 7 under.
Returning from a three-week break, Korda had a bogey-free 66.
''Felt a lot better,'' Korda said. ''I was a little fidgety on the front because I hadn't played for three weeks. I came off a missed cut, so got the bad round kind of out of the way yesterday and was really aggressive today. Made some solid putts and took every opportunity I could.
''I didn't play golf for a week. I just worked out, hung out, went to the beach. Kind of gave my mind a rest. I was on the road for six weeks and that takes a toll on you. Just made sure I relaxed.''
Hataoka and Buhai shot 67.
Brittany Lincicome had a 69 to get to 5 under in her final event of the season as she prepares for the birth of a daughter in early September. Nordqvist (72), third-ranked Sung Hyun Park (66), Brooke Henderson (71) and Jessica Korda (68) also were 5 under.
Defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn and top-ranked Jin Young Ko were 3 under after 68s. No. 2 Minjee Lee was 1 under after a 73. Lexi Thompson missed the cut by a stroke with rounds of 71 and 72.
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Spieth pours in 307 feet of putts in 36 holes at Colonial
Published in
Golf
Friday, 24 May 2019 12:41
Jordan Spieth is putting about as well as he ever has. He just needs to find a few more greens and get himself a lot closer to the hole.
After an opening 65, Spieth fought Colonial Country Club to a draw Friday with an even-par 70.
For the second week in a row, he is leading a PGA Tour event in strokes gained: putting. And through two rounds in Texas, he’s holed 307 feet worth of putts.
It’s what’s happening en route to the putting surface that has him four off the pace set by leader Jonas Blixt.
Spieth has hit just 13 of 28 fairways and 20 of 36 greens. He’s 114th out 118 players in the field in proximity to the hole, at 45 feet, 9 inches.
“[The putting] feels good,” Spieth said. “I’d really like to hit the ball a bit better, hit some more greens, so that I have [chances] for birdie instead of par.”
Spieth this season is 198th on Tour in strokes gained: off the tee (-.567) and 123rd in strokes gained: approach the green (-.029). But he’s 11th in strokes gained: putting and once again picking up shots on his fellow Tour pros one season after cratering at 123rd on Tour (-.034).
For so many Tour pros, a merely average week on the greens combined with typically superb ball striking is enough to win. For Spieth, some Tour-average ball striking combined with this red-hot putter should put him in position to snap a nearly two-year-long winless drought, dating back to the 2017 Open.
“To see some of these long ones go in – and they kind of look like they’re going in with 10 feet to go – I mean, that’s really cool,” he said. “It’s been a couple years in the works, and it feels back to where – it was kind of ignorance is bliss before, where I didn’t know why I was kind of on, and now I do. Hopefully, I can’t stray very far off from this anymore. …
“I’d like to hit some more fairways though. The guy who are leading I’m sure have been in double the amount of fairways I have. It’s just tough to play this golf course out of the rough. Certainly, to have a chance on Sunday, I’m going to have to do a better job off the tee.”
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Broadhurst, Toledo vault into lead at Senior PGA Championship
Published in
Golf
Friday, 24 May 2019 12:41
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Defending champion Paul Broadhurst and Esteban Toledo shared the lead Friday two rounds into the Senior PGA Championship.
Another day of unsettled weather led to a shuffle of the leaderboard with Broadhurst and Toledo vaulting 15 players at the major event. Both shot 3-under 67 to reach 3-under 137 at Oak Hill Country Club's East Course.
Broadhurst, who won last year's tournament at Harbor Shores in southwest Michigan, carded a bogey-free round. Starting on the back nine, he birdied his first two holes - the par-4 10th and par-3 11th - and added a birdie on the par-4 seventh. The 53-year-old Englishman has five PGA Tour Champions victories, also winning a major at the 2016 Senior British Open.
Toledo had five birdies and two bogeys. The 56-year-old from Mexico won the last of his four senior titles in 2016.
First-round leader Scott Parel and Retief Goosen were two strokes back.
Parel shot 73, making consecutive double bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18. Goosen had a 72.
There were 21 players within six shots of the leaders. The group includes Jesper Parnevik and Rocco Mediate at 2 over, and Corey Pavin and Brandt Jobe among seven players at 3 over.
The narrow 6,800-yard East Course reclaimed its stingy reputation on a day that featured a chilly start and temperatures remaining mostly in the 60s, overcast conditions and a swirling wind. The breeze didn't die down until the sun came out in the late afternoon.
After 15 players carded sub-par scores in the opening round, only four managed to shoot in the 60s on Friday. Aside from Broadhurst and Toledo, Champions Tour money leader Scott McCarron and Mike Goodes both shot 69 to move into a tie for 42nd.
The cut was set at 9-over 149, halving the 156-player field to 78 entering the weekend.
There's more unsettled weather in store for the third round. With thunderstorms in the forecast Saturday afternoon, officials moved up the third-round tee times to between 7 and 9:12 a.m., with groups going out in threes rather than twos. A series of late-morning storms led to the opening round being delayed by 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Mother Nature clearly favored the players who teed off Thursday morning and Friday afternoon. They accounted for 26 of the 29 players who are 4 over or better through two rounds.
Marco Dawson was among the few from the Thursday-afternoon/Friday-morning groups to be in contention with a two-round score of 1-over 141.
After opening with a bogey-free round of 3 under, Dawson went 4 over on Friday in a round he closed with five bogeys - four on his final eight holes - with a lone birdie on the 439-yard par-4 16th.
''It's two different tournaments right now. It's probably a four to six shot difference,'' Dawson said of the differing conditions.
On Thursday, the afternoon group faced a stiff wind, with gusts ranging from 15 to 25 mph. By comparison, the morning group saw hardly a whiff of a breeze.
Dawson looked forward to Saturday, knowing the entire field will be essentially facing similar conditions and with him still in contention.
''After I walked off, I didn't like the 74, but I thought, 'You're still in it,''' the 2015 Senior Open Championship winner said. ''I didn't shoot myself in the foot by any means. I'm still there.''
The disparity between the two groups wasn't lost on Broadhurst.
''Oh, absolutely. The guys on my side of the draw had a sort of a raver with the weather,'' he said. ''The course is never going to play that easy again with 3 under leading. If we get any sort of wind, level par would be a real good number to post.''
Broadhurst, who finished with a 19-under 265 at last year's major, is in contention to win consecutive titles for the first time since Colin Montgomerie did it in 2014-15. The tournament has had repeat champions seven times in its previous 79 years, including Hale Irwin's three-year winning streak from 1996-98.
John Daly, who has a medical exemption to ride in a cart due to a knee injury, summed up numerous players' frustrations. Entering the scoring area after shooting 4 over for a two-round score of 13-over 153, Daly grumbled and said: ''I'm glad that's over.''
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Blixt leads by 1 despite Na catching fire in second round at Colonial
Published in
Golf
Friday, 24 May 2019 12:55
FORT WORTH, Texas – Kevin Na enjoys Colonial and has the cluster of low rounds to prove it.
Na eagled the par-5 first hole Friday on the way to an 8-under 62, his third score at least that good in the past six rounds on the cozy course made famous by Ben Hogan. Na, tied for second at 8 under with first-round leader Tony Finau, trailed Jonas Blixt by one halfway through Colonial.
After opening with a 62 and closing with a course record-tying 61 to finish fourth last year, Na followed the eagle with six birdies in a bogey-free round after being happy to shoot par 70 on a windy afternoon in the first round.
''One of those golf courses I look forward to coming to,'' said Na, a two-time PGA Tour winner who puts Colonial in his top three along with Riviera and Hilton Head. ''Fits my game. You've got to take advantage of those weeks because there is not too many golf courses like this on tour anymore.''
Blixt, a three-time winner playing with Na, holed out from 132 yards for eagle on No. 17 and shot 64 to reach 9 under. Finau, playing the back nine first, started with nine straight pars before three birdies and a bogey on his final nine for a 68.
Local favorite Jordan Spieth, a shot off the lead to start the day, shot 70 and was four behind Blixt. Defending champion Justin Rose, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3, shot 67 and was 1 over, one stroke above the cut line.
Rory Sabbatini, the 2007 Colonial champion, shot 66 and was alone in fourth at 6 under. Jim Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion who hasn't won in four years, shot 66 and was among five at 5 under.
Blixt, a three-time tour winner, had a little more success navigating the wind than Na in the first round, shooting 67. Both were thinking more about hanging on while hoping to make a move in the second round.
Na didn't waste any time, hitting his second shot to 3 feet for the easy eagle before three birdies on putts of at least 30 feet. After Blixt went up two shots with his pitching wedge from 132 yards at 17, Na pulled within one with a closing birdie when his approach settled inside 5 feet.
''Well, I was trying to do it, so ...'' Blixt said about his eagle, the 35-year-old Swede pausing for effect without smiling.
''Nah, so the last two times I played the hole it's been the same kind of wind. We've been thinking it's like left-to-right wind or almost into us, so today I just played more like a little downwind.''
Jason Dufner got to 8 under with four straight birdies and a 25-foot putt to save par. But the two-time Colonial runner-up missed a short birdie putt at No. 6, his 15th hole, and bogeyed three of the last four for a 68 that left him at 5 under.
Spieth made birdie putts of 50 feet on No. 10 and 46 feet at 12, giving him three putts of more than 40 feet in the same tournament for the first time after making a 46-footer in the first round. But the three-time major winner missed three par putts under 10 feet among his five bogeys.
''I thought today was average; I thought yesterday was spectacular,'' Spieth said. ''Today I missed maybe an 8-footer and a couple 5-footers, but then I made a couple long ones to make up for it. They were kind of misreads. They weren't bad strokes. That's the difference.''
Rickie Fowler missed the cut by one shot at 3 over, ending a streak of 21 straight cuts made. It was tied for the second-longest active streak with Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama, one behind Jason Kokrak (22).
Other than the 16th-ranked Finau, Colonial has been unkind to the eight players in field among the top 20 in the world rankings. Francesco Molinari, ranked seventh, and Rose are the only others playing on the weekend. Molinari joined Rose at 1 over after a double bogey on his last hole.
No. 11 Jon Rahm shot 71 and missed the cut at 6 over after finishing in the top five in both of his first two Colonials the past two years.
Eighth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau (4 over) and No. 9 Xander Schauffele (6 over) missed along with Fowler (10th). Paul Casey, ranked 13th, withdrew because of flu-like symptoms after opening with a 69.
Two-time Colonial winner Zach Johnson shot 75 to finish 7 over, missing the cut for the second straight year after playing on the weekend in his first 12 Fort Worth appearances.
Brian Harman put himself under par for the tournament on his last hole when his approach shot at 9 bounced off the grandstand behind the green and rolled within 2 feet of the hole. He made the birdie putt and handed the ball to a fan sitting not far from where it caromed.
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Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar will join the Brazil national team shortly after he was granted an early release by the French champions, a source has confirmed to ESPN FC -- despite coach Thomas Tuchel not authorising it.
Neymar, 27, is suspended for PSG's season-ending Ligue 1 clash away at Reims on Friday and requested an early release from club duty to start his preparation for this summer's international tournament on home soil. However, Tuchel did not grant the €222 million man his release, which the source says will see him join up with the Brazil squad in the coming hours, as the German explained in a press conference on Thursday.
"No, Neymar has not been released," said Tuchel. "In any case, he has not by me. It is not a sporting thing, so I do not know. You will have to ask the club."
Tuchel later added that he believes that PSG need to be stricter moving forward, yet the source indicated that a member of Les Parisiens' sporting leadership allowed Neymar to depart early.
"Correct, this season has had its problems," said the coach. "The goal moving forward has to be to stay more focused! That goes for the team, as well as the club.
"We must be stricter and pull in the same direction to achieve our goals."
PSG will finish their season without Neymar in Reims and teammate Dani Alves told ESPN in an exclusive interview that he "would bet the Eiffel Tower" on his compatriot still being at Parc des Princes next season.
Brazil boss Tite has previously said he will discuss Neymar's recent disciplinary issues when the two men meet for the start of their Copa America campaign.
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Sergio Ramos is contemplating leaving Real Madrid after 14 seasons with the club, a source within the club told ESPN's Paola Nunez on Friday.
The source said the club have said they will make every effort to keep their captain, adding, though, that management is not despairing over Ramos' threat as they would have in years past.
The team captain is under contract through 2021 for more than &euros;12 million per year after renewing in 2017. Spanish media, including El Chiringuito and Marca, both independently confirmed on Friday that Ramos is considering an exit and could move to another major European club.
Ramos has won 20 titles with Real Madrid in total including four European Cups, four Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, four league titles, three Spanish Super Cups and two Copas del Rey.
According to the reports, both Manchester United and PSG have asked about Ramos' availability in the recent past, and the Madrid captain is considering a change as "something beneficial both for the team and on a personal level."
There was renewed optimism around Madrid when Zinedine Zidane -- who left after leading the club to three successive Champions League titles -- returned following a difficult season under first Julen Lopetegui and then Santiago Solari as managers in in the first seven months of the season. However, results have remained underwhelming.
A busy summer is expected at as Zidane and club president Florentino Perez look to rebuild a side which won four of the five Champions League trophies from 2014 to 2018, but struggled last season and finished trophyless.
Eden Hazard, Paul Pogba, Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy and Christian Eriksen are the names mentioned as potential summer arrivals, while there are big questions over the long-term futures of Gareth Bale, Keylor Navas, Isco, Luka Modric and Marcelo
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Denys Popov scored on a header off a corner kick in the 51st minute, and Ukraine beat the United States 2-1 Friday at Bielsko Biala, Poland, in the Americans' opener at the Under-20 World Cup.
Serhii Buletsa put Ukraine ahead in the 26th minute. Heorhii Tsitaishvili played a long pass from before the midfield stripe to Buletsa. Defender Sergino Best went up with Buletsa but didn't get his head on the ball, which bounced toward the net. Buletsa ran onto the ball and volleyed past goalkeeper Brady Scott from 10 yards.
Brandon Servania tied the score six minutes later , capping a series of swift passes.
Dest played the ball ahead to Servania, who tapped it to Konrad De La Fuente as Dest streaked toward the penalty area. De La Fuente returned the ball to Dest, who sent it wide to Tim Weah on the left flank. Weah, a son of former Liberia President and former FIFA player of the year George Weah, crossed into an unmarked Servania, who poked the ball in with his right foot from 5 yards.
"In general I'm very happy with the team. The team made a good effort, tried to win the game," U.S. coach Tab Ramos said. "Unfortunately on that set piece in the second half we lost the game, but I'm very happy with the players' effort and overall with today's performance to start the tournament."
The U.S. plays Nigeria on Monday and closes the group stage against Qatar on May 30. The Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2015 and 2017.
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Transfer Talk: Everton want £100m for United, Barca target Richarlison
Published in
Soccer
Friday, 24 May 2019 17:48
The Premier League transfer window is open. You can click here to review all the latest transfers and keep up to date with all the latest gossip below.
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TOP STORY: Everton demand huge Richarlison sum
Should Richarlison leave Everton this summer, he will not be doing so on the cheap, as Marco Silva's side are expected to ask for £100 million for the Brazilian, according to The Sun.
Richarlison enjoyed a fruitful season in 2018-19 after signing for the Toffees from Watford. A record of 17 goals in 46 games in all competitions this season has brought about the interest of Manchester United and Barcelona.
The music to United's ears is that Richarlison desires to stay in the Premier League, having settled into life in England. That puts Inter Milan, PSG and Atletico Madrid -- who have all shown interest -- at a disadvantage.
If Everton do sell for £100m, it will be a hefty profit on the £50m fee they purchased him for last summer.
Brooks and Wilson on Spurs' shortlist
AFC Bournemouth pair David Brooks and Callum Wilson are both targets for Tottenham Hotspur, The Sun reports.
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Both have excelled in the Premier League for the Cherries this season, and Mauricio Pochettino is eyeing an £80m deal for the players.
Wilson made his international debut for England this season, and Brooks is a regular in the Wales side. Bournemouth signed Wilson for as little as £3m from Coventry five years ago, while Brooks was snapped up from Sheffield United last summer.
West Ham and Leicester target Llorente
While he isn't getting any younger and is far from the first-choice striker at Tottenham, Fernando Llorente still has a couple of Premier League sides chasing him this summer, says The Sun.
The 34-year-old has played second fiddle to Harry Kane at Spurs since joining the club from Swansea in 2017. However, West Ham and Leicester City both feel they can offer the Spaniard more game time in England's top flight.
With his contract expiring, Llorente is set to become a free agent, and could leave on a free transfer to Napoli. Even Barcelona have reportedly shown interest as they look for someone to provide competition for Luis Suarez.
Mkhitaryan surplus to Emery's requirements
More from The Sun, which is reporting that Henrikh Mkhitaryan, in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, is headed for the exits at Arsenal.
Much has been made of the fact that Arsenal will not be taking the Armenian with them to the Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan, against Chelsea on Wednesday due to security concerns between his native Armenia and Azerbaijan.
While Mkhitaryan recently stated that he wants to stay at the club, the reports suggest that Unai Emery will be looking to offload him alongside Mesut Ozil this summer.
Tap-ins
- Manchester United have made an opening bid of £35m for Lyon's Moussa Dembele, according to the Daily Mail. Dembele has netted 23 goals for the French club since signing from Celtic.
- Bayern Munich could be gearing up for a Premier League double raid, as they look to sign Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea and Manchester City's Leroy Sane, the Daily Mail reports. On Sane, Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: "There have not been any talks so far. He's an interesting player, we will try."
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Goal-scoring machine Carlos Vela will be back at it on Friday at home against Montreal, while Eastern Conference leader Philadelphia welcomes in surging Portland on Saturday and a Alejandro Pozuelo-less Toronto FC hosts MLS goal king Chris Wondolowski and San Jose on Sunday.
Vela keeps cranking out goals for LAFC
Los Angeles FC is 14 games into its season and not once has Carlos Vela gone two games in a row without scoring. That's pretty amazing to think about; you could certainly forgive Vela if he had a stretch of three or four games when he did not score. He now has 14 goals and seven assists this season, and he has gone goalless in just four contests. That is nuts.
It was an interesting week last week for Vela in the two games against FC Dallas. After scoring the opener in the first contest, the Mexican striker was lucky to not have suffered a serious injury on a late, harsh tackle from Bressan, which provoked the ire of LAFC head coach Bob Bradley. Three days later, the two teams met again in Texas, and there was another Bressan-Vela clash, which ended with Vela's penalty kick getting saved. Luckily for the former Real Sociedad man, Vela got a second chance from the spot later on and buried his effort.
Vela will look to make it four games in a row with a goal on Friday night at home against the Montreal Impact (10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+), who are a surprising third in the Eastern Conference. Ever since they gave up that seven spot at Sporting Kansas City earlier in the season, the Impact have locked things down defensively. Vela is always a good bet to score at home, but it won't be easy against a solid Impact back line.
A Philly special between Union and Timbers
You have to go all the way back to April 13 to find the last time that the Philadelphia Union lost a game. That was a 2-0 defeat in Carson, California, to the LA Galaxy. Since then, Jim Curtin's team has collected four wins and a pair of draws on its way to the top of the Eastern Conference table.
There really is no one player who stands out on this squad, and the goal totals reveal as much. The leading scorer? David Accam with four -- and Accam is not even on the team anymore, having been shipped to the Columbus Crew and then acquired by Nashville, but remaining in Columbus on loan for GAM, TAM and an acronym to be named later.
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- Power Rankings: LAFC keeps stranglehold on No. 1
This all circles back to the point that the Union have one of the deepest squads in the league. And they'll come up against another strong side on Saturday in the form of the Portland Timbers (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+). After a woeful start -- one point in its first six games -- Portland has kicked into gear, and the match in Philadelphia marks the Timbers' last road affair until they finally return for their home opener.
The Timbers made one of the biggest moves of the transfer window by acquiring Argentine striker Brian Fernandez from Necaxa. He had 13 goals in the Liga MX Clausura. And he already scored in his debut last week versus Houston. The matchup between Fernandez and Philadelphia's center-back of combo of Jack Elliot and Auston Trusty will be a must-see.
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EXCLUSIVE: Wondolowski talks MLS goals record on ESPN FC
Fresh off netting his record 148th MLS goal, San Jose's Chris Wondolowski joins ESPN FC to discuss the milestone and his journey to the top of the scoring charts.
Pozuelo-less TFC welcomes in King Wondo
Alejandro Pozuelo has been a revelation in Toronto this season since arriving from Belgian side Genk with five goals and six assists; but last week's red card means the Spaniard will miss out on Sunday's home contest with the San Jose Earthquakes (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+).
It's a shame to see that because it denies us all the chance to see the Pozuelo-Jozy Altidore connection that had such a sizzling start when Pozuelo arrived in late March. Altidore had missed several weeks through injury, but he returned as a substitute in last week's 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake, just as Pozuelo received his sending off.
Altidore will have to carry the load against San Jose, which is coming off a 4-1 win over Chicago in which Chris Wondolowski became MLS' all-time leading scorer with his first four-score match. The 36-year-old had been reduced to a substitute role until starting last week, and Wondolowski certainly made the most of it.
Whether coach Matias Almeyda sticks with Wondo in the starting role is another matter. The Quakes are yet to win away from home this season, so the Argentine boss might opt to ride Wondo's hot boot for another week.
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Monty Panesar opens up on mental health battles and hoping to play again
Published in
Cricket
Friday, 24 May 2019 07:16
Former England spinner Monty Panesar has spoken in depth about his mental health issues, describing the shock of being diagnosed with "paranoia/schizophrenia". The 37-year-old now believes he has put his problems behind him and remains hopeful that he can win a return to first-class cricket despite being without a club since 2016.
Panesar was an England regular during the mid-to-late 2000s but suffered from bouts of depression and drinking to excess. He was released by Sussex in 2013 after a late-night incident that involved urinating on a bouncer outside a club and although he was included on the subsequent Ashes tour, he played his final match for England during that year's Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Speaking to Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, in an interview with the Daily Mail, Panesar talked about his battle with depression and his hopes for a comeback. He revealed that he had consulted another former England captain Mike Brearley, who is also a qualified psychologist, about his mental health.
"My parents became worried," he said. "They wanted me to see someone. I had always thought strong people couldn't have a problem. I was always the guy who would win games, who had everything in order.
"My cricket had always gone the way I had planned it, but suddenly things started going in a direction I hadn't experienced since childhood. It had all been up, up, up but this was new territory mentally.
"It was a guy called Peter Gilmore who said I was suffering from paranoia/schizophrenia and that shocked me massively. Mike Brearley told me to be careful about the things I was saying to myself. Some experts thought I'd never get better but I knew I could fight it, come through it."
Having left Sussex, Panesar had further run-ins with the management at Essex, before returning for a brief spell at Northamptonshire, where he originally rose to England prominence. He has now written an autobiography, The Full Monty, detailing his experiences and said he is determined to give his playing career "one more go".
"It was difficult," he said. "Everyone was doubting me. I spoke to [former wicketkeeper turned mentor] Neil Burns and he told me everyone thought I'd gone off the rails. He told me there were so many rumours and I had to put the record straight. I tried to do a couple of interviews to get the message out that I'd had problems, but I was on the way back.
"Now the book will hopefully get everything out there. I love the game. I'm not a bad egg in the dressing room, I'm actually a nice guy. I want people to remember the good Monty, but it takes a while to eradicate bad memories. It's like I'm a fireball and people are worried that if they get too close to me they'll get burnt.
"I don't need medication. I don't drink. I don't have good and bad days. All of those things have gone. There was a moment I was at Northampton about 18 months ago and I looked around and thought, 'Wow, those paranoid thoughts are not there any more'. I knew then Monty was back. I'm going to be a cricketer again. I'm going to do it."
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