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Serena Williams has told the BBC she's in a "good place" ahead of this year's Wimbledon tournament.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion spoke to BBC Breakfast's Sally Nugent about motivation, motherhood and recovery.
She said she'd had a "rough, rough time" overcoming recent injuries, but is now no longer in pain.
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Transfer window: Eriksen, Rashford lead top free agents in 2020
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Soccer
Monday, 01 July 2019 00:48

There are some big names available on a free transfer in summer 2020 from Europe's biggest clubs if they don't put pen to paper soon. Here are the top ones, with the help of Transfermarkt.
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham)
Tottenham were able to avoid a mess by signing Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld up to one-year extensions, meaning they will also expire in 2020, but they haven't made any ground with Eriksen as yet. The Denmark midfielder would be a massive loss and if he doesn't want to commit then a €100m move to Real Madrid looks the best bet.
Marcus Rashford (Man United)
Manchester United have made a habit of adding the option for a further year to all their deals, so there's no fear Rashford will leave in 2020. In fact, he's likely to stay and sign a new contract this summer to double his wages. Meanwhile, Eric Bailly and Nemanja Matic are the other two on the agenda, along with those who are already into their one-year extensions.
David De Gea (Man United)
And, of course, De Gea. Arguably the best goalkeeper around struggled towards the end of the season and those rumours of a move to Real Madrid started up again. Sources have told ESPN that United will move for Atletico's Jan Oblak if De Gea departs.
Nabil Fekir (Lyon)
It seems a long time ago when Fekir was on the verge of a move to Liverpool before it fell through. The France midfielder is in talks over a new deal, but Liverpool are still keen and Chelsea will be watching the situation carefully too.
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Sergio Ramos evidently has a deal until 2021 rather than the reported 2020, but Modric does not and at 33 he could well decide it's time to move, having almost joined Inter Milan last year. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas is another who surely won't want to stick around given his lack of playing time.
Edinson Cavani (PSG)
Cavani has cut a frustrated figure at PSG behind Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in goals and status. At 32, he will be considering his next move. Manchester United might also be keen on right-back Thomas Meunier, who looks set to move on before his deal expires at the same time. Thiago Silva is also out of contract, but may have few takers.
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)
Now that the Eden Hazard saga has been put to bed finally, Chelsea can turn their attentions to a host of other wingers whose contracts are expiring next summer. Hudson-Odoi has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich but the Blues will want to tie the England international down once he recovers from injury. Willian and Pedro's deals are also expiring, so the club need to act fast.
Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)
Tottenham have tracked the 19-year-old winger for some time and, helped by the fact that Fulham were relegated, they look set to land him this summer. Sessegnon is worth a reported £35m, which will only get lower as his contract runs down, so Fulham would be wise to sell now.
Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Liverpool and Bayern Munich have led the charge to land the 23-year-old Germany striker, who has made it very clear he will not sign an extension at Leipzig. Liverpool stars Sadio Mane and Naby Keita were certainly keen to make their case why he should move to Anfield.
Mario Gotze (Dortmund)
Forever to be known as the man who scored the winner in the 2014 World Cup final for Germany, Gotze may feel like he has some more to prove. Still only 27, after a failed move to Bayern, links to Liverpool (and former boss Jurgen Klopp) won't go away. But the club are in talks over an extension and Portugal left-back Raphael Guerreiro is another that Dortmund will want to keep.
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USMNT advances but underwhelming win feels like a step back
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Soccer
Monday, 01 July 2019 02:16

PHILADELPHIA -- Just over a minute into second half stoppage time, the U.S. was clinging to a 1-0 lead in its Gold Cup quarterfinal against Curaçao, and U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter opted to make his second substitution of the night and bring on defender Omar Gonzalez for midfielder Paul Arriola.
Logically, the substitution made sense: Gonzalez's aerial ability would help see the game out. It paid off as the U.S. ultimately prevailed but emotionally, the effect was much different. The move encapsulated a night that was utterly underwhelming.
In this match, the U.S. wasn't facing one of the region's heavyweights, it was facing Curaçao, whose national team was only formed in 2011 after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and its roster graced with veterans of the Eredivisie. Sure, Curaçao had been the tournament's surprise package by reaching the knockout stages of the Gold Cup for the first time in its history, but it was still ranked 79 by FIFA and considered one of the minnows.
- Ratings: Pulisic 6/10 bails out U.S.
- Gold Cup: Full fixtures schedule
Tournament play is about "survive and advance," as the late collegiate basketball coach Jim Valvano was fond of saying. On this occasion, the U.S. did thanks to Weston McKennie's 25th minute winner, and now it finds itself in the Gold Cup semifinals with a match against Jamaica in Nashville this Wednesday.
"When you get to the knockout stages, everyone wants to move on to the next round, and they're going to give absolutely everything," said U.S. midfielder Christian Pulisic, who assisted on McKennie's goal. "Curaçao, 100 percent wanted that today. You could see that in the way that they played. We came out with the win and we're on to the next one. That's all we're looking at."
None of those facts can excuse this U.S. performance, however.
This was not a win that involved a 40-shot barrage and ab opposition goalkeeper having the game of his life to keep the game close. Rather, this was a win in which the U.S. limped across the finish line, content to cede possession to the tune of a 59.7%-40.3% disadvantage in the second half.
Putting on an extra defender to secure a victory against a relative minnow was sobering to say the least. Despite the win, and fourth consecutive clean sheet, it felt like step backward.
Granted, this was a night when the Americans' press wasn't working, with Curaçao keeper Eloy Room proving adept at finding the open man, enabling the visitors to play out of the back. But the problems went deeper than the U.S. being unable to force turnovers.
McKennie and Michael Bradley looked out of sync defensively in the U.S. midfield, allowing Curaçao to play through them at times with relative ease. On more the one occasion, one could see Bradley desperately trying to chase down a Curaçao attacker from behind, as clear a sign as any that all was not well with the U.S. defense in transition.
What was curious -- and disappointing -- was Berhalter's response to it. With a 1-0 lead, the U.S. sat deeper and dared Curaçao to break them down.
Afterwards, Berhalter was asked if ceding possession was intentional, and he responded by saying: "We weren't going to press the goalie. You saw in the first half that the goalie didn't want to play the ball forward. We were happy not to fall into the trap of trying to press them. It would cost us more energy than it was worth, so we dropped off and mostly didn't press goalkeeper."
Left unexplained was why the U.S. couldn't be the team to keep possession, make Curaçao chase, and prey on their desperation to score a goal that would even the match.
Certainly against high-calibre teams it can be argued that the U.S. isn't adept at the possession game, but it's a task that seems doable in a tournament like the Gold Cup. Even Pulisic sounded a bit conflicted by the approach. "As long as they weren't breaking us down, we were okay in the end," he said. "But obviously we would like to have the ball more than we did today."
It's also not what Berhalter has been preaching since he took over, yet here his conservative impulses took over. It isn't the kind of dynamic play to win fans over either.
The extent to which the approach doesn't bode well for the semi is debatable. Jamaica has skillful attacking players, but they aren't as good in possession as Curaçao. The Reggae Boyz are also willing to use their speed on the counter and, as a recent friendly between the two teams showed, they are savvy with their timing in terms of when and where to pressure the U.S.
But the onus will be on the U.S. attack, one that seems as dependent as ever on Pulisic. On this night, Tyler Boyd was energetic, but didn't take good care of the ball; Arriola, aside from one telling cross that was skied over the bar by Gyasi Zardes, was barely noticeable.
Berhalter acknowledged improvements to the U.S. attack are needed. "I think it's about speed, speed of moments, having a mentality to turn their defenders, having a mentality to disorganize their defense and get behind their defense," he said. "We could have been more aggressive with that tonight for sure."
One obvious change would be to get Jozy Altidore on the field from the start given his holdup play and. more importantly, his ability be a playmaker when he drops deeper into midfield. That would relieve Pulisic from shouldering all of the creative burden and provide another conduit to the wingers.
Yet Berhalter, for whatever reason, seems reluctant to go that route. U.S. Soccer insists Altidore is healthy; Berhalter said that the team's intention in the second half to utilize transition opportunities in attack didn't suit Altidore, so that was why he wasn't used in this match. But with each passing game, it seems Berhalter simply prefers Zardes, as mindboggling as that sounds.
Heading into the Gold Cup, reaching the final was considered the minimum in terms of success for the Americans. Getting there now will require a performance well beyond what was delivered in the quarters.
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England's win on Sunday has pushed them to 10 points. What does that mean for the semi-final race?
England's win against India means that Sri Lanka are out. Even if they win their two remaining matches and England lose to New Zealand, Sri Lanka will finish on the same number of points as England, but with one lesser win (because of two rained out matches), which is the first criteria for teams level on points.
With Australia already through, five teams are battling for the three remaining spots: India, New Zealand, England, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Among them, India and New Zealand are better placed, all but through, because of their superior net run rate - explained in more detail below - while England, Pakistan and Bangladesh are fighting for one slot.
Can England still qualify if they lose to New Zealand on Wednesday?
Yes, they can. For that, they will need to hope India beats Bangladesh and Bangladesh beat Pakistan. Such a scenario would have both Bangladesh and Pakistan on nine points, with England qualifying as the fourth team with 10 points.
The weather is set fair at Chester le Street for Wednesday's clash between England and New Zealand. Even if there is a no-result, England will still make it because of their superior net run rate, compared to Bangladesh and Pakistan.
What about Bangladesh and Pakistan? How has England's win affected their chances?
Both sides need 11 points, but as things stand, only one of them can get there because one of their remaining clash is against each other on Friday.
For Pakistan to qualify, they have to beat Bangladesh and hope New Zealand beat England. Similarly, Bangladesh need to win their last two games and then hope New Zealand beat England. Neither side can afford a loss, however.
Are Bangladesh/ Pakistan out for sure if England beat New Zealand? What about the net-run-rate scenarios among the teams on 11 points?
If India lose their two remaining games and if New Zealand lose to England, then three teams - India, New Zealand and Pakistan/Bangladesh - will finish on 11, vying for two spots.
If Pakistan beat Bangladesh and are the third team on 11 points, then New Zealand and India will qualify, as Pakistan's NRR of -0.792 is far too much of a handicap.
For them to nudge ahead, India will have to lose each of their matches by around 150 runs (or the sum of their losses will have to be around 300), and Pakistan will have to beat Bangladesh by around 200 runs.
For Pakistan to go past New Zealand, the result of the two relevant matches - Pakistan beating Bangladesh and England beating New Zealand - will have to be in the region of around 220 runs each.
For Bangladesh, the NRR situation isn't quite as dire, but it is still rather improbable. If, for example, the results of all three matches - Bangladesh's wins versus India and Pakistan, and India's defeat against Sri Lanka - are in the region of around 75 runs, then Bangladesh will go ahead of India on NRR.
To move past New Zealand, Bangladesh will need the results of the three relevant games - wins in their last two games, and New Zealand's loss to England - to be in the region of around 80 runs.
So is it fair to assume that India and New Zealand are both practically through to the last four?
Yes, given the improbable NRR scenarios, India and New Zealand are both pretty much through. The priority for them would be in terms of securing the best possible positions among the top four: India can still finish on top if they win their last two, and Australia lose to South Africa, but a top spot is beyond reach for New Zealand.
The more immediate battle, though, is among England, Pakistan and Bangladesh for the fourth spot.
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HAUBSTADT, Ind. – Following the first heat of Sunday’s USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship race from Tri-State Speedway, the skies opened up, drenching the quarter-mile dirt oval and forcing cancellation of the event.
Prior to the downpour, in Fatheadz Eyewear Qualifying, Chase Stockon set quick time with a lap of 13.618 seconds, moving him into a tie for 11th on the series all-time list and equaling him with Dave Steele and Kevin Thomas Jr.
Kendall Ruble captured the victory in the first heat race under darkening and threatening skies before the rain hit.
The series returns to action July 5-6 at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for the inaugural running of the BRANDT Professional Agriculture Corn Belt Nationals, which culminates with a $20,000-to-win prize going to the winner of Saturday’s finale.
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JOLIET, Ill. – Rain started falling 16 laps into Sunday’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals event at Lincoln Speedway, forcing officials to cancel the remainder of the race.
Brian Shirley was leading the race under caution when Mother Nature intervened.
In addition, with weather soaking the Midwest, DIRTcar Summer Nationals officials have also opted to cancel Monday’s scheduled event at the Dirt Oval at Route 66.
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals will continue on Tuesday night at the Wilmot (Wis.) Speedway.
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Free-agent forward Richard Panik is expected to sign with the Washington Capitals, according to multiple reports.
Panik has seven seasons of NHL experience, including the past one-plus with Arizona. He had 14 goals and 19 assists for 33 points in 75 games with the Coyotes last season.
Panik was selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2009 draft and has 75 goals and 159 points in 410 career games. He has played for the Lightning, Toronto and Chicago.
The Capitals are in the market for a third-line forward, with Brett Connolly expected to sign with Florida.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Brian Fernandez became the first player in MLS history to score in his first five league appearances, finding the net just before halftime to lift the Portland Timbers to a 1-0 victory over visiting FC Dallas on Sunday night at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
Fernandez has six goals across his five league appearances since he was signed from Liga MX's Necaxa at the end of MLS's primary transfer window in May. He's also scored three goals in two U.S. Open Cup games to help the Timbers reach the quarterfinals.
Steve Clark made two saves to record his second consecutive shutout. Portland (6-8-2, 20 points) won its second consecutive home match after opening its renovated and expanded stadium with a loss to LAFC on June 1. The Timbers also moved off the bottom of the Western Conference standings into ninth, with 14 of their final 18 games at home.
Dallas (7-7-5, 26 points) lost for the first time in five matches and was held scoreless for the first time in seven matches while remaining in fourth place in the West.
Portland carried the majority of play during the first half but had few clear chances until Fernandez gave his team the lead in the 42nd minute.
During a counterattack, Sebastian Blanco sent in an early diagonal ball that glided just beyond the runs of two other Timbers attackers and into Fernandez's path. Fernandez hit a left-footed strike first time that might have deflected off defender Matt Hedges and before beating goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez.
Dallas grew into the match after halftime. Paxton Pomykal missed narrowly wide in the 54th minute after reaching Michael Barrios' cross from the right. And a minute later, Clark had to slide to intercept Pomykal's pass just before it could find Dominique Badji in alone on goal.
Then in the 75th minute, Clark dove to stop Brandon Servania's effort from the edge of the penalty area, before Jesus Ferreira missed just wide of the left post on a one-on-one with Clark.
Later, Portland's Diego Valeri appeared to have carved out a clear look at an insurance goal, only for his shot to be redirected wide by Hedges at the last moment.
Dallas had one last flurry in second-half stoppage time, but Bryan Acosta's shot was deflected over for a corner.
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PHILADELPHIA -- Gregg Berhalter said he was happy to see the United States advance to the semifinals of the Gold Cup, despite his side struggling Sunday in its 1-0 quarterfinal victory over tournament upstart Curacao.
The U.S. scored the game's only goal in the 25th minute, when Weston McKennie nodded home Christian Pulisic's cross, then absorbed some pressure in the second half to advance to the semifinals against Jamaica, which defeated Panama 1-0 earlier in the day.
"We're happy with the result of this game," Berhalter said in his postgame news conference. "That should be said.
"I'm proud of the guys for their effort, and now we move on to Nashville. We know it's going to be a good game. Jamaica is a good team, a robust team. We know they have some good attacking pieces."
Berhalter was also full of praise for Curacao, which reached the knockout rounds of the Gold Cup for the first time.
"I think they played an excellent game; you see they have clear ideas in their buildup," he said. "Their goalie [Eloy Room] is excellent with his feet.
"To me it's a great story, a small country like that being able to come to the tournament and play the football that they play. It was great."
- U.S. Player Ratings: United States barely bailed out by Pulisic
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- Full Gold Cup fixtures schedule
While Berhalter was pleased with the outcome, this was a labored victory for the Americans. But he made no apologies for the scoreline, especially given the nature of knockout-round games.
"I think you guys wanted us to go out there and beat them 5-0, but we knew it was going to be a difficult game," he said. "You look at all the quarterfinals in this tournament, and Copa America, they're all tough games. They know there's no tomorrow if they lose."
The U.S. did have some chances to add to its lead following McKennie's goal, but couldn't capitalize, including one chance from Pulisic in the 57th minute where he failed to hit the target. But for long stretches, the attack looked static against a stout Curaçao defense.
"We kept them hanging around, and they were very compact," Berhalter said. "For us, it's about moving them out of position. Their midfielders were man-to-man, against Weston [McKennie] and Christian [Pulisic], and our job was to move them out of position to now find Gyasi [Zardes] or one of our wingers in the pocket.
"Especially in first half, there were times when that came off and it was OK, and then there were others when there wasn't enough movement to execute that."
The U.S. also looked vulnerable defensively in transition, as Curacao was able to play through the home side's press. Curacao also looked dangerous from set pieces, with Darryl Lachman's 42nd-minute header sailing just over the bar.
"We were trying to press the goalie, who was very calm with his feet," Berhalter said. "He was able to switch fields, find the free players and able to cut it back against the pressing guy to find the free player. And we didn't commit enough numbers forward to the press.
"In particular when we're coming from one side now, releasing our weakside winger to join the press, we didn't do that well enough in the first half."
Given that the U.S. press wasn't working, Berhalter opted to play more conservatively in the second half, daring Curacao to break the Americans down with the U.S. trying to grab a second goal in transition.
"We weren't going to press the goalie," he said. "You saw in the first half that the goalie didn't want to play the ball forward. We were happy not to fall into the trap of trying to press them.
"It would cost us more energy than it was worth, so we dropped off and mostly didn't press goalkeeper."
Berhalter added that this approach was why forward Jozy Altidore didn't play a part in the game. The strategy ultimately worked, though goalkeeper Zack Steffen was forced to tip Leandro Bacuna's 84th-minute drive over the bar.
Now the U.S. will face Jamaica in the semifinals, a team, Berhalter said, that "has quality." Having lost to the Reggae Boyz 1-0 in a friendly in early June, Berhalter said he's aware of what his side will need to do to prevail in Wednesday's meeting in Tennessee.
"I think it's about speed, speed of moments, having a mentality to turn their defenders, having a mentality to disorganize their defense and get behind their defense," he said.
"We could have been more aggressive with that tonight for sure, and that's something when I think about the last Jamaica game, it's a very similar type of performance where we had an early flurry, could have scored a goal, and then after that we lacked speed and the movements to get behind their back line."
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U.S. barely bailed out by Pulisic in sorry showing against Curacao
Published in
Soccer
Sunday, 30 June 2019 21:16

With a trip to the semifinal on the line in Philadelphia, the United States defeated Curacao 1-0 in game marked by disjointed American play and the surprising confidence apparent from the Caribbean nation.
Positives
The win and little else. This is a tournament, after all, and the point is to advance. A singular moment from Christian Pulisic gave the Americans the goal they needed and the defense managed to hold on to the advantage. Not only would losing have ended their Gold Cup, it would have been a traumatic blow to any sense that Gregg Berhalter's program is progressing.
Negatives
A lack of energy and aggression from the U.S., as evidenced by a press that was haphazard and disconnected. Curacao's ability to not only put together long periods of possession, but to bypass the American midfield with ease made the game a much more tense affair that it should have been. Whatever progress Berhalter has made with his system, it was not on display in Philadelphia. Players all over the field played with a tentativeness indicative of a group still not sure where to be and when.
Manager rating out of 10
4 -- Berhalter got away with making 11 changes for the final group-stage match against Panama, but that choice might have affected the rhythm of the team for the quarterfinal. The Americans won, but never looked comfortable. Even the goal seemed to be an anomalous moment rather than indicative of the performance as a whole. Berhalter was more lucky than good on the night.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 the best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Zack Steffen, 5 -- Made a pair of necessary saves in the last 15 minutes to preserve the win. Guilty of some nervy moments in the first half that put the U.S. goal under threat. Kept the Americans' string of clean sheets at the Gold Cup going.
DF Nick Lima, 4 -- Aside from a few moments, was invisible going forward. Pushed back from a high position as the game wore on and the Americans struggled to keep the ball.
DF Aaron Long, 5 -- Made clear errors with the ball and appeared flustered at times. Slow to apply pressure in front of goal.
DF Walker Zimmerman, 6 -- Passable on a rough night for everyone in the back. Defended well at times, was sloppy in others.
DF Tim Ream, 3 -- Turnover prone. Too passive in one-vs.-one defensive situations. Adding nothing going forward.
MF Michael Bradley, 6 -- Asked to do a lot of work. Hit-and-miss with passing going forward. Covered ground, slowed down Curacao as he could, aided in recovery.
MF Tyler Boyd, 3 -- Wasteful, committed numerous turnovers. Lacked a consistent first touch. Combined with Paul Arriola and Pulisic on the left side but was otherwise a non-factor.
MF Weston McKennie, 5 -- Scored the goal, but struggled in possession in the midfield. Turned the ball over numerous times across both halves.
MF Christian Pulisic, 6 -- Created the lone goal with an inch-perfect cross to the back post. Made some things happen on the dribble, but missed a couple of chances to put the ball on goal.
MF Paul Arriola, 4 -- Industrious with defending, otherwise did little in the attacking end of the field.
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FW Gyasi Zardes, 4 -- Good off the ball, bad on it. Ineffective when dropping in to provide an option in midfield. Provided no goal threat, missing on the best opportunity.
Substitutes
MF Jordan Morris, NR -- Energetic, tracked back to help in defense with the U.S. absorbing pressure in the final half hour.
DF Omar Gonzalez, NR -- Brief cameo with the U.S. pushing to the final whistle.
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