Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has urged youngsters not to take up smoking, having faced criticism of his off-field lifestyle.
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Polish keeper started smoking as a youngster
Has been unable to kick habit down the years
Considers himself a role model in other ways
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WHAT HAPPENED?
The Polish shot-stopper, who stepped out of retirement to answer an SOS call from La Liga giants Barca in October 2024, admits that he has “lost the fight” when it comes to kicking a nicotine addiction.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
He has never tried to hide the fact that he smokes, with the ex-Arsenal and Juventus star owning the decisions he has made in a professional and personal capacity – even if some of those could be considered questionable.
WHAT SZCZESNY SAID
Szczesny has been caught on camera before lighting up following notable wins, but has told of efforts to ensure that he does not glamorise smoking in any way: "There are some parts of the game where I believe I can be a perfect example for young people or, in fact, for my team-mates.
"And there are some things in my career that you better not follow. In a few aspects, I fail at [being an example], but I try to be the best version of myself, and I try to give the correct example to my team-mates, to young kids who watch us.
"But mentioning the subject of smoking, please do not follow me and don't do it. I've lost the fight. When I was very young, I created a habit that is very negative for me, and I know it is. I just lose against it. So for anybody watching: Don't do what I did."
DID YOU KNOW?
Szczesny went on to say of his willingness to speak on a subject that others may consider to be taboo: "Because I'm not a politician. Maybe that's why. I'm just a goalkeeper. I have to catch a ball and kick it. It's much, much easier to keep up with your previous interviews if you're just honest and you never lie and you're just open.
“"ou ask me a question, I answer the question as honestly as I can. You know, there are things I would rather not talk about. The subject that we mentioned, I would rather not talk about it.
"But if somebody asks me, yeah [I smoke]. But I would rather not have the question asked because I don't want to be a bad example."
Originals struggle to 107 for 5 before being swept aside with 36 deliveries to spare
ECB Reporters Network17-Aug-2023After winning only one of their first five matches, Trent Rockets kept their hopes of a top-three finish in the Women’s Hundred just about alive with a thumping nine-wicket victory over Manchester Originals, chasing down a modest target of 108 with a massive 36 balls to spare.Lizelle Lee combined power and placement, hitting 44 not out from 27 balls with six fours and two sixes, sharing an opening stand of 60 in 36 balls with Bryony Smith (28 off 19) before skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt showed her class with an unbeaten 33 off 18.Deandra Dottin made 30 from 26 for the Originals, adding 40 for the third wicket with Laura Wolvaardt (23 from 31) before Amanda Jade-Wellington added 22 from 19 at the end of the innings but 107 for 5 always looked under par.Originals are not mathematically out of contention but, in truth, neither side is likely to be involved in the two games that will decide the tournament.Originals made an unconvincing start after opting to bat first and never recovered, losing Emma Lamb and Fi Morris for 15 in the first 22 balls.Lamb caught at short fine leg on the scoop as Katherine Sciver-Brunt, plainly still troubled by the hip injury that sidelined her for the last two games and coming in off a short run, claimed the first wicket of what is set to be her last tournament. Morris hit Alexa Stonehouse straight to the fielder at mid-off.With spinners Kirstie Gordon and Alana King stalling the Originals in their attempts to accelerate the visitors had much to do to post a defendable total at 47 for 2 from 50.With pressure mounting, Wolvaardt – missed by keeper Lee off King on 16 – was stumped as Gordon darted one in flatter and the dangerous Dottin, put down on 28 by the normally reliable Jo Gardner, holed out to deep midwicket with only two added to her score.Originals skipper Sophie Ecclestone, running on Wellington’s reverse sweep, was beaten by Gordon’s throw from point, leaving her side floundering at 72 for 5 from 77. Katie George joined Wellington in an enterprising finale that realised another 35 from 23 balls.Yet Rockets always fancied their chances chasing 108 to win, a target that quickly looked a formality as Smith and Lee piled on 49 in the powerplay, Smith hugely impressive with six boundaries, swept, pulled or hammered through cover, Lee chipping in with four. One sequence of 11 deliveries saw nine balls go to the rope, with no bowler spared.A top edge off Ecclestone, whom she had hit for three boundaries in the England left-armer’s opening set, saw Smith caught at short fine leg but her departure simply ushered in Nat Sciver-Brunt to show off her skills with five boundaries and finish the job in rapid time.
Broadcast commentators confirm there was an issue during the DRS process after West Indies reviewed the on-field not-out decision
ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2023A clarification has been issued regarding Ravindra Jadeja’s dismissal in India’s first innings of the second Test in Port-of-Spain, with broadcast commentators saying during the tea analysis show that the correct decision was made by the TV umpire despite “a glitch” during the DRS process.India were 360 for 5 in the 104th over when Kemar Roach offered a ball wide outside off stump. Jadeja took the bait, driving away from his body, and turned around to see the wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva go up in immediate celebration. Jadeja was expressionless. And so was the on-field umpire Marais Erasmus.West Indies challenged the on-field decision of not out and DRS came into play, starting with the spin-vision replay, which showed bat and ball were close together. The TV umpire Michael Gough then asked for the assistance of UltraEdge.The replay that came up, however, seemed to be for a different shot that Jadeja played. The actual ball was wide outside off stump and Jadeja was playing away from his body. At the point where the ball passed the outside edge of his bat, his bat was quite visibly away from his pad. But in the replay where UltraEdge showed a clear spike, Jadeja’s bat was so close to front pad that his inside edge flicks it. Furthermore, the shot he was playing in the UltraEdge replay seemed to be a straight-bat shot. The actual shot that put Jadeja in trouble was more of an extra-cover drive.Umpire Gough was satisfied that there was an edge and asked the on-field umpire Erasmus to reverse his decision. Jadeja was dismissed for 61 off 152 balls and walked off without protest.Later on, while on air with Curtly Ambrose and Samuel Badree, Daren Ganga offered a clarification while speaking to visuals of the correct replay of the wicket delivery. “This is the actual replay and the ball part. There was no contact with bat on pad,” he said, while the replay was shown on the broadcast. “This is the correct UltraEdge. And the right decision was made in the end, that is the most important thing.”Just to clear that issue up and basically set the record straight, no fault of the umpires or the system, it’s just a glitch that took place.”
Captain Niki Prasad wants to make sure team “stays on top” after a dominant display in Malaysia where India cruised unbeaten to a second Women’s U-19 World Cup title
ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2025″Coming at the start of the tournament, I think I mentioned one thing that we are here to dominate, we are here to make sure that India stays on top.”Those were the words of India captain Niki Prasad after she led India to a second consecutive Women’s Under-19 World Cup title in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. And dominate is what India did throughout the tournament, winning all their games and not letting any team score more against them than the 113 for 8 that England made in the semi-finals.India had chased in four of the six games before the final, and they won all those matches comfortably, never losing more than two wickets. After South Africa won the toss and chose to bat in the title bout, India just replicated the template that served them so well through the competition, their spinners playing a pivotal role in getting the opposition out for 82.Related
G Trisha excels with bat and ball as India become back-to-back Under-19 champions
India then chased down the target in 11.2 overs, with G Trisha – who also returned figures of 3 for 15 with the ball – scoring an unbeaten 44.”We are definitely going to create this legacy of winning ICC trophies, winning a lot of trophies for India,” Prasad said at the post-match presentation ceremony.Prasad had to put behind her the disappointment of not making the squad for the previous Under-19 World Cup, which India won under the captaincy of Shafali Verma in 2023, but she’s soaking it all in now.”I think I’m feeling really happy that I am right here standing, making sure that India stays on top. And it’s obviously a special moment that we’re playing the World Cup and doing this for India,” she said.India lost the toss and were asked to bowl. Prasad said India drew from their experience bowling first in most of their matches in the competition.”I think all of us just tried to stay calm and down-to-earth and just stick to doing what our job is,” she said.G Trisha poses with her medal after taking India to the Under-19 World Cup glory•Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“I think if we would have won the toss we would have definitely chosen batting but you know throughout the tournament we’ve been bowling well and we’ve been bowling first [more] so nevertheless we just wanted to go out there and show what we can do.”Trisha, who was named Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament, dedicated the latter award to her father, who was in the audience.”Because of him I started playing cricket. I don’t think without him I would have been here,” said Trisha, who was also part of the team in 2023.While she played in the middle order in 2023, Trisha was pushed up to open this time around, and she ended up topping the run charts with 309 runs from seven matches with an average of 77.25. No other batter reached the 200-run mark. Her strike rate of 147.14 was also the best in the tournament.Trisha, who said she idolises Mithali Raj, has been working on her power game in recent times and credited India’s batting coach Apoorva S Desaii for giving her role clarity before the competition.”So we’ve been working on [my power game] since a while. For this tournament our batting coach Apoorva sir he has kept telling ‘you are going to open the innings and make sure you’re ready for it’,” Trisha said.Apart from her heroics with the bat, Trisha also returned seven wickets from the six games she bowled in.Parunika Sisodia struck in her first over of the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup final•Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
India’s left-arm spin trio ‘like a family’
One of the major factors in India’s domination was their trio of left-arm spinners Vaishnavi Sharma, Aayushi Shukla and Parunika Sisodia, who were three of the four highest wicket-takers in the competition.While Vaishnavi topped the charts with 17 strikes, Shukla and Sisodia were not far behind with 14 and 10 wickets respectively.According to them, the three are close and have developed a great understanding between themselves.”I guess back in the room in the hotel, what all three we talk about is nothing related to our bowling,” Sisodia said after India’s win. “All our bowling just came and, you know, in the game coming on we just enjoyed ourselves.”We keep telling each other a little bit of, you know, what the batters are doing, helping each other [on the field].”At this point, I guess, we are just, you know, eye contacting and we are understanding each other now.”With all of them being left-arm spinners, is there competition or does this fact not affect them?”We are like the best friends,” Sisodia was quick to respond, with emphasis on the “best”. Vaishnavi, who was too overcome with emotion to speak a few minutes earlier was quick to interject: “We are like family actually. We all are family.”Asked about their plans for the future, Sisodia said: “I guess all of us… I mean, not just us [three] but the whole team, we all want to just go ahead and, you know, never look back from here.”Wicketkeeper and opener G Kamalini, who was animatedly photobombing the interview, then came in and summed up the feelings of the team in a line in Tamil: ” [We have lifted the World Cup].”
Premier League legend Sol Campbell has named his favourites to become the next invincibles – and it is not Mikel Arteta's side.
Campbell names next invincibles
Chooses rivals over Gunners
Clear message to Arteta
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Campbell was part of Arsenal's 2004 invincible team and knows what it takes to win, so it might hurt Gunners fans to hear that he has named Liverpool as the most likely to replicate Arsene Wenger's side's achievement.
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WHAT CAMPBELL SAID
Speaking to BetSelect, he said: "Never say never. It’s very, very hard, but I think it’s doable. If you look at the talent in that Liverpool squad now, they’d be the most likely for me to go on to be the next Invincibles."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Only one side have come close to matching Arsenal's famous achievement from 20 years ago – and it was the Reds themselves in 2018-19. They did not even win the league that term, losing out to Manchester City in that instance.
J.LEAGUE
WHAT NEXT?
Liverpool will be looking to claim back-to-back Premier League titles under Arne Slot and would love to go one better than their 2019 side and finish the campaign unbeaten. They kick off their new season against Bournemouth on August 15.
Chelsea are planning to overhaul a key area of Enzo Maresca’s squad this summer, with BlueCo looking to sell two players and potentially open new talks for an elite-level star.
Chelsea continue transfer planning after botched CWC deals
In high-profile fashion, Chelsea missed out on a couple of anticipated deals before the pre-Club World Cup transfer deadline at 7pm on Tuesday.
Chelsea are in ongoing talks with Neymar-like forward – Sky journalist
The west Londoners are still working beyond the Club World Cup transfer deadline.
By
Emilio Galantini
Jun 11, 2025
While Chelsea do have the arrival of Liam Delap to celebrate, with the English sensation set to bolster Maresca’s forward options for the CWC, the Blues couldn’t quite get Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens or AC Milan’s Mike Maignan over the line.
The former was a top target for Maresca in the wide area, and Chelsea did their utmost to make it happen – lodging three different offers in the build up to Tuesday’s deadline, only for Dortmund to reject them all and demand more money (Florian Plettenberg).
Chelsea’s best performers in the Premier League last season
Average match rating
Cole Palmer
7.33
Moises Caicedo
7.02
Enzo Fernández
6.95
Nicolas Jackson
6.88
Noni Madueke
6.82
via WhoScored
Chelsea went as high as £47 million in their bid to sign Gittens, but it was no use, with the west Londoners deciding to walk away from talks once it was clear a deal could not be done in time.
Their attempts to sign Maignan were equally frustrating.
Milan wanted around £25 million to sell the France international, who’s about to enter the final year of his contract and won’t sign a new one, but Chelsea were only willing to pay up to £13 million, meaning no agreement could be found (The Athletic).
AC Milan's MikeMaignanreacts
Given the 29-year-old’s pedigree as, arguably, one of the world’s finest keepers and France’s undisputed number one, there is frustration among Chelsea supporters that they didn’t stump up the cash for a player who would’ve undoubtedly been an upgrade on their current crop.
Maignan was also known to be very keen on a move to Chelsea, and for just £25m, the shot-stopper could’ve been a serious bargain.
However, their transfer plans are continuing into the summer, with reliable journalist Simon Phillips suggesting that a move for Maignan certainly isn’t off the cards.
Chelsea could hold new Mike Maignan talks next week
The Blues want to sell both Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic, with Chelsea reportedly valuing the latter at around £21 million. Sanchez joined the club for around £25 million from Brighton, and you’d Chelsea would want to recuperate a large portion of that fee.
With the £46 million duo up for sale, one source has told Phillips that Chelsea could even reopen talks for Maignan as early as next week.
AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
“They held talks with Milan, Maignan wants the move, and Chelsea actually believed they were about to sign him with a fee agreement close,” said Phillips, via his Substack.
“AC Milan moved the goalposts on the fee in the final stages and that was enough for Chelsea to back out, for now.
“However, they are likely to go back for Maignan. I know initially we heard yesterday that they wouldn’t be going back for him at all. But after further digging by our sources last night, we’ve heard that Chelsea are now likely to revisit this deal later in the summer window. One source even suggests they could go back in for talks as soon as next week.
“Chelsea don’t want to be pushed over in negotiations so some of this is about sending messages as well as not appearing desperate to land a new goalkeeper.
“And that is because they want to sell both Djordje Petrovic and Robert Sanchez this summer. Obviously this needs suitors and those suitors to pay the valuations to make this happen, but this is their intentions.”
Called “one of the best” keepers in world football by Alisson, the Liverpool star also heralded Maignan’s “quick” burst of pace off the line, and a truly quality number one could be one of the final missing pieces of Maresca’s jigsaw.
Jude Bellingham has reportedly missed Real Madrid training as injury fears grow amid fierce La Liga title battle with Barcelona.
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Bellingham worked inside the training facilities
Currently awaiting a medical report
Remains doubtful for the fixture against Celta
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WHAT HAPPENED?
According to, Bellingham felt minor muscular issues on Thursday. While the club’s medical team is not overly alarmed and currently views the situation as a precautionary measure, his absence from collective training has nevertheless raised questions about his availability for Sunday’s crucial match against Celta Vigo.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
While star forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior rejoined full training on Friday after nursing minor muscular issues of their own earlier in the week, Bellingham’s status remains uncertain. Madrid’s medical staff are closely monitoring the situation, and a detailed medical report is still awaited.
DID YOU KNOW?
In addition to fitness issues in attack and midfield, Real Madrid are also bracing for changes in their defensive lineup. Injuries and suspensions have forced Ancelotti into yet another defensive shuffle, with left-back Fran Garcia and centre-half Raul Asencio expected to start in their respective roles. On the opposite flank, Lucas Vazquez is the likely candidate to feature once again at right-back, offering stability and experience. Meanwhile, Aurelien Tchouameni, traditionally deployed in a holding midfield role, may once again be called upon to provide emergency cover in central defence.
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WHAT NEXT FOR REAL MADRID?
Real Madrid are under no illusions about the stakes this weekend. They know that anything short of three points against Celta Vigo could severely damage their hopes of overhauling Barcelona in the final weeks of the season. Should the Catalan giants manage to secure a result against Real Valladolid, Madrid would need a victory to remain within striking distance, potentially just four points behind, with a vital El Clásico on the horizon.