💔 Tension between Cruz Azul and their manager ahead of Concachampions final
Information has started to circulate that the situation is tense in La Noria. This is because after the defeat against América in the Liga Mx semifinals, it seems that Vicente Sánchez's hours as a cement strategist are numbered.
🔥 🔥 🔥 🚂🚂🚂La cosa está muy brava en Cruz Azul Me dicen que Vicente Sanchez y Rubens Valenzuela han pedido que se les renueve si o si el contrato o no dirigen el 1 de junio en CONCACAF Info en desarrollo…
— CESAR CABALLERO (@ccaballero10) May 20, 2025
Vicente seems to be on thin ice and his future in La Noria is uncertain, will he make it to the Concachampions final or will we have a change of coach in La Máquina? We're reading you...
📸 RODRIGO OROPEZA - AFP or licensors
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Who are the Red Roses? Player-by-player guide to England's Rugby World Cup squad
The Red Roses enter the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup as strong favourites to triumph on home soil in England. John Mitchell's side have gone unbeaten in the three years since their final defeat to New Zealand at the last major tournament and continue to set the pace at the top of women's rugby. Mitchell, appointed head coach in 2023 and tasked with ending a nine-year wait for a world title, has selected a 32-player squad for the World Cup featuring mostly familiar faces having worked hard to build depth over the last two years. With four survivors of the successful 2014 England side, and several new stars also included, the New Zealander hopes to have put together the right blend to allow the Red Roses to triumph at Twickenham on 27 September. Here's The Independent's player-by-player guide to the squad: Props Hannah Botterman Club: Bristol Bears A powerful ball carrier, Botterman is now firmly established as England's first-choice loosehead, who combines set-piece solidity with real prowess over the ball. A high-energy figure on and off the pitch. Mackenzie Carson Club: Gloucester-Hartpury Capped three times by Canada after making her debut against England in 2018, Carson came from nowhere into the Red Roses fold in early 2023 – and hasn't looked back since. Qualifying thanks to her English mother, an injury has disrupted her year a little yet Carson always felt a certainty to make this squad. Sarah Bern Club: Bristol Bears Probably the most complete prop in the world, Bern burst on to the scene at the 2017 tournament and has run amok ever since with dynamism that belies her position and power-packed frame. Named on The Independent's 2025 Pride list, her wider profile has begun to match her ability on the pitch with Bern an increasingly prominent social media figure. Maud Muir Club: Gloucester-Hartpury Muir has begun to seriously threaten Bern's position as top tighthead, which is a mark of how she has grown into a front-row force. Having bounced around the front row early in her career, the 24-year-old has been allowed to knuckle down at one spot and flourished. Kelsey Clifford Club: Saracens A hugely valuable front row figure given her capacity to cover both sides of the scrum, Clifford has always been a strong set-piece operator and is now a developing threat in the loose, too. Only 23 but firmly established at Saracens. Hookers Lark Atkin-Davies Club: Bristol Bears Marshall of a maul that will again do damage, Atkin-Davies is a standards-driver within the England environment and outstanding lineout thrower. Amy Cokayne Club: Sale Sharks Cokayne balances plenty of skill and steel in the tight with comfort in wide-open spaces, and will rival Atkin-Davies for the starting No 2 shirt. The pair's high quality have helped get the best out of one another and their teammates, with England's set-piece again sure to be a strength. May Campbell Club: Saracens Campbell has edged out Connie Powell for the third hooker spot on account of an excellent Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) campaign both in the front row and at flanker for Saracens. An outstanding ruck scavenger, Campbell is slightly undersized yet is very good around the park. Locks Zoe Aldcroft (captain) Club: Gloucester-Hartpury Appointed captain in a year of a home World Cup, Aldcroft never has a bad game. Tireless and totemic, her athleticism means she may well be deployed in the back row while she is finding her voice as a leader. Abbie Ward Club: Bristol Bears Having become a mother between the last World Cup and this, Ward has re-established herself as a second row starter. An excellent lineout operator and incredibly driven professional. Rosie Galligan Club: Saracens An international career initially interrupted by career-threatening battles with bacterial meningitis and serious injury has flourished in the last few years. Galligan is another springy lineout jumper who now plays with real authority around the park. Recently became engaged to teammate Marlie Packer. Morwenna Talling Club: Sale Sharks Capable in either the second row or on the blindside, Talling embraces the workhorse term and relishes doing plenty of unseen work. A proud northerner, the 23-year-old was born and raised in Yorkshire and now calls Sale home; her physicality is valued by the England staff. Lilli Ives Campion Club: Loughborough Lightning The youngest member of the squad, Ives Campion is a former England U20s captain who has been mentored closely by both Ward and Aldcroft. An avid TikTok poster, like plenty in the Red Roses squad. Back Rows Alex Matthews Club: Gloucester-Hartpury Among the most consistent England players in fifteens and sevens for more than a decade, Matthews has evolved from youthful tyro into a No 8 of sheer class. A World Cup winner in 2014 and Olympian at Tokyo 2020, she may be quiet off the field but Matthews will be a key cog in England's bid for success. Sadia Kabeya Club: Loughborough Lightning A surging force in the run-up to the last World Cup, Kabeya is now firmly established in the England set-up. Among the most destructive defenders at John Mitchell's disposal, the Loughborough flanker likely has designs on a starting spot on the openside but has operated on the blindside in the last 18 months at times, adding lineout jumping and a wider role in attack to a skillset that still seems to be growing. Marlie Packer Club: Saracens No longer skipper but still a vital part of the Red Roses leadership team, Packer is combativity and competitiveness are her trademark qualities but can distract from how rounded her game is. At 35, this is probably a last chance to repeat the 2014 triumph of which she was a part – whether in a prominent or smaller role, she will not take a backwards step. Maddie Feaunati Club: Exeter Chiefs Lured north from New Zealand having been born in Leeds, Feaunati has been the breakthrough star of England's 2025 to challenge for a starting spot. Still a rough diamond in some ways, she is well-liked by coaches and players alike and provides something a little bit different in the forward pack. Father Zak won 13 caps for Samoa and portrayed Jonah Lomu in Invictus, the 2009 film starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. Abi Burton Club: Trailfinders A tale of resilience to rival any in in the squad, Burton spent 25 days in a coma in 2022 with autoimmune encephalitis. Returned to the sevens circuit a year later and appeared at an Olympics before making her international 15-a-side bow during this year's Six Nations, where she immediately impressed to earn a place in this squad. Scrum halves Natasha 'Mo' Hunt Club: Gloucester-Hartpury A shock omission from the travelling party three years ago, Hunt has returned better than ever to find maybe career-best form in her mid-thirties. A livewire character hasn't always meshed with previous England coaches but Mitchell and Lou Meadows, the attack coach, have got the best out of her, aided by clarity of communication and a willingness to back their players' decision-making. Lucy Packer Club: Harlequins Packer was the beneficiary of Hunt's omission last time around and produced a composed showing after a late call into the starting side for the World Cup final. The Harlequin has since been given plenty more opportunities in England's biggest games and provides sharp service from the base of the ruck. Fly halves Zoe Harrison Club: Saracens For a long time the heir apparent to Katy Daley-Mclean, Harrison hasn't had things all her own way since the World Cup-winning No 10's retirement, battling with fluctuations in form and an ACL injury that sidelined her for much of 2023. She boasts one of the best kicking games in the sport, though, both from hand and tee, and has the ability to put people into space like the best playmakers. Holly Aitchison Club: Sale Sharks Started the last World Cup final in the centres but has since been reinvented as an intuitive distributing fly half who has helped unlock England's wide attacking game. Enters this tournament with a bit of an injury niggle yet may well emerge as a leading fly half option if the Red Roses wish to play expansively. She's worked hard to refine her work from the tee, too. Helena Rowland Club: Loughborough Lightning Among the most valued members of the squad, Rowland is England's Miss Versatility, and has started games at 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 in the last few years – as well as providing emergency scrum half cover in the run-up to this tournament. Like plenty of others in the 32-player group, comes from a sevens background and has the fast feet one would expect. Still unbeaten in a Red Roses shirt having missed the final defeat last time around due to a cruelly timed injury. Centres Tatyana Heard Club: Gloucester-Hartpury A vital cog in England's backline, Heard balances ability as front-foot carrier with a clever short-passing game. The inside centre can sometimes fail to garner the plaudits she deserves -when Heard goes well, so, generally, do the Red Roses. Meg Jones Club: Trailfinders A free spirit, Jones bounced between sevens and fifteens after appearing at the 2017 World Cup yet has really nailed down her best role since returning to the Red Roses squad in the autumn of 2023. Quick as a hiccup and highly creative, she still speaks with a Welsh twang that betrays her Cardiff upbringing but she is a key leader and vice-captain within this England squad. Emily Scarratt Club: Loughborough Lightning A remarkable fifth World Cup for a player who did plenty to change perceptions of the sport. Scarratt thought retirement may be on the cards after a serious neck injury forced a long lay-off but has come back to prove plenty wrong, and is still among the game's most gifted players. No longer a starter, yet her value has been clear throughout the lead-up to this World Cup. Jade Shekells Club: Gloucester-Hartpury Shekells was not really on the radar as a World Cup contender at the start of this year, yet England like her potential at inside centre, a position where alternatives to Heard were lacking a little. Plenty of time spent on the sevens circuit are indicative of the athletic traits she possesses, while Shekells often stood out for Worcester before their demise. Back three Abby Dow Club: Unattached A supreme finisher and deep thinker about the game with real pace, a fierce fend and prowess as a defender, Dow is the archetypal modern wing. She is keen on crochet away from the pitch. Ellie Kildunne Club: Harlequins The reigning World Player of the Year, the charismatic Kildunne is an expressive player on and off the pitch. Perhaps guilty of trying to do too much herself early in her career, Kildunne has become a top-class full-back and will be one of the faces of the tournament. Jess Breach Club: Saracens Another of those unbeaten at international level, Breach scored six tries on international debut in 2017 and boasts a fine scoring record overall. A real speedster, playing at full-back for Saracens has helped refine the 27-year-old's wider game on the wing. Likely again competing for a starting wing spot with… Claudia Moloney-MacDonald Club: Exeter Chiefs Having begun her international career at scrum half, the Exeter wing has overcome two separate serious neck injuries to make a second World Cup as a real strike weapon out wide. She has added Moloney to her surname ahead of the tournament after marrying Ireland hooker Cliodhna during the summer. Emma Sing Club: Gloucester-Hartpury Sing arrives on the back of a superlative season with the title-winning Gloucester-Hartpury side in Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR). A different sort of full-back to Kildunne but still a counter-attacking threat, and adds real value as probably the best place-kicker in the squad.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Women's Rugby World Cup final sold out with Twickenham set for record attendance
The Women's Rugby World Cup has officially declared a sell-out with upwards of 80,000 people expected to attend Twickenham in a record audience for a women's rugby game on 27 September. 375,000 tickets overall have been sold for the tournament already, greatly exceeding the 140,000 total attendance for the last Women's World Cup in New Zealand with all competition records set to be smashed in an event that will bring new visibility to the women's game. The opening fixture between England, favourites for success on home soil, and the United States will draw in excess of 40,000 people to Sunderland's Stadium of Light with hopes that the stadium may be full on Friday night. Selling out the home of English rugby had long been an ambition of England's Rugby Football Union (RFU), World Rugby and the local organising committee, and while the exact attendance will depend on certain operational details, all tickets available have now been sold. The current record crowd for a game of women's international 15-a-side rugby is the 58,948 for the grand slam decider between England and France at Twickenham in the 2023 Women's Six Nations. 'The final we are very confident will be the most attended women's rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw [in the rugby sevens at] Paris 2024,' Gill Whitehead, chair of Rugby World Cup 2025, said. 'The last time England hosted the Women's Rugby World Cup, the girls played at the Stoop around the corner to a crowd of 13,000. I started playing women's rugby 30 years ago and the prospect of girls running out of the tunnel, playing to the three tiers of Twickenham packed to the rafters is something perhaps I never hoped or thought I would see and it's certainly what girls' dreams are made of.' World Rugby have moved to a new hosting model since the last Women's World Cup, which was held in just three venues in New Zealand. Eight cities will be used at this year's tournament, with 90% of the population of England within a two-hour drive of one of the venues. 'We're ready to break records in attendances, viewership and engagement,' Sarah Massey, managing director of the tournament, explained. 'This is going to be the biggest global celebration of women's rugby that we have ever seen. 'We're really pleased today to be able to announce that we've now sold 375,000 tickets across all those matches, surpassing all our initial ticket targets and really showing what this tournament is going to bring. That's three times the number of tickets that were sold for the last Women's Rugby World Cup. Our message to fans is, don't miss out. This is going to be unmissable. You're going to see thrilling action, electric atmospheres, and be quick, because those remaining tickets are really selling up fast."
New York Times
9 hours ago
- New York Times
Tim Ream: My game in my words
This article is part of our My Game In My Words 2025 series, an exclusive set of interviews with USMNT players where they talk us through how they do what they do on a soccer pitch. Tim Ream turns 38 in October but remains an integral part of the United States men's national team. He played every minute across all six matches, and captained his country to the final, at the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer. Ream, now at Charlotte FC in MLS after 12 years in England's Premier League and second-tier Championship with Bolton Wanderers and Fulham, says he does not play any differently when wearing the armband. 'I'm not rah-rah-rah, lighting a fire under people,' he says of his captaincy style. 'It's more a calmness, leading by example.' Advertisement He smiles wryly when asked if the Gold Cup felt enjoyable, given the high-profile absentees from the United States squad and criticism by former USMNT players. 'People can talk about the other 'stuff,'' says Ream. 'But we had a job to do. It was my most enjoyable Gold Cup, because of what the group stood for and what we built; supporting each other, becoming closer than any of us expected, really showing every single player cared, wanted to be there and had something to prove.' Now they must replicate the spirit when bigger names return as next year's World Cup, co-hosted with Canada and Mexico but with the bulk of the matches on U.S. soil, edges closer. 'Whoever comes in, no matter who they are, what we did on the field, especially in that Costa Rica game (in the Gold Cup quarterfinals, drawing 2-2 before winning on penalties), that has to be the minimum. We can't go back to being pushovers.' Pushovers is a strong term, no? 'But we were in a lot of moments; in Copa América, in Nations League,' says Ream. 'That's something we had to rebuild and rectify. The Gold Cup is different opponents, but you have to start somewhere and carry it on.' And what about that World Cup next June and July? Has U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino talked to Ream about his plans for him in 2026? 'No,' the defender says. 'I'm going to keep pushing and be ready for any role; starting, coming off the bench, or being the old guy in the corner with the orange slices and team talks. I continue to push because I care and want to be there. That's not solely down to me. You can do all those things and still not be picked. It's a huge honor whenever you get the call to come in. It's not one I'll be turning down.' For a sense of Ream's longevity, consider his primary experiences in English football. His first start after joining Bolton? Lining up against Harry Kane, when England's future record goalscorer and captain was a teenager on loan from Tottenham Hotspur to Millwall in the second tier. In Ream's first three months in England, he came up against forwards including Didier Drogba, Bobby Zamora, Yakubu, Emmanuel Adebayor, Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch; names now from a different era. In his second Premier League game, his task was unforgiving: playing out of position in central midfield away to title-bound Manchester City, and man-marking their talisman, Yaya Touré. 'I got told to run around and chase Yaya,' he laughs. 'That was not my finest moment. I remember him saying, 'Would you just play football instead of following me around?' I said: 'This is just what I got told to do. It's not my idea of fun either.'' Ream clocked up almost 400 games in English football, and has played 75 senior internationals for his country. In the fall of 2022, a period the St. Louis native considers the finest of his career, he was approached by Pep Guardiola in the tunnel after a game. The City manager told Ream he had been so impressed by his performance that, had he been 24 years old rather than 34, he would want to sign him. Advertisement Sadly, The Athletic's back catalogue does not extend to his first Premier League experiences over 12 years ago, but there were no shortage of clips demonstrating the qualities that impressed Guardiola and continue to convince Pochettino to pick him at age 37. This is Tim Ream's My Game in My Words. 'It's such an eye test now,' Ream muses. 'When clubs think about center-backs, stats and data do not translate. If you are top for tackles, you are either doing something else wrong or someone in front of you is doing something wrong. How do you quantify a center-back being in the right position?' In central defence, it's positioning, timing and anticipation that are key. So too are communication and awareness. Ream started out as a left-winger before also being played in central midfield and at left-back. He still remembers how it felt to receive the ball in different scenarios. He factors this in when weighting passes to teammates. As a child with a local team in the Midwestern state of Missouri, Ream often trained inside 'warehouses on concrete floors in the winter.' He says: 'We played with regular size-four and size-five balls. You had to understand technique to keep them on the ground. It was too cold and wet (to use ordinary fields). We used tennis courts. The older I've gotten, the more I think it was intentional, in terms of working small spaces — the lines were drawn out on tennis courts.' This developed Ream's passing, and he worked to improve his weaker right foot. How? 'By using it,' he shrugs. 'You unbalance opponents when you play off both feet. It frustrates me when players do not do that, because I can put them in a better position if I can play to either foot. I've not heard a player say: 'I can't do it,' but I've heard them say: 'I won't.'' He sought improvement. Advertisement 'I never felt I was one of the better players on my teams. It kept my feet on the ground. I knew I was good with the ball. I had conversations with university coaches (Ream went to Saint Louis University) about one-v-one defending, body position and understanding when you have to be more clever than physical.' As an American child in the 1990s, TV access to global soccer was rare. Ream had few heroes to emulate. His first exposure to the sport's elite was via VHS tapes played by his teams' coaches on bus trips to away games, often recordings of matches from past World Cups. Defensive instincts developed. Take this moment from Fulham's Premier League home game against Luton Town in September 2023, where he steps into midfield to anticipate danger and break up a potential counter-attack. In the first image below, Ream is not in view (he is just beyond the end of the white arrow in the centre circle) but can see a threat developing as Fulham's two midfielders (highlighted in blue) are at risk of being taken out by a clipped pass from their right side. Ream takes up the story: 'The Luton player takes a touch. The only place I think is dangerous is the little clipped ball. I'm looking at the player on the ball, but not at the ball. I'm looking at where our guys are set up and the Luton central midfielder running forward by himself. He (the man in possession) puts his head down before passing it, which means he's going to clip it in there. Then it's just a matter of reading the flight and getting there first. It's anticipation.' A similar example is seen in a 3-0 victory for Fulham at Crystal Palace the previous December. On this occasion, the ball runs loose in midfield and Ream needs to make an instant decision on whether to step up and try to win a challenge or drop off into defence. Wilfried Zaha, one of Palace's two onrushing forwards, chooses to run beyond the Fulham defence, hoping team-mate Jordan Ayew gets there before Ream and pokes a pass through to him. 'I am not favorite (to get the ball),' Ream says. 'But 'Jedi' (Fulham's USMNT left-back Antonee Robinson) is covering, and he's got pace to burn, (fellow center-back) Issa Diop is on his way back. Here I have to block-tackle, because I am in big trouble if I lunge. If my legs are open, Ayew can do a nutmeg through to Zaha. 'Jedi and I have played together for so long for club and country. With our communication and understanding, and knowing his physical attributes, it helps my decision-making.' 'Those are the millisecond decisions you have to make. Jedi gives me a security blanket to do what I did. Stuart Gray was a coach at Fulham. He told me you should come off the field and feel mentally more exhausted than physically, if not equally. We talked constantly about being switched on and tuned in.' During that victory at Selhurst Park, Ream also scored his first Premier League goal. But doing so was not the highlight of his day. Instead, that came in the 68th minute, when Palace were on the counter-attack and Michael Olise, now of Bayern Munich, was bearing down on him. What goes through Ream's mind here? 'I know he wants to come inside,' he says. 'I know he's left-footed, and I also know he can definitely outpace me. But actually, you will see I am not even looking at him. I'm looking backwards, at where my help is, to inform my decisions.' Ream knows he needs to hold Olise up until more white Fulham shirts can get back to offer defensive support. 'As we drop towards our goal, I'm no longer running straight backwards. My footwork changes. Now it is crossover steps. I plant here and come back at an angle because I am saying: 'OK, I'm not going to let you cut inside until my help fully arrives.' 'But now we are getting into the box. Dangerous territory. If you lunge, you risk taking him down.' He pauses: 'In all honesty, this is the most calm I've been in the entire game — and the most excited. My steps have changed again. I want him to go down the line but know he's good enough to still come inside. But I know my help is much closer. So he's going to have to put it through a really tight area. Advertisement 'Top attackers have this thing in the box where if they think they get a half a step, they're not taking another touch. They're going to open themselves up and hit it first time. But he's left enough of the ball there in front of him so I know if I lunge or reach, I'm not going to take him down.' Ream ends up getting in the way of Olise's attempt at goal: 'I was more excited about blocking the shot than scoring because I read the situation, which was key at 1-0 up.' For Ream, soccer remains a fusion of the psychological and the physical. Two separate clips, from 12 years apart, demonstrate Ream's reading of the game and his ability to put his body on the line. While playing for New York Red Bulls against LA Galaxy in May 2011 before ever moving to England, Ream responded superbly to a ball clipped over the top by David Beckham for Landon Donovan, scrambling all the way back to his goal line to hook it clear. 'I knew it wasn't an easy ball to control,' Ream says. 'I know the ball is played with backspin, so it's going to check back, which gives me a chance. The 'keeper is coming out, so Landon can't go straight to goal. He's right-footed but the ball is bouncing away onto his left. If he plays this with his left foot, then I don't make it. End of story. Before games, I always check which foot my opponents prefer. 'The next thing which helps me is his connection with the outside of his foot is very poor. I go up a gear as soon as he touches it. It helps because the way he's hit it, it's bouncing, but I have to get around it and scoop it.' In his years with Fulham and still with the USMNT, it is not only Ream's composure that stands out to fans. It is also commitment, exemplified by a clip here where he loses possession but immediately battles to win it back. 'Why give up?' he says. ''OK, I've slipped. I need to react.' Sport is still about that. Who's hungry? Who wants it more? Who's going to fall down and get up again? That is non-negotiable.' Ream recovery. :clap: — Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) September 19, 2023 Ream needed all that spirit after he slipped a disc in his back in 2018, just after he entered his 30s. 'At 30, you think: 'Is this the beginning of the end?' I had no feeling in my right leg for a few days. I had to have an injection and put everything right. I had to relearn to walk, or I wasn't walking correctly, because I couldn't feel anything. I had to strengthen everything: quad, glutes, calf, ankle. I re-learned to jump, hop and stabilize everything. It took me probably nine to 10 weeks. Advertisement 'Even now, gym sessions are difficult. I can't load much onto my back; it is free weights and dumbbells, but I can't be doing heavy lifting anymore. I got into pilates.' He recovered sufficiently to play in the 2022 World Cup, and early the following year he was providing goal-line stops once more, this time against Chelsea. When David Fofana breaks clear and goalkeeper Bernd Leno is exposed, Ream needs to make a decision. Rather than follow Fofana, he heads for the Fulham penalty area. 'His touch is going on the outside,' Ream says. 'Now, I know Issa well enough that he's going to fully commit, even though he doesn't have to.' Diop slides across, but Fofana is by now past Leno and cuts inside Ream's fellow defender: 'I slow down, just as he gets in the space. 'I've arced my run and said: 'OK, I dare you to put it on the ground and beat me at the near post.' I've thought: 'If he chips it, well done.' But I'm going to try to bait him into putting it there.' It works, Ream makes the clearance and Fulham go on to secure a 0-0 away draw. Even at almost 38, Ream's ambition is undimmed. He continues to learn, saying he can improve his aerial duels. He says the Championship taught him 'mentally how to grind out an entire season' and the Premier League 'how to reduce my mistakes, limit space, and be a really good teammate.' Ream describes walking out to play in that 2022 World Cup as the 'culmination' of his career's efforts. He may do it all over again next summer. (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton) The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
