Lester backs Lions to cover Payne injury
AFL: Brisbane Lions defender Ryan Lester speaks about the news that Jack Payne will be out for the rest of the season.
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Socceroos midfielder Ryan Teague being pursued by Wrexham and two Belgian clubs
Wrexham's push for promotion to the English Premier League could involve Socceroo Ryan Teague. It's understood that the Welsh outfit owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney is one of three clubs in the hunt for the Melbourne Victory midfielder. Also in contention to sign the 23-year-old FIFA World Cup hopeful are Belgian top-flight clubs Gent and KV Mechelen. If Teague chooses Wrexham – who have secured promotion three seasons in succession to earn a berth in the 2025-26 English Championship – he could line up against the Victory next month when the Red Dragons tour Australia and New Zealand to meet the Melbourne club, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix. Meanwhile, clubs from Germany, Austria, Belgium and England remain in the race to sign striker Noah Botic, whose Western United contract expires this month. Botic scored 16 goals in 29 appearances during United's 2024-25 A-League campaign, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 elimination final win over Adelaide United. The 23-year-old marksman has been linked with a move to Bundesliga outfit St. Pauli, the club of Socceroos pair Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe. However, Botic won't be joining Irvine and Metcalfe at the German top-flight club. Elsewhere, former Melbourne City right-back Callum Talbot has joined Macarthur FC on a multi-year deal. 'I feel the Bulls really aligned with my personal goals and what I want to achieve for not only myself but of the club,' said Talbot, who parted ways with City last week after being part of the club's A-League championship-winning squad. And Talbot is expected to be joined at the Bulls by former City teammate Harry Politidis, with the 22-year-old left-back also having departed the Melbourne club next week. Socceroos midfielder Anthony Caceres, who is yet to sign a new deal with Sydney FC, has also been strongly linked with a move to Macarthur. Elsewhere, Brisbane Roar have signed Switzerland-born former Bosnian under-21 international midfielder Milorad Stajic on a two-year deal. Stajic, 23, has spent the past two seasons with Serbian top-flight outfit Radnicki Nis. 'The city of Brisbane looks to be a beautiful place to play football, and I am looking forward to putting on the jersey and representing the great fans there this season,' Stajic said.
Daily Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Socceroos and Victory midfielder wanted by Wrexham
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News. Wrexham's push for promotion to the English Premier League could involve Socceroo Ryan Teague. It's understood that the Welsh outfit owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney is one of three clubs in the hunt for the Melbourne Victory midfielder. Also in contention to sign the 23-year-old FIFA World Cup hopeful are Belgian top-flight clubs Gent and KV Mechelen. If Teague chooses Wrexham – who have secured promotion three seasons in succession to earn a berth in the 2025-26 English Championship – he could line up against the Victory next month when the Red Dragons tour Australia and New Zealand to meet the Melbourne club, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix. Meanwhile, clubs from Germany, Austria, Belgium and England remain in the race to sign striker Noah Botic, whose Western United contract expires this month. Botic scored 16 goals in 29 appearances during United's 2024-25 A-League campaign, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 elimination final win over Adelaide United. The 23-year-old marksman has been linked with a move to Bundesliga outfit St. Pauli, the club of Socceroos pair Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe. Socceroo Ryan Teague is in the sights of Wrexham, Gent and KV Mechelen. Picture:However, Botic won't be joining Irvine and Metcalfe at the German top-flight club. Elsewhere, former Melbourne City right-back Callum Talbot has joined Macarthur FC on a multi-year deal. 'I feel the Bulls really aligned with my personal goals and what I want to achieve for not only myself but of the club,' said Talbot, who parted ways with City last week after being part of the club's A-League championship-winning squad. And Talbot is expected to be joined at the Bulls by former City teammate Harry Politidis, with the 22-year-old left-back also having departed the Melbourne club next week. Socceroos midfielder Anthony Caceres, who is yet to sign a new deal with Sydney FC, has also been strongly linked with a move to Macarthur. Elsewhere, Brisbane Roar have signed Switzerland-born former Bosnian under-21 international midfielder Milorad Stajic on a two-year deal. Stajic, 23, has spent the past two seasons with Serbian top-flight outfit Radnicki Nis. 'The city of Brisbane looks to be a beautiful place to play football, and I am looking forward to putting on the jersey and representing the great fans there this season,' Stajic said. Originally published as Socceroos midfielder Ryan Teague being pursued by Wrexham and two Belgian clubs
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Empty seats as Chelsea win opener at Club World Cup, Benfica deny Boca
Chelsea began their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory against Los Angeles FC in a largely empty stadium on Monday as Brazilian giants Flamengo also got off to a winning start and a Benfica comeback denied Boca Juniors in a stormy encounter. As the inaugural 32-team tournament gradually kicks into gear in the United States, Chelsea followed fellow European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich by claiming three points in their first group outing. Yet while UEFA Champions League winners PSG were ominous against Atletico Madrid on Sunday, and Bayern put 10 past Auckland City, the Premier League team were more solid than spectacular against LAFC in Atlanta. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez got the goals for Enzo Maresca's side in the Group D match before nearly 50,000 empty seats at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium -- not a great look for the tournament organisers. New signing Liam Delap made his debut as a substitute and helped set up Fernandez's strike, with Chelsea hoping to reestablish themselves among the elite after their recent UEFA Conference League triumph and Champions League qualification. Maresca said it was a "very good result" and was happy with Delap's display following his recent arrival from Ipswich Town. "The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play, so the process is quite quick," said the Italian. "The environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full," added Maresca when asked about the crowd, as just over 22,000 attended the 71,000-capacity venue for a game played at 3:00 pm local time on a Monday. LAFC were late qualifiers for the tournament, beating Club America in a play-off last month to replace banned Mexican side Club Leon. Chelsea went ahead just after the half-hour mark when Nicolas Jackson released Neto and the Portuguese winger turned inside LA defender Ryan Hollingshead before beating goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a powerful strike. Former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud came on at half time for the Americans and Steve Cherundolo's team improved in the second half. However, Delap entered the fray for Chelsea and made the killer second goal, crossing for the arriving Fernandez to control and finish. - Dominant Flamengo - Chelsea's next game will be against Flamengo, who began their campaign by easing to a 2-0 win against Esperance of Tunisia in Philadelphia. Uruguayan international Giorgian de Arrascaeta gave the Brazilian giants a 17th-minute lead from an assist by Luiz Araujo, who made it 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining. It was a dominant display from Flamengo, who fielded a strong side featuring several Brazil internationals and gave a debut to Italy midfielder Jorginho following his arrival from Arsenal. Jorginho will face former club Chelsea when the teams meet in their second match on Friday. Flamengo coach Filipe Luis is also an ex-player at Stamford Bridge. There were vast sections of empty seats at Lincoln Financial Field too, with just 25,797 fans in a stadium that can hold close to 70,000. - Stormy - In contrast, there was close to a full house, and a raucous atmosphere, in Miami as Boca and Benfica played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in Group C. The majority of the crowd was backing Boca and the Argentines roared into a two-goal lead, Miguel Merentiel and Rodrigo Battaglia both scoring in the first half. Two-time European champions Benfica were given a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when Boca's Carlos Palacios mistimed a challenge on Nicolas Otamendi and after a VAR review -- which included a red card for protesting from the already substituted Boca midfield Ander Herrera -- a penalty was awarded. Veteran Angel di Maria converted from the spot to make it 2-1, but Benfica then had Andrea Belotti sent off in the 71st minute after a wild, high-footed kick into the head of Ayrton Costa. But with six minutes remaining the Portuguese side equalised as Otamendi headed in to make it 2-2. A disappointing result for Boca was compounded by a late red card for Nicolas Figal, who was dismissed for an ugly challenge on Florentino Luis. "We're left with a bitter taste because we thought we could have won it," said Boca's Battaglia. Tuesday's action begins with Borussia Dortmund taking on Fluminense of Brazil in New York in Group F, while Inter Milan face Monterrey of Mexico in Pasadena in Group E.
