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Coleman and Szmodics withdraw from Republic of Ireland squad

Coleman and Szmodics withdraw from Republic of Ireland squad

BBC News5 days ago

Seamus Coleman and Sammie Szmodics have been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg next month because of injury.Defender Coleman endured an injury-hit 2024-25 campaign and missed Everton's Premier League victory over Newcastle last weekend with a thigh issue after being forced off against Southampton earlier this month. The 36-year-old's fitness issues have restricted him to just five Premier League appearances for the Toffees this term. Szmodics made a late appearance off the bench in Ipswich's defeat by West Ham as he returned from a three-month absence following ankle surgery.With Szmodics out, Brighton midfielder Andrew Moran has been drafted into head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson's squad. Moran, 21, spent last season on loan at Stoke and has two caps for the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland face Senegal at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 6 June before an away game against Luxembourg four days later.
Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Max O'Leary (Bristol City), Josh Keeley (Leyton Orient)Defenders: Matt Doherty (Wolves), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town), Jake O'Brien (Everton), Andrew Omobamidele (Strasbourg), Liam Scales (Celtic), Robbie Brady (Preston)Midfielders: Jason Knight (Bristol City), Killian Phillips (St. Mirren), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jack Taylor (Ipswich), John Joe Patrick Finn (Stade De Reims), Andrew Moran (Brighton)Forwards: Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Evan Ferguson (West Ham), Adam Idah (Celtic), Kasey McAteer (Leicester City), Festy Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir), Ryan Manning (Southampton)

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Matildas usher in new era after key interim role is filled perfectly by Tom Sermanni
Matildas usher in new era after key interim role is filled perfectly by Tom Sermanni

The Guardian

time2 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Matildas usher in new era after key interim role is filled perfectly by Tom Sermanni

One of the key themes of the past week for the Matildas has been a sense of serendipity. On Friday, Tom Sermanni's 150th fixture in charge of the national team was marked by Kahli Johnson's goal in a 2-0 win over Argentina, as the debutante became the latest in the long line of players whose international journey has started with the veteran coach. On Monday, the final game of Sermanni's tenure was played hours after Joe Montemurro was formally unveiled as the team's next full-time coach. Montemurro watched on from the stands of GIO Stadium as he begun preparations for the first games of his reign later this month. After coaching the Matildas across four separate decades, his final hitout in charge came in the same city where his coaching career began back in the 1980s. As one era ended, a player hoping to play a key role in the next demanded the attention of the incoming boss during the second game against Argentina. In her first start for 549 days, Amy Sayer grabbed a first-half brace to help steer the Matildas towards a 4-1 win in Canberra, before Emily van Egmond and hometown hero Michelle Heyman put the result beyond doubt. With Sermanni's third stint in charge of the Matildas now over, focus now turns to what comes next. As the 70-year-old himself reflected, his three stints in charge have intersected with the major eras of this team, and while he is too self-effacing to acknowledge it, that means stories of the Matildas cannot be told without him. He was there when the modern Matildas program was being established in 1993, and when Australian football made its move to Asia, before laying down a marker of what was to come with a continental crown in 2010. During his latest stint in charge, he was offered a chance to experience a team he had been so instrumental in building, after it had ascended to being something more. The 25,125 fans in Canberra – a record for a women's sporting event in the Australian capital – was testament to this. 'Back in the days when you'd essentially get family and friends to come to games, you dreamt of stuff like this' Sermanni told Paramount. 'It's just a dream come true.' It's this history that made his appointment as an interim such a key one. Not just because he deserved an opportunity to bask in the glow that exists around the side, but also because his willingness to do whatever is in the team's best interests – demonstrated across multiple decades – is indisputable. When he walked back in the door last October, he described the atmosphere that greeted him as being akin to 'turning up at a funeral' following a disastrous Paris Olympics. Combining an existing relationship with much of the squad and an unimpeachable record of service with a humble lack of ambition to make this anything permanent, he filled the temporary role perfectly. Yet, the results against the biggest nations weren't there. And the effects of an extended period of limbo as Football Australia's search for a permanent coach continued were clear to everyone during three games in February. While he did his best to bring through new talent and prepare the side for what was to come, as a caretaker there was a limit to his authority. Outside of the retired Clare Polkinghorne, much of the established squad looks set to still be in place come next year's Asian Cup, and it wasn't Sermanni's place to say otherwise. That is Montemurro's responsibility. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion But Sermanni cannot be blamed for the maladroit hunt for a full-time replacement. Back-to-back losses to Brazil and a winless SheBelieves Cup weren't part of the plan, but neither was him being in an interim role for nearly a year. He came in and did his job in getting the team back on its feet, and then the federation turned around and asked him to keep doing it. He would have been well within his rights to put decision-makers on blast, but doing what was best for the Matildas came first. Starting with Daniela Galic and ending with Isabel Gomez, nine players have made their international debuts during his brief tenure, while others such as Sayer, Holly McNamara, and Clare Wheeler have grown in prominence. Fittingly, Sermanni used one of his final appearances as coach of the Matildas to call for improvements to resourcing and staffing in the A-League Women, attempting to spur even more progress for the game, even after his exit. If some of the recent results have damaged Sermanni's standing in the eyes of a new generation of fans who have rallied around the Matildas, they shouldn't. He has played an irreplaceable role since before many of them were born. And now, with the Montemurro era looming, he can kick back.

Nepo babies' not-so-humble brag about their status and generational wealth as they embrace label in new trend - but can you guess who their famous parents are?
Nepo babies' not-so-humble brag about their status and generational wealth as they embrace label in new trend - but can you guess who their famous parents are?

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Nepo babies' not-so-humble brag about their status and generational wealth as they embrace label in new trend - but can you guess who their famous parents are?

Nepo babies have really been in the hot seat over the last year - and now rather than rebuffing the identity, they are bragging about it. In a new online trend, the offspring of the rich and famous are making their celebrity-heir status known thanks to the basketball term 'air ball' - a missed basket. Among the nepo babies jumping on the trend are Ava Phillippe, the daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, Francesca Scorsese and Jackson 5 star Randy Jackson's daughter Zoë. But perhaps winning the trend is Alianna Thiam - given that her dad Akon sings on the track being overlaid on the clips, Soul Survivor. The clips show the nepo babies turn the joke on you for making an 'airball' - a very wrong, and seriously underestimated, assumption about what their parents do for work. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Taking to TikTok, Senegalese-American singer Akon's daughter Alianna shared a picture of himself with the caption: 'Told him my dad was in the music industry.' In the next slide, Alianna could be seen taking a mirror selfie in a lavish apartment as she added a caption with her hypothetical date's response: 'He said "Oh like a manager?"' In a mic drop moment, Alianna's final slide is a sweet picture of her hugging her famous father. Holyfknairball was hashtagged to call out the date's conversational missed basket. Meanwhile Reese's daughter Ava shared a selfie writing: 'I told him my mom's a lawyer. ' The next snap showed Ava and her mum on the set of the iconic film Legally Blonde, with the hypothetical person's very incorrect response mistakenly assuming she means an actual lawyer. The caption on the clip reads 'He said "Oh what firm does she work at?",' and the third slide is the movie poster of Legally Blonde with 'air ball' written over the top. 'Her law degree may not be real... but she did go to Stanford for a bit,' Ava captioned the post. Next up was American Idol judge Randy Jackson's daughter Zoë who put her own spin on the trend by leaving it ambiguous as to what kind of judge he is. 'I told him my dad was a judge,' she said in the first clip, writing in the second: 'He said "Cool! At which court"' She then added a snap of her dad on the talent show. 'It's gonna be a YES for me Dawg,' Zoë captioned her take. And Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese's daughter Francesca also got in on the action - saying she was 'told to do this trend'. 'I told him "My dad is a filmmaker". He said "Oh nice like for commercials or something?",' before dropping a photo of the iconic director. The term nepo baby was coined by a Twitter user in 2022 who was shocked to learn their favourite actress had famous parents. It sparked a fierce debate on whether the children of the rich and famous have been getting an unfair leg up. But the nepo baby path to fame doesn't always run smooth, with many forced to try their hand at several showbiz careers until they find one that sticks. In stark contrast to the air ball trend, some celebrity offspring have taken issue with being branded as such, with TV presenting duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan's daughter Chloe going as far as to call the phrase a 'dirty word'. Phoenix Brown, the daughter of Spice Girl Mel B, also recently slammed the 'febrile and poisonous' debate around nepo babies' success in the entertainment industry. She made headlines when she hosted an art exhibition only for it to be a ruse as part of a documentary on nepo babies. 'I told him my dad was a judge,' she said in the first clip, writing in the second: 'He said "Cool! At which court"' She then added a snap of her dad on the talent show Daughter of Spice Girl Mel B, Phoenix Brown, 25, is fronting Channel 4 documentary Born in the Limelight - Nepo Babies: Untold, which first aired in October, and returns to screens again next Thursday. In the documentary Phoenix pretends to reinvent herself as an artist, using her mother's name to stage an exhibition. She sells a painting for £2,000 - but an experts admits that without her famous name it would only be worth £30. But despite admitting that having Mel B as her mum has 'opened doors', Phoenix warns that the levels of 'hate' for nepo babies has never been so high following public obsession with the concept. Meanwhile Brooklyn Beckham's rise to nepo baby success comes after years of being the butt off the joke as he tried to launch various showbiz careers. The eldest child of David and Victoria Beckham has taken jibes in the past over his career changes, having first tried to follow in his footballer father's steps before becoming an aspiring photographer and trying his hand at becoming a chef. In 2017, the then-aspiring photographer released a book named What I See. While in 2020, he was also said to have signed to a major modelling agency, after receiving criticism over his photography. Speaking to Grazia in November, Brooklyn addressed the nepo baby criticism, as he said: 'Obviously I am one. But I couldn't help how I was born, at all.' While he understands why the public can feel irked by nepo babies, Brooklyn said he tries to ignore the 'rubbish' people say rather than dwell on it. He added: 'There's always going to be people that say rubbish. But as long as you do something that makes you happy and you're kind to people, that's all that matters. I'm always gonna get it, no matter what I do. And I'm fine with that. It makes me work harder, because I'm like, I'm gonna prove these people wrong.' When Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban 's daughter Sunday Rose, 16, made her catwalk debut for MiuMiu it didn't get quite the breathless reception the brand was expecting. The teenager's 'stomping' went viral on social media, with people critiquing her style and saying that she looked like a 'petulant child'. Her country singer father Keith, 57, jumped to her defence, and told People Magazine he is 'very proud' of his teen daughter but wants to protect her. Kate Moss's half-sister Lottie has also declared she is 'sick of people blaming nepotism for why they aren't rich and famous or successful'. Lottie signed with Storm Management when she was just 14 years old and threw herself into modelling, but decided to quit photoshoots for OnlyFans in 2021. Amid a storm of nepo baby criticism in 2022, Lottie said: 'I'm so sick of people blaming nepotism for why they aren't rich and famous or successful - obviously it's not fair that people who come from famous families are getting a leg up because of that but guess what? 'Life isn't fair - if you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything! So instead of being negative about other people's success go and try and create your own!' And while it was always her ambition to follow in her parents Richard and Judy's footsteps and go into television, Chloe Madeley revealed she 'hates' being branded a nepo baby - and went as far as to describe it as a 'dirty word'. Speaking to Olivia Attwood on the latest episode of her podcast, So Wrong It's Right, Chloe said she finds it hard when people criticise her for being a child of nepotism. She said: 'Nepo baby is such a dirty word, and people don't realise how hard it is to hear that about yourself, when you're on the receiving end of it.'

Footy legend Nick Riewoldt slams the AFL for being TOO WOKE to take action over the most powerful woman in the game
Footy legend Nick Riewoldt slams the AFL for being TOO WOKE to take action over the most powerful woman in the game

Daily Mail​

time3 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Footy legend Nick Riewoldt slams the AFL for being TOO WOKE to take action over the most powerful woman in the game

Footy legend Nick Riewoldt has taken aim at the AFL for not demoting executive general manager of football Laura Kane sooner, labelling them 'social justice warriors'. The AFL announced last week that Kane's AFL football operations role will be split into two roles, with the 34-year-old no longer overseeing key football areas. Kane has become a lightning rod for criticism this season over issues such as the Willie Rioli saga, the standard of umpiring and AFL miscommunication around what happened when Collingwood player Lachie Schultz was concussed in a game against Fremantle. A separate head of football performance role is now being created . Kane will continue to oversee the AFL and AFLW, plus the VFL and VFLW and a newly formed medical and healthcare team that will oversee areas including mental health and concussion. It was confirmed on Monday that Lions chief executive officer Greg Swann will take on the role as the head of football performance. Riewoldt said Swann's arrival is long overdue. 'If the AFL weren't so consumed with being social justice warriors, Laura Kane would have been moved aside 12 months ago,' he said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters on Monday night. 'It is (a win) now. Either the role was too big, or she was the wrong person (for the job).' AFL chief Andrew Dillon insists there's nothing personal in the demotion of Kane. 'It was a big, big role,' Dillon told SEN radio on Friday. 'Decisions affect people but they're not personal. 'It's actually about what's the right thing for the AFL, not just for now, because the AFL's in an incredible position at the moment. ' ... We have now got a structure that actually allows us to continue to be successful for the next three to five years and that was the thinking.' In a separate interview on ABC Radio, Dillon rejected the notion that unconscious gender bias was a factor in Kane's dealings with clubs and subsequent demotion. 'It's not a gender thing,' he said. 'Laura has broken down a lot of barriers. She is an incredibly talented administrator.' Swann, who has been involved in club administration for more than 25 years, will oversee hot issues including the match review system, umpiring and laws of the game. 'I'm leaving to go the AFL to head up footy, I suppose, in the simplest terms,' Swann said when he confirmed his appointment to Lions colleagues. Lions coach Chris Fagan said Swann would be a major boost for the AFL. 'I'm really pleased for Swanny, it will be great for the game,' he said. 'He's one of those composed, calm and experienced people. We're obviously sad to lose him ... but things don't last forever. 'ln this instance, it will be a great win for the AFL. 'He'll help bring another angle to decision making that perhaps hasn't been there in recent times.'

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