Euro 2025: England coach Wiegman says Jess Carter is ready for semifinal despite online abuse
Defending champion England plays Italy on Tuesday, two days after Carter, who is Black, revealed she was subjected to racist abuse this month that was reported to police at home.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
9 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spain's women battled sexism and indifference. Now the world champions are eyeing European title
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — If the women's soccer players of Spain have gone from nobodies to title contenders in less than a decade, it hasn't come easy. The national team has had to fight for better coaching, decent travel conditions, and modern training facilities. It paid off with a World Cup title in 2023, the Nations League crown last year, and on Sunday they face England in the European Championship final. 'It has been a constant with the national team that we have had to fight for acceptable work conditions that would allow us to play at our best,' former Spain defender Marta Torrejón told The Associated Press by phone on Friday. Torrejón lived through the lean years, the time when playing for her country felt like, in her words, a 'waste of time.' And she knows from talking with Barcelona teammates who still play for their country how much things have improved. Torrejón retired from international soccer after the 2019 World Cup as Spain's then most-capped player with 90 appearances. She has since helped Barcelona win three Champions League titles and a slew of other trophies. She also played a part in one of the revolts Spain's women have staged to demand more from the men who run the game. After the 2015 World Cup, Torrejón and other players successfully pushed for the removal of coach Ignacio Quereda, who had run the team for nearly three decades, for his poor preparation ahead of the team's first appearance in the competition. Quereda was later accused by former players of verbal abuse, an allegation he denied. 'I enjoyed playing for the national team, but the preparation and attention to the player was minimum. It felt, to put it bluntly, like a waste of time,' Torrejón said. 'The level of practice and the level of physical training both plummeted compared to what we had (at Barcelona). It was like taking a step back. 'I am told that isn't the case now, and I am very glad to hear that.' Torrejón said she saw steps in the right direction under former Spain coach Jorge Vilda, who replaced Quereda, but felt there was still more untapped potential in the team when she retired. After Torrejón quit the team, some players announced in 2022 they would no longer play for Vilda unless he ran a more professional operation. He was backed by the federation. Some players returned to play for him, and the team made history by winning the 2023 World Cup. The celebrations were overshadowed by the behavior of then-federation president Luis Rubiales, who kissed a player on the lips without her consent during the awards ceremony in Sydney. Vilda backed Rubiales, but he was swept away with his boss when the players stood up to force change, from the removal of Rubiales to improving the travel, preparation and staffing of the team. Torrejón said she had heard from Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes, stalwarts of Spain and Barcelona, that things are better since Rubiales and Vilda left. New coach Montse Tomé has enhanced the training methods. Spain leads the way at the Euros for goals scored, ball possession, passing accuracy and clean sheets. In Spain's 1-0 semifinal win over Germany, Aitana Bonmatí leaned on the team's analysts, who informed her the opposing goalkeeper tended to leave her near post unprotected. The result was an exquisite winner from a tight angle. Barcelona and other clubs have lifted Spain Spain midfielder Patri Guijarro agrees with Torrejón that the sustained investment Barcelona has provided for the past decade in the women's game has boosted the national team. 'Each and every day we work well in our clubs and I think that is reflected in the achievements of the clubs but also in the national team,' Guijarro said at Spain's camp in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday. Guijarro also credits the professionalization of Spain's women's league in 2021, which allowed players 'to dedicate ourselves fully to soccer.' Guijarro is one of 11 Barcelona players on Spain's 23-member squad. The Barcelona contingent includes Bonmatí and Putellas, who have split the last four Ballon d'Or awards between them. Former Barcelona official Xavier Vilajoana oversaw the women's team and the club's training academy from 2015-2020. During that time, the club dramatically increased its funding for women's soccer and built a training program for girls. Vilajoana said one critical decision was having the same coaches train the boys' and girls' teams. That way the Barcelona style was instilled in all the kids, and that ball-possession, short-passing and pressure became fundamentals of the women's teams as well. 'Let's not fool ourselves, we spent many years in a very sexist society and that was reflected in women's soccer. So clearly the change in the mentality of society has helped,' Vilajoana told the AP. 'But I also believe the style of play Barca has helped see women players in the same way (as the men).' 'We had talent' Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. In the background, Spain's strong feminist movement helped get the public behind the players. 'There were many of us players who gave it our all for the national team but weren't able to get this far,' Torrejón said. 'The one thing we knew is that we had talent. We just needed more support.' ___ AP sports writer Graham Dunbar contributed from Lausanne, Switzerland. ___ AP soccer:
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Four-time Olympic gold-medal winner Léon Marchand is back and chasing more world records
SINGAPORE (AP) — Léon Marchand's life changed drastically after he won four gold medals a year ago in the Paris Olympics. He was a national hero and had to adjust — particularly when he was at home in France. 'I have to plan things,' Marchand explained Saturday. 'I can't just go on my own in the city and just go get bread.' 'I know how to say 'no' better,' he added. 'It gets a lot more peaceful when I travel out of France.' After swimming under the tutelage of Bob Bowman at the University of Texas at Austin, Marchand is back and will head the field at the swimming world championships — the biggest meet since the Olympics. It's also the stepping stone for many toward the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with races in the pool starting Sunday and running through Aug. 3. Marchand, Canada's Summer McIntosh, and Katie Ledecky of the United States were the stars in Paris. They'll be the swimmers to watch in Singapore, joined by a host of Olympians and younger swimmers who hope to be in Los Angeles in three years. The youngest in the field is 12-year-old Yu Zidi of China, who could be a medal contender in her three races with times — and youth — that are shocking global swimming. Marchand will swim only the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medleys and some team relays, opting out of his other gold-medal events in Paris — the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. 'This is a transition year for me, so I wanted to have a lighter schedule than usual,' Marchand said. 'I'm really excited to do just less than usual, you know, just to see how far I can go, how fast I can go.' Marchand will be after the 200 IM record set in 2011 by American Ryan Lochte — 1 minute, 54.00 seconds. He'll also try to break his own 400 IM record (4:02.50) set at the 2023 worlds in Fukuoka, Japan. He credits Bowman — famous for coaching Michael Phelps to 23 Olympic gold medals — for pushing him at Texas. Bowman tutors an international cast of swimmers that this fall will also include McIntosh. 'He knows how to be calm in every situation,' Marchand said of Bowman. 'I think he taught us throughout the years. He also had a lot of experience on the biggest stage, so I trust him fully.' Without the stress of two extra races, Marchand is ready to make more history. 'Of course I want to break all the records,' he said. 'I don't know when that's going to happen' Many are expecting it in Singapore. ___ AP sports:
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Families of Americans slain in the West Bank lose hope for justice
BIDDU, West Bank (AP) — When Sayfollah Musallet of Tampa, Florida, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank two weeks ago, he became the fourth Palestinian-American killed in the occupied territory since the war in Gaza began. No one has been arrested or charged in Musallet's slaying – and if Israel's track record on the other three deaths is any guide, it seems unlikely to happen. Yet Musallet's father and a growing number of U.S. politicians want to flip the script.
