logo
'Best I've seen Scotland play in five years'

'Best I've seen Scotland play in five years'

BBC News3 days ago

We asked for your views on Scotland's 1-1 draw away to Netherlands in their final Nations League outing and Melissa Andreatta's second match in charge.Here's what some of you said:Iain: It's the first time in recent years that I've seen a Scottish women's team have a go. Great to watch the second half especially.Colin: A great performance from the Scottish Women. Well deserved. We move on.Gordon: Definitely an improvement, great second half.Scott C: What a fantastic battling performance. So much improvement.Miller: Well off the pace defensively for the first 20 minutes but grew into the game. Intensity was much better in the second half. Great to see Mia McAulay, Kathleen McGovern, Emma Lawton and Kirsty Maclean doing well, four promising young players.Dave: The best I've seen from this team in years, that took the game forward instead of sitting back and waiting.Liz: Much better game, especially second half! Great to see.Douglas: Much-improved performance from the sometimes dire stuff over the last few years. Making things happen instead of hoping they would happen. Restoring my faith in watching some exciting football again from them.Pat: Let's give credit when it's due. Erin Cuthbert was immense.Jim: Four halves of football, and you could see the improvement in each half. That second half was the best I've seen Scotland play in at least five years. Good to see a system where Caroline Weir and Cuthbert looked like the world-class players they are.Ellie: Lots more energy and promise under the new coach, hopefully a start of a good new era in Scottish football.Franny: That was a good positive performance by the ladies. The new coach seems to be instilling a belief in the players, that can only stand us in good stead going forward.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump deploys National Guard after clashes in LA
Trump deploys National Guard after clashes in LA

BBC News

time31 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Trump deploys National Guard after clashes in LA

Manage consent settings on AMP pages These settings apply to AMP pages only. You may be asked to set these preferences again when you visit non-AMP BBC pages. The lightweight mobile page you have visited has been built using Google AMP technology. Strictly necessary data collection To make our web pages work, we store some limited information on your device without your consent. Read more about the essential information we store on your device to make our web pages work. We use local storage to store your consent preferences on your device. Optional data collection When you consent to data collection on AMP pages you are consenting to allow us to display personalised ads that are relevant to you when you are outside of the UK. Read more about how we personalise ads in the BBC and our advertising partners. You can choose not to receive personalised ads by clicking 'Reject data collection and continue' below. Please note that you will still see advertising, but it will not be personalised to you. You can change these settings by clicking 'Ad Choices / Do not sell my info' in the footer at any time.

Sporting Witness  Goalie v Gull
Sporting Witness  Goalie v Gull

BBC News

time36 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Sporting Witness Goalie v Gull

Dutch goalkeeper Eddy Treijtel played for Rotterdam giants, Feyenoord, more than 300 times. But one of his most talked about moments happened during a game against city rivals Sparta Rotterdam, in 1970. His goal kick, meant to pick out a striker, instead hit and killed a seagull. The dead bird was later stuffed and now resides in the club's museum. Eddy tells Johnny I'Anson about the moment that would go down in football folklore. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You'll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded. Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women's World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football's biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who've had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created. (Photo: Seagull. Credit: Thomas Winz)

Mum's in a care home. Dad has a new girlfriend
Mum's in a care home. Dad has a new girlfriend

Times

time2 hours ago

  • Times

Mum's in a care home. Dad has a new girlfriend

I watched my mum's face beam as she read her retirement cards, each one urging her to embrace freedom, explore hobbies and savour the best years of her life. Just eight months on, she was sat staring at the television, silent. When I asked what she was watching, she hesitated — then smiled as if to cover the fact that she didn't know the answer. Something was wrong. Mum was diagnosed with early onset dementia at 64. The celebration of her retirement had barely faded before she began withdrawing. Less eye contact. Short answers. Smiling and scoffing before walking away. Within a few months, my dad, my brother and I knew what life had in store for Mum, and it was far from anything in those retirement cards. At the same time, my wife was expecting our first child —Mum's first grandchild. We had decided to name her after Mum. The announcement was met with silence. No flicker of emotion from a woman who had always been so sentimental, so affectionate — never short of happy tears, even at corny adverts on TV. Dementia tightened its grip. Within three months, Mum became adamant nothing was wrong. She refused to see professionals, shutting us out with stubborn silence. Dad took over all housekeeping duties while Mum sat quietly, emotionless, staring into space. When she became doubly incontinent and suffered recurring infections, we accepted we needed help. After she was found in her nightgown down the road, Dad called a family meeting. We made the painful decision to move Mum into a local residential home. Then Covid hit, and for the next 12 months we waved at our despondent, rapidly declining mum — now a grandmother — through a window. I knew the adjustment would be hard. For me it meant losing the family unit I had always known. For Dad it meant the end of a 40-year marriage as he'd known it. But what none of us could have prepared for was how quickly life would shift once Mum was in the home. And how, in the midst of our grief, Dad would find love again. Out of the blue, Dad announced he was going on holiday. 'That's brilliant,' my wife said, nodding at me to agree. I did, half-listening as they chatted about the details. That night, she turned to me. 'Did you hear him say 'we'?' I hadn't. But now I couldn't stop hearing it. We speculated. Had he met someone? Could it be a catfish after his retirement fund? • Women who go through early menopause 'have higher risk of dementia' It wasn't a fraudster. It was Carol — Mum's best friend. The woman who had lived over the road for as long as I could remember. Mum and Carol had met when my parents moved to the street aged 29. Unlike Mum, who was quite shy, Carol was the wild one, the party girl. She told stories of nudist beaches and reckless adventures that made Mum giggle. Their friendship was built on shared experiences, always being there for one another, and a general mutual love of all things 'good housekeeping'— they were the typical Tupperware partygoers. Carol and her husband had been there for all of Mum's milestones. But shortly after Mum's 60th birthday, Carol's husband died suddenly. Carol and her two grown-up daughters were devastated. From this point on, Carol often came over, escaping the silence in her now-empty house. And when Mum started forgetting things, mixing up days and names, it was Carol who first suggested something might be wrong. She knew Mum so well — probably better than Dad did. After Mum moved into the care home, I would visit Dad and Carol would be there, drinking tea, just as she always had. It felt normal. She was family. I never imagined there was anything more to it. The holiday made it official. When Dad returned, tanned and relaxed, he told us he'd been away with Carol. He explained they had found comfort in each other's company and that they felt it was right to tell us. I was in shock. My wife did all the talking. All I could hear was Mum, in my head, scoffing: 'Carol? Dad and Carol? No.' The next time Dad came over, Carol was with him. She had always been around, yet suddenly everything was different. They sat closer to each other than before. Dad looked at her the way he used to look at Mum. And when Carol played with our daughter — her natural ease from raising two of her own — it hit me. Dad was happy. Wasn't that the point? Whether it was because he wanted an extension of Mum to live on in Mum's place, or just have a great companion, I'll never know. Dad was happy and that was all that mattered. • Drink coffee, tell jokes, read, nap — how to cut your risk of dementia Five years later, Mum is still here, though bedbound, unable to move or recognise any of us. Twice a week she gets visits from not one but two of her best friends: Dad and Carol. They care for her as a husband and a best friend would. They talk about Mum all the time, reminiscing about their memories together. Dad's attention sometimes drifts in the absence of Carol, and I know he's thinking about Mum. I have two daughters now, and one is an absolute double of my mum — Dad comments on it all the time. Carol smiles when he does. They both love and miss Mum just as much as I do. I'm not denying the fact that there have been uncomfortable moments. When Dad and Carol cleared out Mum's wardrobe, he brought a bag of her hats, scarves and handbags for my wife. I bristled. It felt too soon — she was still alive. But the truth is, she's never going to wear them again. She's not coming back. Without Carol, Dad would have been lonely, eating microwave meals for one, sitting by Mum's bedside having a one-way conversation. That's no life. If Dad had met a stranger, it would have been harder to accept. But Carol? Someone who had loved Mum too? It made sense. At first, friends and family were intrigued, full of questions. Some expected us to be upset, to reject Carol. We never felt that way. And as time passed, we realised this situation wasn't so unusual. It's common, in fact. One of my colleagues had family friends in an identical situation, and I've heard of many more too. People gravitate towards those they trust, those who understand their grief, those who are just as lonely but share the same experiences and values. And why shouldn't they? • Don't let age or dementia steal the right to a sex life Life doesn't follow the rules we expect. Grief and happiness can exist side by side, intertwined like the past and present. And if I've learnt anything, it's this — sometimes, the best way to honour someone you love is to keep living.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store