Latest news with #Final8
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
🪄 386 games for Real, Kroos brings another world star to the Icon League
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here. The Icon League is celebrating its grand finale in Berlin today. The Final 8 will determine the champion of Season 2. Today, as a guest of honor, Toni Kroos is joined by Marcelo. After the last quarterfinal match, the two Real legends had a surprise in store. 📸 Angel Martinez - 2025 Getty Images In a brief interview, the Brazilian praised the level of the Icon League and drew a comparison to Brazilian futsal. Kroos then asked if Marcelo could imagine playing in the Icon League next season. The five-time Champions League winner promised to prepare and then take to the field himself. Kroos reacted with joy and announced that he would then lace up his boots again to play alongside Marcelo. The former royals will therefore stand together on the field once again, just like in the good old days, and cast their spell. The Icon League can look forward to welcoming these two legends on a matchday. 📸 Pau Barrena - 2024 Getty Images
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
👑 Icon League TOTS: These five are every opponent's worst nightmare
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here. The Icon League regular season has come to an end and the Final 8 is just around the corner. Who will secure the title on May 25th in Berlin is still completely open. In Berlin, the teams are also relying on their star players. These players decided games on their own and scored a lot of goals during the regular season. There's no way around Tugay Akbakla in goal. The DNA goalkeeper was twice named Icon of the Day and the team heads voted him Goalie of the Season. He stood out with world-class saves and his quality with the ball. In his 13 games in the regular season, Akbakla has 706 passes, 886 ball actions, and 108 saves. Here's a more detailed article about Akbakla The second player in the Team of the Season is Akbakla's teammate Darko Bodul. He was named Icon of the Season and achieved something in the regular season that no one had done before him. He was named Icon of the Day three times in a row. Bodul really blossomed in the last six games and scored eleven of his twelve goals there. He's in top form going into the Final 8. The 1.86-meter-tall striker shines with both his physicality and his strong technique. Fine chips, shot fakes, and targeted finishes are all part of Bodul's repertoire. The Austrian played a game for Ajax Amsterdam and even played with Luis Suárez. The top scorer in the league is, just like last season, Stefan Winkel. He has 18 goals in 13 games and is alone at the top. Whether he will be caught up during the Final 8 remains to be seen. But the fact that the Plyrs are even in the final is mainly thanks to Winkel. He scored every third goal and is their life insurance. It will depend on him on the final day, if he continues to score, the Plyrs have a chance against DNA. Suad Ak has the most goal involvements. The dribbling artist, who plays for Berlin City, has 14 goals and 10 assists. He is outstanding in one-on-one situations, two-footed, and intelligent on the field. He is the perfect small-field player and plays for the German futsal national team. At the age of 22, he has already played 31 games there. The last player in the Team of the Season is Nedzad Plavci. Sidney Friede nicknamed him "Mr. Bande" because he scores a lot of goals with the same trick. He stands on the left, with one hand on the band, quickly pulls into the middle, and slams the ball into the right corner. Plavci scored ten goals and is significantly involved in OneFootball's impressive winning streak. A Plavci in top form can tear games apart and decide them. Who do you think is missing from the Team of the Season?
Reuters
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Lopez to continue as Davis Cup tournament director until 2027
April 1 (Reuters) - Four-times Davis Cup champion Feliciano Lopez will continue to spearhead the premier men's team competition as the tournament director of its knockout stage until 2027, the International Tennis Federation said on Tuesday. The 43-year-old Spaniard oversaw the Final 8 in Malaga in 2023 and 2024 and will reprise his role during the next three editions to be held in Italy. "I'm honoured that the ITF has put its trust in me for the event's long-term future and I'm excited to work on it in Italy for the next three years, starting in Bologna this November," former world number 12 Lopez said in a statement. "I'm sure that we will build on our success in Malaga, and I will give everything to continue the growth of the Davis Cup." The 2025 Final 8 will take place from November 18-23, with hosts Italy targeting their third consecutive Davis Cup title. They will be joined by seven countries following the second round of qualifying in September.
CBC
16-03-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Ravens aiming for 3-peat against Huskies in U Sports women's basketball final rematch
Social Sharing The Carleton Ravens can win a third consecutive national title on Sunday when they face the top-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies in the U Sports women's basketball Final 8 championship game at UBC's War Memorial Gymnasium in Vancouver. The Ravens punched their ticket to the championship rematch showdown with an 84-60 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees in Saturday night's semifinals, while the Huskies dunked the host UBC Thunderbirds 85-63. The Ravens successfully defended their title with a 70-67 win over the Huskies in last year's gold-medal game. In the men's tournament, the University of Victoria Vikes will play the Calgary Dinos in the championship final, while the top-seeded Ottawa Gee-Gees and University of P.E.I. Panthers play in the bronze-medal game. Andrea Dodig scored 19 points and hauled in three rebounds as the Huskies dunked the Thunderbirds in the first women's semifinal game of the night. Ella Murphy Wiebe chipped in with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Gage Grassick had 12 points and five rebounds for the Huskies, who led 49-27 at halftime over the tournament hosts. Watch live coverage of the women's and men's medal games on and CBC Gem, starting at 1 p.m. ET with UPEI taking on Ottawa for the men's bronze medal. A live streaming schedule is available here. Mona Berlitz lead the Thunderbirds with 15 points and four rebounds, while Sara Toneguzzi had 11 points and Sofia Berman added nine and five rebounds. Saskatchewan dominated in field goals, making 51.6 per cent of their shots, while UBC finished at 35 per cent. The hosts had 22 turnovers and were outrebounded 44 — 30. Saskatchewan's bench outscored UBC 29-21. In the late game, Teresa Donato led the Ravens with 17 points, while Tatyanna Burke had 16 and nine rebounds. Natsuki Szczokin led the Gee-Gees with 12 points, while Bailey Russell added 11. The Ravens led 46-19 at halftime, but the Gee-Gees outscored them 26-13 in the third quarter. Carleton had a slight edge in field goal percentage (45.6 to 43.4), but owned the boards with 44 rebounds. The Gee-Gees had more turnovers (24-19) and were outscored on the bench 36-26. The Thunderbirds play the Ottawa Gee-Gees in Sunday's bronze-medal game. Alberta 64, Laval 38 (Fifth-place women's game) Forward Claire Signatovich scored 16 points and pulled in 15 rebounds as the Alberta Pandas dunked Laval Rouge et Or 64-38 in the women's fifth-place game on Saturday at War Memorial Gymnasium. Annacy Palmer pitched in with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Pandas, who led 31-17 at halftime. The Pandas shot 44.2 per cent from the field and 50 per cent from three-point range, while their defence held the Rouge at Or to just 19.2 per cent shooting overall. Sabrine Khelifi led Laval with eight points and 11 rebounds. Julia Denis had seven points and five rebounds. The Rouge at Or shot 3.1 per cent from three-point range and turned the ball over 20 times. Concordia 87, UBC 80 (Fifth-place men's game) The No. 8-seeded Concordia Stingers upset the fourth-seeded UBC Thunderbirds 87-80 in Saturday's fifth-place game in the U Sports men's Final 8 tournament. Alec Phaneuf finished with a game-high 31 points for the Stingers, including seven three-pointers, while Jaheem Joseph added 19 points and four three-pointers. The Thunderbirds, despite a strong effort, struggled to keep pace with Concordia's sharpshooting. UBC's Gus Goerzen led the team with 17 points, including five three-pointers, and Brendan Sullivan contributed 18 points.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ravens lean on experience with eyes on three-peat at U Sports women's Final 8
Jacqueline Urban and the Carleton Ravens look to use their experiences of the past two seasons in their favour to three-peat at the U Sports women's basketball Final 8. The two-time defending national champions enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed after falling short of three-peating with a loss to Ottawa in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title game on Saturday. The Ravens finished 22-0 in the regular season. "I think without the past two years that we've had, this year wouldn't have been the same," Urban said. "We're able to use those experiences and we know we've been in big moments before, so we know what it takes to get there and what it takes to be successful in those moments. "Definitely gives us a level of confidence and for us to be steady and help those who are younger and maybe haven't been in these moments before." Carleton will open its title defence against RSEQ champion Bishop's Gaiters on Thursday in Vancouver. The No. 1 seed Saskatchewan Huskies will face the No. 8 Alberta Pandas, the No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees take on No. 7 Laval Rouge Et Or and the No. 4 Saint Mary's Huskies are set to go up against the host and No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds. The Ravens, who earned their second undefeated regular season in program history this season, look to use the loss to Ottawa as motivation and a means to enter the Final 8 with a chip on their shoulders. "I think we're all really eager now," Urban said. "We haven't experienced the big loss during the season. And so having this, knowing that feeling, sitting with it for a little bit, we don't want to feel like that, and for it to be a season-ending feeling." Carleton entered the year with some questions after losing star senior Kali Pocrnic to graduation after last season. "(Kali) was a very dominant and important player for us and she's now playing overseas in Europe," Sinclair said. "It took us a bit of time to figure that out early in pre-season, but we have pretty competitive and motivated players who found a way to figure that out and were able to go on a pretty good run in a tough conference in the OUA. "Going into the tournament, we're always going to be confident in our preparation, but we're definitely going to have to reset after a loss last night in the OUA final." Sinclair was quick to point out, however, that it wasn't the Pocrnic show with a team full of "scrubs." The Ravens boast plenty of talent to go with experience, with Urban and Kyana-Jade Poulin being first- and second-team OUA all-stars, in addition to Nathalie Francis who made the all-rookie team. A driving factor for the Ravens' success, though, has been the work and the culture. Urban said there are "super high standards" set by coaches, with the team starting to prepare for the season at the beginning of July. Sinclair, who was named OUA coach of the year for the third straight season, has seemed to settle in since taking over the women's program in 2020. Two of the three national titles in program history have come under her tutelage. She credits mentors she's had such as Kathy Shields, the winningest coach in U Sports women's basketball, and former Carleton men's coach Dave Smart, who won 13 national titles in 19 years. "I learned from being around people like Kathy and Dave, you have to try to bring in good people and develop them into great basketball players," Sinclair said. "And have a culture of accountability (and) self accountability. And just putting team above self. "That is what I think has led to us having success the last two years at the end is, we had fifth-year players who were selfless. They were great basketball players, but they were even better people. That's what's important to me. And we spend a lot of time on the basketball court getting better, but if you're not a team-first mentality and the hardest worker and accountable, then it doesn't work." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2025. Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
