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BBC News
4 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Italy defeat 'a punch in the face'
Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson has told her side to learn from painful lessons after likening their Nations League defeat by Italy to "a punch in the face".In their final fixture before this summer's European Championships, Wales suffered their heaviest defeat under Wilkinson at the worst possible despite warning her side that "hard moments are coming", Wilkinson insisted they will be better for the loss having taken heart from an improved second half were four down at half-time as their defence crumbled in Swansea and Wilkinson said: "The first-half felt like a punch in the face."Games in this campaign have been really tight, but we haven't had a heavy defeat like this – so that first half was important because who do we want to be?"That second-half is more indicative of the Welsh team we all know. We're going to look back on it as an important moment for us." Wilkinson's side had been defensively impressive for most of their League A campaign, but before a summer in which they will face the Netherlands, France and England in their Euro 2025 group, the former Canada international said Wales were shown what happens when you "tune out"."Italy punished us for every mistake and we have to react faster," Wilkinson said, who included herself and her coaching staff in accepting they needed to learn lessons. "Hard moments are coming; this is a hard thing we're about do, the Euros are going to be very difficult."We're going to have to be at our best and what we have learned is any mistake will be punished."Wales rallied after the interval to give Wilkinson belief there will be no scarring heading towards added: "I told the players at the end we can't say this was a good performance and what happened to us wasn't good."But you do get to choose how you react to adversity. Good teams turn into great teams with how you react. How we finished is something I can be happy and proud of." Fishlock provides 'magic moment' Wales' fans in Swansea were lifted by a wonder goal from Jess Fishlock, a record-estending 47th goal in an unmatched 162 appearances for her home from 35 yards, Wilkinson repeated her appeal to fans to appreciate the 38-year-old while she still wears her country's shirt."With magic moments like that, I hope the Welsh public is aware of the special talent they have and don't take it for granted," Wilkinson said. "Whenever she's on the field something's happening." No risk over goalkeeper Clark Fishlock gained important match minutes off the bench after a recent injury lay-off, while Wilkinson will now wait for news on defenders Rhian Roberts (groin) and Mayzee Davies (knee) before naming her squad for Switzerland on 23 the Wales boss played down concern over goalkeeper Olivia Clark who left the field after a second blow to the head in as many games."She had a significant black eye from the Denmark game and we the did proper protocols for concussion, and we were positive she was in a good spot," said Wilkinson. "But when you hit your head again, you don't take risks. Two head hits in a week is not good so we decided to pull her. She will be assessed appropriately."
The National
6 days ago
- Business
- The National
Ashley Westwood on coaching Hong Kong, facing Man United, and butting heads with Alex Ferguson
We spoke to Ashley Westwood, 48, coach of the Hong Kong national team, ahead of the game against Premier League giants Manchester United on Friday. The match is part of the club's post-season tour. Westwood, 48, was on United's books as a young professional. How does a Manchester lad end up coaching Hong Kong? There are always different routes. If you want to go from Manchester to London, there are different ways of doing that, and coaching is the same. Arsene Wenger ended up at Arsenal after going around the houses and being in Japan. Ange Postecoglou ended up at Tottenham Hotspur via Australia, Japan and Scotland. I started in England as a player and played in the top five divisions, then I became a coach in England at Portsmouth, Blackpool and Blackburn, then went to India, where I won the league twice. Malaysia followed, then the Afghanistan national team, and then Hong Kong, where I am now. I had national team experience, which was one of the criteria, the others were experience in Asia and being successful. That's what the Hong Kong football federation wanted. How has it been? Results have been good. When I arrived, Hong Kong were ranked 159 in the world and had lost seven of the previous nine, drawing two. Things had been bad for five years, and sometimes it's hard to stop a downward trajectory, but we've managed it. We won seven games on the trot and drew our last game. We've kept six clean sheets in those eight. On a personal level, it has been about adjusting to living in a different part of the world. What's it like coaching Hong Kong? Challenging. In a lot of national team jobs you have players scattered around the world who are eligible to play for your country. You can find new talent. For Hong Kong, the rules are that you must be in the country for seven years before you can apply for permanent residency. Once you have that, you can apply for a passport, and you must surrender any other passport that you have. So, you must have proper ties to a country, which is how it should be. Most of our players, probably 65%, play in the Hong Kong league. Then we have nine or 10 players who are in the Chinese Super League or first division. One, left-back Shinichi Chan, is 22 and starting every week for one of the best teams in China. So we're reliant on the Hong Kong Premier League doing well. There are only nine teams at present, and they play each other three times. I'd like to see more teams and competition, but they do the best they can in a small, densely populated part of the world. You have Asia Cup games against India, Japan, South Korea and China coming up ... India were ranked 96 in the world not so long ago, but have dropped, while we're now 153. Japan, South Korea and China are major Asian football powers who've played regularly in World Cup finals. But the reason we'll play against them is because we were successful in our three Asia Cup pre-qualifiers, winning the East Asia Cup pre-qualifiers. It's not normal for Hong Kong and it's our reward, and I can't wait. As a coach you want to be involved in these games and test yourself against the best in the region so see how good you are. How do you feel about playing Manchester United? Proud. I was at United as a young footballer in the Class of '93. I won the FA Youth Cup at United and had a great time there before making my way at other clubs. I don't want to feel overawed because I'm not. I feel like that's where I want to be every week, that I should be aiming to be the best coach I can be against the best teams possible. I'm sure that if you'd interviewed Graham Potter 10 years ago when he was working in Scandinavia, he might have had the same kind of feelings. But he did so well that he got to the Premier League. I kept in contact with people from United. I speak to Sir Alex Ferguson a couple of times per year. He's always incredibly helpful to me, and we have a nice chat – even though I left under a cloud because he wanted me to stay and I thought I knew best and wanted to play first-team football. He laughs about that now. He's a great man. How did it end at United? I played lots of reserve games and was making progress. Sir Alex Ferguson asked to see me and praised my progress. He said he wanted to offer me a new two-year deal. I was on £210 a week. The new deal was £275. I replied: 'I can't be doing that well if the increase is only £65.' Ferguson was doing things the right way, but I was telling him that I needed to buy a car to get to training. I told him that I needed a £5,000 signing-on fee to buy a car. He laughed and said, "Get in my team and I'll look after you." I replied: "How am I going to get in your team? When there's a flu epidemic?" My mentality was 'I'll go somewhere else and teach him.' I didn't have an agent, just a demon in the back of my head. A demon telling me the wrong information. 'I'll leave!' I told Fergie. 'There's the door,' he said. 'Can I go for free?' I replied. 'No chance,' he said. 'You're a Man Utd reserve team player. It's £75,000.' 'Well, is that not going to make it hard for me?' 'Yes, of course it is! Who's going to pay that for you?' That made me want to prove him wrong. Crewe were interested in me. They were happy to buy me for £75,000. I went back to see Ferguson. He already knew about Crewe's interest. He knew everything. I still thought that he'd agree to a signing-on fee and I'd stay at United, but because I was pig-headed, I didn't ask him. So I left the room again. Crewe then told me that United wanted £500,00 for me. A tribunal was needed to sort out my transfer. Looking back, even though I was 10th-choice defender I was still ahead of Wes Brown – who I expect to see this week in Hong Kong as he works for United. But I hate 'what ifs'. There are loads of people in football pinning the blame for not making it on someone else. Wes had a great career at United, and I went to Crewe. Looking back, I probably needed Alex Ferguson to say: 'Come on, son, trust me'. But he was a tougher man then, and he was right to be tough. Years later, when I was a manager myself, I went to Sir Alex for advice about a problem I had with a player. I texted him on the off chance. He called me back from a cab in New York. He told me to explain honestly to the player why I was leaving him out. I did that and the player understood. It helped that I told him the advice had come from Sir Alex. I've gone to him several times since and appreciated his help every time. And I'll do my best this week. United are sending a strong team to Hong Kong, and we're expecting a big crowd. There will be full application from both sides, and I hope fans will be entertained.
Washington Post
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Ancelotti set to be introduced as Brazil's new coach on Monday
RIO DE JANEIRO — Carlo Ancelotti is set to be introduced as Brazil's head coach at a news conference Monday, becoming the first foreigner to hold that position full-time in a century. The 65-year-old Italian will also announce his squad for two South American World Cup qualifying matches next month against Ecuador and Paraguay.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Rangers 0-1 Hibernian: What Scott said
Hibernian head coach Grant Scott: "I think the group of players we've got, we've pushed them to the absolute limit. There's some broken bodies out there and some in the dugout, in the stands. "I think for us in this kind of modern era of Scottish women's football, that's a massive achievement."We'll digest it. We've got a lot of work to do now for the new season and I'm going to demand that these girls look for more. I think it's just the start for us, hopefully."There was certainly a point, I think, before December, where we let ourselves down in a couple of games and we kind of felt the external world was almost waiting for us to trip."A lot of the players talk about going away to Rangers at Broadwood at the back end of December and having a great performance and a great result as a kind of turning point."Personally, I didn't feel it but I thought what it did was it made everyone outside of us as a group take notice a little bit."We had to back it up in January when we played Glasgow City and then Celtic and the players did that and that, for me, compounded what I thought we could be."But there's no easy games in that post-split, I think our record's good and the players thoroughly deserve their spot at the top now."I think what you're seeing now is a Hibs team that has gone through that transformation - a couple of years behind everyone else - and now having had a couple of years almost of full-backing, full-time nature of the players being in the building four or five times a week, all the resources that have been put behind them has given them that platform to compete. "I think when you get a good group, sometimes it's good choices, sometimes by luck but I think the group have really gelled this season and there's a belief in them and I hope they keep that going."
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
UNC official slams 'odd' Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson in shock sign his girlfriend may cost him coaching job
Those inside the North Carolina football program are also skeptical of Jordon Hudson's influence on legendary new head coach Bill Belichick, slamming their 'odd' relationship in a bombshell report. One Tar Heel employee has given the shock sign that Belichick's 49-years-younger girlfriend could cost him his coaching job. Belichick, 73, was hired by North Carolina for his first gridiron job outside of the NFL last December, after eight Super Bowl wins as a head coach and coordinator. The UNC official's comments came with granted anonymity from The Washington Post because they are not allowed to discuss Belichick's relationship with Hudson publicly. The comments on Hudson come has she and Belichick have been under siege for more than two weeks for her role in their relationship, ever since she interrupted a CBS interview with the eight-time Super Bowl winner. Now, the deeper extent of her influence has been brought into the limelight as the pair are in their fourth year of dating. Belichick was hired by North Carolina for his first gridiron job outside of the NFL last December 'It's just so odd,' the UNC official told the outlet. 'And we just don't know what's coming. Those two decide what they're going to do and they do it.' 'She is very, very involved in the crafting of Bill's projected image, everything you see on Instagram, all of that. I know it's hard to separate out this image of Bill Belichick and Bill Belichick the North Carolina football coach.' 'Maybe it sounds silly for me to try to separate the two things. But really the football side of Bill and now the public side of Bill have become two different things, and she is in charge of the public side.' Hudson and Belichick were in the limelight over the weekend as she took part in the Miss Maine pageant, eventually finishing third - one place lower than her 2024 effort. Belichick was spotted front row at the event on Saturday and Sunday, supporting his girlfriend alongside her father. The pair snuck out the back exit of the hotel where the event was being held, flanked by Belichick's security, before the UNC coach drove them home. Despite Hudson's failure to win the crown and a place in Miss USA, it is understood the pair don't believe their fame had a detrimental effect on the results. 'Jordon and Bill don't have any belief that who they are affected her chances at the Miss Maine pageant in a positive or negative way,' the source added. 'She would have loved to have won and though she didn't, she genuinely feels that the voting was on the up and up. You are not going to see her complain with the results and you are not going to hear him complaining about it either.' Belichick will be back on TV screens later this week when he sits down with Michael Strahan for an exclusive interview on Good Morning America. On Friday, the ongoing Hudson drama took another twist, as former ESPN reporter Pablo Torre claimed Friday morning on his podcast that Hudson was told she was no longer welcome at the school's football facilities. He reported that high-ranking officials in UNC's athletic department came to a decision last week that Hudson would not be allowed at the football field or inside the facility. The sports journalist also stated from a source that, 'there is deep worry for how detrimental Jordon can be for not just North Carolina but Bill's legacy, reputation - everything he has built and worked for over decades.' Torre also made the bold claim that the Belichick family 'has been digging into' Hudson, with her antics over the last few weeks raising tons of red flags. However, a statement from Carolina Athletics to Daily Mail has strongly denied the story of Hudson being banned. It read: 'While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities.
