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USA Today
19-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida gymnastics alum Leanne Wong participating in US Classic
Recent Florida graduate and Olympic alternate Leanne Wong is in action Saturday night at the 2025 U.S. Classic presented by Saatva. She'll be a member of the second rotation group in the second senior women's session between 8-10 p.m. ET. Gymnastics fans can tune in on CNBC or using a Peacock account (free with ads). A recap of the senior women's session will air on NBC Sunday between 4-6 p.m. ET. Wong won three golds in the 2022 U.S. Classic, taking medals in all-around, balance beam and a share of the vault title. Following her Olympic run as an alternate last summer, Wong represented the United States in the Swiss Cup in Zurich. This will be Wong's first major competition of 2025. Leanne Wong at Florida Wong is one of the best to pass through Florida's gymnastics program. She earned 29 All-American honors (14 NCAA/5 WCGA Regular Season) and was All-SEC for each of her four years. In 2024, she was the NCAA uneven bars champion. She won the SEC balance beam championship in 2022 and 2023, and in 2025 she won the conference uneven bars championship. Wong posted 10.0 in all four events at some point while with Florida. She did it five times on the bars, three times on the balance beam and twice on the floor. Her best all-around score was a 39.875, which happened twice. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Ammon
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Ammon
D.C. United name Rene Weiler as head coach
Ammon News - D.C. United named Rene Weiler as their new head coach on Wednesday, six days after firing Troy Lesesne. Weiler, 51, has been managing clubs in his native Switzerland as well as Germany, Belgium, Egypt and Japan since 2009. Most recently, he guided Swiss Super League side Servette FC to the Swiss Cup title in 2024. He took over as the club's sporting director in June 2024. "Rene is a tactician with a proven ability to implement a clear and disciplined playing style, and to adapt that system to bring the best out of his players," D.C. general manager and chief soccer officer Ally Mackay said in a news release. "He builds teams that are organized, aggressive out of possession, and purposeful in attack. That style reflects the identity we're working to establish at D.C. United. "His experience developing talent and demanding high standards makes him the ideal leader to guide this project. We're excited to welcome him to the club and fully support his vision for what this team can become." Weiler's teams have won six titles, including the 2016-17 Belgian Pro League with Anderlecht and the 2019-20 Egyptian Premier League with Al Ahly. "This is a club with a proud history and a passionate fanbase, and I believe strongly in the project taking shape here," Weiler said. "The foundation that has been put in place gives me real confidence in what we can build. "There is important work ahead, but I'm excited to help lead D.C. United back to where it belongs, competing for championships." Currently 13th in the Eastern Conference, the Black-and-Red are in danger of missing the MLS Cup Playoffs for a sixth straight season.
STV News
17-06-2025
- Sport
- STV News
Who could Rangers draw in their first Champions League qualifier?
There's a new regime and a new management team in place at Rangers this summer, but the new season will kick off with a familiar challenge for the Ibrox club. Last season's second-place finish in the Premiership give Rangers a chance to reach the riches and glamour of the Champions League, but the team will need to get through three rounds of qualifying to reach the elite stage. That journey will begin in late July, with the second qualifying round giving new head coach Russell Martin his first taste of competitive football, and the stakes are high. A new-look team needs to be assembled, Martin's method's need to be communicated to players and the opportunity is there to build momentum from the start. The head coach and his support staff will take some encouragement that they can already start studying their possible opponents, with only three possible outcomes awaiting them at the first hurdle. Rangers are in the 'League Path' of qualifying and already know that they are seeded for the second qualifying round. That means avoiding Red Bull Salzburg and Viktoria Plzen at this stage. Lying in wait in Wednesday's draw are Panathinaikos, Servette and Brann. Rangers will play one of those three with the first leg scheduled for July 22/23 and the decisive return match on July 29/30. Each potential opponent presents their own challenge and a different test for the Ibrox side. SNS Group Rangers saw off Servette in Champions League qualifying two years ago. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) One of Switzerland's oldest and most successful clubs, the 17-time title winners finished ten points behind Basel in the Super League last season. Managed by Thomas Häberli, the side finished the season without a trophy after suffering a shock defeat early in the Swiss Cup, and were out of Europe by August. The team had a tough draw in the Europa Legaue qualifiers where they were paired with Braga and beaten 2-1 in Geneva after a 0-0 draw away, then faced Chelsea after dropping into the Conference League and losing 3-2 over the two legs despite winning the second match. Häberli's side doesn't contain any household names and showed mixed results over the course of the league season last term but they went unbeaten from January to secure second place and could prove a tricky opponent. Rangers have recent experience of playing Servette, having encountered them in ther third qualifying round two years ago. On that occasion, a James Tavernier penalty and a Cyriel Dessers goal gave Rangers a 2-1 lead from the first game at Ibrox, and Tavernier was on the scoresheet in a 1-1 draw in Geneva that saw the Premiership side progress. Olympiacos finished last season as champions and took automatic qualification for the League Phase of Europe's premier competition but Panathinaikos still finished the season on a high. After 26 games the Shamrocks were sitting in third place, three points behind AEK Athens and looking at a place in the Europa League if things didn't improve. The Super League then split into the four-team championship play-offs and home and away wins over AEK helped Panathinaikos leapfrog them and claim the place in Champions League qualification. The Greek side now hope for an improvement on last season in continental competition, with a run in the higher-level tournament. They lost out to Ajax in Europa League qualifying last August but made the most of their consolation place in the Conference League play-off, beating Lens and going on to finish 13th in the League Phase. They saw off Vikingur in the first knock-out round but lost 5-4 on aggregate to Fiorentina in the round of 16. Former Benfica, Al Nassr and Egypt boss Rui Victor is now going into his second season as manager and he has a multi-cultured squad that has some talented players out to make their mark. Captain and Greece international Fotis Ioannidis leads the line while Brazilian winger Tete, once linked with Celtic, is a key player on one wing with former Manchester United player Facundo Pellistri on the other. SNS Group Brann knocked St Mirren out of Europe last season. SK Brann return to Champions Leguae qualifying for the first time since the 2008-09 season, with the Norwegians having spent the last two years trying without success to qualify for the Conference League. Last year, they were defeated in the play-off round by Astana but only after knocking out Scottish opposition in the shape of St Mirren. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Paisley, the teams were locked at 1-1 in Norway before goals in the 85th and 88th minute saw Brann pull clear and go through as 4-2 aggregate winners. All four goalscorers from the tie remain with the club and Freyr Alexandersson's side are almost all Norwegian, with one notable exception being striker Nicolas Castro, who has been capped by Chile. Progress in the top competition would be a major surprise but Brann may look at the Bodo/Glimt team that narrowly beat them to the title and believe that they are capable of making a splash in Europe. One advantage Brann would have is that they are already 11 games into their league season and would be at peak fitness facing Rangers side playing a first competitive game under new management. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
From sixth tier to Swiss Cup final: Biel-Bienne ready for time of their lives
The Swiss Cup was established in 1925 and with the competition celebrating its centenary a remarkable story has emerged – a third division team has reached the final for the first time. Meet FC Biel-Bienne, who survived bankruptcy less than a decade ago, have problems competing with an ice hockey club, and whose sporting director injured himself while jumping for joy. They come from a special town too. Biel/Bienne is the biggest bilingual city in Switzerland – Biel is the German name and Bienne is the French one. Until 2005 they were used separately until it was decided to unite them, true to the spirit of the community. Advertisement Related: Lionesses to be handed record £1.7m bonus package if they win Euro 2025 The town is famous for being the watch capital of Switzerland. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry is based there, as is the Swatch headquarters and the Rolex factory. The stadium is named the Tissot Arena, sponsored by the luxury watch brand owned by the Swatch group. It is multi-purpose and unique, combining a football stadium and an ice hockey arena. Ice hockey is more popular in the city than football, as EHC Biel-Bienne play in the top division and FC Biel-Bienne do not. Gone are the days when they were a major force, winning the title in 1947 and finishing second in 1948 and 1960. 'We were established in 1896 and are one of the oldest football clubs in the country,' says the FC Biel-Bienne president, Dietmar Faes. 'The traditions are great, and we used to have patrons from the watch industry. But things changed during the last 50 years and it became difficult to raise money and compete with a very successful ice hockey team that leads the sponsorship market in our area.' Advertisement The club went bankrupt in 2016 and very nearly disappeared from the football map. 'We started over in the sixth division, and had nothing,' the FC Biel-Bienne financial director, Mauro Ierep, says. 'No balls, no shirts, no sponsors, nothing at all. A local entrepreneur gave us €20,000 to start the season and cover initial expenses. The goal was to reach the fourth division in two years and it was achieved. Three more years were needed to get promoted to the third division 'The budget gradually increased to €1m thanks to the arrival of Core Sports Capital, whose Swiss owner, Ahmet Schaefer, is also the president of Clermont Foot in France. Nevertheless, most of the management team are volunteers, and we only have eight professional footballers. The rest are students or have other jobs and all training sessions take place in the evening so that everyone can take part.' The coach is inexperienced as well. The 35-year-old Frenchman Samir Chaibeddra worked as an assistant at a magnificently named Goal FC in his homeland, before joining Biel-Bienne in March 2023 and saving them from relegation to fourth division. He has proven himself a sound tactician and motivator and the team finished third last term. This season, returning to the second division was the main goal. At first the cup run was just an unexpected bonus. Biel-Bienne surprisingly won against second-tier Neuchâtel Xamax in round one, and then overcame a couple of minnows to reach the quarter-finals. 'We wanted to get a big game at home to have a nice boost for our finances, and got one,' the sporting director, Oliver Zesiger, says. Advertisement 'Lugano led the top division at the time. We defended deep, didn't concede many chances and scored on a counter. We were later told it was offside, but there was no VAR and the referees allowed it to stand. In injury time, Lugano sent their goalkeeper up and we made it 2-0 into the empty net.' Young Boys, the reigning champions, awaited in the semi-finals. 'They are our geographical rivals, at least as we are concerned,' says Zesiger. 'People from Biel/Bienne don't like those from Berne. We really wanted to play them and the tickets went extremely fast. 'Young Boys were clear favourites, of course. We lost 6-0 against them in a friendly in the winter. We face their reserve team in the third division twice a season. And yet, we were quietly confident that we could surprise them.' Every effort was made to prepare the players for something they had never experienced. 'We played fan chants loudly during the training sessions, so that the guys would learn how to communicate in a noisy environment,' adds Zesiger. Advertisement There was also a major novelty as VAR was installed at the Tissot Arena for the first time. That was symbolic because Biel-Bienne had an old score to settle. 'In 2019, we played against Young Boys in the first round and the referee stole the win from us,' says Faes. 'We led in injury time and he mistakenly awarded the corner from which they scored the equalising goal. That was devastating.' This year's fixture was not without controversy either. A penalty for Biel-Bienne was ruled out by VAR because the contact took place outside the area and the game ended goalless at 90 minutes. In extra time, another penalty was awarded when the Biel-Bienne striker Loïc Socka, on loan from Clermont, collided with the goalkeeper. Well, maybe. The touch was questionable, but VAR could not rule it out and chose not to intervene. Malko Sartoretti, a young striker on loan from Lausanne, stepped forward. 'Strangely, I didn't feel nervous,' he says. 'I told myself that it only could be a good outcome if I score.' It went in and Biel-Bienne managed to keep a clean sheet until Young Boys equalised with the last kick of the game. Everyone was shocked, only to be relieved when VAR disallowed the goal for handball. The celebrations were so wild that Zesiger was injured while jumping and hugging the press officer. 'I ruptured a ligament in my knee, but will go to the final nevertheless,' he says, smiling. Advertisement The following day, the team watched the other semi-final between Basel and Lausanne. Sartoretti wanted to face the club he belongs to, but the newly crowned champions Basel sealed a dramatic win, and now the amateurs of Biel-Biennemeet Xherdan Shaqiri and co in the final in Berne on Sunday. The 33-year-old veteran has been in superb form, but the underdogs are ready for the greatest day of their lives. The excitement and attention was difficult for the team to deal with and Biel-Bienne lost crucial games in the third division, missing out on a promotion. 'Mentally and physically that was too much for us,' Zesiger says. They would find themselves in the Conference League if they produce another sensational result. 'The only secret is that we have a very united group,' says the captain, Anthony de Freitas, who played for Port Vale between 2016 and 2018. 'We are courageous, and make efforts for each other. There is a lot of serenity, calmness and confidence in the dressing room. We were compact at the back against two top division rivals and there is no reason not to try and beat Basel too. 'We have shown that everything is possible, so why not this time?' says Sartoretti. Biel-Bienne fans think the same – in German and French – and their watches are ticking in unison.
The Guardian
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
From sixth tier to Swiss Cup final: Biel-Bienne ready for time of their lives
The Swiss Cup was established in 1925 and with the competition celebrating its centenary a remarkable story has emerged – a third division team has reached the final for the first time. Meet FC Biel-Bienne, who survived bankruptcy less than a decade ago, have problems competing with an ice hockey club, and whose sporting director injured himself while jumping for joy. They come from a special town too. Biel/Bienne is the biggest bilingual city in Switzerland – Biel is the German name and Bienne is the French one. Until 2005 they were used separately until it was decided to unite them, true to the spirit of the community. The town is famous for being the watch capital of Switzerland. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry is based there, as is the Swatch headquarters and the Rolex factory. The stadium is named the Tissot Arena, sponsored by the luxury watch brand owned by the Swatch group. It is multi-purpose and unique, combining a football stadium and an ice hockey arena. Ice hockey is more popular in the city than football, as EHC Biel-Bienne play in the top division and FC Biel-Bienne do not. Gone are the days when they were a major force, winning the title in 1947 and finishing second in 1948 and 1960. 'We were established in 1896 and are one of the oldest football clubs in the country,' says the FC Biel-Bienne president, Dietmar Faes. 'The traditions are great, and we used to have patrons from the watch industry. But things changed during the last 50 years and it became difficult to raise money and compete with a very successful ice hockey team that leads the sponsorship market in our area.' The club went bankrupt in 2016 and very nearly disappeared from the football map. 'We started over in the sixth division, and had nothing,' the FC Biel-Bienne financial director, Mauro Ierep, says. 'No balls, no shirts, no sponsors, nothing at all. A local entrepreneur gave us €20,000 to start the season and cover initial expenses. The goal was to reach the fourth division in two years and it was achieved. Three more years were needed to get promoted to the third division 'The budget gradually increased to €1m thanks to the arrival of Core Sports Capital, whose Swiss owner, Ahmet Schaefer, is also the president of Clermont Foot in France. Nevertheless, most of the management team are volunteers, and we only have eight professional footballers. The rest are students or have other jobs and all training sessions take place in the evening so that everyone can take part.' The coach is inexperienced as well. The 35-year-old Frenchman Samir Chaibeddra worked as an assistant at a magnificently named Goal FC in his homeland, before joining Biel-Bienne in March 2023 and saving them from relegation to fourth division. He has proven himself a sound tactician and motivator and the team finished third last term. This season, returning to the second division was the main goal. At first the cup run was just an unexpected bonus. Biel-Bienne surprisingly won against second-tier Neuchâtel Xamax in round one, and then overcame a couple of minnows to reach the quarter-finals. 'We wanted to get a big game at home to have a nice boost for our finances, and got one,' the sporting director, Oliver Zesiger, says. 'Lugano led the top division at the time. We defended deep, didn't concede many chances and scored on a counter. We were later told it was offside, but there was no VAR and the referees allowed it to stand. In injury time, Lugano sent their goalkeeper up and we made it 2-0 into the empty net.' Young Boys, the reigning champions, awaited in the semi-finals. 'They are our geographical rivals, at least as we are concerned,' says Zesiger. 'People from Biel/Bienne don't like those from Berne. We really wanted to play them and the tickets went extremely fast. 'Young Boys were clear favourites, of course. We lost 6-0 against them in a friendly in the winter. We face their reserve team in the third division twice a season. And yet, we were quietly confident that we could surprise them.' Every effort was made to prepare the players for something they had never experienced. 'We played fan chants loudly during the training sessions, so that the guys would learn how to communicate in a noisy environment,' adds Zesiger. There was also a major novelty as VAR was installed at the Tissot Arena for the first time. That was symbolic because Biel-Bienne had an old score to settle. 'In 2019, we played against Young Boys in the first round and the referee stole the win from us,' says Faes. 'We led in injury time and he mistakenly awarded the corner from which they scored the equalising goal. That was devastating.' Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion This year's fixture was not without controversy either. A penalty for Biel-Bienne was ruled out by VAR because the contact took place outside the area and the game ended goalless at 90 minutes. In extra time, another penalty was awarded when the Biel-Bienne striker Loïc Socka, on loan from Clermont, collided with the goalkeeper. Well, maybe. The touch was questionable, but VAR could not rule it out and chose not to intervene. Malko Sartoretti, a young striker on loan from Lausanne, stepped forward. 'Strangely, I didn't feel nervous,' he says. 'I told myself that it only could be a good outcome if I score.' It went in and Biel-Bienne managed to keep a clean sheet until Young Boys equalised with the last kick of the game. Everyone was shocked, only to be relieved when VAR disallowed the goal for handball. The celebrations were so wild that Zesiger was injured while jumping and hugging the press officer. 'I ruptured a ligament in my knee, but will go to the final nevertheless,' he says, smiling. The following day, the team watched the other semi-final between Basel and Lausanne. Sartoretti wanted to face the club he belongs to, but the newly crowned champions Basel sealed a dramatic win, and now the amateurs of Biel-Biennemeet Xherdan Shaqiri and co in the final in Berne on Sunday. The 33-year-old veteran has been in superb form, but the underdogs are ready for the greatest day of their lives. The excitement and attention was difficult for the team to deal with and Biel-Bienne lost crucial games in the third division, missing out on a promotion. 'Mentally and physically that was too much for us,' Zesiger says. They would find themselves in the Conference League if they produce another sensational result. 'The only secret is that we have a very united group,' says the captain, Anthony de Freitas, who played for Port Vale between 2016 and 2018. 'We are courageous, and make efforts for each other. There is a lot of serenity, calmness and confidence in the dressing room. We were compact at the back against two top division rivals and there is no reason not to try and beat Basel too. 'We have shown that everything is possible, so why not this time?' says Sartoretti. Biel-Bienne fans think the same – in German and French – and their watches are ticking in unison.
