Category Uncategorized

Allen, Ferguson, Milne, Phillips, O’Rourke and Sears were all unavailable due to injury

Deivarayan Muthu19-Oct-2025Kane Williamson will return to action for New Zealand in the three-match ODI series against England, which kicks off at Bay Oval, his home ground, on October 26. Williamson, 35, is missing from the ongoing T20I series as he is recovering from an unspecified, ‘minor medical issue’ in the past month.Williamson is among a group of players who have a casual contract with New Zealand Cricket (NZC). He had earlier made himself unavailable for the three-match T20I series against Australia and missed the Zimbabwe tour to play county cricket and the Hundred as part of his deal with Middlesex. More recently, Williamson was appointed Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) strategic advisor in the IPL.Allrounder Nathan Smith also returned to the New Zealand squad after undergoing rehab for an abdominal injury sustained during the first Test against Zimbabwe in August in Bulawayo. Smith, 27, has not played any competitive cricket since.Related

• Williamson joins LSG as strategic advisor

New Zealand head coach Rob Walter welcomed Williamson and Smith back into the set-up. For Williamson, this will be his first appearance for New Zealand since the Champions Trophy final in Dubai in March earlier this year. Smith also played in that final, though as a last-minute replacement for Matt Henry, who was injured at the time.”Kane and Nathan have had to work hard to overcome their respective injuries and illness,” Walter said in a statement. “We all know what Kane means to the Blackcaps – to have his skill, experience and leadership back in the group is fantastic.”Nathan’s still relatively new to his international career, but he’s impressed with his all-round skills and ability in the field.”Having undergone rehab, Smith has declared himself fit and ready for the New Zealand summer.”Yeah, always exciting when you get the opportunity to play for New Zealand in any series,” Smith said. “The last period from that [Bulawayo] Test to now has looked like a bit of rest initially. And then after a couple of weeks, you can sort of start to get moving again and strengthen the ab back-ups. Since the start of September, I’ve been ripping into some rehab and building the bowling loads back up. It’s just been a really good period to get some strength in and build some training back up for a busy season.”Mitchell Santner also returned to take charge of the ODI team after leading them to the Champions Trophy final. Having recovered from an abdominal injury, he is currently in action in the T20I series against England.However, Finn Allen (foot), Lockie Ferguson (hamstring), Adam Milne (ankle), Will O’Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin), and Ben Sears (hamstring) were all unavailable due to injury.Nathan Smith has recovered from an abdominal injury•AFP/Getty Images

Tom Latham will take the wicketkeeping gloves and will also make his first appearance for New Zealand since the Champions Trophy final. Latham had been sidelined from the two-match Test series in Zimbabwe with a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played any competitive cricket since his century for Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast in July.Along with Smith, Canterbury seam-bowling allrounder Zak Foulkes has also been picked in the squad. Foulkes has played just two internationals so far and in September, he hit back-to-back fifties for New Zealand A in Benoni in the unofficial ODI series. Michael Bracewell and Rachin Ravindra are the other allrounders in the side.Henry, who is the highest wicket-taker among seamers in ODIs in 2025, with 24 strikes in nine innings at an average of 15.50, will lead the attack.This will be Walter’s first stint with the New Zealand ODI side as their head coach. “The ODI side has been very successful for a long period of time, as the current ICC ranking of number two suggests,” Walter said. “We have an experienced core of players and as a team, are very clear on how we want to play. This is very much the start of our journey to the ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2027 and I know the group are excited to get going in this series against a quality England side.”New Zealand’s ODI group will assemble in Tauranga on Friday ahead of Sunday’s opening game. The second ODI will be played in Hamilton on October 29, while England’s tour will conclude with the third ODI in Wellington on November 1.The ODI series will overlap with the men’s Ford Trophy, New Zealand’s premier domestic one-day tournament, which will start on October 25 across various venues. The Ford Trophy will kick off New Zealand’s domestic summer for a second year in a row. The Ford Trophy will start on October 25, followed by the women’s Hallyburton Johnstone Shield (HBJ) taking off on November 15.

New Zealand ODI squad

Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young

The commentator’s iconic five-word summation of the Brisbane Test captured the essence of India’s victory against all odds

Karthik Krishnaswamy13-Dec-2024What’s your favourite commentary moment? Is it a moment of great commentary, or is it simply a great moment commentated upon? Sometimes the moment is big enough that the words don’t need to say all that much. Ravi Shastri and Ian Smith weren’t telling you anything you didn’t know when they told you that Dhoni had finished it off in style, and that England had won by the barest of margins, but the weight of the moments they described transfigured their words, turning them iconic. You probably didn’t just read them now; you heard them, in those voices.You could argue that the voices count for more than the words themselves, and that, in a job where you’re merely the garnish to what viewers can see for themselves, there’s nothing quite as valuable as the ability to convey emotion. It’s why the stints of Shastri and Smith always seem to coincide with the big finishes.Sometimes, though, a commentator goes above and beyond, and unearths a line that plays with the possibilities of language while capturing a moment’s zeitgeist. Vivek Razdan did this on January 19, 2021, when Rishabh Pant drove Josh Hazlewood down the ground at the Gabba and completed one of Test cricket’s greatest turnarounds.Related

• 'When you leave cricket, you will realise what you have done': Inside India's 2021 Gabba miracle

• Rishabh Pant: 'One of the biggest things in my life right now'

• Stats – India breach the Gabba fortress

• India have created the greatest moment in their Test history

• The Gabba result has done justice to the game we love

If you were watching the Hindi feed, this is what you heard when the ball rolled into the boundary cushion at long-off: Gabba Seldom have five words said so much.No one had beaten Australia at the Gabba in 31 Tests over 32 years. In the closing stages of the previous Test match, in Sydney, Australia captain Tim Paine had shown his frustration at his team’s inability to turn 1-1 into 2-1 by reminding India’s match-saving sixth-wicket pair that they had to come to this fortress next. “See you at the Gabba, mate.”Poetry in emotion: Razdan’s years of study paid off with the perfect denouement is a weighty, richly textured Urdu-Hindi word whose meaning lies somewhere between – and somewhere outside, too – arrogance, conceit, condescension, disdain, pride and vanity. With that one bit of alliteration, Razdan took in both the gravitas of Australia’s Gabba record and the hubris of Paine’s taunt: the Gabba’s now lay shattered.Razdan says the words came to him spontaneously, in the release of all the emotion built up over the preceding weeks: 36 all out in Adelaide followed by the departure of India’s captain; the comeback in Melbourne; the draw in Sydney sealed by a pair battling a torn hamstring and a bad back; the decimation of India’s bowling attack by injury, and the improbable competitiveness of the ragtag unit that took the field in Brisbane.”Each and every day, each and every game, there were so many different people who were coming up and raising their hand and showing that sort of character, and what they were made of,” Razdan says. “So these emotions were building over time, over all those days and Test matches. By the time we got to the fifth day of that final Test match, needing more than 300 runs, with so many things said against that team, the emotions were so high.”The way everything transpired, it was as if we were living on a different planet. And this was a time when the entire world was going through the Covid pandemic, so those emotions were also somewhere inside that. People are suffering, you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. In that sort of environment, when somebody comes up like this and does what they did, it was unbelievable.”I am a big believer in destiny and I’m so grateful that I was doing that stint and I was there on the mic on that day, and luckily, with the blessing of the almighty, those particular words came to me. They weren’t words, they were a feeling and an emotion.”An unheralded Pant became the hero of India’s unlikely win•Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty ImagesMoments later, Razdan let himself go once more as the producers cut to shots of India’s players embracing the hero of their run chase. It’s hard to imagine, now, that Pant started the series out of India’s XI, with Wriddhiman Saha preferred in Adelaide. It’s even more unimaginable that it was a reasonable choice then, given the challenge of the pink ball under lights and how far ahead Saha was of Pant as a pure keeper. Pant faced severe scrutiny over his keeping once he came into the side, and for all the runs he scored, his methods came in for widespread criticism whenever he was dismissed, even when he made 97 in Sydney.As Pant soaked in the winning feeling, Razdan ventriloquised: “There are virtues within me, shortcomings too. Ask yourself, seeker, what is it you want from me?”Lines like this speak of the decades of work Razdan put in to carve a niche for himself in a career he fell into, in some ways. He speaks English with an easy fluency that betrays his education at Delhi’s St Columba’s School, which includes Rahul Gandhi and Shahrukh Khan among its alumni. Hindi commentary wasn’t necessarily the obvious career path after Razdan’s fast-bowling days were done.”I’m a Kashmiri Pandit, and Hindi is my mother tongue,” Razdan says. “And my mom comes from UP, she comes from Lucknow. As a child, there were certain lines she always used to throw at me, you know? ” – you are telling someone to do certain things in a certain way, and you yourself are not able to do it. So my mom used to throw these lines at me, and I was always fascinated.”When I grew up, I never knew I’ll get into this line [of work], so once I started commentary, and then Hindi commentary came in in a big way, I started trying to speak to my mom – ‘Tell me all these lines that you heard as a child growing up in Lucknow.’ And it got me more interested in it.Into the breach: after India’s 2021 triumph, West Indies tore down Fortress Gabba earlier this year•Chris Hyde/Cricket Australia/Getty Images”Then I started reading, reading a lot. The poets of repute during that time, Mirza Ghalib, [Allama] Iqbal, all of them. The other thing that excited me was, these are certain lines or certain phrases being used over the years for portraying different emotions. How can I relate it to my sport? That is where the challenge came. So then I had to really go deep, study it, make my own adjustments, make my own lines, make my own rhymes. And over a period of time I kept writing them, kept writing them.”And that day, you know, the situation was such that it just brought out the best, because once you start studying it, you start saying these lines, you keep remembering them. Then you know when is the apt moment to use which line.”Razdan’s most famous line has gone on to transcend its moment in unimaginable ways. It has even been voiced by Shamar Joseph, that other recent stormer of Australia’s citadel. The line also portended a downgrade in the status of Brisbane, which was for so long the intimidating first port of call for visiting teams; it is now no longer Australia’s preferred venue for the start of their home season.As another Gabba Test begins, then, one thing is certain. Whether Australia win or lose, the is gone.

Newcastle United’s December fixture list is looking extremely busy already.

By the time the action-packed month closes, Eddie Howe’s Toon will have played eight games in all competitions, with Bayer Leverkusen up next for the frantic Magpies in the Champions League.

So far for Howe and Co, it’s been one draw and one win in the hectic month, with the 2-1 win over Burnley secured last time out in the Premier League far more nervy than it needed to be, after the hosts had gifted the ten-man Clarets a penalty right at the death.

Thankfully, no late fightback was on the cards, but with fixture congestion obviously going to become a big issue the more the month goes on, some changes could be on the agenda for the trip to Germany on Wednesday night, whether it’s because of tired legs or an actual drop in performance.

Where Eddie Howe needs to rotate against Leverkusen

With 17 shots tallied up on the Burnley goal throughout, Newcastle, arguably, should have notched up a far more comprehensive win against Scott Parker’s valiant visitors.

Nick Woltemade didn’t cover himself in much glory up top, in this regard, with just 18 touches of the ball passing him by, leading to zero on-target shots being powered at Martin Dubravka’s busy goal.

With Yoane Wissa back and available for selection after a lengthy injury, too, it could well be the perfect time to test out the ex-Brentford striker from the start against Leverkusen, with the German dismissed as having a “sloppy” performance, as per the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope.

He wasn’t the only performer on the pitch that stood out for all the wrong reasons, though, with Jacob Ramsey struggling throughout, next to Bruno Guimaraes, who grabbed another memorable Toon strike.

Sandro Tonali and Joelinton will likely walk back into the midfield spots ahead of Ramsey, who would give up the handball that gifted Zian Flemming a 94th-minute lifeline.

Anthony Elanga also continues to look lost in Newcastle black and white, with just one of his seven dribbles coming off against Burnley, but other Newcastle faces managed to cement their first-team position even more on Saturday afternoon, as this often hit-and-miss attacker continues to turn around his initially underwhelming season.

Newcastle's "best player" is now undroppable again

Newcastle have been very hit and miss so far this season, but with three Premier League victories now from their last four clashes in the tough division, Howe will hope his wobbly team have turned a corner.

Anthony Gordon certainly has, with the ex-Everton winger’s days of drawing blanks in league action this season firmly over, as he has now converted two crucial penalties back-to-back at St. James’ Park.

Without the England international’s ice-cold precision from the spot, the Magpies might well have been staring at two completely different results.

It’s been a very sharp turnaround in fortunes for the 24-year-old, with one analyst claiming that Gordon had entered “Gabriel Obertan territory” earlier in the campaign when he was consistently drawing blanks in the Premier League.

Obertan would only go on to score three goals for the Toon across a difficult 77-game spell, having never lived up to his early hype in England, when on the books of Manchester United.

Thankfully, Gordon now looks to have recaptured his gung-ho best, away from looking passive down the channels, with Howe – come the full-time whistle of the Burnley win – even labelling the Liverpool-born forward as the “best player” on the pitch as his “direct running” ultimately helped Newcastle overcome a stern Clarets battle.

Gordon’s numbers in 25/26
Stat	Gordon
PL games played	10
PL goals scored	2
PL assists	0
Champions League games played	5
CL goals scored	4
CL assists	1
Stats by Sofascore

Looking at the table above, too, Gordon has the chance to firm up why he deserves to be one of Howe’s first names on the teamsheets by putting in another memorable showing in the Champions League at the BayArena, having mustered up a sublime four goals and one assist this season in Europe’s first-class competition.

With a whirlwind 37 goals and assists amassed over his previous two seasons on Tyneside, too, Gordon will hope he can enter into another purple patch of form after suffering from some shaky moments here and there this campaign, off the back of his manager’s glowing words.

There’s certainly plenty of action ahead for Gordon to sink his teeth into, as he prays more words of praise come his way soon from his manager and beyond, alongside Newcastle continuing to pick up more wins.

Fewer touches than Ramsdale & 1 duel won: Newcastle star could be dropped

This Newcastle star struggled in the 2-1 win vs. Burnley

By
Joe Nuttall

5 days ago

The Tampa Bay Rays rallied back to beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1, on Saturday night but their manager, Kevin Cash, wasn't around to see the team score their winning runs as he was tossed from the game in the eighth inning after yelling a profane message at the home plate umpire.

Tampa's Chandler Simpson thought he had drawn a key walk in the eighth inning when a 3-1 pitch by Jose Butto appeared to be a bit low. Simpson made a move to first, but had to quickly stop after home plate umpire Dan Iassogna called it a strike.

Cash didn't love that call at all and let Iassogna know about it.

"That's f—— down and you know it's down!," Cash yelled from the Rays' dugout. He was quickly ejected and ran out on the field to yell at Iassogna a little more before heading back to the locker room.

Here's how that played out:

Simpson would go on to hit a single in that at-bat and he later scored the Rays' winning run.

Cash must have loved seeing that while watching on TV from the Rays' clubhouse.

Meet Drew Gilbert. The Giants rookie outfielder has hit .242 with four home runs and an .757 OPS since he was called up a month ago. He also likes to get choked in the dugout, which he has apparently talked teammate Matt Chapman into doing multiple times since he joined the team.

During San Francisco's win over the Diamondbacks on Monday the broadcast ran a montage of Gilbert's antics from the game. They included getting choked by Chapman, slapping things and shaking uncontrollably.

Earlier this month teammate Willy Adames said that Gilbert comes in each day like he "has new batteries," is hilarious and brought energy to the club that the Giants needed. Gilbert was traded to the Giants organization in late July as part of the trade that sent Tyler Rogers to the Mets and he quickly made his MLB debut and an impression.

The official MLB X account also posted a montage of Gilbert doing things like getting choked last week.

The Giants have won 12 of their last 15 games and are now just three games out of the final Wild Card spot. Ironically, they'll need the Mets to choke to sneak into the postseason.

Antonio Rudiger and Real Madrid have mutually agreed to pause contract extension talks until 2026 as the defender recovers from a significant muscle injury, according to reports in Spain. The 32-year-old’s priority is to stay, but he is not short of options, with a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia on the table and his former club Chelsea monitoring the situation.

• Rudiger's recovery stalls contract dialogue

  Rudiger and Madrid had opened preliminary discussions regarding a contract renewal, but talks are now on pause, according to a report from Spanish outlet .

  The 32-year-old's current deal at the Santiago Bernabeu expires at the end of the season and initial conversations between the club and the player's representatives reportedly began several months ago, with financial figures already on the table and a mutual desire to reach an agreement. However, these negotiations have been mutually postponed following the muscle injury the German international sustained in late September.

  The decision to halt negotiations was made by common accord, with both the player and the club feeling it was not the appropriate time to finalise figures while Rudiger focuses on his recovery.

  The 81-cap Germany international has been sidelined for months with a hamstring injury that required surgery, and his expected return date is not until mid-December 2025.

  The established roadmap, according to , is to resume the dialogue in the early part of 2026. This restart is contingent on Rudiger returning to first-team action and demonstrating that his physical level remains that of an "indisputable pillar" for Carlo Ancelotti's defence.

  The club initiated the talks months ago, signalling their intent to keep the former Chelsea man as an important part of their sporting project.

Advertisement

• (C)Getty Images
  

  Defender's stance clear amid external interest

  The report adds that Rudiger's desire is unequivocally to continue at Real Madrid. He is said to be happy with the project, his role in the team and his life in the Spanish capital.

  This firm stance comes despite the defender not being short of suitors. Significant interest has reportedly emerged from Saudi Arabia, with clubs prepared to present an "economically potent" offer that would surpass the financial terms Madrid can table.

  Furthermore, his former club, Chelsea, has reportedly not closed the door on a potential return. The Premier League side, which Rudiger left on a free transfer in 2022, are said to maintain a cordial relationship with his entourage.

  Despite these lucrative and familiar options, Rudiger's priority remains clear: to continue wearing the white of Real Madrid.

• 'I would do it again': Rudiger on playing through pain

  Rudiger's current hamstring injury follows a gruelling two-year period where he played almost constantly for club and country. The report notes that the defender previously played through "a lot of pain" with a meniscus issue, highlighting his commitment.

  In a recent statement addressing his recovery, Rudiger was clear about his frustration and his focus.

  "There’s nothing I hate more than being injured. I’ll be back soon," he said. "I needed this time because the preseason after the Club World Cup was very short. I need a little more time. I’m really looking forward to returning soon. I needed this time to disconnect, both mentally and physically. I’m happy to be back."

  Reflecting on his decision to play through previous discomfort, Rudiger was defiant about his mentality.

  "What happened was crazy. But I would do it again if necessary," he stated. "I was in pain, but that's just me. I always want to help, and I could still sprint. That's why I said, 'Why not?' I would do it again."

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Bernabeu hierarchy value leadership and mentorship

  Madrid's interest in retaining the 32-year-old extends beyond his on-pitch aggression and defensive attributes. The club's technical staff reportedly value him as a "current leader and a reference" for the squad's younger players.

  His impact is measured not only in successful tackles but also in his leadership and character. highlights that Rudiger is considered a natural mentor within the dressing room. He has forged a "big brother" relationship with emerging centre-back Dean Huijsen, actively helping the youngster integrate and understand the high demands of playing for Real Madrid.

  This off-pitch influence is complemented by his personal stability. Rudiger is described as being in a moment of "personal plenitude." He is reportedly happy in Madrid, residing in La Finca with his family, who are fully adapted to life in the city. He is a popular and respected figure in the dressing room, and the club views this contentment as a significant factor in their desire to secure his continuity.

Tottenham Hotspur did more than just end their interminable trophy drought when defeating Manchester United in the Europa League final last season; Ange Postecoglou opened up a road to the Champions League.

Given that Spurs finished 17th in the Premier League, this was quite the saving grace at the end of a campaign that left so much to be desired, and it ensured the Londoners could make a compelling case to potential signings like Xavi Simons.

While Tottenham supporters were overjoyed when signing the Dutch playmaker from RB Leipzig for £51m, after intense interest from Chelsea earlier in the summer, there’s no denying that the 21-year-old has yet to perform on English shores.

Given his big-money profile and the expectation upon his arrival, there’s a concern that Simons is echoing the likes of Tanguy Ndombele before him.

Simons' start to life at Spurs

Thomas Frank hasn’t yet established his vision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with his side struggling for form in the final third. Simons has been a part of the problem, but it’s important to remember this is a young talent who has entered a team lacking offensive coherence.

In just two years in Germany, Simons scored 22 goals and supplied 24 assists across 78 matches. He was the difference-maker, and many Premier League clubs were keen.

Spurs won the race, and credit to them, but Simons has yet to prove he has what it takes to raise his game to the next level, thus prompting concerns that he might mimic Frenchman Ndombele, who became the Londoners’ club-record signing when joining from Lyon in a £54m deal in 2019.

Ndombele’s temperament and commitment were among the cruxes of his demise in English football, and Simons cannot be blamed for a lack of effort, but it’s a concern all the same, and one Frank will need to rectify quickly to get his side operating at full creative capacity.

The jury is still out for the Netherlands international, who is young and talented and settling into an outfit that lacks creative direction right now.

There’s actually another Lilywhites man with far more experience who might be deteriorating into Ndombele 2.0.

Spurs' new version of Ndombele

Frank has spoken of his players’ frustrations following their recent run of form, and this was clear to see last weekend when Fulham condemned Tottenham to yet another home defeat.

Pedro Porro was incensed, but the Portugal international might want to direct that anger inwards, given his spate of shambolic displays this year.

The 26-year-old has been in the English capital for almost three years now, and while he is among the most technically gifted players in the ranks, his awareness and accuracy in defensive phases could see him become a disappointment in a similar way to Ndombele, especially when considering he had such a furore about his signature in 2023 that Manchester City came sniffing around last year.

Porro is rudderless. Sofascore record that he has made five errors already in the Premier League this season, and he is among the most dribbled-past defenders in the division thus far.

Most Dribbled-past Defenders in the Premier League (25/26)

#

Player

Stat

1.

Mats Wieffer

19

2.

Neco Williams

18

3.

Pedro Porro

17

4.

Hugo Bueno

16

5.

Matty Cash

16

Data via WhoScored

In fairness, Porro sits among the top 16% of Premier League full-backs this season for shot-creating actions and the top 5% for progressive passes per 90, as per FBref, but his defensive work has been well below the desired standard.

But his lack of focus and misuse of his own athleticism led one Tottenham podcast host to brand him “an absolute liability” last season, and that’s only been underscored since then, with Frank now facing his own Ndombele-like conundrum in working out what to do with this talented but toiling star.

Porro has enjoyed some high points across his Tottenham career, but he’s been culpable for too many poor performances over the past couple of years, and in this, it is he and not the young Simons who is shaping into the London side’s new version of Ndombele.

Related Just like Romero: Spurs prepare £40m bid for "crazy" Van de Ven upgrade

Tottenham are in the market for more defensive depth ahead of the January transfer window.

Posts ByAngus Sinclair 7 days ago

MatériaMais Notícias

Em um jogo emocionante, o Atlético-MG arrancou um empate por 2 a 2 com o Fluminense, no Kléber Andrade, pela 5ª rodada do Brasileirão. O Tricolor abriu o placar com Cano e ampliou a vantagem com Renato Augusto, mas Vargas entrou na etapa final e balançou as redes duas vezes para o Galo.

continua após a publicidade

➡ A boa do Lance! Betting: vamos dobrar seu primeiro depósito, até R$200! Basta abrir sua conta e tá na mão!

Com o resultado, a equipe de Fernando Diniz chega aos cinco pontos, mas não se distancia da zona de rebaixamento. Por outro lado, o time de Gabriel Milito atingiu os nove pontos e divide a liderança de forma provisória com o Botafogo.

O Atlético-MG volta a campo e encara o Peñarol, pela 4ª rodada da fase de grupos da Libertadores, na terça-feira (7). O Fluminense encara o Cerro Porteño também pela competição continental, mas na quinta-feira (9).

continua após a publicidade

✅ FICHA TÉCNICA
Fluminense 2 x 2 Atlético-MG – Brasileirão
5ª rodada

🗓️Data e horário:sábado, 4 de maio de 2024, às 16h (hora de Brasília)
📍Local:Kléber Andrade, em Cariacica (ES)
📺Onde assistir:Premiere
🟨Arbitragem:Raphael Claus (árbitro); Danilo Ricardo Simon Manis e Luiz Alberto Andrini Nogueira (auxiliares); Rodrigo Guarizo Ferreira do Amaral (VAR).

FLUMINENSE
Fábio; Marquinhos, Manoel, Felipe Melo e Marcelo; Martinelli, Lima e Ganso; Douglas Costa, Cano e Arias.Técnico:Fernando Diniz.

continua após a publicidade

ATLÉTICO-MG
Everton; Saravia, Battaglia, Jemerson e Arana; Otávio, Franco e Zaracho; Scarpa, Paulinho e Hulk.Técnico:Gabriel Milito.

Tudo sobre

Atlético-MGBrasileirãoFluminense

Red Sox star rookie outfielder Roman Anthony left the fourth inning of Tuesday night's contest against the Guardians with a back injury.

Anthony, who was hitting .291 on the season entering Tuesday as a breakout star in Boston's lineup, swung hard and missed at a breaking ball from Cleveland pitcher Slade Cecconi. He immediately grabbed his lower back and did not return to the game.

The Red Sox said Anthony was dealing with "left oblique tightness." He will undergo an MRI on Wednesday to confirm the severity of the injury.

The Red Sox won the game 11–7, and now sit at 78–62 on the season. Boston entered Tuesday night tied with the Yankees just 2.5 games out of first place in a hotly contested American League East. Both clubs are chasing the Blue Jays, who have been one of the best teams in the American League since June.

Any long-term injury to Anthony would be impactful to the Red Sox, who hope to not only win the division but compete for the American League pennant.

It is hard not to feel a little bit sorry for Glasgow Rangers head coach Danny Rohl after he watched his team ship three goals for the second time in four matches, albeit after extra time.

The Ibrox giants were beaten 3-1 at Hampden Park by their Glasgow rivals in the semi-finals of the League Cup on Sunday, but it was fairly impressive that they even took the game to extra time after going 1-0 down and down to ten men.

Rohl, who arrived to replace Russell Martin in the dugout, will have learned a lot about his group of players after his first four games in charge, with two wins and two defeats.

The former Sheffield Wednesday boss should be pleased with the fight this team showed on Sunday, although his side seemed to lose their legs in extra time, as shown by how slow the defenders were to react to Callum Osmand’s goal in the clip below.

Celtic’s young striker scored his first goal for the club in his second senior appearance, both of which have come under interim manager Martin O’Neill.

That shows that a fresh pair of eyes in the dugout can unearth a talent that was overlooked by the previous management team, which should be a lesson to Rohl, with the players in the Rangers youth ranks.

The academy problem Rangers have at Ibrox

The Light Blues have a problem with their academy at Ibrox because there has not been enough of a reward for the work being done with their youth teams.

Billy Gilmour

£18m

0

Nathan Patterson

£11m

27

Greg Taylor

£5m

0

Ross McCrorie

£2m

55

Lewis Morgan

£2m

0

As you can see in the table above, the five most valuable former Rangers academy players all play for other clubs, and none of them made more than 55 appearances for the first-team before they left.

Only two of them, Nathan Patterson and Billy Gilmour, being worth more than £5m suggests that the club are not doing enough to bring in or develop high-value players in their academy.

On top of potentially not bringing the right players through their academy system, an issue could also be the lack of a pathway to first-team football at Ibrox.

Osmand for Celtic is the perfect example. He did not play a single minute under Brendan Rodgers for the Hoops, after signing in the summer window, and he made an instant impact in a huge match when brought in by O’Neill.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

If Rodgers had stayed in post and continued to ignore the striker, Osmand’s development may have stalled, and he could have gone on to leave Glasgow and thrive or fail elsewhere.

Instead, O’Neill provided him with a chance to shine and, after his goal against Rangers, he may kick on to become a star for the Hoops in the coming months because of the opportunity that he has been given.

Now, on the other side of Glasgow, Rohl could unearth his own version of Osmand by finally unleashing Findlay Curtis as a starter for the Ibrox giants.

Why Danny Rohl should unleash Findlay Curtis for Rangers

The Gers academy graduate was given a chance by Martin at the start of this season, with starts against Panathinaikos, and he showed real promise, with an excellent first goal for the club.

It was a terrific run and finish from the “Boy Wonder”, as shown in the clip above, but he has not started a game in any competition since those two games against the Greek side.

Curtis added to his goal tally for the club with goals against both St Mirren and Alloa Athletic, in the Scottish Premiership and the League Cup. Both of those strikes, though, came as a substitute.

Panathinaikos (H)

75

1

Panathinaikos (A)

59

0

Viktoria Plzen (H)

5

0

Dundee (H)

13

0

Alloa Athletic (H)

6

1

St Mirren (A)

14

1

Club Brugge (A)

45

0

Celtic (H)

8

0

Hibernian (H)

13

0

Dundee United (H)

14

0

As you can see in the table above, the 19-year-old attacker has only made ten appearances in all competitions this season, starting two games, and has scored three goals in that time.

Per Sofascore, Curtis has been an unused substitute in seven of his last eight appearances in the matchday squad, with his only outing in that time coming off the bench against Dundee United in Stevie Smith’s game as interim head coach.

Despite his frustrating lack of game time on the pitch, only Djeidi Gassama (five) and James Tavernier (six) have scored more goals for Rangers in all competitions this season, per Transfermarkt, than the teenage winger.

Curtis has scored one goal in 49 minutes of action in the Premiership, across four appearances as a substitute, so far this season, per Sofascore, which shows that he has been effective with the minutes that he has had.

The Scottish forward, who produced four goals and three assists in eight matches for the B team, has delivered quality in the Premiership, in Europe, and in a domestic cup. He has shown that he can make an impact with the first-team.

Yet, as has seemingly been the case for academy players for far too long at Ibrox, Curtis has not been rewarded with regular game time to develop and improve in the senior team.

Rohl must change that by providing the 19-year-old attacker, who can play on the left or the right flank, with more chances to show what he can do on the pitch as a starter for the Light Blues.

Rangers saw firsthand what can happen when a young player is finally given a chance when Osmand found the back of the net against them, and they should learn from that lesson by finally unleashing Curtis.

Martin claimed Rangers star was a "huge asset", now he looks "rotten"

This Rangers signing was heavily praised by Russell Martin, now it looks like he needs to be sold.

ByDan Emery Nov 3, 2025