Tag Futebol

Tottenham Hotspur centre-forward Dominic Solanke opened his goalscoring account for the club with a strike against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. The England international rebounded James Maddison’s miss to tap the ball into an empty net, after failing to score in his first three appearances for Spurs.

Daniel Levy agreed a club-record fee of up to £65m to sign the former Chelsea and Liverpool prospect from fellow top-flight side Bournemouth in the summer transfer window.

Spurs could now turn to another player from lower down in the Premier League table, as they are reportedly eyeing up a Southampton starlet to further boost the attacking depth at the manager’s disposal.

Latest Tottenham transfer news

According to HITC, Tottenham are showing an interest in Southampton midfielder Tyler Dibling ahead of the upcoming January transfer window. The report claims that Spurs were one of a number of Premier League sides to send scouts to watch the winger in action against Ipswich Town on Saturday, as they watched him open the scoring for Russell Martin’s side.

Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Brighton, West Ham, and Manchester United were also keeping tabs on the 18-year-old whiz, which shows that he is attracting plenty of interest already this season.

The outlet does not, however, reveal how much Southampton would demand for his services, should any of those teams come in with a formal approach for him in January. It now remains to be seen whether or not Spurs are prepared to act upon their interest by swooping to secure his signature ahead of the second half of the season.

Why Tyler Dibling would be an exciting signing

During TalkSPORT’s commentary of Manchester United’s 3-0 win over the Saints earlier this month, Sam Matterface claimed the teenager has a “classic” winger style and “looks a little bit like Chris Waddle back in the day with his shirt untucked”.

If Dibling goes on to be anywhere near as good as Waddle, who scored 41 goals in 165 games for Spurs and earned 62 caps for England, then the Southampton starlet will have done well.

The teenage ace won a penalty in that defeat to the Red Devils, beating Diogo Dalot and forcing the defender into a foul, but it was subsequently missed by Cameron Archer.

Appearances

5

Starts

2

Goals

1

Big chances created

1

Key passes

5

Assists

0

Dribbles completed per game

1.8

Dibling has only started two league matches for the Saints but has already scored his first goal in the division, created five chances and completed nine dribbles. The England U19 international, who was described as an “elegant” talent by scout Jacek Kulig, earned his chance in the first-team after a return of eight goals and six assists in 27 games for Southampton B and already looks ready to contribute at the top end of the pitch at Premier League level.

Tottenham could, therefore, bring him in as an exciting prospect for Ange Postecoglou to coach and develop over the coming years, as Dibling still has plenty of time left to improve at the age of 18 and would not be expected to make an immediate huge impact for Spurs.

Spurs closely tracking £25m new transfer target likened to Gareth Bale

The Lilywhites are reportedly keeping tabs on the impressive forward ahead of January.

1 ByDan Emery Sep 23, 2024

AB de Villiers has denied asking for Kagiso Rabada to be dropped from the Test team at the start of Rabada’s career and said he only made inputs into selection in “the best interests of the team”. Responding to testimony given by former national selector Hussein Manack at Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings, de Villiers distanced himself from decisions that Manack alleged were made along racial lines.Manack spent the bulk of his testimony discussing the well-known case of Khaya Zondo on the 2015 tour of India, where Zondo didn’t play a single game, and the role de Villiers’ played in that episode. But the Rabada case, centred around the Wanderers Test against England in 2015-16, has not been publicly aired before.”I had been to the practice the day before and a decision had to be made between playing Kyle Abbott and Hardus Viljoen,” said Manack, who was selector then. “A discussion at practice took place and they [the team management] said we must drop KG [Rabada].”I asked on what basis. Rabada was 20 years old and he hadn’t established himself as a great player but having seen him at the Lions, where he was coming through, I had seen a lot of him. He had a good enough reputation. There was a cricketing explanation that maybe the ball wasn’t coming out of his hand right. I took it back to [bowling coach] Charl Langeveldt and … Charl’s view was that he was comfortable and everybody on the selection panel was unanimous that Rabada had to play. I said our decision is that Rabada has to play. There was one more spot that had to be filled. We said between Abbott and Viljoen, you decide who you want. We don’t have a strong view either way. In the end, they went for Viljoen and they weren’t happy with the fact that we had stood our ground.”Rabada claimed his first five-for in that match, and a career-best 13 for 144 in the next Test. Viljoen did not play for South Africa again.de Villiers told ESPNcricinfo that he had not wanted Rabada dropped. “I have never wanted KG dropped from any team at any time,” he said. “The idea is ridiculous. He is one of the finest bowlers in world cricket.”Related

• Race and role-definition collide as Zondo, Markram, van der Dussen jostle for one batting spot

• Flawed but necessary: SJN hearings reveal no heroes, no villains

• 'If there was a clique, we don't have any evidence of it' – CSA's Eddie Khoza on 'big five' allegations

• Former South Africa manager wants team to adopt 'a unified approach' on BLM movement

• Dolphins CEO says Roger Telemachus passed over for coach role based on interview, feedback

Manack spoke at length about the Zondo story, which led to black players raising selection concerns in a letter to CSA at the time. “On the 2015 tour of India, David Miller was battling for form. Throughout the second and third ODI we had discussions that maybe we need to get Khaya in and do a swap. At one stage, David even opened the batting and I was surprised at that move. Maybe it was tactical but in my mind, I was suspicious of that move. In my mind, they were trying to protect David,” Manack said. “David was struggling with spin. So what they did, instead of dropping him and bringing Khaya in, moved him to the top of the order, where he would play the new ball.”Miller was short of runs in the first two ODIs and ended up with only 74 runs in five games, struggling against spinners, but he was averaging 54 and striking at 113 in ODIs for the year until that series. Zondo had scored 288 runs in 10 matches in the previous season’s domestic one-day cup, where he averaged 41.14 and was taken on tour as the back-up batter.In the final ODI of the series, tied 2-2, Manack said he was unhappy that Miller was in the XI. “I felt David Miller needed to be dropped and if Khaya was the back-up batter, we needed to play him. The coach and captain were not happy with me. We had a discussion and I got back to the selectors and said do we play Khaya or not? There was some disagreement but the majority of the decision was that we said Khaya should play.The well-known case of Khaya Zondo came up extensively in Hussein Manack’s testimony•PTI

“The captain [de Villiers] was not happy. An hour or two later I got a call from the CEO and he said he just received a call from the captain who said he is not happy with the team. I went to the CEOs room and I got the distinct impression that the captain was very unhappy to the extent that, reading between the lines, I thought there was going to be some sort of fall out if he didn’t get his team. Before that there was the incident with Vernon Philander and Abbott at the World Cup and that time the captain didn’t get his team. I got the distinct impression that the captain wanted his team. I thought he was going to pull out of the team and threaten not to play. The words were not said but that’s the impression I got.”Asked by the ombudsman, Dumisa Ntsebeza, if he thought Zondo’s exclusion was racially motivated, Manack was equivocal. “I sat with AB in the evening and I gave in. He did have some cricketing reasons, which did make sense. Some of the reasons were that we were effectively playing in a final. Do we want to play a young cricketer in a final against one of the noisiest crowds in the world?”But maybe it was racially motivated. It’s difficult to escape that view. If one were to give the captain the benefit of the doubt, maybe he has a fair argument. If I look back at the last 15 or 20 years, very often captains protect their friends and buddies. They look after one another. That does happen.”de Villiers did not deny that leaving Zondo out was his call but said he felt it was for the benefit of the team. “It is obviously difficult to pick apart selection discussions many years later, and recollections will vary. However, I can unequivocally state that my input to such discussions was always motivated only by what I considered to be best for the team, and nothing else.”CSA did conduct an inquiry into Zondo’s exclusion and found that it was “unfair because it did not conform to the CSA policy”, Norman Arendse, a former board president, told the SJN. But CSA did not go as far as to say that Zondo was excluded on the basis of race.”There were the allegations of racial discrimination but from the information that was provided to the task team, we found that there were cricketing reasons given for his inclusion and cricketing reasons given for his exclusion. It reflects on CSA too that we didn’t go the step further to find his exclusion was race-based. The task team didn’t find it necessary to make such a finding because we did find that it was unfair. As a lawyer, I was confined to the four corners of my brief, and on that we couldn’t make a finding that he was excluded because of the colour of his skin. We had a reasonable suspicion that that may well have been the case but a clear finding would not have been justified on the evidence placed before us.”In hindsight, Manack said he felt responsible for Zondo’s exclusion. “I should have stood firm. I feel I let Khaya down. If you look at it, it was the same captain who was involved in the Rabada incident. There is a bit of a pattern that has developed over the years and you will find some names have come up over and over again. In this instance, I should have stood my ground. I want to acknowledge my part in what happened to Khaya. I take responsibility for it. I regret it.Zondo went on to debut against India at Centurion three years later, and to date has played five ODIs for South Africa.

MatériaMais Notícias

Com o título já definido, a luta para escapar do rebaixamento virou o centro das atenções no Brasileirão. Nesta segunda-feira, dois times conseguiram eliminar as chances de queda: São Paulo e Athletico. O Tricolor venceu o Juventude, enquanto o Furacão empatou com os garotos do Palmeiras. Já o Cuiabá venceu o Fortaleza e deixou a zona de rebaixamento, jogando o Juventude para lá. O Grêmio é o 18° e chega na última rodada em situação dramática. CONFIRA A CLASSIFICAÇÃO DO BRASILEIRO.

RelacionadasBrasileirãoCom gol de Elton, Cuiabá bate o Fortaleza e deixa a zona de rebaixamento do BrasileirãoBrasileirão06/12/2021BrasileirãoAtlético-GO vira sobre o Internacional no Beira-Rio e sonha com vaga na LibertadoresBrasileirão06/12/2021BrasileirãoSantos vence o Flamengo em noite de pênalti perdido por Gabigol e elimina risco de queda no BrasileirãoBrasileirão06/12/2021

Lancashire conspire to fall short of victory despite opener’s 88

Paul Edwards20-Jun-2021An afternoon on which Lancashire had sought to raise awareness of men’s health concluded in a fashion that will have done nothing for the blood pressure or heart rates of most of the 4500 spectators at Emirates Old Trafford.”So much, so mundane,” might come the weary reply from people reading about this tie. This is T20, after all, a format where last-over finishes are almost and in which winning a match with three balls to spare equates to coasting home. Perhaps so, but when Lancashire needed eight off the final two deliveries of the game, a fair proportion of the crowd will have been wondering how they had contrived to balls up their pursuit of 173, especially so given that openers Keaton Jennings and Finn Allen had put on 118 in less than 13 overs before Allen skied Samit Patel to Joe Clarke at long-off and departed for 60.Bowling the final over was Luke Fletcher, a man whose loyalties are simple and deep; he would be among the crowd supporting Notts if he did not play for them. Fletcher conceded four runs off the first four balls of that final over but his fifth was a knee-high full toss that Jennings whacked gratefully into the crowd in the temporary stand Lancashire have built for bigger occasions than this. With all three results now possible yet none of them an odds-on favourite, Jennings squeezed the next ball into the covers where the Notts skipper Steven Mullaney ran round to field. One run was easy but a second was an impossibility unless Mullaney fainted or Tom Moores failed to collect the ball.Jennings nearly collided with the bowler as he turned for the second run. That is never a wise move – Fletcher was built by the same firm that did the Eiger – but he was far short of his ground when Moores broke the stumps. Suddenly there was that sense of anti-climax that a tie in these affairs always brings. Both sets of players and supporters were vaguely relieved but both knew the disappointment that failing to win a game always fosters when victory has been close.Lancashire’s unhappiness was probably the greater. Both sides agreed that Notts’ 172 was better than par on a used pitch but Jennings and Allen, the former batting with particular brio, had seemed to have the job under control. Only 44 runs were needed off the last five overs and 27 off the last three with plenty of wickets in hand. But Notts have been here before – this is their second tie in six games in this year’s Blast – and they hung on. Patel was the best bowler on either side and he conceded only 18 runs from his four overs. Jake Ball also bowled well at the death and Lancashire have now won only one of their last 11 T20 games against Notts.”It was absolutely gutting to get so close and get to the point where you should win it,” said Jennings, who made 88 off 61 balls. “You want to get your team over the line and then you don’t win it and you only walk away with one point. It was a really good game of cricket and great to be a part of but bitterly disappointing when you don’t walk away with all the points.”Such a reaction is understandable but some wise money was on the visitors after they had posted 172 in the first half of the game. No one dominated their innings as Allen and Jennings were to do for Lancashire but after Alex Hales had made 33, a 17-ball effort than included five successive fours off Steven Croft, Moores held the innings together by making 48 before he was one of three wickets to fall in the final over bowled by Danny Lamb, who returned career-best figures of 3 for 23. Lancashire dropped four catches but Tom Hartley held on to his two chances and also took 2 for 25, thus offering further evidence of a talent that is in danger of being confined to the short form. This would be a desperate waste.Lancashire’s use of only five frontline bowlers meant they went into the game without the safety net of the sixth part-time trundler or twister that most teams need in these contests. Thus there was no option available to Dane Vilas when Matt Parkinson was collared and returned figures of 1 for 45, the legspinner’s worst figures in the Blast. A couple of hours later, though visiting supporters were applauding a slow bowler, whose England days are long past. But no one doubts that Patel is a genuine allrounder; the word has been made flesh and now it dwells amongst us.

MatériaMais Notícias

Os erros da arbitragem no empate em 2 a 2 entre Chapecoense e Flamengo, comandado pelo árbitroDenis da Silva Ribeiro Serafim (AL), resultaram em reclamações por parte de jogadores, técnico e dirigentes rubro-negros. Renato Gaúcho, por exemplo, pediu à CBF a escalação de um árbitro Fifa na próxima rodada da equipe, o que não acontecerá. O juiz do jogo entre Flamengo e Bahia, na quinta-feira, no Maracanã, seráAndre Luiz de Freitas Castro (GO).

RelacionadasFlamengoFlamengo abre venda de ingressos para a partida contra o BahiaFlamengo09/11/2021FlamengoDefinido: eleição do Flamengo será uma semana depois da decisão da LibertadoresFlamengo09/11/2021FlamengoMarcos Braz critica arbitragem, mas admite Flamengo abaixo do esperado: ‘Precisamos ajustar para a reta final’Flamengo09/11/2021

-Por que não perguntam para o Gaciba (presidente da Comissão de Arbitragem da CBF)? A outra pergunta que eu queria fazer ao Gaciba. No jogo do Atlético-MG, um dos melhores árbitros do Brasil. Jogo do Palmeiras, um dos melhores. Jogo do Flamengo, arbitragem de Segunda Divisão. Gaciba precisa explicar isso. Bater no Renato é mole, né? Não podemos esquecer do Gaciba – reclamou o técnico do Flamengo após o empate em 2 a 2, na Arena Condá.

Se o árbitro de Flamengo e Bahia, pela 31ª rodada do Brasileirão não será “Fifa”, os dos jogos do Atlético-MG – contra o Corinthians, no Mineirão – e do Palmeiras – contra o Atlético-GO, no Allianz Parque – serão.Braúlio da Silva Machado (SC/Fifa) e Anderson Daronco (RS/Fifa) comandam as partidas de Galo e Verdão, respectivamente, ambas a serem disputadas na quarta-feira, às 19h e às 20h30.

Fakhar Zaman jumps 17 slots, Mohammad Rizwan reaches 15th position

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2021

Babar Azam had become the No.1 ODI batter last week•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has moved up by a place to second spot in the ICC men’s rankings for T20I batters. Azam’s record-breaking 122 off 59 balls against South Africa in the third T20I saw him gain 47 points to displace Australia’s Aaron Finch from the second position.Azam was the highest run-scorer in the four-match series, having accumulated a total of 210 runs, including a half-century and a maiden hundred. Azam, who is still 48 points adrift of top-ranked Dawid Malan, has the opportunity to overtake him with the three-match series against Zimbabwe that got underway in Harare on Wednesday.Earlier last week, Azam became the No. 1 ODI batter, ending India captain Virat Kohli’s long reign at the top of the charts. Azam is just the fourth Pakistan batter to attain the top ranking.Fakhar Zaman gained 17 spots to reach 33rd rank after scoring an unbeaten 8 and 60 in the last two games, and Mohammad Rizwan jumped eight places to reach a career-best 15th position. Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi also made a jump to reach his career best-equaling 11th spot in the bowlers’ list after picking up two wickets in two matches.For South Africa, Rassie van der Dussen moved up from ninth to sixth spot, just one shy of his career-best, after scores of 34 not out and 52. Aiden Markram gained 31 places to reach 34th position.

Leeds United have been handed a boost as one of their transfer targets is believed to be trying to push through a late move to Elland Road this summer.

Leeds start Championship season poorly

After two games of a Championship season in which Leeds were favourites to secure promotion, they sit in sixteenth place without a win, having followed their 3-3 opening day draw with Portsmouth up with a 0-0 affair against West Bromwich Albion.

Between those ties, Daniel Farke's side were dumped out of the EFL Cup in the first round after being thrashed 3-0 by Middlesbrough at Elland Road as their season threatens to die out before it has even truly started.

Better than Gnonto: Leeds could use Rutter money to sign exciting EFL star

Leeds United will be crying out for more recruits in attack after a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion.

ByKelan Sarson Aug 18, 2024

Speaking after the game, Farke revealed that he felt he needed at least four new faces in the final 11 days of the transfer window: "We would need cover at full-back, in midfield and two offensive positions. [I] Cannot guarantee we will get all of these, but four is roughly what I would like to see."

Midfield is certainly an issue, with both Archie Gray and Glen Kamara having departed the club this summer in deals worth close to a combined £50m.

It means that Leeds only have three recognised options to fill the double pivot role in Farke's side, with last season's options Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu boosted by the arrival of Joe Rothwell on loan from Bournemouth. Now though, they may have been handed a boost in their pursuit of a fourth.

Midfielder trying to push through move to Leeds

That comes as German media believe that midfielder Dejan Ljubicic is attempting to force his way out of 1.FC Koln and join Farke's side this summer. The 49ers group have already seen one bid turned down to sign the midfielder this summer, believed to have been in the region of £3.3m, but remain keen on adding him to their ranks before the transfer deadline.

And he sat out his side's first game of the season with apparent "knee problems" despite completing training all week, with one report suggesting that the midfielder was instead absent because he is "pushing for a move to Leeds United".

Dejan Ljubicic in the Bundesliga 23/24

Appearances

26

Starts

24

Goals

0

Assists

2

Yellow Cards

6

Ljubicic is down to the final 12 months of his £13,000 per week deal in Germany, and is yet to pen an extension in the Cathedral City, meaning that his side risk losing him for free in 12 months if they don't cash in this summer.

Relegated from the Bundesliga last season, they are not in a strong position despite being keen to keep hold of their man, and the report adds that the club will "certainly listen to further offers" and are open to his exit provided they receive a suitable fee for the midfielder.

South Africa take game down to the final ball but fall three runs short

Firdose Moonda11-Feb-2021

Mohammad Rizwan celebrates his first T20I hundred•AFP / Getty Images

Mohammad Rizwan became only the second Pakistan batsmen to score a T20I hundred and contributed more than 60% of his team’s total as they edged out South Africa by three runs in a thrilling first T20I. No one else in the Pakistan line-up scored more than Haider Ali’s 21 and the rest of the line-up combined scored just 59 runs off 56 balls; Rizwan on his own accounted for an unbeaten 104 off 64.South Africa used seven bowlers, only introducing some of their frontline operators such as Junior Dala and Tabraiz Shamsi as the Pakistan innings approached the halfway mark, and all but Shamsi struggled for consistency. The quicks struggled to control a wet ball in the dew and lacked the pace usually associated with a South African pack.It ended up being much tighter than Pakistan fancied, coming down to the final ball, off which Bjorn Fortuin needed six. He could only manage to get it down to square leg for a couple, giving Pakistan the spoils by a narrow margin.Rizwan rewarded
Rizwan is having the best week of his cricketing career. And its only Thursday. On Sunday, he scored his first Test century to set Pakistan up for a series win over South Africa. Here, he topped that up with his first T20 century. This was Rizwan’s second successive score over 80 in T20 internationals and was a particularly well-paced innings.He scored seven runs off the first 11 balls he faced, with no boundaries, ticked along to 31 off 30 and then feasted on Dala’s shorter length to reach 50 off 35 balls. The acceleration came when he smoked three sixes in Dala’s second over including two smashes over backward square leg in consecutive balls and a clean loft over long-off to bring up his half-century. He dominated the rest of the innings, gleefully sweeping Shamsi and punishing full tosses from Andile Phehlukwayo.South Africa used their first review against him when Shamsi appealed for an lbw off a ball that seemed to be spinning past leg stump. Ball-tracking confirmed that Rizwan, on 61 at the time, was safe. In the next over, Dwaine Pretorius thought he had Rizwan caught behind but the sound seemed to come from the thigh-pad. Rizwan swatted Pretorius’ next ball over midwicket for six.He was dropped twice on his way to a hundred and played some risky strokes, including a top edge over fine leg off Lutho Sipamla, but reached three-figures with a glorious shot off a Phehlukwayo slower ball, the 63rd he faced, that Rizwan sent over deep midwicket.South Africa – the fielders – are back. Maybe
South Africa dropped at least seven catches across the two Tests and suffered four run-outs, much to the dismay of head coach Mark Boucher who acknowledged Pakistan’s superiority in the fielding department. The T20 squad knew they needed to do better and it only took two balls before they demonstrated their commitment to an improved showing.Bjorn Fortuin, who was given the new ball, ran to the leg side to collect a Babar Azam nudge and spotted an opportunity to put the Pakistan captain under pressure. Fortuin slid, picked up and threw, aiming at one stump and lying almost flat on the floor. He caught Babar by surprise, well short of his ground, to dismiss him for a first-ball duck.Then, in the last over of the Powerplay, Haider Ali picked a Phehlukwayo slower ball up and attempted to flick it over deep square. Debutant Jacques Snyman took a running catch on the rope with both hands before releasing one to steady himself as he hit the ground. The ball stayed in his other hand and Haider was dismissed for 21.That was not the end of their sharp efforts in the field. Shamsi was brought on to bowl the 10th over and found sharp turn immediately. His second ball spun past Hussain Talat, who came forward to defend, and Heinrich Klaasen whipped off the bails. It looked as though Talat may have got some of his back boot on to the ground as the bails were dislodged but TV umpire Shozab Raza disagreed and Klaasen was rewarded for swift work.It didn’t all go their way, though. In the penultimate over of the match, Dala let a chance off Rizwan slip through his hands at deep midwicket and Reeza Hendricks, who tried to clean up, ended up touching the rope with his foot to give away four runs. The misfields sent Rizwan into the 90s.In the next over, Rizwan hit Phehlukwayo over cover, where Snyman had to jump to take a relatively simple catch. He only managed to palm it up and over, to leave Rizwan two away from his hundred.Janneman is not an Urdu name, but he seems at home in Pakistan
In the Afrikaans tradition, young men named Jan are often affectionately called Janneman. In Urdu, Janneman means sweetheart. Whichever way you look at it there’s a lot of love for South Africa opener Janneman Malan.He survived first over nerves, when he edged Mohammed Nawaz past Rizwan for four and was found to have inside-edged a delivery that hit his back pad which Pakistan reviewed for lbw, and took South Africa through the Powerplay unscathed.Malan drove anything overpitched elegantly and was equally merciless against short balls. He hit Haris Rauf for four consecutive fours, three of them short and two of those slow, which allowed him to show off the pull shot. He also kept his partner Hendricks from the strike, facing 25 of the first 36 balls.The pleasantries ended when Usman Qadir was brought on in the seventh over and bowled Malan with a googly that beat his defensive prod.Qadir’s spell
Unlike Pakistan, South Africa had made the most use of ther Powerplay while Malan was at the crease, with the visitors bring up 50 without losing a wicket after the first ball of the sixth over. With the asking rate coming down, Babar Azam turned to Qadir, who produced a spell worthy of that surname. After a tight over, he drew Malan forward to a glorious delivery that ripped past his outside edge, taking the off stump and swinging the game Pakistan’s way. He would concede just four off his first two, and deceive Snyman with a sumptuous googly that rattled the stumps once more. South Africa managed just 10 runs in four overs, and from thereon they were always playing catch-up.

Lewis Gregory and Jack Wildermuth ensure Heat get home with more than an over to spare

Sreshth Shah02-Jan-2021A four-wicket haul from right-arm quick Mark Steketee and a 23-ball 40 from their opener Max Bryant helped the Brisbane Heat – who are missing Chris Lynn due to injury – beat the Sydney Sixers by four wickets in front of their home crowd. Although the Sixers earned a Bash Boost point for scoring more runs than the Heat at the respective halfway points of both teams’ innings, they could not extend their streak of consecutive wins to five, bring an end to a series of wins that started on December 13.The Heat’s chase briefly got tricky when they lost their sixth wicket still needing 45 runs in 28 balls, but an unbeaten partnership of 50 in 21 balls between Lewis Gregory (16-ball 31) and Jack Wildermuth (10-ball 22) saw them cruise to victory with more than an over to spare. Their second win of the season takes them to sixth on the points table with eight points, while the Sixers remain third on 17 points, only two behind league leaders, and the other Sydney team, the Thunder.Philippe, Vince take on the spinnersHaving chosen to bat, the Sixers openers Jack Edwards and Josh Philippe began aggressively, adding 30 after the four mandatory Powerplay overs. The fifth over began Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s spell, and he struck off the first ball, when Edwards was caught at backward point. Joe Burns, released from the Australia Test squad, pounced onto the catch as Edwards sliced an attempted drive.While Mujeeb’s first over went for only three, his second went for 17 as Philippe and the No. 3 James Vince struck two sixes off the first and last ball of the seventh over. The two batsmen pounced further in the eighth over when left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann conceded 16 on the back of a hat-trick of fours, of which one was down the leg side. Kuhnemann would later be subbed out at end of 10 overs, with batsman Sam Heazlett replacing him.Sixers slide after solid startVince was dismissed for 20 in the ninth over when he edged a shot to the keeper. He was trying to run it past Jimmy Pierson but ended up playing it too fine. The keeper Pierson was in the action in the 10th over, too, when Daniel Hughes was caught behind for two trying to drive a Steketee delivery that wasn’t full enough.Philippe and Jordan Silk looked to help the Sixers recover after the two quick wickets, and it looked like the duo were going to bring out the big shots with eight overs to go. But Philippe was out lbw for 48 off Xavier Bartlett, trying to slog-sweep after which the No. 6 Daniel Christian was trapped lbw in front of his stumps by Mujeeb. Carlos Brathwaite was then out for a duck, when he couldn’t get a square drive off Steketee over point. Silk, however, kept finding the occasional boundary as the death overs approached, and was finally dismissed by Steketee in the 19th over for a 27-ball 43. Steketee would take another wicket next ball, his fourth of the match. Eventually, the Sixers set a target of 166 for the Heat after an expensive 14-run final over.Sixers fight back after Bryant’s blastAfter his new opening partner Burns was out for 1, Bryant collected boundaries off Jackson Bird and Ben Dwarshuis in the first five overs of the chase. With No. 3 Joe Denly at the other end, he punished Christian’s first over – the chase’s seventh – with a six and a four to welcome the new bowler. But Bryant fell off the third ball when he looked to cutely nudge a short ball leg side, only for the leading edge to find Philippe. At the point of his dismissal, Bryant had scored 40 of the 57 runs made by the Heat.While Denly looked to get his eye in with singles and doubles together with the X-Factor Heazlett, the Bash Boost point was going out of the Heat’s grasps. Denly was out in the ninth over for a 17-ball 19, leaving the Heat needing 14 off the tenth over to collect the point. They could get only six as the Sixers earned it instead. Benjamin Manenti and Brathwaite kept things tidy, with the latter dismissing Heazlett for 17. The Heat struck only one boundary in the six overs between 8 and 14, and the required rate was now touching 11.Gregory, Wildermuth turn it aroundWith 63 needed off 36, the 15th over began with Pierson flicking Dwarshuis for six, only to be dismissed two balls later by a slower delivery that he dragged onto the stumps. Although Gregory struck another six off Dwarshuis to bookend a 15-run over to bring the required run-rate down to 9.60, he lost James Bazley at the other end in the 16th over.Gregory, though, had Wildermuth for company. Thanks to some wayward bowling from Brathwaite and a series of smart running between the wicket, they brought the equation down to 14 off 12. Gregory then hit Dwarshuis for a six and a four to make the game a mere formality. Wildermuth hit another maximum to bring the fifty stand and seal a Heat win with seven balls to spare.

For all the recent USWNT success, this was a night defined by world-class goals from two potentially world-class players

The turnover has already begun. Just a few months out from the U.S. women's national team's Olympic gold medal, the next cycle is taking shape. It'll be a gradual process, which Emma Hayes will love after the sprint that was this summer's run to the Paris Games, but even in these early days, the process has begun.

It started on Thursday night in Austin on a night defined by world-class goals from two potentially world-class players. Alyssa Thompson and Jaedyn Shaw aren't there yet, but they might be sooner than most people imagined.

Thompson and Shaw were each on the scoresheet in a 3-1 win over Iceland, and they were joined by the ancient-by-comparison 24-year-old Sophia Smith. Seriously. The USWNT's present and future led the charge, and for all the glory of Paris, the Olympic gold already seems left in the past.

There will be more opportunities for players such as Shaw and Thompson to continue their evolution, with one coming as soon as Sunday against the same opponent, as the U.S. plays another friendly with Iceland in Nashville. And even as Hayes remained unbeaten in 11 matches on the job, this, too, remains a process. But the USWNT's teenage starlets look as if they're already ready to kick the door down.

GOAL takes a look at the winners and losers from the USWNT's victory, which came with two second-half goals.

• Imagn
  

  WINNER: Alyssa Thompson

  Over the last two years, Thompson became a bit overshadowed. It's worth remembering, though, that this is a player who – as a teenager – was named to the USWNT's World Cup roster. Why was that? Oh, it's because she has limitless potential.

  Belatedly, the world got a glimpse at that again on Thursday night.

  Thompson couldn't have dreamed up a better first international goal. The quality, the finish, the celebration, the moment… it all felt perfect. With that goal, Thompson arrived. There might not be any looking back now.

  The forward pool for the USWNT is crowded, for sure, and Thompson will face a fight to break up the "Triple Espresso" stars of Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman. She certainly seems up for it, though and, at just 19, there are bigger days and goals ahead.

  She'll may continue be overlooked a bit and, for now, that's just fine. But it's clear Thompson is growing as she inches closer to being the player many expected when she first broke through with this USWNT group pre-World Cup.

Advertisement

• Imagn
  

  LOSER: Iceland

  One of the biggest takeaways from this friendly is the fact that Iceland is actually a good opponent. Ranked 13th in the world by FIFA, Iceland didn't back down against the Olympic gold medalists, going toe-to-toe with the best team in the world.

  The second big takeaway? There's a difference between good and great. Iceland may be good, but it takes perfection to beat the USWNT. Relative to the three USWNT goals, all three were moments of magic. They were created by pure individual brilliance and quality. It's something that 99 percent of the teams in the world lack. Not the USWNT.

  That'll be a good lesson for Iceland, who will look to make waves in the Euros in 2025. Based on Thursday's performance, they'll definitely frustrate a few teams and, given their own quality up front, they may surprise a few heavyweights, too.

  Not the USWNT, not on this night. They'll get another crack on Sunday.

• Imagn
  

  WINNER: Jaedyn Shaw

  Shaw's second-half goal, with the matched tied 1-1, makes you wonder, doesn't it? The USWNT won gold even without a healthy Shaw this summer. Imagine what they could have done with her?

  Shaw didn't play a minute in France, but she rocked an incredible goal, one that perhaps a handful of players in the world can even score. That's how talented Shaw is when fit and ready.

  Shaw scored four goals at the Gold Cup this summer and one more at the SheBelieves Cup. Despite her lack of game time at the Olympics, this very much was her year. At 19, she's already a superstar in a team filled with them. After missing the gold medal run because of injury, she summarized the moment.

  “It was a really tough month for me, but it was also the best month of my life," she said, looking back the Paris Games, "and I really learned a lot from it. It made me hungrier to come back and produce the same, if not more.”

  It'll be fun to watch Hayes navigate that dynamic and, as for Shaw, it'll be fun watching her continue to blossom as she stares down a revenge tour ahead of the World Cup in 2027.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

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

• Imagn
  

  WINNER: Sophia Smith

  The third goalscorer of the night, coming off the bench, Smith deserves her mention, too. That's largely because of the goal she scored: an absolute missile from outside of the box. Somehow, it may have been the best finish of the night, which feels wild to say given the quality of the two that preceded it.

  It's what Smith brings, though, and, right now, she's bringing it every time she's on the field. The 24-year-old striker was – unbelievably – the elder stateswoman on the scoresheet against Iceland, at least compared to the other two. And that wasn't lost on her.

  "I never thought I’d see the day when I wasn’t the youngest, but it’s so special," she told TNT. "We have so much young talent coming in and for Jaedyn and Alyssa to score, for them to have the confidence to play their game and put the ball in the back of the net, it shows a lot about who they are as players. I think we have a very bright future."

  Smith is very much part of that future, just as she's part of the present. Despite the heroics of Thompson and Shaw, Triple Espresso will be hard to break up. Right now, Smith might just be the USWNT's best forward and, if Thursday night proved anything, that truly is saying something.