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The story of Haryana’s determined effort to excel in Super League

Sriram Veera21-Dec-2010Haryana might never have been a strong team, but they gave us one of the most enduring Ranji Trophy images of all time. In 1991, their year of glory under Kapil Dev, Mumbai’s Dilip Vengsarkar left the field in tears in an intensely fought final. It captured the fierce desire of Mumbai for Ranji success, and also reflected a wonderful moment of rare success for an unfancied team. Haryana have never entered another final again.For years now, they have been wallowing in the middle rung in the domestic circuit. The 2000s decade twice dragged them down to the Plate League, but they re-entered the Super League last year, and have reached the quarter-finals this year. Hope floats.Ashwini Kumar, the coach, is understandably cautious, and modestly ambitious. “We need to stay in the Super League for 3-4 years continuously, gain experience, mature as players and go from strength to strength. Bigger goals can wait. If you keep improving yourself each season, the results will take care of themselves.”Ashwini looks back at the early part of the decade as a rebuilding phase. “Chetan Sharma, Ajay Jadeja, Amarjeet Kaypee all had quit, the experience was thin and a new team was being built.” Haryana were Under-19 champions around 2000. Camps were held across districts, talent hunts were done and the feeder system was beginning to slowly churn out the players.Meanwhile, at the Ranji level, the team was slipping. Amit Mishra, their current captain, sees it as an absence of confidence due of a lack of talent and big players. “It was bound to show on field but we started to turn around things in the last three years. The talent came in, and it was a great feeling last year to get out of the Plate League.”The motivation to remain in the Super League is obvious enough; your performances here are noted. As Mishra says, “Plate (There is not much weightage given to Plate performances). The boys know the importance of staying and doing well in Super”.This season, as witnessed in matches held in North India, the seamers, led by Joginder Sharma, have propelled Haryana. Joginder, fated to be remembered forever for a solitary ball of fame that won India the Twenty20 World Cup, has been on a comeback trail since his shoulder surgery in 2007-08 put him out of action in the next season. “I was struggling for the last two years but I felt fully fit at the start of this season. When I came to the pre-season camp, I was inspired by the hard work put in by the young team-mates and told myself that I have to lead from the front this year.” With 29 wickets, Joginder is the joint-third highest wicket-taker this Ranji season across all teams. The seniors have done well in the past as well: Haryana have three bowlers who have taken hat-tricks – Joginder Sharma, Amit Mishra, and Dhruv Singh – and possess one triple centurion in Sunny Singh.At 27, Joginder finds himself, along with Hemang Badani and Mishra, one of the seniors in this young team. “I am desperate to do well and bring back the name of Haryana. It’s not about winning the Ranji Trophy but being a part of growth. We seniors told the boys that Super League is not something to be fearful about. The skills are the same here. Don’t worry about the reputation of the opposition player; just do your thing. The results are there as you can see.” It’s a sentiment that seems to be prevalent in the think-tank. The coach, the captain and the seniors share that thought and the younger players have responded.Badani came in as a professional this year and has led from the front with 374 runs, just 11 runs short of the top-scorer Nitin Saini. He top-scored on difficult tracks against Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka and proved his worth. ” I came in with an open mind. It was a chance to come back to first-class cricket after playing in ICL. It was a nice opportunity to play with a side with young guys and try to qualify for knockouts; it’s very heartening that we have done that. Coming from Chennai, it was a different experience playing in these seaming tracks here, We have a great bunch of guys who are keen to do well; it has been a very refreshing experience.” According to Joginder, the young batsmen have learnt a lot from Badani.The first challenge came against Himachal Pradesh when they were asked to bat on a pitch that had something for the seamers. Haryana responded by scoring 316, led by Badani’s 65, before bowling out Himachal for a handsome lead. Ashwini sees it as a sign of his batsmen getting better against seamers because of the practice against their own bowlers on such pitches. They turned up the heat against the stronger teams like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh as well. UP chose to bat but folded for 167 and Haryana gained a 105-run lead before Joginder grabbed a six-for to steamroll UP for 174 in the second. Mishra looks at that win as a great confidence booster. “That game made everyone feel that they not only belong here at this level but that they can excel.”A semi-final spot beckons if they can go past Tamil Nadu, and even if they don’t, their future in the Super League looks secure. Ashwini, as ever, likes to keep it simple. “It will all depend on how hard the boys continue to work.” It might seem a cliché but in the end, everything does depend on that. Haryana don’t want to look at the stars; they just want to walk on the ground. It seems a sensible move. Perhaps, one day not in the distant future, they might provide us with another memorable Ranji moment.

How a stepped-on sandwich sparked a permanent adoration for D’Oliveira

Steven Lynch28-Dec-2006I imagine that for most cricket lovers the favourite player is the one who catches the eye at an early age, when the game is just taking hold. Later on you can relish the thought of going to watch Brian Lara, or Shane Warne, or Andrew Flintoff, but you can never quite recapture the breathless excitement of the moment you got hooked.
I had noticed cricket on the television, watched some of it, asked my parents what was going on. But things changed when I was nine, in the summer of 1966. England were struggling against West Indies. They were messing about with selection. They chose three captains (bettered only by 1988, when they had four). But one of the new caps was a bit different: Basil Lewis D’Oliveira.”Dolly” was a romantic figure – tall, dark and handsome, but with an air of mystery. This stemmed from his past: I knew he had come over from South Africa because he wasn’t allowed to play there. My mother tried to explain why not, but it didn’t sink in. But what I did notice was probably my first technical observation (apart from wondering why Jim Parks used to crouch down to keep wicket with his arms outside his pads, unlike all the other keepers I’d seen): D’Oliveira had almost no back-lift.I was a martyr to tonsillitis at the time, which I suspect got worse when Tests were on, so I was able to follow D’Oliveira’s first series closely. He scored 27 at Lord’s before suffering a freakish run-out. But the shot that cemented Dolly’s place in the pantheon came in the fourth Test, when he smashed Wes Hall – the fastest bowler in the world at the time – straight back over his head for six.Much later I learned about the pressure D’Oliveira must have felt, representing millions of coloured South Africans. He had a few secrets. Unbeknown to the selectors, he could hardly throw the ball in the field after having smashed his arm in a car accident the previous winter. And then there was his age.Ah, yes, his age. When I found out about that, Dolly went up even higher in my youthful estimation. When he joined Worcestershire, he said he was born in 1934, which meant the England selectors thought he was a reasonably youthful 31 when they called him up. It was some time before he owned up. He had felt, probably rightly, that England would not have blooded someone approaching 35. Even that is not quite the end of the story. In his autobiography D’Oliveira wrote: “I can assure you I’m a little older than my birth certificate states… If you told me I was nearer 40 than 35 when I first played for England, I wouldn’t sue you for slander.” I always thought the Playfair Cricket Annual went a little too far in 1979, though, when it gave his year of birth as 1031.Dolly remained a fixture in the Test team for six years, until he was 41 (or 38, or 46, or possibly 941). For all that time he was the only player I really wanted to succeed. I was rewarded in 1970 when he made the first century I ever saw live (105 for Worcestershire against Surrey at the Oval, since you ask).Two years before that, he made another mark in cricket history by becoming the first Test player to speak to me. Nestled on the grass behind the boundary boards at the Oval on my first day of Test cricket in 1968 – sadly, a couple of days after D’Oliveira’s famous 158 at the ground – I was at first delighted, then rather alarmed, as Dolly lumbered towards me, chasing a ball to the boundary. He just failed to stop it, overran the ball, and carried on into the crowd, his boot spiking a neat hole in one of my lunchtime sandwiches as he did so. “Sorry, son,” he said as he returned to the field, leaving me even more in awe than before. I kept the evidence for ages, until my Mum threw away the star exhibit of my burgeoning cricket museum, saying it was turning green.Batting like D’Oliveira was never very likely, so for a while I tried to bowl like him: both arms swooping upwards just before delivery, then a rhythmical, circular sweep of the bowling arm. When he did it, it kept the runs down and broke partnerships at vital moments of Ashes series. My efforts were rather less spectacular, but they lasted longer than later attempts to bowl like Jeff Thomson.If things had been different, Dolly might have been pulverising bowlers for South Africa in the 1950s rather than doing wonders for England in the sixties. I began to have some idea of the hurdles he overcame just to play club cricket in England, never mind county or Test cricket. Throughout he seems to have remained the smiling, modest bloke who apologised when he stepped on my sandwiches. I do know now that off the field he liked a drink, sometimes got a bit loud, and that he didn’t cover himself with glory on his first tour with England, to the West Indies in 1968.But I don’t care. D’Oliveira’s place in history is secure: he was the man who, inadvertently, made the sporting world at large aware of what was wrong with apartheid. And he cemented one small boy’s love of cricket.

Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna absent due to Club World Cup commitments, team will be trimmed to 26

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USMNT 60-man squad announcedMcKennie, Weah, Reyna absent due to Club World CupU.S. to play two friendlies before Gold CupFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱AFPWHAT HAPPENED?

U.S. men's national team coach Mauricio Pochettino has selected a 60-man preliminary list for the upcoming Gold Cup. The list includes the normal heavy-hitters, names such as Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson, while the likes of Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna are absent due to Club World Cup commitments.

Among the omissions are Ricardo Pepi and Kevin Paredes, both of whom have dealt with injuries this season. Noahkai Banks, too, was left off after being named to the CONCACAF Nations League preliminary list, as was Cade Cowell. In addition to the regulars and those who have been around the team in recent months, the list also includes new faces, including Alex Freeman, Quinn Sullivan and Sebastian Berhalter, all of whom have had strong starts to the MLS season.

CONCACAF requires each participating nation to submit final rosters by June 4 and can include up to 26 players, all of whom must be on this preliminary list. Pochettino is expected to name a 26-player squad this week ahead of pre-tournament friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland.

The U.S. will open the Gold Cup on June 15 against Trinidad & Tobago before then facing Haiti and Saudi Arabia in their two other group stage matches.

AdvertisementGetty/GOALTHE PRELIMINARY SQUAD IN FULL

GOALKEEPERS: Zack Steffen (Middlesbrough), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace), Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew), Matthew Freese (NYCFC), Diego Kochen (Barcelona)

DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps), George Campbell (CF Montreal), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergino Dest (PSV), Maximilian Dietz (Greuther FUrth), Marlon Fossey (Standard Liege), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), DeJuan Jones (San Jose Earthquakes), Richy Ledezma (PSV), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Shaq Moore (FC Dallas), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Auston Trusty (Celtic), Caleb Wiley (Chelsea), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)

MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Gianluca Busio (Venezia), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Caden Clark (CF Montreal), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Emeka Eneli (Real Salt Lake), Brian Gutierrez (Chicago Fire), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Djordje Mihailovic (Colorado Rapids), Matko Miljevic (Huracán), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union), Tanner Tessmann (Lyon), Timothy Tillman (LAFC), Malik Tillman (PSV), Indiana Vassilev (Philadelphia Union), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew)

FORWARDS: Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Damion Downs (Koln), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Brandon Vazquez (Austin FC), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps), Haji Wright (Coventry City) Griffin Yow (Westerlo), Alejandro Zendejas (Club America)

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This summer will be the first time the USMNT convenes since March's CONCACAF Nations League disapointment, as the team lost to both Panama and Canada and failed to win the competition for the first time in its short history. The team was heavily criticized in the aftermath, with Pochettino acknowledging that his Gold Cup squad wouldn't be just chosen on talent, but also on mentality.

“The right mindset must be there, because we need to compete for our flag, our country," he told U.S. Soccer. "What we are trying to do as a staff is to optimize every single area of preparation, and the mentality of the players is really important. We need to be intelligent in the way that we are going to select the players and not just choose based on talent alone. We need to have the right characters to be really competitive."

Pochettino stressed that the team must have a renewed mindset as they take the next step toward the 2026 World Cup.

“For sure to start we must compete hard," he said. "We must match the intensity of our opponents, because in these tournaments they are always motivated to play against the USA. Of course we must perform well to win and you don’t always get a result, but for sure in order to win you have to compete. It’s not just about showing up in your home country and trying to play nice soccer.

"No, you must be proud, you must fight for the people that would love to be in your position, for the millions of kids that are going to see us and dream to be one day where we are. This is type of responsibility and commitment we need to show in a different way than we did in Los Angeles.”

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ImagnWHAT NEXT FOR THE USMNT?

The U.S. will begin their Gold Cup preparation on June 7 when they face Turkey in East Hartford, Connecticut before then taking on Switzerland in Nashville three days later.

Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton has hit the front pages in Spain, with Real Madrid reportedly eyeing a move for the in-demand midfielder.

Wharton impressing at PalaceMakes front pages in SpainWanted by Real Madrid & moreFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to AS' front page, Madrid are monitoring the Palace ace, with the Spanish giants looking to improve their midfield following the exits of veterans Toni Kroos and Luka Modric over the past 15 months.

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The report adds, however, that Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool are also keeping tabs on the England international, whose contract runs until 2029. Madrid will only be able to move for the 21-year-old if they make an 'important sale' this summer but even then, they may not be able to sign him. 

DID YOU KNOW?

Palace are said to value Wharton at around €80 million (£69m), and that is a 'problem' for Madrid, who like his player profile and age. The Eagles are said to be very aware of the Premier League trio's vast wealth, with United leading the charge to sign him.

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

With Palace set to lose Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, along with Marc Guehi's uncertain future, the Croydon outfit will not want to see Wharton depart this summer as well. However, Madrid may consider trying to sign him in 2026. 

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras volta a campo nesta segunda-feira (9) para enfrentar o Rio Preto-SP, às 19h30, no Estádio Anísio Haddad, em São José do Rio Preto-SP, pela terceira e última rodada da fase de grupos da Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior. O duelo terá transmissão do SporTV.

Até aqui, o time tem 100% de aproveitamento na competição, já que venceu a Juazeirense-BA, por 2 a 0, e o América-SP, por 3 a 1. Com os resultados, a equipe é líder do Grupo 3, com seis pontos.

> Veja a tabela do Campeonato Paulista 2023

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>Confira até quando vai o contrato dos jogadores do elenco do Palmeiras

Agora, basta um empate para equipe comandada por Paulo Victor Gomes garantir a classificação à segunda fase do torneio e assegurar a primeira colocação de sua chave.

Atual campeão da Copinha, o Palmeiras chegou a oito triunfos consecutivos na competição, sendo seis em 2022 e dois neste ano, registrando um recorde do clube na história da competição.

O torcedor palmeirense pode assistir ao jogo desta segunda gratuitamente no Anísio Haddad. O acesso ao estádio será feito pelo portão 02. Mais de 17 mil pessoas já acompanharam as partidas do Verdão na primeira fase do torneio.

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Após mais de um mês da lesão, Gustavo Mosquito passou por cirurgia no joelho nesta quarta-feira (30).

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Listamos 15 nomes da Copa do Mundo que podem ou vão trocar de time após o Mundial

Veja tabela da Copa do Mundo e simule os próximos jogos

O atacante do Corinthians se lesionou no dia 26 de outubro, logo no primeiro minuto da derrota para o Fluminense. Os exames apontaram que se tratou de uma ruptura no ligamento cruzado anterior do joelho.

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Desde os primeiros diagnósticos, o Timão já temia a gravidade do problema. Além de ter perdido o final da temporada, a recuperação após a operação deve durar de seis até nove meses. Ou seja, Mosquito só deve retornar para os gramados a partir do segundo semestre de 2023.

O lance que resultou na lesão aconteceu logo no primeiro minuto da partida contra a equipe carioca, quando o atacante corintiano enganchou a perna direita no gramado após uma dividida de jogo com o lateral Calegari, do Fluminense. Mosquito automaticamente desabou no gramado chorando, foi substituído e levado diretamente ao vestiário da Neo Química Arena.

A mulher do jogador, Rafa Sottomaior, mostrou alguns momentos do atleta no hospital São Luiz – onde realizou o procedimento. Segundo as palavras dela nas postagens realizadas, a cirurgia foi um sucesso.

Fast bowler appreciates captain’s commitment to cricket, and confirms his availability for Netherlands fixture

Mohammad Isam27-Oct-20231:33

Taskin: We should appreciate Shakib for working on his game in Dhaka

Shakib Al Hasan’s mid-event Dhaka trip has polarised opinions but the captain’s extra training has won hearts in the Bangladesh team. Taskin Ahmed said that they valued Shakib’s effort to use his day off to travel back to Dhaka for batting drills.Shakib went to Dhaka on October 25, the day after Bangladesh’s World Cup match against South Africa in Mumbai. He went straight to the Shere Bangla National Stadium where he trained under his childhood mentor Nazmul Abedeen. He worked on some of his shots although it was more about the comfort of batting with Abedeen, someone Shakib has known since his teens. He returned to Kolkata on October 26, reportedly on the advice of the team management after it became big news.”He informed the team management that he needs to work on his batting,” Taskin said. “It was a rest day, plus Dhaka is close to Kolkata. He didn’t go to Dhaka for any other purpose. It was cricket-related. He went after the coach and management told him its fine. He didn’t break any rules. He took permission. He batted for four hours on the first day. He practiced on the second day before returning to Kolkata. As players and teammates, we appreciate that he batted on a rest day. His batting is so important to the team, that he too is desperate about improving it.”Taskin said that the team gathered in the team hotel for a dinner on Thursday evening, spending a good time with Shakib, who returned shortly before. “We all went to dinner after he returned yesterday. We had a good time,” he said.Shakib has skipped back to Dhaka from Kolkata on another occasion but that was during the 2019 IPL when Sunrisers Hyderabad weren’t picking him regularly. He had gone to work with his other mentor Mohammad Salahuddin.Related

Shakib Al Hasan rejoins Bangladesh World Cup contingent in Kolkata

Bangladesh wary of Netherlands threat as World Cup comes to Kolkata

Bangladesh vs Netherlands: A forgotten cricket rivalry

Taskin said that the team doctors cleared him to play against the Netherlands on Saturday. He missed two games due to a shoulder niggle, which he said he has been carrying for more than two years. “I had this shoulder injury for the first time in South Africa two years ago. I have a tear in my tendon for a long time. I am playing by managing it. Even in the Asia Cup and World Cup I am playing with it and suddenly it became swollen.”Doctor and physio did the MRI and it was found out so I took rest for couple of days and now I am feeling better. I am personally in a good shape and after playing can I understand where I stand,” he said.Taskin said that the pitches in the World Cup has not really offered much to the fast bowlers so many of the them has had to adjust to the conditions, at times by dropping their pace. “So far, I have not seen much for the bowlers in this World Cup. All the grounds are batting friendly but also, there are some challenge and it’s not all about speed.”Express fast bowlers are also struggling, leaking runs. So in this kind of conditions, it’s not all about speed. You need some variation skills and a game awareness. It’s not all about speed. You need a lot of skills to do well in this kind of surfaces,” he said.

MatériaMais Notícias

Com gol de Del Piage, o Botafogo venceu o Goiás por 1 a 0 na Serrinha e conquistou sua terceira vitória consecutiva no Brasileirão. Após vitória, Luís Castro concedeu entrevista coletiva e parabenizou os jogadores alvinegros pelo resultado.

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+ATUAÇÕES: Jeffinho, Tiquinho e Del Piage brilham na vitória do Botafogo em cima do Goiás

EVOLUÇÃO DEFENSIVA

– Há um maior conhecimento dos jogadores. Existe uma maior capacidade em deixar o bloco mais curto e pressionar os jogadores na frente, não deixando as bolas chegarem tão limpas. A arte de defender é tão arte quanto atacar. Defender é muito mais difícil do que atacar. Nos últimos jogos, não temos sofrido gols e isso é um grande trabalho dos meus jogadores.

ESCALAÇÃO SEM JEFFINHO

– Os jogadores jovens existem para progredirem e precisamos colocá-los no patamar máximo de rendimento. É muito difícil para um jogador jovem sentir que já conquistou tudo que tem para conquistar. O Jeffinho sentiu que ainda existe muita coisa para trabalhar e progredir. Parabéns ao Jeffinho. Coloquei ele de fora porque Victor Sá esteve muito bem ao longo da semana e esteve muito bem no último jogo. O Júnior também foi muito bem. Portanto, estiveram bem no último jogo e jogaram de forma natural.

JOGO PELA ESQUERDA

– Era importante termos um equilíbrio defensivo permanente. Queríamos equilibrar a equipe porque sabíamos que o guarda redes do Goiás direcionava rápido a bola ao ataque. Usamos o lado esquerdo porque o Piazon deu mais profundidade. Ao longo do jogo, era uma estratégia nossa que Piazon desse profundidade e quebrasse linhas. Isso fez com que Marçal se projetasse mais. Foi uma estratégia. Jeffinho também conseguiu atuar por ali e conseguimos ir bem neste setor.

AUSÊNCIAS

– Falar de ausências é desrespeitoso. Não vou falar dos jogadores que estiveram ausentes. Já falamos sobre as dificuldades que tivemos na montagem da equipe, mas a equipe vem se conhecendo melhor. Os resultados podem aparecer, mas não podem apontar que falta trabalho. Sempre trabalhamos com determinação. Isso sempre vai refletir na nossa equipe. Jogamos com o intuito de ganhar dentro e fora de casa. Vamos jogar em qualquer estádio para ganhar.

BOTAFOGO X PALMEIRAS SEM MARÇAL E CUESTA

– Todos os jogadores estão preparados porque trabalham bem durante a semana. Isso não me preocupa. Tenho muita confiança nos meus jogadores.

GABRIEL PIRES

– Teve muitos problemas físicos, esteve muito tempo lesionado. Não tivemos Patrick, Danilo e Carlos Eduardo. Ele aproveitou essas ausências para mostrar que estava presente. Fico feliz por ele e pela equipe. Nós existimos para deixar os torcedores felizes.

O Botafogo volta a campo na próxima segunda-feira, contra o Goiás, às 20h, no Nilton Santos, em partida válida pelo Campeonato Brasileiro.

Looking to keep their momentum going after winning the Carabao Cup and ending their long wait for silverware, Newcastle United are now reportedly racing to sign a Serie A winner this summer.

Newcastle eyeing key defensive addition

After 70 long years, Newcastle finally got their hands on a major trophy last weekend – defeating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley to carve their names into the history books once and for all. It was the perfect day for those in Tyneside, who saw one of their own head home the opening goal when Dan Burn rose highest before Alexander Isak wheeled away in celebration soon after.

It’s a victory that the Magpies will be desperate to build on in the Premier League as they set their sights on qualifying for the Champions League this season. It’s with that place among Europe’s elite that they could attract the fresh faces Eddie Howe has been crying out for at times, too.

Names such as Semih Kilicsoy have already threatened to steal the headlines in recent weeks, but before the young Besiktas star, it could be a defensive reinforcement that arrives.

According to MilanLive, Newcastle are now racing to sign Fikayo Tomori this summer in a deal that would be worth just €25m (£21m). After losing his place at the San Siro throughout the current campaign, the defender looks destined to depart and could find himself on his way back to the Premier League for the first time since leaving Chelsea in 2021.

PIF ready record Newcastle move to stop Isak joining Arsenal or Liverpool

Losing him would be a major blow for the Magpies.

By
Henry Jackson

Mar 19, 2025

Amid competition from Nottingham Forest in the race to sign the former Chelsea man, Champions League qualification is likely to be all-important for Newcastle this summer.

Given how they’ve been forced to form makeshift backlines in the last two seasons, welcoming Tomori should be among Newcastle’s priorities when the summer transfer window swings open.

"Intelligent" Tomori would solve Newcastle problem

On paper, Fabian Schar and Sven Botman form one of the most impressive centre-back partnerships in the Premier League. They were near-perfect together when Newcastle last qualified for the Champions League in the 2022/23 campaign. However, the reality is that neither have been able to avoid injury issues to rediscover their form of two seasons ago and Newcastle must sign a solution.

That’s where Tomori should come in. The Milan man may have lost his starting place this season but it wasn’t so long ago that he was helping his side to Serie A glory and pocketing Isak in the Champions League.

Keeping the Swede quiet at the San Siro in a 0-0 draw last season, Tomori made 11 defensive actions and was not dribbled past once against the Magpies. Isak, meanwhile, failed to have a touch in Milan’s box and lost half of his duels.

Previously dubbed “intelligent” by Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, the Premier League is calling Tomori’s name once again in what could see him complete a summer return.

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal after their victory over Spain in the Nations League final.

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• Ronaldo congratulated after Nations League win
• CR7 scored before penalty shootout success
• Scaloni hails 'great game'

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Argentina manager Scaloni heaped praise on Ronaldo and Portugal after their victory over Spain in the Nations League final. The 40-year-old scored before the clash went to extra time and then penalties, where Ruben Neves netted the winning spot-kick.

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  Messi and Ronaldo have been storied rivals throughout their careers, though neither achieved international success early on. Ronaldo won Euro 2016 before two Nations League triumphs, while Messi didn't win with Argentina until the 2021 Copa America, then claiming the World Cup a year later.

• WHAT SCALONI SAID

  Scaloni said: "For me, Ronaldo and Messi will stop being good when they retire. Beyond their age, they are guys who not only represent a lot by playing, but also by being there, that's a lot. From here, I congratulate Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo because they played a great game. I also congratulate Spain, who ended up losing on penalties. It was a great game."

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  There could be one last legendary battle between the two former Ballon d'Or rivals if the stars align at next year's World Cup. Both Ronaldo and Messi seem set on playing at the 2026 tournament and their national sides will be among the favourites to claim the silverware.