I’m not exactly anybody’s poster boy for the war on drugs. I’ve experienced very little hardship because of drugs. I’ve never been to prison or a 12-step program. None of my friends died using drugs. I used illicit hard-core drugs during half of my 20s and then quit before I hit rock bottom. Why? The same reason most people do: because the stigma of illegal-drug use is too great....
The France international has long been linked with a move to Manchester United or Real Madrid but appeared to commit his future to Atletico last week when he light-heartedly stated that he would only leave to join NBA side the New York Knicks. However, Griezmann caused a stir on Monday when he said that his chances of moving to Old Trafford this year were a “six out of 10” as talk began to build of a possible world-record offer from the Europa League finalists....
I’m now a 56-year-old single empty nester. I pay for my daughter’s car, car insurance, and give her many things she wants and needs, as our military doesn’t pay well. And my only child now can’t even call me on Christmas. All I need from her is a weekly phone call, and we had originally agreed that we would see each other every other month. We were very close as she was growing up and now I feel like we are estranged....
Sergio Aguero hit a hat-trick as the reigning Premier League champions ran riot at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month. City are also aiming to retain the EFL Cup, which they won with a 3-0 victory over Arsenal last term, but Guardiola feels the motivation for revenge among Maurizio Sarri’s under-fire squad will be strong. “In that moment I was so happy we beat them 6-0. At this moment today, I would prefer not to have won 6-0 against Chelsea,” he told a pre-match news conference....
The Uruguayan was quite vocal about his intentions to move to a different club largely because of his relations with the English media on how he was being treated in the press. Although with the Reds rejecting two bids from Premier League rivals Arsenal, no deal has yet materialized. Since the talks of their star striker move to another club has gone silent in the past two weeks, Ayre has assured the fans that the striker will be seen on Merseyside come September 2....
UD Ibiza couldn’t make it out of the Segunda Division last season, finishing 15th to enroll in their second campaign in the second tier league. L’Eivissa have never tasted top-flight football but last term the team’s management declared it was their ultimate goal. In preparation for the new season, Ibiza have added four new players to the outfit while six have returned from loan spells. They will need to prepare for the opening match against La Liga returnees Granada, who do not want to be here for long....
The 35-year-old joined Jose Mourinho’s side from Paris Saint-Germain ahead of 2016-17 and the club plan to trigger his contract option for a second season. Ibrahimovic could have ended up at Old Trafford when they were managed by Louis van Gaal, but instead opted to remain with PSG for a fourth campaign. The former Sweden international is glad to have made it to United now, though, and feels they match the size of all of his former clubs, including Barcelona....
The Inter star scored for the Nerazzurri on Sunday as they completed a famous comeback to beat Lazio 3-2 and squeeze into the Champions League ahead of the Rome side. But despite finishing the season as Serie A top scorer on 29 goals, Icardi has been overlooked by Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli. Sampaoli takes just two specialist centre-forwards to Russia - recovering Manchester City star Sergio Aguero and Juventus’ Gonzalo Higuain....
In case you didn’t know… In the final over of the tense final, Martin Guptill’s throw from the boundary deflected after hitting the bat of the diving Ben Stokes and crossed the boundary rope. Dharmasena, after a long consultation with fellow umpire Marais Erasmus, awarded England 6 runs. However, many, including Simon Taufel, felt that it was an error on Dharmasena’s part as only 5 runs should have been avoided. The former Sri Lanka spinner was heavily criticised in the aftermath of the final....
The move will effectively mean that a T20 match between Argentina and Papua New Guinea will have international status from now on. The ICC Board at its quarterly meeting decided that, “New minimum standards will be introduced making it as easy as possible for members to play international cricket in a sustainable and affordable way.” All member women’s teams will be awarded T20I status on July 1, 2018 whilst all member men’s teams will be awarded T20I status on January 1, 2019 following the cut-off point for qualification to the ICC World T20 2020....
The ICC will test this new system in a few select series over the next six months and if it proves to be successful, the governing body will look at the probabilities of making this a permanent tool for the umpires. Interestingly, this method was tested three years ago during a series between England and Pakistan. “Broadly, yes [the same technology as 2016 will be used],” Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager for cricket operations, told ESPNcricinfo....
Australia got off to a winning start. They defeated West Indies in their opening game of the competition. It was a good all-around performance from them and they will be looking to repeat it in their next clash. After being asked to bowl first, they did a fine job of knocking over West Indies on 169. The batters then stepped up, chasing down the total in the 45th over and winning the game by six wickets....
Andy Pycroft of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees will lead the playing control team for the women’s final between three-time defending champion Australia and the West Indies which gets underway at14h30 while Ranjan Madugalle, also of the elite panel, will referee the men’s final between England and the West Indies, which starts at 19h00. The on-field umpires for the women’s final will be Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires with Nigel Llong, also from the elite panel, as third umpire and S Ravi of the elite panel as fourth umpire....
There were plenty of memorable performances in the 2016 ICC World T20 but who were the best performers? Virat Kohli is an obvious pick as the Player of the tournament but who else makes the cut? Here is the ICC World T20 2016 Team of the tournament: Quinton de Kock South Africa may have been dumped out of the tournament in the Super-10 stage but one of the few bright sparks from their tournament was the performance of opening batsman, Quinton de Kock....
Hamilton led from start to finish at Circuit Paul Ricard on Sunday, easing over the finish line 18 seconds ahead of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The five-time F1 champion had to switch from medium to hard tyres halfway through the race in Le Castelle, though that stoppage made little difference as he claimed a fourth successive win. With six race victories under his belt already this season, Hamilton is well on his way to defending his title with ease, but believes the real test comes in finding marginal gains after another procession to the top of the podium....
The Italian was dismissed last week following his side’s 3-0 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in France, with assistant Willy Sagnol placed in charge on an interim basis. Bayern 7/2 to win Group B in CL President Uli Hoeness later claimed five senior players had turned against Ancelotti, making his position at the Allianz Arena untenable. Hummels was surprisingly left out of the starting line-up for that defeat in Paris, prompting rumours he was among those to have fallen out with the former AC Milan and Real Madrid boss....
The Rockets are far from the team that came to within one game of the NBA Finals in 2017-18, posting a 11-13 record following Thursday’s 118-91 defeat to the Utah Jazz. Houston enjoyed a brief five-game winning streak to get back to two games over .500, but have since dropped six of their last eight to fall two games back under. “I’m just not having fun man,” Gordon said, via The Athletic....
The Bayern Munich boss is widely regarded as one of the best tacticians in the game but remains humble despite all the praise. “I am not the best coach in the world. I am only here to help my players. I am very motivated and have a lot of faith in my players,” the 44-year-old said. The former Barcelona manager admitted that a crucial period awaits Bayern as they aim to secure the treble this season....
Herrera & Wanyama have their sights on Kante’s crown Hazard won the Premier League Goal of the Month award on Friday for his stunning solo strike against Arsenal on February 4, running from inside his own half to beat Petr Cech. The Belgium international was crowned the Premier League’s Player of the Season for the 2014-15 campaign, in which he also took the Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year honours....
