Brazil winger Raphinha says he does not see the favourites' tag as "pressure" ahead of the World Cup, as the Selecao look to end their two-decade wait for the title.

Tite's side head to Qatar 2022 in search of a first triumph in the competition since victory at Korea/Japan 2002, having gone closest with a third-place finish on home soil in 2014 since.

Despite defeat in the Copa America to Argentina last year, Brazil enter the tournament among the frontrunners, with hopes of bringing a close to their drought.

Barcelona man Raphinha is among the players hoping to make a difference for the nation, but he says being pegged as potential favourites does not faze him.

"I'm ready for the World Cup and I'm working hard to get there as good as I possibly can, both physically and mentally," he told the Blaugrana's website.

"The atmosphere is that of a winning national team, ambitious and wanting to win the title. There's a good vibe among the whole team.

"I don't see it as pressure, a team like Brazil is always a contender for the World Cup or any other title that they play for. The demand of the fans is normal because we are a high-quality team, with big names."

Raphinha has racked up 11 caps with Brazil since making his debut while at Leeds United last season, and made the switch to Barca ahead of this season.

It has not been an easy start however, with a Blaugrana team studded with major names slipping out of the Champions League for the second campaign running at the group stage.

The 25-year-old feels he is still bedding into his new surroundings, adding: "I still see myself in a period of adaptation to the club, I think I'm at a time where it has been quite complicated, especially because of my statistics and because of the way I play."

Brazil kick off their World Cup campaign against Serbia on November 24, before further encounters with Switzerland and Cameroon in Group G.

Steve Kerr hailed the "pretty amazing" performance of Jordan Poole as the Golden State Warriors routed the San Antonio Spurs but is not planning changes to his starting line-up at this point.

Poole had endured an indifferent start to the season but was influential in Monday's 132-95 win, which saw Klay Thompson rested.

Finishing with a season-best 36 points on the back of 13-for-20 shooting and five three-pointers, Poole was sat down with a little over eight minutes remaining and earned an ovation from the home crowd at Chase Center.

"Jordan was pretty amazing offensively," Warriors head coach Kerr said. "He got it rolling right away."

This was the Warriors' best performance of the season and one that sees the defending champions improve to 6-8 in a campaign that has yet to truly catch fire.

However, Kerr said any thoughts of bumping Poole permanently into the starting five at the expense of Thompson are a little premature.

"No, it's not something I'm thinking about," Kerr said. 

"Our starting five with Klay has been really good this year. The bigger thing is finding the right combinations off the bench."

Poole's performance came on an even more special night, given it coincided with the launch of his "Poole Party" bobblehead.

"I love it, it's absolutely amazing. It's my first one. It's really a special accomplishment. It’s an honour. I'm glad it came out the way it did," he said.

It was also confirmed on Monday that James Wiseman will spend some time with Golden State's G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.

The number two overall pick in the 2020 draft had not played in any of the three games prior to the Spurs win, where he had two points, two rebounds and three assists in eight minutes.

Wiseman's career in the NBA has been somewhat stop-start with this just his 50th game in three years. Having appeared in 27 during his rookie year, he missed the entirety of last season due to complications from a meniscus injury - bar three outings in the G League.

Asked about the decision, Kerr said: "He needs reps. He needs to play. It's not easy when you don't get minutes."

Wiseman said he is not viewing the call as a step back.

"I don't look at this as a demotion. I'm just ready to go out there and hoop," he said.

It was a move that proved beneficial for Poole earlier in this career. He played 11 games in the 2020-21 season with Santa Cruz, averaging 22.4 points, and had some words of encouragement for his team-mate.

"I'm telling [Wiseman] this is not a demotion. This is not a punishment," Poole said. 

"I'm telling him to go down there and take 50 shots, be aggressive, get techs, hang on the rim, do it all. Just so he can understand what he wants to be at the highest level. This is just a step in that direction."

The MLB announced more award winners on Monday, with budding Seattle Mariners superstar Julio Rodriguez named the American League Rookie of the year, while the National League version went to Atlanta Braves center-fielder Michael Harris II.

It is the third major honour bestowed upon the 21-year-old Rodriguez in his first year, as he was also named as the only rookie to make the All-Star game, and last week became one of the three AL outfielders to win a Silver Slugger.

Batting .284 with an OPS of .853, Rodriguez became the only first-year player to ever tally at least 25 home runs and at least 25 stolen bases.

He was one first-place vote away from taking the AL's best rookie unanimously, claiming 29 of the 30 first-place votes, with the other going to impressive Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman.

Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan was a clear third, with the Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr and the Houston Astros' World Series MVP Jeremy Pena also collecting some third-place votes.

In the National League, Harris received 22 of the 30 first-place votes, and the other eight went to his Braves teammate, starting pitcher Spencer Strider.

Strider's 202 strikeouts was 11th-most in the majors, and his rate of 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings was the best figure among starting pitchers this season.

However, voters preferred what Harris could provide every day with the bat and glove, batting .297 with an identical OPS to Rodriguez at .853. He also hit 19 home runs with 20 stolen bases, and boasted a fielding percentage of .992, with two errors from 257 chances.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni stressed that Monday's 32-21 loss to the Washington Commanders will only turn them into a better football team, despite having their run defense exploited in an eye-opening first loss of the season.

The Commanders came in with a clear game plan to limit the undefeated Eagles' time of possession, favouring long, grinding drives leaning heavily on their running game.

It led to Washington carrying the ball 49 times – one carry away from the season-high of 50 set by the Eagles in their Week 4 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

That in turn gave the Commanders over 40 minutes of possession, while the Eagles had less than 20 minutes.

Despite their lack of possession, the Eagles pulled the margin back to 23-21 in the fourth quarter, but gave up three fumbles down the stretch to torpedo their own chances of a comeback.

The cracks shown in the Eagles' run defense come at a bad time, with upcoming fixtures against elite running backs Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts, Aaron Jones of the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans superstar Derrick Henry.

Sirianni said right now all of his focus is on Taylor with the Colts coming up in Week 11, and that he knows his team will have to show they can stop the run to avoid being attacked in that fashion.

"I'm only worried about Jonathan Taylor at this point," he said. 

"Obviously we'll have to go look at this tape and see what went down in this game, knowing that when you show you can be attacked in a certain place, we're going to see it again.

"We'll work like crazy to get it fixed, and we understand that will be the narrative of how to beat us. We've got to own that, we've got to fix it, and we will." 

Sirianni refused to blame a crucial missed penalty by the referees in the fourth quarter, resulting in a fumble, saying his team needs to accept responsibility for their first loss.

"[The refereeing] is not at all what lost us the game," he said. "That's pretty simple, the three turnovers lost us the game, the time of possession loses you the game, we lost it together. 

"Offense, defense, special teams, coaching – we lost it together. We've got to protect the ball better. We didn't do a good job of that all game, we were loose with that football, it came out, and they got it.

"I give them a lot of credit, I think that's a good football team and I have a lot of respect for coach [Ron] Rivera. So I don't like to ever say we lost it, they played and they played well.

"But we know that we made mistakes, we made uncharacteristic mistakes, so it's both. We give them all the credit, but we did not play our type of game, we made mistakes, we had penalties, we had uncharacteristic fumbles, we threw an interception.

"We [as coaches] didn't do a good enough job, there's some things we want back as calls, I didn't do a good enough job coaching this week… that loses you football games in this league."

Sirianni finished by adding: "We started 8-0 together, we lost this game together, we're going to move on together. We'll get better from this."

It was not Jimmy Butler's best offensive game of the season, but he was crucial in their narrow 113-112 home win against the Phoenix Suns on Monday.

The Suns led 102-89 with just eight minutes remaining, before Heat center Bam Adebayo took over, scoring 12 points to ignite a 24-10 run to close the contest.

Adebayo's two free throws with 35 seconds on the clock gave the Heat the lead, but an offensive rebound on the Suns' next possession would give Devin Booker a chance to win the game.

Pulling up from mid-range, Booker was blanketed by five-time NBA All-Defensive selection Butler for a game-winning blocked shot.

Adebayo led the way scoring the ball for Miami, finishing with a game-high 30 points on nine-of-18 shooting and 10 rebounds, but Butler was doing everything else, chipping in 13 rebounds, seven assists, a steal and the decisive block to go with his 16 points (five-of-12 shooting).

Booker played well for the Suns, posting a team-high 25 points on 11-of-22 shooting with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Duane Washington Jr caught fire off the bench for 21 points (eight-of-14) in 19 minutes.

The win pulls the Heat's record even at 7-7, while the Suns are still in a good position at 8-5.

Tatum leads Celtics comeback

Jayson Tatum flashed incredible defensive ability in the Boston Celtics' 126-122 come-from-behind win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Young Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his ridiculous start to the season, eclipsing 30 points for the ninth time in 14 games. He had 37 points on 13-of-26 shooting with eight assists, raising his averages to 31.1 points, 5.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 54.3 per cent from the field.

But Tatum and running-mate Jaylen Brown were too much in the fourth quarter, leading a 37-26 final frame to swing the game in their favour. Tatum had 27 points on nine-of-23 shooting, but he was even better defensively, snatching three steals and blocking three shots.

Dalano Banton makes the most of his Raptors start

A second-round pick from the 2021 NBA Draft, Toronto Raptors point-forward Dalano Banton was tremendous in his side's 115-111 triumph on the road against the Detroit Pistons.

In his first start of the season due to Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr all missing through injuries, the six-foot-seven Banton scored a game-high 27 points on nine-of-16 shooting, adding four rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in his 25 minutes.

The Raptors are now 8-7, and will be considered a threat in the Eastern Conference once fully healthy.

The Washington Commanders were unstoppable on the ground all game to inflict the first loss of the Philadelphia Eagles' season, leaving Lincoln Financial Field with a 32-21 victory.

Knowing they were likely outmatched in a shootout, the Commanders came in with the strategy to keep possession for as long as possible, limiting the Eagles' chances to score.

Things looked headed for the Eagles' ninth consecutive win to start the season after Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke lost a fumble on the first drive due to Josh Sweat's strip-sack, leading to a quick Jalen Hurts rushing touchdown to put the hosts up 7-0.

Washington's ensuing drives would span 13 plays and over seven minutes, 12 plays and over six minutes, before scoring their second touchdown of the first half to cap a 16-play, seven-minute march downfield to lead 20-14 at halftime.

Commanders running backs Brian Robinson Jr and Antonio Gibson scored the first-half touchdowns, and they were key on another 14-play, eight-minute drive to open the third quarter, resulting in a field goal.

A Devonta Smith touchdown early in the fourth quarter cut the lead to 23-21, and a late Heinicke interception gave the Eagles a chance to mount a late comeback, but they would lose two fumbles down the stretch before their Hail Mary attempt with five seconds left resulted in a third fumble and a defensive touchdown.

The Commanders ran the ball 49 times for 152 yards – the second most rushing attempts in a single game this season, trailing only the Eagles in their Week 4 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It resulted in Washington having 40 minutes and 24 seconds of ball control time, while the Eagles possessed it for just 19 minutes and 36 seconds.

The win pulls the Commanders to an even 5-5 record, while the Eagles have their first blemish, now 8-1.

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen told reporters on Monday that Jameis Winston may reclaim the role of starting quarterback for their Week 11 clash against the Los Angeles Rams.

Andy Dalton stepped into the role in Week 4, and under his leadership the Saints' offense was on fire, putting up scores of 25, 39, 26, 34 and 24 – before hitting a wall, only scoring a combined 23 points across the past two losses.

With a 3-7 record and coming off a poor 20-10 loss against the 3-6 Pittsburgh Steelers, Allen indicated Dalton was no longer locked into the starting role.

He told the media everything will be on the table when the Rams roll into town, including a change in quarterback.

"I think we've got to look at everything," Allen said. "Yeah, I think we've got to look at everything. That will be a process we go through today and tomorrow as we get ready for the Rams."

On Winston specifically, Allen said part of the decision will come down to if the medical staff believe he is healthy enough to contribute.

"I feel like I think we probably have to visit with him a little bit in terms of [his health], or visit with the medical staff in terms of that," he said.

"I think Jameis said this the other day, I don't know that he's ever going to be 100 per cent healthy this season. But he's in here every day, he's in here every morning working with the trainers, getting himself ready – and I feel like he's closer to being there.

"I don't think any decisions are made in a vacuum, but we've got to try to do what we feel like gives our team the best chance to win. So that's ultimately what the decision will come down to."

Dalton has thrown 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his seven starts, while Winston has four touchdowns and five picks in three starts.

Baker Mayfield will be back under center as the Carolina Panthers’ starting quarterback this week after P.J. Walker suffered an ankle injury Thursday night in a win over the Atlanta Falcons.  

Walker, who is 2-3 as a starter this season, had an MRI taken over the weekend that revealed a high ankle sprain.  

He finished Thursday’s game, a 25-15 victory over the Panthers' division rivals. Interim coach Steve Wilks said that Walker “sucked it up and played through it” to finish the game but will be unable to play Sunday when Carolina visits the Baltimore Ravens.  

"A high ankle sprain limits his mobility... so we'll let him sit this week and go with Baker," Wilks said.  

Wilks said that the Panthers will not place Walker on injured reserve, meaning it is likely he is able to return within three weeks.

Mayfield, in his first season with Carolina, won the starting job over Walker and Sam Darnold in the offseason, but was 1-4 as the starter before he suffered a sprained ankle in Week 5.  

Even after Mayfield had recovered, Walker retained the starting job.  

Mayfield is on pace to set career lows in completion percentage (56.6 per cent), yards per pass attempt (6.5) and passer rating (78.1).  

Wilks told reporters that the top priority for Mayfield in his return is to "protect the football". 

Mayfield has thrown four interceptions in his five starts and has fumbled six times this season.  

As poorly as the season has started for the 3-7 Panthers, they are just two games back of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the NFC South lead.  

Manchester City centre-back John Stones believes form and club minutes are irrelevant when it comes to the World Cup, and is backing Manchester United captain Harry Maguire to deliver on the big stage for England.

Stones and Maguire are experienced in leading their country deep into big tournaments, starting alongside each other in both the 2018 World Cup semi-final and the Euro 2020 final.

While Stones, 28, remains in terrific standing back at City, starting almost every game he is healthy for, it has been a different story for 29-year-old Maguire this campaign with United.

After starting the first two games of the Premier League season, a benching followed by a hamstring injury has seen him make only one start since, with Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane overtaking the club captain.

Despite Maguire's lack of a perfect preparation, Stones said he knows he can still perform at a high level if that is how manager Gareth Southgate chooses to line up.

"Whatever team or whatever system Gareth decides, if it's me and Harry we will use those bonds again," he said.

"They are too strong to be broken by game time, form, whatever it is. That kind of goes out the window when these moments hit.

"When I look at Harry, I see a partner. Through all our experiences he's had my back and I've had his.

"We've had so many games together, we've made a bond and a partnership together. We know what the other person is going to do and how we work best together. It clicks."

England kick off their campaign on November 21 against Iran, before closing out the group stage with fixtures against the United States and Wales.

Gareth Bale is "100 per cent fit and ready to go" for Wales at the World Cup in Qatar after battling injury issues.

The former Real Madrid winger's fitness had been a concern before Robert Page named his 26-man squad for Wales' first appearance at the World Cup in 64 years.

Bale has only started twice for Los Angeles FC since joining from Madrid in July, managing just 370 minutes on the pitch.

However, he scored an extra-time equaliser as a substitute against Philadelphia Union in the MLS Cup final, which LAFC won on penalties on November 5.

Bale initially gave Wales reason to be concerned after the final as he said he felt "not 100 per cent fit", but has since backtracked on those comments before travelling to the Middle East.

"I'm 100 per cent fit and ready to go," the Wales international told Sky Sports after revealing his struggles with a "slight issue".

Bale suggested playing the United States, England and Iran in Group B in the space of nine days would be "no problem", with the mental aspects of being sidelined more of a problem than the physical side.

"I'm fully fit and ready to go. If I need to play three 90s, I'll play three 90s," he added. "It's been difficult, mentally more than anything.

"I guess for everybody, the last three or four weeks, it's been difficult, even hearing stories of players going down and knowing they're going to miss the World Cup.

"Speaking to a few of the boys, even for them having to play this weekend was tough mentally, and we're just praying not to have an injury at all because it's such a big occasion."

The tournament has been somewhat overshadowed due to human rights issues in Qatar.

Bale will be among eight captains to wear a distinctive heart-adorned armband, raising awareness for the OneLove campaign against discrimination in a country where same-sex marriage is prohibited.

"For us as footballers, it's been a difficult subject to talk about," said Bale. "But we can shed a light on the problems there that are going on.

"We've spoken to the FAW [Football Association of Wales] and they've been speaking to Welsh government, who've been speaking to Qatar and FIFA, working on these issues.

"For us as players, we're fully behind and support everything we can do. As footballers, the most we can do is raise awareness and it's for people higher up to make those decisions, and hopefully make change for the better."

Cristiano Ronaldo believes that the Manchester United owners "don't care about the club" and feels the fans "should know the truth".

The Portuguese forward has let loose in a fiery interview set to be broadcast fully on Wednesday, criticising manager Erik ten Hag and former boss Ralf Rangnick, while also stating he feels "betrayed" by the club.

Ronaldo has now aimed his sights higher up the hierarchy at Old Trafford, accusing the American owners of holding no interest in how the club performs on the field.

"The owners of the club, the Glazers, they don't care about the club. The sports, they don't really care in my opinion," he told Piers Morgan Uncensored.

"I've never spoken to them. They give all the power to the sporting director.

"The fans are always right, they should know the truth. The players, we want the best for the club, I want the best for the club, this is why I came back to Manchester United, it is why I love the club.

"But you have some things inside the club which don't help you reach the top level like [Manchester] City, Liverpool, even now Arsenal, for example, which is difficult.

"It's hard. In my opinion, it will be hard for United to be at the top of the game in the next two or three years."

Ronaldo also hit back at former teammates Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville, both of whom have been critical of him this season, and accused them of using his name to gain fame in their post playing careers.

"They are not my friends. I don't know if they have a job on television where they must criticise me to become more famous, I really don't understand," he added.

"I think they take advantage of that because they're not stupid. I have to carry on with my life with criticism or praise but it's hard when you see people who were in the dressing room with you, criticising you in that way.

"I'm not going to lose sleep because they criticise but it's not good to listen to that. It's a little bit disappointing."

Novak Djokovic begun his ATP Finals campaign with a straight set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Turin, ending the Greek's hopes of finishing the year ranked number one.

The five-time champion emerged as a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victor to go top of the Red Group above Andrey Rublev, the Russian having defeated compatriot Daniil Medvedev earlier on Monday.

Tsitsipas needed to win the title in Turin without losing in order to dethrone the injured Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the rankings, but now cannot catch the Spaniard.

Djokovic did not face a break point as he served superbly in the opening set, not allowing the second seed a look-in after breaking in the first game of the match.

Tsitsipas responded well in the second set, firing down seven aces and winning 88 per cent of points behind his first serve, but seventh seed Djokovic stood firm to take the set to a tie-break.

A battling Tsitsipas fought back from 5-1 down to 5-4 in the breaker, but Djokovic did not falter, coming up with a powerful serve that his opponent was unable to return to make a winning start in his quest for a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title.

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Tsitsipas - 9/0

Djokovic - 3/2

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Tsitsipas - 24/0

Djokovic - 33/2

BREAK POINTS WON

Tsitsipas - 0/1

Djokovic - 1/2

Cristiano Ronaldo alleged some members of Manchester United's hierarchy did not believe his reasoning for missing pre-season when his daughter was in hospital.

Ronaldo has hit out at United in a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV, which will be released in full on Wednesday, criticising manager Erik ten Hag, former boss Ralf Rangnick and the club.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner insisted Alex Ferguson convinced him to re-sign at Old Trafford but suggested "zero progress" has been made since the legendary Scot left in 2013.

United issued a statement saying a response would follow once the interview, in which Ronaldo stated he felt "betrayed" by the club, was released in full.

In a new clip released on Monday, Ronaldo claimed two senior members at United doubted his daughter, Bella, was sick with bronchitis just three months after her twin brother had died.

"I spoke with the director and the president of Man Utd and they kind of didn't believe that something was going wrong, which made me feel bad," the Portugal captain said.

The forward missed United's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia after being granted additional time off by Ten Hag.

When pressed to confirm senior United figures did not believe he was telling the truth, Ronaldo added: "They believe me but in the same way [shakes head]…

"I am never going to change the health of my family for a football. Now, or 10 years behind or forward.

"And it is something that really hurt me because they doubted my word that I was struggling, especially Bella and Geo [Georgina Rodriguez, Ronaldo's girlfriend].

"We had one week in hospital because Bella had a big problem and I didn't go to the pre-season because of that.

"I didn't want to leave my family to do the pre-season because I didn't think it was fair to leave my family for a pre-season. This is why I didn't go."

Ronaldo stated in an Instagram post on Monday that his full focus is on achieving World Cup glory with Portugal, who face Ghana on November 24 in their Group H opener.