Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz jumpstarted their fading hopes of qualifying for the Qatar World Cup following a 2-0 away win over Honduras, at the Estadio Olimpico, on Tuesday.
Goals from Kemar Roofe and Oniel Fisher gave the team their first win of the campaign, a result that lifted the Jamaicans from the bottom of the table for the time in six games. Heading into the encounter both teams were in desperate need of a win, with Honduras beginning the match just a point above the Jamaicans in 7th place.
After dominating the early opportunities, it was Roofe who put the Jamaicans in the lead after redirecting a shot from Shamar Nicholson into the back of the net in the 38th minute. The home team battled to get back on level terms but struggled to create any clear-cut opportunities.
Fisher made the game safe for the Jamaicans with a well-taken effort in the 79th minute. Having joined the attack, the right-back collected a layoff from substitute Andre Gray before curling a shot around Honduras goalkeeper Luis López and into the net.
Jamaica’s campaign to earn a spot in Qatar continues with a trip to El Salvador to open the November international window, while Honduras hosts Panama.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni believes superstar captain Lionel Messi is thriving in the current national team environment with the 2021 Copa America champions.
Messi has been criticised in the past for his performances for Argentina, which have paled in comparison to his club output, dominating with Barcelona up until 2021 having won a club-record 35 trophies and become the LaLiga giants' all-time leading goalscorer.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner led Argentina to their first piece of silverware in 28 years after La Albiceleste dethroned rivals Brazil in July's Copa America final, while Scaloni's side are well on their way to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, unbeaten across 10 matches.
"It is very difficult that [Messi] has not performed with the national team," Scaloni told a news conference ahead of Thursday's CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier with Peru.
"There will be moments and team moments and I think that's the most important thing in the end."
Paris Saint-Germain's Messi – who eclipsed Brazil great Pele as the all-time leading scorer for a South American nation during the previous international break – scored his 80th international goal was as Argentina eased past Uruguay 3-0 on Sunday.
"The team is the one that takes the situation forward, the one that makes him even better," Scaloni added. "I think he is good in the team and comfortable with his team-mates. All of this makes it even better.
"It is clear that without the team his performance is not so reflected. Today we are doing well as a group, as a team and that is what is most important."
Scaloni also welcomed Sergio Aguero closing in on a return to fitness, having featured in a Barcelona training match on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old, who was part of Argentina's Copa success, has not played for Barcelona since his off-season move from Premier League champions Manchester City due to a calf injury.
Argentina – second in the qualifying standing – have only netted 18 goals in 10 qualifiers with Aguero potentially boosting their attacking options for November's scheduled games against Uruguay and Brazil.
"The case for him, as with the other boys who have not been able to play, the most important thing is that they compete in their club and make things difficult for us," Scaloni said.
"We have a team of enormous hierarchy, a team of great forwards and the final decision is the most difficult. What interests us is that they play for their club, that they perform well and we will have time to make the decision.
"Logically, we like them to play and that they are in continuity and we expect that from the boys who are not there."
The United States came from behind to beat rivals Costa Rica 2-1 in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.
Sergino Dest scored a stunning goal as a youthful USA side overturned an early deficit to bounce back from their shock loss in Panama – the nation's first defeat during the 2022 qualifying campaign.
With an average age of 22 years and 229 days, USA's starting XI was the youngest fielded by the country in a World Cup qualifying fixture midweek.
USA faced an early test in Columbus after Keysher Fuller's volley found a way past goalkeeper Zack Steffen and into the back of the net in just the first minute.
A moment of brilliance from 20-year-old Dest restored parity for Gold Cup champions USA in the 25th minute – the Barcelona full-back drifted onto his left foot on the edge of the penalty area and fired a powerful strike into the top corner.
Gregg Berhalter's USA completed their comeback with 24 minutes remaining at Lower.com Field.
Costa Rica's Leonel Moreira – who replaced Keylor Navas at half-time – was unable to keep out Timothy Weah's shot at the near post.
USA moved level with arch-rivals Mexico on 11 points before El Tri face El Salvador on the road to Qatar 2022.
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers is not sure if wantaway All-Star Ben Simmons will play for the NBA franchise after his surprise return.
Simmons has sought a trade from the 76ers and had been willing to sit out the entire 2021-22 season before showing up at Wells Fargo Center shortly before tip-off ahead of Monday's preseason game against rivals the Brooklyn Nets.
Reports claim Simmons had not spoken directly to team officials since late August, having missed all of training camp and preseason following a disappointing Eastern Conference semi-final loss to the Atlanta Hawks last season.
Doubts remain over the disgruntled Australian and Rivers was ambiguous regarding Simmons' playing status for the championship hopefuls.
"I don't know. He's voiced that, but we'll see how that works out," Rivers told reporters when asked about Simmons' trade status on Wednesday.
Simmons has reportedly generated interest from the likes of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers but the 76ers are believed to have set a high price.
It comes after Simmons was heavily scrutinised following Philadelphia's shock playoff elimination at the hands of the Hawks in 2020-21.
A three-time All-Star and elite defender, Simmons and his shooting problems were laid bare during the 2021 postseason with the top-seeded 76ers.
Former number one draft pick Simmons had no fourth-quarter field-goal attempts in his last four games of the playoffs last season. He is the only NBA player in the last 20 seasons to have four consecutive postseason games with no field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter during a season in which he was an All-Star, according to Stats Perform.
"I'm assuming he's going to play, but who knows? I can't get in anyone's head," Rivers said with the 76ers due to meet the Detroit Pistons on Friday before opening their regular-season campaign against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 20.
Rivers added: "Whether we play him or not, that's going to depend on what we see this week.
"He's coming from behind, because he hasn't been in camp, obviously. Having said that, do you rush him and put him on the floor? That's a whole other subject.
"What we see this week is how we determine everything going forward."
Simmons averaged just 10.1 field-goal attempts in 2020-21 – a career low, which dropped to 7.9 in the playoffs. It was the same story with his scoring as it dropped to a career-worst 14.3 points per game and 11.9 in the postseason – both career lows.
Then there is Simmons and free throws. He was exposed by rival teams as they regularly sent him to the line, with the Melbourne-born guard making just 25 of 73 shots in the 2020-21 playoffs. His 34.2 free-throw percentage is the lowest ever in a single postseason.
Sixers team-mate Danny Green said: "We want him back. We want him with us. When he's in the building, we'll acclimate him appropriately. We just want everybody to come here, show up and do their part, do their jobs."
"I'll be able to see when he steps on the floor where his head's at. I don't feel like he needs to explain anything to me," added Seth Curry.
Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash said the decision to keep Kyrie Irving away from the NBA championship hopefuls until he is cleared to play was a "difficult" but "sound" choice.
The Nets are set to be without seven-time All-Star Irving – who remains unvaccinated – for the start of their regular season unless his coronavirus vaccine status is resolved.
Irving is ineligible to play in home games or practice in Brooklyn due to New York City mandates, with people in New York requiring at least one coronavirus vaccine to enter indoor arenas such as the Nets' Barclays Center.
While Nash and former MVP James Harden are ready to move on without Irving, the duo insisted the title-chasing Nets would welcome back the 2016 NBA champion.
"Everyone had their say," Nash told reporters after Wednesday's practice. "It takes time to make decisions like that. This is a difficult decision. But I think it was a sound one and one that makes complete sense to everyone.
"We are just going to move on, and if things change, it would be incredible to have him back in the fold. It was a tenuous situation to have a player in and out like that. There's more clarity, and we can focus on the future and get going."
"For guys to be able to not have the uncertainty I think is important," Nash said. "It's not kind of hanging over us. A decision was made, and I think that can be beneficial to us starting to really build and have that understanding that this is what's happening instead of we were living in a world that was very uncertain.
"We weren't sure from one day to the next what was going to change or what was going to happen. That can be difficult, and that can put an extra strain on everybody."
In 2020-21, Irving averaged 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game as the Nets lost in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Irving enjoyed a career-high 50.6 field-goal percentage and joint-career best 92.2 free-throw percentage last season.
Harden added: "Sean [Marks], Steve [Nash], me, KD [Kevin Durant], Kyrie, we all had conversations. Kyrie believes in his beliefs, and he stands firm and strong on that. And for us, we respect it. We all love Ky. But as far as us, we have a job to do.
"Individually, myself, I am still wanting to set myself up for a championship. And I feel like the entire organisation is on the same path and we are all in this as a collective unit."
"I have no say so in that," Harden said of the Irving decision. "I can only state my opinion, and we got to continue to move forward. Obviously, we would love to have Kyrie here."
"We still have two pretty good leaders on the team," Harden continued. "Know what I mean? And obviously Ky is our leader as well. We still have myself and Kevin [Durant]. [We] have to lead, which we are pretty good at that, and go out there and be great every single night."
Eoin Morgan hailed the pressure-free environment Kolkata Knight Riders have created after his side sneaked past Delhi Capitals to reach the Indian Premier League final.
The Knight Riders limited Rishabh Pant's side to 135-5 and seemed certain for victory after a 96-opening run stand from Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer.
However, a flurry of late wickets left Kolkata requiring seven to win off Ravichandran Ashwin's final over to secure their final berth and maintain their perfect chasing record since the United Arab Emirates-based resumption.
Rahul Tripathi stood up to the task, blasting Ashwin's fourth ball for six after the off-spinner had removed Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine with consecutive deliveries to leave the score at 130-7.
And Morgan cited Wednesday's qualifier clash as an example of the freedom of expression that the Knight Riders' culture has created.
"It should've been a lot easier after the start we got, Venky [Venkatesh Iyer] and [Shubman] Gill set us the platform," Morgan said at the post-match presentations.
"But we're in the final and we're delighted to get over the line. Six off two [in the final over], the odds were probably in favour of the bowling side, but Rahul Tripathi has done superbly well for us.
"It's a nice insight into our team culture. The young guys coming in are feeling free to express themselves. The backroom staff have created an environment for them to do this."
Iyer was bumped up the order after the coronavirus-enforced delay and the two-time IPL champions have since won seven out of nine matches – winning four games in a row for the first time since the 2018 edition of the tournament.
However, Morgan refused to take credit for the top-order alteration as Iyer continues to thrive, blasting 320 runs in the competition across nine matches at an average of 40.
"The Iyer idea [his elevation] came from the coach, he's a terrific player," England and KKR's captain continued. "He made the chase easy, it looked like he was batting on a different wicket.
"With the squad we have, there's expectation. We would like to keep going and we are playing against Chennai Super Kings – one of the best franchises in IPL history – but anything can happen."
Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan will be out for 10 weeks following surgery on his left wrist.
The Serie A giants signed Maignan from Lille in May for a reported €15million fee to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma, who departed for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
The France international has started the season in fine form, starting every game as Stefano Pioli's side collected 19 points to match their best start in their opening seven Serie A games.
However, the 26-year-old suffered a wrist injury against Liverpool on September 15, with the problem worsening 13 days later in a clash with Atletico Madrid's Luis Suarez.
Milan announced on Wednesday that Maignan had undergone surgery, adding that he will rest for six weeks before beginning the rehabilitation process. He is expected to return near the end of December at the earliest.
His potential 10-week absence means he could miss the entirety of the remaining Champions League group-stage fixtures, alongside crucial domestic clashes against fellow title hopefuls Roma, neighbours Inter, and Napoli.
Up until his injury, only Bartlomiej Dragowski (1.62) boasted a better goal prevention figure than Maignan (0.94) among Serie A goalkeepers.
The news prompted Milan to sign 38-year-old goalkeeper Antonio Mirante on a free transfer until the end of the season, with Ciprian Tatarusanu Pioli's only other option until January.
Meanwhile, Milan defender Theo Hernandez has tested positive for COVID-19 after reporting back from international duty with France, meaning Milan will be without the left-back for the visit of Hellas Verona on Saturday.
Kolkata Knight Riders secured their place in the Indian Premier League final with a last-gasp three-wicket win over the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2.
Eoin Morgan's side limited the Capitals to 135-5 from their 20-over allocation as Varun Chakravarthy (2-26) was ably supported by Lockie Ferguson (1-26) and Shivam Mavi (1-27).
Shikhar Dhawan (36) and Shreyas Iyer (30 not out) were the pick of the batsmen but the Capitals were left facing an uphill battle, knowing Kolkata had won on all five occasions they have chased following the United Arab Emirates-based resumption.
Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer then got the Knight Riders off to a flyer, forming a 96-run opening partnership as the former raced to a 38-ball half-century before falling to Kagiso Rabada (2-23).
The Capitals, who are the only side to qualify for the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, managed to remove Nitish Rana (13) and Gill through Anrich Nortje (2-31) and Avesh Khan (1-22) respectively to leave the score at 125 after 16.4 overs.
Rabada knocked over experienced campaigner Dinesh Karthik (0) to further hamper the chase and when Morgan (0) followed in the same manner to Nortje, seven runs were required off Ravichandran Ashwin's final over.
Ashwin (2-27) conceded just one off his first two balls, removing Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine with his following two, before Rahul Tripathi (12 not out) smashed a maximum to collect the Knight Riders' seventh win in their last nine matches with just one ball to spare.
The win means Morgan's team will meet MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings in Friday's final as the Capitals fell before the showpiece once more.
Classy Chakravarthy
Chakravarthy may have overstepped and offered Shimron Heytmer a lifeline on just two, however, the Kolkata bowler escaped without too much punishment as the West Indian mustered just 15 more runs.
The 30-year-old was the only Knight Riders bowler to not concede a single maximum, delivering seven dot balls in an economical spell through the middle overs.
Nervy Narine
Narine was the man of the hour against the Royal Challengers Bangalore as he took 4-21 and blasted a 15-ball 26, but he failed to back up that heroic performance.
The KKR off-spinner went wicketless in his four-over allocation, conceding 27 runs before falling for a first-ball duck as he looked to launch his side to victory.
Nicholas Pooran said he is not worried about his form and expects to be back to scoring runs once the T20 World Cup begins later this month.
David Brooks is confident he will make a full recovery and return to playing after the Bournemouth and Wales midfielder was diagnosed with cancer.
Brooks was with the Wales squad last week but left international duty and underwent a medical examination, which found he has stage two Hodgkin lymphoma.
The 24-year-old will undergo treatment next week.
He said in a statement: "This is a very difficult message for me to write.
"I have been diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin lymphoma and will begin a course of treatment next week.
"Although this has come as a shock to myself and my family, the prognosis is a positive one and I am confident that I will make a full recovery and be back playing as soon as possible.
"I'd like to show my appreciation to the doctors, nurses, consultants and staff who have been treating me for their professionalism, warmth and understanding during this period.
"I want to thank everyone at the Football Association of Wales because without the swift attention of their medical team we may not have detected the illness.
"I'd also like to say thank you to AFC Bournemouth for all their support and assistance this past week.
"Although I appreciate that there will be media attention and interest, I would like to ask that my privacy is respected in the coming months and I will share updates on my progress when I am able to do so.
"In the meantime, thank you to everyone for their messages of support – it means so much and will continue to do so in the months ahead.
"I look forward to seeing you all again and playing the sport I love very soon."
Brooks joined Bournemouth from Sheffield United in 2018 and enjoyed an impressive first season with the club, scoring seven goals and assisting five in 33 games in all competitions.
Injuries limited Brooks the following year as Bournemouth were relegated, but he impressed again in the Championship, this time with 13 goal involvements across all competitions.
This term, he has three goals in nine matches.
Andy Murray has called for more players to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the Australian Open next year.
Unvaccinated players are expected to be allowed to compete, but are likely to have restrictions imposed on them in Melbourne.
The 34-year-old voiced his support for such restrictions, explaining that he understands why they would be put in place.
"My understanding is if you're unvaccinated you're still allowed to play, it's just the rules are going to be different," Murray said.
"You might just have to leave [for Australia] a few weeks earlier than everyone else. That's the player's choice. If the local government puts that in place then I would support that.
"It would be great if more players got vaccinated. Australia, in particular, has been very, very strict over there. The public there have had to endure a painful 18 months or whatever.
"If people are going to come into the country and potentially risk an outbreak in their community, yeah, that's understandable."
Murray was beaten in the Indian Wells third round by Alexander Zverev, who admitted he had not been vaccinated in April, on October 12 and the German declined to take a side in the debate.
"I fully respect the decisions of players that are not vaccinated," Zverev said. "I also do respect the decision that the Australian government is giving.
"I don't want to be in the middle of something which I kind of am not involved in because I don't have that issue of the two-week quarantine, all that. I don't want to go against anybody here."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has explained why Lewis Hamilton was forced to replace his engine and take a grid penalty on Sunday, refusing to rule out a repeat before the end of the season.
The Briton's 10-place penalty after topping qualifying contributed to a fifth-place finish at the Turkish Grand Prix, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas winning and title rival Max Verstappen finishing second to move six points clear of Hamilton in the championship standings.
However, Wolff revealed that the team felt they had no choice but to take a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) due to issues with Hamilton's previous power unit.
He insisted there had been no tactical timing to the decision, which was needed for technical reasons.
"We had to do it," Wolff told Sky Sports. "We saw some data on the Internal Combustion unit that didn't look very promising and a DNF is a total killer for the championship.
"We've seen over the course of the season that we've had some little gremlins that we weren't completely sure where they came from and how much performance they could potentially cost.
"So we'd rather have a new engine in the pool and that we understand that can possibly go longer.
"I think we understand much better now where the root cause lies and it's something that can happen from time to time if you just have a material issue, a batch problem and these are the things you need to consider."
The replacement power unit was Hamilton's fourth of the season, but Wolff suggested that it was not beyond the realms of possibility that he would be forced to take a fifth before the end of the campaign.
"The fourth one can last until the end of the season but there could be a moment where we say is it worth taking a fresh one because the other one is still at risk," Wolff continued.
"So this is something that is going to be really a work in progress."
There are six races to go in the 2021 Formula One season, a run that starts with the United States Grand Prix - an event Hamilton has won a record six times - on October 24.
Andy Murray is looking to give his body time to recover before the end of 2021 after going down to a narrow defeat against Alexander Zverev at the Indian Wells Masters.
Third seed Zverev triumphed 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in a hard-fought third-round battle with Murray on Tuesday.
Three-time grand slam winner Murray had previously defeated Adrian Mannarino and rising star Carlos Alcaraz in California.
He then ran Zverev close, with the German saying afterwards he felt Murray had produced his best performance since returning from hip surgery.
Murray agreed there were positives to take from his run, but was again frustrated not to get a statement win, having also fallen in five sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open.
The Briton may play ATP Tour events in Antwerp and Vienna over the next fortnight but is soon eyeing a break that means he will not be putting himself forward for the Davis Cup Finals, which take place over 10 days from the end of November.
Recovering some freshness and spending time with his family are on Murray's agenda ahead of the Australian Open early in 2022.
"I've given a lot to the Davis Cup, and sometimes to my own detriment physically," Murray told BBC Sport after the loss to Zverev.
"The same thing happened last time I played Davis Cup at the end of 2019. I know there was coronavirus, but I was struggling with that really up until September time the following year.
"I also don't feel right now I would be playing, either. Obviously that would be up to [Team GB captain] Leon [Smith], but I'm not sure I deserve to play in that team.
"Right now, I'm not planning on playing the Davis Cup and with the late finish to it, and early departure to Australia, with my schedule between now and the end of the year, I am going to have to rest and take a break and give my body a chance to breathe.
"And I want to make sure in the offseason I get to spend as much time with my family as I can because I have been away from that recently and that will be case when I go to Australia as well."
On the defeat to Zverev, Murray said: "The positive for me to take from it is I had opportunities again.
"I didn't feel like I played a great match and still had chances, so that's positive. But I'm disappointed because I want to be winning these matches. I haven't in the past few months."
Both players forced six break points each and fired down eight aces apiece in an even contest.
Murray broke Zverev three times across the two sets and led in each of them, but ultimately it was the world number four who progressed to book a tie with Gael Monfils in the last 16.
It was the first time Zverev had beaten Murray in three attempts and he has now triumphed against each of the Big Four, with previous wins over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to his name.
Milan have confirmed left-back Theo Hernandez has tested positive for COVID-19.
The 24-year-old played a crucial role in France's Nations League success, scoring a dramatic 90th-minute winner in the 3-2 semi-final victory over Belgium before assisting Kylian Mbappe's decisive strike in the 2-1 final triumph over Spain.
The showpiece contest against Luis Enrique's Spain was held in Milan, meaning Hernandez was able to stay in the city as he returned to his club side.
However, he is now set to miss the visit of Hellas Verona on Saturday as club action resumes.
Hernandez has enjoyed a fine start to the season with Milan, leading the Rossoneri in Serie A for assists (three) and expected assists (1.39) while also scoring once.
Fode Ballo-Toure would appear Hernandez's most likely deputy as second-placed Milan look to close the two-point gap to leaders Napoli.
Stefano Pioli's side are unbeaten this season, earning 19 points from seven matches. Victory would make this their best start through eight games in the three-points-per-win era.
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