Harry Kane's England team-mates have backed their captain to regain his top form in their semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Kane has scored twice at the tournament so far, with one of those a vital winner in the first minute of extra time against Slovakia, but has otherwise failed to show a clinical edge.
He managed just two shots against Switzerland in the quarter-finals before being forced off in extra time, managing an expected goals of just 0.12.
Kane's performances have drawn criticism, with some calling for him to be dropped for their game against the Netherlands.
However, Trent Alexander-Arnold brushed off the idea, claiming that would play into their opponents' hands.
"Anyone who is facing England would like to see Harry Kane not playing," the defender told reporters.
"You just know he is a threat. Anything in and around the box, you need to be on red alert.
"He can finish it from every angle. I always say he is the best finisher I've seen or played with. He can drop down and build play up and his hold-up play is incredible too."
England are playing in their third major tournament semi-final under Gareth Southgate, with Kane scoring the winning goal to take them to the final of the Euros three years ago.
The striker has also scored the joint-most knockout stage goals in the competition's history, five, along with Antoine Griezmann.
And after finishing as the top-scorer in the Bundesliga last season, Phil Foden has full confidence Kane will regain his goalscoring touch.
"You can't really doubt him," he told Standard Sport. "He's been unbelievable for us in so many tournaments, and he's already scored a crucial goal in this tournament.
"Hopefully, he can prove a lot of people wrong and do what he does best: put the ball into the back of the net. We're all behind him, we all believe in him.
"The way teams have been playing, there's been a low block and the spaces are tight, so it's difficult for him to find space.
"I've seen that with Erling [Haaland] at club level. Sometimes it's nearly impossible for him to score because they've got two players man-marking him.
"Kane's a leader, he does a lot of work off the ball that people don't see. He's a valuable player and if we're going to win it, we're definitely going to need him."
All-rounder Jason Holder and seamer Jayden Seales are both optimistic that West Indies can deliver an efficient performance to not only better England in their three-match Test series, but more importantly, to offer some semblance of upliftment to the Caribbean, which was recently brushed by Hurricane Beryl.
Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jamaica are just a few of the islands that faced the wrath of Beryl, and West Indies players are using the setback as motivation to demonstrate the resilience and determination of Caribbean people.
Holder, who reflected on West Indies’ previous tour of England during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, believes the first step to doing their part in assisting to overcome these tough times, is to put their best foot forward in the series, which bowls off at Lord’s on Wednesday.
“The buzz around the T20 World Cup and the success of the recent past has definitely revived the cricketing lives of the people in the Caribbean. I think any bit of spark and encouragement we can give them will be through our performances and that is what we pledged as a group to try and make them as proud as possible in these tough times,” Holder said.
“So coming back here in England four years later, we’re just looking to take it one step further. We won one Test match last time out of three. Yeah, two will be a lot better on this trip,” the Barbadian noted.
“I think it’s time someone breaks the shackles and there is no better time than now for us to come here and beat England, I think that will be an absolute great feat...I believe in every individual in this group,” he added.
Seales concurred.
“We are not doing it for ourselves. We are doing it for the people back home who support us. They have been hit by the hurricane so drastically. We will try our best to make them feel a sense of pride,” the Trinidadian seamer declared.
Though West Indies will enter the series determined to retain the Richards-Botham Trophy, which they secured via a hard-fought 1-0 victory over England in the Caribbean two years ago, the odds are firmly stocked against them, as the Caribbean side has not won a Test series in England since 1988.
But, Holder, who is returning to the Test team after almost a year, pointed to their recent performances in the longest format, particularly, their historic win against Australia earlier this year, as reason to believe.
That series which ended 1-1, gave rise to fast bowling sensation Shamar Joseph, who took seven wickets to secure an eight-run win for West Indies –their haul first Test win in Australia since 1997.
“I think the guys took a lot from that Test victory in Australia and for the group, we’ve been doing some positive things over the last couple of months and as a young side, the main thing is to keep learning,” Holder said.
“We’ll be faced with different challenges here in England and it is a matter of learning from them and being better the next day. What we have in the dressing room is some special talent and it is just a matter of playing some solid cricket and just believing,” he reasoned.
Having opted out of that Australia series to focus on T20 opportunities, Holder expressed his delight at being back in the fold.
“For me it gave me a renewed energy to come back to the group and try to be a part of something special again. I’m just happy that I’ve been able to still get the body up and going and being up for the challenge here. I missed Test cricket. This is my first Test match in a long time, so I’m looking forward to it,” Holder shared.
“We’re just here to play a good competitive series and we’re coming out to win this series. For me it’s not about Jimmy [Anderson] with all due respect. For me it’s about my contribution to the team and making sure each and every one is on point at the start of the first Test match and let’s play some solid cricket. Everything else around it is secondary in my mind,” he ended.
Fiorentina have announced the signing of Moise Kean from Juventus.
The Viola have paid a reported €13million for the forward, though that could rise to €18million with potential add-ons.
The forward scored 22 goals across two spells at Juve, though failed to find the net in 20 appearances last season.
He won the Scudetto three times and also lifted the Supercoppa Italiana and the Coppa Italia twice.
Kean came through Juventus' academy before making his senior debut in November 2016.
After disappointing spells at Everton and Paris Saint-Germain, he then resigned for the club on loan in 2021 before making the move permanent in 2023.
Nestor Lorenzo says Colombia will not be satisfied unless they win the Copa America, with Uruguay next up for them in the semi-final.
Los Cafeteros are the in-form team at the tournament, and are on a 27-match unbeaten run in after their dominant 5-0 victory over Panama in the last round.
They have won all but one of their games at the Copa America so far, drawing 1-1 with Brazil in the other to secure top spot in Group D.
Colombia have only won the Copa America once before, back in 2001, and despite their fine run of form, Lorenzo says their tournament run will only be a success if they end their 23-year wait for a second title.
"To have a good Copa America is to win it," Lorenzo said. "It is not an abstract concept. The objective is to win every game we play, and the boys know that.
"[We take it] game by game. The goal is to win the next game. The most important game is the next one.
"We are confirming the importance of coming to the national team and wearing the shirt. They [the players] feel a great pride in being there and that is typical of players.
"In this team, they kill themselves for their teammates. We worked hard on that from the beginning. It's the way I feel about football from the technical direction."
Uruguay played out a goalless draw with Brazil before prevailing on penalties to book their place in the semi-finals.
Despite showing off their free-flowing play early in the group stage, their defensive solidity has pushed them forward in the competition as they have not conceded in any of their last three matches.
They now face off against the highest scorers in this year's Copa America, with head coach Marcelo Bielsa knowing they face a stern test against Colombia's attackers.
"Colombia has many forwards, which is not common today," Bielsa said. "There is more than one option for each level without much difference.
"The Colombian footballer has undergone a transformation. 'He' has always been creative, dominant, naturally competitive and has added the essentials to survive in today's football."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Uruguay – Jose Maria Gimenez
If Jose Maria Gimenez plays against Colombia, he will become the sixth Uruguayan player to reach 20 appearances in the Copa America, joining the ranks of Diego Perez, Roberto Porta (both 20), Schubert Gambetta (21), Fernando Muslera (22), and Angel Romano (23).
Colombia – James Rodriguez
James Rodriguez has provided five assists in this year's Copa America. One more assist will make him the first player to surpass this figure in a single edition since these records began in 2011, breaking the current record he shares with Lionel Messi (five assists in 2021).
He has also created the most chances so far (14) and got his first goal last time out in their win over Panama.
MATCH PREDICTION: URUGUAY WIN
Uruguay and Colombia are meeting for the third time in a Copa America semi-final. The first encounter was in 1975, with Los Cafeteros advancing to the final, while in 1995, La Celeste triumphed 2-0 and later claimed the title against Brazil.
Colombia are competing in the semi-finals for the seventh time since 1993, but have only reached the final once in that time, when they beat Mexico 1-0 to lift the title in 2001.
They have already equalled their most prolific scoring runs at the tournament, having netted 11 goals so far (also achieved in 1975 and 2001).
While Colombia's goalscoring has caught the eye, they now face the stingiest defence at the Copa America.
Uruguay have conceded just one goal (against Panama). It is the fewest goals allowed by La Celeste in their first four matches of a Copa America edition since 1959 – they won the title in Ecuador, conceding just one goal, and Bielsa's team are backed to win by Opta's supercomputer.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Uruguay – 46.2%
Draw – 25.1%
Colombia – 28.7%
Craig Bellamy has been named as the new Wales manager, following Rob Page's departure last month.
It is Bellamy's first senior managerial role, with the former Wales captain signing a four-year contract.
As a player, he made 78 appearances for the national team between 1998 and 2014, scoring 19 goals.
"It's an incredible honour for me to be given the opportunity to lead my country, and it's the proudest moment of my career," Bellamy told the FAW website. "It was always my ultimate dream to become the Cymru head coach, and I am ready for the challenge."
Bellamy had been named as Burnley's acting head coach following Vincent Kompany's move to Bayern Munich in May, but turned down the opportunity to stay as a coach following Scott Parker's appointment.
His first match in charge will be at home against Turkiye in the Nations League on September 6.
Thiago Motta believes that "togetherness" is the key to enjoying a successful first season in charge of Juventus.
The former Bologna manager arrived in Turin for his first day of pre-season on Monday.
Juventus finished third in Serie A last season but were 23 points behind Scudetto winners, Inter.
However, they did secure a return to the Champions League after serving a one-season suspension from UEFA after breaking financial fair play regulations.
Now, Motta is setting his sights on getting Juve back to the top.
"I've found myself in a really wonderful place to work," Motta told Juventus' official channels in his first interview. "It goes without saying at such a historic club that, together, we can do a great job.
"It will certainly be a demanding season, but at the same time, it's wonderful to be able to play so many matches, and we hope to play in the maximum number of games, because that means we will be doing well, and that is our objective.
"I send [the Juventus fans] fond greetings, and I hope to be able to meet you soon, in our stadium and in other grounds.
"I know that we will have your support, and we will certainly give everything on the pitch so that together we can all be proud of this team."
Paul George admitted he did not want to leave the Los Angeles Clippers, but felt his hand was forced when he was offered a "disrespectful" first contract extension offer.
Last week, George signed a four-year maximum contract reportedly worth $212million for the Philadelphia 76ers.
However, the nine-time All-Star's move happened after he failed to come to an agreement with the Clippers over a new contract.
"I never wanted to leave L.A.," George said on his podcast, 'Podcast P with Paul George'.
"L.A. is home, this is where I wanted to finish at, and I wanted to work as hard as possible to win one in L.A.
"That was the goal, to be here and be committed to L.A. As it played out though, the first initial deal was, I thought, kind of disrespectful.
"In all of this, no hard feelings, no love lost...it's a business. So, the first initial deal was like two years, 60. So I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
"That's crazy! I'm like, 'Naw, I'm not signing that'."
The Clippers gave Kawhi Leonard a three-year $150million extension, something George said they refused to give him if he had a no-trade clause attached.
"Then I hear wind of what they're going to give Kawhi, so I'm like, 'Just give me what Kawhi got'," George added. "'Y'all view us the same. We came here together; we want to finish this s*** together.'
"Y'all give him that, give me that. They didn't want to do that."
The guard, who played 74 regular-season games – his most since being traded to Los Angeles before the 2019-20 season – acknowledged his link-up with Leonard did not quite go as planned but had hoped to build on it in the future.
"We couldn't remain healthy as a unit," George said. "But I thought I did enough to earn that [three-year, $150-million deal with a no-trade clause].
"They didn't want to do it. So, it was just a stalemate. Ultimately it was like, all right, that ship has sailed.
"I love Steve [Ballmer], I love Lawrence [Frank], but at that point, it didn't even feel right to come back with that type of energy and be comfortable playing back in L.A."
Jesse Marsch is keen to show off Canada's growth as they bid to reach the Copa America final by beating Argentina on Tuesday.
Canada were the lowest-ranked side in Group A but advanced as runners-up ahead of Chile and Peru.
They were then held to a 1-1 draw with Venezuela in the quarter-finals but won on penalties to set up a second meeting with Argentina in the semi-finals.
Having already exceeded expectations in their debut Copa America, Marsch believes a re-match against the reigning champions is the perfect chance to make history.
"What an incredible opportunity to continue to show further growth," Marsch told reporters.
"It's not about how we can beat Argentina as much as how can we honour our development path and where are we trying to go and test ourselves at a very high level.
"Argentina is the best team in the world, and you can see how aggressive and sharp they are, how good [Lionel] Messi is.
"There are things we did well when we played against them. I think knowing their level and quality will be an advantage for us.
"My mind is wrapped totally around giving our team a chance to not just have a special experience, but a real special victory."
Les Rouges lost 2-0 in their tournament opener against Argentina, with Messi involved in both goals without finding the back of the net.
This time around, Marsch urged his team to make big improvements in their handling of the Albiceleste's talisman.
"We didn't do well enough with Messi last match, and he was able to run free at our goalkeeper too much," Marsch added.
"We won't man-mark him, but he will be an emphasis in how we will defend and our ability to keep track of him will be really important.
"We have certain things that we'll try to do to try to make it difficult for him, but we know that limiting his space is the number one thing.
"We don't want him free and running at our back line, and running at our goalkeeper like last game, where that was not good enough, but we all know he is the greatest player to ever play the game."
Despite injury concerns, Lionel Scaloni is adamant that Lionel Messi is fit to play in their Copa America semi-final against Canada.
The Argentina captain sustained a hamstring injury in their second group game against Chile, forcing him out of the following match against Peru.
However, Messi returned for their quarter-final meeting with Ecuador, notably missing the first spot-kick in the penalty shootout, which they won thanks to two Emiliano Martinez saves.
After Messi admitted he "trained with fear" ahead of his return from injury against La Tricolor, Scaloni has brushed off any worries about his star man's fitness.
"99% of the time, [Messi] is fit to play," Scaloni said. "It's never happened to me that he's not fit to play.
"Every time he's come out on the pitch, he's fit to play. For [Canada], he's fit to play, without a doubt.
"It's a very easy decision for me, because it's a very frank decision, that if he's fine, he plays; and if he's not fine, he plays the last 30 minutes. It's that easy.
"It's true that that won't ever weigh on me. I know what he can give us even if he's not in optimal condition. I wouldn't make the grave mistake of not putting him on the pitch knowing that he gives us a lot, so that's indisputable."
Argentina opened their Copa America title defence with a 2-0 victory over Canada on June 20.
Scaloni acknowledged the benefit of that first meeting, though conceded Jesse Marsch was unlikely to take the same approach in a bid to reach the final.
"Canada has players who are physically strong and also technically good, with a coach who has conveyed an aggressive way of playing," he added.
"They have made things difficult for all teams. Physically, it's difficult to match them, but with our assets, we hope to play the game on our side.
"All coaches take notes to correct mistakes and hurt our opponents. Each coach will have to do something different. We will try to have the ball and stop them from playing their game."
After Sean Murphy tied the game with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, the Atlanta Braves scored once in the 11th to rally for a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday in a clash of 2023 National League play-off teams.
Marcell Ozuna drove in the eventual winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 11th that plated designated runner Austin Riley, who had advanced from second to third on an infield single by Matt Olson.
Riley homered earlier in the game and Murphy went 2 for 4 as the Braves took the opener of this four-game series and won their third consecutive contest.
Atlanta's bats were largely quiet for much of the night thanks to an impressive MLB debut by Arizona starter Yilber Diaz, but came alive against struggling closer Paul Sewald with the Braves trailing 3-1 in the ninth.
Sewald retired the first two hitters in the inning before Eddie Rosario extended Atlanta's chances with a single. Murphy then drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center field to hand Sewald a third blown save in his last three appearances.
Diaz was in line for the victory after allowing just one run on four hits through six innings.
Both teams scored once in the 10th, with the Braves getting a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Albies and the Diamondbacks the same from Luis Perdomo.
Ozuna's fly ball in the 11th put Atlanta back ahead, and Joe Jimenez stranded the tying run in the bottom of the inning to record his second save of the season.
Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias earned the win after working two innings and permitting one unearned run.
Riley's 12th homer of the season gave the Braves an early edge in the first inning, and the Diamondbacks were held scoreless by Bryce Elder through the first five innings before breaking through in the sixth.
Perdomo led off the bottom of the sixth with a bloop single and took second when Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia mishandled the ball on the play, then scored on Corbin Carroll's single to tie the game at 1-1.
Elder then walked the next two batters to load the bases before being relieved by Grant Holmes, who walked Christian Walker on four pitches to give Arizona the lead. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly to provide the Diamondbacks a two-run cushion.
Elder was charged with three runs allowed on four hits over five-plus innings.
Late error allows Tigers to edge Guardians
Jake Rogers scored the game's lone run on a Cleveland error in the eighth inning as the suddenly surging Detroit Tigers came through with a 1-0 victory over the American League Central-leading Guardians to open a four-game series.
Rogers greeted reliever Scott Barlow with a double to open the eighth and took third on Wenceel Perez's second hit of the night. Two batter later, Mark Canha hit a grounder that eluded the glove of Guardians' shortstop Brayan Roccio to allow the Detroit catcher to cross the plate and break the scoreless tie.
The Guardians couldn't mount a baserunner after the seventh inning, as Tyler Holton retired all five batters he faced to record the win and Shelby Miller threw a perfect ninth to close out the Tigers' fourth consecutive victory.
Detroit went 8-18 from June 5-July 4 before sweeping a three-game series on the road from the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend.
The game featured a strong duel between starting pitchers that didn't factor in the decision. Detroit's Keider Montero allowed just three hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his third career major league start, while Cleveland's Gavin Williams struck out five over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his second start back from an elbow injury that had sidelined him since spring training.
Cardinals stay hot with shutout of Nationals
Alec Burleson homered and drove in three runs to back a sharp start from Miles Mikolas as the St. Louis Cardinals recorded a series-clinching 6-0 win over the Washington Nationals.
Paul Goldschmidt added a solo homer among his two hits to help the Cardinals take three of four meetings of the wraparound series. St. Louis improved to 33-18 since May 12, the best record in the National League over that stretch.
MIkolas (7-7) scattered six hits without a walk over 6 1/3 innings before relievers Andrew Kittredge and JoJo Romero finished the shutout by working 1 1/3 innings each.
Washington starter Mitchell Parker (5-5) was hung with the loss despite yielding two runs - one earned - and striking out six over seven innings.
The Cardinals' first run off Parker came courtesy of an error by Washington shortstop CJ Abrams, who threw wildly to first base on a double-play attempt to allow Nolan Gorman to score from second in the third inning. Gorman and Michael Siani had opened the frame with back-to-back infield singles.
Goldschmidt's homer off Parker in the fourth extended the lead to 2-0, and Burleson increased it further with a solo shot off Jacob Barnes in the eighth. Goldschmidt reached on an error later in the inning and came home on Brendan Donovan's two-out double for a 4-0 St. Louis advantage.
Donovan finished 2 for 4 and extended his streak of reaching base safely to 21 straight games.
The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the ninth when Gorman and Siani each singled before both later scored on Burleson's base hit.
Lamine Yamal must appreciate the "reality" of rough treatment by opponents at Euro 2024, so says Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente, ahead of Tuesday's last-four meeting with France.
The 16-year-old has impressed for La Roja in Germany, assisting three goals as Spain have won all five of their matches at the tournament.
No Spanish player has ever registered more assists at a single European Championship tournament, while Yamal has created 14 chances – the most at a major competition for Spain since Xavi's 25 at Euro 2012.
Yet Spain have been somewhat frustrated by tactics from the opposition to stop Yamal and wing partner Nico Williams, with repeated calls for more protection of their players.
Yamal has only won four free-kicks at this tournament, however, and De la Fuente acknowledged his teenage star must learn to adapt.
"It's part of football, it's part of the game," De la Fuente said at Monday's pre-match press conference. "There are ways to gain an edge through playing or with intimidatory tactics.
"Each one uses their tools, always within a disciplinary regime imposed by the referee.
"You have to explain to a 16-year-old kid that he needs to see that reality. Lamine has to continue being him and learn that this is how it is.
"You will gain experience little by little. And he does it very quickly."
Though De la Fuente suggested Yamal must learn from his early playing days, Spain team-mate Rodri went the other way, demanding greater protection for his youthful colleague.
"As football players, we always want to be protected," Rodri said. "This is the job of the referee.
"I mean, he puts the standard, so what is a yellow card or red card is his job. It's not our job. And we play with the rules or with the level he put, this is the reality."
France's Adrien Rabiot has already referenced Yamal's danger, with the Les Bleus midfielder keen on putting "pressure" on the Barcelona forward.
Rodri expects a tough test, nevertheless, as Spain attempt to tee up a final with either the Netherlands or England, who meet on Wednesday in Dortmund.
"Tomorrow is going to be a very, very physical battle because they are a very physical team," the Manchester City star added.
"So we will have to go in the same way, try to be strong, use the body, because we know the power they have."
Joel Embiid lauded the Philadelphia 76ers' planning as impressive "on paper" as he hailed a "fantastic" potential trio with Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
Philadelphia signed nine-time All-Star George on a four-year maximum contract reportedly worth $212 million last week.
George is expected to help the 76ers contend for the Eastern Conference title next season after Philadelphia suffered a first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks this year.
Maxey is coming off a breakout year, too, averaging a career-high 25.9 points per game en route to winning the NBA's Most Improved Player Award.
"I think as far as the fit, it looks amazing," Embiid told ESPN. "It is great, when you got a player that posts up, you need to have willing shooters and guys that are not afraid to pull the trigger.
"PG, great shooter, 40%, 45 catch and shoot; Tyrese, we know great shooter, off the dribble, catch-and-shoot.
"On paper, and as far as the fit, it looks fantastic because you got both guys that can play off the ball, and they can play on ball and they're great shooters and they can handle the ball, and then you also got me."
The three 76ers star will be aiming to help Philadelphia improve upon a No. 7 finish in the Eastern Conference standings last season.
Embiid wants to create a new era with his side, though warned it will not all be straightforward.
"It feels like you're starting from scratch," he said. "And I know there's going to be a lot of growing pains. But you just got to stick it together.
"The goal is always to win a championship, but it just doesn't happen overnight.
"Hopefully, it doesn't take us as much time as it should when you're trying to bring everybody on the same page and making sure everybody knows their role and what they have to do to achieve that goal.
"But we're going to do the best job possible."
Having watched James Harden demand a trade last year, and Maxey still as an unknown quantity, the optimism now around Philadelphia proved to Embiid that patience is key.
"I'd be lying to say that patience wasn't tested," Embiid added. "Because I'm at the point where there's no awards, there's no regular season or no All-NBA or All-Stars is going to change the way my legacy is.
"Well, there's a few things that can change it, but the main one is the championship. So when you start thinking about what you want to be remembered as, you want to be remembered as someone that's won.
"When you are presented with a plan, sometimes it goes wrong, sometimes it goes right. We've still got long way to go. On paper it looks great. But we still got to go on the court and make it work."
On the brink of securing an Olympic berth in the historic city of Paris, Jamaica’s 2024 Men’s National 200m champion, Bryan Levell, has reached out to the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) for support. The JOA responded with a substantial investment of JMD$1,000,000.00 to aid his preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Levell, an Edwin Allen High graduate and a decorated Champs, Carifta, and Under-20 World Championship medalist, recently made a significant impact at the National Senior and Junior Championships where he ran a lifetime best of 9.97 in the 100m and won the national 200m title in another lifetime best of 19.97.
His remarkable performance cemented his status on the big stage and garnered the attention and support of the JOA.
In acknowledging the support, Levell expressed his gratitude, stating, "I am very proud to be the first recipient of the award, which will be very beneficial with me not having any support. By giving me this award, the JOA is supporting my dreams and aspirations."
The JOA’s swift and affirmative response to Levell’s request was anticipated. "Excellence and merit cannot be purchased; they are earned by giving it your all and do not subscribe to a ‘buy one, get one free’ mentality. It is this philosophy, this conviction, that drove the JOA to answer the call of Bryan and his team for support," stated JOA Secretary General and CEO, Ryan Foster.
Foster emphasized the significance of this partnership, describing it as "more than a smile and talk; it is a handshake that acknowledges excellence, empathizes with a need, and shares in an Olympic dream that has become a reality. It is a firm handshake of mutuality that says we’re in this together in realizing Bryan’s aspirations and for Jamaica’s glory."
Levell’s manager, Damia Russell, praised Levell’s resilience and determination in the face of having "zero sponsorship." She stated, "Bryan intends to advocate and show other young boys and girls that dreams do come true and hard work works."
The JOA’s commitment to supporting athletes is further reflected in their view that "making your mark is not time-bound or dependent on a condition that you must know your place until someone gives you space. It is grasping the moment in time, creating your space, and owning a place in history, which Bryan is doing," emphasized Foster.
The JOA's President, Christopher Samuda, added, "We have a social contract with our sportsmen and women who are our business, livelihood, and lifeblood. We are delivering opportunities on a level playing field, and with this financial investment, we are levelling the vibes for Bryan now so that he can ‘tun up di vibes’ as he pursues his athletic career and academic goals."
In a historic move in 2021, the JOA inaugurated and invested millions of dollars in its own coaches’ scholarship program, complementing the existing Olympic solidarity scholarships for athletes. At the official launch of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in May, the governing body announced increased financial support to other athletes, including Malik James-King, Samantha Hall, Shanieka Ricketts, and Nayoka Clunis, all of whom have earned a place on Jamaica’s track and field team for the Olympic Games.
The JOA’s "Young Olympic Changemakers" award serves as an Olympic appetizer for young athletes who thirst and hunger for, and indeed achieve, excellence. Bryan Levell's journey to the Paris 2024 Olympics is a testament to this commitment.
Keegan Bradley has been announced as the surprise Team USA captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup, despite expectations for Tiger Woods to take the role.
The PGA of America confirmed its decision on Monday as the United States aim to bounce back from their 2023 humbling in Italy by Team Europe.
Woods had reportedly been in discussion with the PGA over leading his country next September, though Bradley emerged as a left-field contender late before the announcement.
"I am incredibly honored to accept this opportunity to Captain the United States Team at the 2025 Ryder Cup," Bradley said.
"I would like to thank the PGA of America Ryder Cup Committee for their trust in me as we embark on this journey to Bethpage Black.
"My passion and appreciation for golf's greatest team event have never been stronger.
"The Ryder Cup is unlike any other competition in our sport, and this edition will undoubtedly be particularly special given the rich history and enthusiastic spectators at this iconic course.
"I look forward to beginning preparations for 2025."
Stewart Cink, the 2009 Open champion, was another name alongside 15-time major winner Woods.
Yet Bradley will lead the USA fightback at Bethpage Black, succeeding Zach Johnson after a 16.5-11.5 defeat last year.
The 38-year-old Bradley is still an active member on the PGA Tour, having also featured twice as a player in defeats at the Ryder Cup in 2012 and 2014.
Former world number one Luke Donald will serve as Europe's captain for a second time, having led Europe to the aforementioned victory in Rome.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
