Jose Mourinho has made a surprise appearance in the latest music video released by British rapper Stormzy.

The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss, currently at Roma, is seen shushing the camera in trademark fashion during the video for Stormzy's single "Mel Made Me Do It".

As the camera pans to Mourinho, Stormzy quotes one of the most iconic lines from the three-time Premier League champion's career, rapping: "I prefer not to speak like I'm Jose".

After being angered by the officials' performance during Chelsea's loss to Aston Villa in 2014, Mourinho said: "I prefer not to speak. If I speak I'm in big trouble".

Mourinho posted an image of himself alongside Stormzy on Instagram on Thursday, writing: "Was great fun doing this cameo for Stormzy's new music video out today. I had a great time."

Mourinho's fiery demeanour in news conferences may have earned him a long rap sheet during his time in football, but few would have expected this.

Gareth Southgate is ready to stake his reputation on the continued selection of Harry Maguire, insisting the out-of-favour Manchester United defender remains one of England's most important players. 

Maguire has been dropped to the bench for United's run of four consecutive Premier League victories, having started their back-to-back defeats to open the campaign last month. 

The defender has only started one of United's past five games in all competitions – a 1-0 Europa League loss to Real Sociedad – leading to criticism of Southgate's decision to call him up for England's remaining Nations League fixtures.

But speaking ahead of England's meeting with Italy at San Siro, which is followed by the visit of Germany on Monday, Southgate insisted Maguire remains central to his plans.

"Whatever reputation I have I'm putting it on there," Southgate said. "I think you always have to back your judgement, and we feel he is an important player.

"Clearly, it's not an ideal situation. You want your best players playing regularly so that they're physically in a good place and mentally in a good place. 

"But he is an important player for us. I think it's important to back our best players.

"I haven't felt the need to speak to him any differently to the rest of the players. Look, he understands that he's at a big club, big transfer fee and captain of the club so I think that's why the spotlight has been on him more. 

"But he's focused on training well every day and getting himself back in the [United] team."

While Southgate acknowledges a lack of alternatives contributed to his decision to stand by Maguire, he also highlighted the ball-playing ability of the defender and his partner John Stones.

"If we thought there were experienced players ready to step in and play at a level above, there would be a different consideration and in some positions there would be a different level of competition in that way," Southgate said. "He is our most dominant aerial centre-back.

"Him and John are incredible with the ball really – the amount of pressure they have taken for the team in tournaments we have played because we don't always have that midfield pivot player who can progress the game.

"It means there is a huge amount of pressure on our centre-backs to use the ball well and those two are as good as any in world football at doing that."

England have only lost two of their past 26 matches, both against Hungary in June's Nations League fixtures (W18 D6). 

However, the Three Lions are also winless in their past four games (D2 L2), their longest such run since June 2014 (five), and a defeat to Italy in Milan would condemn Southgate's side to relegation from the Nations League's top tier.

Eden Hazard has vowed he will return to his best form once his "delicate situation" at Real Madrid has been resolved.

The Belgium international showed flashes of quality during his 65 minutes on the field in his country's 2-1 Nations League win over Wales on Thursday.

That was the longest Hazard has played in a single match this season, having been restricted to just one start across Madrid's nine matches, each of those ending in victory.

Hazard's place in Belgium's line-up has been called into question ahead of the World Cup, and the ex-Chelsea forward acknowledged he needs to be playing more regularly.

"I was happy to start another match," he told RTL. "You saw that, I think. I'm happy when I play and it was nice to play for the supporters here [in Brussels] again.

"I know what I can do. Now I want to get in shape for the World Cup. We'll see what the coach [Roberto Martinez] decides, but I'm happiest when I play.

"When I play, I give it my all. It's a delicate situation at Real Madrid. I feel like playing more, but I can't do more.

"I've always said the old Eden Hazard will come back when he plays. I just need to get back into the rhythm."

Michy Batshuayi and Kevin De Bruyne both linked up with a goal and an assist each to give Belgium a 2-0 lead against Wales, who pulled one back through Kieffer Moore.

Martinez's side remain within three points of Group A4 leaders Netherlands ahead of travelling to Amsterdam on Sunday for their final game.

"We are going to try to play a good game there and prepare ourselves for the World Cup," Hazard said.

"I'm glad we played so well after the [Wales] goal. We can learn a lot from this for the next games."

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is not considering a change at quarterback despite Mitch Trubisky's struggles in the second half of Thursday's 29-17 loss at the Cleveland Browns. 

Trubisky started well as the Steelers took a 14-13 half-time lead, completing eight of his first nine passes and adding a rushing touchdown.

But he completed just 11 of his subsequent 22 passes as Pittsburgh's offense stalled, with Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett and star running back Nick Chubb taking control.

The struggles of the Steelers' QB led to suggestions they could introduce rookie Kenny Pickett, but Tomlin insisted that was not in his thoughts after the loss.

"I'm not in that mindset, I'm interested in reviewing this tape, looking at the totality of it and figuring out how we collectively get better," Tomlin said.

"The answer to that question is definitively no." 

Asked about Trubisky's showing, Tomlin added: "I thought he made some plays, but we all collectively came up short. 

"That's how we measure performance. Winning is our business and we didn't handle business. So we don't break that apart and look for the feel-good.

"Credit to Cleveland, they did what was required for victory, you've got to acknowledge that. 

"If you can't slow down Chubb, you can't beat this group. We knew that and we didn't get it done, so we've got to own the outcome and we will."

Alongside Brissett and Chubb, Amari Cooper proved influential for Cleveland as he continued his strong form since arriving in a trade from the Dallas Cowboys.

The wide receiver made seven catches for 101 yards, his second straight 100-yard game, and teammate Brissett was delighted by his contribution.

"I mean he's been unbelievable," Brissett said. "He's one of the smartest, hardest-working players I've ever worked with, comes out here every week, every day working hard, putting in the work and it's just a pleasure to play with him. 

"I know that he wants to just continue to keep this going."

Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski echoed those thoughts, adding: "I'm trying to find new ways to tell you guys how impressed I am with number two. I mean he's really, really smart. 

"He's a great teammate, runs every route imaginable... he's so versatile, he's such a big, physical receiver, he's trustworthy."

Tom Brady has brushed off concerns about an injury to the ring finger of his throwing hand despite the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback appearing in discomfort at practice on Thursday.

The 45-year-old has had a slow start in the first two games of the season, throwing for fewer than 225 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since Week 14 and 15 of the 2019 season.

Brady has thrown two touchdown passes for 402 yards with a 59 per cent completion rate, but despite that the Bucs have a winning record at 2-0, largely due to their defense.

The seven-time Super Bowl winner revealed earlier this week he had injured his right ring finger in Sunday's 20-10 win over the New Orleans Saints.

Brady appeared in discomfort at practice on Thursday, too, but downplayed any issue ahead of Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers.

"Great. I feel great," Brady told reporters with a hint of sarcasm. "It's football season."

Brady was not named on the Buccaneers' injury report earlier this week.

He had told the 'Let's Go!' Podcast on Monday: "I banged it up pretty good, but it didn't affect me at all in the game. It's just going to be sore throughout the week. But it's one of those bumps and bruises that comes along with playing.

"Different things – you get hit and you get kicked and you get kneed – all these things that come up. It's demolition derby out there.

"It's who can recover fast enough in order to put yourself in position to practice, prepare and then go play the next week, so lots of bumps and bruises to take care of over the season."

Kevin De Bruyne is the "most incredible playmaker in world football" according to Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez.

The Manchester City midfielder dazzled with a goal and an assist in Belgium's 2-1 win over Wales in the Nations League on Thursday.

De Bruyne, who is the reigning Premier League Player of the Season, also had a first-half shot hit the post.

"It's a message for all our fans, don't take for granted watching Kevin De Bruyne play," Martinez told reporters. "For me he's the most incredible playmaker in world football at this present time.

"His way of seeing the game, his way of seeing the time and space and then the execution in front of goal.

"I thought his performance was magical today. But he's been doing that consistently... I look back at Poland [1-0 win in June]. Sometimes I look at him, we're so lucky to have a player like Kevin."

The 31-year-old's 2021-22 Premier League Player of the Season gong was the second of his career, also earning the honour in 2019-20.

The former Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen and Genk midfielder has had a decorated career, starting with winning the Bundesliga Player of the Year in 2014-15.

More recently, De Bruyne is a four-time PFA Premier League Team of the Year member and has helped City to four Premier League titles. He also won the 2019-20 Champions League Midfielder of the Season.

The Belgian was named as one of the nominees last month for this year's Ballon d'Or with the winner to be announced in October, having finished eighth in 2021.

Aaron Judge could not hit an historic 61st home run but the New York Yankees claimed a 5-4 walk-off win over the Boston Red Sox to clinch their postseason berth on Thursday.

Judge walked three times and came agonisingly close in the ninth inning with a fly out to center-field, meaning his 2022 season home-run tally remains at 60, equal with Babe Ruth and one behind Roger Maris for the American League (AL) record.

With scores locked at 4-4 in the ninth inning, Judge fell a few feet short of his historic 61st home run for the season, caught at deep center-field by Enrique Hernandez.

But there was plenty for the fans at Yankee Stadium to get excited about, with Josh Donaldson's 10th-inning RBI single getting Marwin Gonzalez home for the walk-off win. Donaldson hit a bouncing ball to the left side past third baseman Rafael Devers from Kaleb Ort for the game-winning run.

Earlier, Giancarlo Stanton headlined a four-run seventh-inning rally after trailing 3-0 with a two-run blast.

The victory means the Yankees clinch a playoffs berth for the sixth consecutive year, with an AL East-best record of 91-58 this season.

Wong's career-first three-homer game

Kolten Wong had a career game as he blasted three home runs out of the five-spot as the Milwaukee Brewers won 5-1 over the Cincinnati Reds.

Wong crushed a second-inning two-run blast to open the scoring, before backing that up with another two-run homer in the sixth inning to provide some insurance.

In the eighth inning, Wong homered again over right-field, bringing up his 15th blast of the season and his maiden three-homer game and first five-RBI game in his career.

Rookie's immaculate inning in Cubs win

Rookie Chicago Cubs pitcher Hayden Wesneski registered the first immaculate inning for the franchise since 2004 in their 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In just his second start, Wesneski struck out Jack Suwinski, Zack Collins and Jason Delay across nine second-inning pitches.

Wesneski finished the game with six strikeouts and two walks, allowing two runs on five hits, having turned in six-and-one-third innings.

Top seed Daniel Evans eased into the San Diego Open quarter-finals with a straight-sets victory over Taro Daniel on Thursday.

The Briton, who was beaten by Marin Cilic last month in the US Open third round, triumphed 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes over Daniel.

World number 25 Evans was not broken once despite Daniel generating four break points, while the Briton only had nine unforced errors for the match, hitting 19 winners.

Evans' return was excellent throughout, while he won 64 per cent on his second serve, which held him in good stead as he looks to claim a career-first ATP title after making August's Canadian Open semi-finals.

Evans will take on Frenchman Constant Lestienne who made light work of Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-1 6-3, converting five of eight break points.

Fifth seed Brandon Nakashima triumphed in the late game, getting past fellow American Denis Kudla 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 16 minutes, in a fine display that included 12 aces, 25 winners and only five unforced errors.

Fourth seed Pedro Martinez was the major casualty of the day, letting slip an early lead to lose 5-7 6-1 6-4 to Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan in almost three hours. Galan hit 44 winners compared to Martinez's 28, while he also generated 18 break points.

Eighth seed J.J. Wolf was also bundled out, losing 6-3 7-5 to Australian Christopher O'Connell who sent down 12 aces and hit 23 winners.

Second seed and world number 50 Jenson Brooksby needed almost two hours to get past countryman Mackenzie McDonald 6-4 3-6 6-2.

The Cleveland Browns are now 2-1 after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-17 on Thursday night thanks to excellent offensive showings from quarterback Jacoby Brissett and star running back Nick Chubb.

Brissett was impressive for the Browns, finishing 21-of-31 for 220 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions as Amari Cooper hauled in seven catches for 101 yards and Njoku caught nine balls for 89 yards. On the ground, Chubb posted strong figures of 23 carries for 113 yards.

Pittsburgh's offense stalled as Mitch Trubisky started the game with nine completions from his first 10 passes, before only being able to complete 11-of-22 the rest of the way, with the Steelers only scoring once in the second half, a consolation field goal.

In a game predicted to be a defensive struggle, both teams were able to move the ball early, with the Browns capping off a seven-play, 60-yard drive in the first quarter with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Brissett to Cooper, giving Cooper his second game in a row with a score.

Pittsburgh workhorse Najee Harris punched in a five-yard run with the first play of the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7. The Harris touchdown drive included a stunning 36-yard catch from Steelers rookie George Pickens, with his one-handed snag while falling backwards sure to go down as one of the catches of the season. 

David Njoku was the next player to find the endzone, with the big Cleveland tight end coming down with a high pass from Brissett to retake the lead, before Steelers quarterback Mitchell Trubisky punctuated a 10-play drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

Cleveland led 16-14 heading into the last quarter and manufactured a six-and-a-half minute, 11-play, 80-yard drive, resulting in Chubb converting a fourth-and-goal at the one yard line.

The Browns' defense was able to add a late stat-padding score as the Steelers desperately tried to pitch laterals around in the backfield on the final play, resulting in a fumble for Pro Bowl safety Denzel Ward to fall on for a touchdown.

Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has officially been suspended by the franchise for the entire 2022-23 season for an "improper" consensual relationship with a female staff member.

Udoka, who in his first year as a head coach guided the Celtics to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2010, will be replaced by assistant Joe Mazzulla as interim head coach, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Mazzulla was considered a finalist for the Utah Jazz head coaching role that ended up going to fellow Celtics assistant Will Hardy, after former Celtics general manager Danny Ainge took the top role in Utah.

In a 46-word statement on Thursday night, the Celtics confirmed reports from ESPN and The Athletic that they have opted to sideline Udoka for the full season for what they call "violations of team policies".

Udoka also released a brief apology, saying: "I want to apologise to our players, fans the entire Celtics organisation, and my family for letting them down. I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team's decision. Out of respect for everyone involved, I will have no further comment."

Quarterback controversies don’t usually benefit anyone, but Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would not mind if his team became embroiled in one.

With Dak Prescott currently sidelined by thumb surgery, Cooper Rush led the Cowboys to a 20-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday and will be the starter again Monday night against the New York Giants. Rush has won both of his career starts on final-minute drives.

Jones' hope is that Rush plays so well that it will not be completely clear cut that Prescott would get his job back when he’s healthy, which could be as soon as October 2 against the Washington Commanders.

"Of course I would. Of course. That means we’d have won," Jones said. "If he comes in there and plays as well as Prescott played, Rush? Played that well over these next games ahead? I’d walk to New York to get that."

There is precedent in Dallas for an injured quarterback to lose his job. In 2016, Prescott, then a rookie, filled in for an injured Tony Romo and led the Cowboys to a franchise-record 11-game winning streak. Romo never regained his starting job.

"Well, of course we want Dak to be here next week," Jones said. "That’s the thing. You do. But Dak and I want Rush to lead the team to a victory here and get another win and get another win. That’s the only way to look at it. Looking back when Dak was playing instead of Tony, it was game by game. It wasn’t the long look we had after two months to look back."

Regardless of how well Rush plays, the Cowboys last year signed Prescott to a four-year, $160million contract extension that includes $126m in guaranteed money. That would be a massive amount of money to pay for a backup quarterback.

Former Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton says he would be interested in returning to the NFL as a head coach in 2023 if the "right situation presented".

Payton, 58, led the New Orleans Saints to victory in Super Bowl XLIV in the 2009 season but stepped down from the franchise at the end of last season after 16 campaigns at the helm.

The 2006 AP Coach of the Year is working in the media with Fox Sports as an NFL analyst in 2022, but revealed he remains interested in coaching.

"If the right situation presented itself, I would definitely be interested," Payton told the NewOrleans.Football podcast.

"And there's no utopia, if you will, when it comes to teams, but if I felt like it was the right situation, I would have an interest in that. That all being said, that could come in a year, that could come in two years.

"The most important element is functional ownership [and] front office… because there's a handful of teams that aren't, and those teams, regardless of what takes place, they can win on Sunday but they have trouble winning long term.

"The opportunity to win consistently and the willingness to build the correct culture and all those things."

Payton's record with the Saints was 152-89 – the 13th-best of all time (minimum 100 games) – along with a 9-8 postseason record, forming a great partnership with quarterback Drew Brees with the highlight being the Saints' 31-17 Super Bowl win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season after the Saints' 'Bountygate' scandal blew up, with players said to have been rewarded by fellow team members for injuring and knocking opponents out of games. He returned to lead the team with distinction again, albeit unable to secure a return to the Super Bowl.

The 58-year-old is under contract through 2024 with the Saints, meaning any new franchise hiring him would need to pay compensation to New Orleans.

Kawhi Leonard appears to be well on his way back to an NBA court after missing the entire 2021-22 season as a result of suffering a torn ACL during the 2021 playoffs.

More than a year since his last competitive game, Leonard has been cleared to participate in five-on-five drills when the Los Angeles Clippers begin training camp next week, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank announced Thursday.  

The team, however, will ease Leonard back into the fold as he recovers from his knee reconstruction, taking a "cautious" approach.  

"He feels great," Frank said. "His plan is, look, he wants to participate in everything. And I think organisationally, we're going to be cautious. So it will be a step-by-step approach.” 

Frank would not say if Leonard will participate in preseason games.  

"When you're dealing with a major injury, you can't predict," Frank said. "I know with him, he wants to do everything, but we'll just kind of see how he feels each day. We have an outstanding medical team, and we're playing the long game with it. So we're not going to get into predictions, what he will do or he won't do. 

"We'll figure out, is that best for his body? One day it may be. The next day, we'll have to reassess. We'll rely on the feedback we get from Kawhi, obviously from the medical team. It's too early to predict. We have time before we need to get there." 

Regarded as one of the early title favourites, the Clippers’ ultimate goal is to have Leonard at full strength next spring for a postseason run. Los Angeles is tied with the Golden State Warriors for the shortest title odds in the Western Conference at 7-to-1, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.  

The other crucial piece to a potential playoff run for the Clippers is Paul George, who has been recovering from a torn ligament in his shooting elbow, but is ready to go, according to Frank.

"His elbow is 100 percent healthy," Frank said. "Paul has had an extremely purposeful, driven, and very productive off-season, in that his consistency of training has been off the charts. Plus, he continues to take more and more of an ownership and leadership role."