Former Tottenham and England winger Aaron Lennon has announced his retirement from football.

Lennon made 28 Premier League appearances for Burnley last season, scoring twice, but was released by the club following their relegation to the Championship.

The 35-year-old initially said he would continue playing after becoming a free agent, but has now called time on a career in which he played 416 Premier League games and won 21 England caps. 

Having come through Leeds United's youth system, Lennon enjoyed a successful 10-year spell at Tottenham between 2005 and 2015, featuring in 266 league games for the club and playing a key role in their 2007-08 EFL Cup win – which remains Spurs' most recent major trophy. 

In a statement posted to Twitter, Lennon said: "I've finally decided that the time is right to hang my boots up. Having weighed up my options, I didn't feel any were right for me and my young family.

"It has been a very tough decision as football has been my life since probably the age of three, and the last 20 years, playing professionally at the very top, has been so amazing.

"There is so much I want to do and give back with all my experiences on and off the pitch and [I] will be doing so in the near future. Football world, thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Tyson Fury says it would be "an absolute dying travesty" if he does not fight Anthony Joshua before he hangs up his gloves for good.

The WBC heavyweight champion has been touted for a match-up with his fellow Briton for a number of years, only to see each attempt to set up a bout fall short.

A fight looked closer than ever earlier this year before another breakdown in negotiations, leaving Fury instead to set up another fight with Derek Chisora next month.

Though Fury has retired, or indicated he would quit, multiple times before, the 34-year-old now says he will not depart from the sport before he fights his rival.

"I don't think I can retire today," he told The High Performance podcast. "Because I need that Joshua fight. We have been trying to make that fight for years.

"It's the fight that people want to see. It's the fight that I want to see as a boxing fan. 

"I think it would be an absolute dying travesty if me and Joshua didn't fight in this era."

Elsewhere, Fury spoke about the fresh wave of talent in the heavyweight division, led by Oleksandr Usyk, that has emerged around him, and how he sometimes wonders whether he still has the fight in him.

"For the last four or five years, there has been this three-headed monster: me, [Deontay] Wilder, Joshua," he added.

"Joshua and Wilder have been slain, and I'm the last one standing.

"All of a sudden, you've got some new people coming up now - Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois, and Usyk's gate-crashed the party.

"Now there's a load of new blood that wasn't there five years ago and it's like, 'Can you beat this person?'."

Fury will fight Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 3.

Cristiano Ronaldo's scathing criticism of Manchester United will not have an impact on Portugal's quest for World Cup glory in Qatar, insists midfielder Joao Mario.

Ronaldo has endured a torrid season after reportedly expressing his desire to leave Old Trafford in the transfer window, making just four Premier League starts and only scoring once in the competition.

Having been temporarily exiled from first-team activities by Erik ten Hag after refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenham last month, Ronaldo's United future is again in doubt following his decision to grant an explosive interview to Piers Morgan.

In early excerpts published from the interview, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner claimed to have been "betrayed" by United and said he has no respect for Ten Hag.

Ronaldo is set to begin his fifth and likely final World Cup campaign this month, and international team-mate Joao Mario does not believe Portugal will suffer for the 37-year-old's actions.

"I don't see a problem with the timing, so it's fine for us," Joao Mario said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

"I don't think it puts further pressure on him or on us. We're used to dealing with great pressure.

"It's not the first time that a player comes to the national team having a problem with his club. One of the advantages is that we put everything to the side when we are here. 

"When we get to the national team, it's another working group and we try to focus on what's most important.

"The headlines are always about him. Honestly, every time we come to the national team, the first questions asked are always about Ronaldo. The focus is always on him, and we are used to that.

"He is always happy when he is with national team. I saw him yesterday and he is fine, as always when he arrives here. 

"He is totally focused on the national team and he is going to be a big help for us at the World Cup."

Portugal will begin their Group H campaign against Ghana on November 24 after taking on Nigeria in a pre-tournament friendly on Thursday.

Having scored at the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups, Ronaldo could become the first player to score in five different editions of the tournament when he takes to the field in Qatar.

However, all seven of his World Cup goals to date have come in the group stage – no player has scored more goals at the tournament without finding the net in a knockout game.

Liverpool's Fabio Carvalho has opted to stop representing Portugal at Under-21 level.

Carvalho – who has made 11 Premier League appearances in his first campaign with the Reds, scoring twice – previously played for England at younger age levels.

The attacking midfielder most recently made six appearances for England's Under-18s between 2019 and 2020.

Having not yet played at senior international level, he could pursue a career with the Three Lions after deciding to step back from playing for the country of his birth.

Carvalho had been named in Rui Jorge's Portugal Under-21 squad for upcoming friendlies against the Czech Republic and Japan before the 20-year-old informed the Portuguese Football Federation [FPF] of the move.

A statement from the FPF read: "Fabio Carvalho informed the Portuguese Football Federation, through some SMS messages, that he does not intend to continue representing Portugal at the under-21 level.

"This decision by the player was communicated after the call-up for the preparation games with the Czech Republic and Japan was known."

Rory McIlroy has called for Greg Norman to leave his role as chief executive of the LIV Golf Invitational Series to end the "stalemate" engulfing the sport.

World number one McIlroy has been one of the most prominent critics of the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed circuit, which is locked in legal cases against both the PGA and DP World Tours.

McIlroy called for LIV to do more to end the bitter feud between the circuits in September, declaring: "the ball is in their court".

However, Norman said he had "no interest" in sitting down for talks with the PGA that same month and McIlroy believes his presence is harming the sport.

"Greg needs to go. He needs to exit stage left," McIlroy said ahead of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

"He's made his mark, but I think now is the right time to say you've got this thing off the ground but no one's going to talk unless there's an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.

"There are obviously two lawsuits going on at the minute. There's the PGA Tour versus LIV and there's obviously this one that's coming up with the DP World Tour in February.

"Nothing can happen if those two things are going on. Right now, it is a bit of a stalemate."

The need to compete with LIV Golf has prompted the PGA Tour to increase prize funds for next year, leading Norman to suggest McIlroy and Tiger Woods – another critic of LIV Golf – should be "thankful" for what the breakaway circuit has brought to the game.

However, McIlroy believes everyone in golf should instead direct their gratitude towards 15-time major champion Woods.

"I've said this a million times, Tiger is the reason that we are playing for as much as we are playing for," McIlroy added. "Tiger is the reason that the stature of our game is where it is.

"The generation of Tiger and the generation coming after Tiger have all benefited from him and his achievements and what he's done for the game of golf.

"I don't think Tiger should be thankful to anyone for anything. I think everyone else in the game should be thankful."

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez's disagreement at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix has left former world champion Jenson Button "amazed" over potential discord in the Red Bull garage.

The pair were involved in late drama during Sunday's race, when the Dutchman defied team orders and refused to cede a place to his team-mate in the closing stages at Interlagos.

Vertsappen, who has wrapped up a second consecutive drivers' championship already, denied Perez the chance to move second in the standings ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with his move.

The incident prompted cryptic but heated comments from both men, and now Button - who won the 2009 title with Brawn - has mused on the reasons behind their spat.

"I'm more amazed by [Perez's] comment, I love it, 'Shows who he really is'," Button said on the Sky Sports programme Any Driven Monday.

"It's a tricky one because we just hear one side of it, we don't hear what his reasons are.

"It doesn't come across well, and when you hear his comments saying 'No I'm not letting him past, I've got my reasons', if we don't hear the reasons we think Max is being selfish, he's not thinking about the team or his team-mate.

"I did see something in the media, I don't know if it's factual, but I think he was very upset about the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying where [Perez] ended up in the wall.

"Maybe that's his reason for not wanting to give the place up, because it hurt his qualifying in Monaco and maybe he thought [Perez] found the wall easier than he should have."

A qualifying crash for Perez prevented a potential pole position for Verstappen in Monaco, where the Mexican ultimately went on to win.

It has been suggested the Dutchman's actions have been in response to that, though Perez has since respected team orders on multiple occasions to give his fellow Red Bull man a race advantage this season.

England's T20 World Cup success can be used as a springboard to cement their status as one of the all-time great white-ball sides, believes Ryan Sidebottom.

A five-wicket win over Pakistan in Melbourne means Jos Buttler's side are the first men's team to hold both major ICC titles, having won the 50-over World Cup in 2019 on home soil.

Victory in Australia means England become just the second team to win the T20 World Cup twice, with Sidebottom having been a member of the 2010 title-winning side.

A failure to capitalise on that initial success meant it was the best part of a decade before they triumphed again in limited-overs cricket, but the former Yorkshire bowler thinks they are primed to push on this time.

"When we won it in 2010, we had an opportunity to go on and build, get better as a nation and we kind of got left behind again," he told Stats Perform.

"But now we have a huge opportunity to become the best, [to be] number one in the world in all formats. We've got the players, we've got the facilities now.

"I think we've got everything. We can achieve great things. I really believe that if we keep moving forward and keep striving to get better and better."

No small part of England's success came from the performances of Sam Curran, with the Surrey all-rounder named player of the tournament for his performances with the ball.

Having been far from an assured first-choice pick before arriving in Australia, the 24-year-old has effectively cemented his place, with Sidebottom feeling he is an invaluable piece of the puzzle now.

"I think he's been amazing," he added. "He's improved so much as a cricket. You throw the ball to Sam Curran, and he makes things happen.

"That's quite a rare commodity for someone. You know he's either going to take a wicket or do something very special. [England] have so many left-armers, but he's been the pick of everyone."

Cristiano Ronaldo endured a frosty reception from Manchester United team-mate Bruno Fernandes as they reunited for Portugal's World Cup preparations.

The superstar forward, who has cut a frustrated figure at Old Trafford this term following an off-season spent reportedly seeking an exit, roundly criticised the club in an interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan. 

In excerpts published ahead of the full discussion, Ronaldo took aim at boss Erik ten Hag, United's ownership under the Glazer family, and several other members of their hierarchy.

His comments have been widely criticised since, though with United now not in domestic action until after Qatar 2022, Ronaldo's interaction with club-mates was always going to be minimised.

That is not the case with fellow Portugal international Fernandes, however, who appeared to snub Ronaldo upon meeting him as part of Fernando Santos' squad earlier this week.

In a video published by the team's official social media channels, the midfielder seems to ignore his team-mate's outstretched hand on arrival into the dressing room, only to turn back and shake before walking away.

Portugal will hope any disharmony between the two can quickly be put to one side with the duo key figures in their hopes of success.

They begin their World Cup campaign against Ghana on November 24 in Group H, before further fixtures against Uruguay and South Korea.

Ron Rivera hailed the unity of his Washington Commanders players after they handed the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season following a turbulent week.

The Commanders stunned the NFL's only remaining unbeaten team, claiming a 32-21 win at Lincoln Financial Field.

Washington dominated the game on the ground, finishing with 157 rushing yards as they controlled the clock, holding the ball for more than 40 minutes and limiting the Eagles to under 20 minutes of possession.

"We found that one of the best ways to slow [Eagles quarterback] Jalen Hurts down is to keep him off the field," Rivera said.

Rivera was emotional after the win, which came just weeks after the death of his mother.

It also came amid more controversy surrounding the team's ownership.

Last week, the attorney general for Washington, D.C. announced he had filed a civil lawsuit against the Commanders, owner Daniel Snyder, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly colluding to deceive fans and district residents over the NFL's investigation into the franchise's toxic workplace culture and allegations of sexual assault.

The Commanders then received widespread criticism for responding to the attorney general with a statement referencing the shooting of running back Brian Robinson Jr. in an attempted robbery in August.

Robinson has since returned to the field after recovering from his injuries, and it was he who played a leading role in the win over the Eagles.

The rookie rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown as the Commanders made it four wins in their last five.

"In a situation like this, I've always thought that we've got the kind of guys in that locker room that can do things, and we're starting to see it come together," added Rivera.

"It meant a lot because the guys were able to stay focused. It resonates with these guys, the hard work is beginning to pay off.

"Coming into this game we felt we had an opportunity. We told the guys don't worry what's going on out there, just stay focused on what's important; I'll handle all the interesting stuff. They did that. We went into it with the attitude, 'Don't be surprised.'"

Plenty may be surprised to see the Commanders firmly in the playoff mix at 5-5, but Rivera is keen for his team not to get ahead of themselves.

He explained: "We can't just sit back and say we've arrived, because we have not arrived."

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."