Oleksandr Usyk has confirmed he is preparing for his rematch with Anthony Joshua despite having returned to Ukraine to defend his country.

Usyk outclassed Joshua to claim the WBA Super, WBO and IBF titles in a unanimous points decision at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.

Joshua activated his rematch clause, but the contest was initially thrown into doubt when it appeared a step-aside deal that would have allowed Usyk to face Tyson Fury instead was in place, but that reportedly fell through when money could not be agreed with Joshua's camp. 

There were further complications added when the Ukrainian fighter returned home following Russia's invasion.

However, Usyk took to Instagram on Friday to confirm the rematch will take place and that he is preparing, posting a video accompanied by the words: "I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua, a large number of my friends support me, all the rest of the good and peace, Thank God for everything."

Promoter Eddie Hearn recently said Joshua could take an interim fight if he is made to wait for another bout with Usyk, but was confident the two would face each other at the end of June.

"I do think Usyk will take that fight next, we're looking at the end of June for that fight and that’s when the fight has got to take place by," Hearn said on the DAZN Boxing Show.

"If he's not ready, we'll push for an interim fight, but my gut feeling right now, and this could change is that you will be seeing Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk for the unified world heavyweight championship next."

Babar Azam was left to rue "soft dismissals" but says he has "full faith" in Pakistan after they suffered a 1-0 Test series defeat to Australia.

Nathan Lyon claimed 5-83 and the magnificent Pat Cummins took 3-23 as the tourists bowled Pakistan out for 235 on the final day to win by 115 runs at Gaddafi Stadium.

Imam-ul-Haq made 70 and the brilliant Babar 55, but Pakistan crumbled from 142-2 as Lyon snaffled a 19th five-wicket Test haul and man of the match Cummins finished with match figures of 8-79.

Captain Babar knows Pakistan only have themselves to blame after watching Australia get their hands on the Benaud-Qadir Trophy.

He said: "We didn't go defensive, we played positive cricket. You plan according to the situation. It's not like you go out, play big shots and go for the runs.

"We had a good session early in the day, but unfortunately we had soft dismissals and that's the reason we lost the game.

"We had a simple plan: to take the momentum in hand first and then think [about chasing the victory] after the tea. After lunch, we had a plan to play normal cricket.

"We weren't able to decide whether to go for a win or a draw. But with all those wickets falling, we decided to go deep as much as we could, but we were positive throughout.

"There were continuous discussions in our dressing room about chasing it down. But when your main batters are dismissed, you obviously start thinking differently.

"Still, Sajid [Khan] and I were trying to build a partnership and extend as much as we could, hoping we could draw. Yet we never held back, kept on playing shots and utilised whatever came in our area. So the mindset was positive but it didn't go in our way."

Babar is totally behind his players and is not contemplating making changes.

He added: "Overall the series went well, especially the Karachi Test where we dominated and saved the match. Unfortunately, I got out but even then we had our mindset on chasing.

"But mistakes are part of the game and it's too early to think about changes [to the team]. We don't have to forget their recent performances.

"Our entire team is experienced now, we have developed a good combination and I have full faith in them."

Roberto Mancini will be searching for answers after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup, and his mother has helpfully provided one: Mario Balotelli should have been called up.

Speaking on Rai Radio 1 on Friday, Marianna Puolo said Mancini's Azzurri would have benefited from Balotelli's power, and his inclusion could have staved off what played out in Palermo, where Italy lost 1-0 to North Macedonia.

Balotelli, a one-time teenage wonder who now plays for Adana Demirspor in Turkey's Super Lig, has long been a favourite with Mancini, dating back to their time together as player and coach at Inter and Manchester City.

Now 31, Balotelli earned a recall for an Italy training camp at the beginning of this year. He had not been capped by Italy since head coach Mancini played him three times in 2018, which followed a four-year absence from the national team.

There was no room for Balotelli in Italy's squad for the World Cup play-offs, however, and the semi-final defeat to North Macedonia means the four-time champions will miss this year's finals in Qatar, just as they were absent in Russia four years ago.

"We had the game in our hand, but the attack was not great," said Mancini's mother.

"What would I have done different? I would have called Balotelli, because he has incredible physical strength and nobody stops him in front of goal.

"Sometimes he does stupid things, but I would have called him."

Italy had 32 shots but could not find a goal against North Macedonia, who had four and hit the back of Gianluigi Donnarumma's net in stoppage time, breaking Italian hearts.

Puolo agreed with her son's post-match verdict that it would go down at the biggest disappointment of his career.

"Yes, because in his career he has more or less always done well," she said. "I heard him this morning, he was sorry, but we know that these things happen in sport."

Jorginho's 90th-minute missed penalty at 1-1 against Switzerland in Italy's penultimate group-stage qualifier ultimately proved highly costly. Had he tucked it away, Italy would have likely not needed a play-off.

Chelsea midfielder Jorginho also missed from the spot in the first game against Switzerland, which finished as a draw, too.

Mancini's mother gave her verdict on Jorginho, saying: "Of course he didn't do it on purpose, poor thing, but if you miss two or three penalties, in the end, you pay for it."

Pat Cummins says every member of the Australia side proved they can thrive in Asian conditions after they sealed a 1-0 Test series win over Pakistan.

Nathan Lyon took 5-83 and outstanding captain Cummins claimed 3-23 as the tourists won by 115 runs on the final day at Gaddafi Stadium to claim the Benaud-Qadir Trophy.

Both bowling attacks were made to toil on flat pitches throughout the three-match series in Australia's first tour of Pakistan since 1998.

Pakistan were unable to avoid defeat under pressure in Lahore, though, collapsing from 165-3 to 235 all out.

Test Championship leaders Australia face Sri Lanka in a two-match series in July and travel to India next year.

Man of the match Cummins says they will take huge confidence from beating Pakistan in their own backyard when they take on those challenges.

"It's probably potentially not as spinning conditions here as we might get in Sri Lanka," said the paceman.

"But I think in the past Asian tours that I've been on, there's a lot of talk when we leave Australia that we've got to change everything about our game to succeed over here.

"This is a good lesson that the basics of batting or bowling that make you a good player in Australia can hold up over here. If anything, I think it's reaffirmed that our games will hold up."

The number one Test bowler in the world added: "The amount of confidence we'll get out of winning over here, not just as a team but so many individuals.

"Every individual had their moment and has shown that their game stands up to Asian conditions. So it's huge for Sri Lanka later in the year, India next year. That's awesome."

For the time being, the tourists will savour a richly deserved series win.

Cummins said: "Everyone's just totally elated. Winning overseas just doesn't happen very often. It's been a real toil for the last 25, 30 days.

"We knew it was going to be totally different to normal life in Australia, under different conditions. And to come away with a series win is hugely satisfying."

Fabio Capello believes Italy's failure to qualify for back-to-back World Cups is due to a national obsession with following Pep Guardiola's Barcelona blueprint.

Former Milan, Real Madrid, Juventus and Roma boss Capello claims Italian football should have been following the German 'heavy metal' model rather than copying the more intricate noodling of the Spanish style of play.

Capello, who also coached Russia and England, cannot see why Italy would go against their great strengths by trying to match the high technical levels of Spain.

He told Sky Sport Italia: "The explanation is very simple. I have been saying for a long time that we are copying Guardiola's football of 15 years ago."

The 75-year-old Capello said this meant "all sideways passing, no verticality, little physical strength".

Guardiola built a Barcelona team on a possession-based game that was full of nuance, with players drilled to understand and adhere to its intricacies, and they became arguably the greatest club side of all time.

Capello does not see Italian players having the skill set to follow such a formula for success.

"Instead we should follow Klopp's model, a German-style football," Capello said.

Italy won the delayed Euro 2020 tournament last year, beating England on penalties in the Wembley final, but a 1-0 play-off semi-final defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday knocked them out of contention to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

Roberto Mancini's team had 564 passes to 309 by North Macedonia, owning 65.4 per cent of possession, and led the shot count 32-4, only to be stunned by a stoppage-time goal from the visitors in Palermo.

The Azzurri will be spectators from a distance for the tournament in November and December, having also missed out on the Russia 2018 finals.

"Macedonia on a physical level were superior to us in terms of dynamism, strength and determination," Capello said. "It is all clear: until we understand that the model to be copied is the German one, we will not move forward, because if we want to do it like the Spaniards, who have a superior technique, we will never be able to do it, we always do it at 50 per cent."

Capello said the Italian team to take heed of the German example were Atalanta, whose results showed it had benefits. They sit fifth in Serie A, having finished third last season, and are through to the Europa League quarter-finals.

"In Europe we play at a different pace, and we are not used to it," Capello said. "At the base there is this wrong idea of ​​football. We are the country of passing back to the goalkeeper."

Eden Hazard's Real Madrid injury nightmare could be in its final stages after the club confirmed he will have surgery to remove an osteosynthesis plate from his right fibula.

The 31-year-old has had almost chronic issues with his ankle in recent years, breaking it while on international duty with Belgium in 2017 and requiring a small metal plate to be implanted as a healing aid.

Muscular issues around that area of his leg reportedly started to become a more regular problem after being on the end of a strong challenge from Belgium team-mate Thomas Meunier during a Champions League game between Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in November 2019.

Shortly after returning from that "micro-fracture", Hazard suffered a more serious break to the fibula in February 2020, which required a larger metal plate to be inserted the following month.

Widespread reports since then have suggested Hazard feels that second plate has been the cause of his subsequent discomfort, with Madrid daily Marca claiming in March 2021 that he asked for it to be removed, but he and the club apparently could not come to an agreement.

But it would seem Madrid have finally given in, confirming on Friday that "in the coming days" Hazard will go under the knife to have the plate taken out.

Hazard's spell with Madrid has been a massive disappointment since he joined for €100million from Chelsea in 2019.

His impact has been limited by at least 13 separate spells of absence caused by injuries or illness, with his 17 LaLiga appearances this season the most he has managed during a single season across his three campaigns in Spain.

Madrid have not revealed a timeframe for Hazard's potential return, though it will surely be hoped he can return for the club's LaLiga run-in as they look to win the title.

Gareth Bale took aim at the media again on Friday, responding to scathing recent coverage of him in Spain.

The Wales international was the hero for his country on Thursday after scoring two excellent goals to seal a 2-1 win against Austria and put them just one game away from qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar.

However, Bale has rarely featured for Real Madrid, his club side, this season, playing in just five of their 42 matches in all competitions, totalling 270 minutes on the field – the equivalent of three whole games.

Spanish outlet Marca has labelled the winger a "parasite", also accusing him of "sucking" money out of the club.

Bale had described the criticism as "disgusting" after the Austria win, and he took to Twitter on Friday to further express his exasperation, saying journalists needed to be held accountable for the impact of their reports on athletes.

"The Daily Mail shining a light on this piece of slanderous, derogatory and speculative journalism by Marca," he wrote.

"At a time where people are taking their own lives because of the callousness and relentlessness of the media, I want to know, who is holding these journalists and the news outlets that allow them to write articles like this, accountable?

"Fortunately I have developed thick skin during my time in the public spotlight, but that doesn't mean articles like these don't cause damage and upset personally and professionally to those at the receiving end of these malicious stories.

"I have witnessed the toll the media can take on people's mental and physical health."

Bale moved to the Santiago Bernabeu from Tottenham in 2013 and has won two LaLiga titles, a Copa del Rey, four Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups.

"The media expect superhuman performances from professional athletes, and will be the first to celebrate with them when they deliver," he continued. "Yet instead of commiserating with them when they show an ounce of human error, they are torn to shreds instead, encouraging anger and disappointment in their fans.

"The everyday pressures on athletes is immense, and it's as clear as day how negative media attention could easily send an already stressed athlete, or anybody in the public eye, over the edge.

"I hope that by the time our children are of an age where they are able to ingest news, that journalism ethics and standards will have been enforced more stringently.

"So I want to use my platform to encourage change in the way we publicly talk about, and criticise people, simply for the most part, not meeting the often unrealistic expectations that are projected onto them.

"We all know who the real Parasite is!"

Lewis Hamilton is eager to get his teeth stuck into another Formula One title challenge as soon as possible, but his Mercedes continues to struggle in 2022.

New regulations in F1 this season, introduced to encourage "closer racing", have already shaken up the grid – to Hamilton's detriment.

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez would both have finished ahead of Hamilton, too, had Red Bull not suffered a dramatic double retirement.

The seven-time champion has been honest enough to acknowledge his W13 car lacks the pace of its rivals, but that does not mean he is happy to take a back seat.

"I don't currently feel too stressed, but I want to get in the fight as soon as possible," Hamilton said ahead of FP1 at the Saudi Arabian GP on Friday.

"The last race was an amazing feeling for us, given where we thought we were going to be, to come out with the result that we did.

"But we can't rely every weekend on that to happen, so we need to move fast, and move forward as fast as we can."

Hamilton would likely have been frustrated then by his performance in the first practice session later in the day, running in an alarming ninth as Leclerc and Ferrari again set the pace.

While Red Bull are confident they have mastered the issues that prompted their Bahrain DNFs, there is little evidence so far of Mercedes getting to grips with the porpoising that has caused Hamilton such problems.

Mercedes team-mate George Russell was down in 15th on Friday, but he at least appears a little more patient in his first year with the team.

"In Formula One, things change incredibly quickly," Russell said. "We are very fortunate that the calendar is not very dense at the start of this season, and even if it's a couple of months, we're only six or seven races down out of a 23-race season.

"If you come out of the blocks incredibly fast after the summer break, even as Mercedes and Lewis did last year, you're still in with a shot.

"So, we need to be in almost damage limitation mode at the moment, pick up the pieces where there's an opportunity, and don't throw away unnecessary points."

Mercedes have not failed to take either a pole position or race win through two grands prix of a season since 2013.

Meanwhile, Russell could become the second Silver Arrows driver – after Michael Schumacher in 2010 – to complete three races without reaching the podium, having deputised for Hamilton once while with Williams.

England manager Gareth Southgate said Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup shows how well his team have done since their agonising Euro 2020 final defeat.

The Azzurri were shocked by North Macedonia in the play-off semi-final on Thursday, losing 1-0 in Palermo to a stoppage time goal from Aleksandar Trajkovski, and will now miss their second consecutive World Cup.

Southgate suffered at the hands of Italy last year as he saw his Three Lions team beaten on penalties at Wembley in the final of Euro 2020, but while Roberto Mancini's team were unable to book their place in Qatar, England eased through their group, winning five and drawing two of their World Cup qualifiers since losing to the Azzurri.

Speaking at a media conference ahead of Saturday's friendly against Switzerland, Southgate said: "It was a big surprise [Italy losing]. It's clear that sometimes teams have a cycle. Whether that was the cycle or the after effects of the [Euro 2020] final and the emotion of it and everything else.

"I think that's where our players did so well, to recover from the emotion of the final and to perform as they did in the autumn was absolutely fantastic. I think qualifying is [easily underestimated], so I suspect looking at the results and performances, the way they went, Italy were in that position."

Jordan Henderson joined Southgate in front of the media, and also refused to celebrate the Italians' misfortune, saying when asked if the result made him smile: "Not really, to be honest. I'm just concentrated on what we need to do and teams that will be in the World Cup.

"I think what that does show is how difficult qualification can be. I think sometimes that's taken for granted and it's expected that you qualify for a World Cup or a Euros, so [Italy's loss is] proof that if you're not 100 per cent at it, you can be punished."

Southgate also revealed that the three debutants called up to his latest squad, Kyle Walker-Peters, Tyrick Mitchell and Marc Guehi, are likely to get minutes against either Switzerland or the Ivory Coast in the next week.

"Emile [Smith Rowe] didn't train today, so I would think unlikely he'll be involved tomorrow," he said. "Raheem [Sterling] is absolutely fine, it was a shame to lose Bukayo [Saka, following a COVID-19 test].

"We're going to have debuts this week for sure, whether it's tomorrow or Tuesday."

England manager Gareth Southgate appeared to dismiss the idea of the Three Lions boycotting the Qatar World Cup as a form of protest.

Qatar's poor human rights record has been a concern during the build-up to the 2022 finals, and England captain Harry Kane revealed on Wednesday that he and his fellow senior players are looking to do something to help raise awareness of these and other issues around the tournament.

The Gulf nation's stance towards women and the LGBTQ+ community was widely pointed to as a problem before FIFA awarded it the tournament in 2010. 

Meanwhile, the deaths of thousands of migrant workers have been reported during preparation for the finals, although Qatar's organising committee disputed what it called "inaccurate claims" around the number of fatalities.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's friendly against Switzerland, Southgate was asked if boycotting the tournament was an option being considered.

"I don't really know what that achieves. It would be a big story but the tournament would still go ahead," he said.

"I think as soon as we have entered the tournament, that is the point you decide. We've known for years [that it would be held in Qatar]. Is the stance against Qatar as a country or the specific issue? If it is Qatar as a country, then we are intertwined with other issues like we have seen with Russia with all sorts of investment in our country.

"Are we all going to stop shopping at Sainsbury's as a protest against Qatar? We are in such a complex world with deals as we have seen in Saudi Arabia recently. On the one hand, people are talking about the investment in Newcastle, on the other we are going asking them to reduce oil prices so we can get our petrol cheaper.

"I think we are all observing and thinking this is really difficult. This is complicated. I know the issues themselves aren't but the repercussions and diplomatic relations are extremely complicated.

"It is possible [boycotting], but I don't think that is a decision myself and the players can make.

"My understanding is that the discussions that the FA has had with organisations like Amnesty International, is that they feel there would be more change if we go and these things are highlighted so that is guiding the thinking."

Southgate was joined at the news conference by Jordan Henderson, who revealed the players have been briefed on the issues around Qatar during this training camp.

"I'd reiterate what Harry said about it the other day, I think he spoke very well," the Liverpool midfielder said when asked about human rights issues. "We've been briefed this week, which is really important, on the issues that are currently happening there and have happened over the last few years.

"We're digesting that [as a team], coming up with ideas of what we want to do going forward. It's an opportunity to shine a light on issues and how we can make changes for the better.

"We don't want to rush into things... we'll continue to speak and come up with something we want to do as a team."