Dejan Kulusevski says his time at Tottenham has been a "breath of fresh air" after a "frustrating" period with Juventus.

Kulusevski joined Tottenham in January on an initial 18-month loan deal, which includes an obligation to buy if certain objectives are met.

The Sweden international signed for Juve in a €35million deal in January 2020 and spent the rest of that season – which ended with him crowned Serie's A's Best Young Player – on loan with Parma.

He made 47 appearances in his sole full campaign at the Allianz Stadium, with only Adrien Rabiot featuring as many times for the Serie A giants.

Kulusevski scored seven goals and assisted six more across all competitions in an encouraging first year in Turin, but he had been directly involved in just five goals in 27 outings this campaign.

Of those 27 games under Massimiliano Allegri – the joint-third most of any Juve player – just seven were starts, with the versatile attacker dropping down the pecking order.

Kulusevski has impressed since his arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, scoring twice and claiming four assists in nine Premier League appearances. Indeed, only Harry Kane and Son Heung-min have created more goals (both five) for Spurs than him all season in the English top flight.

"Things can change so quickly for a player," Kulusevski told reporters ahead of Sweden's World Cup play-off semi-final against Czech Republic on Thursday.

"There were many things at Juventus that weren't working and it was very frustrating. I played one match a month always in a new position. My body did not feel good, I did not feel physically strong.

"At Tottenham, there's a breath of fresh air. I have a better rapport with the coach, I was trained better and my physique has improved."

Tottenham are next in action on April 3 when they host Newcastle United in the Premier League. 

England captain Harry Kane has called for a collective effort from his fellow international skippers to highlight the human rights issues in Qatar ahead of this year's World Cup.

Qatar's poor human rights record has been a concern during the build-up to the 2022 finals.

The nation's stance towards women and the LGBTQ+ community was widely raised as an issue 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.

England manager Gareth Southgate described it as a "great shame" after learning of female and LGBTQ+ supporters who were subsequently staying away from the tournament.

Southgate led a briefing to his squad at St George’s Park on Tuesday about the issues surrounding Qatar's hosting of the finals – most notably the rights of women, the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers.

There was also input from other FA staff members including chief executive Mark Bullingham and Edleen John, the director of international relations, corporate affairs and co-partner for equality, diversity and inclusion.

Skipper Kane mentioned his Tottenham team-mates Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min – who captain France and South Korea respectively – as he called for a united approach and strength in numbers to drive lasting social change in the country.

Addressing the media ahead of England's friendly against Switzerland on Saturday, the striker said: "I feel as a group, we've never shied away from important issues, and we've always had our opinions and tried to show unity in anything we've done.

"That's what will happen now over this camp and the next camp to try to help in any way we can to support those issues.

"As players, we didn't choose where this World Cup was going to be. But what it has done is shine a light on important issues which might not have come to light if the World Cup wasn't there.

"We have to try to help as much as possible to understand the issues and the situations. We're no experts in that field at the moment in terms of what we know but as always, we try to help in any way we can, we try to use our platform to help in any way we can.

"I understand there has been some progress on certain issues in the country so far. What my hope is that having the World Cup there and having this light on the country will help try and progress some of the issues which have been going on for a long time.

"There's a couple of other national team captains in my team at Tottenham, maybe [I will be] talking to other national team captains to see whether we can be unified in what we try and do and approach it.

"That's something myself and some of the senior players in the team will look to try to achieve over the coming months.

"There's still a lot of progress to be made. But hopefully all of us, like we have done in the past, can try to make change with the platforms that we have."

Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler is returning to the New England Patriots on a two-year deal worth up to $9million.

Butler, 32, famously intercepted would-be go-ahead touchdown pass at the goal-line to give the Patriots a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Two years after his Super Bowl heroics, Butler signed a big-money, five-year deal with the Tennessee Titans, who released the cornerback after three seasons.

His unsuccessful stint with the Titans was followed by a brief stay on the Arizona Cardinals' roster, with Butler retiring in August citing "personal reasons" before playing a regular-season game.

He was released by the Cardinals in February, and will now attempt to revive his career under the stewardship of Bill Belichick once again.

Chelsea are allowed to sell tickets to away games, cup matches and women's fixtures after the United Kingdom government altered the Premier League club's special licence.

The Blues had been granted the licence to continue operating after owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the government as part of its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The restrictions meant the club were not allowed to sell any tickets that had not already been purchased prior to the announcement on March 10.

However, a change to the licence means Chelsea will now be able to sell tickets for certain games. 

Those include the home leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid on April 6 and the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium against Crystal Palace on the weekend of April 16.

Chelsea fans can also purchase tickets for future Premier League away fixtures, with any revenue going to the home team.

Supporters of away teams, meanwhile, can buy tickets for Premier League games at Stamford Bridge, with the revenue going to the Premier League.

Sports minister Nigel Huddleston said: "I would like to thank fans for their patience while we have engaged with the football authorities to make this possible.

"Since Roman Abramovich was added to the UK's sanctions list for his links to [Russian president] Vladimir Putin we have worked extensively to ensure the club can continue to play football while ensuring the sanctions regime continues to be enforced."

A host of potential investors have submitted bids to buy Chelsea following Abramovich's announcement that he wanted to sell the club earlier in March. 

London-based global investment firm Centricus are the latest group to make an offer, with British billionaire and boyhood Blues fan Nick Candy and the Chicago Cubs owners, the Ricketts family, known to have bid to take over the London giants. 

LeBron James will miss Wednesday's showcase game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.

The team is calling it knee soreness after he also missed a string of games in February with left-knee swelling.

James, 37, has played 54 out of a possible 72 games so far this season for the Lakers, and currently leads the league in points-per-game at 30.0, leading Joel Embiid (29.8) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.7).

If James were to hold off Embiid and Antetokounmpo, it would be just the second scoring title of his career after he also averaged 30.0 in the 2007-08 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Embiid will need to score 45 points to finish the night in the lead for the scoring title.

In the four games the Lakers have won since the All-Star break, James is averaging 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

The Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference with a 31-41 record going into the game.

Harry Kane is focused on leading England to World Cup glory later this year, with "more fire in the belly" following their Euro 2020 final heartbreak.

The Three Lions, whose only major international honour came when they won the 1966 World Cup, were within touching distance of ending 55 years of hurt last July.

However, they were beaten by Italy on penalties at Wembley in the final of the delayed tournament.

Gareth Southgate's side, who also reached the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup, are looking to go the extra step and get their hands on silverware in Qatar in December, having come through qualification for the finals unbeaten.

England step up their preparations with back-to-back friendlies over the next week against Switzerland (March 26) and the Ivory Coast (March 29) at Wembley.

Captain Kane scored seven goals across the final two qualifiers against Albania and San Marino. That took his tally to 48, moving him joint-third with Gary Lineker on his country's all-time list and just six away from breaking Wayne Rooney's record (53).

The Tottenham man is thrilled with the progress he and his England team-mates have made over the past four years and explains they have a burning desire for glory.

"From where we were pre-World Cup 2018 to where we are now, we've made massive strides, with the squad, with the team, with the connection with the fans," he said. "There's definitely an expectation on us now.

"Obviously, the final in the summer still hurts. It still has a bitter taste in the mouth, but for sure it gives you more hunger, more fire in the belly to take that one step further and try to win a major tournament.

"We're working towards that, we feel like we're improving every year. 

"Hopefully, we can take big strides to becoming one of the best teams in the history of the England national team."

Naomi Osaka moved to extinguish the painful memories from Indian Wells as she eased into the second round of the Miami Open.

The three-time grand slam champion, who was left in tears as she struggled to deal with a heckler during her second-round defeat to Veronika Kudermetova at Indian Wells, produced a composed display in South Florida to see off Astra Sharma 6-3 6-4.

Needing an hour and 20 minutes to defeat her Australian opponent, Osaka secured her 50th WTA 1000 win, one that sets up a battle of two former world number ones.

Osaka will next face Angelique Kerber, having kept her cool against Sharma despite converting just two of 11 break point opportunities and squandering three match points.

"I didn't want to let anything bother me, no matter what happened," Osaka said.

"The last match I played was not the greatest memory for me. I wanted to prove that I could come back out here and compete, and no matter if I won or lost, to just know that I had the best attitude I could."

Kerber promises to prove a much sterner test for Osaka, who has lost her last four matches against the German, having won their first encounter at the 2017 US Open.

Osaka's Japanese compatriot Misaki Doi crashed out in a straight-sets defeat to Vera Zvonareva, while promising teenager Clara Tauson retired in the third set of her match with Zhang Shuai.

Madison Brengle was among those to progress on Wednesday, continuing the theme of early American success.

Gareth Bale has declared himself fit to start for Wales in Thursday's World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final against Austria, despite his limited playing time for Real Madrid.

The 32-year-old was not part of Madrid's squad for Sunday's 4-0 defeat to fierce rivals Barcelona, which head coach Carlo Ancelotti put down to illness.

Bale has played in just five of Madrid's 42 matches in all competitions this season, totalling 270 minutes on the field – the equivalent of three whole games.

Despite repeated setbacks, the former Tottenham star has played 233 minutes for Wales across four games this season, helping to keep his side's qualifying dreams alive.

And Bale insists he is capable of lasting the distance against Austria, with the winners going on to face either Scotland or the Czech Republic in June's rescheduled final.

"Obviously it's normal to have some [injury] niggles now and again," he said at Wednesday's pre-match news conference. 

"I've been good. I've been training for what, the last two and a half months. I got some minutes maybe three weeks ago or so. So now I'm in very good shape. 

"I'm obviously in a lot better shape than I was for the last camp, where I'd been out for about three months. I've been training now over the last couple of days. 

"I'm ready to play whatever's necessary. And yeah, we'll give it everything we can."

While Ancelotti implied Bale's most recent absence was down to illness, reports in Spain suggested the forward ruled himself out of contention because of a back strain.

Asked to clarify why he was not part of the squad to face Barcelona, Bale said: "I don't need to. I don't need to tell anyone what was up.

"I don't need to give anyone anything to use against me. Everything is fine now, I have no issue."

Bale earned cap number 100 for Wales in November's win over Belarus and has scored 36 goals and assisted 23 more over that period.

And after representing his country at Euro 2016 and Euro 2020, Bale is now fully focused on leading his side to a first World Cup finals since 1958.

"For sure, the Austria game will be one of biggest I've played in," he said. "Qualifying for a World Cup is something I want to achieve, as do the fans and the country. 

"We need to take it in our stride like we always do. Everyone will step up – it's what we do best.

"To get to the World Cup with Wales would be an incredible achievement. We'll fight for our country like we always do."

Roberto Mancini says Italy will not look beyond Thursday's play-off semi-final with North Macedonia as they aim to avoid more World Cup qualifying heartbreak.

Italy, then under the management of Gian Piero Ventura, failed to qualify for the last World Cup for the first time since 1958 after losing to Sweden in the play-offs.

The Azzurri bounced back from that disappointment by winning the European Championships last year for only the second time.

Just eight months on from that triumph, Mancini's men are once again relying on the play-offs to help them reach Qatar 2022 after finishing behind Switzerland in their group.

Should Italy overcome North Macedonia in Palermo, they then face a showdown with either Portugal or Turkey – who meet in Porto on Thursday – in next week's final.

Italy are strong favourites to beat North Macedonia, who are 61 places below their opponents in the FIFA rankings, but Mancini does not consider his side favourites.

"We all start the same; each game is 0-0 and anything can happen in those 90 minutes," he said at Wednesday's pre-match news conference.

"It's an obvious thing to say, but you have to play each game. I don't think there are favourites in these matches.

"North Macedonia defend well and have good technique. Don't forget they won away to Germany in the qualifiers. We need patience, but it starts from 0-0."

A large core of Italy's current contingent were also part of the squad that missed out on a place at Russia 2018, but Mancini is unsure if that works in his side's favour.

"I don't know if it can act as an advantage," he said. "This is part of the life of a sportsman. There are exciting moments in your career and others of disappointment.

"We just have to be focused on what we have to do. Italy know how to play football and we have to just think about ourselves, not other things."

Bangladesh cruised to a nine-wicket victory in Wednesday's third ODI at SuperSport Park to claim a first-ever series victory in South Africa.

South Africa levelled up the series last week, ending Bangladesh's four-game winning streak on the road in ODIs, but the tourists responded in style at Centurion.

Taskin Ahmed took five wickets to restrict the hosts to 154 all out and skipper Tamim Iqbal's unbeaten 87 ensured Bangladesh got the job done in 26.3 overs.

The Proteas, who had won nine of their 10 ODI matches against Bangladesh prior to this series, got off to a promising start and reached 46-0 but then lost all their wickets for just 108 further runs.

Openers Janneman Malan (39) and Quinton de Kock (12) raced to 46 off 40 deliveries, but the latter's resistance was halted by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Taskin got the wickets of Malan, Kyle Verreynne (9), David Miller (16), Dwaine Pretorius (20) and Kagiso Rabada (4) to finish with figures of 5-35 from nine overs.

Shakib Al Hasan also took two wickets, including the scalp of Temba Bavuma for just two, with Malan's knock proving to be the highest scoring for the home side.

Tamim set the tone in Bangladesh's chase with a 127-run opening stand with Litton Das (48), who fell just short of a half-century when he chipped Keshav Maharaj to extra cover

There was no stopping Tamim, though, as he remained unbeaten on 87 alongside Shakib (18no) to help Bangladesh ease to 156-1 and claim a famous victory.
 

Proteas taken to task

Taskin led the way for Bangladesh with a superb spell of fast bowling on his way to claiming a second five-wicket haul in ODIs.

His figures of 5-35 are the best of any bowler this series, as are the eight wickets he claimed, followed by six each for Rabada and Hasan.
 

Bangladesh on top of the world

With this routine victory, Bangladesh become only the second nation to win their first two men's ODIs at SuperSport Park after Pakistan.

The Tigers stay top of the World Cup Super League table as a result with 120 points from 18 matches, while South Africa are down in ninth on 49 points from 13 contests.

Tyreek Hill is leaving the Kansas City Chiefs in the latest blockbuster trade of this NFL offseason, landing at the Miami Dolphins.

Reports from ESPN and NFL Network revealed on Wednesday a breakdown in contract negotiations between six-time Pro Bowler Hill and the Chiefs.

The wide receiver market was rocked by Davante Adams' huge move from the Green Bay Packers to the Las Vegas Raiders elsewhere in the AFC West.

Kansas City expected Hill to leave and earn a huge deal elsewhere after they could not come to terms, with the Dolphins and the New York Jets said to be the two finalists for his signing.

After a short period in which Hill appeared to consider his options, as players from both teams made Twitter pleas to the wide receiver, he decided on Miami.

The Dolphins have sent the Chiefs five draft-picks, including a first-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft and a second-rounder.

While Hill gets a new four-year, $120million contract, with $72.2m guaranteed, according to reports, the Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa are boosted by one of the signings of the offseason.

Tagovailoa is yet to convince since he was taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, although his starting spot does at least now appear secure following months of speculation around a trade for Deshaun Watson, who has joined the Cleveland Browns.

The Dolphins ended last season on an 8-1 run, but Tagovailoa, who started seven of the nine games, threw for just nine touchdowns and five interceptions in that time.

However, across the 2021 season, the Dolphins QB was throwing to an open target just 73.8 per cent of the time, down on the league average of 78.4 per cent and well below Patrick Mahomes' league-leading 85.5 per cent.

Of course, Mahomes could look to Hill, whose open percentage of 82.7 allowed him to tally 824 yards at the point of catch (seventh in the NFL).

That contributed to his fourth 1,000-yard season in a six year career, which has included 56 receiving TDs.

As their top pass-catching option headed out the door, the Chiefs reportedly had Marquez Valdes-Scantling visit. They have signed JuJu Smith-Schuster, too, but Hill's departure from an increasingly competitive division represents a big blow.

South Africa batter Zubayr Hamza has agreed a voluntary suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) revealed the 26-year-old had tested positive for Furosemide, which is not a performance-enhancing drug, on January 17.

Zubayr has since played for the Proteas against New Zealand in the first Test in Christchurch last month.

CSA said in a statement on Wednesday: "Cricket South Africa (CSA), the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) and Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) today announced that Proteas player, Zubayr Hamza has tested positive for a prohibited substance under the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-doping code. The positive test followed an ICC anti-doping test on the 17 January 2022.

"Zubayr is not disputing the positive test, is co-operating fully with the ICC, and has agreed to a voluntary suspension commencing immediately whilst written submissions are presented to the ICC.

"The positive test relates to the substance Furosemide, which is not a performance enhancing substance, and Zubayr has been able to identify how the substance entered his system.

"The process to follow will entail presenting evidence that there was no fault or negligence, or no significant fault or negligence on the part of Zubayr.

"CSA, SACA and WPCA are supporting Zubayr in this process, and will continue to do so until the matter is concluded."

The new Formula One season is only a single race old, but Charles Leclerc has already matched the achievement of one title-winning former Ferrari star.

Now, ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Leclerc is out to try to repeat a Michael Schumacher feat and set a championship charge in motion.

The Monegasque driver led a Ferrari one-two in Bahrain last week, holding off Max Verstappen before the defending champion's mechanical woes ensured Carlos Sainz joined his team-mate on the top two steps of the podium.

It was the Scuderia's first race win since the 2019 Singapore GP, another one-two when Leclerc finished second to Sebastian Vettel.

The Leclerc-Sainz one-two was Ferrari's 85th in F1 – a record – and signalled a return to form, coming at the end of a weekend they had dominated, with the race winner also qualifying fastest to start from pole position.

Heading into the rest of the season, that should certainly provide Leclerc with encouragement, given the last Scuderia driver to start the season with a win from pole was Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. That was the most recent season in which a Ferrari driver won the title.

Indeed, should Leclerc convert pole again in Saudi Arabia, he would become the first Ferrari man to do so in the first two races of a campaign since Schumacher in his final title-winning season in 2004.

Leclerc and Sainz each discussed their title ambitions following Bahrain, so last week's runner-up will hope to go with his colleague again.

Ferrari have never had a one-two in each of the first two grands prix of a season, while Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in 2008 were their last duo to achieve such a result in consecutive races at any stage of the year.

Meanwhile, if Leclerc hopes to follow in Schumacher's footsteps, Mercedes rival George Russell does not.

Schumacher in 2010, then in the twilight of his legendary career after coming out of retirement, was the only Silver Arrows driver to this point fail to make the podium in his first three races with the team.

A pit-stop error and a puncture saw Russell finish his Mercedes debut in ninth when deputising for Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir GP, while he was fourth behind his new team-mate last week.

The Red Bull woe that boosted Ferrari also rescued that three-four result for Mercedes, but team principal Toto Wolff said: "It's too early to look at the championship as it stands. If you look at the pecking order today, it seems a long shot to even be in contention for any of the championships.

"If I look at [Bahrain] as a single race weekend, we probably scored the maximum of points that we could have. And we need to take it from there.

"Every weekend counts and, at the moment, it's singular events because, realistically, when you're third on the road, you can't think about winning it."