Related items

• England to face Portugal in Milton Keynes ahead of Women’s World Cup

  England will face Portugal on July 1 in their final home warm-up match before flying to Australia for the Women’s World Cup.

  Sarina Wiegman’s side are due to leave for the tournament four days after the meeting with their fellow finalists in Milton Keynes, with the game to kick-off at 3:15pm and be broadcast live on ITV.

  Their opening game of the competition, which is being hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand, is against Haiti in Brisbane on 22 July, before the team fly to Sydney to face Denmark then finish the group stage against China in Adelaide.

  Wiegman finalised her squad for the World Cup, which England are looking to win for the first time following their Euro 2022 triumph last summer, in May with Arsenal’s Beth Mead a notable absence through injury.

  Portugal are competing for the first time in the World Cup and are building on their first major tournament appearances at the last two editions of the European Championships.

  Canada will be England’s final warm-up opponents in a behind-closed-doors friendly on July 14.

  “I am really pleased to have a competitive game for our last home fixture,” said Wiegman. “We had two big games in April against Brazil and Australia where we learned so much.

  “This will be another challenging match against a team that have performed well and are going to their first World Cup.

  “Portugal will also want to show they can be a threat to teams in Australia, and they have very technical players with good ability. For us, it will be important to come together again as a team after the end of the club season and feel the support of our fans.

  “We will do our best to give them a good performance. It will only be three weeks until our opening World Cup game so it will be such an important moment in our preparation.”

  The Football Association and Women’s Super League clubs had been in a dispute over the release date for players called up to the squad.

  The FIFA-sanctioned date by which clubs must make players available is July 10, just 10 days before the tournament kicks off.

  It was reported last week that the FA had planned for the squad to meet up on June 19, though a formal agreement between parties took time to reach.

  That date has now been confirmed by the FA, which said in a statement: “We are grateful for the mutual understanding of the clubs, as we have collectively worked towards a solution with the wellbeing of players at the heart.”

  England beat Portugal the last time the sides met competitively, Toni Duggan and Nikita Parris scoring the goals in a 2-1 win for the Lionesses in the Euro 2017 group stage.

• Ange Postecoglou promises excitement at Tottenham

  Ange Postecoglou has promised “a team to get excited by” as he strives for success after being appointed as Tottenham head coach.

  The Australian takes up the post having guided Celtic to the domestic treble north of the border, signing a four-year contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

  Postecoglou, 57, takes the reins after Antonio Conte’s dismissal in March and interim runs for both Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason.

  Spurs finished eighth at the end of a dismal season, their worst Premier League position since 2008, and Postecoglou is ready to get started on turning those fortunes around.

  “It’s great to finally get started as manager of this great football club,” he said in a video message posted on the club’s social media accounts.

  “I’m really looking forward to our task ahead. I think it’s an exciting opportunity for us to now set off on a new direction, play football and create an environment that embodies the values and traditions of this fantastic football club.

  “Hopefully a team that you can all be proud of, and more importantly get excited by.

  “I can assure you that right through pre-season we won’t leave any stone unturned, myself, the staff and the players, to make sure that when the league comes around you will be as excited as I am about the season ahead.

  “So I really look forward to seeing everyone at the stadium, in particular at our first home game, and I look forward to the journey ahead.”

• Lawrence Shankland keen to end strong season by helping Scotland’s European push

  Lawrence Shankland is hoping to end his “really strong season” by helping Scotland take another big stride towards Euro 2024.

  The 27-year-old has enjoyed arguably the best campaign of his career as he scored 28 goals and earned the captaincy in his first year at Hearts, whom he joined last summer from Belgian club Beerschot.

  Shankland’s form at Tynecastle earned him a first Scotland cap for two and a half years in the victory over Spain in March, and he has retained his place in the squad for this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers away to Norway and at home to Georgia.

  “When you get to the end of a season you get the chance to look back and assess it,” Shankland told the Scottish Football Association.

  “For me, it was a really strong season. My performances throughout the season were to a really high standard and I was really happy with them.

  “The number of goals I managed to chip in with was great. It was my first season at Hearts as well so it was good to get off to a good start. The captaincy was an opportunity that I probably didn’t expect when I first went to Hearts but when it was offered to me I was keen to take on that role.

  “I felt it was something that would improve my all-round game, improve me as a person, and I felt I took it in my stride and handled it really well. It’s been a huge learning opportunity for me and hopefully it stands me in good stead for the future.”

  Shankland has won five Scotland caps but he admits such a scenario would have been a pipe dream when he found himself without a club and pondering getting a job away from football when he was released by Aberdeen in 2017. He eventually joined Ayr and set about rebuilding his career.

  “There’s been a lot of rejections along the way but it comes down to hard work and determination really,” he said, reflecting on his rise. “You have your end goals and what you want to achieve in your career.

  “There have been times when I couldn’t have dreamed of getting a Scotland cap. But you just need to knuckle down and if you keep working hard, things pay off and you get these opportunities.

  “I’ve taken most of them first time and did well at most of the clubs I’ve been at. It has been a bit of an up-and-down journey but I’ve worked hard and I feel like I deserve what’s come my way.”

  The Scotland squad are currently at a training camp in Spain gearing up for their showdown with Norway in Oslo a week on Saturday.

  Steve Clarke’s side sit top of their qualifying section after winning their opening two matches and know that a good share of points from their two outings this month will leave them firmly on course for the finals in Germany next summer.

  “It’s been good to meet up and get everybody back together,” said Shankland.

  “The wee break in between (the end of the club season) gives us a bit of time to do a training camp and I think that’s important for us before we go into the game week next week.

  “The training’s been good and the weather’s been nice. The last two games we had really good results and we’ve given ourselves a really good opportunity going into these two games. If we get positive results we could be in a really good position.”