Alex Morgan is a "global superstar" and it would be "very silly" if she was left out of the United States Women's World Cup squad, according to former team-mate Carly Telford.
The Stars and Stripes head to Australia and New Zealand in July aiming to land a third successive world title, having triumphed in 2015 and 2019, with 33-year-old Morgan hoping to feature at her fourth finals.
The San Diego Wave forward, who was also part of the side that were beaten by Japan in the 2011 final, will be desperate to be included in Vlatko Andonovski's squad, and add to her impressive tally of 121 goals in 206 caps.
Former England goalkeeper Telford, who was part of the Lionesses' squads that reached consecutive semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, knows Morgan well, having played alongside her in California before announcing her retirement in March.
Telford is adamant Morgan should not miss out on the finals.
"She's huge," Telford told Stats Perform. "Without Alex, I don't think the game would get some of the recognition that it's getting. I think she's a global superstar.
"She performs on and off the pitch. She's not just a footballer; she stands for quality, diversity, everything that is good about being a good person.
"She'll fight for women's rights to make sure that everyone has equal opportunities. She doesn't have to do that; she could just turn up and play football.
"Spending time with her and being in a team with her for 12 months and realising the work that she does on and off the pitch, she's an absolute ambassador to the game.
"She speaks so highly, so well about the game. I just hope she does go to the World Cup because she's a superstar, and it would be sad if she didn't. But I think she's playing well enough, it would be very silly to leave her out."
USA have been drawn alongside the Netherlands, Portugal and Vietnam in Group E, and face a potential last-16 encounter against either Sweden or Italy.
And though there is a slight veteran feel to the USA's likely roster, Telford insists their World Cup pedigree means they will take some stopping once again, and feels their character on the big stage is epitomised by Lyon forward Lindsey Horan.
"They're mentally monsters," she added. "Everyone might be like 'They're not as good as they used to be, they're ageing'.
"But I'll tell you what, when they cross that white line, it doesn't matter who they're playing. They will fight, they will scrap, they will battle, they will try and play good football. But at the end of the day, they're just ultimate winners.
"I think that when you've got someone like Lindsey on the pitch, she is the ultimate at that. She'll break play up, she'll bite, she'll scrap, she'll tackle, she'll drive everyone around her.
"I just think when it comes to the Americans, when they get into competition mode; they're just a different breed."
On this day in 2012: John Terry found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand
John Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 after being found guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, on this day in 2012.
The Chelsea captain denied the charge but a Football Association regulatory commission ruled he was guilty of misconduct during his side’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to QPR at Loftus Road on October 23 2011.
The 31-year-old England defender announced his retirement from international football a week before the FA’s decision and decided not to appeal against it.
An FA statement read: “An independent regulatory commission has today found a charge of misconduct against John Terry proven and has issued a suspension for a period of four matches and a fine of £220,000, pending appeal.
“The Football Association charged Mr Terry on Friday 27 July 2012 with using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand and which included a reference to colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3[2] in relation to the Queens Park Rangers FC versus Chelsea FC fixture at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011.
“The charge was the result of The FA’s long-standing investigation into this matter, which was placed on hold at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service and Mr Terry’s representatives pending the outcome of the criminal trial.”
The incident occurred in Chelsea’s defeat to QPR when the pair clashed verbally on several occasions in the match.
Terry was previously found not guilty – in Westminster Magistrates Court in July 2012 – of a racially-aggravated public order offence as the prosecution was unable to prove he had called Ferdinand a “f****** black c***” as an insult.
Terry admitted using the words, but insisted he had only been repeating words he thought Ferdinand had accused him of saying.
The FA decided to launch their own investigation of the matter which angered Terry and he announced he was quitting international football with immediate effect, saying his position was “untenable”, on the eve of the independent hearing.
Terry’s legal team had argued the governing body’s own rules dictated that his acquittal in court meant the case could not proceed but the FA decided to carry on with their investigation, stating their charge was distinct from the court charge.
The panel who handed Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban when they found him guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra the season before declared simply using racist language was enough to breach FA rules.
Victor Osimhen may sue Napoli over social media video mocking striker
Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is reserving “the right to take legal action” against his own club after his team posted a bizarre video to TikTok seemingly mocking the player.
The odd video comes after Osimhen helped the Italian team secure a first league title, the club’s first in three decades.
Despite Osimhen singlehandedly bolstering Napoli with 31 goals across all competitions, he became the target of a strange, now-deleted video, shared to the Serie A club’s official TikTok account.
Osimhen’s agent Roberto Calenda issued a statement on Tuesday night about the incident.
He wrote on Twitter: “What happened today on Napoli’s official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable. A video mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, deleted.
“A serious fact that causes very serious damage to the player and adds to the treatment that the boy is suffering in the last period between media trials and fake news.”
Calenda added: “We reserve the right to take legal action and any useful initiative to protect Victor”.
The video featured a clip of the striker’s penalty miss from their match against Bologna on Sunday, with an odd, sped-up voice dubbed over the top.
The strange social media clip comes after there appeared to be tension between Osimhen and Napoli manager Rudi Garcia during the game.
The 24-year-old Nigerian striker was seen berating Garcia as he was substituted off with four minutes remaining of the goalless draw.
The bizarre social media scrap comes after Osimhen, who captured the interest of Manchester United this summer, did not sign a new contract with the Italian team.
Osimhen’s current deal runs through to the summer of 2025.
Steven Naismith hails Hearts match-winner Alex Lowry
Steven Naismith hailed match-winner Alex Lowry as a special talent after the on-loan Rangers player’s late goal sent Hearts into the Viaplay Cup semi-finals.
Kilmarnock were in the ascendancy as the match edged closer to extra time, only for Lowry to strike in time added on to the regulation 90 minutes.
Brad Lyons had earlier cancelled out Jorge Grant’s opener before Lowry claimed his first goal since moving on loan to Tynecastle last month to seal the victory.
Naismith praised Lowry as one of the best young Scottish talents in the game but said he wanted to see more from the 20-year-old on a consistent basis.
The Hearts manager said: “Alex has got brilliant ability.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen in my whole footballing career a young Scottish player that I have been working with that has got such good … he can do things with a ball that a lot of others can’t.
“I’ve challenged him to see more moments like that.
“He’s been frustrated at not getting more game time but I said to him, you need to show moments and when you are on the park, you need to do more.”
Naismith was pleased to have a Hampden Park semi-final to look forward to but warned that his team would need to follow up that result, starting with a trip to play Ross County this weekend.
He added: “I was delighted to get through. It was the next step we needed to take.
“At this club there’s a demand to get to semi-finals and finals and ultimately win silverware.
“It’s a big win and everybody’s delighted but we do need to back that up.
“Over the past few seasons we haven’t had good performances at Kilmarnock, and Ross County has been the same.”
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes admitted he was frustrated that his players had unnecessarily chased a winning goal rather than waiting for extra time.
He said: “I was angry [at full-time] that we’ve allowed that type of goal to decide the cup tie. We had Hearts where we wanted them. We were in charge of that tie in the second half.
“We played the last phase of play as if we needed a goal to get back in the tie. We were guilty of trying to win it then. We were too excitable, too gung-ho to win a game of football in 90 minutes when we could have won the game in extra time.
“It was all last-gasp and unnecessary, almost as if we were chasing a game to win it in 90 minutes when we didn’t need to. We could – and should – have won it in extra time. But we allowed an opportunity for Hearts and they took it.”
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