League C of the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League returned on Thursday with important encounters in Group A and Group C.

Bonaire vs. Anguilla

Bonaire earned their first win of this CNL campaign in Group A with a 2-0 triumph over Anguilla at the Stadion Antonio Trenidat in Rincon, Bonaire.

Bonaire are now back in the race for group honours with three points through two games, three points behind leaders St Martin. Anguilla are in third place with zero points.

Bonaire carved out their first goal of the night through Ginel Ronde in the 10th, as he polished off a counterattack spearheaded by Jonathan Libania for a 1-0 Bonaire advantage.

The lead was then doubled in the 36th, as Marschelon Pourier knocked in a shot from just a few yards out after Anguilla were unable to clear their lines.

With the two-goal cushion, Bonaire could play to their liking and confidently saw things out to pocket the victory.

Dominica vs. British Virgin Islands

The top two teams in Group C met and showed that there is little difference between them after a 1-1 draw between Dominica and British Virgin Islands at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet, St Lucia.

Each side now has four points after two games, with Dominica ahead on goal difference.

Luka Chalwell scored two goals in the September window and picked up where he left off by scoring the opening goal for British Virgin Islands in the 29th.

A long ball was hoofed upfield and Chalwell controlled it superbly, taking a touch and then firing a right-footed shot into net.

Dominica went to work on finding an equalizer and their efforts were finally rewarded in the latter stages, as Briel Thomas struck in the 82th to make it 1-1.

A free kick from the right flank was curled into the area by Troy Jules and Thomas met it with a soaring header to deliver the precious point to his side.

Tiquanny Williams shined with a hat-trick to deliver a victory for St Kitts and Nevis, as the 2023–24 Concacaf Nations League resumed with two Group A matches in League B on Thursday.

St Lucia edged Guadeloupe as the top two teams in the group faced off. After three games, St Lucia maintains the pole position for promotion with Guadeloupe, St Kitts and Nevis and St Maarten rounding out the group in that order.

St Maarten vs. St Kitts and Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis won 3-2 against St Maarten at the Raymond E. Guishard Stadium in The Valley, Anguilla.

Tiquanny Williams opened the scoring in the 16th with a difficult strike off the edge of the left post.

Gerwin Lake responded for the hosts with a thunderous strike inside the box in the 19th. Centre back Sergio Hughes found Lake on the right flank with an accurate long ball and the striker did the rest.

Williams retook the lead for the visitors, 2-1, in the 48th after pouncing on a rebounding ball off the crossbar to hit a left-foot strike into the net.

St Maarten nearly equalized in the 67th but was denied on a goal-line clearance followed by a Chovanie Amatkarijo attempt bouncing off the right post.

Williams completed his hat-trick in the 68th as St Kitts and Nevis used a quick counter attack to extend its lead.

Imar Kort took one back for St Maarten in the 79th after goalkeeper Julani Archibald could not contain a potent shot from and Amatkarijo free kick.

The visitors withstood the late St Maarten rally to gain its first victory of the campaign. The two will meet again in three days as St Kitts and Nevis will look to repeat the result on its home turf.

St Lucia vs. Guadeloupe

St Lucia kept their perfect record with a 2-1 win over Guadeloupe at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet, St Lucia.

Jerome Roussillon put the visitors in the lead in the 29th after connecting on a long pass from Andreaw Gravillon. Roussillon brought the ball down inside the box with his left before striking with his right.

Caniggia Elva tied the encounter 1-1 in the 45th as St Lucia pushed for the equalizer prior to halftime. Janoi Donacien propelled the play forward before passing to Elva inside the box.

Gregson President was denied on a breakaway in the 55th as Davy Royard was there to block as the last line of defense. Rouyard had another save just one minute later to keep the score level.

Jevick Mac Farlane put the home side in front 2-1 in the 58th with right-footed shot into goal. Elva provided the through ball as St Lucia completed an attack through the left flank.

Second half substitutes Kilian Bevis and Vikash Tille nearly connected for the tying goal in the 89th, but goalkeeper Vino Barclett provided the safe hands to intercept Tille’s header.

Angus Gunn insists Scotland still have eyes on topping their group after the 2-0 defeat by Spain on Thursday night delayed Euro 2024 qualification.

After winning their first five qualifiers, including a 2-0 win over the Spanish at Hampden Park in March, the Scots came up short in Seville after a controversial VAR call ruled out Scott McTominay’s terrific free-kick just before the hour mark.

Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk was sent to check his pitchside monitor and he ruled an infringement by Scotland defender Jack Hendry, with some confusion as to whether it was for a foul on goalkeeper Unai Simon or offside.

Alvaro Morata headed in after 73 minutes and substitute Oihan Sancet, making his debut, added a second with four minutes or normal time remaining to leave Steve Clarke’s men three points ahead of La Roja at the top of Group A having played a game more.

Scotland face France in a friendly in Lille next Tuesday while Spain take on third-placed Norway in Oslo two days earlier and if the Norwegians drop points, Scotland’s place in Germany next summer will be secured before games away at Georgia and home to Norway in November.

Norwich keeper Gunn, 27, remains confident and he said: “We have put ourselves in an unbelievable position.

“From our point of view we have done a lot of the hard work early on in the group and we want to finish it off in the right way.

“We want to top the group as well so we have two more games and it might happen on Sunday but even if it does, we go away to Georgia and still try to win this group.

“I will probably watch it on Sunday. If it happens, it happens but we still have two more games.

“We have put ourselves in a good position and if it does happen on Sunday we deserve it.”

The Scots had put up a sturdy defensive display against this summer’s Nations League winners and it looked like they might be on their way to a smash-and-grab win when McTominay’s free-kick from near the byline flew into the net.

Gunn believes the decision to rule it out lifted the Spanish fans and gave the home side the boost to go on and clinch the three points.

He said: “We thought we went ahead and that was an unbelievable feeling at the time and it was gutting when it got chalked off.

“I thought we dealt with it quite well but I think it gave them more of a boost.

“Their crowd celebrated it like a goal and I think they got their tails up a little but which we had to deal with.

“I think we kept our emotions quite well even though there wasn’t much clarity around the decision, that was the most disappointing thing.

“But they are a top team and they went up the other end and scored and after that the momentum was with them.

“We are disappointed with the result.

“But I said, we put ourselves in the position where we are still top of the group, still looking strong and hopefully still able to qualify soon.”

What the papers say

Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips could leave the club in January to go to German giants Bayern Munich, the Sun reports. The 27-year-old, who continues to struggle for game time under Pep Guardiola, would join up with England team-mate Harry Kane at the Bundesliga champions.

The Express says Newcastle are interested in Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe in the summer transfer window. The 23-year-old midfielder has already played twice for England but has only played in six games for Arsenal in all competitions this season.

The Saudi Pro League’s director of football has labelled Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah as one of his “personal favourites” after the club turned down huge deals from Al Ittihad last summer, the Metro says.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Toni Kroos: Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo says Manchester City are interested in the 33-year-old Real Madrid midfielder when his contact expires next summer.

Arthur Vermeeren: The 18-year-old midfielder at Royal Antwerp is being sought by Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham.

While it was not the most polished performance, Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz did enough to ease past Grenada 4-1 in their Concacaf Nations League Group B encounter and move one step closer to a League A quarterfinals berth.

Despite starting without a number of the regulars, Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side raced to an early 2-0 lead courtesy of Kevon Lambert (13th) and Shamar Nicholson (23rd), before Demarai Gray (74th) and stand-in captain Bobby Reid (87th), made the three points safe.

Trevon Williams (30th) got Grenada’s consolation in the keenly contested encounter at the Kirani James Athletics Stadium.

With the win, their second of the tournament, the Jamaicans moved up to seven points, three ahead of second-placed Cuba (four points), who were scheduled to face third-placed Honduras (three points) in the group’s late kickoff.

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Haiti (three points) and fifth-placed Suriname (two points), played out a 1-1 stalemate in Paramaribo. Grenada remains at the foot of the standing with a solitary point.

It was a patient start by the Reggae Boyz in St George’s, as they took their time to breakdown Grenada’s defence and eventually found the go-ahead goal from a set play.

Gregory Leigh’s weighted corner kick was deflected towards goal by Romario Williams, but the effort was brilliantly kept out by Jason Belfon diving full stretch to his left. However, the custodian had no response to Lambert’s follow-up shot in a goalmouth melee.

The Boyz went close to doubling the lead three minutes later when Gray embarked on a darting run and played off a pass to Nicholson, whose effort was charged down by Darius Johnson, putting his body on the line.

Grenada belatedly came to life in attack a minute later with Josh Gabriel rifling a left-footed drive from a distance, but Jahmali Waite, who started in place of captain Andre Blake, proved equal to the task.

That was the start of a good, sustained attacking spell for Grenada, as they camped out in the Jamaicans half like a pack of hungry wolves, but their hunt for the equalizer proved fruitless.

They later paid for it when Nicholson extended the Jamaicans lead. The towering striker picked up a pass from Williams, slipped his marker and easily tucked a left-footed effort past Belfon.

Grenada pulled one back on the half-hour mark through Williams’s deflection on Johnson’s follow-up effort. The initial shot by Gabriel was kept out by Waite.

Both teams created chances at the backend of the half but failed to capitalise. While the Jamaicans went in 2-1 up, it was Grenada that enjoyed the momentum at the break.

Unlike they did at the start, the Boyz were more purposeful on the resumption and had opportunities to push further ahead. However, they were denied by faulty shooting and some good work by Belfon, at times.

On one of those occasions, Belfon did well to block Williams's shot from close range in the 58th minute.

Four minutes later, a good through pass from Reid found debutant Karoy Anderson and the 19-year-old dismissed his marker, but selfishly went for a shot from a tight angle.

Grenada almost pulled level in the 70th when Regan Charles-Cook got behind defenders, but Waite left his line well to avert the danger.

Jamaica asserted their authority in the latter stages of the contest and inevitably pushed further ahead through Gray. The former Everton man used his pace to good effect on the left channel, as he charged into the box and placed a right-footer past Belfon.

Reid added another three minutes from time. He got on the end of Daniel Johnson’s free kick and made no mistakes from close range.

Defending champions Jamaica College closed the gap between themselves and Group B leaders Tivoli High to one point thanks to a 7-0 win over Spanish Town High in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup on Thursday.

Kingston Technical made things even more interesting in the group with a 3-1 win over the leaders to also move within a point of top spot, trailing JC by 12 on goal difference.

The day’s other group game saw Cumberland beat Meadowbrook 4-0 for their first win of the season.

Elsewhere, Jonathan Grant hammered Greater Portmore 8-0 to move to second in Group C with 17 points, two points behind leaders Haile Selassie and two ahead of third placed Eltham.

While on paper it seems Jamaica has drawn perceived lesser opponents for the Concacaf Men’s Under-20 qualifiers, assistant coach John Wall insists that the young Reggae Boyz will not be grandstanding against anyone, as the main aim beyond qualification is to improve the quality of their play.

In fact, Wall is aware that teams such as Bermuda, Grenada and Martinique, who they will rub shoulders with in Group F, have all been on the upgrade which means the perception of easy games is now a thing of the past.

The 27-team tournament scheduled for February 23 to March 2, will be contested in six groups across five venues in Central America and the Caribbean.

After round-robin play, the group winners will progress to the 2024 Concacaf Men's Under-20 Championship, joining the six top-ranked nations –United States, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic.

With this in mind, Wall pointed to the importance of ensuring the young Reggae Boyz are well prepared to give of their best.

"Obviously there is no simple game in Concacaf, I have learnt that firsthand and bearing in mind also that the trend overall in Concacaf is that the game has become more global, especially where the Diaspora comes in. So, Martinique when it comes to relationship with France and obviously Bermuda and Grenada with the United Kingdom predominantly.

“For us it is kind of a bigger scope, and we take it really seriously. We have been having camps from earlier this year and we are watching the players and identifying them as we go on. For me, it is really important to look at the next generation and the style of how Jamaica plays on a general basis,” Wall said.

“Also, qualifiers are a special kind of animal, you have to take certain things into account such as the number of games in a short space of time, you have players coming in as well as time zone differences. So, we are making all those external factors more internal per se and control the variables as much as we can,” he added.

Wall explained that his course of action has already be set in motion to identify character strengths he wants the young Reggae Boyz to exemplify and create an identity through purposeful planning.

“I have sent my preferred plan to the head of the Technical Committee because for us, it is obviously optimizing the time that we have. So, we want to use this upcoming Fifa window, we want to use December and January. What was done in the past is that players spent a lot of weeks in camps and accumulate too much fatigue heading into a tournament,” Wall reasoned.

“So, the good thing about what we are doing now by having these short camps since March is that it actually gives players time to adapt to the messaging and what we want and how I feel that we need to train and what we need to be. So given time, we can do a lot of things together and I am really looking forward to it myself,” he noted.

That said, the tactician who also works alongside Heimir Hallgrimsson with the senior Reggae Boyz team, expressed delight with how they have incorporated young players into that setup.

“The proof of it is in what we have been doing with the first team with guys like Dexter Lembikisa, Karoy Anderson and Whisper [Dujuan Richards]. So, the process is there and the pathway for the younger players should be there, and we need to have a really inclusive environment,” he stated.

“Jamaica for me is bold and likes to take on challenges and if there is anything I can add, I hope that I can, but I want to see that sense of desperation and urgency when Jamaica is playing football,” Wall ended.

Group A -Cuba, Nicaragua, Belize, British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla
(Venue: Estadio Nacional, Managua)

Group B -El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, Guyana, and Turks and Caicos Islands (Venue: ABFA Technical Centre, Piggotts)

Group C -Guatemala, Curacao, Aruba, Saint Martin, and Barbados
(Venue: Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, Guatemala City)

Group D -Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica (Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain)

Group E -Haiti, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Cayman Islands
(SKNFA Technical Center, Basseterre)

Group F -Jamaica, Bermuda, Grenada, and Martinique (Venue: SKNFA Technical Center, Basseterre)

After a three-year hiatus due in large part to the Covid-19 pandemic, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce’s Pocket Rocket Foundation is set to resume an inter-community six-a-side football tournament in Waterhouse.

The tournament dubbed the Fesco Six-A-Side Football Competition, will see 16 teams from Waterhouse and adjoining communities vying for cash and other prizes and even more importantly, harmony between communities that are occasionally in violent conflict with each other. Matches will be played on Saturdays beginning on October 14 until the grand finale on November 19.

For the opening weekend, matches will also be played on Monday, October 16, National Heroes Day in Jamaica.

The multiple Olympic and World Championship gold medallist told Sportsmax.TV that she is glad that she is able to resume the competition that for almost a decade engaged young men in the under-served communities.

“This is going to be our eighth staging and we were away for three years. For me, it’s about being able to engage young men coming together from different communities on the football field. Everybody knows what football does to the world and we want to offer young men an opportunity to relate to each other, to understand that we’re vying for something, that we can be competitive but we can have sportsmanship. We can understand that we are all fighting for the same thing, just to co-exist and having the football come back is a huge opportunity to see what the community has been doing, how we can engage them,” said Fraser-Pryce, whose Pocket Rocket Foundation is celebrating its 10^th anniversary.

The foundation has brought gasoline marketers and distributors, Fesco, on board as a title sponsor and Fraser-Pryce expressed her gratitude at having them on board, stating, “We are fortunate to have Fesco as one of our title sponsors. They have been such a pillar in the community because they are in the process of opening a gas station in my community so we are looking forward to the partnership and just to engage the young men.”

Teams will be outfitted by Nike and the iconic athlete promised that the tournament will be so much more than just about football. She expects it to be a fulfilling experience for the communities involved.

“We will have an ambulance on site. We will have entertainment and giveaways and a whole host of things. One of the things we want to do this year is to make sure that each Saturday we have an outreach, whether its inviting the cancer society or having blood pressure checks, different things that can engage the community as a whole.”

The football competition is among several initiatives that the Pocket Rocket Foundation is undertaking this year. There is a fundraising gala on November 4 at the AC Hotel in Kingston and its Christmas treat for the Waterhouse community later this year.

Scotland suffered their first Euro 2024 qualifying defeat with a 2-0 loss in Spain but qualification hopes remain alive.

The Scots had won their first five Group A qualifiers including a 2-0 win over the Spanish at Hampden Park in March and needed to take something from the return game in Seville or Norway fail to beat Cyprus, to qualify on the night.

In a stifling warm evening, the Scots survived some heavy first-half pressure to go in at the break goalless before Scott McTominay, who scored both goals against Spain in Glasgow, fired in a wonderful free-kick in the 59th
minute only to see it ruled out after a VAR check for a Jack Hendry infringement.

Alvaro Morata headed in after 73 minutes and substitute Oihan Sancet and Scotland defender Ryan Porteous clashed together for the second in the 86th minute and with Norway beating Cyprus, Steve Clarke’s men move on to the second October fixture.

Scotland face France in a friendly in Lille next Tuesday but Spain face Norway two days earlier and if the Norwegians drop points, Scotland’s place in Germany will be secured while the Scots also have Georgia away and Norway at home in November.

That it was the annual National Day of Spain added to the sense of occasion although the Scots had work to do.

In the absence of injured Kieran Tierney, Clarke stuck with a back-three with Scott McKenna taking over and Lyndon Dykes was asked to lead the line, supported mostly by Ryan Christie.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who had criticised Scotland’s tactics and talent after the defeat in March, Gavi and Morata were some of the stars starting for this summer’s Nations League winners.

Feran Torres missed a great chance in the second minute, beating Scotland keeper Angus Gunn with a close-range shot after taking a Morata pass but failing to hit the target.

Torres’s corner moments later sped through the Scotland six-yard box but Morata’s header at the far post was at a stretch and caused no danger.
It was looking like a long night for the visitors.

La Roja kept their corner count ticking over amid their control of the game – Rodri was jeered by the Scotland fans – but the Scots stuck to their task with only the occasional foray forward.

In the 34th minute, after Scotland defender Aaron Hickey brilliantly blocked a shot from Mikel Oyarzabal, Mikel Merino cracked the post with a left-footed drive and the ball spun away for a goal kick.

Morata had the ball in the net soon afterwards but was well offside but some bad luck followed.

Just before the break skipper Andy Robertson collided with Spain keeper Unai Simon and appeared to hurt his shoulder, with Nathan Patterson taking over and Hickey moving to left-back.

Granada attacker, Bryan Zaragoza, who scored twice against Barcelona at the weekend, came on to make his debut for Spain at the start of the second half, along with Fran Garcia.

Spain continued their dominance but in a rare Scotland attack, Christie could not quite control a John McGinn pass inside the box and the chance was lost.

Christie did well to win a free-kick against Dani Carvajal near the byline on the left and the Tartan Army were in raptures when McTominay fired it high past Simon but after Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk was sent to check his pitchside monitor, he ruled a Hendry foul on the keeper.

Scotland were soon on the back foot again as Spain brought on Jesus Navas and Sancet and when Navas crossed from the right Morata skimmed a header past Gunn.

It was another blow for Scotland who came right out their shell, substitute Che Adams, on for Dykes, stabbing a close-range shot at Simon
while at the other end Porteous blocked a goal-bound shot from substitute Joselu before a mistake by Hickey allowed Joselu to square the ball and
Sancet and Porteous challenged with the ball ending in the net.

It was a tough night for Scotland but in qualification terms, Germany is still very much on the cards.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has had a cancerous tumour removed from his liver.

The operation was carried out following a diagnosis at the beginning of August and was “completely successful”, but complications during the surgery meant Kenwright needed a lengthy stay in an intensive care unit.

A statement from the Toffees read: “Everton would like to provide a short update on the health of our chairman, Bill Kenwright.

“Following a diagnosis at the beginning of August, Mr Kenwright underwent a major medical procedure six weeks ago to remove a cancerous tumour from his liver.

“The procedure was completely successful but complications during surgery necessitated a prolonged period in an intensive care unit.

“Mr Kenwright is now out of intensive care and has left hospital. He has returned home to continue his recovery, which is expected to be lengthy, but complete.

“Right up until the day of the procedure, the chairman had continued to carry out all his club duties, working hard alongside Mr (Farhad) Moshiri to facilitate the proposed takeover by 777 Partners and supporting Kevin Thelwell with the club’s summer transfer activity.

“Mr Kenwright has always been fiercely protective of his private life and is grateful that his privacy has been respected during this difficult time. He hopes this will continue following this update.”

Kenwright, 78, first joined the Everton board in 1989 and has been chairman for nearly 20 years.

It was announced last month that a deal to sell the club to 777 Partners had been agreed.

Australia manager Graham Arnold reiterated Ange Postecoglou’s message for his side to beat England for “the kids and the nation” ahead of the first ever meeting between the countries at Wembley.

Arnold brought in Spurs boss Postecoglou and his fellow former Australia head coach Guus Hiddink in a bid to inspire the Socceroos ahead of Friday’s friendly in London.

Australia are underdogs going into the encounter, having only beaten England once in seven meetings – a 3-1 triumph at Upton Park in 2003 – and sitting 23 spots below their fourth-placed hosts in the FIFA world rankings, but Arnold says his side will only have victory on their minds when they take the pitch.

He said: “The speeches that Ange said yesterday were very similar about what we’ve been saying for years with doing it for the kids in Australia, the nation and your family and people who are close by and the supporters.

“I know one thing is that they (the players) will run until they drop, the energy will be there and they’ll put in the performance of their lives.

“I have got a special relationship with both (Postecoglou and Hiddink). I’ve known Ange for 40 odd years, I’ve played and coached against him, worked with him and we’ve had a great connection for years.

“With Guus, he’s pretty much a mentor to me and like a brother, a father. I’ve got to be careful with what I say because he’s not that old but he’s always been a great man to me and I worked with him during the 2006 World Cup as his assistant.

“We aim to win. We’re not going out there to lose or draw the game, we’re going out there to win the game.

“It’s the culture that we bring. We’ve seen the Socceroos and the Matildas (Australia women’s team) bring the nation together and this is not my team, it’s the nation’s team.”

While Australia are looking to make history at Wembley, Arnold highlighted some of the challenges he says they face trying to grow the game back home.

Despite the successful co-hosting of the Women’s World Cup this summer, where the Matildas got to the semi-finals, Arnold says the infrastructure and support they receive pales in comparison to other sports Down Under, or that England enjoy.

“We don’t get anywhere near the help and resources (of Australian rules football),” Arnold said.

“We see the Prime Minister and the government say they love coming out to watch the Socceroos and Matildas with scarves on but they must lose them when they go home.

“We don’t have a home of football. Whether you believe that or not, we don’t have a home.

“When the Socceroos come to Sydney to train, we have to go to a rugby league field where they remove the posts and put soccer posts up. That’s the truth.

“We are the highest participated sport at grassroots (in Australia). The last four days England have been at St George’s Park and they come down to (Wembley) where they are inspired and have a culture, we don’t have anything like that.

“After the World Cup I said ‘hopefully this will make things change’ and that government funding will help inspire the kid’s lives and fulfil their dreams.”

Australia’s most recent meeting with England saw the home side claim a 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light in 2016, when an 18-year-old Marcus Rashford because the youngest player to score on his England debut.

Roy Hodgson was in charge of England for that match but Arnold, who took charge in 2018, is looking forward to pitting his wits against the present incumbent Gareth Southgate.

Arnold said: “England are a fantastic team and Gareth Southgate is a great coach, a wonderful man and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow night.

“We are very appreciative of the invitation to play here and we’re looking forward to the match.”

Wayne Rooney has emphasised how much he is relishing the challenge he has taken on as boss of a Birmingham outfit with sights very much set on the Premier League.

The former England captain was appointed as Blues’ new manager on Wednesday on a three-and-a-half year deal after leaving DC United last weekend.

That was two days on from the Midlands club, who were taken over by US-based Shelby Companies Limited in July and had seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady become a minority owner the following month, sacking boss John Eustace while lying sixth in the Championship table.

Rooney returns to management in his home country having previously been in charge at Derby from 2020 to 2022, and he told a press conference at St Andrew’s on Thursday: “I think for myself firstly to get back into English football is great, it’s what I’ve wanted to do.

“I’ve had opportunities over the last four, six weeks at other clubs as well, to do that. But I think since speaking to Birmingham and seeing the ambitions of the club, where they want to go, where they want to get to, it excited me.

“I want to be successful, it’s clear this club wants to be successful, and everything we spoke about really was very similar. It was a really easy decision once I’d spoken to them.

“That’s the goal – for the club, for myself, is to get this club back to the Premier League, of course. I think there’s a lot of work to be done throughout the football club.

“The Premier League is where we want to get to, it’s an ambition of mine, one of the club’s, and we’re putting everything in place to make sure we do that in the near future.

“We’ll push for it (this season), of course. It’s a challenge, and something we’ll certainly push for. I’m committed, I’m ready to take this club forward, excited by this challenge…and looking forward to taking (it) on.”

When asked about taking over a club that has been doing well, Rooney said: “Of course it’s more pressure, which I love. I love the fact we’re in a good position.

“I love the pressure of it. That’s something I’ve dealt with since I was a young kid coming through at 16, so that’s nothing new to me.

“Who it might be new to is some of the players, so my job is to make sure I get them ready for that and to go out and be successful.”

The former Everton and Manchester United forward – who it emerged had got to work before 7am that morning – revealed he had spoken to Brady, and said: “It’s great to have him at the football club. He’s very ambitious to move this club forward. It’s clear, he’s fully involved in developing the club.”

An associate of the ownership is Steven Knight, the creator of Birmingham-set Peaky Blinders, which Rooney said was “one of the best television shows I’ve watched in the last 10 years”, before adding: “He actually gave me one of the caps, which I certainly wasn’t going to wear to this press conference! But I’m sure I’ll find time to put it on.”

The Republic of Ireland will attempt to launch a strong finish to a disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign when they welcome Greece to the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening.

Stephen Kenny’s men saw hopes of automatic qualification effectively go up in smoke last month when they were beaten by Group B rivals France in Paris and the Netherlands in Dublin, leaving them with just three points from their five games to date.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the talking points surrounding a game in which there is little more than pride at stake for the hosts.

Curtains for Kenny?

Despite inheriting an Ireland squad which had secured a Euro 2020 play-off place on which they were ultimately unable to cash in, Kenny stated from early in his reign that qualification for Euro 2024 was his target. Barring an unlikely series of results, the Republic will not make it to Germany automatically and even another ticket for the play-offs looks unlikely as a result of their poor Nations League record. A review of the manager’s tenure will take place next month, but even some of Kenny’s most staunch supporters are starting to turn.

Greek tragedy

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The Group B draw left both Ireland and Greece, who were already assured of a play-off spot, facing a difficult task to deny France and the Netherlands the top two berths and as such, the games between the two were going to be crucial. Kenny’s men travelled to Athens in June knowing victory would put them in a strong position from which to mount an attack; they left on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline and with the alarm bells already ringing after just two games.

Matt finish?

Matt Doherty in particular did not enjoy his trip to the Greek capital. With his side trailing to Anastasios Bakasetas’ and a second from Girogos Masouras after Nathan Collins had levelled, the defender was sent off after a needless clash with Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas. He and his team-mates were less than happy with the behaviour of some of the Greece players during the game and there is a hunger for a measure of revenge within the camp.

When Irish eyes are spying

Greece boss Gus Poyet was a satisfied man after the win at the OPAP Arena, claiming afterwards that he had anticipated what Ireland would do and had therefore been able to combat it. Ireland assistant manager Keith Andrews this week suggested the Uruguayan had enlisted the help of Irish contacts to draw up his masterplan. Time will tell if he has been able to do so once again.

Evan help us

Last month’s 2-0 defeat in Paris and the 2-1 reverse at the hands of the Dutch which followed it might have been different had Kenny been able to call upon one of his emerging stars. Eighteen-year-old Brighton striker Evan Ferguson was forced to withdraw from the squad due to a knee injury, robbing Ireland of their most potent weapon. Ferguson is back and primed and Ireland expects.

Black armbands will be worn and a period of silence observed at the England v Australia friendly to remember the innocent victims of the conflict in Israel and Palestine.

The Football Association has confirmed its plans to pay tribute, having come under pressure to illuminate the Wembley arch in the colours of the Israeli flag following attacks by Hamas militants over the weekend which were followed by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

“On Friday evening, we will remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine,” the FA said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with them, and their families and friends in England and Australia and with all the communities who are affected by this ongoing conflict. We stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering.

“England and Australia players will wear black armbands during their match at Wembley Stadium and there will also be a period of silence held before kick-off.”

The statement added that flags, replica kits and other representations of nationality not linked to England or Australia will not be permitted inside Wembley on Friday night.

 Reggae Girlz captain Khadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw opened her account for Manchester City Women on Wednesday during a 2-1 victory over Everton in the opening round of the Women’s League Cup.

Shaw also had an assist as she fed teammate Jess Park, who scored the opener in the 21^st minute to see Manchester City take a 1-0 lead into the half-time break.

Shortly after the resumption, Shaw got her goal smashing in from 10 yard to give the Cityzens a 2-0 lead in the 47^th minute.

“Got the job done. On to the next,” a proud Shaw posted on Instagram afterwards.

Toni Duggan headed in in stoppage time for Everton’s consolation. The former Manchester City player was scoring her first goal since she returned from maternity leave after giving birth to a daughter in March.