The Jamaica Football Federation expressed great elation after the country’s National U14 Team clinched the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under 14 Challenger Series in Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend.

Jamaica capped a dominant display throughout the tournament by defeating French Guiana 7-1 in the final at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Tobago on Sunday.

In the 6 matches played, Jamaica scored 25 goals and only conceded two with only one of them coming from open play.

Their results in the tournament were as follows: 2-0 vs St. Kitts & Nevis, 6-0 vs Aruba, 2-0 vs Trinidad & Tobago, 5-0 vs Aruba, 3-1 vs Puerto Rico and 7-1 vs French Guiana.

President of the Jamaica Football Federation Michael Ricketts expressed commendation for the team and the coaching staff in a press release on Monday.

“I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to our National U14 team for their performances in the recently concluded CFU U14 Challenger Series in Trinidad and Tobago. I would like to commend the players for their grit and determination and work rate as they played 6 matches in just over a week.”

He continued: “I would also like to congratulate Coach Andrew Peart and his staff for their hard work in preparing the team for the tournament and I am so delighted that it has paid off and it is a good feeling knowing that we will be returning to Jamaica with a trophy.”

General Secretary of the JFF Mr. Dennis Chung also shared commendation for the team.

“I would like to congratulate the U14 Team on being crowned champions of the Tier 1 group, and also commend the staff. This performance is a result of the deliberate effort to adopt the FIFA TDS programme, which is already bearing some fruit.”

Brighton have announced the signing of Matt O'Riley from Celtic on a five-year contract.

The Denmark international was signed for a fee believed to be more than £25million, a new record transfer fee received by a Scottish club.

O'Riley joined Celtic in January 2022 from MK Dons, going on to make 124 appearances for the Scottish champions. He scored 27 goals and registered 35 assists in all competitions for them.

In the Scottish Premiership last season, only Lawrence Shankland (24) scored more goals than O'Riley (18), while he got the most assists (13).

Of his goals, 13 were scored from big chances, while he created the third-most chances of any player in the competition (93), behind only James Tavernier and Danny Armstrong.

"He plays a very specialist position; he is very good at occupying and attacking the right space. He likes making deep runs, and knows when to attack at the right time," Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler said of his new signing.

"He enjoys getting forward and attacking the opponent's penalty area, but he also has a good defensive instinct. That balance makes him special. He is a great character and has a good ambition to succeed and that's something which is very important for us."

Celtic had rejected five bids from Atalanta from O'Riley, with their highest offer being £21.5m plus add-ons.

The 23-year-old is Brighton's eighth signing of the transfer window, following Yakuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Malick Yalcouye, Brajan Gruda, Ibrahim Osman, and Georginio Rutter into the club.

Barcelona have started the LaLiga season with two consecutive wins despite missing several key players, raising expectations around the prospects of new head coach, Hansi Flick.

Topping the table along with Celta Vigo on six points, Barcelona travel to Rayo Vallecano, who are unbeaten after shocking Real Sociedad 2-1 and holding Getafe to a hard-fought goalless draw on Saturday.

"The goal in Barcelona should always be to win the league," Flick told a press conference on Monday.

"Sure, it's a long road, but we have started well, although everything can change quickly.

"Now we are happy about our start and we are confident. We are not looking ahead to May, our focus is to keep momentum in the next game.

"We are very satisfied with what the team is doing on the pitch. The quality of the training sessions is good, the players are very focused, the intensity is good, and you can see that in the matches."

Vallecano will rely on their raucous Vallecas Stadium on Tuesday to help stop in-form Barcelona, who convincingly beat tough opponents in Valencia and Athletic Bilbao to ease the pressure surrounding a club in turmoil on and off the pitch.

Barcelona endured a trophyless campaign last season, resulting in the controversial firing of Xavi, with Flick being brought in to help them regain the LaLiga title from Real Madrid. 

The club is having deepening financial issues as they try to reduce their first-team wage bill to comply with LaLiga's financial controls. If they cannot, they will not be able to register new signings, like Spain international Dani Olmo, who joined in a €60million deal from RB Leipzig.

The Spaniard scored 29 goals and added 34 assists across 148 appearances in all competitions for Leipzig, for whom he created 32 chances in 21 Bundesliga outings in 2023-24.

And at Euro 2024, Olmo became the first Spanish player to score in three successive European Championship games, despite only starting three of La Roja's seven matches. 

Ilkay Gundogan, one of their most influential players last season, left as a free agent to join former club Manchester City last week, while Clement Lenglet and Vitor Roque have both left on season-long loans.

Flick may still be without Olmo for their game against Vallecano, with the registration process out of the German's hands. 

"I'm hopeful I can finally can count on him tomorrow," Flick added.

"I also hoped for him in the last game, but things are the way they are. It would be fantastic, but we'll see what happens. It's something we can't control; neither the player, the team, nor the coach. We know it's a difficult circumstance.

"I've spoken to him, it's a difficult situation. Of course, he is not happy, but he knows the circumstances. He is fit and ready to play if the call comes."

James Rodriguez has sealed a return to LaLiga, joining Rayo Vallecano on an initial one-year contract.

James left Brazilian giants Sao Paulo in July following a sublime Copa America campaign with Colombia, winning the Player of the Tournament award as they reached the final.

Rodriguez laid on six assists throughout the tournament, breaking the single-edition record set by Lionel Messi at the 2021 competition (since records began in 2011).

He also led all players at the tournament for chances created, with 20, with 14 of those coming from set-pieces.

The 33-year-old, who spent six years with Real Madrid between 2014 and 2020, has now returned to the city with Rayo, who narrowly avoided relegation last term.

James has penned an initial one-year deal with Inigo Perez's side, with an option to extend his stay for a further 12 months.

Rayo have collected four points from their first two games of the season in LaLiga, beating Real Sociedad 2-1 and playing out a goalless draw with Getafe. They are next in action against Barcelona on Tuesday.

Cucho Hernandez is proud to have helped Columbus Crew create history as they beat Los Angeles FC 3-1 to win the Leagues Cup for the first time.

Cucho opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a towering header past Hugo Lloris before Olivier Giroud netted his first goal for LAFC in the 57th minute.

When the game looked to be heading to penalties, Cucho stepped up again in stoppage time, curling a stunning effort in from the left wing before setting up Jacen Russell-Rowe for their third two minutes later.

Cucho, who scored four goals in the last three games on Columbus' run to the title, was delighted to play such a big role in their success.

"No words about that, no words. I'm so happy for making history here," Cucho said. "I'm so happy for my family, for the fans – and just enjoy.

"Our mentality is way better than other teams. This is not our first comeback. We also did it against Inter Miami."

It is the second title the Crew have won in the last two years, also beating LAFC to the MLS Cup last season.

Wilfried Nancy has led the team through both, and heaped praise on his star man's ability to dictate the game.

"He showed who he is in terms of: he can place the ball, he can shoot – but the rage that he has to score?" Nancy said.

"So after that, yeah, he provoked things for the other goals, but this is who he is.

"Behind the scenes, we try to help him and to give him tools to get more consistent and to get better, because he wants to be better. So, this is a reward for him, and I’m happy for him."

Victor Osimhen's agent insists the striker will not swap Napoli for Saudi Arabia despite reports linking him with a move to Al-Ahli.

Osimhen has been strongly linked with an exit since he fired the Partenopei to their third Scudetto in 2022-23, but he stayed put for a miserable 2023-24 campaign that saw them finish 10th in Serie A.

Earlier this month, Napoli director Giovanni Manna confirmed Osimhen had requested a move, with Premier League giants Chelsea and Arsenal touted as potential destinations.

Last week, reports suggested Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli were close to agreeing a fee of around €65million for the striker, but he is unwilling to negotiate personal terms with them.

On Monday, the Nigerian's agent Roberto Calenda took to X to outline Osimhen's desire to stay in Europe, saying he will not be forced into joining the Saudi club.

"Osimhen is a Napoli player, with a contract recently renewed with mutual satisfaction," Calenda wrote. 

"He made history and when there were major offers, we always accepted the club's decisions. 

"As I said, he is not a package to be shipped far away to make room for new players. 

"Victor was elected African footballer of the year, eighth at the Ballon d'Or, he still has so much to do in Europe. There is a need for respect and balance."

Osimhen scored 15 goals in 25 Serie A appearances during an injury-affected 2023-24 campaign, having netted 26 times as they were crowned champions the previous season.

He has scored 65 league goals for Napoli since joining from Lille in 2020, ranking 12th in their all-time Serie A scoring charts. 

Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz capped off a phenomenal showing at the Tier 1 CFU Boys' U14 Challenger Series with a dominant 7-1 victory over French Guiana in the final on Sunday at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.

Carlondo Morris and Kelvin Brown were the stars of the day for the Jamaicans with a hat trick and a brace, respectively.

French Guiana went ahead in the 21st minute through a looping shot from Matheo Francois before Brown equalized in the second half.

Morris then gave the Jamaicans their first lead of the day in the 52nd minute.

In the blink of an eye, the lead swelled to 5-1 through goals from Brown (54’) and a brace from Morris (58’, 61’) to complete his hat trick.

Second-half substitutes Samuel Taylor and Jaedan Brown-Hanniford notched goals to complete the 7-1 win for Jamaica.

In their six games in the tournament, Jamaica went unbeaten scoring 25 goals and conceding just two.

Jamaica also dominated the individual awards with Marcodean Spence copping the best goalkeeper award, Brown for best forward, and Davion Clarke for Most Valuable Player.

Meanwhile, Barbados took the Tier 2 title, defeating Bermuda 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has died at the age of 76 after being diagnosed with cancer.

Eriksson, who led England between 2001 and 2006, announced in January he had "best case, a year" to live after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The Swede was subsequently the subject of an Amazon Prime documentary, in which he delivered an emotional farewell message to fans.

"I hope you will remember me as a positive guy, trying to do everything he could do," Eriksson said in the documentary. 

"Don't be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds. It's been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life, and live it."

A widely reported statement released by Eriksson's family on Monday read: "After a long illness, Sven Goran-Eriksson died during the morning at home surrounded by family.

"The closest mourners are daughter Lina; son Johan with wife Amana and granddaughter Sky; father Sven; girlfriend Yanisette with son Alcides; brother Lars-Erik with wife Jumnong.

"The family asks for respect for their wish to mourn in private and not be contacted."

Eriksson was the first foreign manager to lead England and oversaw runs to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups as well as Euro 2004.

He oversaw 67 games in charge of the Three Lions, with only Walter Winterbottom (139), Alf Ramsey (113), Gareth Southgate (102) and Bobby Robson (95) leading the team on more occasions.

Eriksson's move into international management came after he won league titles with Benfica and Lazio, also lifting the Coppa Italia while in charge of both Roma and Sampdoria.

He also had spells in charge of Manchester City, Mexico, Ivory Coast and Leicester City after leaving the England job.

After revealing his cancer diagnosis, Eriksson said it was his "lifelong dream" to coach Liverpool and was invited to lead a team made up of Reds greats in a charity game versus Ajax legends at Anfield.

Having received a standing ovation from a capacity crowd, Eriksson described the occasion as "absolutely beautiful", adding: "That will be a huge memory in my life."

Pep Guardiola has hailed Erling Haaland for pressing "like an animal" and believes the Manchester City striker is in better physical shape than he was last season.

Haaland scored his 10th hat-trick for City as they came from behind to beat Ipswich Town 4-1 on Saturday, moving onto four goals from two Premier League appearances in 2024-25.

The Norwegian has now scored at least once against all 23 teams he has faced in the Premier League, with Harry Kane (32/32) the only player to have faced more sides in the competition while scoring against all of them.

However, Guardiola has been most impressed with Haaland's work off the ball, saying: "I like when he runs a lot. I like when he presses like an animal. I like it. It helps to score a goal.

"When you are connected defensively, you are connected offensively. His body language – imagine a central defender has the ball and he makes a sprint with this body and legs moving. It's scary.

"This is not negotiable. If you don't score a goal, it's fine. But you need to do it."

Haaland scored 27 top-flight goals to win his second Golden Boot last season, despite missing almost two months with a foot injury in the middle of the campaign.

Guardiola believes Haaland is over his physical issues, adding: "He feels good. Last season he always had problems in the hips, in the ankles, in the knee.

"This season of course he takes care of himself with the physios really well, but I had the feeling that he is sharper.

"After training sessions he stays longer to practice crosses and control. Last season it never happened because he was not perfect.

"With his body, he has to be perfect to perform at that level. That's why you have an incredible organisation to help the players to be comfortable to perform at their best."

Sonia Bompastor hailed her Chelsea players for taking her ideas on board quickly following Sunday's 1-0 friendly victory over Arsenal.

New arrival Sandy Baltimore scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea overcame their London rivals at Audi Field in Chicago.

Chelsea begin their quest for a sixth straight Women's Super League crown against Aston Villa on September 20, following a period of upheaval at Stamford Bridge.

Former Lyon boss Bompastor took the reins after Emma Hayes left to take the United States job and has overseen two pre-season victories, with the Blues also beating Gotham FC 3-1 on Monday.

Though she acknowledges there is more work to do ahead of their WSL opener, Bompastor believes her new players have already made plenty of progress.

"What I take from the game is that we worked really hard as a team and even if we had difficult moments, we were able to manage them," Bompastor said. 

"This is a good team spirit and I like that. Of course, the result was good even if we know we still need to work. These have been two good games for us to build on and to progress.

"We are in the beginning. It's not even been one month working with the team and it takes time to make sure all the girls understand our game model and the expectations I have of them on the field.

"I'm really happy. I think what we have wanted to work on since the beginning has been about the team spirit and from the two games we've played you can see we are playing like a team together, even when we have hard moments in games.

"From these two games, we will be working, progressing and reinforcing the messages on the game model. 

"I'm already happy with the girls, their performance and what they're achieving on the field."

Antonio Conte believes he witnessed a turning point for his Napoli side as they strolled to a 3-0 win over Bologna in their Serie A home opener on Sunday.

Napoli were trounced 3-0 at Verona in Conte's first league game at the helm last week, but they bounced back with a comfortable win over the Rossoblu on Sunday.

The Partenopei's victory was their first on home soil without conceding since they beat Sassuolo 2-0 in August 2023, and Conte feels it was an important moment in his team's development.

"Today we had a great responsibility, that of giving a great response after the second half in Verona," Conte told reporters.

"I had no doubts, these guys are good guys. I see them working... and I got important answers.

"These are three points that are the start of our journey, my first three points as Napoli coach. 

"I was emotional, I really cared about it. It's a starting point, we know that we have a journey to make.

"We have to gain confidence and continue to give this sense of unity that we felt today. This makes me happy, we hadn't won for a long time and we did it against an important opponent. Now let's think about Parma."

Napoli had gone eight league games without a victory prior to Sunday's match, with their previous win coming by a 2-1 scoreline against Juventus in March.

Winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia contributed a goal and an assist, and he feels having Conte at the helm is close to a guarantee of success, saying: "I really wanted to get on the pitch and give my contribution to the cause to bring home a very important win.

"I am a footballer who always wants to learn new things, to acquire useful notions to continue my path of growth.

"Having Conte on the bench is certainly a guarantee. Let's hope we can take great satisfaction throughout the whole championship."

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Julian Alvarez needs time to find his feet after a 3-0 win over Girona, predicting the forward will be "incredible" for Los Colchoneros.

Atleti got off the mark for the new campaign with a comfortable win over last season's LaLiga runners-up, with Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Koke scoring.

Alvarez was quiet on his first start following his €95million (£81.5m) switch from Manchester City, but Simeone is certain he will come good.

"Top players demand things to happen, people go to the stadium to watch them. We know what Julian brings and what he can give us," Simeone said.

"We will try to exploit his best qualities, as a first striker or second striker, or on the wing... 

"He is still missing connections but that will come with training and matches, he has only just arrived but we have to give him time."

The Argentine coach then heaped praise on Llorente, who also added an assist for Koke's goal from right-back.

Simeone added his fine form will boost competition with fellow right-back Nahuel Molina, saying: "I am very happy to see that after one or two years looking for an important place for a player with his characteristics, we have found a spot for him.

"This calls for Molina to improve, to show the World Cup and Copa America winner he is.

"We need competition. Because Llorente will not always be able to play at the same pace and we have another great player like Molina who will do the same as Marcos in that position." 

Ipswich Town have completed the signing of defender Dara O'Shea from Burnley for an undisclosed fee.

The Republic of Ireland international put pen to paper on a five-year deal at Portman Road, while becoming Kieran McKenna's ninth capture during the ongoing window.

Former West Bromwich Albion and Burnley defender O'Shea will bring Premier League experience to the Tractor Boys' backline following their promotion to the top flight.

"I'm really excited to sign for the club," the 25-year-old told TownTV.

"It was really hard not to pay attention to everything the team was able to achieve last season, and to have the chance to join a club with such ambition and momentum was really attractive. 

"I want to play in the Premier League and test myself against the best players in the world, which is something I want to do for as long as possible, and I can't think of a better place to do that."

Marcos Llorente scored a fine individual effort as Atletico Madrid claimed their first LaLiga victory of the season with a 3-0 win over Girona.

Antoine Griezmann and substitute Koke were also on target for Diego Simeone's side at Estadio Civitas Metropolitano.

Atletico, who handed a debut to new signing Conor Gallagher later on, broke the deadlock six minutes before half-time.

Griezmann stepped up and drilled a fierce 18-yard free-kick beyond Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, who had been penalised for handball just outside his own penalty area.

Gazzaniga was helpless again within three minutes of the restart, as Llorente embarked on a powerful solo run from just inside his own half, before rifling into the roof of the net from 20 yards.

And Los Rojiblancos sealed the victory in stoppage time following a swift counter that culminated in Llorente crossing for Koke to volley home.

Data Debrief: Griezmann picks up where Suarez left off

Since the 2015-16 season, Atletico have scored 10 goals directly from free-kicks in all competitions, with Griezmann scoring nine of those.

His effort today was the first such goal by a Los Rojiblancos player since Luis Suarez against Cadiz back in January 2021.

Griezmann also continued his personal scourge of Girona. Indeed, that was the midfielder's fifth goal against them in LaLiga (equalling Borja Iglesias), with no player registering more.

Antonio Conte oversaw his first Serie A victory in charge of Napoli, who ran out commanding 3-0 winners over Bologna at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Giovanni Simeone were all on target for the Partenopei as they bounced back from their defeat by the same scoreline at Verona on matchday one.

The hosts had not lost their opening two games of a Serie A season since doing so under Zdenek Zeman in 2000-01, and they broke through in first-half stoppage time.

A lovely move culminated in Kvaratskhelia clipping a delightful ball into the box for the onrushing Di Lorenzo to control and fire home.

Kvaratskhelia doubled the lead with a quarter of an hour remaining; his shot after a fine solo run deflecting beyond Lukasz Skorupski in the Bologna goal.

Napoli wrapped up the points in stoppage time when David Neres cut a cross back for fellow substitute Simeone, who made no mistake from close range.

Data Debrief: A magnificent seven for Di Lorenzo as Simeone ends drought

Napoli opened the scoring via an unlikely source in Di Lorenzo, though he converted the opportunity with aplomb.

The skipper is one of two defenders, along with Cristiano Biraghi, to score in each of the last seven Serie A seasons.

Namesake Simeone climbed off the bench to net his fifth goal against Bologna in the Italian top flight and, more importantly, end a dismal run of 24 successive league appearances without scoring.