Category Sports News

Take note, Europe: Lauren James is back.

After three months, James, 23, only needed eight minutes to make a decisive save as England defeated Jamaica 7-0.

The Chelsea attacker, who hasn’t played since April due to a hamstring injury, made her way onto the field, where everyone in the King Power Stadium erupted to cheers.

And what a better time for her return could have been. England’s opening Group D game at Euro 2025 will take place in the hands of France, but Sarina Wiegman’s “special player” is fit and ready to go.

The 23-year-old appears ready to play a crucial role in England’s quest for glory after impressing with three goals and three assists at the World Cup two years ago.

James was a difficult winger in 2021 who was waiting to be discovered, but now she is making money by comparing her to Kelly Smith, one of the greatest players in all time.

Karen Carney, a former Lioness, continued to praise James on ITV, saying, “She can do things that I haven’t seen any player since Kelly Smith.” She’s Ballon d’Or”.

Before Saturday’s game against France, James’ performance as Wiegman will be a source of great anxiety.

Ella Toone, a player for Manchester United, started the match in that role and scored two goals, but James lit up the King Power Stadium with her ability to glide past opponents with her passing and pick out passes that weren’t noticed.

It’s difficult not to get excited about James, ex-England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley said on BBC Radio 5 Live. I believe she needs to be properly managed, and it’s really exciting to give her a sneak peak at what she can offer this Lionesses attack and midfield. It is mouthwatering food.

She plays midfield like a little magician, in my opinion. Her unpredictability, shooting ability, and natural movement. In the middle of the field, she appears to be running her own business.

James’ return to the pitch was a huge boost for England, but is she prepared for 90 minutes against France? With only 30 minutes of playing time after three months, it’s unlikely to be the case.

Wiegman, a two-time Euros champion, knows how to be patient with James: “Once we’re building her, we’re going to. She has put in a lot of effort to get where she is right now, both at Chelsea and in our last two weeks.

She completed every training session very well. We hope to continue developing her as we move into the France game because this was the first time she could get minutes.

With only 32 of her 894 starts in this term’s three months playing, James lacks match intelligence, and on Saturday, she could play off the bench against France.

Toone, 25, has nearly 1, 000 more games this year than James, and he has always done so in England, especially at the Euros.

With the versatility of the Chelsea forward, Wiegman can use her on either wing or as a false nine, making it less straightforward than a James and Toone battle for the starting XI spot.

We also understand that midfield and up front are up against each other in a lot of competition. We’ll figure it out, Wiegman added.

As the Lionesses prepare to depart for Switzerland, England fans expressed their joy at James’ return.

You have to pray Lauren James is fit for all the games, the best in the world, because she’s on a completely different level five minutes in and has sent in three world-class balls.

Lauren James, that’s what I call it.

LeBron James’ agent informed his agent that the 40-year-old has exercised an option to extend his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, making it a record-breaking 23rd NBA season.

After activating a $ 53 million (£41 million) player option for the 2025-26 season, Rich Paul stated that James, the NBA’s all-time top scorer, was aiming for a fifth Championship.

He is aware of the future-proofing plans the Lakers have. He appreciates a good chance of winning it all, he said to ESPN.

“We recognize the difficulty in achieving success while focusing on future goals.” At this point in LeBron’s life and career, we do want to know what’s best for him. The Lakers are supportive and want what’s best for him, and he wants to see how many seasons he has left count.

James’ NBA career began in 2003 when his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, selected him first overall.

The forward led Cleveland to their only NBA title with a success in 2016 before joining the Miami Heat in 2010, winning two titles, and winning two more.

Since 2018, he has assisted the Lakers in winning the NBA championship for the fourth time, making James the MVP of the final four games.

Lando Norris described his victory in the Austrian Grand Prix as “fulfilling” and “giving me good confidence” as he prepares for his Silverstone home race.

The McLaren driver’s third victory of the season and 15 points away from the Australian in the championship were the exact kind of races the McLaren driver needed, under intense pressure from team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this for Norris was that it served as confirmation of a positive trajectory he has been on in the past few weeks after a difficult start to the season – and that it helped lay the ghosts of the last race in Canada, where he retired after running into the back of his sister McLaren.

“It’s been a good clean weekend. I had a great time, I felt very at ease, and I was very proud of my car. It also performed exactly as I wanted and needed.

The pace has always been there at times, and it’s not that I’ve never been able to do it before. It’s just there’s been some different reasons for different things.

“I’m pretty happy coming in today and yesterday to do the job that I did,” I said.

“But it doesn’t come quickly,” he said. It doesn’t come just because I’ve turned up this weekend and things are better. I’m putting in a lot of effort.

Norris was referring to the work that his team and driver have done this year to put him back on the map in the fight against Piastri.

Piastri took over that position from the start of this season after taking the title of best overall McLaren driver in 2024.

Norris ‘ win in Austria still leaves him two victories short of Piastri’s tally in 2025, and the Australian still has four pole positions to his team-mate’s three. However, Austria had a number of potential pivotal races.

Norris won his second straight race victory in Monaco at the end of last month, which is significant.

After each race, McLaren and Norris met up with each other to discuss Canada, which team principal Andrea Stella described as a “benign situation” brought on by “a misjudgment of proximity to the car ahead” as they do with both drivers.

Stella explained that Piastri’s car was in “energy recovery mode” at the time, which caused the closing speed to be faster than Lando had anticipated, which Stella explained in Austria.

Stella added: “The conversations were all about the fact that the speed is there.

Lando won the title in Monaco with pole position. He was in line for pole position when he touched the wall during Canada qualifying. He was the fastest car in Canada in the race. Position polo in Austria.

“The execution is done, and results will come,” Lando said, “and the speed is there.”

Norris has struggled this season not because of his lack of pace. It has been that he has been struggling to string laps together in qualifying to prove it. And that’s because of a particular car’s lack of feel from the front axle, which has affected him more than Piastri.

McLaren made a modification to the front suspension geometry specifically to lessen the drivers’ feelings of numbness or lack of cueing. Norris adopted it, and used it again in Austria. Because he thought he didn’t need it, Pirasti has not used it altogether.

This adjustment is not intended to be a performance improvement. But because it increases the feel provided to the driver through the steering mid-corner, which Norris relies on heavily, it allows him to access more of the potential of the car more easily.

Stella asserted that understanding what is happening with the front tires is more dependent on the feeling the driver has when using the steering wheel.

Oscar has access to it, but this almost seems like a set-up option. It’s not in itself something that increases the grip that you have available”.

Stella continued, “We are in a time where Lando is unquestionably resilient.

So, both from a technical and personal development perspective, Lando deserves praise for his efforts.

Due to a spin for Pierre Gasly in the final corner, both Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen were unable to complete their final runs in qualifying, which exaggerated the gap.

Nevertheless, all Norris ‘ rivals were impressed by his lap time, and he never looked like being beaten to pole.

A different issue existed regarding the race. The two McLarens engaged in a close fight during the opening session. Piastri’s pass of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari into Turn One after the start allowed him to be within one second of Norris at the end of the first lap, and that gave him the use of the DRS overtaking aid, which gives a 0.7-second advantage.

Piastri was able to press on Norris in turn because of this. Norris had no chance of regaining his battery’s full potential, despite having to defend. It meant the two McLarens were tied together for the first stint.

Piastri passed him into Turn Three on lap 11, but Norris resisted and won the position at Turn Four after a few errors from his part in the final two corners of lap 10.

After nine laps, Piastri made a daring inside-the-wall dive at Turn Four, locking his brakes and nearly collecting his team-mate. That earned him a censure from the team for taking too big a risk with the cars, something Piastri said was “fair comment”.

He continued, “Locking up and missing your team-mate’s back by not a lot is definitely pushing the limits.” I didn’t believe it was a wise decision to try that one again, even if I hadn’t been told anything.

” It was close at some points, probably pushing the limits a bit much from my side once or twice.

“But we’re competing for race victories in Formula 1,” he said. It will be a lot of work and effort. I thought it was an entertaining race. Maybe we didn’t do what was right by Lando after the first stop, but the first 20 laps were pretty intense. It was a good fight, then.

Austria was a race that made observers be thankful McLaren are operating a policy of open competition between their drivers, for Norris and Piastri were in a league of their own.

Stella acknowledged that this was influenced by a new front wing, new suspension fairings, and brake ducts from the front of the car.

As for how much they have improved the team in comparison to the rest of the field, Stella also noted that McLaren would have been more advantageous on Austria because their car was already capable in long, medium-speed corners like those that constitute the final two-thirds of the Red Bull Ring lap. And also that Norris is “a little bit of a specialist in Austria”.

Mercedes and Red Bull both have reasons to believe they can put up more of a fight at Silverstone when the two teams next compete.

Norris claims that he is “excited” for “the best race weekend of the year” in his post-wince.

And he rejected the idea that he was under any extra pressure there.

He said, “Of course, it’s where I want to win more than anywhere else, but it doesn’t change anything.” Every morning when I wake up, it just makes me smile a little bit more.

” It probably distracts me in a good way more than anything… more of a positive distraction, I would say, more than a pressure.

Lionel Messi suffered a significant defeat as he prepared to play his final game on the international stage, but he still managed to put some magic touches on display.

The 38-year-old Argentine was undoubtedly the greatest player in history as Inter Miami lost to his former team Paris St-Germain 4-0 at the Club World Cup.

After the game, which 65, 574 fans watched, Inter Miami manager Javier Mascherano said, “PSG are in great form, champions of everything, but people still pay for a ticket to see Leo Messi, even at 38 years old.”

Lucas Beraldo, a PSG defender, said: “Leo is a special person. It was wonderful to play a game with him. It’s special because I was a kid and watched his magic on television as a child.

At the end of 2025, Messi will not be working for Inter Miami. Beyond that, nothing else is guaranteed.

And he seems to have no idea whether he will participate in the 2026 World Cup, which will also be held in the US, Mexico, and Canada, in a year.

Both Argentina team-mates Luis Suarez and Nicolas Otamendi anticipate Messi’s reinstatement until at least that point.

No one knows, at least not Messi himself, according to Guillem Balague, who wrote a book about the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner in 2023.

In his BBC Sport column before this game, the Spanish journalist claimed Messi is reportedly in talks to extend his stay at the club and that his family is settled there.

He is just taking it tournament after tournament, Balague said.

“If he renews and stays in America, he will assess the situation when necessary,” he said. “For the time being, he is just taking things step by step.

Everyone who is involved wants to see him represent Argentina at the World Cup in America in 2014. However, he hasn’t made a decision in the end.

With about five minutes left, Messi stood over a free-kick and looked on, “I’m going to score,” but he hit the wall.

He walks around the pitch and just goes when the ball touches his feet, which is clever. He’s like a player from another planet, ex-Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi, who is keeping an eye on Dazn.

He was incredible playing against when he was Messi Messi in his youth. It never leaves his feet, no matter how he plays or how he moves the ball.

Football will never forget Messi, who has scored goals for Inter Miami (50) and Barcelona (722) in the all-time scoring record.

But his best days are undoubtedly and understandably behind him at the age of 38.

This was his first encounter with a former team in his 1, 109-game career, which was remarkable.

And it was only against the one club where he fell short of expectations. Since he left, PSG has been a better team, with only 32 goals in 75 games not assisting them in winning the Champions League.

After scoring four times in the opening period, PSG eased up in the second half, allowing Messi to have more time as Inter Miami saw more of the ball.

Suarez had a fantastic chance thanks to a superb cushioned ball that Suarez could not get past.

Lionel Messi’s “touch of the tournament,” according to Dazn pundit Don Hutchison, the former Scotland midfielder.

It’s unfortunate Suarez couldn’t finish the move because Messi was genius because of how much of a pass it was to knock it over the defender with perfect weight and precision.

A blocked shot was then hit by Gianluigi Donnarumma, who saved a few shots before slashing them in the wall.

The first was a header that he scored as a result of his Barcelona’s win over Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final goal.

According to his boss, and former Barcelona teammate Mascherano, “I think Leo played a great game, within our options.”

We found him much more in the second half. Due to Paris’ pressure, we couldn’t do it in the first half.

It seems as though this will be his final game, which will likely be watched worldwide, as well as by those who are fans of this Marmite Fifa Club World Cup.

From now on, if he stays at Inter Miami, it’s likely that all he does will be doing will be at club level.

On the final day of the Scottish Swimming Championships, Faye Rogers broke her own European record.

The Paralympic champion won the 100-meter butterfly competition at Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool in 1: 04.04. Her previous best time was 1: 05.46.

The 22-year-old won gold at the Paris Games last year, becoming the reigning world champion in her field.

Ciara Schlosshan won the 100-meter butterfly, and Archie Goodburn won the 100-meter breaststroke on Friday after winning the 50-meter.