Bradley will ‘never get over’ US Ryder Cup defeat

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After going through “one of the toughest times of his life since the loss in New York,” Keegan Bradley fears he will “never get over” the Ryder Cup defeat by Europe.

The 39-year-old led Team USA to a disastrous campaign in Bethpage, where they won 15-13.

Bradley became the youngest captain on either side since 1963 with Arnold Palmer as the captain.

However, as Europe became the first team to win away since 2012, he acknowledged that he had made some errors after his pairings and course selection were among the decisions that were questioned following the defeat.

In his first press conference since the incident, Bradley remarked, “This has been one of the toughest times in my life.”

I won, but I didn’t, and I’ll have to deal with this for the rest of my life.

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After Europe took a 512-221 lead on the opening day and extended that to 1112-4212 by the end of day two, the biggest lead going into the final day in modern Ryder Cup history, Team USA gave themselves too much after a dramatic comeback attempt on the final day.

Even though the hosts won the 12 singles matches with 81 points, it wasn’t enough.

Bradley said, “You put so much effort into it, and you have all this planning,” and the first two days went as poorly as we could have ever imagined.

Bradley had been anticipated to play as a player-captain, but earlier this year he had a “change of heart” and decided against playing in New York.

I remember when I first practiced on the tee and was watching the guys all go down the fairway together and said, “I wish I was playing, that’s what it’s all about. I’m missing out’. ‘ “

Bradley claims that he made the right choice by excluding himself from the selection process because he was “physically exhausted” by the match’s second day.

He said, “I just didn’t believe I could do both jobs.”

As a player and captain, Bradley has now lost three Ryder Cups. He was a member of the losing US side at Gleneagles in 2014, but he hasn’t unpacked his suitcase since Medinah in 2012.

He claims he will continue to make himself available for upcoming editions despite being unsure whether or not he will get the chance again.

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‘Infectious and resilient’ – NI’s latest teen star Moore

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Play-off between Iceland and Northern Ireland in the Nations League

Date: Friday, October 24; 00 BST Kickoff: Ballymena Showgrounds

Mia is a great all-round kid because she demands so much from both the younger and the older players. Outstanding both on and off the pitch for her.”

Mia Moore made her senior debut at the age of 15 after watching her develop at the club’s academy, according to Glentoran captain Jess Foy.

She then moved on to new pastures before returning to help the Glens defend their title this year.

After a fantastic campaign, the 18-year-old midfielder was chosen to play for Northern Ireland’s senior team for the upcoming Nations League play-off against Iceland.

Given that she had just recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that had prevented her from playing in the 2024 season, Moore’s dominance over Tanya Oxtoby’s plans is even more impressive.

“It’s been a long time, especially for a young player,” he said. According to Foy, who believes Moore played “a huge part” in Glentoran’s victory over rivals Cliftonville, it can be a little easier to cope with mentally as you get older.

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Although her recovery demonstrated resilience, Foy claims that Moore’s advancement in Glentoran was accompanied by “everyone talking about this great talent.”

When her senior season was shortened by an ACL injury, she moved across Belfast to Linfield and made her professional debut at age 15.

However, she reconnected with her former club, which she affectionately called “home.”

Foy, who won her seventh title with the Glens, said, “We were devastated when she left, but we knew if she came back, she would do great things.”

Everyone was mentioning the quality she had and how she was dominating youth football as a young child, I just recall.

Thankfully, she was able to carry that into senior football.

Foy continued, “Moore was a great fit from the beginning, and her attitude and application in training stood out.”

Mia says on the pitch, “Mia is probably the hardest worker in training.”

She constantly requests additional sessions and strives to improve.

“Every time she smiles,” she says.

Foy anticipates Moore “will not look out of place one bit” despite the Women’s Premiership being a significant improvement, especially against a League A calibre side in Iceland.

I sincerely hope she enjoys some time.

“We are aware of her level, and I sincerely hope she shines on the international stage.”

Although she is still a youngster when she was first introduced to the senior set-up, it shows how well she has been working and playing. For a person who is still young, it’s a great accomplishment.

Foy adds that Moore’s “inner-friendly” personality will help her blend in with the squad.

She is very funny, she says. She is probably one of the most at ease and relaxed people you’ll encounter.

She’s wonderful to be around and always makes me smile. She’s always up for a laugh, and the energy is quite high.

Kim Turner and Mia MooreGlentoran FC

Foy claims that getting a group of players who are all at the same age and friends off the field has helped them “gel” on it.

Off the pitch, “they are all great friends and they are all pushing each other to improve,” and that is all starting to come out.

“The older players are now trying to keep up with the younger ones with how much they are demanding of us as players, whether that is through extra sessions or what they are demanding of us.”

Joely Andrews, a midfielder for Northern Ireland, said Oxtoby’s squad’s involvement of Moore and Kerr showed that “the path we have is working.”

Mia and Aimee Kerr are joining us, and they are not just doing it for the sake of it. They are difficult and difficult.

They have a new home and are pushing the training standards.

Mia has excellent ball handling skills and is extremely talented. She is very exciting going forward and aggressive off the ball as well.

She’ll be very valuable to this camp and puts a lot of effort into training, according to the statement.

While Foy anticipates that Moore will eventually play across the water, she insists that Kim Turner, a former international and player for Manchester City, is in charge of her development and that the Women’s Premiership is not a bad place for her.

She “sees quite content with where she is at and where she is developing right now.”

“Mia could probably use a year more here, especially since she recovered from her ACL.” She made a big impact on this year’s league, and I’m confident she can do better.

We all know she can improve on that the following year and she scored 12 goals for us this year.

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‘Tough feedback’ – how Frankfurt turned Ekitike into £69m star

Eintracht Frankfurt’s Timmo Hardung smiles, “Strikers are always more shiny.”

Hardung is aware of the Bundesliga club’s nearly $ 300 million profit from forward sales over the past six years that attracts headlines and interest.

“It’s the toughest part of our sport to score a goal, so obviously they draw a lot of attention”, he says. However, I believe we were able to develop and improve a lot of players.

Of course, Hardung is correct that the Frankfurt ranks haven’t just seen the blossoming of strikers.

Ecuador international Willian Pacho is a prime example – signed from Royal Antwerp for just under £12m in July 2023, the defender left a year later to join Paris St-Germain for almost £35m.

However, it is frequently, and for good reason, that forwards are mentioned.

Andre Silva (RB Leipzig), Randal Kolo Muani (PSG), Omar Marmoush (Manchester City), and Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool) have all passed through the club for large profits since Luka Jovic joined Real Madrid, and Sebastien Haller moved to West Ham in the summer of 2019.

“I wouldn’t say we do anything more specific with them than with any other position”, adds Hardung. However, we make an effort to play offensive football, creating lots of chances, and I believe we’re a good team because we give players the chance to score their goals.

Our strikers have the best chance to shine because we press high and attack the goal as much as we can.

That was the case for 23-year-old Ekitike, who will return to Deutsche Bank Park with Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Ekitike had a short-coming with PSG after coming to them from Reims 18 months prior to his first loan spell until the second half of the 2023-2019 season.

The Frenchman made his move to Frankfurt soon after posting 15 goals and eight assists in the Bundesliga last season, which ranks him as the top-fourth most goalscorers among players under the age of 23 in Europe’s top five leagues.

” We just saw his potential, “says Hardung”. We recognized his weaknesses, and we thought it might be very appropriate for the type of football we want to play.

Although PSG is a large club, we saw the opportunity there and made the deal work. “He was a young football player who had a difficult time.

Ekitike scored more goals in his one full season at Frankfurt than he did in any other campaign of his career, despite underperforming his expected goals tally (xG) by 6.6% and having a shot conversion rate of 12.8%.

The Frenchman, who is fifth in the division for most dribbles, had more shots, and scored more goals from fast breaks than any other forward, and was also ranked fifth overall in the league in terms of overall play.

” It was a lot of work from us, but also from him, “adds Hardung.

We try to be honest with players because that is the only way to bring them forward, despite the fact that he obviously had to do the hard work, training, and listening to some difficult feedback.

“He was able to use that feedback to develop a strong work ethic and training efforts.” ]He] improved every day, gave it his best shot and then the rest was done by his talent”.

In an effort to encourage the development of young stars like Ekitike, Frankfurt has made an investment in the “team around the team.”

Additionally, psychologists, nutritionists, and other experts collaborate with players on a personal level in addition to video analysts, performance and athletic coaches, performance and athletic coaches, and performance and athletic coach coaches.

“The further you reach up to your ceiling, the more you have to look for percentages to improve a little bit here, a little bit there”, explains Hardung.

Ekitike was given more speed and physicality than he had when he first started playing in the Bundesliga because he was lacking in minutes when he first arrived.

We have a lot of runs, intensive runs, and sprints, according to Hardung. “So you have to prepare to be able to do that and not to get exhausted too early in the game, because you still want to have them fresh and ready to score 1-0 in the 80th, 90th minute.

You must put in some effort to accomplish this, they say. He has done that, too.

The staff also worked closely on” details “to help Ekitike improve his scoring chances.

‘ We want to be successful… we’re ambitious ‘

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Ekitike left after Marmoush left for Manchester City for £59m, having previously joined Frankfurt for free a year and a half earlier.

Including Ekitike, the top eight most expensive departures from the Bundesliga this summer headed for the Premier League – among them were Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool, Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig to Manchester United and Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart to Newcastle.

Hardung understands why German clubs are placing orders for top-flight purchases in Germany.

He claims that our league is “very competitive.” That can show Premier League clubs players who play well in the Bundesliga can have a good impact. “

However, Frankfurt’s main goal is not to hire players with high potential resale value.

The 35-year-old Hardung explains that “we’re not necessarily looking for a selling market after that.” We want to be successful, right? We are a large, traditional club. We have ambitions. That’s our primary goal, to get a competitive football team.

Because we can’t spend the money that other clubs can, we felt like doing that would work best for us.

These techniques are working, according to the evidence. Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022 and have gradually improved their league performance since, finishing third in the Bundesliga last season, a joint club record, with the division’s youngest average team.

Although it may not be their intention to sell their stars, Frankfurt is always on time and the hiring process begins soon.

According to Hardung, “the preparation of the next transfer window begins the day after the transfer window closes.” “What changes may happen in the future and how do we react to that”?

Jonathan Burkadt celebratesGetty Images

Jonathan Burkardt, who scored 17 Bundesliga goals for Mainz last season and won five German caps, took the place of the departing Ekiti this summer.

The 25-year-old, signed for £18m, has scored four goals in his first six league games and three in two Champions League matches so far this season.

What do we really want, is the first question we ask ourselves. “,” asserts Hardung. “It’s important to really analyse your squad, look for the strengths and abilities you are missing or you want to add”.

According to Hardung, Frankfurt have the resources to monitor the “whole football world,” identify key performance indicators, develop algorithms to meet club needs, and screen that database for targets.

Players who comply with the requirements will be flagged before subject to a more “qualitative” evaluation.

“Then the scouting department really kicks in”, adds Hardung. “Watching film, technical filming, and technical scouting, in an effort to make the shortlist even shorter,” he said.

The final section will always be live scouting, but we’re trying to make it as efficient as possible. We won’t have a list of 100 players to watch live, just a few we think will find interesting from the data and movies, “but trying to make it as efficient as possible.”

“The last step would be us driving out, watching the players live, before making the final decision – which player we feel like we should really commit to”.

Hardung thinks Frankfurt’s reputation for producing talent helps them demonstrate that they “walk the talk” when looking to hire future stars.

If you sit down with players, agents, or families to paint them a picture of what you want to do, of the philosophy and strategy you use, and if you have a track record of players who have followed that path, he says, it helps.

Underpinning all their work is a humble nature. The club “knows our spot, know our place, know where we come from, and also know our strength,” according to Hardung. Making life as difficult as possible for supposedly bigger teams, like Liverpool on Wednesday, is one way to do this.

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All Blacks ‘a brotherly rivalry’ for Gibson-Park

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Jamison Gibson-Park, Ireland scrumhalf, claims that it’s “brotherly rivalry” when faced with New Zealand.

After three years with Leinster, Gibson-Park, who was born in New Zealand, qualified to represent Ireland in 2019.

The 33-year-old has since played for Ireland 43 times and anticipates a second meeting with the All Blacks in Chicago on November 1.

He continued, “I always want to be a part of that, and I enjoy fighting those guys.”

It dates back to my earliest years of life. I played against a lot of these guys when I was younger, so I get the impression that you two are probably the same. The brotherly rivalry is similar to that.

This one will not be different.

Gibson-Park recalls his first game against his country of birth, which was a 29-20 victory over New Zealand in November 2021.

He continued, “I thought I was ready for it, but when you get out there in the moment, it hits you pretty hard.”

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Ioane move “hit us right away”

Rieko Ioane, an All Blacks center, will join Gibson-Park at Leinster after the international break to sign for the Irish province on a seven-month contract.

When Ioane’s move was made public in April, Gibson-Park acknowledged that it had surprised provincial players.

Given that Johnny Sexton claimed that Ioane and Ireland sparked a row after the final whistle of Sexton’s career and that he had made the comments after the final whistle of Ireland’s 2023 World Cup exit to the All Blacks, it shocked fans.

I went to Blues training with him. He was very well-regarded, Gibson-Park recalled, and I was 21 when I believe he was still in school.

I haven’t had much with him since then, but I think we have been shocked, like many others.

“Something usually whispers that something is about to go wrong, but this really struck us right away.”

Gibson-Park is also pleased to work alongside Sexton, who was previously part of Andy Farrell’s backroom team, despite having previously assisted the Englishman on a summer British and Irish Lions tour.

He is a fantastic camp host. He would have always been a big voice in the room, and it’s different now, he said, “but it’s different, it’s not strange.” “I suppose it’s different as a coach,” he said.

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Thunder begin title defence with overtime win

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The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 125-124 victory over the Houston Rockets was the catalyst for their NBA title defense, which was led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the way into double overtime.

With only 2.33 seconds left in second overtime, the champions got off to a strong start by scoring 35 points, two of which came from the free-throw line.

Alperun Sengun, a Houston native, hit a career-high five three-pointers and top-scored with 39.

However, Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, who combined for the Thunder, contributed significantly to the game-winning 28-pointer.

Gilgeous-Alexander described their performance as “grit, determination, and defense.”

The players were given championship rings before the game, and Oklahoma’s championship banner was raised on their home court prior to the game.

In the best-of-seven NBA Finals of the previous year, the Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers. It was their first title since Seattle, who had previously won the 1979 title, relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.

The Pacers’ Friday game against Oklahoma will give them a chance to snag some early retaliation, and the Rockets’ game against the Detroit Pistons comes the same day.

Luka Doncic’s enormous effort, which included 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists, did not help his new team, the Los Angeles Lakers, survive a 119-109 defeat against the Golden State Warriors.

For the visiting Warriors, Jimmy Butler scored 31 points and Stephen Curry scored 23.

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