On his forearm, Dominik Szoboszlai has a tattoo in Hungarian which reads "Talent is a divine blessing, but without incredible will and humility, it is worth nothing". Dig a little deeper and you find the quote is attributed to Steven Gerrard. When midfielder Szobozlai arrived at Liverpool from RB Leipzig in 2023 for 60m, there was a reason why he took the number eight shirt that had become synonymous with Gerrard at Anfield.
Cynics may say it is no coincidence the J.League has introduced penalty shootouts to replace draws just before the World Cup. Japan have identified the quarter-finals as the target this summer after failing to progress past the last 16 on three of the past four occasions, with two of those disappointments coming after failures from the spot. The 2022 tournament was the worst, with the Samurai Blue, who should have seen off Croatia during normal time, losing the shootout 3-1 in dismal fashion.
Think your footballing brain has reached its limit? We have a fresh batch of challenges designed to find those tiny gaps in your memory, all courtesy of Kwizly. From the global stage of international stadiums to the obscure soundtracks of your favourite video games, there is plenty here to keep you occupied. We'll start with a test of loyalty and longevity in the most demanding league in the world.
For someone so young, his attributes are very, very good. He takes on board everything. He's got a strong mind, he knows what he wants to see. He wants to lead from the front but he's not afraid to ask, and that's the best thing. But it's not going to happen immediately, so the big thing is to hold tight when things are not going your way, because it's a process. If the manager is angry, you don't follow it up with angry words, you follow up with support and a bit of know-how. There are times when I can give him a helping hand, but there's also times where I go, yeah, that's the right way and something I haven't gone through.
In general Stuttgart, they always want to have control, they want to have the ball, it is always difficult to press them. Sebastian Hoeness, the manager, he wants to dominate the game so I think this is a key thing at Celtic Park as well. If Celtic can press, if Celtic can destroy the build-up, if they are inside the game, the crowd is there - something can happen at Celtic Park.
French club Marseille have appointed former Newcastle and Aston Villa defender Habib Beye as their new head coach, a week after his sacking from fellow Ligue 1 club Rennes. Marseille parted ways with Roberto De Zerbi last week, following a a 5-0 defeat by Paris St-Germain and a group stage exit in the Champions League. Beye, who spent four years at Marseille during his playing career, was sacked by Rennes last week following a four-match winless run which left them in sixth place.
It's a dream come true. Getting my debut is one thing and then scoring on my debut is another. Just so thankful, just so happy. As I was watching the game I saw the game becoming a bit tense and we had more control of the ball than before, so I knew that going into the last couple of minutes, it was going to be more end-to-end, so I just tried to do the best I can. Luckily, I scored.
🚨🆕 Brighton's plan for the summer: they want to sign Said El Mala (19) and his brother Malek El Mala (20), allowing them to move abroad together and support each other in the best possible way. Malek is expected to delevop with Brighton's U21s in Premier League 2 - one of the strongest youth leagues in Europe - featuring 29 teams, including the U21 sides of all top clubs.
Oscar Priestman was red carded after he impeded Lyall Cameron as he was through on goal, allowing Aberdeen forward Kevin Nisbet to find the bottom corner from the resulting free-kick. Dons debutant Dennis Geiger's high and wild tackle to the groin of Lukas Fadinger eventually resulted in a dismissal and numerical parity but Well's Liam Gordon was ordered off moments after the restart for a foul on Toyosi Olusanya.
Abe is very highly regarded at Anfield, according to the Athletic, with their piece stating: Those who have worked with him believe he has both the attitude and the application, as well as the talent, to make it at the highest level. Liverpool fans will undoubtedly hope that Abe will stay with them to continue his development, but it seems likely that he'll also have other offers.
9th over: Australia 81-0 (Voll 63, Mooney 18) Sree Charani comes into the attack with her left arm orthodox spin. Mooney takes a single and Voll decides it's time for another slog sweep, this time for the first six of the match. There's an appeal for lbw next ball, but there's a clear inside edge from Voll. Australia are applying some serious pressure to India here it's much improved batting from Sunday's match.
