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Sydney Sixers are firming as the likely Big Bash League destination for AB de Villiers, as part of a package deal with Cricket Australia and broadcasters that may be worth more than AUD350,000 for a stint at the back end of next summer’s tournament.CA and broadcasters both confirmed to BBL clubs that they would offer financial assistance to help secure de Villiers’ signature ahead of a season where the men’s ODI team will be absent from Australia during a chunk of January – CA’s contribution understood to be up to $50,000 in return for marketing services. The Sixers appear to have the inside running for reasons over and above than the playing, marketing and broadcasting deal they are able to piece together for the South African and his management.Most BBL clubs are believed to have been interested in signing de Villiers up – Adelaide Strikers would have had he been available for the whole season – and submitted offers last week, with Sydney Thunder’s proposal strengthened by the salary cap room afforded to them by the retirement of Shane Watson, who will restrict himself to shorter overseas T20 jaunts rather than the longer and more demanding BBL schedule.However, the Sixers have a couple of advantages not able to be found elsewhere. Not only will de Villiers have a friend and former team-mate on hand in Morne Morkel, who will be spending six months of the year in Sydney with his family, he will be able to play home games at the SCG, the venue of his memorable 162 from 66 balls for South Africa against the West Indies at the 2015 World Cup.”We would be absolutely delighted to have AB join the Sixers and have made an offer for this summer,” Sixers general manager Jodie Hawkins told ESPNcricinfo. “We understand there are a number of BBL clubs wanting to welcome AB, but we believe we offer him a great option to experience the Big Bash, living in Sydney by the beach, playing at one of his favourite grounds, the SCG, and just enjoying what Sydney offers in summer, that’s a pretty good proposition. He’d also be great working with some of our young stars like Josh Philippe, and meeting our incredible fans.”Ad hoc high profile signings with financial assistance from CA and broadcasters such as Fox Sports have been a part of the BBL’s history, most notably Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen with Melbourne Stars, and the news that the Australian ODI team would be pressed to honour a pre-existing commitment to tour India next January has helped add impetus to the push to secure de Villiers for at least part of the next competition.But the creation of a more equitable marquee system for high profile international names remains strongly desired by numerous clubs, while others within the Australian system would prefer an auction for overseas players. The Australian Cricketers Association has blocked attempts by CA to add one more overseas place to BBL playing lists for next summer, arguing that the length of the tournament is a greater barrier to the world’s best players taking part rather than the money or squad positions available.Andrew McDonald, coach of the tournament-winning Melbourne Renegades, told ESPNcricinfo earlier this year that the BBL’s credibility demanded a more even system for high profile overseas players. “I think the only way you could do that is to have a marquee [fund],” McDonald said in February. “[CA] is talking to us. Everyone is talking essentially. Our CEO is talking to us as coaches, that’s going back up to Cricket Australia.”We’ve identified that there is a problem or a potential problem, if we don’t get it right going forward. I think the only way to do it is if we have eight marquee spots available, get 16 players from around the world to nominate, and then you have a marquee draft. Just have a lottery draft. Pull the Melbourne Stars out of the hat first, whoever out of the hat second and they pick eight marquee players, and those marquee players have to sign up for the entirety of the tournament.”The Stars and Melbourne Renegades are among other clubs believed to be heavily interested in de Villiers, but there is also a parallel competition to secure Andre Russell, whose star has shone evermore brightly in this year’s IPL, resulting in his recall to the West Indies ODI team for the World Cup in England later this year.Other BBL recruiting moves are afoot, with Fawad Ahmed set to join the Perth Scorchers to form a spin bowling tandem with Ashton Agar, and the West Australian paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile likely to be unveiled by the Melbourne Stars among their signings for 2019-20.

Emma Hayes and Chelsea may well be crowned champions of England again on Saturday, but the Cityzens should be excited for the future

For a team like Manchester City to go eight years without winning a league title is almost an eternity, and it seems that wait will continue for the women’s team this weekend, unless the final day of the Women’s Super League season has a few more twists and turns in store to cap what has already been a rollercoaster of a title race.

With two games to play, it was in Man City’s hands. Liverpool did them a huge favour in beating Chelsea at the start of May, meaning the Cityzens only needed four points from those last two fixtures. But, just a few days later, that all changed in a matter of hours. First, City conceded two goals in two minutes at home to Arsenal to throw away three points, and then Chelsea took advantage by putting eight past already-relegated Bristol City. It meant the Blues overtook their title rivals in the goal difference column that will decide the destination of the WSL title if both teams win on Saturday.

It will be a disappointment if the trophy is lifted by Chelsea at Old Trafford, of all places, then, rather than by City at Villa Park, as Gareth Taylor’s side were in firm control of this battle for the crown. Yet, to step back and look at the bigger picture is to admire the huge steps forward the Manchester outfit have taken this year.

After finishing a distant 11 and nine points off top spot in the last two seasons, respectively, City are right back up there again, and all signs point to them being extremely competitive over the next few years, too, as they look to finally bring that WSL title back to the north west.

GettyTalent for the future

One big reason why that is the case is because of the young talent in this Man City squad. The average age of the starting XI Taylor has favoured in the latter stages of this season is 25 years old, featuring five players younger than that. It means that many at the club are still to play their very best football and are only going to get better.

This year alone, you have been able to see improvements. Khiara Keating (19), Mary Fowler (21) and Jess Park (22) have all been regular starters for the first time in City colours, and they have got better and better with each week.

Deadline day in the January transfer window was a huge indication of how much City are planning for that future too, as it saw them swoop for Tara O'Hanlon, a senior Ireland international at 19 years of age; Poppy Pritchard, a talented teenage striker who had been thriving for Durham's Under-21s; and Laura Blindkilde Brown, the 20-year-old from Aston Villa who has already become a regular off the bench since her arrival.

This is a group that is going to grow as one and improve over time, so the club will hope that to still be in the title chase on the final day of this WSL season is only a sign of things to come.

AdvertisementGettyStability

And that group looks set to stay together, too, as the club has been active in tying down key players to new contracts. From that aforementioned preferred XI of Taylor’s, seven names have signed new deals in the past 18 months, as has the coach himself. It gives him stability to work with and means there’s no need for some of the chopping and changing of previous years.

The summer of 2022 was a hectic one for this team, with star names such as Georgia Stanway, Caroline Weir, Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh all moving on, while the experienced trio of Karen Bardsley, Jill Scott and Ellen White retired. It meant City had to bring in a lot of new faces, too, but Taylor noted at the time that every top team would have to have that busy summer eventually, to refresh the squad, and his had it then, setting them up for the future.

Manchester CityGood work behind the scenes

A year on from that chaotic transfer window, City appointed Nils Nielsen as director of football on the women’s side, a new role, and it is the former Denmark and Switzerland head coach who has overseen a lot of their smooth operations. He has not come in and started ripping things up; he’s simply done his job in an efficient manner, and that is reflected in the business City have done in the past year.

Nielsen faced the media when he was appointed in the summer of 2023, after the Cityzens had missed out on qualifying for the Women’s Champions League. A fourth-placed finish represented a really disappointing season, but the new man was calm about the process moving forward, an attitude which has aged well.

“Everything doesn't have to happen this summer,” Nielsen said. “We are looking more in the coming year. Where do we need to get stronger? What do we need to develop in the squad? What do we have already? The main task in the beginning here has been the re-signing of players and that we have done a lot of work on.

“The long-term target is clearly that we want to be back on top, that we want to be the number one club in England,” he added. “That cannot happen overnight. We cannot just say, 'Okay, we want that so it's going to happen', but we can work towards that goal and we can take the little steps every day in that direction. That is what we're going to do also with recruitment, with little changes in the set-up and stuff that all will make a good situation better so we can go back to the winning ways.”

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GettyAttractive project

Having that good structure, doing that forward-planning and generally knowing what the team is working towards is something that certainly helps the players feel like they are in the right place, too, and makes those contract renewals easier.

So many of those players who have chosen to stay at Man City have described it as the best place for them to continue to progress, and that is a huge compliment to the work that the club does off the pitch and behind the scenes, especially considering some of those players were linked with huge teams. It only helps with recruitment, too, as the club looks to add to this already talented and promising squad.

تمكن لاعبو الإسماعيلي من تحقيق فوز صعب أمام سموحة بثنائية نظيفة، وذلك خلال اللقاء الذي جمع بينهما ضمن منافسات كأس مصر.

وأقيمت المباراة بين الإسماعيلي وسموحة على أرضية استاد الإسماعيلي في إطار لقاءات دور الـ16 من المسابقة المحلية.

طالع | الإسماعيلي يكشف حقيقة التفاوض مع الأهلي لإبرام صفقات جديدة

وجاء هدف الإسماعيلي الأول عن طريق خالد النبريصي بالدقيقة 22، بعدما تلقى تمريرة عرضية من زميله نادر فرج داخل منطقة جزاء سموحة ويصوبها مباشرة في المرمى.

بينما أضاف خالد النبريصي الهدف الثاني بالدقيقة 53، من رأسية مميزة عقب عرضية نادر فرج أثناء تنفيذه ضربة ركنية. أهداف مباراة الإسماعيلي وسموحة في كأس مصر

وبهذه النتيجة تأهل الإسماعيلي لمواجهة الفائز من مباراة الزمالك وطلائع الجيش وذلك بمواجهات دور ربع نهائي كأس مصر.

يرى محمد عبد الجليل، لاعب الأهلي السابق، ضرورة رحيل ثنائي الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، خلال الفترة القادمة، مُشيرًا إلى أنهما لا يُفيدان المارد الأحمر.

وقال عبد الجليل في تصريحات عبر برنامج “10 و10″، على إذاعة “أون سبورت إف إم”: “يجب رحيل محمود عبد المنعم كهربا عن النادي الأهلي خلال فترة الانتقالات الصيفية الحالية، ثم يعود مرة أخرى من أجل الاعتزال”.

وتابع: “أحمد عبد القادر لاعب جيد جدًا، لكن تم منحه أكثر من فرصة من المدير الفني ولم يستغلها بشكل جيد؛ لذلك أفضل رحيله أيضا بسبب عدم استقرار مستواه”.

وأضاف: “محمد مجدي أفشة عادت إليه الروح مرة أخرى مع الأهلي، بسبب الأهداف الحاسمة التي قام بتسجيلها عقب استقرار كولر على استبعاده ورحيله عن القلعة الحمراء”.

طالع أيضًا | “أنا طماع”.. أفشة يوضح سبب تسجيله الأهداف الحاسمة وطموحاته مع الأهلي

يذكر، أن الأهلي نجح في مواصلة سلسلة الانتصارات بالدوري المصري، بفوز على نظيره زد إف سي، أمس الأحد، بثنائية مقابل هدف.

وتجدر الإشارة إلى أن الأهلي قد نجح في التتويج بلقب الدوري بعد الفوز على سموحة ووصوله للنقطة الـ81.

ومن المقرر أن يستكمل فريق الأهلي مشواره ببطولة الدوري المصري، وذلك بمواجهة إنبي في الجولة الـ33 وقبل الأخيرة، بملعب استاد المقاولون العرب، يوم الأربعاء الموافق 14 أغسطس.

أعلن نادي ريال مدريد المنافس في بطولة الدوري الإسباني عن رحيل لاعب جديد هو الخامس خلال الميركاتو الصيفي الحالي قبل بداية الموسم 2024/2025.

ويستعد ريال مدريد للموسم الجديد والبداية اليوم أمام أتالانتا في كأس السوبر الأوروبي في تمام الساعة العاشرة بالعاصمة البولندية “وارسو”.

ورحل عن الملكي 4 لاعبين حتى الآن وهم توني كروس (اعتزال)، ناتشو فرنانديز (نهاية عقد)، خوسيلو (انتقال إلى الغرافة) ورافا مارين (انتقال إلى نابولي).

اقرأ أيضًا.. أنشيلوتي يطالب بعرض ثنائي ريال مدريد للبيع

وبحسب البيان الرسمي لنادي ريال مدريد منذ قليل أنه اتفق مع بلد الوليد على انتقال لاعبه الشاب، خوانمي لاتاسا، البالغ من العمر فقط 23 عامًا.

وتم تصعيد لاتاسا إلى الفريق الأول في نادي ريال مدريد قبل عامين ولكن تمت إعارته لمدة موسمين إلى خيتافي ولكنه لم يسجل سوى 7 أهداف في 57 مباراة.

وبالتالي، عاد اللاعب إلى ريال مدريد قبل انتقاله اليوم النهائي إلى بلد الوليد ليبدأ مغامرة جديدة في مسيرته الكروية.

In the manager's own words, the Cole Palmer-inspired comeback must signal a 'turning point' – and opportunity knocks for the Blues

Cole Palmer's 101st-minute winner against Manchester United provoked scenes Stamford Bridge hasn't witnessed for a long, long time; after Chelsea's new hero crashed his strike in off the hapless Scott McTominay, the stadium erupted – a spontaneous combustion of emotion, frustration and pure relief.

As the camera vibrated uncontrollably, Palmer wheeled away aimlessly in celebration, his team-mates falling over themselves to get a piece of him as he evaded them in the same way he had eluded Manchester United's defence all night long; on the touchline, a bellowing Mauricio Pochettino looked on the verge of tears before he was mobbed by his coaching staff.

Granted, the Blues should never have been in a position where they required a questionable penalty decision and a last-second goal to win this game 4-3, having been masters of their own downfall as they threw away a two-goal lead to trail 3-2 after 90 minutes – but Pochettino simply must harness this energy to push on to better things in what remains of the season. His future as Chelsea manager depends on it.

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  A timely springboard

  When the dust settles on the incredible drama at Stamford Bridge, a glance at the Premier League table will bring many Chelsea supporters thudding back to earth; the Blues are still down in 10th, with the likes of Brighton, West Ham and Newcastle ahead of them.

  Barring an unlikely FA Cup triumph, any semblance of success is surely already out of reach, with many having hoped for a top-four finish in a quick change in fortunes after the nightmare of 2022-23. Chelsea have had such turnarounds in the past, of course, going from 10th in 2015-16 to champions the following season under Antonio Conte.

  As it's transpired, that malaise has not been easy to shake off this time around, with expectations lowered significantly as we enter the run-in.

  However, the Blues are unbeaten in six Premier League games – comfortably their longest streak this season, although that does include the disappointing draws against Brentford and Burnley. If there were the shoots of recovery, the improbable comeback against Manchester United – a giant, albeit a fallen one – can inject some much-needed confidence and act as a springboard to winning more consistently and, perhaps, less chaotically.

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  'Turning point'

  Speaking after the game, Pochettino was clearly keen to enforce the message that such an incredible result against an age-old rival had to be a catalyst for change.

  "It was amazing," he said in his post-match press conference. "We were the better team today and it was fair we scored in the the last minute.

  "We started really well, 2-0, the game was under control, then we made a mistake and suffered an emotional impact. It wasn't easy to deal with. In the second half we controlled the game (but) conceded in transitions.

  "It was important to finish like that, creating the connection between our fans and players. It's a very good thing that happened today. It should be a turning point for the fans' trust in the team."

  He added: "It is a start to building a connection with the fans and it will be very helpful for the future of us."

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  Unexpected hope

  Indeed, given how the rest of the Premier League table is shaping up, the victory over United may well take on much more significance than many might have expected.

  Chelsea are slap-bang in mid-table, but winning a valuable game in hand could see them bunny-hop Brighton, Newcastle and West Ham into seventh – although that fixture will come against top-four chasing Tottenham in early May.

  The Blues always tend to show up against their fierce London rivals, though, and that potential leap up the standings should serve as motivation in itself; UEFA's changes to the Champions League format next season mean that seventh place could be enough for Europa League qualification, if England is given a fifth Champions League place and provided a team within the top seven wins the FA Cup after Liverpool's Carabao Cup triumph.

  In that scenario, eighth would also deliver a Conference League place, so Chelsea unexpectedly find themselves with something to play for. Winning the FA Cup also offers a route to the Europa League group phase, of course, but Chelsea are underdogs in a semi-final clash with Man City.

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  Another false dawn?

  The fixture list should technically provide reason for some optimism, too. The Blues face strugglers Sheffield United and Everton in their next two league games, which gives them a chance to build some momentum before a tricky run against Arsenal, Aston Villa and Spurs.

  The problem is, despite their current unbeaten streak, Chelsea have been far too inconsistent to inspire any confidence. It has been a case of one step forwards and two steps back all season, and few would put money on them beating either the Blades or the Toffees despite their respective terrible runs of form.

  If they don't win both of those games, then the subsequent trio of tough fixtures could easily be enough to end their faint hopes of escaping the clutches of mid-table for another year.

  After their fast start, a significant portion of the performance against Manchester United was symptomatic of Chelsea's season as a whole: chaotic, error-ridden and completely out of control.

  Moises Caicedo passed the ball straight to Alejandro Garnacho to allow him to run in and pull one back; Bruno Fernandes was somehow left completely unmarked to nod in the equaliser; Benoit Badiashile carelessly gave the ball away before Antony's exquisite pass set up Garnacho to put the visitors ahead. If Chelsea can't iron these errors out, they really have no hope.

M Vijay led Essex to their fifth victory of the Specsavers County Championship season, compiling a high-quality century against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge

ECB Reporters Network13-Sep-2018

ScorecardM Vijay led Essex to their fifth victory of the Specsavers County Championship season, compiling a high-quality century against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. The Indian Test opener, who played in the first two matches of the recent series against England, followed up his first innings score of 56 with a match-winning contribution of exactly 100.Vijay scored his runs from 181 balls and shared in a second-wicket stand of 204 with Tom Westley, who finished with an unbeaten 110. Set 282 to win, the visitors reached their target just before lunch to complete a comfortable eight-wicket victory.Essex began the final day in a strong position on 147 for 1, requiring only 135 more. Vijay, who resumed on 73, was watchful for half an hour before picking off Luke Fletcher for a trio of leg-side pulled boundaries to burst into the 90s. A scampered single from Luke Wood’s bowling took the 34-year old to his 25th first-class hundred, made from 173 balls.His feat matched that of Hashim Amla, who scored 181 against Glamorgan in 2009, as the last Essex batsman to score a century on his county debut. With only 61 runs required Samit Patel eventually made the breakthrough, bowling Vijay off an inside edge.Westley’s fifty had come from 101 deliveries and his only alarm came when Dan Lawrence called him for a risky single to get off a pair; Lyndon James’ throw narrowly missing, with Westley not in the frame.Lawrence accelerated his side towards the finishing line but left it to his partner to stroke the winning runs through the off side to seal Essex’s first Championship win at Trent Bridge since 2003. Westley faced 193 balls and added 61 with Lawrence, who closed on 29 not out.Essex, the 2017 champions, picked up 20 points from their victory and return to third spot in the Division One table, with fixtures against Worcestershire (at home) and Surrey (away) to come. Nottinghamshire, having announced the signing of Zak Chappell from Leicestershire earlier in the day, collected only three bonus points, leaving them in fifth spot, with just a home match against Somerset to follow.

ScorecardLancashire Lightning notched a fourth straight win to go top of the North Division of the Vitality T20 Blast after crushing Leicestershire Foxes at Grace Road.After a bright start, the Foxes collapsed from 88-1 in the 10th over to be all out for a disappointing 142 in the 20th after Lancashire had won the toss and put them in.Skipper Liam Livingstone, who made an explosive 100 off 51 balls in Lightning’s nine-wicket win at Derbyshire earlier in the competition, starred with the ball this time, claiming 4 for 17 from his four overs of off-spin.He and leg-spinner Callum Parkinson between them claimed five for 39 from eight overs as the Foxes were well and truly shackled, hitting only one boundary between the 10th over and the 17th and losing six wickets in the process.

Lancashire’s spin cycle

According to analysis from CricViz, Lancashire have bowled the highest proportion of spin overs (now up to 48%) in this season’s Blast, taken the most wickets with spin (15) and have the lowest spin economy rate (6.84). This is a side perfectly designed for a hot summer. They are one county desperate for the heatwave not to break

Livingstone then smashed the first three balls he faced for four off Pakistan strike bowler Mohammad Abbas on the way to 28 off 11 deliveries to give his side a flying start in pursuit of their target.Dropped twice as he swung at everything in an innings that began violently but had become frenetic long before the end, the 24-year-old all-rounder was eventually caught by Mohammad Nabi at mid-on (who had put him down off the previous ball) off Ben Raine.After closing the Powerplay on 68 for 1 Lightning lost Arron Lilley for a 12-ball 19 when Matt Parkinson’s twin brother Callum came into the Foxes attack but never looked in any danger of falling short of their target.Opener Alex Davies (51) and England’s Keaton Jennings (37) were able to ease them over the line with 20 balls to spare thanks to an unbroken partnership of 70.Leicestershire struggled to find gaps in the field in the first couple of overs but Cameron Delport got them going with two sixes and a four off left-arm seamer Toby Lester, whose second over cost 25.Neil Dexter eventually found his rhythm, although only after a double let-off against James Faulkner on eight. Reprieved when bowled as TV umpire Graham Lloyd spotted that Australian had over-stepped, he was caught at mid-wicket off the free hit.

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Dexter went on to score 30 off 28 balls after Delport had been caught in the deep by Livingstone off Graham Onions for 25 off 13 and Mark Cosgrave kept the momentum going with 31 off 21 balls.But the dismissal of Dexter off Livingstone in the 10th over sparked a flurry of wickets as the Foxes went from 88 for 1 to 91 for 4 in the space of six deliveries.Raine, after his brilliant century – the second fastest by an Englishman in T20 – as the Foxes blew away Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston last week, was bowled first ball by Livingstone before Dane Vilas executed an easy stumping to see off Cosgrove off Parkinson.After Nabi and Colin Ackermann had holed out off Livingstone, Foxes were 102-6 and never really recovered in a meaningful way, some lusty blows from Zak Chappell near the end coming as too little too late.Lancashire will go into Friday’s Roses T20 match against Yorkshire Vikings at Old Trafford full of confidence, especially with Jos Buttler available, while the Foxes have a difficult trip to Trent Bridge to take on a Nottinghamshire Outlaws side who have already beaten them at Grace Road.

The 47-year-old is one of the best coaches in the world and what she learned in an unsuccessful stint in WPS played a huge role in her getting there

When Emma Hayes was announced as the soon-to-be new head coach of the United States women’s national team, her words were littered with mentions of the connection she has with the country that she wasn’t born in, but that she was made in. After all, this will actually be her seventh job in the U.S., the most significant of the six previous coming when she was manager of the Chicago Red Stars some 16 years ago.

Hayes had a team littered with stars when she was in the role. She managed no fewer than five players who would win the World Cup with the USWNT: Carli Lloyd, Jessica McDonald, Kate Markgraf, Whitney Engen and Megan Rapinoe, the latter of whom she actually drafted out of college. There were international stars on the roster, too, including Brazil icons Formiga and Cristiane, England playmaker Karen Carney, Sweden’s Kosovare Asllani and Australia goalkeeper Lydia Williams.

But this isn’t the story of a 31-year-old coaching prodigy shocking everyone with innovative tactics, storming to titles and announcing herself to the world as one to watch. No, this is a story that ends with the future USWNT head coach being sacked in a Starbucks.

However, it’s a story integral to Hayes’ rise, and a big reason why she has gone on to become the coach she is today, one with 14 major titles under her belt who is about to take on the biggest job in women’s soccer…

Getty ImagesMade in the USA

Hayes’ time across the pond starts with her father, Sid, who was in Atlanta when the 1999 Women’s World Cup was hosted by the United States. He attended some of the games and phoned his daughter, then an aspiring coach whose playing days had been ended prematurely by a freak injury on a ski trip, to tell her all about it.

“He said, 'Emma, you will not believe it. There are thousands of people going to a [women’s] football match and they idolise these players',” Hayes told . “I was like, 'Really, Dad?' He said, 'You have to be in America. This is where you have to be'.”

A couple of years later, Hayes did exactly that. Aged 25, she packed up her things, boarded a flight to New York and was soon in charge of the Long Island Lady Riders, making her the youngest coach in the USL W-League. An impressive stint there led to her managing the Iona Gaels, the women's soccer team of Iona College, and a short spell coaching at Columbia University.

Her time in the U.S. came to a brief conclusion in 2005 when she returned to England to be Arsenal’s assistant coach and academy director, helping the Gunners enjoy that iconic, quadruple-winning 2007 season. But she had made an impression overseas, and was soon on her way back to the States to be the manager of the Chicago Red Stars in the newly-launched Women's Professional Soccer league (WPS).

AdvertisementGettyComplicated job

Despite the success of the USWNT and the record-breaking attendances of that 1999 Women’s World Cup, a successful domestic league for women’s soccer in the U.S. was proving difficult to establish. WPS was the next attempt, and the Chicago Red Stars were one of seven teams to feature in its first season, in 2009. General manager Marcia McDermott remembered Hayes from when she had been in the U.S. previously and she was eventually chosen as the person to lead the side. Except, she wouldn’t just be coaching; there was a lot more to be done as the manager of a brand new team.

“I learnt building a franchise from scratch is one of the hardest things to do because it's not as simple as just putting a team together,” Hayes told in 2022. “You're putting offices together, you're finding training pitches, you're trying to navigate your way through a landscape that isn't established yet.

“I learnt that you don't get time. You don't have that time. You don't get the opportunity and the foundation to build something. You have to win now. That was a really big lesson, having come from Arsenal, an established club, to one that was… You're putting a whole group of 18, 19 players together and you expect it to work – and it didn't work, for whatever reason. It was another reminder that this isn't fantasy football.

"Everyone used to say to me, ‘The Chicago Red Stars is the best team on paper’. Correct, they were, on paper. It didn't work as a team, for a number of reasons, and it just didn't produce the performances.”

Getty ImagesSacked in a Starbucks

As well as Rapinoe, Lloyd, Cristiane, Carney and Williams, that first Chicago Red Stars roster included the likes of Lindsay Tarpley, the team captain who won two Olympic gold medals with the USWNT; Heather Garriock, one of Australia's greatest ever players; and Ella Masar, the one-time USWNT international who would represent teams like Paris Saint-Germain and Wolfsburg.

However, the Red Stars finished sixth in WPS in 2009, out of seven teams. Chicago won five of its 20 games and scored just 18 goals, a total only better than that of FC Gold Pride, the team bottom of the table. There was mass turnover in the off-season as just nine of the 22 players remained on the roster for 2010, but it didn't change results. Chicago again finished sixth in a league of seven teams, winning seven of its 24 games. But Hayes only oversaw one of those victories, as she was sacked just six matches into the season, the Red Stars having lost four of them.

“I remember getting sacked and I was in a Starbucks. I got sacked in a Starbucks,” Hayes told podcast. “I didn’t have my phone because I dropped it in the toilet that morning. I asked the person who sacked me to lend me their phone because I just needed to get a lift out of there.”

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So, why didn’t it work out? Danesha Adams was one of the players on the Red Stars' roster in 2009, having been drafted ahead of the season, and she remembers things being “a little bit all over the place” in Chicago. “In the beginning, I think there was a lot of just trying to understand the league and figure it out,” she told GOAL. “My impressions were that it was a little bit disjointed in how it all worked. What I mean by that is [Hayes’] role versus the assistant's role versus the athletic trainer role.”

It's certainly something that suggests inexperience, which was the status Hayes held as a 31-year-old who was taking on such a huge job for the first time. Nathan Kipp, part of her coaching staff with the Red Stars and also with the Iona Gaels a few years earlier, has pointed to this factor, too. “She wasn’t a deeply experienced head coach at that time and if anything, she was in the midst of growing into her ability to guide a team to success. I’d say, for example, if you have a mature, older coach and the ability to be flexible, it can help make the difference between overachieving and underachieving,” he told .

West Indies XI 199 for 4 (Lewis 58, Ramdin 44*, Samuels 43) beat World XI 127 (Perera 61, Williams 3-42) by 72 runs
ScorecardA star-studded West Indies line-up proved too powerful for their World XI counterparts on an entertaining if one-sided evening at Lord’s, as a quartet of cameos from Evin Lewis, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin and Andre Russell set up a hefty 72-run victory in the one-off Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge.With the cricket world rallying round the West Indies, and in particular those islands in the north of the region that were devastated by the twin hurricanes Irma and Maria eight months ago, a crowd of approximately 15,000 witnessed some outstanding feats of big-hitting as well as one or two more eclectic sights – not least the appearance of Nasser Hussain as an on-field “roving reporter” (an experiment from the broadcasters, Sky Sports, who were providing the global feed for the event free of charge).There was yet another comeback, too, for cricket’s very own Frank Sinatra, Shahid Afridi – who, due to the official T20I status of the match, was featuring in his 99th such contest, more than two years after his previous retirement at Mohali in March 2016.This time, and probably for the first time, Afridi looked like a player for whom there was no coming back, as he creaked through four overs of geriatric, if effective, legspin. And inevitably, he still managed to pull it off like the showman he has always been. His second ball drew Andre Fletcher down the track then spun past his edge for a simple stumping, whereupon Afridi embarked on that familiar star-shaped celebration, just as he had done on this very ground in 2009, after hitting the winning runs in the World T20 final.The hitting, on this occasion, was largely restricted to the West Indians – most particularly Evin Lewis at the top of the order, who left his opening partner, Chris Gayle, for dead in rattling along to 58 from 26 balls with five fours and five sixesRashid Khan eventually pinned Lewis lbw with the third ball of his spell, but Gayle at the other end was never allowed to get going. In particular he was flummoxed by the fierce pace and cunning change-ups of Tymal Mills, who did not concede a single run until his 11th delivery, by which stage he had also struck Gayle a glancing blow on the helmet for good measure. But sadly for Mills, who has had terrible luck with injury, he was unable to complete his spell after leaving the field with a quad strain, and he did not come out to bat either.Gayle was finally bowled by Shoaib Malik for 18 from 28, whereupon Samuels marched onto centre stage with a fusillade of sixes – two in two balls off Malik, and a gargantuan mow down the ground to welcome the Nepalese legspinner, Sandeep Lamichhane, to Lord’s. Ramdin joined the fun with 44 not out from 25, as did Russell to spectacular effect in the penultimate over – three massive sixes took Rashid for an eye-watering 24 runs.In reply, the World XI spluttered under the floodlights. Before they’d found their bearings they’d been reduced to 8 for 4, with Samuel Badree scalping Luke Ronchi and Denesh Karthik for ducks in his opening over, either side of Russell seeing off the opener, Tamim Iqbal and Sam Billings.Thisara Perera wasn’t done yet, however, and his 28-ball half-century kept the crowd entertained in the gloom – as did some comical running between the wickets when Afridi, limping with a knee injury, appeared at five-down with Billings alongside him as a runner. Officially, runners are no longer permitted in full international fixtures, but the ICC were happy in the circumstances to give him special dispensation. After all, the night was about much more than just cricket.