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Hungarian football sensation Dominik Szoboszlai has joined the 2022 Premier League champions Liverpool. The former RB Leipzig player has decided to part ways with the German club after the English club triggered his release clause worth £60 million ($76 million). The midfielder has signed a five-year contract.

“The last three or four days went really long; it was not that easy. But at the end I’m here, I’m happy and I can’t wait to get started,” Szoboszlai told Liverpool’s website.  He further added, “A really historic club, really good players, good coach, everything is good. For me it was perfect to make the next step in a club like this.”

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Szoboszlai will follow in the footsteps of his idol Steven Gerrard by wearing the number eight shirt. Upon announcing the news, the midfielder stated, “Of course it’s a great number, a lot of great players had this number and also I have a tattoo from Steven Gerrard, what he said (the quote is ‘Talent is a divine blessing, but without incredible will and humility, it is worth nothing’) so it was also a reason why.

Szoboszlai further added, “When I was a child, to be honest I didn’t watch that much football but of course when it was Champions League or a big game, I was watching Liverpool, the big teams and also the big players – and he was one of the biggest.”

Szoboszlai is Liverpool’s second summer signing to reinforce their midfield, following the £35m arrival of Argentine Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton. Last season, the Premier League club witnessed a downfall as many of their superstars were either injured or left for other clubs.

Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak has been banned from playing in official matches. The tennis player is banned for 13 months after accepting that he committed a doping offence. Majchrzak, who climbed to 75th in the world in February 2022, returned several positive tests for banned substances last year.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which announced the ban, accepted Majchrzak “had not knowingly or intentionally” committed an offence. The ITIA said Majchrzak acknowledged tennis players were aware of the risks of contaminated supplements.

Kamil Majchrzak was tested in Sofia, Japan and Seoul in September and October last year, and by Polish officials in November. He said an isotonic drink had contained the prohibited substances. Majchrzak has been serving a provisional suspension since 30 November and can return from his suspension on 29 December 2023.

 

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A post shared by Kamil Majchrzak (@kamilmajchrzakk)

Announcing the news on Instagram, Kamil Majchrzak stated it had been “really unbearable and painful” to learn he had failed a test, describing the process as a “cruel experience”. He further stated that he had been using the isotonic drink from late September of last year, but said the concentration of the substances detected would have needed to be “several hundred and several thousand times higher than what was found in my urine samples to even begin to have any effect”.

Majchrzak, currently ranked 96 ( as of January 2023) had his best run during the 2019 US Open when he reached the third round of the tournament after making it through the qualifying rounds.

Manchester United’s long-time target Mason Mount has finally joined the Red Devils. The Chelsea midfielder has joined the Old Trafford-based club for a fee worth £55 million ($69 million). The deal valid until the summer of 2028 will see an additional £5m dependent on appearances and success of the midfielder.

Mason Mount, a Chelsea academy product scoring 27 goals and providing 22 assists in 129 Premier League appearances. The 24-year-old – a Champions League winner with the Blues in 2021 – has won 36 England caps and started the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.

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However, Mount witnessed a dip in form last season that resulted in him not getting enough game time. The ex-Chelsea playmaker scored just three goals in the Premier League last season as he struggled with injury.

Manchester United, who were third on the Premier League table last season will be looking to compete for the trophy. After securing Mount’s services, the Red Devils are reported to secure the services of Inter Milan’s Andre Onana or Ajax’s Edson Álvarez.

Erik Ten Hag’s team is also reported to bring in many other players namely Tottenham Hotspurs‘ Harry Kane, Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.

While their rivals Chelsea, who are looking to trim their squad have sold many high-profile players including Edouard Mendy and defender Kalidou Koulibaly to the Saudi Pro League while midfielder Mateo Kovacic has left to join Premier League champions Manchester City.

After having a mediocre season, Tottenham Hotspur has announced the signing of Leicester City midfielder James Maddison on a permanent basis. The North London-based club has agreed to a contract that will run up to the summer of 2028, worth £45m (with add-ons) for the player.

Maddison started his senior career at his hometown club Coventry, making his debut aged 17. He later made his name higher up the league ladder with Norwich, scoring 14 times in the Championship during the 2017/18 season and earning a £20m switch to Leicester City.

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The attacking midfielder had been a key Leicester City player throughout his time at the club, seeming to improve year after year. He reached double figures in front of goal in the Premier League in both 2021/22 and 2022/23 and has played Europa League and Europa Conference League football.

Tottenham have begun a new chapter in their football history. Under new coach Ange Postecoglou, the club is trying to rebuild after losing prominent players namely Richarlison and Hugo Lloris.

Maddison will be a perfect player for Tottenham as the club is in dire search of a playmaker who can create loads of goal-scoring opportunities. With Maddison and other new players signed like Dejan Kulusevski and Guglielmo Vicario, Tottenham will begin their pursuit of European football.

Despite dominating the majority of the game, the Indian football team managed to play out a 1-1 draw against Kuwait in the final group fixture in the SAFF Championship.

Sunil Chhetri, the fourth-highest goal scorer in international football scored again for the team. The striker scored an awesome volley in the first half, setting the team towards an impressive victory. However, all hell went loose during the dying minutes of the game. During the 82nd minute, the match officials flashed three red cards as India coach Igor Stimac, Team India defender Rahim Ali and Kuwait’s Al Qallaf were sent off.

Extremely unfortunate result in the end.

After dominating the game for more than 90 minutes, the #BlueTigers 🐯 had to settle for a draw 😔#INDKUW ⚔️ #SAFFChampionship2023 🏆 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/2rj2fyBAf4

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) June 27, 2023

Taking advantage of the chaos, Kuwait started building attacks and counter-attacking towards India’s goal. As it seemed like India was heading towards a victory, an unfortunate own goal by Anwar Ali dashed the home side’s hopes of securing a win. As a result, of the goal, the match ended in a draw.

With this, the Indian football team conceded their first goal in over a year. Both India and Kuwait finished with 7 points and qualified for the semi-finals. But, Kuwait grabbed the top position as they had a better goal difference than India.

India will now face Group B topper Lebanon while Kuwait will now face either Bangladesh or Maldives in the SAFF Championship.

The schedule for the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup is out. And the most electric clash of the World Cup is going to happen on October 15. Can you guess which two teams will be facing on 15th October? Well, it’s none other than India vs Pakistan. The arch-rivals will be squaring off against each other at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, October 15.

Announcing the schedule of the ODI Cricket World Cup, Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary of the BCCI tweeted, “Proud moment for India! Hosting the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for the fourth time is an incredible honour. With 12 cities as the backdrop, we’ll showcase our rich diversity and world-class cricketing infrastructure. Get ready for an unforgettable tournament! ”

Proud moment for India! Hosting the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for the fourth time is an incredible honor. With 12 cities as the backdrop, we’ll showcase our rich diversity and world-class cricketing infrastructure. Get ready for an unforgettable tournament! #CWC2023 @ICC @BCCI pic.twitter.com/76VFuuvpcK

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) June 27, 2023

An India-Pakistan clash is always a treat for the fans. The two teams have faced each other seven times previously at the grandest stage– in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015 and 2019, with India maintaining their hundred per cent record against the 1992 World Cup champions.

The Narendra Modi Stadium, which boasts of a seating capacity of 132,000 will be hosting the mouth-watering clash between the Asian giants and is expected to be sold out. The opening game of the World Cup will also take place at the same venue on October 5 as does the final on November 19. The semi-finals will take place at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

With less than 100 days to go for the ODI Cricket World Cup, the ICC has released its schedule for the World Cup. Here’s a preview.

Credit: ICC

The 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup will be the first time where only 10 teams will be participating. The event will see the top 8 ODI teams go head-to-head with the top two teams from the ICC 2023 World Cup Qualifiers happening in Zimbabwe.

Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium and Kolkata’s Eden Gardens are in the race for hosting the semi-finals of the ODI Cricket World Cup scheduled to happen in India later in October. As per the recent development, the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai seems to be losing out on a spot on hosting the semi-finals of the World Cup.

“Mumbai’s Wankhede and Kolkata’s Eden Gardens are two likely venues for the World Cup semi-finals. Earlier, Chennai was also in the race but it seems Eden is slightly ahead now,” a BCCI representative stated.

As per Cricbuzz, “One of the reasons for moving a semifinal from Chennai to Kolkata was the potential weather in October-November in the Tamil Nadu capital city. The region experiences North-East monsoon in those months and the BCCI/ICC felt the city may not be the best option for a knockout game. ”

The decision to shift the venue for the semi-final was taken at a meeting of the state associations of host cities with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and International Cricket Council (ICC) officials on Monday (June 26). There were 12 associations that attended the meeting.

The 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup will be happening in India from October 5 to November 19. The venues for the World Cup will be New Delhi, Dharamsala, Mumbai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. The final of the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on November 19.

After guiding Manchester City towards a well-deserved treble, their skipper Ilkay Gundogan has decided to part ways with the Premier League champions. The 32-year-old was offered a new deal by City but will instead move to Barcelona on a two-year deal, with the option to extend for another year.

As per a statement, FC Barcelona and Ilkay Gündoğan have reached an agreement for the German international to sign for the Catalans now that his contract with Manchester City has ended. He will join for two seasons, through to 30 June 2025, with the option to stay for one more year. His buyout clause has been set at 400 million euros.

Gundogan, a real legend for Manchester City stated, “For me, it has been a total privilege and pleasure to be part of Manchester City for the last seven years. Manchester has been my home and I have felt part of a very special family at City.” He further added, “I have been lucky to have experienced so many unforgettable moments in my time here and to have been captain for this extra special season has been the greatest experience of my career.”

“I would also like to thank all my teammates – past and present – who have all played such a special part in making my time here so amazing.

“Finally, I would like to thank the incredible City fans. They have supported me from the moment I arrived, and I owe them all so much for their support,” he further added.

Gundogan went on to make 304 appearances, scoring 60 goals and winning 12 major trophies – five Premier League titles, one Champions League, two FA Cups and four Carabao Cups for Manchester City. In 2022-23, Gundogan played 51 games and scored 11 goals, as he played a key role in City winning the Treble.

Kolkata Knight Rider’s Rinku Singh had a breakout season in the Indian Premier League this season. The left-hander top-scored for the team by amassing 474 runs in 14 games at an average of 59.25. Now after having an excellent IPL season, the KKR batter will be rewarded by getting a place in the Team India squad for the T20Is in West Indies.

Rinku, who was Kolkata’s sole shining star during the IPL played many memorable innings. His innings against Gujarat Titans will be forever etched in every cricket fan’s memory. With 30 required off the final over, Rinku Singh smashed five consecutive sixes off Yash Dayal’s bowling to win an impossible match for his team.

The magical innings played by Rinku Singh made even Shah Rukh Khan a fan of the left-hander. The KKR co-owner lavished huge praise on the 25-year-old who he feels is a Team India material. Yesterday during an #AskSRK session on Twitter, when a fan asked him to share one word for Rinku Singh, the superstar replied “Rinku is Baaapppp!! Not bacha a!!”

Rinku is Baaapppp!! Not bacha a!! https://t.co/kyyKr4dJhy

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) June 25, 2023

Additionally, Umesh Yadav is out of the West Indies series as the speedster is suffering from a hamstring injury. The Vidharbha pacer is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Also, Mohammad Shami who is rested from the Test and ODIs against West Indies, is likely to be rested for the T20Is too.

Ending a 10-game losing streak, Middlesex shocked every cricket fan with their brutal striking as the team scripted history by chasing down 253 in a T20 Vitality Blast game against Surrey. It was the highest run chase in the tournament’s history and the second-highest in T20s behind South Africa’s 259-run chase against West Indies in March 2023.

Surrey who lost the toss and were put in to bat had an excellent opening partnership. Will Jacks smashed 96 off 45, including five consecutive sixes, while Laurie Evans hit 85 off 37 putting on a 177-run partnership in just 13 overs. The duo were ably supported by Jamie Overton and Chris Jordan who provided finishing touches to their innings enabling Middlesex to post a formidable total of 252 for the loss of 7 wickets.

Coming to the chase, captain Stephen Eskinazi led from the front with the bat, scoring 73 off just 39 balls, including one six and 13 boundaries. Max Holden also smashed an unbeaten 68 off 35 deliveries, while Ryan Higgins and Joe Cracknell chipped in with 48 (24) and 36 (16), respectively to win the match for their team with 4 balls to spare.

The chase was a memorable one as Middlesex who were on a 14-game unbeaten streak in the T20 Blast; managed to get a W against their name in the points table. Their last win came against Kent on June 19 last year. They finished the 2022 season on a four-match losing streak.

In other news, Royal Challengers Bangalore star Will Jacks created a record of his own when he smashed five consecutive sixes off leg-spinner Luke Hollman. Jacks hit Hollman for five consecutive sixes in the 11th over and was set to hit the final ball off the over for a six too. But couldn’t quite strike the ball well.