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Sarina Wiegman has already called up some new faces since reaching the World Cup final, and there are plenty more where they came from

It’s been a pretty good couple of years for the England women’s national team. Between winning the European Championships in 2022 and reaching the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, the Lionesses have firmly asserted themselves as a power on the world stage under head coach Sarina Wiegman.

There’s been a lot of growth domestically, too, with the Women’s Super League blossoming into one of the very best places on the planet to play football. The league continues to be an extremely attractive proposition around the world, with some 36 nations represented by its 12 clubs.

But the WSL is also still a place for the best young English talent to thrive. Twenty of the 23 names called up by Wiegman in October ply their trade in their home country, and the stars of the future are getting their opportunities to shine, too, even if the talent pool is expanding massively.

Many of those in the Lionesses’ youth teams have been grabbing the attention in this season’s WSL already, then, despite it still being in its very early stages, and Wiegman has shown that she’s ready to reward that form, calling-up youngsters Khiara Keating and Grace Clinton for the first time in October as a result.

But those two are not the only exciting prospects giving England fans a reason to look forward to the future, either. Here are nine that have caught GOAL’s eye so far in this WSL season…

GettyBrooke Aspin (Bristol City, on loan from Chelsea)

Set to join up with Chelsea next summer after signing a four-year contract this past summer, Brooke Aspin has been shining for Bristol City ever since she broke into the first team as a 16-year-old, so it’s no surprise that she’s already been snapped up by a top club despite not venturing out of those teenage years just yet.

On loan with the Robins this season after helping them win promotion to the top-flight last term, the young centre-back has already come up with a huge moment as the club bids to battle the odds and avoid relegation. Away at West Ham in early November, she rose highest to meet Megan Connolly’s free-kick and head home a goal that would give Bristol their first win and first points of the campaign.

Aspin tops the charts within the City squad for blocks and interceptions, and she is fantastic with the ball at her feet, too. Underpinning the 18-year-old’s performances this season, though, have been leadership qualities that belie her years. Captain of England’s Under-19s, her character and maturity really stands out, and she has the story of a fighter, too.

Last year, Aspin battled a bone infection, a blood clot and sepsis – and still managed to get back onto the pitch before the end of the season to help Bristol win promotion. “I see life as something that you just have to enjoy, you have to live every moment now,” she told . “As soon as I walk out on that pitch, then I’m loving every moment because I’m playing what I love and I may not have got that opportunity before.”

AdvertisementGettyAggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea)

Another young talent on Chelsea’s books, Aggie Beever-Jones has represented the Blues since she was a young girl and this season, after loan spells with Bristol City and Everton, she’s starting to get her first-team opportunities, scoring three goals in just four substitute appearances in the WSL so far. She’s averaging a goal every 21 minutes.

“She stretches teams, she gets in behind,” Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said in October after the 20-year-old had netted the first of those three. "She has some work to do to know when to press, where to press, when not to double down, all of that detail. But she’s always in our offices asking for analysis.”

Beever-Jones is quick, she’s deceptively strong and she’s versatile, too, capable of playing on either wing or as a central striker. Throw in her desire to make things happen and her unpredictability, and she’s becoming a fantastic impact substitute for the reigning WSL champions to turn to.

GettyLaura Blindkilde Brown (Aston Villa)

When GOAL spoke to Aston Villa boss Carla Ward earlier this year, she didn’t hold back in her praise for Laura Blindkilde Brown, the young midfielder who has been a regular starter for the Midlands club since she was just 18 years old.

“Laura is one of the biggest talents I've ever worked with. She really is,” she said. “If she can start believing it… Because she has no idea just how good she can be and how good she is already. You have to keep reminding her every single day because she's just one of a kind. I've literally never worked with a youngster like her.”

Those words say it all, really. It’s no surprise, then, that the Danish Football Association have tried to talk her into representing her mother’s side of the family, whom she wears the name ‘Blindkilde’ on the back of her shirt for. But the 20-year-old told GOAL last year that her dream is to play for England, the team she has long represented at youth level.

An attack-minded midfielder who can also play out wide, Blindkilde Brown has bundles of energy, meaning she presses well, she is excellent at picking up spaces where she can hurt opponents and is generally just a bit of a nuisance for defenders. Her footwork and her love of the game, no doubt strengthened by a heart condition that almost forced her to stop playing a few years ago, make her a joy to watch.

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GettyGrace Clinton (Tottenham, on loan from Man Utd)

A name that many have been keeping an eye on for a while, Grace Clinton threatened time and time again to break through at Everton, but the young midfielder sat largely on the fringes of the squad before joining Manchester United last year.

Compared to Ella Toone by Red Devils boss Marc Skinner due to her ability to “make a magic moment”, first-team opportunities were going to be even harder to come by at a club that was battling for Champions League football (an injury didn’t help either), but Clinton has been able to thrive in her two loan spells since changing clubs in the north west.

After scoring six goals in 12 games to help Bristol win promotion from the second tier last term, the 20-year-old has been so good for Tottenham at the start of this new season that she was called up by Wiegman to be part of the squad for England’s games against Belgium in October.

Operating both as a left winger and a No.10 for Spurs, head coach Robert Vilahamn believes that a wide role is good for Clinton at this stage in her career as it is allowing her to find pockets of space gradually. He has no doubt what lies ahead for her, though. “In the future, she’s going to start as a No.10 in the national team,” he said last month. “I’m quite sure of that.”

The U.S. boss didn't set his team up to succeed and then left them out to dry in a game that was dying for a change

Heading into the World Cup, the United States women's national team had more question marks than ever before. How would they cope with an obvious lack of depth at center-back? Would they ever find an answer at the No.6 position? Could the team's young stars step up to the moment in their first real opportunity on a stage this big?

As it turns out, though, their draw with the Netherlands showed that the USWNT's biggest question mark may just be their coach. Despite escaping with a point, this 1-1 draw showed that, if the USWNT are to win this World Cup, they're more likely to do it in spite of Vlatko Andonovski, rather than because of him.

This is a long tournament, of course, and Andonovski, like his players, will learn from this. Still, this is a game that will feel both like a lucky result and a missed opportunity for a number of reasons.

Few players will leave this one feeling good, especially given how the game played out, but Andonovski, in particular, will now know that he'll have to do something different if the U.S. are to really make a run this summer.

GOAL has you covered with the winners and losers from the USWNT's draw with the Netherlands…

Please enable Javascript to view this contentGettyLOSER: Vlatko Andonovski

This was a mess from a coaching perspective. Where do we even begin? It makes sense to start with the line up, in theory. Andonovski went with an unchanged XI, rolling out the same starters that cruised past Vietnam last game. Risky, but understandable, despite the fact that there were some obvious rotations to be made if he wanted to.

We can excuse the optimism, even if it was shut down very quickly. The USWNT looked like a team totally unprepared to face the Netherlands' three-at-the-back system. Whenever the Dutch center-backs stepped up, the U.S. looked clueless, allowing passes to break all of the lines and totally bypass the midfield.

That, we can also excuse. A coach won't always get the XI right, and Andonovski definitely didn't, but you do get the benefit of substitutions, right? Well, Andonovski only made one. In a World Cup game. With the deepest team in the world.

His one sub, Rose Lavelle, was spot on, but the decision to not make a single other change is baffling, to say the least. Early in the second half, this game was dying for a player to help the U.S. establish control. Later, it was dying for a player with the ability to steal a winner. Instead, Andonovski let several gassed players run around aimlessly in the name of continuity. No Lynn Williams, no Alyssa Thompson, no Megan Rapinoe… nothing.

It's something you simply can't do at this level. Rest is at a premium, and the USWNT has an advantage over just about every team when it comes to depth. Why, then, would Andonovski not roll the dice when the U.S. was so obviously not getting what they wanted out of the game?

The USWNT survived it this time, only just. It wasn't due to some change in tactics or game-changing coaching decision. No, it was due to the fact that Lindsey Horan got angry and dunked on the Netherlands out of revenge. It was frustration, not coaching, that got the U.S. out of this mess.

For years, Andonovski has, perhaps unfairly, been criticized for many of this team's shortcomings. The USWNT has never quite been a dominant force under his leadership, and that isn't totally his fault. Injuries have played a part, for sure, as have some irregularities in the player pool. You can't control everything.

What you can control is something as simple as substitutions. Andonovski didn't. It's a mistake that went relatively unpunished, thankfully for the USWNT, who simply can't get away with this type of coaching against the best teams in the world

AdvertisementGettyWINNER: Lindsey Horan

As it turns out, Horan called her shot. "You get trash talk every single day from Dan van de Donk," she told GOAL just before the World Cup, "and once we play them, you'll see it. She'll be coming for my ankles like every single play so watch out for that. That will be fun!" Prophetic, huh?

Horan was right all along, unfortunately for Van de Donk, who woke up her Lyon team-mate in a big way. After a collision between the two and some obvious frustration from Horan, the USWNT captain stepped up with a huge header just moments later, turning her anger into a game-tying goal.

It was the type of moment you'd expect from a captain. She had her difficulties in the first half, for sure, but as the game wore on and frustration mounted, Horan turned it into the moment this team needed. Job well done for the USWNT captain. Who knows what she'll predict next?

Getty ImagesLOSER: Trinity Rodman

Early on, Trinity Rodman was the USWNT's only bright spot. Her pace made her dangerous and she nearly got a goal seconds after the USWNT conceded. There was a pretty significant amount of time that it looked like the goal was most likely to come from something Rodman did.

But you just have to look at the numbers to see that this wasn't the game the USWNT needed from Rodman. The young winger attempted 23 passes; she completed just 10 of them. That's 43 percent. She was also dispossessed six different times. So many attacks came to an end once the ball got to Rodman's feet. You simply can't give up the ball that often at this level.

Now, Andonovski should have seen that and taken her off. She obviously faded as the game went on and, generally, a coach would have thrown on fresh legs for some fresh ideas in the attack. Instead, Rodman was left out to dry a bit.

The bright spots should ensure her confidence doesn't dip too much. Rodman is a legitimate weapon, one that kept the Netherlands on the back foot right up until they scored. She'll have better games than this, for sure, and she'll learn from what was a very, very big lesson on the biggest stage.

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GettyWINNER: Rose Lavelle

We all knew that Lavelle was important to this team, but this first half proved just how vital she is. The Netherlands cut through the USWNT midfield like Swiss cheese throughout the opening 45 minutes, completely dominating the American midfield three with ease. That is until Lavelle arrived to save the day.

The balance totally shifted when the midfielder was tossed into the game as she replaced Savannah DeMelo, who may just have been the team's best midfielder in the opening half. Lavelle immediately got herself stuck in in what was a physical game, helping provide some fight back against the tide.

Her assist on Horan's goal, meanwhile, was fantastic, helping the U.S. salvage a point. Andonovski only made one sub on the day, and he did get that one right as Lavelle was the player to change this game.

The question is what comes next. Is she healthy enough to finally go 90 against Portugal? The U.S. better hope so. They can't win this thing without her.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney were never seriously interested in buying Hartlepool, says Raj Singh, with Wrexham always “their first choice”.

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Hollywood pair teamed up in 2021Explored various optionsSettled on project in North WalesWHAT HAPPENED?

The Hollywood pair teamed up in the spring of 2021 to move a long way outside of their comfort zone and buy into football ownership. Various options were mulled over when the boldest of ideas was first floated, with Wrexham executive director Humphrey Ker having claimed that teams in the north of England and Scotland were considered for investment.

AdvertisementGetty/GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Ker told the in 2022: “Rob was always lightly intrigued [in football]. He’s a big sports fan. We knew from the jump we wanted to find somewhere that needed a helping hand or felt like it deserved a stroke of luck. Hartlepool was one we looked at vaguely, Macclesfield was talked about. There was a couple who were talked about that were in trouble.”

WHAT THEY SAID

Hartlepool are still looking for a buyer, but current chairman Singh insists he did not force Reynolds and McElhenney elsewhere with high demands – regardless of what some disgruntled supporters may think. He has said in the club’s : “On Wednesday I released a statement to give our supporters an update on the sale of the club. It was really disappointing to hear some of the comments from some of our so-called fans, although not unexpected. I have been accused of putting a high asking price on the club and told that I should have sold the club to the Americans a couple of years ago when I had the chance. Wrexham was always their first choice and they were keeping their options open by talking to other clubs like ourselves. At the time, I asked for half-a-million initial payment for the club.

“If recent reports are to be believed, Wrexham had a deal agreed for a similar amount for Luke Armstrong. So you mean to tell me that they wouldn’t have paid that amount if they really wanted to buy Hartlepool United? The reality is there isn’t a queue of people out on Clarence Road to take over the club, just as there wasn’t one six years ago. Having said all of that, I’m still trying to run the club to the best of my ability with the resources at our disposal. All teams go through bad patches during the season. I believe we’ve got a manager who is tried and tested in these situations and will steer us clear. We all need to keep supporting the manager and the team and hopefully things will turn around sometime soon.”

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Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Hartlepool sit 13th in the National League table as things stand, having slipped out of the Football League again last season, while Wrexham are riding high in League Two and daring to dream of securing back-to-back promotions.

The tournament, which kicks-off in Indonesia on Friday, has been previously lit up by the likes of Phil Foden, Cesc Fabregas & Toni Kroos

While the focus of the footballing world is predominantly on club football right now, for some of the game's brightest young talents, all eyes are on international duty and helping to lead their team to glory at the Under-17 World Cup, which kicks-off on Friday, November 10 in Indonesia.

Watch U17 World Cup games on fuboFind the best deals

Brazil are the defending champions, having won the competition on home soil in 2019, and are one of the 24 countries to have qualified for this year's tournament in the hope of both lifting the trophy and exciting fans back home with the potential of the next generation.

Previous iterations of the U17 World Cup have offered a first glimpse at some stars of the future, with previous Golden Ball and Golden Boot winners including Phil Foden, Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos, Victor Osimhen and Landon Donovan.

So, who looks set to follow in those illustrious footsteps this time around? GOAL has picked out 17 players to keep an eye on over the next few weeks, ahead of the final on December 2…

How to watch the U17 World Cup on TV & stream liveGael Alvarez (Mexico)

Mexico qualified for the tournament after winning the CONCACAF U17 Championship in February, and Alvarez proved to be the star of the show as he picked up the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.

The 17-year-old, who plays his club football for Pachuca, is a winger who plays predominantly off the left-hand side and uses his quick feet and change of pace to beat defenders before crossing for team-mates or cutting inside onto his favoured right foot.

Alvarez has already spent time at Feyenoord on trial, and further European clubs are sure to take notice if he can repeat his heroics from the continental championship on the global scale.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesKarol Borys (Poland)

With Robert Lewandowski likely closing in on international retirement, Polish football is on the lookout for a new poster boy, and Borys has all the potential to fill that void over the next decade.

The 17-year-old midfielder is noted for his all-round game, though his dribbling ability and willingness to commit defenders with his close control is what sets him apart from his peers, while he scored three goals in Poland's run to the semi-finals of the U17 Euros that secured their World Cup qualification.

Having previously spent time on trial at Manchester United, Borys has also been linked with Manchester City and PSV after impressing in his handful of appearances for boyhood club Slock Wrocklaw, for whom he is their youngest-ever player.

Getty ImagesParis Brunner (Germany)

Dubbed 'the next Youssoufa Moukoko' at Borussia Dortmund thanks to his outrageous goalscoring numbers for the club's youth teams, Brunner was voted Player of the Tournament and was the competition's joint-top scorer as Germany won the U17 Euros during the summer.

The 17-year-old forward has netted 10 times in eight league games for Dortmund's U19s so far this season, and has likened his own game to that of Leroy Sane's due to his tendency to bring the ball forward from deep to get into dangerous positions.

Barcelona are said to be tracking his progress, though there are some character concerns that need ironing out, with Brunner having recently been suspended by Dortmund following an unspecified incident that has meant he hasn't played since mid-October.

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Getty ImagesPau Cubarsi (Spain)

La Masia is not renowned for producing top-tier centre-backs, but in Pau Cubarsi, Barcelona look to have unearthed a defensive gem with the capabilities of becoming a mainstay at Camp Nou in the coming years.

Like many up-and-coming defenders, the 16-year-old is supremely comfortable when in possession, though it is his reading of the game at such a young age which really makes him stand out from his peers.

Cubarsi has already made Xavi's matchday squad on a number of occasions this season, including for El Clasico and in the Champions League, and was recently linked with Chelsea as the Blues look to continue sweeping up top talents from around the globe.

Trent Alexander-Arnold says Liverpool’s “aim is to win the league” in 2023-24, with the Reds preparing to compete with Manchester City once again.

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Reds have one Premier League title to their nameHave run City close on several occasionsKlopp's side ready to compete for crown againWHAT HAPPENED?

Jurgen Klopp’s side secured a historic Premier League crown back in 2019-20 and have finished as runners-up on two other occasions in the last five campaigns. They slipped out of the top four last season, but have rediscovered a spark to sit second again – one point off the summit – ahead of a crunch clash with City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD SAID

Alexander-Arnold has said of the collective mindset at Anfield heading into another heavyweight duel with City: “Being in three campaigns where we’d have won the league if it wasn’t for City – we won one but went close in two more – you get a feeling for what you know you are capable of doing. Looking around the dressing room, looking at the players we have got, the team, the spirit, the vibe around the team, that [challenging for the league] is something that we feel is achievable. Our aim as a team is to win the league and that's the aim again this season. Last season wasn't good enough. But challenging is something that we believe we can achieve, that is where our sights are at.”

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Liverpool have had to freshen up their squad in recent transfer windows, after parting with the likes of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, and Alexander-Arnold believes they are well placed to claim another top-flight title. He added: “If that wasn’t the case, I would be here saying, ‘I want to get back in the top four.’ Because, genuinely, there is nothing wrong with that for this team. There is a rebuild going on, and new players and a lot of senior players have left, it would be very normal to say, ‘get back in the top four and push on from there’. But so far we've performed in a way that is how you would expect someone who can win the league to perform and if we carry this on we should be in and around it come May.

“Right now we have put ourselves in a good position, we have built a great foundation – it is just about consistency. That’s the hardest thing in football, but we have shown that we are more than capable of doing it. I think the players who are experienced in being successful with the club all understand what it takes and what's needed to even challenge a team like City. It was about getting that message across as quickly as possible to the new players and young players coming in. Our ambition is to be as successful as possible and to maximise the potential we have got as a team and as a club. At the start of last season it was the same as at the start of this season: our ambition was to win the league.”

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

Liverpool have suffered only one defeat through 12 games this season, picking up 27 points, but have not won away at City in the Premier League since November 2015.

There was an understanding that given his run of low scores, Tamim shouldn’t have played the warm-up match in Fatullah and he made just nine. Yet Tamim struck back on Friday with his fifth ODI hundred.

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur17-Apr-2015Mushfiqur Rahim was surprised to get the Man-of-the-Match award after Friday’s first ODI against Pakistan. He had scored a century, that too the third fastest by a Bangladeshi batsman in an ODI, and taken a catch. He was also involved in Bangladesh’s highest ODI partnership for any wicket with Tamim Iqbal. Still, Mushfiqur felt that it was Tamim’s 132 which had more impact on Bangladesh’s highest-ever score in an ODI of 329 for 6. However, the judges thought differently.”I tried to remind him of one thing,” Mushfiqur said of Tamim after Bangladesh’s 79-run win on Friday. “He used to get out in the 50s, 60s and 70s. I told him he cannot go for the shots until the last five overs because a new batsman can’t come and start hitting from the onset. He took calculative risks. I was very surprised to get the Man-of-the-Match award. He deserved it.”This was Tamim’s first ODI hundred in two years. He had broken his Test century hoodoo in the series against Zimbabwe last year, after which he looked relieved. A knee injury hampered his World Cup preparation and he made one significant score in the tournament, ending it with 155 runs at an average of 25.66. Every low score was greeted by derision on social media. Internet trolls and memes vilified Tamim, while there was always the odd question through traditional media about his place in the team.There was an understanding that given his run of low scores, he shouldn’t have played the warm-up match in Fatullah. He made just nine, further denting his confidence on the eve of the match.Yet Tamim struck back on Friday with his fifth ODI hundred, a match-winning one at that. The duo of Mushfiqur and Tamim added 178 runs in just 21.4 overs, completely changing the course of the game as Bangladesh were 67 for two when Mahmudullah fell at the end of the 20th over. By the time Tamim got out, Bangladesh were looking towards a 300-run score.Tamim didn’t come to the post-match press conference so Mushfiqur and Shakib Al Hasan had to field many questions related to Tamim. Shakib praised Tamim’s effort and said that it was one of the best innings he had seen of the batsman.”It was an extraordinary innings,” Shakib said. “To be honest, he was under some pressure but his batting didn’t show any nerve. It is definitely one of his best innings. The way him and Mushfiqur batted, it was the turning point in the game. I think Tamim played the way he usually plays.”Mushfiqur said that he enjoyed Tamim’s celebration which included a gesture towards the stands for the amount of talk on him. He said that patience should be shown with Tamim, because even though he has been going through a lean trot Tamim’s last big innings wasn’t too long ago.’I think it was easy to understand [his celebration],” Mushfiqur said. “There was a lot of talk about him in the last 4-5 months. I believe there are very few accomplished batsman in Bangladesh. He got out to good balls in the last few games. People get out to bad balls. A batsman can go through a bad time.”There were many batsmen in the World Cup who didn’t score more than 200 runs. He had one very important score in the World Cup. We couldn’t have won that game against Scotland had he not done well in that game. If we lost that game, we probably wouldn’t have made it to the quarterfinals. It is not entirely the media’s fault. There will always be criticism. We don’t need support in a good time, rather we need it in bad time. I think his celebration was great. I liked it. I hope Tamim will play more big innings in the future.”

Iran boss Carlos Queiroz has named a 25-man team for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Iran will head into their third consecutive World Cup and will be aiming to make it out of the group stages for the first time in their history.

Carlos Queiroz's men put in an encouraging performance in Russia four years ago, finishing third in a group that held European giants Spain and Portugal as well as African representatives Morocco.

They were paired with England, Wales and USA in Group B this time around and will be quietly optimistic following their opponents' underwhelming form heading into the tournament.

Here are the 25 players who will represent Iran in Qatar.

ALSO READ: World Cup 2022 Group B: Fixtures, results, standings, squads & full details

Getty ImagesGOALKEEPERS

Alireza Beiranvand is set to be the firm first-choice goalkeeper for Iran.

Amir Abedzadeh and Hossein Hosseini are able back-ups and will also be hopeful of getting the nod.

Name

Club

Alireza Beiranvand

Persepolis

Payam Niazmand

Sepahan

Amir Abedzadeh

Ponferradina

Hossein Hosseini

Esteghlal

Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesDEFENDERS

Ehsan Hajsafi, who plays for AEK Athens, remains Iran's most experienced player at the back, with over 100 caps for his country.

The likes of Shojae Khalilzadeh and Milad Mohammadi will also compete to be part of Iran's defence at the World Cup.

Name

Club

Sadegh Moharrami

Dinamo Zagreb

Ehsan Hajsafi

AEK Aethens

Shojae Khalilzadeh

Al Ahli

Milad Mohammadi

AEK Aethens

Morteza Pouraliganji

Persepolis

Majid Hosseini

Kayserispor

Abolfazl Jalali

Esteghlal

Ramin Rezaeian

Sepahan

Hossein Kanaani

Al Ahli

GettyMIDFIELDERS

Brentford midfielder Saman Ghoddos, Persepolis' Vahid Amiri and Al Wakrah's Ahmad Nourollahi were unsurprisingly given a place in the 26-man squad.

Saeid Ezatolahi has been clocking regular minutes for the national team and will be hopeful of playing at the 2022 World Cup as well.

Name

Club

Saeid Ezatolahi

Vejle

Vahid Amiri

Persepolis

Saman Ghoddos

Brentford

Ahmad Nourollahi

Shabab Al Ahli

Ali Karimi

Kayserispor

Rouzbeh Cheshmi

Esteghlal

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Getty ImagesATTACKERS

Iran have a strong forward line featuring Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Karim Ansarifard, who have all been amongst the goals for their national team.

Name

Club

Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Feyenoord

Mehdi Taremi

Porto

Karim Ansarifard

Omonia

Mehdi Torabi

Persepolis

Ali Gholizadeh

Charleroi

Sardar Azmoun

Bayer Leverkusen

Tom Lockyer showed off his "battle wound" and explained how the fitted defibrillator could save his life if his heart ever stopped again.

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Lockyer collapsed on the field twice in just seven months Has an Implanted Cardiac Device (ICD) fitted to his chestCould be life-saving in case of another setback on the fieldWHAT HAPPENED?

Lockyer experienced a mid-game cardiac arrest earlier in the season, during a match against Bournemouth in December, marking the second time Lockyer collapsed on the pitch within seven months, after having previously endured atrial fibrillation during the Championship play-off final at Wembley in May. He has now been fitted with an Implanted Cardiac Device (ICD) in his chest which would shock his heart into action should it stop, eliminating the need for external defibrillation and potentially saving his life.

AdvertisementWATCH THE CLIPWHAT LOCKYER SAID

Speaking to Lockyer said: "So that's my battle wound. My defibrillator sits in there, as you can see there's a wire that runs across and up to the heart in case it ever needs to go off.

"So that's constantly monitoring my heart rate and if it goes outside certain parameters then it's designed to give me a shock. That's the wire – the battery lasts about 10 years so only needs changing every 10 years and hopefully I'm never going to need it but it's there as a precaution."

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Lockyer recounted the December incident in vivid detail and insisted that he knew that the second emergency was distinctively different from the first one.

"I was running up to the halfway line and went really light-headed, thinking would be OK in a second. I wasn't and woke up with paramedics everywhere," he revealed.

"It happened in May but I knew instantly this time was different, the last time I woke up almost like from a dream and this time woke up from nothingness.

'I could see straight away, paramedics, physios, club doctors, there was more panic, I couldn't speak, couldn't move, trying to work out what was happening. While that was going on I remember thinking, 'I could be dying here'.

"It's a surreal thought to have been thinking that and not being able to move or respond, and you could see panic going on. Once I came around it was a relief I was alive and fortunate it happened where it happened, I was living it and my family almost had it worse than I have. After what happened in May I have a recording device, and two minutes 40 seconds I was out for, and had to have a defib to shock me back."

A successful chase of a target in excess of 200 is normally furious, full of power and towering shots. Glenn Maxwell and David Miller did it differently for Punjab

The Report by George Binoy18-Apr-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details7:41

Huddle – New-look Punjab have the goods

A successful chase of a target in excess of 200 is normally furious, full of power and towering shots. Glenn Maxwell and David Miller did it differently for Punjab. They hit only five sixes – three of those after the 15th over, by which time Punjab were firm favourites – and turned the game during a 115-run stand that was driven by Maxwell’s surgical placement and Miller’s calm supporting act. Chennai were overtaken with seven balls to spare.There were only four notable performers in the game and all of them were overseas players. Maxwell and Miller’s clinical middle-order partnership came after Chennai’s new openers batted as though powered by rocket-fuel. Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith also scored half-centuries and ransacked 123 in 12.4 overs, but their fierce partnership was not the best batting effort on a scorching Abu Dhabi afternoon.Chasing 205, Punjab had slipped to 52 for 3 in 5.1 overs. Three Indian batsmen had been dismissed – Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara and Akshar Patel – and the game hinged on how Maxwell, Miller and George Bailey would fare. Not one to waste time, Maxwell countered R Ashwin’s wide-outside-leg line from round the wicket by reverse-swatting his first ball to the point boundary. That set the tone for an innings filled not only by such unorthodoxy – there were several more reverse-sweeps and pulls – but also by textbook drives and perfectly-timed pushes between mid-off and cover.Maxwell’s placement was largely impeccable. Most of his airborne shots were into gaps in the outfield, but two were not and Chennai failed to catch them. On 37, Maxwell reverse-swept Ravindra Jadeja but the top edge was fluffed by Ashish Nehra at short third man, and on 77 the substitute Samuel Badree put down a chance at deep square leg. Miller also had a let-off – on 17, two balls after Maxwell’s first reprieve – but it was a much tougher chance that Faf du Plesiss put down at short cover.Around the time Maxwell passed fifty off his 25th delivery, Miller had scored only a run-a-ball 21. He wasn’t struggling, however. He was playing an excellent second fiddle, turning the strike over and ensuring the pressure didn’t mount though the asking-rate was approaching two a ball.Punjab needed 113 off 60 balls and took 23 runs off the next two overs. The 13th over from spinner Pawan Negi was the turning point, when Maxwell found the leg-side boundary three times and the cover boundary once to take 22 runs off it. The equation had been hacked to 68 off 42 balls, and Chennai suffered a crippling blow in the next over when Dwayne Bravo dived to try and catch a Maxwell reverse-pull – in vain – and went off the field to nurse an injured right shoulder. MS Dhoni had lost a key death bowler. After Maxwell was bowled for 95, Miller stepped up, carting Ravindra Jadeja for two consecutive sixes in the 17th over to ensure Punjab did not trip close to victory.While Chennai were left to rue their poor catching and bowling, they were buoyed by how seamlessly their new openers settled in. In seasons past, the Chennai method has been for the openers to bat within themselves in the first half of the innings, setting up a platform for the power-hitters to launch from. But McCullum and Smith are the power-hitters.Smith played the supporting role – hitting his first six off his 24th delivery in the 10th over – as McCullum ran riot before and after Bailey dropped him on 22. McCullum did not discriminate, treating the less-known Parvinder Awana and the reputed Mitchell Johnson with the same aggression. The ball disappeared into the stands between deep square leg and long-on frequently as Chennai brought up their best Powerplay score in seven seasons – 70 for 0 in six overs.McCullum got to 50 off 30 balls, Chennai reached 100 off 9.3 overs and Smith brought up his half-century off 37 deliveries. McCullum did slow down after his half-century, scoring only 14 off his next 15 balls before his dismissal, and Chennai lost a bit of momentum during this period. Dhoni remedied that soon enough, and when he walked off for 26 off 11 balls, Chennai were favourites. But nobody told Maxwell and Miller.

South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander believes the key to succeeding in Sri Lankan conditions lies in picking up early wickets while the ball is still new

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2014South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander believes the key to succeeding in Sri Lankan conditions lies in picking up wickets while the ball is still new. Philander, on his first Test tour of Sri Lanka, feels that seam bowlers can fetch wickets in spin-friendly surfaces by maintaining a simple off-stump line and making the batsmen play.”The more damage you can do with the new ball the better,” Philander said on Monday in Galle two days before the first Test. “You want batsmen five, six and seven batting against a newish nut. In these conditions you want to be striking with the new ball, our lines upfront need to get the batsmen to play.”I wouldn’t really say that lengths change, its more the line of attack. You need to sit on that off-stump line, and make sure you get the lbw into the game, the wider ball becomes the nick-off. Hopefully we can adjust really quickly and assess conditions accordingly.”Philander said he had recovered from the viral infection that ruled him out of the third ODI in Hambantota on Saturday. If he makes the starting XI, it will be his first Test in the subcontinent. Since his Test debut in 2011, Philander has played the majority of his 23 Tests at home in South Africa and toured England, Australia and New Zealand. He played two Tests in the UAE last year – his first Test series in Asia – where he picked up six wickets in two games.Spinners have performed well in Galle but Philander was hopeful of getting some swing, given the occasional showers.”There is a bit of moisture and overhead conditions around which will favour the swing bowlers,” he said. “We have to wait and see what the deck looks like tomorrow and on the morning of the Test.”Philander was also confident his team would be able to negate the threat of Sri Lanka’s lead spinner Rangana Herath, who has 48 wickets at this ground, the second-highest behind Muttiah Muralitharan (111).”Spin is always a factor when you come to the subcontinent. That’s why they prepare wickets to suit their bowlers,” Philander said. “He (Herath) is going to be a big threat, but our batsmen played him quite well in the last one-dayer in Hambantota, so hopefully we can continue to do so. I’d like to see our guys stepping up against the spinners and playing them to the best of their abilities.”