Rachel Daly revealed her pre-match premonition about England team-mate Lauren James came true on Tuesday night after the Chelsea prodigy scored twice and picked up three assists in the 6-1 victory over China at the World Cup.
James, 21, became the first England player of either gender to be directly involved in five or more goals in a World Cup match as the Lionesses clinched top of group D to set up a last-16 meeting with Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday.
Daly was one of five Lionesses who got their names on the scoresheet at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium, where boss Sarina Wiegman switched to an inspired 3-5-2 system in the wake of an undisclosed knee injury to midfield maestro Keira Walsh.
Onto round of 16!
— Lauren James (@laurenjamess22)
Ve…
Nicolas Pepe will leave Lille during the next transfer window, the club s owner Gerard Lopez has confirmed.
The 23-year-old winger has turned heads in a prolific campaign that has him on course to finish as Ligue 1 s highest-scoring non-Paris Saint Germain player.
Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Manchester United are all reportedly interested in the Ivory Coast international.
PSG, who visit second-placed Lille looking to sew up the title on Sunday, could also consider an approach.
Here s hoping Nicolas Pépé will be celebrating a Super Sunday with at least one more goal added to his collection .
— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN)
Thomas Tuchel praised Pepe as a good player with a lot of speed and strength after Lille boss Christophe Galtier openly…
Adelaide United topped Group E of the AFC Champions League with a 2-0 defeat of Japanese outfit Gamba Osaka on Wednesday.
In a rematch of the 2008 ACL final, Adelaide took the lead in the 65th minute when substitute Sergio van Dijk flicked Daniel Mullen s low right-wing cross into the roof of the net.
Van Dijk had a big chance to score a second goal not long after with a strong header that was parried away by Gamba goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya, before Adelaide made it 2-0 with an 87th-minute own goal from the home side s Akihiro Sato.
Bunyodkor made sure of second place in the group after eliminating 2009 champions Pohang Steelers 1-0.
Pohang became the second South Korean side to crash out of this season s tournament at the group stage as Anvar Gafurov s …
David Beckham will be rewarded for his services to the international team at half-time during England s friendly with Belgium.
UEFA will present a cap and medal to the midfielder for reaching more than 100 caps for his country on June 2.
Sir Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton will also join Beckham in collecting the award after achieving the feat.
The FA chairman David Bernstein will present family members of the late Bobby Moore and Billy Wright with the award.
Beckham, who scored 17 goals for England, has not officially retired from international duties but he made the last of his 115 appearances in 2009 and hopes to be part of the Olympic team this summer in London.
The awards are part of UEFA plans to reward every player who has reached the 100…
Jonathan Woodgate is close to signing for Championship club Middlesbrough subject to a medical after being released by Stoke City.
The 32-year-old spent a solitary season at the Britannia Stadium after playing for two-and-a-half years at Tottenham.
Prior to his White Hart Lane days, the former England centre-back rejuvenated his reputation with Middlesbrough after an unsuccessful period with Real Madrid.
The defender is set for a return to the Riverside Stadium, where he also spent a portion of his youth career before a switch to Elland Road.
Woodgate played 46 times for Boro before his January 2008 transfer to Spurs.
He had previously cost the Teesside club seven million pounds to buy in 2007 after a loan spell from the Bernabeu.
However…
Steve McClaren s revolution at Newcastle United continued on Friday with the departure of midfielder Mehdi Abeid, the 23-year-old joining Panathinaikos.
Abeid made his debut for Newcastle in September 2011 in the League Cup, but has struggled to hold down a regular place.
Loans spells at St Johnstone and Panathinaikos followed before he made his maiden Premier League appearance, making seven starts in his 13 appearances.
However, the Algeria international has been allowed to leave St James Park and return to Greece after the two clubs agreed an undisclosed fee.
…
Brendan Hamill is a step closer to joining K-League side Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma after flying to Korea to complete a medical with the side.
The seven-time Korean champions have been looking to fill the defensive void left by Australian international and 2010 AFC Asian Football of the Year Sasa Ognenovski, who moved to Umm-Salal Sports Club in the Qatar Stars League.
And with terms agreed, the Melbourne Heart defender tweeted: Cya Melbourne! #topcity .
Hamill, 20, spent a year playing for the Australian Institute of Sport during the 2009/10 A-League National Youth League season before rejecting offers from overseas to sign for Melbourne Heart in April 2010.
The Young Socceroo, who made 34 appearances for the Melbourne club, became the youngest Heart player…
Fenerbahce boss Dick Advocaat says Memphis Depay should leave Manchester United if first-team football continues to elude him.
The Netherlands international has struggled to settle at Old Trafford since joining from PSV and has started just once under Jose Mourinho, in the 3-1 win over Northampton Town in the EFL Cup.
Depay was left out of the United squad to face Fenerbahce in Thursday s Europa League clash in Istanbul, prompting further speculation that he could be offloaded in January, with AC Milan reportedly interested.
Advocaat, who was PSV head coach in the 2012-13 campaign, believes his former charge must consider his future as he is too good to sit on the bench .
The potential is there for him to be a good player, he said. You cannot lose that, …
Media coverage surrounding Michel Platini s suspension as UEFA president risks making the investigation unfair , according to Gianni Infantino, the governing body s general secretary.
Platini was given a provisional 90-day suspension after being named as a person of interest to the criminal investigation launched into FIFA president Sepp Blatter, specifically as a result of a payment of £1.35million made by Blatter to the UEFA chief in 2011.
UEFA announced on Thursday that it will support Platini s attempts to clear his name and called for the investigative parties, including the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to reach a decision on the merits of the case by the middle of next month.
Infantino, however, considers leaked comments in the media about the case…
Real Madrid will progress to the Champions League quarter-finals because Paris Saint-Germain have a tendency to s*** the bed , according to former Marseille midfielder Joey Barton.
PSG s pairing with Madrid stands out as the draw of the round, with the two European heavyweights both initially expected to go far in the competition.
But one faces the prospect of an early elimination, something that will likely result in intensifying scrutiny over the future of the vanquished head coach, such are the expectations of the clubs.
The first leg takes place in Madrid on Wednesday and Barton expects Zinedine Zidane s men to ultimately progress based on PSG s previous poor handling of pressure.
Last season, PSG beat Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the last 1…