Weekender Alicante North Issue 109

46 FRIDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2019
www.weekender.news
Sport
De Gea
commits
to United
Neymar ban
is reduced
Summertime
was special
ENGLAND’S cricket captain Joe Root says coming from
behind to draw the Ashes series rounded off a summer
that has been a “huge success” for the national side and
the game.
It was certainly a season of thrills that will last long in the
memory. A ‘super over’ victory in an amazing World Cup Final
saw England lift their first 50 over World Cup in July.
And though they did not regain the Ashes, Ben Stokes remarkable
performance in the third Test, followed by a massive
team effort at the Oval in the final game, ensured the series
ended level. Root, who was also a member of the 50-over side,
has repeated his desire to still be in charge when England fight
to win back the urn on the tour of Australia in 2021-22.
And he has declared she wants to be captain for the “long
haul”. He said: “I’m desperate to take this team forward.
Speaking after England’s Oval victory he said: “I’m in a very
privileged position to be captain of the Test team and I’ll do everything
I to can to get us very well prepared for going down
there and hopefully doing something very special.”
The Yorkshire batsman added: “What a summer of cricket it
has been. It’s been phenomenal.
“That World Cup was incredible, for it to finish how it did,
made for fantastic viewing – not just the England games, but
across the board. It was backed up by such an evenly matched
Ashes series. We were blessed by brilliant support throughout
and the cricket was pretty gripping. It was quite hard to be involved
in at times, especially when we were on the wrong end
of it. It has been a huge success for English cricket and a great
opportunity to spring the game forward in this country.”
NEYMAR’S three-game Champions
League ban for insulting match officials
has been cut to two by the Court
of Arbitration for Sport.
The 27-year-old Paris St-Germain forward
was slapped with the penalty after
his side’s Champoions League exit at the
hands of Manchester United in March.
He called the award of a decisive 94thminute
United penalty in the last-16
second leg-tie in the French capital “a disgrace”.
The decision means that he will
miss the games against Real Madrid and
Galatasaray but can return to face Club
Bruges on October 22. PSG took the case
to the court after Uefa rejected their appeal
against the ban.
Neymar was injured with a broken
metatarsal and missed both legs of the tie
against United. However, after the 3-1 defeat
he wrote on social media blasting the
penalty decision, which was given after a
lengthy VAR review.
The player stormed: “It’s a disgrace.
Four guys who know nothing about football
watch a slow-motion replay in front
of the television.”
Countdown
to the Rugby
World Cup
Rugby World Cup
2019: England, Wales,
Ireland & Scotland
poised for start
• Hosts: JAPAN
• Dates: 20 SEPTEMBER TO 2 NOVEMBER
THE world's top rugby
nations are poised for
the start of the Rugby
World Cup with the outcome
as uncertain as
any of the previous eight
editions.
New Zealand have won
the past two World Cups,
but Ireland are currently
ranked as the best team in
the world.
A resurgent South Africa
won the Rugby Championship
earlier this year, while
Wales took the Six Nations
in March.
England have won 10 of
their last 14, while Australia's
minimum target is a
repeat of their 2015 run to
the final.
DAVID De Gea has signed
a new long-term contract
with Manchester United,
keeping him at the club
until at least June 2023.
The 28-year-old Spanish
goalkeeper arrived at Old
Trafford in 2011 and has
made 367 appearances for
the Premier League side
so far.
During his time with the
club, he has won the Premier
League, the FA Cup,
the League Cup, the UEFA
Europa League and the
Community Shield.
He said: “It has been a
privilege to spend eight
years at this great club and
the opportunity to continue
my career at Manchester
United is a genuine honour.
“Since I arrived here,
I could never have imagined
I would play over 350
games for this club. Now
my future is fixed, all I
want is to help this team
achieve what I believe
ENGLAND scrum-half Ben
Youngs believes this Rugby
World Cup is the chance to
create “something special”
after tasting bitter disappointment
in the previous
two tournaments.
He is one of four survivors,
along with centre Manu
Tuilagi and forwards Dan
Cole and Courtney Lawes,
from the squad that travelled
to New Zealand eight
years ago.
England went out in the
quarter-finals in 2011 amid
off-field controversies and
then failed to get out of the
group stages four years ago
on home turf.
Speaking to the BBC he
said: “I think anyone wants
to look back at the end of
their career and feel proud of
success – and the World Cup
is always the pinnacle.
“This opportunity here
with this side is probably
the best shot I have of being
able to look back at a
period of my career and say,
yeah, that was something
really special.”
He added: “I’m proud of
we can and win trophies
again, together.”
He added: “As one of the
senior players in the squad,
I want to support and lead in
any way that I can to assist
the younger players, so they
know what it means to play
here. I still feel that I have
so much more to achieve at
the club and I truly believe
that Manchester United can
build on the club’s tradition
of success and reward our
fans for their support.”
United boss Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer said: “I am delighted
that David has committed
his long-term future
to the club.
“ Over recent years, David
has proved himself to be the
best in the world and a vital
part of our plans as we look
to take Manchester United
back to where it belongs.
“David is a fantastic person
and his outstanding
quality provides the perfect
base to our defence.”
Up for the
challenge
the fact I’ve been to two
World Cups before – I’m
proud of 2011 in that I was
there, and in 2015 representing
England at a home
World Cup, which was an
achievement in itself.
“Every experience is different.
They all teach you
something. And the biggest
experience from 2011 was
making sure you stay focused
on the pitch and deliver
on that.
“There were a lot of distractions
going on in that
tournament that didn’t help
us to deliver.
“World Cups are strange
things, and I don’t have the
magic formula – it’s sport, it
happens. It happened to us.
“I can sit here and say
I’m determined it won’t
happen again, but I can’t
guarantee it.
“But it’s what coming
up that matters- about
this group now under Eddie
Jones. There are many
guys who played in 2011
and 2015 who didn’t get
another opportunity at a
World Cup.”