Roger Federer is coming back to US Open four years after retirement, set for two blockbuster matches US Open confirmed Roger Federer's return on Sunday, and he will be joined by three other tennis greats Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:25:16 IST Written by Aratrick Mondal Prefer HTon Google Share
Nerves cost us against Australia, but I'm proud of the team: women's hockey coach: Marijne Nerves cost us against Australia, but I'm proud of the team: women's hockey coach: Marijne Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:09:14 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Amstelveen
After seventh seed Victor Lai fell in three games to ninth seed Alex Lanier at the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi, the former described the Frenchman as a ‘beast’, lauding his physical fitness and tenacity to go the distance and play the long game
India men’s football team will face Panama in a FIFA international friendly in September, ahead of another friendly against five-time FIFA World Cup winners Brazil in Kolkata on October 3. According to a report by The Times of India, the match between India and the North American side is
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has ruled himself out of the running to replace Gianni Infantino, but says he expects a candidate to challenge the Fifa president's leadership in March. Infantino has faced calls to step down after he scrapped a controversial plan to sell off stakes in Fifa's
Barcelona began their La Liga title defence with a commanding 5-0 victory over Elche on Sunday, with Raphinha and Fermin Lopez scoring twice each and Anthony Gordon setting up two goals on his debut. The result comea a day after Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid defeated Espanyol 2-1 with a late winner
GCT Grand Finale: Praggnanandhaa beats Keymer to stake his claim for finals GCT Grand Finale: Praggnanandhaa beats Keymer to stake his claim for finals Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 09:43:17 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link St. Louis
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin may have been vocal in his demand for the current FIFA president Gianni Infantino to step down but he has no interest in replacing the under-fire Swiss. Infantino continues to face pressure to leave his position as world football’s governing body chief following
Why things will never be same again for super-talented Eze
Talk about arriving on the scene as an Arsenal player.
Eberechi Eze did that in style with his hat-trick against Tottenham - and things will never be the same for him again.
We already knew Eze was super-talented from his time at Crystal Palace, and he had made a good start to his Arsenal career, showing glimpses of brilliance.
But the ultimate test when you are at a huge club like Arsenal is what you do in the big games, so Sunday's 4-1 north London derby victory was the perfect occasion for him to produce his best performance in a Gunners shirt.
Eze is an Arsenal fan too of course, which made his day even more special. He became the first player to score a hat-trick in this game since 1978, and it actually looked effortless for him.
As I said on Match of the Day, he was a joy to watch and he has a wonderful knack of making the game look wonderfully easy.
His finishing for all three of his goals was superb, but so was his skill, his movement and his ability to find space. He is two footed and being comfortable on both sides means he is elegant and moves the ball beautifully.
Eze was brought in to unlock defences that sit deep like Spurs did, and he showed off every aspect of his game.
After a performance like that, he will feel like he is walking on air for the next few days, but the fact he did it in this fixture will mean things are different for him going further forward too.
I know from experience there are certain games where, if you are the player who makes the difference, the fans never forget it.
I had been a Liverpool player for more than three years when I scored my first winner for them against Manchester United in 2000. I was used to being asked for autographs and people talking to me, but that goal against our biggest rivals suddenly elevated everything to a different level.
I was now the player who had scored that goal for us, and against them. It was like people saw me in a different way, and certainly thought more highly of me, because I had given them this joy in a fixture that meant so much to them.
It will be the same for Eze now and the immediate effect of his hat-trick is that, in the next few games, he will be so full of confidence he will feel like he can try anything because he cannot do anything wrong.
Whenever he next walks out on the pitch, whether it's against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday or Chelsea in the Premier League next weekend, he will feel he has the fans 100% behind him, because they adore him now more than ever.
It will be the same whenever he gets on the ball, too. You know the fans love you and that transfers to your game. You are thinking "give me the ball, what am I going to do next?" The feeling is amazing, and he will want to express himself and show the world how good he is.
That's the buzz you get and it applies to any player scoring a hat-trick in a game of this size, but it always means a bit more when you are a fan of the team you do it for - it really does.
You feel a warmth from the supporters it is very hard to get if you've not grown up knowing it yourself.
I'd been at Old Trafford as a Liverpool fan watching them play there, so I understood what beating United meant to our supporters, the same as Eze will know what beating Spurs means to Arsenal fans.
What he did on Sunday will live with him forever, and the supporters will know he gets it too.
So he is going to have an incredible few weeks. The only slight danger when something like this happens is you get carried away and start to think you really are amazing and things will just happen for you in games - it doesn't work like that!
But Eze is such a humble guy he would never think like that anyway. His work ethic shows you what his attitude is like and, against Spurs, he was still chasing players back into his own half from a corner even after he had scored his hat-trick.
There are some players who I watch now and really want to do well, whoever they play for, because they are such likeable characters - and Eze is one of those.
He has done things the hard way to become an Arsenal and England player at the age of 27 and his story, having been released by Arsenal's academy aged 13, makes it even more incredible.
Eze is the type of player Arteta can rely on. He's creative, he's confident and he's a game-changer. I called him a "wow footballer" on Match of the Day because he excites me so much, and I am looking forward to what comes next for him too.
The only dilemma for Arsenal is they have got Martin Odegaard and Eze who can both play as wonderful number 10s.
Who does Arteta pick? It's a great problem to have.
If things had gone differently in the summer, Eze could have been lining up against Arsenal on Sunday rather than playing for them.
It probably makes the defeat even more painful for Spurs that a player they tried to sign ended up scoring a hat-trick against them.
But Eze's achievement was just the icing on the cake for Arteta's side, because there were outstanding performances right through their team.
Mikel Merino was playing out of position again at centre-forward but caused Spurs so many problems. Jurrien Timber's performance at right-back was as good as I've seen from anyone in that position for a long time - he is in the conversation with the likes of Achraf Hakimi now as being among the best in the world.
We've already seen Cristhian Mosquera come in for William Saliba and fill in without any problems and now we've seen Piero Hincapie come in for Gabriel and look dominant too.
When Arsenal signed Mosquera and Hincapie in the summer, we talked about how they had added to their depth on paper, but we are seeing the strength of their squad on the pitch now too. It has created a competition for places that has enhanced everyone's performances.
Arteta must be delighted to see the levels his players are at, not just in terms of their technical ability but also with their physicality and work-rate.
All of them are willing to give everything because they know if they don't, they won't play - and Arteta deserves great credit for that. He has created a mindset where the hard work is as important as their attacking play, if not more so.
They don't carry anyone and even up front, Viktor Gyokeres, who was missing against Spurs because of injury, has epitomised their attitude to pressing.
You know it doesn't matter who plays, they will all be at it defensively. That obviously takes discipline mentally, but physically they all look ready too.
Every aspect of their game is exactly where it should be and they look so full of belief in what they are doing.
One of the thing that impresses me the most is you can see that, even if they have an off day with the ball, it doesn't look like they are going to ever have an off day without it.
They look like a powerhouse, a unit that is focused on winning games and is desperate to put the last few years of finishing second in the Premier League to bed.
The way they are playing at the moment is ominous for everyone else, because it is hard to see how anyone is going to challenge them.
Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
Source: BBC
Related Posts: Sports
The French are known for a lot of things but badminton isn’t one of them. Till Sunday, when the country that has never been considered among the top nations even in Europe created history at the 2026 World championships, in more ways than one
12 hours ago
AITA picked them, the government cut them: Why has India’s Asian Games tennis squad been slashed from 12 to 7? The AITA had originally proposed a 12-member squad for for the Asian Games, which included six women. But the list was slashed down to just seven players. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026
12 hours ago
Ashton Jeanty injury update: Is the Raiders RB out for the season? Doctor reveals possible diagnoses; ‘best case…’ Ashton Jeanty was injured after attempting a catch, prompting a tense silence at the Raiders’ facility before his teammates gathered and knelt in prayer. Updated on: Aug 24
15 hours ago
When Liverpool came to Newcastle last August, there was utter jubilation as Rio Ngumoha scored a remarkable 100th-minute winner. They scored late again this time around, through Dominik Szoboszlai's 99th-minute penalty, but it felt more like a sense of relief than joy as they rescued a point
15 hours ago
'Is Sydney Taylor playing tonight?' Chicago Sky guard's slow start vs Fever sparks injury concerns Sydney Taylor was in Chicago’s starting lineup when the Sky hosted the Indiana Fever on Sunday night. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026, 07:32:12 IST By Ojas Jaiswal Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link
15 hours ago
Yet again, the England men's cricket team is picking through the wreckage of a late-night misdemeanour. The latest stain on the game's reputation is a result of pictures of fast bowler Brydon Carse in handcuffs and surrounded by police officers outside a nightspot in Derby
15 hours ago
Jean-Philippe Mateta is arguing the remainder of his Crystal Palace contract is invalid and has taken his case to Fifa. Multiple sources have told BBC Sport the France international has launched an official challenge over the validity of the final 10 months on his Selhurst Park deal
1 days ago
Bangladesh 64: Starc 6-12 & 95: Shanto 31; Starc 4-39, Cummins 3-10, Lyon 3-25 Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets in the match as Australia bounced back from last week's shock defeat by Bangladesh to win the second Test by an innings and 51 runs and draw the series 1-1. Second Test
1 days ago
Jannik Sinner's absence benefits Carlos Alcaraz: What to expect from the US Open champion after his long injury layoff Jannik Sinner is out, but is it premature to call Carlos Alcaraz the US Open favourite after four months away? Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
US Open leaves Stan Wawrinka out in the cold, denying former champion a wild card for his final Grand Slam The US Open has surprisingly denied Stan Wawrinka a wild card for what could be his final appearance at a Grand Slam. Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
India faced the Netherlands in their Pool E match of the ongoing FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026 on Saturday (August 22) at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen but suffered a 1-3 defeat. India conceded one goal in the third quarter and two in the fourth quarter to go down against the hosts
1 days ago
There is an uncanny resemblance between Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa’s bronze-medal run at the 2011 BWF World Championships and Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand’s campaign at the 2026 edition. Jwala and Ashwini faced the second-seeded Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin as early as the
1 days ago
Runs on the board and rival wickets, is the template that Dhananjaya de Silva will chase when the second Test commences at the SSC Ground on Sunday (August 23, 2026). “It’s about putting runs on the board. That’s what India did [at Galle]. For the first two days they batted and got 460 runs
1 days ago
Serena Williams returns to US Open after four years, joins Carlos Alcaraz for mixed doubles Serena Williams will return to the US Open for the first time since 2022, partnering Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles after receiving a wildcard. Published on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
Roberto De Zerbi may have spent close to £400m by the time his Tottenham Hotspur rebuild is complete – but it took just his side's first Premier League game of the season to prove all the money in the world is no guaranteed cure for a losing mentality
1 days ago
Manchester United's fans had endured a bad enough day on the banks of the River Humber when Hull City's stadium announcer gleefully piped up midway through the second half. Two trains back to Manchester from the city centre station had been cancelled
1 days ago
From a shy girl to team mentor, Savita Punia says hockey changed her life From a shy girl to team mentor, Savita Punia says hockey changed her life Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 12:08:49 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Amstelveen
2 days ago
Shubhankar makes cut after spectacular ace at Nexo Championship Shubhankar makes cut after spectacular ace at Nexo Championship Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 12:17:58 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Aberdeenshire , Shubhankar Sharma ended his streak of four missed cuts as he made the
2 days ago
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi has been fined for slapping Philadelphia Union's Quinn Sullivan during their side's Major League Soccer (MLS) 2-2 draw on Wednesday. Messi, 39, slapped Sullivan around the back of the head towards the end of the game as he complained the Union player had elbowed him after
2 days ago
Premier League champions Arsenal will start the new season with some of the nightmares of the previous two as their marquee signing, midfielder Bruno Guimarães, is not part of the squad due to an injury. Guimarães signed for £75 million (Rs. 979 crore) from Newcastle United and suffered a knock
2 days ago
Nostalgia may have enveloped Sairaj Bahutule when he entered the SSC Ground. He would have remembered his last Test played at the same venue in 2001, a game India lost. The Indian spin-bowling coach, though, quickly immersed himself in the nets here Friday (August 21, 2026)
2 days ago
Lionel Messi fined for slapping opponent on the head as Inter Miami-Philadelphia clash erupts into late red-card chaos Lionel Messi was fined by MLS after slapping Philadelphia's Quinn Sullivan on the head as Inter Miami's 2-2 draw desecended into stoppage-time chaos. Updated on: Aug 22, 2026
2 days ago
Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra managed to deliver his season’s best performance at the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday but fell agonisingly short of the top spot, as Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage finished first with a throw just nine centimetres more than his
2 days ago
Why did Nick Chubb retire? Net worth in focus as NFL player ends career at 30 Nick Chubb played for eight seasons in NFL that included seven years with the Cleveland Browns and one with the Houston Texans. Updated on: Aug 22, 2026, 09:25:09 IST By Shirin Gupta Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link
2 days ago
Arsenal started last season as nearly men - but now they have the swagger of winners. That much can be seen on the approach to Emirates Stadium. Above the entrance to the ground is new signage, a simple message in gold: 'Champions'. Players and fans alike have taken the confidence of last season's
2 days ago
Liverpool, Man City face questions in new era without Salah, Guardiola Liverpool, Man City face questions in new era without Salah, Guardiola Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 06:32:41 IST AFP Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Mohamed Salah and Pep Guardiola are two of the most iconic figures in
2 days ago
Nakashima knocks out Fritz to reach Cincinnati semi-finals Nakashima knocks out Fritz to reach Cincinnati semi-finals Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 04:36:47 IST AFP Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Brandon Nakashima continued his red-hot pace on Friday
2 days ago
