It’s a norm for college basketball teams to get together during the summer to prepare for the upcoming season. A few lucky ones get to take a trip to an exciting place. This year, Notre Dame was one of them. The destination was Spain.
One stop in the country was Madrid. While the team took in the sights, it also was there to play basketball. This it did against the Madrid All-Stars, and it turned out be a favorable result for the Irish:
Notre Dame beat Madrid All Stars 89-65. Stats: Markus Burton 15 pts, four rebs, four assists Braeden Shrewsberry 11 points Logan Imes 11 points Burke Chebuhar nine points Garrett Sundra nine points, nine rebs
Only time will tell if the Irish make any significant strides from a rebuilding 2023-24 season, but we can see now that they at least have a better understanding of each other. After all, many players have been together for a year now, so at least there are those relationships. Let’s hope that leads to more winning in 2024-25.
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Notre Dame guard [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] missed most of this past season, but the next two weeks should help make up for that. She’s off to Paris to represent Canada for the 2024 Olympics. She’s incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity at this stage of her career.
To help get Irish fans in the Parisian spirit for the Olympics, Prosper, who hails from Montreal, shared a few French words and phrases on social media:
The Olympics start this week in Paris so we wanted our very own olympian Cass Prosper to make sure everyone was prepared with some French vocab ✍️📚 pic.twitter.com/bK7Jg5t13F
— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) July 23, 2024
Those of you who took French in school might have known some of these already, but for everyone else, it’s a nice little educational moment.
This tweet was made the same Prosper scored six points in Canada’s pre-Olympic 77-74 victory over Australia in Spain. Former Irish standout [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag] contributed 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
Elsewhere, the U.S. bounced back from [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag]’s All-Star MVP performance by topping Germany, 84-57, in its last game before the Olympics in London. [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, and [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] had eight points.
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Could one of the world’s top international coaches be interested in the USMNT?
There is a major new name in the mix for the U.S. men’s national team head coaching position.
On Sunday, the day he led Spain to the Euro 2024 title, Luis de la Fuente’s representatives confirmed to the Washington Post they had reached out to U.S. Soccer to express interest in the USMNT job.
The 63-year-old’s stock is at an all-time high after guiding Spain through Euro 2024 with seven wins from seven matches, culminating in a 2-1 victory over England in Sunday’s final in Berlin.
La Roja also registered wins over Croatia, Italy, Germany and France en route to the title, its record fourth men’s European championship.
The USMNT position has been vacant since Gregg Berhalter was dismissed last week in the wake of the team’s stunning group-stage exit at the Copa América.
Several names have already been mentioned as potential replacements, with Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy and LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo both indicating they may be interested when recently quizzed on the job.
De la Fuente has been a coach in Spain’s national team setup since 2013, taking charge of the under-19 and under-21 teams before coaching the under-23 team at the Olympics in 2021. He was named senior national team coach in 2022, and just signed a contract extension through 2026 last month.
If the Spain boss is truly interested, he would seemingly be near the top of the list of candidates. But it is worth considering just how real De la Fuente’s interest truly is.
On the CBS Sports Golazo Network, Spanish journalist Guillem Balague speculated on Monday that De la Fuente may be looking to use U.S. Soccer as leverage to push the Spanish federation to offer him a larger contract.
According to Balague, however, there is another Spanish coach who may have more concrete interest: former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss Rafael Benítez.
Gooooood morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. I hope you had a fantastic weekend.
Soccer absolutely took over the sports world on Sunday with two epic finals in the Euro Cup and Copa América.
Let’s start at Hard Rock Stadium, where absolute chaos broke out when fans bum-rushed it. They were climbing through vents, destroying escalators, and more in the building. Chaotic is probably the most kind way to describe it.
Suddenly, a Colombian team that had not lost a game in two years fell. Argentina won a record 16th Copa, which also happened to be its second consecutive one. By the way, the World Cup win is sandwiched between the two of them. And did I mention that Argentina lost Lionel Messi in the middle of the game to a non-contact ankle injury? Wild stuff, man.
Couple that with what happened across the pond in the Euro final. Spain prevailed over England, 2-1, with Mikel Ozyarzabal’s stoppage time tap-in in the 93rd minute ending this one.
“Just 13 minutes after Chelsea star Cole Palmer tied the match with a 73rd-minute goal as a substitute, Spain got its late winner by way of a Mikel Oyarzabal tap-in off a brilliantly timed run. In real time, it looked like Oyarzabal could have been offside at the moment of Marc Cucurella’s pass. But VAR confirmed that the goal was good.”
That’s how Spain got it done. Ultimately, it came down to the wire. But that bit of skill, timing and luck helped it prevail.
Watching these games was so much fun yesterday, as international football usually is. But it also hit me with a pretty grim realization: I don’t think I’ll ever have a team to root for in this. Not on the men’s side, at least.
The football we watched across continents on Sunday was so good. It was just far and away better than anything the USMNT has given us in years at this point.
It’s MLB All-Star week and the Home Run Derby is tonight, but I wanted to take a bit of time to show Paul Skenes some more love. His path to becoming an All-Star starter has been incredible.
For all of the talent and resources that the England men’s national team has boasted over the years, the Three Lions have not won a major trophy since the 1966 World Cup. It’s been nothing but heartbreak in the decades since, and Sunday’s Euro 2024 final was yet another chapter in England’s astonishing title drought.
As England made its deep run into the Euro 2024 final, fans across London and other major cities packed bars, pubs, event spaces and parks for watch parties. On Sunday, cameras were set up for the reactions from Boxpark Wembley in London. And when Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner in the 86th minute, the watch party turned from buzzing to silent in an instant.
This was the dejected reaction to the winning Spain goal:
🎥 England fans misery as Spain took the lead with four minutes left as Cucurella finds Oyarzabal with a simple finish 🇪🇸🏴 #EURO2024pic.twitter.com/vCNnCC78EM
Throughout Euro 2024, Spain had looked like the more dominant side. And on Sunday, Spain finished off the perfect tournament run with a 2-1 win over England. That go-ahead goal, though, will haunt England fans for a long time.
Just 13 minutes after Chelsea star Cole Palmer tied the match with a 73rd-minute goal as a substitute, Spain got its late winner by way of a Mikel Oyarzabal tap-in off a brilliantly timed run. In real time, it looked like Oyarzabal could have been offside at the moment of Marc Cucurella’s pass. But VAR confirmed that the goal was good.
Oyarzabal was on by the narrowest of margins. Take a look:
Upon the review, John Stones’ knee just barely kept Oyarzabal on side. Unlike the Copa America — which has relied on hand-drawn lines and inconsistent officiating — Euro 2024 has utilized digitally mapped fields for VAR views. So, the offside calls were made to the precise moment.
And as we saw there, that small margin made all the difference.
All eyes are on Berlin as the two European powers meet in the final
Spain and England will meet on Sunday in the Euro 2024 final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
For Spain, the game will be an opportunity to win its fourth European Championship, the most of any men’s team ever.
England, meanwhile, will be looking for its first Euros title, and only its second major title alongside the 1966 World Cup.
[afflinkbutton text=”Watch Spain vs. England FREE on Fubo” link=”https://www.fubo.tv/welcome?irad=343747&irmp=1205322&subId1=PSW&subId2=Generic&subId3=2023%2F24″]
Spain has been the tournament’s best side, winning all six of its games so far including a quarterfinal triumph over host Germany and a semifinal win over France.
Lamine Yamal, who turned 17 on Saturday, has been the story of the Euros. The Barcelona attacker has not only become the tournament’s youngest player ever, but has starred with three assists and a stunning goal against France in the semifinal.
Spain will be favored, but England has shown incredible resilience to reach a second straight Euros final.
The Three Lions failed to impress in the group phase, and needed an incredible last-second bicycle kick from Jude Bellingham to avoid a last-16 exit against Slovakia. Penalties were then required to see off Switzerland in the quarterfinal, while Ollie Watkins scored a last-gasp winner against the Netherlands in the semifinal.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.
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Morata can’t even celebrate a win without being in physical danger
Spain has moved on to the Euro 2024 final, but a bizarre post-game incident might impact whether Álvaro Morata will be available to play a part.
The striker was hit by a tumbling security guard, who was sprinting in to stop a fan from taking selfies as Spain did a victory lap following its 2-1 victory over France.
Morata had no idea what was coming as the security staffer careened into him while trying to stop and turn. Adding to the strangeness of the situation, stewards at the Allianz Arena had already managed to grab the young selfie-taker.
The Atlético Madrid striker, who has started all but one of Spain’s matches in the tournament, immediately felt for his right knee, wincing and then limping away from the kerfuffle. The security person leaned in to check on the Spain captain, who seemed to simply want to hobble away from the entire situation.
In a post-match press conference, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente told reporters that Morata’s status was at this point unknown.
“We have to wait and see tomorrow,” said De la Fuente. “We believe it’s nothing. It hurts, but we think it’s nothing.”
Should Morata be unavailable, De la Fuente would likely be choosing between Mikel Oyarzabal (who replaced Morata in the 76th minute on Tuesday) or Joselu to lead the line in the final, which is on Sunday against either England or the Netherlands.
This isn’t even the first such incident involving an Iberian forward at this tournament. Portugal striker Gonçalo Ramos ended up having a steward crash into him after a 3-0 win over Turkey on June 22.
Everyone should listen to Giorgio Chiellini’s beautiful speech.
As sports fans, we occasionally get lucky with a new TV analyst who brings terrific depth, insight, and color to their work during broadcasts. For Fox’s Euro 2024 coverage, this person is undoubtedly Italian soccer legend Giorgio Chiellini.
As Chiellini said goodbye to L.A. and the United States — he is heading to Berlin to cover the Euro Final on location and will eventually move back to Italy after living stateside for two years — he delivered a surprising speech about the beauty of soccer. More importantly, he pleaded with American soccer fans to continue investing in the game and helping it grow.
You genuinely almost get tears watching moments like this:
"Thanks to all you fans, because we shared a beautiful month together. A lot of emotions, and we really enjoyed this fantastic tournament." 🥹
I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Here’s the critical part of Chiellini’s on-air request in full:
“I want to ask you something. Please continue to watch soccer everyday. Please continue to play soccer. Please continue to live soccer everyday … please help us to continue making it better and better.”
Chiellini’s comments put American soccer in a spotlight it soon won’t be able to escape. The 2026 World Cup will be partly hosted by the United States, with the Final being played in the New York Giants and New York Jets’ home stadium. If that tournament really resonates with American fans, the sky will be the limit.
Seeing soccer thrive on this side of the pond in the coming years would be tremendous. Kudos to Chiellini for understanding the stakes.
Making up non-existent critics for extra motivation. Once someone reaches this mental stage as an athlete, you know they’ve made it.
Ahead of Spain’s titanic matchup with the French, Yamal posted a bizarre Instagram story seemingly warning his enemies (?) that’s he watching their every move in measured silence:
Look, I’m not going to tell an athlete how they should approach their own life. Everyone has their own needed process. But I’m really struggling to consider how a 16-year-old electric talent like Yamal has any enemies or detractors at this extremely early stage of his career. Who, in their right mind, hates this kid? I’d venture to guess most people didn’t even know his name until a few weeks ago!
Now, if Yamal reaches his tremendous potential, I have no doubt he will eventually have a group of dedicated haters, especially online. Unfortunately, that’s just how it works. But this idea that people are already incessantly blathering about him and what he can or can’t do is just silly.
Well, at least this lets us know he’s on the right track toward stardom.
UPDATE: It appears Yamal took this motivation, seemingly inspired by France’s Adrien Rabot, and channeled it into becoming the youngest-ever goal-scorer at the European Championships.
