England fans were left frustrated as their side were held to a goalless draw against Ghana, but were Thomas Tuchel’s side fortunate not to have a penalty given against them?
The incident in question happened late in Tuesday’s game as Prince Adu charged into the box before Ezri Konsa came across and appeared to bring down the midfielder.
No spot-kick was given – to the relief of England supporters, with replays showing Konsa had caught Adu on the knee and made no contact with the ball.
The BBC pundits watching the game were largely in agreement that Konsa and England were fortunate not to have been punished.
“I think that’s a penalty,” former Three Lions and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney said on BBC One.
“Konsa takes a huge risk. His feet are off the floor when he comes flying in and he gets the man, not the ball.
“That could easily have been given in my view.”
Fellow former England international and ex-Manchester City defender Micah Richards added: “England were chasing the game, they were trying to score the goal but you still need that protection behind you.
England fail to repeat their performance that overpowered Croatia in their first World Cup game as they are held to a draw by a resolute Ghana at Boston Stadium.
Australia made it four wins from four at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup after easing to a 113-run victory against Pakistan at Headingley, with the six-time winners on the verge of the semi-finals with one group match remaining.
Playing in goal for the U.S. men’s national soccer team is a little like playing right field for the Yankees. You’re following a long line of great players, making the comparisons — and the high expectations — unavoidable.
Matt Freese is the latest to be thrown into that crucible. But he considers that pressure to be a privilege, not a problem.
“I wouldn’t say it’s intimidating, I would say it’s inspiring,” he said before the U.S. training session Tuesday morning in Irvine. “It’s a long line of goalkeepers that I’ve looked up to for my whole life — and there were some before my life as well.”
Two games into this summer’s World Cup he’s certainly held his own with that group, giving up just one goal for a team that’s unbeaten and already through to the next round. However Thursday’s group-stage finale with winless Turkey will be far from meaningless for Freese since his first start for the U.S. came against Turkey 55 weeks ago, bringing his whirlwind international team career full circle.
U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese waves to the crowd after beating Paraguay during a World Cup match at SoFi Stadium on June 12.
(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)
He lost that game but his performance was good enough to make him the starter in the Gold Cup, where he was even better. A little over a year ago he was just a faint blip on coach Mauricio Pochettino’s radar. Now he has a World Cup shutout and with another clean sheet Thursday, he’ll join Matt Turner as the only American keepers to post back-to-back shutouts in a World Cup in 96 years.
“I dreamt of this opportunity. But you never know if it’s going to come,” Freese said. “I learned the ones that work hard without the promise of reward are the ones that usually succeed.”
Turner, who gave up just a goal in the group stage in Qatar four years ago, is Freese’s backup in this tournament. And he’s just the most recent U.S. keeper to stand out in a World Cup. In 2014, Tim Howard set a tournament record with 16 saves in a knockout-stage loss to Belgium and 12 years before that Brad Friedel made six stops in a 2-0 win over Mexico to send the U.S. to the quarterfinals for the only time.
“To have my name next to theirs as the next guy up is an incredible honor, and it’s something I’ve dreamed of,” Freese said. “The bar is set high and I’m going to strive to reach that bar and raise it even higher.”
Freese, 27, took an unusual route to that bar. The son of a neurosurgeon who earned a doctorate from MIT and the grandson of scientists who immigrated from Germany after World War II, Freese grew up in a household where academics were more important than athletics. So while he joined the Philadelphia Union academy as a teen, he craved the demands of school and left soon afterward to enroll at Harvard.
“When you’re a professional athlete at age 18, 19 sometimes it can be difficult to keep a routine, keep a regimen that keeps you focused and keeps you hungry,” Freese said. “For me, taking classes was something that occupied my time, occupied my mind and gave a very natural release off the field.
“I think at that age it was necessary.”
After two seasons at Harvard, he returned to Philadelphia to sign with the MLS team while continuing to take classes online, once writing a paper on penalty-kick analytics. In 2022, he graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics.
The soccer part wasn’t going nearly as well. Playing behind Andre Blake, a three-time MLS keeper of the year, Freese rarely saw the field in Philadelphia. But a trade to New York City FC in the winter of 2023 gave him a second chance and likely saved his career.
He made the most of it, earning the starting job in his second season, when he finished third in the league in saves, and getting his first call-up to a national team training camp in January 2025.
Six months later he was the team’s starter in goal.
The late-blooming Freese’s journey was unusual in another way too since he traveled to the World Cup from MLS. In the five World Cups between 1998 and 2014, the U.S. started Friedel, Kasey Keller and Howard — three English Premier League keepers — in goal. A dozen years later, the Athletic reports, there are no American goalkeepers in the top five European club leagues and the three goalies on this summer’s roster all play in MLS.
U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese clears the ball as Australia’s Mohamed Toure closes in during a World Cup match in Seattle on June 19.
(Maddy Grassy / Ap Photo/maddy Grassy)
However as a guy with a Harvard diploma on his resume, Freese knows enough to know that getting to a World Cup isn’t about where you came from or even how long it took you to get there. All that matters is that you made it. And now that he’s there, his job isn’t to stand out, but to blend in.
“Being a goalkeeper is recognizing that it’s not always about you. And I’m comfortable with that,” he said. “The less action I have in a game means the better that we’re playing, and the more likely we are going to win.
“So I’m typically more focused on that and preventing any shots rather than just being only ready to save them.”
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — World Cup tickets are expensive. Flights to North America are expensive. Hotel rooms in many places are expensive.
Then there’s the price of beer.
There are some fun — and yes, sometimes pricey — food and drink offerings at the venues playing host to the World Cup. A $75 caviar-topped tray of tater tots and a $40 empanada weighing in at 5 pounds for the daring or for sharing in Miami. Ribeye tacos for $8 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Something called a Twinkie cheeseburger that has nothing to do with dessert for $22 in Los Angeles.
Prices, in many cases, aren’t all that different from what U.S. fans would experience on NFL Sundays or college football Saturdays. But some international fans aren’t used to such pricing and are calling foul, especially over beer prices that can top $20.
“It’s unfair. It’s not right. It’s wrong,” said Thomas Schüller, an engineer from Germany in Toronto to watch his national team play over the weekend, as he held a beer that cost him 24.25 Canadian dollars (about $17). “It’s three times the cost of what I pay in my country.”
But is that stopping him?
“Well, no,” Schüller acknowledged.
Beer prices become a mild pint of discord
There is clearly some sticker shock among international visitors to this World Cup, especially when it comes to the concession prices. In Europe, it’s not uncommon for beers to be perhaps around 4 or 5 euros (about $5-6).
There’s also no shortage of intrigue on the menu at the concession stands at stadiums across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
“Never seen anything like it,” said Janine Arbetter, a fan from Austria, as she waited for a hot dog, chips and soda combo in Miami last week. The pre-tip price: $19.35, which included a discount for using Visa. “It’s a lot of food for a little snack.”
Some Argentina fans happily showed off their $34 lobster rolls from a match in Kansas City on social media, but in Toronto, the brisket sandwich with chips and a bottle of soda for nearly 40 Canadian dollars ($28) had some online commenters lamenting it as “robbery.”
“It’s OK, more or less, for the World Cup,” German fan Daniel Feldmann said of the food prices while watching a match in Vancouver last week.
Concession offerings vary from stadium to stadium
FIFA, the sport’s governing body and the tournament organizer, has very specific rules on just about everything related to the World Cup — and there are guidelines that concessionaires have to follow as well. But prices can vary by market, as do the food and drink offerings. And that means the experience in one city might look, or taste, nothing like what’s offered in another.
The “Fancy AF Tots” for $75 at Miami Stadium aren’t really tots at all — it’s three deep-fried hash brown patties, with caviar, creme fraiche and chives. (For those who just want the caviar, it’ll be $70.) Southern California’s Twinkie cheeseburger is in fact a burger topped with a Texas Twinkie — a bacon-wrapped jalapeño stuffed with brisket and cream cheese.
But there’s also a slew of choices specific to a local market; for example, Vancouver offers short rib poutine along with a maple bacon smokie (smoked sausage topped with bacon onion jam that features Canadian maple syrup).
And in Miami, the signature offerings include pan con lechon (a Cuban-style sandwich with pork, infused with citrus mojo sauce and served on a toasted full Cuban loaf) and Empanada Mundial (the five-pound, handmade, chicken-and-cheese-stuffed dish named after the World Cup).
Both Vancouver and Miami have Sodexo Live as a food and beverage provider, and the typical game-day menus in both stadiums were revised a bit to accommodate a soccer crowd.
“We want it to feel like Miami when you’re here,” said Zach Williams, Sodexo Live’s vice president of operations at Miami Stadium. “Everything we do around the Miami Stadium, we want to make sure everybody understands that when they come here, they’re getting a Miami experience.”
Atlanta Stadium keeps prices low
In Mexico City, a beer could cost a day’s pay — literally. The daily minimum wage in Mexico City is just 315.04 pesos (roughly $18). Some beers at Mexico City Stadium were selling for between 299 and 310 pesos — about twice as much as fans would ordinarily pay in the same stadium when the World Cup isn’t in town.
But in Atlanta, where Falcons owner and stadium operator Arthur Blank promised the low concession prices he’s championed for many years would hold for the World Cup, pizza slices were $3, 32-ounce sodas were $4, a cheeseburger was $5, chicken tenders with fries were $6 and beers could be had for as little as $8.
Jonathan Arango, a 33-year-old from Greenville, S.C., was at a match in Atlanta with his wife, daughter and father.
“In total for what we got — three orders of tacos, a slice of pizza, two waters and a Coke — we spent like $50,” Arango said. “Compared to what we’ve paid at other events … it’s nice after you paid a lot for a ticket.”
And Schüller pointed out that even though the tournament does come around every four years, it still feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“The entire football world is having fun,” Schüller said, “so cheers to that.”
Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where the offseason is back in full swing.
The Lakers have the 25th pick in the NBA draft, which begins Tuesday at Barclays Center, tipping off what is expected to be a consequential, potentially roster-flipping offseason. Next week, the free agency frenzy kicks up. Players including Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart must decide on their player options by June 29 at 8:59 p.m. PT. Free agents can start negotiations at 3 p.m. on June 30 and put pen to paper as soon as July 6 at 9:01 a.m.
Don’t expect the Lakers’ biggest question to be resolved by then.
LeBron James may drag his retirement debate into the summer as the 41-year-old considers stretching his career to a record-extending 24th season. Before we worry about one career that feels like it will never end, we’ll look at careers that are just starting.
All things Lakers, all the time.
Get all the Lakers news you need in Thuc Nhi Nguyen’s weekly newsletter.
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With the 25th overall pick…
The crowd of reporters gathered around AJ Dybantsa’s table was four or five rows deep before the potential No. 1 pick even arrived for his interview at the NBA’s predraft media availability Monday. Across the ballroom at this luxe Manhattan hotel, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, who any other year could be a lock for the top selection, fielded questions from an equally large gaggle of reporters.
This draft class is drawing attention for its incredible talent and depth. ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks said there are “three No. 1 picks” between Dybantsa, Peterson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer. The excitement shouldn’t stop at just the top of the group.
“What I love about the draft is Jalen Brunson went 33rd, Tyrese Maxey went 21st, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went 11th, and Steph Curry went right after Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio,” ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said. “… Love the top four, also know this draft is such an inexact science.”
This draft is considered one of the deepest in a generation, even outside of the clear-cut top four of Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson. But after the forward-heavy top tier, the group probably will be remembered for its talented and diverse group of guards. That’s not necessarily the best fit for the Lakers, who are targeting wings and bigs to build around Luka Doncic.
Mock drafts put prospects including Dailyn Swain, Isaiah Evans, Chris Cenac Jr., Tarris Reed, Henri Veesaar and Jayden Quaintance within the range of the Lakers’ 25th pick. But the draft unravels in unpredictable ways. Teams are approaching the later picks with caution and curiosity.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
“A lot of the teams in the 20s right now are trying to figure out who’s going to be there,” ESPN draft analyst Jeremy Woo said on a conference call with reporters. “I think 25 is right around where the talent pool kind of drops into that next tier of guys.”
Evans, a 6-foot-6 guard from Duke, said he wasn’t offended by prognostications that place him late in the first round. He cares only that he goes to “a city that is going to accept me.” Evans shot 36.1% from three-point range on 7.4 attempts per game last season for the Blue Devils, averaging 15 points and 3.2 rebounds.
Seeing the long list of sleeper picks who turned into All-Stars, MVPs and champions showed Swain that when he hears his name called Tuesday isn’t matter as consequential as what he plans to do next.
“Once I get drafted, whenever that is, I have the same opportunity as the next person,” Swain said. “So I’m just trying to take complete advantage of that and make the most of my opportunity.”
In young players, the Lakers look for “game processors, highly competitive, basketball IQ, team-first players,” president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said at the end of the season. Those are qualities the Lakers can develop in their next key role player.
Pelinka called player development “a very important area for us to have Lakers excellence in.” Less than 24 hours after being eliminated by a much deeper Thunder team, Pelinka cited Oklahoma City second-year guard Ajay Mitchell as a success story the Lakers want to emulate. The 2024 second-round pick was a playoff game changer for the Thunder, averaging 22.5 points and six assists while shooting 56.3% from the field during Oklahoma City’s second-round sweep.
The Lakers, one year removed from drafting a promising player in the second round, are looking for similar growth from Adou Thiero.
The 6-foot-8 forward has the youth and athleticism Pelinka called “North Stars” for the team’s roster decisions. Compared to his older, ground-bound teammates, Thiero looked ready to leave the atmosphere on some of his rebound attempts.
Coach JJ Redick said multiple times during the season that this would be an important summer for Thiero. His rookie season was marred by persistent knee injuries, first to his surgically repaired left knee and then to his right knee after an MCL sprain kept him sidelined for months. He was not able to participate in summer league or much of the preseason.
Thiero said after the season that he anticipated playing summer league games with his offseason priority being to develop his shooting.
“Just getting the confidence to take the open shot when it’s there,” Thiero said. “Just keep building on my offensive game, try and get more comfortable with the speed of the NBA. … Try to be a little bit more of an impact player for the team.”
Thiero attempted three three-pointers in his rookie season and made one. During his G League appearances, Theiro averaged 15.4 points, shooting 62.5% from the field, and was nine for 14 from three. In college, he was a career 28.4% three-point shooter with 74 attempts in three years.
The Lakers start summer league in San Francisco on July 3 in the California Classic. The four-team event also includes the host Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat.
Favorite thing I ate this week
Pesto ham sandwich with roasted tomato soup.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
Before starting the summer league circuit next month, I enjoyed some time at home this June. One of my favorite meals to make at home is a pesto sandwich with homemade roasted tomato soup. I usually like roasted chicken, but I used the ham I already had on hand on sourdough with harvarti and provolone cheese and homemade pesto. I make the pesto with basil, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic and lemon. Instead of olive oil, I use avocado to bind everything together so it doesn’t soak through the bread as easily. You’re welcome to steal this hack for your next sandwich.
Julius Randle is headed back to New York, although he will be playing in a different borough this time around.
The Brooklyn Nets acquired the 12-year veteran after he spent the past two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, multiple media outlets reported Monday night.
As part of the three-team deal, Minnesota will send Randle and the 28th pick in Tuesday’s draft to Brooklyn in exchange for the Nets’ No. 33 overall pick. In addition, Brooklyn will send veteran center Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls. The Timberwolves will receive Mo Gueye from Chicago but are expected to waive the third-year forward.
For Minnesota, the trade creates a $33 million trade exception as well as financial flexibility to seek free agents to play alongside superstar Anthony Edwards. Later on Monday, the Timberwolves came to terms with guard Ayo Dosunmu on a five-year, $112 million deal to remain with the team after being acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline.
Randle goes from a team that won 49 games in each of the last two seasons and three playoff series during that stretch to one that won just 20 games last year and a combined 78 over the last three seasons.
The Nets, who haven’t had a representative in the All-Star Game since Kevin Durant in 2022, will continue rebuilding with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2026 draft to go with the first-rounder they received from Minnesota.
The Lakers drafted Randle at No. 7 overall in 2014, with his first two NBA seasons coinciding with the final two of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. After becoming a free agent in 2018, Randle played one season with the New Orleans Pelicans before becoming a three-time All-Star during five seasons with the New York Knicks.
In October 2024, Randle went to Minnesota as part of the deal that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. Towns was a key member of the Knicks team that defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and celebrated with a championship parade in Lower Manhattan last week.
During the 2025 postseason, Randle shook his reputation for fading in the playoffs, crediting his perseverance to a mentality instilled in him many years earlier by Bryant.
“I had a great mentor in Kobe that didn’t necessarily let me pout or get down on myself,” Randle said after scoring a career playoff high of 31 points during a conference semifinal game against Golden State. “His thing was always, ‘All right, what’s next? How can you get better? How can you improve?’ So I always just kind of took that mentality with me.”
While Randle hasn’t publicly commented on the trade, his wife Kendra posted a video to her Instagram Story of 9-year-old son Kyden, the oldest of their three children, stating that he’s “so excited” and “so happy” to be returning to New York.
“@brooklynnets fans he really wanted to make this,” Kendra Randle wrote as a caption to the video.
Chamari Athapaththu hit a superb unbeaten 106 as Sri Lanka eased to a nine-wicket win over Ireland to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
Ireland were reduced to 18-3 in a sun-drenched Bristol before skipper Gaby Lewis (59) and Leah Paul (20) put on a 66-run partnership to help their side to a total of 130-5.
Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu raced to her best World Cup score, and the highest so far in the tournament, from just 61 balls, as victory was secured on 134-1 and with 4.3 overs to spare.
The Lions, who move up to four points, need to beat Scotland on Friday and hope results elsewhere go their way to secure a top-two spot in Group 2 and a place in the semi-finals.
Ireland have now lost all 21 of their World Cup games and the bottom side finish their campaign against West Indies on Saturday.
Head coach Brendon McCullum said he remains “good friends” with England captain Ben Stokes and the pair have “no idea” why rumours of a rift have emerged.
The pair reunited on Tuesday for England’s crucial deciding Test against New Zealand after Stokes missed the second following an incident in a London nightclub.
Both McCullum and Stokes had previously denied their relationship was strained during the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, and McCullum has faced questions about their partnership during Stokes’ absence.
At Trent Bridge, two days before the third Test against New Zealand, McCullum revealed the pair spoke face-to-face on Tuesday morning.
“I said: ‘Do you know where this has come from, the conversations around our relationship over the last six months?'” explained McCullum.
“He said: ‘No, I have no idea.’ I said to him: ‘As far I’m concerned, I consider you a good friend.'”
Stokes and pace bowler Gus Atkinson were made unavailable for England’s heavy defeat in the second Test during an investigation into a breach of the team’s midnight curfew following victory in the first Test at Lord’s.
They were present when a member of England security staff was struck by a Saracens rugby player.
Both have been cleared to rejoin the England team for the third Test, with Stokes returning as captain.
After England made five changes to their team for the second Test, Stokes and Atkinson are two of four changes for the third, as the home side move back towards the XI that won the first Test.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who has been on paternity leave, also come back in. Ollie Robinson was man of the match at Lord’s but missed The Oval encounter with a knee problem. Robinson is fit, yet misses out as Jofra Archer keeps his place.
James Rew, Jordan Cox, Matthew Fisher and Sonny Baker are the four players omitted.
Two days before the second Test at The Oval, McCullum gave a sombre media conference, when he repeatedly spoke of his “worry” and “concern” for Stokes.
However, Durham’s county head coach Ryan Campbell later said Stokes was in “good spirits” and the county’s chief executive Tim Bostock said he was “bemused” by McCullum’s comments.
England XI for third Test v New Zealand: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Ben Stokes (captain), Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
Three different England players were on target in the Three Lions’ 4-2 win over Croatia in their World Cup opener on Wednesday.
In total 15 players have scored for England across the past four men’s World Cups. Can you name them all?
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Cameras flash, capturing VIP guests emerging from luxury cars.
It has all of the makings of a Hollywood premiere.
Only the carpet that lines the entrance is royal blue instead of scarlet red. The “stars” are teenage football players on recruiting visits. The luxury car is parked on the turf of Spaulding Field. And the Hollywood show is in Westwood.
Despite the parallels, the feeling remains the same — something is brewing within the UCLA football program and it may yield awards.
And no group has felt the smoke of the Chesney Train more than the 2027 recruiting class.
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The Bruins boast the No. 12 recruiting class in the nation and fourth best in the Big Ten, improvements of 50 and 11 spots, respectively, from the previous year, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. UCLA had not produced a top-15 class since 2016.
Chesney’s inaugural group features 22 commits, including six four-star recruits, and is headlined by five-star defensive back Juju Johnson, who ranks as the third-best recruit from California and the second-best cornerback in the nation, per 247Sports.
However, to UCLA football general manager Darrick Yray — who spent the last four seasons at Florida State, signing a top-20 class each year — stars and rankings mean nothing without fit.
“It starts and stops with being developed in all areas, socially, academically, spiritually and athletically,” Yray said. “Those four pillars of a young man, we’re trying to attract here, but also are they going to fit in all four of those areas of what we are and what we hold our standard to. They need to be a great steward of what it means to be a student-athlete at UCLA.”
After a talk with my family and god I’m shutting my recruitment down and I’m 100% locked in with UCLA. Very happy to be apart of the bruin family and excited to ball out in my city. #GOBRUINNSSSS🧸🧸🧸🧸 @UCLApic.twitter.com/CGbD2ELDCI
Chesney underscored a similar message during spring practices, illustrating that being a Bruin does not stop once you leave the gridiron.
Talent sets the foundation for what the coaching staff looks for, but character sets the ceiling for what they can become, Yray said.
And this motto is central to the staff’s recruitment efforts.
“You want guys who are intrinsically motivated rather than extrinsically,” Yray said. “It’s easy to get up when everyone’s watching and there’s 80,000 people in front of you. It’s what you’re doing when no one’s looking, it’s how you’re working, it’s how you’re studying. We want to be consistent across the board in everything that we do.”
These efforts partly were to cultivate connections in an area saturated with talent, but also to establish relationships in an area Chesney has little experience in.
Providing accessibility also means instilling transparency.
Some players may not fit for UCLA, and UCLA may not fit for some players. And the only litmus test of finding the personnel who will thrive in the Chesney system is forming relationships off the field — allowing authenticity to rise to the top.
“It comes back to relatability. It’s not just football, it’s not just transactional, and it can’t be that way, in order for this to work,” Yray said. “I want to be genuine, and that’s what we want to be here too. This is what you’re going to get. It’s not going to change six months later. That’s how we’re going to be 24/7.”
It was this relatability and energy that drew in four-star wide receiver Kingston Celifie.
The Calabasas product — who boasted offers from California, Arizona and Kansas — first noticed Chesney’s energy on the field, seeing him run around to every position group and even get involved in drills.
But after more conversations, the staff’s collective determination to not only revitalize the program but also develop the whole individual gave Celifie confidence in UCLA, prompting the wide receiver to shut down his recruitment.
“Coach Chesney, he has great energy, which I was attracted to, and ultimately that’s why I committed. I just felt like it was home,” Celifie said. “I feel comfortable here. The official visit, everyone was celebrating all the accomplishments, and I really got to see the coaches outside of the football life, which was great.”
The acquisition of Celifie not only signified a major addition to the 2027 class, but also marked the start of the Bruins keeping homegrown talent in Los Angeles.
In making recruits feel at home when they’re on campus, it is imperative to make sure every part of their visit is tailored to them, Yray said.
While showing off the perks of the program and Los Angeles — through visits to Santa Monica and VIP tours from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, a UCLA alum — is an integral part of the process, each recruit requires something different to ensure that the experience is what Yray called an “all-inclusive vacation.”
“What are the areas that are going to change their opinion of someplace, and are you checking off those boxes to make sure that they’re having the best experience every single time that they come here,” Yray said. “It can’t be a cookie-cutter mentality; it has to be individualized. If you were going somewhere, you want to have the best experience possible for 24 hours straight.”
Visits are not just a uniform formality, they are a one-of-a-kind experience.
JSerra’s Godschoice Eboigbodin is a 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end from Nigeria.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
And no visit may have been more special than that of three-star edge Godschoice Eboigbodin.
During at-home visits with defensive ends coach Sam Daniels, the JSerra product was able to connect on a personal level with Daniels, describing him as “family” and “just another one of my friends.”
And at Eboigbodin’s official visit at UCLA, his birth family from Nigeria and host family in Southern California were able to come together for the first time, celebrating his accomplishments and giving the future Bruin confidence that UCLA was home.
“That was the first time both my families met — my real parents and my parents here. I was so excited,” Eboigbodin said. “That is why I had a really good time at my official visit at UCLA because it was really cool having them meet each other, connecting the families together. I was ecstatic.”
Chesney has yet to coach a game at UCLA, let alone one at the Power Four level. Yet, the momentum he has generated is real.
Not only is the 2027 recruiting class exceptional, but also the transfer class that will make up the majority of next season’s starters is excited to build the foundation of the program.
“Guys are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, coming to work every single day,” Yray said. “We’re excited at the opportunity as a staff of what this presents, and we get to do this, at the greatest place in the world to do it. There’s no better location, there’s no better rich history. There’s really no excuse … to not have success here.”
Record-setting baseball team takes home hardware
From left, UCLA’s Dean West, Roch Cholowsky, Mulivai Levu and Roman Martin share pregame vibes before a 3-2 loss to Saint Mary’s during an NCAA regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium on May 29.
(Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
Since our last UCLA Unlocked newsletter, the Bruins baseball team earned more hardware.
UCLA first baseman Mulivai Levu was named an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner for the second consecutive season, becoming the first Bruin to win multiple Gold Gloves.
Levu had a .996 fielding percentage while committing two errors all season. He converted 446 putouts, had 21 assists and assisted on 42 double plays.
UCLA coach John Savage was named the Skip Bertman Coach of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation.
The Bruins were 52-8, matching the program record for wins, and their 48-6 regular-season mark was the best in school history. UCLA became the first wire-to-wire No. 1 team, opening and closing the season atop the top 25 in every major poll.
Named after the first coach inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, the coach of the year award celebrates leaders on and off the field.
“I am truly honored to receive this award. Having Skip Bertman’s name on the trophy says everything,” Savage said in a news release. “He’s the legend of legends in this game. As a young coach out West, I always admired and looked up to Skip.”
Savage is the third-longest-tenured coach in UCLA baseball history and has a 776-489-2 record.
Junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky earned first-team All-America honors from Perfect Game, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn., American Baseball Coaches Assn./Rawlings and Baseball America. Cholowsky hit .320 with 21 home runs, 60 RBIs and 73 runs scored while anchoring UCLA’s infield defense with a .965 fielding percentage. He ranked among the national leaders in OPS (1.088), slugging (.636) and on-base percentage (.452), starting all 60 games at shortstop.
Outfielder Will Gasparino was named a first team All-American by the NCBWA. Gasparino hit .314 with 20 home runs, 64 RBIs and 99 hits, finishing among the conference leaders in extra-base hits and total bases. He also posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 114 putouts.
Closer Easton Hawk earned first-team NCBWA and first-team ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors after posting a 1.93 ERA with 14 saves and 52 strikeouts across 34 appearances, holding opponents to a .187 average. He gave up nine earned runs all season.
Levu and pitchers Wylan Moss and Logan Reddemann earned second-team All-America honors from the NCBWA, while pitcher Angel Cervantes was named to the Perfect Game Freshman All American team.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Wales have named hooker Dewi Lake as captain for their summer internationals ahead of fit-again flanker Jac Morgan.
Lake led the side for eight Tests in the 2025 autumn series and 2026 Six Nations while Morgan was injured.
The British and Irish Lions flanker captained Wales in the first game of the Steve Tandy era against Argentina but dislocated his left shoulder when scoring a try.
The Gloucester-bound Ospreys have both been named in the squad for the summer internationals, which start against the Barbarians at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on Saturday.
Lake will be skipper after recovering from a shoulder injury that required an operation after the Six Nations.
Anderson, who played 55 times in all competitions for Newcastle United, made his debut in an FA Cup defeat against Arsenal in January 2021 before joining Bristol Rovers on loan a year later.
It was here that he completed a vital part of his education – while also figuring in what might still be the most remarkable match of his career.
Former Republic of Ireland international Glenn Whelan was player coach at Bristol Rovers, and vividly remembering the impact the confident “but never arrogant” Anderson made in the west country.
He told BBC Sport: “He just came into the building and showed his potential straight away. Nothing seemed to faze him. You could see straight away this boy was different.
“As the coach, there were certain scenarios in training when I tried to put him under a little pressure. Some kids would be a little bit more reserved and fall back. Elliot was right on the front foot. He took the bull by the horns.”
And the date 5 February 2022 was one of significance in Anderson’s development, as recalled by Whelan: “We were away to Sutton United. They were doing well and were a proper men’s team with a lot of grit. Some of the coaching team were a little wary of throwing him in against them.
“We were losing at half-time and I basically said ‘we need to get this lad on because he’s a game-changer.’ He came on and made an impact. He won a penalty and we drew. I think he played pretty much every minute after that.”
Anderson’s attitude and determination stood out as he excelled at Bristol Rovers – ending in a dramatic climax to the season.
“He just had a confidence about him to show everyone how good he was,” says Whelan. “It was not arrogance. He’d obviously had a great upbringing from his family and he had that Geordie in him.
“He played off the left wing, but if the ball wasn’t coming to him he would go and look for it. He didn’t care who was marking him. He could take the ball under pressure and make things happen.
“Elliot loved training. He wanted to learn, do the extras. He had the attitude to stay behind and get better. We could tell straight away he was going to be a top player.”
And Anderson left Bristol Rovers after one of the greatest days in their history, when they clinched promotion to League One on the final day of the season.
The Pirates started the day needing to better the result of third-placed Northampton or win by five goals more than their rivals – they won 7-0, Anderson getting the final goal with five minutes remaining to help Rovers move into the top three for the first time all season.
Anderson made his triumphant farewell chaired off by jubilant Bristol Rovers supporters.
Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has extended his contract with Ducati until 2028.
The 33-year-old Spaniard joined the team in 2024 and last year won his seventh title – his first since 2019.
“I continue to compete because I love this sport and I want to achieve even more ambitious goals. I’m convinced this is the right place to do it,” said Marquez.
He heads into this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix trailing championship leader Marco Bezzecchi by 40 points after the start of his season was hampered by injury.
Marquez secured his 100th career victory across all classes with a commanding win in the Hungarian Grand Prix this month, less than a month after shoulder and foot surgery.
He followed it up with victory in Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix.
“I’m super happy with this new agreement with the Ducati Lenovo Team and to continue being part of this family,” Marquez said.
“With this renewal, they have once again reaffirmed this commitment, respecting my times and giving me the peace of mind I needed to make the right decision.”
Ending a marathon watch for the next great Miami get, the Heat landed Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star — from the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night in exchange for a massive haul of players and draft picks.
The terms, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move has yet to receive the required league approval: Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis are heading to Miami for Wisconsin native Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis. Milwaukee also gets at least four picks, including the No. 13 selection that will be made in Tuesday night’s NBA draft.
It ends a wild back-and-forth in the final days of the saga, with the Bucks considering offers from both Miami and Boston for Antetokounmpo — who led Milwaukee to the 2021 NBA title, was on the NBA’s 75th anniversary list of its greatest players ever, is a nine-time All-NBA selection and is coming off an injury-shortened season where he averaged 27.6 points per game.
There has been no secret that this is what Miami has sought, because this is what Miami usually seeks. The Heat pulled off similar moves by landing Shaquille O’Neal in 2004 (helping lead to the 2006 NBA title) and by getting LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwyane Wade in 2010 (leading to four NBA Finals runs in four seasons together, along with the 2012 and 2013 NBA titles).
Now, it’s Antetokounmpo’s turn. At 31, the Heat clearly believe he still has many good years left — and it’s generally presumed that by making this deal they’ll give the Greek superstar a massive extension later this year.
He was a perennial MVP candidate in Milwaukee, getting votes for that award in nine consecutive seasons before 2025-26, when too many missed games left him ineligible.
He has averaged 24.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in his career, with 10 consecutive seasons of averaging at least 22.9 points — with three years in there of averaging more than 30 points per game.
Only seven current players have more points in their careers than Antetokounmpo, who has totaled 21,531 to this point.
Antetokounmpo had been mentioned in trade talks countless times in recent years, with the Bucks always insisting — with words and actions — that they had no interest in trading their best player and one of the best players in the history of their franchise.
But this time, it seemed different.
The Bucks, who fired Doc Rivers as coach after the season, don’t have a roster that would be considered a championship contender. By trading Antetokounmpo, they can essentially start over with four players (and the Heat were high on all of them) along with draft capital.
“I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if Giannis does play somewhere else we’re going to get a lot of assets. … You’ve got to get it right,” Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said in May, when the team introduced new coach Taylor Jenkins — who was told that Antetokounmpo may or may not be with the franchise when next season starts.
Jenkins and the rest of the NBA now has the answer: Antetokounmpo won’t be there.
Antetokounmpo had spoken highly of Miami many times over the years, even when the Heat and Bucks were going head-to-head in the playoffs. He also shares an agent with Heat star center Bam Adebayo, who was the only player that Miami clearly was not willing to part with in order to make this deal happen.
“They’re going to play tough and they’re not going to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said after Milwaukee played Miami on March 12. “That’s the Miami Heat culture.”
Little did anyone know that night that those words were coming after what would be the next-to-last game for Antetokounmpo in a Bucks uniform. He played three nights later against Indiana, then was held out of Milwaukee’s final 15 games of the season.
The Bucks said that was for injury-related reasons. Antetokounmpo said he wanted to play.
He had some bouts with injury this past season: Antetokounmpo missed four games in late November with a left adductor strain and sat out eight games in December with a right calf strain, then he injured the right calf again in January.
He landed awkwardly on a dunk in that March 15 victory over Indiana and didn’t play again because of what team officials had labeled as a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. Antetokounmpo said the last few weeks of the season that he was healthy and wanted to play, a dispute that resulted in an investigation by the league office.
Round eight of Formula 1 season takes place in Austria this weekend in the stunning surroundings of the Styrian hills.
Last time out in Barcelona, Mercedes were beaten in a grand prix for the first time this year with Lewis Hamilton taking victory.
The Briton’s first grand prix win for Ferrari, combined with Kimi Antonelli’s retirement late in the race, narrowed the gap at the top of the drivers’ championship to 41 points.
Before Sunday’s race in Spielberg, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions.
A retrospective podium for Pierre Gasly. Justice? Or a can of worms best left unopened? – Clive
Formula 1 has clearly got itself in a bit of a pickle regarding the pit-lane speeding penalties in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The facts are that five cars were given penalties for pit-lane speeding when none of them had gone over the limit.
The length of the pit lane had been mis-measured – it was possible to drive a shorter distance than officials initially realised, by 77 metres.
And as the pit-lane speed limit is policed by the time taken to pass through a series of timing loops over a specific distance, that meant the drivers were wrongly penalised.
This led to a sequence of events that had a dramatic effect on the race result.
George Russell was most badly affected by what followed, having a third place turned into a 12th and losing 15 points in the process.
But McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar also had their results changed.
Is it justice that Gasly is returned to a third place at the flag that he lost because Alpine refused to serve his penalty during the race, while the other drivers’ results are unaddressed?
Should the stewards who dealt with Alpine’s right of review over the Barcelona weekend have left it at that, and not raised the very obvious questions that followed on from it?
In terms of natural justice, the answer to both those questions is clearly no – there remain a number of issues raised by this situation that have not properly been dealt with.
McLaren and Red Bull have taken the case to the FIA court of appeal. No date has yet been set for that to be heard.
As McLaren said in their statement about giving notice of intention to appeal: “We believe this case raises important questions concerning sporting fairness, regulatory consistency and the integrity of competition.”
The shame is that this could all have been avoided had the FIA and F1 acted differently before the race.
Teams warned the FIA that there was a problem waiting to happen with the pit-lane speeding limit during the Monaco weekend.
Officials did look into it, but their initial conclusion was that the concerns were unfounded. That was clearly an error. Had that been properly addressed at the time, none of this would have happened.
In terms of sporting fairness, it’s hard not to conclude that the issue should be taken to a full and proper conclusion.
Will Ferrari make Carlo Santi Lewis Hamilton’s permanent full-time race engineer, or is his role still considered temporary? – Anthony
The relationship between Lewis Hamilton and his new race engineer Carlo Santi has started off well.
Santi was initially meant to be a stop-gap before Hamilton received a new full-time engineer, but a Ferrari spokesperson says: “Carlo and Lewis are working pretty well together and there’s no plan to replace him.”
Hamilton has found a much more satisfactory relationship with Santi than he had with Riccardo Adami last year, and he’s tried to explain that without sounding too negative about his situation in 2025.
Hamilton said in Canada, where he finished second for what was his best result with Ferrari at the time, that Santi was “absolutely awesome and I’m really loving working with him”.
In Monaco he went further and compared the relationship with Santi to the one he forged over 12 years at Mercedes with Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington.
“Driver-engineer working together is very, very important,” Hamilton said. “Last year, Adami and I had a really good relationship. He’s a lovely guy. We worked relatively well together.
“Catering to a driver’s needs takes time to learn.
“When you’re giving an engineer feedback, their understanding of through-corner balance, their understanding of all the elements that contribute to the struggles that you’re struggling with, you try to describe what it is, the problem you have, corner by corner, entry, mid and exit where you dissect it into five sections if you want.
“Having that driver-engineer collab, it’s hit and miss sometimes. With me and Bono, we hit it off from the beginning. He had a good working relationship with Michael (Schumacher). I do feel like Carlo is like my Italian Bono.
“He’s a bit of an OG. He’s an older guy that’s been around the block and he’s very calm. You can hear him on the radio. That’s the detail that we’re able to go into together. Our understanding of the engineer side, it’s something that’s very cool.”
Kyle Bradish pitched eight shutout innings, Taylor Ward hit a leadoff home run against his former team and the Baltimore Orioles extended their winning streak to three games Monday night with a 6-1 victory over the Angels.
Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer and Bradish (5-7) struck out nine as the Orioles improved to 4-3 on a nine-game trip.
Bradish gave up six hits and one walk. He has 21 strikeouts over his past two starts.
Baltimore was already without second baseman Jackson Holliday (groin) when third baseman Blaze Alexander (knee) exited in the third — leaving outfielder Leody Taveras to play third for the first time in seven seasons. Taveras finished with two hits.
Jorge Soler homered late for the Angels (32-48) in his return from the injured list, but Sam Aldegheri (2-3) gave up five runs and five hits over 4⅔ innings. The Angels had scored 27 runs over their previous three games.
Ward, playing his first game at Angel Stadium as a visitor following an offseason trade, hit the fourth pitch from Aldegheri 419 feet over the wall in center field. It was his 56th career home run at Angel Stadium.
The Angels then saluted Ward, a member of the major league team for eight seasons, with a tribute video in the middle of the first inning.
Baltimore made it 4-0 in the fourth on Mayo’s three-run homer and scored again in the fifth on Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly. Gunnar Henderson added an RBI triple in the seventh that made it 6-0.
Rico Garcia gave up Soler’s homer in the ninth.
Baltimore (38-42) is 21-6 against the Angels since 2022.
OMAHA, Neb. — The way its regular season unfolded, a national championship for Oklahoma would have seemed impossible.
The way the postseason unfolded, well, there was no stopping the Sooners.
Oklahoma completed the improbable run to its first national championship since 1994 with a 13-2 victory over North Carolina in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the College World Series finals Monday night, a performance that featured the prodigious offensive production and clutch pitching the Sooners rode through the NCAA tournament.
“I think we knew the talent was always in the room,” said Jaxon Willits, named the CWS most outstanding player. “We got hot at the right time, and now we’re national champions.”
The Sooners (43-23) won the Southeastern Conference’s seventh straight title, quite an accomplishment for a team picked 14th in the 16-team conference in the preseason, finished 11th and entered the postseason off losses in seven of nine games.
To get to Omaha, they beat No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech twice on the road in regionals and swept upstart Kansas on the road in super regionals. To get to the finals, they beat No. 3 Georgia twice in bracket play.
“They got really confident the last month,” Sooners coach Skip Johnson said. “They care about each other. They didn’t want to give in. They were selfless.”
North Carolina (54-14-1) was runner-up for the third time since 2006 and now has 13 CWS appearances without a title. Only Florida State, with 24, has more without winning it all.
The Sooners were back in top form offensively after managing only four singles in a 6-2 loss in Game 2 and handed the Tar Heels their most lopsided loss of the season.
“We ran out of gas when all is said and done,” North Carolina coach Scott Forbes said.
Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson hoists the championship trophy after his team beat North Carolina in the CWS finale Monday in Omaha.
(Rebecca S. Gratz / Ap Photo/rebecca S. Gratz)
When Jackson Cleveland struck out Jake Schaffner to end the game, he and catcher Deiten Lachance embraced and then headed to the dogpile that formed near third base. Players waving national championship towels rushed back toward their dugout to salute the celebrating Sooner faithful on the first-base line, football greats Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth among them.
Kyle Branch, the No. 9 batter who came into the game one of 16 (.063) in the CWS, drove in six runs with a pair of singles and a home run. His homer came on his last at-bat, just as brother Kolby’s did for Georgia last Wednesday.
“Pure joy. Pure joy for our team,” Branch said. “I had a teammate tell me I was going to do something special, and for him to tell me that with the way things have been going, it has to be a God thing.”
He joined Dayton Tockey as the seventh and eighth Oklahoma players to homer in Omaha. Willits had three hits, reached base five times and finished the CWS 13 of 25 (.520).
Oklahoma’s Kyle Branch celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against North Carolina in the College World Series finale Monday in Omaha.
(Rebecca S. Gratz / Ap Photo/rebecca S. Gratz)
The pitching matchup of Carolina’s Jackson Rose (5-1) and Oklahoma’s Nick Wesloski was the first between freshmen in a CWS winner-take-all game since 1993. Neither got out of the third inning.
LJ Mercurius (7-7) turned in another strong performance out of the bullpen, shutting down a threat when Oklahoma led 3-1 in the third and holding the Tar Heels to one run in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up just two runs in 12 1/3 innings over four CWS appearances.
The Tar Heels’ pitching staff, which had the best ERA in the Atlantic Coast Conference, had been good and occasionally great in the CWS. It was neither Monday, with eight pitchers combining to yield 14 hits, issue eight walks, throw three wild pitches with one hit batter.
ACC freshman of the year Caden Glauber, who had given up just one run in 10 1/3 innings in four CWS appearances, was called on for a fifth one day after he threw 65 pitches in five shutout innings. It was apparent coach Forbes went to the well one time too many.
Glauber was called for a clock violation before he even threw his first pitch. He issued a four-pitch bases-loaded walk and Willits followed with a two-run single to make it 6-1 in the fourth. That was all for Glauber, who threw seven pitches, five of them balls. The Tar Heels had won all 29 games in which Glauber had pitched before Monday.
“This group loved each other all season and took us on a ride and came up just short,” Forbes said. “I’d take that ride every day of the year. While we’re sad, the sadness will go away. We talk about joy. Joy doesn’t go away. These guys have given me, our coaching staff, our fans, administration, everybody, a ton of joy and a ton to be proud of.”
Records have been falling from day one for the game’s most feared forwards.
Messi now leading the all-time World Cup list has taken a lot of the headlines, and rightly so.
But he isn’t the only one who has been setting records this tournament.
Mbappe now tops France’s goalscoring charts, Haaland is Norway’s leading World Cup scorer – after just two games – while Kane has equalled Gary Lineker’s World Cup record for England.
And all of them will have their sights set on France’s Just Fontaine’s 1958 record of 13 goals scored in one tournament.
Only three players – Fontaine, Gerd Muller for Germany in 1970 and Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis in 1954 – have ever hit double figures at a single World Cup.
It would not be a surprise if that select list has grown by the end of this tournament.
The new 48-team format certainly looks to have increased the potential for goals. With more lower-ranked teams, the world’s best attackers have prospered.
The World Cup winners will also have to play one more round than ever before – again increasing the chance for goals.
Former France defender Gael Clichy told BBC Sport: “Kylian Mbappe is part of the generation which [has] that fearless factor.
“I remember when I started you had to give respect to the older generation when you came in, and you were not trying to do a nutmeg to the old men.
“This generation, they have respect, but differently. Don’t talk about age, talk about performance.”
So, back to the small matter of the race for the Golden Boot.
“It’s not something I’m thinking about right now,” said Mbappe. “Leo always scores. He always has and always will.
“If I start watching him, I’ll feel like I have to do even more, so no, I don’t watch what he’s doing. I’m only thinking about helping my team – by helping the team, I score goals and get closer to that kind of level.”
Norway boss Stale Solbakken has, perhaps unsurprisingly, pushed Haaland’s cause.
“He is the best striker – he is not playing for France or Argentina, he scores for Norway. He’s scored four goals now, two braces on the biggest stage,” he said.
“It’s easier to win the Golden Boot when you play for France and Argentina, but we’ll try to give Erling more games, and more help also in the next games. So he’s on fire and I’m very happy for him that he can score on the biggest stage.”
USA striker Folarin Balogun has made a decent enough start to the tournament himself, with two goals in his first two games.
But he probably summed it up the best, when he joked: “I think it’s annoying. Seeing players like Messi, Mbappe, Haaland – they’re so inevitable. I think they’re scoring a goal a game, sometimes more.
“For me, it’s just about trying to get to that level – to be inevitable as well.”
A future that, he says, has always intrigued him – and perhaps not dissimilar to David Beckham.
Like Bale, the English icon was his nation’s footballing figurehead and could have had his pick of post playing jobs, before ending up a co-owner of MLS franchise Inter Miami as part of various business interests.
Was that route an influence?
“I think so; a lot of American athletes do that type of thing and I would read about it and listen to interviews about what they’ve done,” says Bale, whose old Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric has become a minority investor in Swansea City.
“A lot of players still go down the coaching route, management or even with younger players at academies.
“But you are seeing more players being a bit more business minded. Maybe because we’ve done so much on one side, this side becomes a new chapter, a new world.
“It always really interested me, but I didn’t really have the opportunity before being introduced to John.”
The John who could help Bale build it like Beckham is experienced US investor John Shulman, founder of private equity firm Juggernaut Capital.
The company is said to have $1bn in capital commitments and had already been investing in various sport businesses – from golf courses and volleyball to “thrill” sports – but sensed an opportunity, especially when it came to Europe and the UK.
Shulman says he wanted to bring on board “an elite, iconic athlete” to help launch a sports specific investment platform – Juggernaut Diversified Sports – ready to invest more than £500m.
And after an introduction – and, naturally, a round of golf – found one.
“There is only a small number of human beings on the planet who have done what Gareth has done,” Shulman says.
“We’re good investors, but what we lacked is the mindset, experience, drive and unique perch Gareth does.
“I mean, the guy has got it all. What he can do on the pitch, I’ve seen him do in the boardroom metaphorically. So I have nothing but excitement about [our plans], doing it at the right time and the right place and the right way.”
Kylian Mbappe marks his 100th international cap for France with a brace, moving him second on the all-time World Cup goal scoring list with 16 goals. His performance spearheaded a dominant 3-0 victory over Iraq, securing France’s spot in the last 32 after a two-hour storm delay.
