completes

Spain and Lamine Yamal have grown through the tournament to leave him with the world at his feet and football’s two greatest prizes in his pocket.

As well as having glorious natural gifts, he is also Spain’s lucky charm. They completed their domination of the international stage with Ferran Torres’ decisive 106th-minute strike in extra time.

Lamine Yamal has yet to lose for his country in the 28 competitive matches he has played. He has started 13 games at major tournaments and won all of them – the longest 100% win rate of any European player across major tournaments when starting.

He also became – along with 19-year-old Spain team-mate Pau Cubarsi – just the fourth and fifth teenagers to start a World Cup final and win, after Pele for Brazil in 1958, Italy defender Giuseppe Bergomi in 1982 and Kylian Mbappe with France in 2018.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente spoke afterwards of his “sincere gratitude” to Lamine Yamal.

“He has played great football that will help him to mature and be even a greater footballer than he already is,” he said.

“He really sacrificed for the collective good. This is very important in my squad. In my opinion he played a great World Cup.”

And this is not simply a special talent, it is a special talent with a special temperament.

He shrugged off Argentina’s obvious attempts to intimidate him as he regularly came into close contact with Nicolas Tagliafico in particular.

Former England goalkeeper and BBC Sport pundit Joe Hart summed it up well.

“Not only did Lamine Yamal not react,” he said. “He stood up to it. He was not rattled and he did not back down. He had the entire team trying to smash him.

“He just stayed real cool. It was real standout performance from him.

“Lamine Yamal is 19 years old. What a beautiful day for him. He’s 19 and has completed football.”

With virtually his whole career in front of him, and taking in the experience and influence of Spain team-mates such as his captain and player of the tournament Rodri, there is every chance Lamine Yamal will add more successes like this before he is done.

A SPRAWLING golf course has undergone a multi-million pound transformation – and it’s set in the heart of the English countryside.

The lakeside location has now been upgraded to a luxury “world-class” getaway.

The Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere in Knutsford, has completed its £70million renovation, transforming the site into a 5-star countryside retreat.

Works done to the previously-named The Mere Golf Resort & Spa, included upgrading the 81 exisiting guest rooms into luxury suites, with an additional 35 rooms added to the property.

Located on the shoreline of Lake Mere, the 157-acre site now features an 18-hole championship golf course, originally designed in the 1930s by James Braid and George Duncan.

Guests will also be able to luxuriate in the property’s on-site spa and wellness resort, which boasts three pools, seven thermal experiences – including a sauna, salt room and hammam – alongside three cold plunge pools.

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A Technogym fitness studio also offers spin and HIIT sessions, with a covered outdoor class area ideal for training under open skies.

Further upgrades include a new restaurant to be operated by Gordon Ramsay, featuring lakeside dining and seasonal British ingredients – as well as the chef’s signature beef Wellington.

Enhancements have also been made to the existing orangery, which now incorporates a champagne and freshly-shucked oyster bar, as well as an afternoon tea atrium.

Located just 10 minutes from Manchester Airport, and just half an hour from the city centre, the property has said “it is one of the North
West’s leading destinations for conferences, weddings and corporate retreats”.

As a result, the site offers a separate conference and events centre with ten dedicated spaces, the largest of which – the Grand Ballroom – has a capacity up to 1,000 guests.

The resort, which opened last Friday (July 10), is managed by the French multinational hospitality company, Accor.

This marks Accor’s fourth Fairmont-branded property in the country, joining Fairmont Windsor Park, Fairmont St Andrews and The Savoy.

Israr Liaqat, group CEO for Select Group, said: “From the outset, Russell WBHO brought the skills, experience, and dedication that this project demanded, and the result speaks for itself.

“The development sets a new benchmark for five-star hospitality in the North West, offering opulent accommodation, world-class spa and golf experiences, exceptional dining and grand event spaces.”

US Central Command says it carried out a third round of strikes against Iran this week, targeting about 140 military sites, including missile and drone sites.
The strikes followed an IRGC attack on the Cyprus-flagged M/V GFS Galaxy in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving one crew member missing and the ship disabled by a fire.

Max Holloway completed his transformation to welterweight as he prepares to face Conor McGregor in a rematch at UFC 329 on Saturday.

Holloway has campaigned at featherweight for the majority of his 36-fight career but makes his debut at welterweight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 34-year-old’s past two bouts have taken place at lightweight as he beat Dustin Poirier to win the BMF title, before losing that belt against Charles Oliveira in March.

McGregor, 37, has not fought since breaking his leg in defeat against Dustin Poirier in 2021.

The Irishman has been involved in a series of controversies since, including court cases and missed drugs tests, and critics have questioned whether he deserves the spotlight.

Fans packed into the arena and greeted American Holloway with a mix of cheers and boos as he stepped on to the scales at 170lb (12st 2lb), while McGregor was 0.5lb heavier.

At Friday’s news conference, McGregor ripped Holloway’s glasses off before facing off, but there was no physical contact this time as they shared an intense stare down.

After being pulled apart, Holloway gave one final message before leaving the stage, saying: “I’m to ferocious, I’m too relentless. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Rubio, who also had spells as assistant manager at Crystal Palace and West Ham, felt Jimenez fully deserved such a moment after what he has been through.

“After his head injury it took a bit of time to get back into the career,” said Rubio.

“There were not just medical concerns, but also would he be the same killer in front of goal? His application is tremendous, he is a lovely guy, his family are beautiful and very supportive and that has helped him.

“He is a very family person. He is a big player but never acts like one and he is very humble and I’m delighted for him.

“It was life-threatening injury and I felt scared for him. At that moment he was doing so well, he was at the top of his career and it was very difficult.”

But Jimenez’s determination has led to him scoring 68 Premier League goals in 233 appearances. Even now, he still needs to wear a reinforced headband to protect himself from further injury.

“Having known him I could see why he has been able to get back on to the pitch [after the injury] and get back into his form,” added Rubio. “He is a fighter. I worked with him in his last year at Wolves. There were doubts, even with himself, that he was going to get back into it and that last year at Wolves was a challenging year for him.

“But there were no doubts for me personally, I always knew he would get back into it. I’ve worked with many top professionals and you can see he has the resilience and has a lovely family supporting him.

“Everyone there [at Wolves] loved him, the whole club wanted him to do well and the whole club was invested for him to get back so it was very emotional, not only because of his career, but also because he is such a loving character.

“He was so invested in the club, the city and his family felt like it was home, that’s why I feel they will be delighted to be going back there.”

But, before Jimenez will be back in the West Midlands, he has further chances to score more World Cup goals in his home country, with Mexico already in a strong position to advance into the knockout rounds.

Here’s TWZ’s weekly carrier tracker monitoring America’s flattop fleet, including deployed Carrier Strike Groups (CSG) and Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG), using publicly available open-source information. Check out last week’s report here.

Amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima returned to Naval Station Norfolk on Saturday, wrapping a nearly 10-month deployment to the U.S. Southern Command-4th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR). During the 296-day deployment, the Iwo Jima ARG launched over 6,000 sorties, flew 1,850 flight hours, and transited more than 130,000 combined nautical miles. The ARG was the first group of expeditionary naval assets deployed to support Operation Southern Spear, which involved enhanced counter narcotics operations, and played a key role in Operation Absolute Resolve to exfiltrate ex-President Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela.

Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland says he is fulfilling his “dream” of joining “boyhood club” Rangers after completing his transfer from Scottish Premiership rivals Heart of Midlothian.

The 30-year-old, who has agreed a two-year deal at Ibrox with the option of a further 12 months, scored 88 goals in 171 appearances across four campaigns at Tynecastle.

And he captained the Edinburgh side to second place this season, missing out on the title to Celtic on the final day, with Rangers in third, eight points behind Hearts.

Shankland will miss out on Champions League qualifiers with Hearts but told Rangers TV: “Rangers is my boyhood club and it has always been a dream to play here, so I was really keen to get it done.

“The club are in a position where they want to get back to winning silverware more regularly and I want to be a big part of that, so that’s what I have come here to do.”

Shankland was out of contract at Hearts last summer – and was linked with a move to Ibrox then – before signing a three-year deal in late June.

The former Queen’s Park, Aberdeen, Ayr United, Dundee United and Beerschot forward went on to hit 20 goals in 34 games in all competitions, including four against Rangers, as Derek McInnes’ side chased a first title since 1960.

Rangers head coach Danny Rohl said: “He is a player with proven quality, leadership and work ethic – and his goalscoring record in Scotland speaks for itself.

“He understands the demands and expectations that come with playing for Rangers and we believe his character and experience will be a huge asset for the group.”

Immediately after completing his transfer, Shankland, who has scored four times in 18 Scotland outings, will join Steve Clarke’s squad for the World Cup.

“I wish him well at the World Cup this summer and look forward to welcoming him back to Glasgow during pre-season,” Rohl added.

Jose Mourinho completed an unbeaten league season with Benfica but had to settle for third place in the Portuguese top-flight.

Benfica beat Estoril 3-1 in their final match of the campaign as they ended their undefeated Primeira Liga campaign with 23 wins, 11 draws and no defeats.

However, they finished on 80 points – eight behind champions Porto and two behind second-placed Sporting.

The victory against Estoril could be Mourinho’s final game in charge of Benfica as he is in final negotiations to become Real Madrid manager, 13 years after his first spell at the Bernabeu.

The 63-year-old joined Portuguese side Benfica as manager on a two-year contract last September, but is wanted by Real president Florentino Perez.

This is not the first time Benfica have gone a league season unbeaten and ended up trophyless.

In 1977-78, Porto drew two games fewer and pipped them to the league title on goal difference.

Mourinho’s Benfica have join FC Sheriff in Moldova (2024-25) and Serbian side Red Star Belgrade (2007-08) as the only European sides this century to miss out on a league title despite going an entire season without losing.