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Five Lionesses earn Fifpro World XI places

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Five England players have been included in the Fifpro women’s World XI team.

Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze has been selected for a seventh time – meaning she equals the women’s appearance record set by France’s Wendie Renard.

Fellow defender Alex Greenwood, goalkeeper Mary Earps, midfielder Keira Walsh and forward Lauren James were the other Lionesses chosen by their fellow professionals.

Brazilian star Marta makes her return to the team of the year for the first time since 2021, while Zambia and Orlando Pride striker Barbra Banda, the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2024, becomes the first African player to be included.

Spanish trio Olga Carmona, Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati – who won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the second year in a row in October – and Colombia forward Linda Caicedo complete the line-up.

The Fifpro World XI award is voted for solely by fellow professional footballers with a record-breaking 7,000 women’s football players casting their vote.

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Kagiso Rabada celebrates with his South Africa team-mates after taking a wicket in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, South Africa moved to the top of the World Test Championship table with victory in Gqeberha Sam Drury BBC Sport journalist Published 7 hours ago 71 Comments Second Test, Gqeberha South Africa 358 (Verreyne 105*, Rickelton 101) & 317 (Bavuma 66; Jayasuriya 5-129) Sri Lanka 328 (Nissanka 89; Paterson 5-71) & 238 (Dhananjaya 50; Maharaj 5-76) South Africa won by 109 runs; win series 2-0 Scorecard South Africa moved a step closer to the World Test Championship final with a 109-run victory over Sri Lanka in Gqeberha. The Proteas needed just 14.1 overs to take the five remaining Sri Lanka wickets on day five in the Eastern Cape and secure a 2-0 series win that takes them above Australia to the top of the WTC table., external Temba Bavuma’s side will guarantee their place in the Lord’s final in June if they win both Tests in their two-match series against Pakistan that begins on Boxing Day. Sri Lanka opened the day on 205-5, needing another 143 to win at St George’s Park, with Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis continuing a stand that had reached 83 on day four. However, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj broke the partnership in the fourth over of the day as Mendis edged to slip. Kagiso Rabada had Dhananjaya caught behind 14 balls later and the tourists quickly crumbled to 238 all out – the last five wickets going down for 19 runs. Maharaj took three of the wickets to fall on the fifth morning to complete his 11th five-wicket haul in Tests. Centuries from Kyle Verreyne and Ryan Rickelton helped set up the victory for South Africa, while 35-year-old seamer Dane Paterson claimed his maiden Test five-to earn them a narrow first-innings lead. Bavuma and Aiden Markram then made half-centuries in the hosts’ second innings to set a challenging target of 348 that ultimately proved beyond Sri Lanka. Related topics South Africa Sri Lanka Cricket World Test Championship – who can reach the final? Published 7 hours ago Australia celebrate winning the 2023 World Test Championship More on this story Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport Published 6 June BBC Sport microphone and phone View comments | 71

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Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.

Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.

The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.

Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.

“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.

“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?

“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.

“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”

Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.

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I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp

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Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.

The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.

He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.

Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.

But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.

“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.

“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.

“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.

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Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev

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Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.

The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.

Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.

The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?

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