Tag Futebol

After his success at the top of the order in the West Indies, Mahela Jayawardene talks of the prospect of playing in that position in the 2011 World Cup

Sa'adi Thawfeeq09-May-2010Mahela Jayawardene’s outstanding form at the top of the order, in the World Twenty20 and on a few occasions in ODIs, gives Sri Lanka the option to play him as an opener in the 2011 World Cup. He has got his runs at a fast pace and given his side strong chances to win.The indifferent form of the rest of the line-up has forced Jayawardene to take charge of Sri Lanka’s run-scoring in the West Indies. He hit 81 off 51 balls in Sri Lanka’s 135 against New Zealand which they lost narrowly by two wickets. Then, against Zimbabwe, he laid the foundation for a total of 173 with his first hundred in Twenty20s. Sri Lanka won that rain-affected contest to qualify for the Super Eights, where they took on West Indies last week. Once again Jayawardene caressed his way to a substantial score, hitting an undefeated 98 to edge Sri Lanka towards a semi-final berth.The shift to the top of the order began during the Sri Lankan Inter-Provincial Twenty20 tournament, where he opened the batting for Wayamba in their third consecutive title-holding season, Jayawardene revealed.”The provincial tournament in Colombo is where I got the confidence, and I got into a groove and took control of things,” he said. “That’s when I realised that in Twenty20s it would be a good cushion, as well as the few times I opened in one-day cricket. I felt really comfortable in getting those big scores and winning matches.”In the IPL we didn’t have any middle-order batsmen in our [Kings XI Punjab’s] set-up. A couple of the guys were injured and three of the overseas players we had were all openers. The last two seasons of the IPL I’ve batted in the middle order and done the job for them. But when the opportunity came I said ‘Let me have a go at it.’ I had the confidence and I was backing myself to go out and do it. I was left out of the Kolkata Knight Riders game because they were playing a different combination. Then Marshy [Shaun Marsh] got injured in the warm-up. I said ‘Let me open’, since Ravi Bopara was going to bat at No. 5 anyway. It worked for me.”When somebody has to step in, in these kinds of opportunities, I always put my hand up because I like that kind of challenge. Rather than wait for things to happen, you try and create your own destiny. You go with a very free mind and take that challenge and enjoy it.”Jayawardene didn’t open the batting back when he was playing for Nalanda College, where he learnt the rudiments of the game.”I batted at No. 3 at school, but you have to fit into the team wherever possible. When I came into the national team I was quite happy to bat anywhere as long as I was playing for Sri Lanka. Then I got cemented in one position.”I was probably one of the lucky ones where you get a slot and you get to keep it, whereas other players in their careers have been shifted around most of the places. I’ve been shifted around for a little while but I got a permanent place and that is always a good thing. I settled to it probably but I didn’t fulfill what I wanted to do until now.”The two times he scored a century as an opener in ODI cricket were when Sanath Jayasuriya was indisposed in Dambulla against Pakistan, and when Tillakaratne Dilshan suffered an injury in Bangladesh.”Opening the batting, I can control and express myself a little better. You can’t harp on what you’ve done – you just need to keep challenging yourself and be as consistent as possible. The ultimate challenge for any cricketer is to be consistent. If I can do that, it will be great.”Jayawardene said he would sit with Kumar Sangakkara and the team management after the tournament to discuss opening options in next year’s World Cup.”There are guys who have done well as openers in the ODIs and it’s not fair to take them out if they cannot bat in the middle order,” Jayawardene said. “While thinking about that you’ve also got to make sure that the middle order is settled and we have the right guys batting in the right positions. We need to think of all that rather than be selfish and think of wanting to open.”I am hitting the ball well and it’s a different role. I probably have got into a zone where I know how to go about it, but nothing is guaranteed. As long as I am batting well and doing well, I just want to continue and keep challenging myself to try and get better and better in that position. It’s a good challenge for me at this time of my career.

“Batting in the middle order, and being the senior player, I had to take on a lot of responsibility and control things. But batting up the order, there is not much pressure at one end, in the sense that you haven’t lost any wickets, so you just go out there and start fresh”

“Batting in the middle order, and being the senior player, I had to take on a lot of responsibility, and you needed to control things. But batting up the order, there is not much pressure at one end in the sense that we haven’t lost any wickets, so you just go out there and start fresh. The freedom is there, but at the same time you still have the responsibility of taking that burden and making sure you control things.”This is what I have always wanted to do in my expectations. It is probably who I am, in the sense that this is the way I batted when I was playing for school – very free, playing quite a few shots and at the same time I make mistakes. But you back yourself because you know you could win a game. It’s very difficult to do that when you are batting at four.”Situations are such you need to adjust, which was a great challenge as well, which I enjoyed. Now it’s a different challenge and I’m doing it in a bit of a different way as long as the team is benefitting.”There is a big difference batting in the middle order and opening. That doesn’t mean that I can just go and throw my wicket away. I know I have to bat and once I get a start, apply myself and get to the next stage and finish matches off. Just walking in, you need a mindset of being positive, and try and take control of things, which is different but it has suited my game.”Batting at four, maybe I was in two minds about whether to go after the bowling and be aggressive or whether to be cautious and control things. But sometimes when you go in with a bit of a negative mind-frame, saying ‘I shouldn’t get out. I have to make sure I bat to that situation’, then you tend to make mistakes and get out.”Jayawardene said he was fortunate to have got the right breaks. “I am very blessed. I’ve always appreciated the opportunities I have got to play for my team since when I was 20. That was also because a couple of guys got injured and I was given an opportunity and I grabbed hold of that. Those kinds of opportunities don’t come to everybody all the time. I am very lucky to be part of that kind of a group initially, for I learnt a lot from their experience. Every time things happen for a reason and I am sure opening the batting happened for another reason as well.”

Allen’s last six T20 scores have read 137, 74, 34, 78*, 50 and 38

Vishal Dikshit17-Jan-2024The 2022-23 season was not a great summer for Finn Allen. At the start of the season, he had a disappointing 2022 T20 World Cup by managing just 95 runs in five innings. He then lasted more than 20 balls only once in the remaining five T20Is that summer and his ODI form also lost sheen after a glittering start. A year later, he didn’t get a ticket for the ODI World Cup in India.This summer, though, has been remarkable for him in T20s. Let’s go back a few months to another summer, the one in England. Allen smashed 240 runs from nine outings in the Hundred, only behind Jos Buttler’s tally of 391, with a strike rate of nearly 145 that helped Southern Brave reach the playoffs. He stayed back for the T20Is against England and blasted 83 off 53 in the third game before returning for the home summer where his last six T20 scores (both domestic and international) have been 137, 74, 34, 78*, 50 and 38.Related

• Finn Allen, perfect and imperfect all at once

• Allen's record-breaking 137 seals the series for New Zealand with two games left

• Finn Allen equals world record with 16 sixes

The latest of those was 137 off 62 balls in the third T20I against Pakistan, studded with a record-breaking 16 sixes that made his score the highest by a New Zealand player in T20Is. So what’s changed for him this season?”I think I’m just evaluating risk and times that I want to take a high-risk option,” he said after the Pakistan game. “Maybe prior to this summer was a little bit all over the show and not so much control but I’m trying to have more control now and be a bit more decisive.”I’m working on just adapting to the scenario better, situations better, and I guess picking my moments to go. I’m basically trying to have a stable base and build off that and expand my game from there.”The stable base was on show in Dunedin where he let his flourishing swings and hand-eye coordination do all the work to belt all his sixes in the arc from long-off to square leg. He stood tall to either swing down the ground or put away the short balls with pulls whenever Pakistan erred with their lengths, even if they came with a change of pace.That he could score at a very high strike rate was evident even before this season, but now he is also being consistent, something he has been working on since returning to his home team Auckland before this domestic season. His scores in the ongoing T20I series – 137, 74 and 34 – are a testimony to his consistency, which bodes well for both Allen and New Zealand in the build-up to the T20 World Cup in June.Along the way, Allen has also been taking down some big names. After a 26 off 17 in the opening Super Smash game, he struck 50 off 24 against Wellington where he took down Ben Sears for 20 off just six balls. In his unbeaten 78 off 46 balls after that, he punished Ish Sodhi for a sequence of 6, 4 and 6 after the powerplay to hit him for 22 runs off seven balls. On Wednesday, it was Pakistan’s Haris Rauf who came in his way and Allen blasted him for 47 off just 14 with the help of six sixes and two fours.Allen says a lot of it comes down to his preparations before the games because the “fickle” nature of the format can turn the tide quickly.”I come back to my basics and making sure that before a game I know my basics,” he said. “And going into a game I feel like I’ve ticked everything off. It’s such a fickle game, the tide can turn real quick so knowing that I’ve ticked everything off before a game and can put it down to execution and plans.”With two more T20Is to go in the series and another home T20I series against Australia next month, Allen will hope his hot streak continues this summer.

“When someone plays such a knock in the team, it looks good. When a senior plays such a knock, it is even better”

Mohammad Isam20-Mar-2023Mushfiqur Rahim’s 60-ball century against Ireland was a shining example of the aggressive intent Bangladesh have been trying to adopt, especially through the middle and late overs of ODI cricket. At the end of the match, which got washed out, Litton Das, who scored 70 off 71 himself, said they have been trying to get this balance right for a while now and added that he has noticed things clicking into place ever since the T20Is against England earlier this month.Mushfiqur made the fastest ODI century by a Bangladesh batter. It was also the first one by a Bangladesh batter coming in after the 33rd over. Litton said that for the second match running, Mushfiqur left a lasting impact in their batting effort. He made a 26-ball 44 in the first ODI, which was influential in the home side reaching 338 for 8 in 50 overs. In this game he made his hundred off 60 balls, as Bangladesh reached 349 for 6 in 50 overs.”Watching his innings was a great feeling,” Litton said. “I have never seen a Bangladeshi batter score a hundred towards the end. When someone plays such a knock in the team, it looks good. When a senior plays such a knock, it is even better. His first ODI knock was amazing too. He made 40-plus but it created a big margin to get a 300-plus total. His innings today really made it a different ball-game.”Litton said that the 108 runs scored by Bangladesh in the last ten overs, their third-highest tally in this phase of an ODI innings, showcased their growth as a team.”I think these runs are important in ODIs. Big teams often get hundred or close to hundred runs in the last ten overs. It was a challenge for us. We have been talking about how we can get 100 runs in the last ten overs of a T20I too, so it is a good sign that we have started to do it.”Everyone is batting with intent in the middle overs [10-40]. It is a good intent. They are not just targeting big sixes but the focus is on ones, twos and fours,” he said.Litton added that Bangladesh’s cautious start when the ball was nipping around also played a role in them getting a big score.”It was quite difficult to bat in the early overs. After a long time we felt like we were batting in overseas conditions. The ball was moving. It was quite challenging. It is summer, but it felt like winter. It was due to the rain.”We were totally successful in fulfilling our batting targets in the last two matches. We didn’t give any wickets in the first ten overs today, they were bowling very well. We did lose a wicket at the end of the tenth over, but it could have been a different ball game had we lost too many wickets early.”I think our 40-42 [in the first powerplay] isn’t a lot of runs but it was quite effective in the end. [Najmul Hossain] Shanto and I also helped put the foundation for the big score, we got to around 140 in the 25th over. Wickets in hand always makes scoring runs more comfortable in the latter overs,” he said.Litton said that there’s no regret among any of his team-mates when they get out close to a century, but the batters understand that these days, they should be aiming for more.”The top four batters want to finish the innings, which these days can even mean a double-hundred. Century shouldn’t be a target. If Shanto and I had batted till the 45th over, we could have got 150-180. We were batting quite well. I had a soft dismissal, Shanto was unlucky. But Mushfiq played a spectacular knock, way better than our efforts,” he said.

The Saudi Pro League's summer spending spree shows no signs of slowing down as Kingsley Coman is on the verge of a blockbuster move to Al-Nassr.

• Coman is set to join Al-Nassr from Bayern Munich
• French winger has agreed a three-year deal
• The transfer is part of Al-Nassr's ambitious project

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Coman has agreed to join Al-Nassr in a deal worth slightly under €30 million, according to a report from Fabrizio Romano. The French winger is set to leave Bayern Munich to join Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia on a three-year contract. A medical and the final signature are expected to take place this week, completing one of the Saudi Pro League's most significant transfers of the summer.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Coman's move to Al-Nassr comes after a season where his playing time at Bayern Munich was significantly reduced under manager Vincent Kompany. The arrival of Luis Diaz from Liverpool further pushed the Frenchman down the pecking order. With Coman's contract expiring in 2027 and his high wages, the transfer provides Bayern with financial relief and an opportunity to restructure their squad. For Al-Nassr, the signing of the Champions League winner is a major statement of intent, as they continue to build a formidable attack alongside new signings Joao Felix and Inigo Martinez.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Coman has won a league title in every professional club he has played for, a streak that began at Paris Saint-Germain and continued at Juventus and Bayern Munich. He famously scored the winning goal for Bayern against his former club, PSG, in the 2020 Champions League final.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• AFP
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  Al-Nassr's season is set to begin soon, with the club having a busy summer of high-profile transfers. The Saudi side will aim to challenge for the Saudi Pro League title and continental honours with their newly assembled squad under manager Jorge Jesus. Coman will join a star-studded attack alongside Ronaldo and Sadio Mane, as Al-Nassr looks to dominate both domestically and in Asia.

Kolkata Knight Riders crushed Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday at the Ekana Stadium after posting 235. Speaking after the heavy defeat, LSG’s captain KL Rahul tagged it a “poor performance overall” from his side, but particularly pinpointed the bowling as having cost LSG on the night.It was the first time this IPL season that a side had scored 200 or more batting first in seven matches in Lucknow. Rahul felt LSG lost their way while trying to go hard to haul in the target, saying his bowlers allowed KKR to score “20 or 30 runs above par”.”When you’re chasing a big total, you try to go hard and you end up losing wickets. So just a poor performance overall,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation.Related

• KKR go top of the table after commanding Narine-led win over LSG

Sunil Narine and Phil Salt got KKR off to another explosive start, helping their side post 70 in the powerplay, the sixth time in 11 games this season that KKR managed those many or more. Rahul said that approach by KKR’s openers “put a lot of pressure” on his “young bowlers”.”We’ve seen how they have batted. They put a lot of pressure on the opposition, and our young bowlers just couldn’t handle that kind of pressure,” he said. “He [Narine] hit some really, really good shots, and that’s how the IPL is: you’ll come up against some really good players, and that’s when your character is tested. And I think we weren’t up to the mark today.”Once we come here [to Lucknow], it’s about execution, and we went wrong on that part. Bowlers tried their best. But the sooner you learn, the better it is for our team. We’ve made a couple of mistakes when we’ve come up against batters like Sunil or anyone who is powerful, and is striking over 200 or 250. Someone with that kind of intimidation has put a bit of pressure on our bowlers.”In reply, LSG were 70 for 1 in the eighth over of the chase, with both Rahul and Marcus Stoinis set. However, the required run rate had by then climbed above 13 runs an over, and then an LSG slide began. They lost 9 for 67 in less than nine overs, and were bowled out for 137 with almost four overs to spare. Rahul admitted there was nothing wrong with the pitch, but said scoreboard pressure probably derailed LSG.”The wicket was really good. It felt like a pretty true wicket,” he said. “There was a bit of bounce if you bowled hard lengths and back of a length. But nothing out of the ordinary; or it didn’t seemed like a pitch that was bad.”I think 235 was probably 20 or 30 runs above par. Our batting performance was really poor. But when you’re chasing such a big score under pressure, it’s always hard.”

Former Notts and England keeper takes over from Paul Shaw on two-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2023Chris Read, the former Nottinghamshire and England wicketkeeper, has been appointed as the new head coach of Thunder, and will take over from Paul Shaw who stepped down at the end of the 2023 campaign after four seasons in charge.Read, who played 15 Tests between 1999 and 2007 and represented England in all three formats, has since served as assistant coach with Trent Rockets in the women’s Hundred and Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL, as well as wicketkeeping consultancy work with the ECB, including a stint with England men’s Under-19s squad.He will join the Thunder set-up on a two-year contract in January, and inherits a squad that reached Finals Day in the 2023 Charlotte Edwards Cup.”I am extremely proud to have taken up this position and I am looking forward to getting to work with such an ambitious club and a talented squad of players,” Read said.”The development of the Thunder regional programme in recent years has been most impressive and it is clear to see the ambitions of everybody involved is to back that up by bringing silverware to Emirates Old Trafford.”I believe that my experiences as both a player, and more recently as a coach around the world, will help Thunder push on and achieves our ambitions in the coming seasons.”David Thorley, regional director of women’s cricket, added: “Throughout an extensive interview process, Chris excelled against the candidate brief of what we were looking for in a head coach – which is somebody to build on the strong foundations laid during Paul Shaw’s tenure and to help continue to evolve the high-performance culture here at Thunder.”It is clear that Chris is an excellent strategist who knows what it takes to win through a positive brand of cricket, and I am looking forward to the future of Thunder under his leadership.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold paid a touching tribute to his former Liverpool colleague Diogo Jota. The Reds star and his brother Andre Silva tragically passed away in a car accident in Spain on July 3. Alexander-Arnold, who shared a dressing room with Jota for five years at Anfield, bid an emotional goodbye to the Portuguese attacker after starring in Real Madrid's win over Borussia Dortmund.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Alexander-Arnold paid tribute to Jota
• Featured in Madrid's win over Dortmund on Saturday
• Madrid will face PSG in Club World Cup semi-final

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Gonzalo Garcia, Fran Garcia and Kylian Mbappe were on target for Los Blancos as they clinched a five-goal thriller against Dortmund to seal a place in the last-four stage of the Club World Cup. After the match, Alexander-Arnold paid a heartwarming tribute to Jota, while claiming that he faced immense difficulty in concentrating on the game.

Advertisement

• WHAT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD SAID

  Speaking to DAZN, the English full-back said: "I had to try to perform for the team and help them win the game, no matter how difficult it was. As hard as it was to do it, I had to push myself to focus on what my job and role was. I tried to do it as best as I could, but it was difficult and I am not going to lie about that.

  "[Jota] was one of my close friends – and I am sure that's what he would have wanted me to do. I'm sure we would have had a laugh and joke about the assist as well. He was there with me, I am sure. I shared the dressing room with him for five years – amazing memories on and off the pitch. It goes without saying he will never be forgotten by anyone. He will live long in all our memories for the amazing man and the player he was."

  He added: "I've been around him, his brother, his family, his amazing wife, his amazing parents and his amazing children. It's truly, truly heartbreaking to wake up to news like that. It's something you never expect."

• Getty Images Sport
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The Liverpool and Portugal forward Jota and his sibling were involved in a tragic accident shortly after midnight on the morning of July 3, 2025. The Lamborghini they were travelling in is said to have suffered a tyre blowout, leading to it careering off the road and ultimately bursting into flames.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• AFP
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR REAL MADRID?

  Xabi Alonso's side will be back in action on Wednesday as they take on reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semi-final.

يتطلع نادي مانشستر سيتي الإنجليزي للعودة للمنافسة بشكل قوي الموسم المقبل، بعد الخروج بموسم صفري الموسم الماضي.

وأعلن مانشستر سيتي عن تعاقده مع سفيري نيبان من نادي روزنبورج النرويجي، وأصدر النادي الإنجليزي بيانًا رسميًا بشأن ذلك.

أقرأ أيضاً.. وجهة غير متوقعة لـ نونيز في انتقالات الصيف

ووقع لاعب خط الوسط صاحب الـ18 عاماً عقد انتقاله لصفوف مانشستر سيتي لمدة خمس سنوات، حيث يمتد العقد حتى صيف 2030.

وكان نيبان قد مثل الفريق الأول لنادي روزنبورج في سن الخامسة عشرة، لينضم لملعب الاتحاد كواحد من أبرز المواهب الواعدة في كرة القدم الأوروبية وسجل اللاعب 14 هدفًا وصنع 11 خلال 70 مباراة مع فريقه السابق.

We’re delighted to confirm the signing of Sverre Nypan from Norwegian side Rosenborg 🩵 pic.twitter.com/5ZtbKRG8by — Manchester City (@ManCity) July 17, 2025

وعلق نجم مانشستر سيتي الجديد في تصريحات للموقع الرسمي: “أنا سعيد وفخور للغاية بالانضمام لمانشستر سيتي، إنه حلم لأي لاعب كرة قدم شاب أن يصبح جزءًا من هذا النادي وينضم لهؤلاء المواهب العالمية”.

وأضاف: “مازلت صغيراً جداً ولدي الكثير لأتعلمه، لكن فرصة التدريب مع بيب جوارديولا أفضل مدرب في العالم، ستساعدني على أن أصبح لاعبًا أفضل، هناك رابط بين النرويج وسيتي من خلال هالاند وأوسكار بوب وسعيد لأني أحدث لاعب نرويجي ينضم للنادي”.

وقال هوجو فيانا مدير كرة القدم في مانشستر سيتي حول صفقة نيبان: “هو لاعب مثير للاهتمام ويتابعه النادي منذ فترة طويلة، يملك العديد من الصفات المميزة وسيواصل تطوره”.

وختم: “نؤمن بأنه سيكون صفقة مهمة لمانشستر سيتي في السنوات القادمة وسندعمه في كل خطوة من خطوات تطوره”.

After the schedule tweak, Pakistan will be playing 19 T20Is between now and the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2023

Pakistan’s home series of two Test matches and three T20Is against West Indies has been pushed back from January-February 2024 to January 2025, and has been replaced by an away series of five T20Is against New Zealand.With the tweak in the Future Tours Programme, Pakistan will be playing 19 T20Is between now and the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, to be held in the West Indies and the USA in June 2024, ten of them against New Zealand alone – five away and five at home – and the rest against Netherlands (three), Ireland (two) and England (four).A separate series in New Zealand, of three ODIs and five T20Is, has been pushed back from January 2025 to April 2025. It also means that Pakistan have an entire home season later this year without a single Test in it. They tour Australia for a three-Test series at the end of the year – their first Tests after the current series against Sri Lanka – and then will not play any Tests until August 2024, when they host Bangladesh for two Tests.Pakistan’s T20I tour of New Zealand

Jan 12 – 1st T20I, Auckland
Jan 14 – 2nd T20I, Hamilton
Jan 17 – 3rd T20I, Dunedin
Jan 19 – 4th T20I, Christchurch
Jan 21 – 5th T20I, Christchurch

This was on the cards, as reported last month by ESPNcricinfo, since the PSL is slotted for February and March. As things stand, Pakistan will play three Test matches in Australia between December 2023 and January 2024, and the clutter in early 2024 has been reduced somewhat with the five-match T20I series in New Zealand to be held in January. After completing the Tests in Australia, Pakistan will fly directly to Auckland to play the T20Is. In April, after the PSL, the teams will play a reciprocal five-T20I series in Pakistan.The PSL now runs for 34 days. And because of the holy month of Ramadan, the available window is only from February 12 to March 10.Related

Unshackled Shakeel switches seamlessly between slow-burn and turbo

ICC agrees overseas players cap for new T20 leagues

PCB concerned over growing Indian investment in T20 leagues

ECB offers to host Test series between India and Pakistan

The PCB has also requested the Emirates Cricket Board to pull back their ILT20 by ten days to avoid overlapping with the PSL. It is likely that the PCB will not object to its players signing contracts with ILT20 teams, which it had done in 2023, the inaugural edition of the tournament.The discussions between the PCB and the Emirates Cricket Board were conducted during Najam Sethi’s tenure as PCB chairman, but is expected to stand despite the change of guard at the PCB.Pakistan men’s revised FTP for 2023-2025The 2023-24 season
July: Pakistan in Sri Lanka (two Tests)
August: Pakistan in Afghanistan (three ODIs)
September: ODI Asia Cup in Pakistan and Sri Lanka
October-November: ODI World Cup in India
December-January: Pakistan in Australia (three Tests)
January: Pakistan in New Zealand (five T20Is)
April: New Zealand in Pakistan (five T20Is)
May: Pakistan in the Netherlands (three T20Is), in Ireland (two T20Is), and in England (four T20Is)
June: T20 World Cup in the USA and the West IndiesThe 2024-25 season
August: Bangladesh in Pakistan (two Tests)
October: England in Pakistan (three Tests)
November: Pakistan in Australia (three ODIs and three T20Is)
November-December: Pakistan in Zimbabwe (three ODIs and three T20Is)
December-January: Pakistan in South Africa (two Tests, three ODIs, three T20Is)
January: West Indies in Pakistan (two Tests)
February: New Zealand and South Africa in Pakistan (ODI tri-series)
February-March: Champions Trophy in Pakistan
April: Pakistan in New Zealand (three ODIs and five T20Is)
May: Bangladesh in Pakistan (three ODIs and three T20Is)

Dempsey questioned Donovan's absence ahead of the 2014 World Cup, when the forward took a sabbatical one year out from the competition

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Dempsey criticizes Donovan on podcastBrings up 2013 sabbatical, questions former teammateChristian Pulisic's father, Mark, raised similar criticismFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Clint Dempsey criticized former U.S. men's national team member Landon Donovan for his choice to take a sabbatical away from the game in 2013. The move, which many at the time questioned, ultimately cost Donovan a spot on the 2014 World Cup roster, ex-manager Jurgen Klinsmann confirmed in 2024.

Donovan was absent for 144 days, and on his podcast , Dempsey sounded off on his former teammate.

"The analogy I use is you have the opportunity to go plant the crops, harvest the crops, and then you're sitting at the table it's time to eat, and you're showing up when it's time to eat," he said. "It's kind of like, 'Where were you when we were grinding in the sun, putting that stuff out there, the away games, your back against the wall?'

"I don't know what he was dealing with and what he was going through, but to build your teammates' trust and all that, you've got to go through the wars with them, the battles with them. You've got to be able to look and say, 'Hey, they're not going to flake on you. When your back's against the wall and you need to win, they're going to be right there with you.' So I can't say what the situation was, but that's how I looked at that."

The comments, made last week, echo a recent spotlight on Donovan after he had critcized current USMNT star Christian Pulisic for requesting to skip the Gold Cup due to fatigue.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

On a FOX broadcast Sunday, Donovan aimed a dig at Pulisic on-air while Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal were celebrating their EURO Nations League title.

“This is what it means to represent your country,” Donovan said on air. “If you don’t want to take it seriously as a professional soccer player and someone who gets the opportunity to wear the jersey, then don’t come in.”

He added, “I can’t help but think about our guys on vacation, not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It’s p*ssing me off.”

Pulisic's father, Mark, responded to Donovan on social media Sunday, bringing up the American's 2013 sabbatical as well while telling him to "look in the mirror."

WHAT DEMPSEY ADDED

Dempsey, however, did agree with Donovan on his remarks about Pulisic's absence. The former striker claiming he "doesn't understand" why the AC Milan star would need a break due to fatigue, one year out from the World Cup.

“I’m a big fan of Christian. I think what he’s been able to do for both club and country has been amazing,” Dempsey said on the podcast. “And in terms of American players playing abroad, him and Antonee Robinson have been the most consistent and the top players in terms of flying that flag for us.

“In terms of his situation, I can’t say what it is. I don’t know the ins and outs of it. But in terms of my situation, when I played in Europe and came back, there were times where I was tired. I had to get a PRP injection in my adductor. I had to maybe rest for some of the friendly games so that I could be fit to play in the tournaments."

Dempsey is one of the most decorated players in U.S. history, winning three Gold Cups and helping the Americans finish as a runner-up in the 2009 Confederations Cup to Brazil.

“Whether it was Gold Cup, whether it was Copa [América], whether it was the Confederations Cup, whether it was the World Cup," he said. "I wasn’t gonna miss competitions. That’s just the kind of guy that I always was. So for me, I don’t understand it because that wasn’t my mentality. I always wanted to play in those games."

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

The USMNT plays in an international friendly against Switzerland Tuesday, followed by the CONCACAF Gold Cup beginning early next week.