By Kostas Lianos, Digital Sports Reporter

IT was back in 2019 when Greece legend Vasilis Torosidis – the heir to Euro 2004 hero Giourkas Seitaridis – retired from international duty after 101 caps.

A giant void was left behind at right-back, many talented players tried to step up – and none of them could fill those big boots.

But, soon enough, I started to hear whispers about a Premier League ace with Greek heritage who’s a starter week-in and week-out…

That was none other than George Baldock, born in Buckingham on March 9, 1993, to English parents but qualified for Greece through his grandmother.

And what a season he was having. The right-back starred for Sheffield United as they surprised the Prem in the 2019-20 campaign – their first in 12 years – by finishing in the top half of the table.

Baldock was among their standout players as he registered a staggering 3,420 minutes played – the joint highest along with the likes of Declan Rice and Virgil van Dijk.

The defender was keen to make the big step to the international stage with his grandmother’s homeland – and it didn’t take long until he shook hands with the Greek football federation (EPO) chiefs.

However, a long and arduous paperwork slog stood in the way – with the then Sheffield United star claiming Covid-19 and Brexit slowed things down.

Greece finally got the right-back they were begging for for years as Baldock made his debut on June 2, 2022 in a Nations League clash at Northern Ireland as a late substitute.

It didn’t take long until the English-born ace owned the right flank at the back and impressive performances followed.

Perhaps none compare to the Euro 2024 qualifier against France in June 2023 when Baldock did the unthinkable and kept Kylian Mbappe quiet for 104 MINUTES, despite being injured and playing through “unimaginable” pain.

I still remember speaking to then-Greece manager Gus Poyet about his player’s stunning performance, and I will never forget the big smile the Chelsea legend had on his face.

Poyet reminded me of a proud father as he took me through the injury hell the full-back endured before squaring up against perhaps the world’s best player for his country.

A beaming Poyet told me: “Against the Republic of Ireland [three days beforehand] – and now that it is finished I can say it – after 20 minutes he had a very bad twist in his ankle, very bad. He was very close to come out. I asked him, ‘Can you hold until half-time?’

“At half-time his ankle was very, very swollen. He asked for a strapping and he asked me for five minutes. Give me five minutes and we’ll let you know. And he had an unbelievable second half running up and down and being outstanding.

“You don’t imagine the ankle after the game. You don’t imagine the ankle the day after, after the flight to France. Black and blue – swollen. And a day-and-a-half later you need to play against Mbappe.

“Ninety per cent of people will think, no chance. And I keep talking to him, individually. And he keeps saying to me, ‘Coach I’m gonna be there no worries’.

“And he didn’t play 20 minutes, he didn’t play 60 minutes, he played 104 minutes because the referee gave 14 minutes of injury time against Mbappe.”

It’s easy to understand how loyal Baldock was to every team he ever played for during his 15-year career, just by looking at his stats.

The Greek ace started his career at MK Dons in 2009 where he amassed a staggering 125 appearances throughout an eight-year stint that also saw him playing on loan for Northampton Town, Tamworth, IBV and Oxford United.

The defender joined Sheffield United in 2017 and registered a whopping 219 appearances in seven years that also saw him helping his team achieve two Premier League promotions.

Baldock’s work ethic and commitment was no different in Greece as he proudly stated two years ago: “To play for the national side is a great honour and a lot of pride involved for me and my family.

“Representing my country through my late grandmother, it’s a very proud moment for me and my family. I love the country and I will fight for every success”

Baldock never played for England at any level, but he always competed like a lion and he proved it on Sunday in his last ever match when he started for Panathinaikos, whom he joined in the summer, against eternal rivals Olympiacos in perhaps the most intense derby in Europe.

He served his team with honour as he helped them pick up a valuable point in a goalless draw against their in-form foes, who had just played their best game of the season with a 3-0 win over Braga in the Europa League a few days earlier.

He only managed 12 caps for Greece before his sudden and tragic death at the age of 31 on Wednesday in Athens.

But his fighting spirit and charisma at right-back with the white and blue, as well as his remarkable run in the Premier League and the Championship, show that he is leaving a legacy behind for many Greek and English fans to look up to.

Katie McCabe says Arsenal are “envious” of Women’s Super League title rivals Chelsea because of their continued success in the top flight.

The Gunners take on the seven-time champions at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

“It always hurts [seeing Chelsea lift title]. You want that to be you. You are in a team sport to be lifting trophies with your team-mates,” said McCabe.

“Of course you are envious of them being successful. What we can do is focus on ourselves and put one foot in front of the other. Hopefully, by the end of the season, that will be us.”

Arsenal sit sixth in the WSL with five points, one point behind Chelsea in second, who have also played one game fewer.

Chelsea’s league match against Manchester United was set to be played on Sunday, 6 October but was postponed because of a conflict with the Blues’ European schedule.

It means Sonia Bompastor’s side had a weekend off before playing in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Saturday’s match will be Arsenal’s third in seven days.

But McCabe said Arsenal “relish” competing in all competitions and have the squad depth to tackle such a busy schedule.

“You want to be playing a lot of games,” the Republic of Ireland captain said.

“Of course five games in 15 days is a lot but that is the beauty of playing in a big squad as well, the strength in depth that we have. If the manager needs to rotate we know anyone can come in and do a good job.

“It is a challenge that we look at and relish rather than shying away from it.”

Arsenal have indeed strengthened in recent seasons, signing big names such as England striker Alessia Russo and Spanish World Cup winner Mariona Caldentey, as well as keeping hold of experienced players like McCabe.

But the Gunners have not lifted the WSL title in five years and have finished third in the last two seasons, meaning they have had to jump extra hurdles in order to qualify for the Champions League group stages.

Jonas Eidevall’s side came through two rounds of qualifying this season to reach the group stage, where they will meet Bayern Munich, Juventus and Valerenga.

“We have always been looking to build each season, and we did that in the window, but most importantly kept the same core group of the squad that has been there for a long time and understand the ins and outs of the club,” added McCabe.

Despite Chelsea’s dominance when it comes to lifting the league title, Arsenal did beat them in last year’s League Cup final and secured an impressive 4-1 WSL victory over the Blues at the Emirates.

“We take those moments as positives and bring it in and really instil that winning mentality into the team,” said McCabe.

“We already did it last year, so it’s not a new thing for us. It is about controlling ourselves, controlling our game plan and what we want to do in the game and applying it. And going in with the right attitude of course.”

ARSENAL suffered a major blow as Bukayo Saka was forced off with injury just six minutes into the second half of England’s clash with Greece this evening.

After feeling an issue, the winger limped off and was replaced by Noni Madueke.

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Prior to Saka being replaced, Greece had just taken the lead via Vangelis Pavlidis.

It appeared that the Arsenal talisman, 23, sustained his injury in the build-up to Greece’s goal.

As Greek stars celebrated going in front, Saka sat down on the turf.

He was subsequently treated by physios, before limping off.

Anthony Gordon looked to console his Three Lions team-mate as he made his way off for Madueke.

Saka was one of several attacking players included in caretaker boss Lee Carsley‘s starting line-up.

Also in the XI were Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Gordon – with Carsley opting not to start a traditional No9.

Prior to half-time, Saka received a yellow card.

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The Gunners winger committed a cynical foul as Greece looked to counter, and was punished accordingly.

Saka isn’t the first Arsenal player to suffer an injury on international duty this season.

Last month, Gunners skipper Martin Odegaard went off in tears after sustaining an ankle issue while playing for Norway against Austria.

He has since missed games against Tottenham, Manchester City, Leicester and Southampton – as well as Champions League match-ups with Atalanta and Paris Saint-Germain.

Odegaard, 25, recently shared footage of himself stepping up his recovery.

But his return date is not yet known.

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Root’s 262, also his highest Test score, was one of relentlessness and determination.

He scored just 68 of his 264 runs in boundaries meaning the rest were taken by running ones, twos and threes in sweltering heat nearing 40C.

That was made more impressive by the fact, until being dismissed in the 286th over of the match, he had been on the field for all but eight deliveries.

In comparison, Brook crashed 29 fours and three sixes, once again showing his wide-array of attacking shots.

“Harry Brook has the shots of Kevin Pietersen and the rhythm and hunger of Joe Root,” former England captain Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports.

“That is a combination of two of England’s greatest players.”

Brook, 25, eased beyond his previous best Test score of 186 before attacking further late in his innings. His knock also added to his five centuries in his previous 18 Tests and took his average to 62.50 – the third-highest of any player to have played 20 or more innings.

Root said: “He’s got such a complete game – he can score all around the wicket.

“He plays seam well, spin well and high pace well, and that’s a pretty good recipe for scoring runs.

“I’m not surprised at all in him going on and doing something special like that, but I don’t think it’ll be the last time we see him with a monster score by his name.”

EX-PREMIER LEAGUE wonderkid Aaron Connolly has bravely revealed his alcohol addiction fight.

The Irish international forward, 24, completed a free transfer to Championship promotion chasers Sunderland last month as he looks to resurrect his career.

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Connolly famously burst on the scene in the top-flight aged 19 at Brighton with a brace against Tottenham.

He left the Amex – following disappointing loan spells at Luton, Middlesbrough and Italian side Venezia – four years later having featured more on the gossip pages than sport ones.

Connolly did score eight times for Hull City last term but that was not enough to stop him from getting released.

Now he has decided to tell his story to coincide with World Mental Health Day on Sunderland’s website.

Connolly had left home for the South Coast aged 16 but he says everything changed after that day against Spurs.

He said: “I remember it – 5th of October, 2019, it was a 12.30 kick-off. I’m never going to forget that day. It was one of the best days of my life, but also one of the worst because the following five years was from that.

“I just stopped working, stopped doing the things I should have kept doing. I started to believe the hype, and I just didn’t turn into a good person after that. I was tough to be around.

“I didn’t know how to deal with it, if I’m being honest. My parents tried, but they weren’t living with me. I was living with my ex-girlfriend at the time, and it’s hard because I didn’t ever feel like I had that authoritative figure to keep me grounded.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.

“My parents did try, but I just let myself believe everything people were saying online and it just took over. I always say to my parents, I started to live the life of a footballer without the football side of it.

“That was the hardest thing to admit at the time, that I wasn’t doing all the things that had got me to the position where I could go and get my house and treat my family, and do all that sort of stuff.

“It hurts to look back and speak about it because I know if I had done everything right, maybe I would still be in the Premier League. Maybe I wouldn’t, but at least I’d know I’d given it all I could to try to stay at that level.”

Connolly explained how both his on and off-field life began to spiral as alcohol became a bigger and bigger problem.

He said: “It was obvious I had a problem with alcohol for a good few years.

“I had my parents, who never drank before and were always telling me when I was younger to stay away from alcohol. That was always their thing because of addiction to alcohol in my family.

“I didn’t listen, clearly. It got me into a lot of trouble and a lot of problems, and it just became something that I relied on.

“It felt like my buzz used to come from football, and winning games and scoring goals, and it got to a point where the buzz was more from drinking alcohol than going out on a football pitch.

“I used to look forward to the games finishing so I could have time to go and have a drink and socialise.

“I say socialise, but it was just an excuse to go and get drunk, to go straight to alcohol, and that was where I got my buzz from, whereas before, it was always the buzz of football and being around an environment like I am now.

“For three or four years, that just wasn’t there.”

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Connolly managed to rediscover some form at Hull despite his “life being a mess” but he finally realised he needed to take drastic action after he was released in June by the Tigers.

He explained: “I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t live the way I was living. It was killing people round me, to be honest. My family, my friends. Mainly, it was killing me, really.

“I had one of my best seasons last year at Hull, but off the pitch, my life was a mess. The manager at Hull, to be fair, always looked after me, and always tried to help.

“But it just got to a point where, it wasn’t like life wasn’t worth living, it wasn’t a big dramatic thing, but it was just that my life was so unmanageable and I couldn’t control what I could do and couldn’t control my alcohol.

“It just got to a point where I had to make a decision where I needed to go to a treatment clinic, and I spent a month there in the summer.

“I just said to my agent, ‘I don’t want you to contact any clubs. I’m not doing this for football, I’m doing this so I can get my life back, and if stuff in football comes with that, then that’s a bonus’.

“It wasn’t even the football that was taking the biggest battering in the end, it was my life, my relationships, my friends. Everything was just failing and falling apart.

“When your parents are calling you and you’re not answering calls because you know you’re breaking their hearts, it’s time to realise that you’ve got a problem.”

Now after sealing himself an opportunity at Sunderland, Connolly wants to tell his story in the hope that it might help at least one other person struggling.

He added: “It’s an addiction, and the toughest thing I ever had to do was go in there. The PFA helped me pay for my treatment, and I know some people might not be able to afford it, but it’s important to know it’s not just park bench, vodka bottle. Anybody can get affected by it.

“There’s no price tag or no amount of money in the world that can cure it. It’s a disease, an illness. But going to the clinic was the best and worst month of my life.

“I just hope this might help people. I had everything every young boy would dream, but I couldn’t get hold of my addiction without that help.”

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Since turning professional in 2001 as a 15-year-old, Nadal has spent 2,543 hours and 15 minutes on court in 1,307 ATP Tour matches – 1,080 of which he has been on the winning side of the net.

The first title of his career arrived in 2004 on the clay courts of Sopot, a tiny city in northern Poland, before he shot to fame the following season.

In 2005, Nadal broke into the world’s top 10 – where he would stay for a record 912 consecutive weeks.

Nadal would win a further 91 ATP Tour titles, including 22 Grand Slams – 14 at the French Open, four at the US Open and two at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

The US Open was elusive for the longest time but when he conquered New York in 2010, he became the youngest man in the Open era to complete the ‘career Grand Slam’.

With Olympic singles gold already in his locker from Beijing 2008, that US Open victory also wrapped up a ‘career golden Grand Slam’.

It is an achievement matched by only four other players – Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic.