Three months on from the ceremony in the Cote d’Azur, she feels “great to be back” renewing her ties with her homeland.

“I’ve been looking forward to this camp for a number of weeks,” Weir said. “It was by far the toughest I’ve had to go through in my career. There were so many ups and downs.

“Looking back, I’ve learned a lot. I do feel grateful for a slight change in perspective coming back.”

Weir tried to remain as “balanced” and “rational” as she could as she worked her way back to fitness.

“Some days, it felt like this is totally fine, I can totally do this,” she explained. “Other days, there were tough times.

“It’s physically really demanding. There were so many elements to this injury. It is quite a complex surgery.

“Unfortunately, it’s really common, but there’s a lot to it. It definitely wasn’t a simple journey to recovery, but parts of it I enjoyed.

“I kind of enjoyed that challenge. I’ve been lucky that I had never been injured before. I was proud of the way I dealt with it most of the time. These things happen, it’s part of sport.”

Looking toward the tie with Hungary, Weir believes the 2022 World Cup play-off defeat by Republic of Ireland can “drive us on”.

“I believe in this team, I believe in the squad,” she added. “Everything we worked on has led us to this point.

“We really think and believe and hope that it’s going to be this time.”

Freddie Freeman is penciling himself into the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ lineup for their World Series opener against the New York Yankees.

“I don’t think there’s any question in anybody’s mind that I will be in the lineup for Game 1,” he said Tuesday during a Zoom news conference.

By Game 1 on Friday, Freeman will have had a week since running on his sprained right ankle in NL Championship Series Game 5 against the New York Mets.

Of course, the final lineup decision rests with manager Dave Roberts after discussions with the front office.

The All-Star first baseman missed Games 4 and 6 of the NLCS. Freeman was 3 for 18 against the Mets after hitting .286 in the NL Division Series against San Diego.

Freeman said he can hit and walk comfortably but his ankle flares up when he takes the first step to run. He’s been receiving hours of treatment for the first sprained ankle of his long career.

“I want to get this thing as calmed down as I possibly can, to give my best self and be ready to go by Game 1,” he said.

Freeman hurt his ankle on Sept. 26 against the Padres while trying to avoid a tag at first base by San Diego’s Luis Arráez and missed the Dodgers’ last three regular-season games.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Former Barcelona boss Xavi holds discussions with Manchester United, Sevilla are interested in taking Tottenham defender Archie Gray on loan, Chelsea tell teenager Josh Acheampong he will not play again until he signs a new deal.

Former Barcelona boss Xavi has held talks with Manchester United about the possibility of replacing Erik ten Hag as manager. (Mail), external

Sevilla are interested in signing Tottenham’s 18-year-old England Under-21 full-back Archie Gray on loan. (Mucho Deporte – in Spanish), external

Chelsea have told 18-year-old England Under-20 defender Josh Acheampong that he will not play for the club at any level again until he signs a new contract. (Athletic – subscription required), external

Tottenham have placed an £80m price tag on 25-year-old Spanish right-back Pedro Porro, who is being tracked by Manchester City. (Football Insider), external

Brighton and Arsenal are interested in Aston Villa’s 21-year-old Poland Under-21 goalkeeper Oliwier Zych. (Telegraph – subscription required), external

Arsenal Under-18s coach Jack Wilshere, 32, will join Norwich as first team coach this week after the two clubs agreed a compensation fee for the former Gunners midfielder. (Standard), external

Graham Potter, David Moyes and Gareth Southgate are potential candidates to succeed Oliver Glasner if he is sacked by Crystal Palace. (Guardian), external

Former Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic is a candidate for the West Ham job if the Hammers sack Julen Lopetegui. (Florian Plettenberg), external

Dortmund want to sign a left-back in January with Chelsea’s 27-year-old England international Ben Chilwell and Bournemouth’s Hungary international Milos Kerkez, 20, on their shortlist. (Teamtalk), external

Top players in Europe could refuse to promote the newly-expanded Club World Cup as part of a dispute between player unions and Fifa over the congested football calendar. (Times – subscription required), external

Everton’s takeover by the Freidkin Group remains on track to be completed by December, but the new owners will not sanction significant January spending because of PSR restrictions. (The i – subscription required), external

Paul George’s debut with the Philadelphia 76ers is on hold and Joel Embiid is again set to miss time with an injury.

Embiid and George will miss Wednesday’s season opener against Milwaukee and could miss more games as the All-Stars expected to try to lead Philadelphia to its first championship since 1983 return from injuries.

George was set to make his Sixers debut after he left the Los Angeles Clippers and signed a four-year, $212 million contract as a free agent this summer. But the 34-year-old George got a bone bruise when he hyperextended his left knee during a preseason game.

The Sixers did not say Tuesday how many more games George could miss; his return to play will be assessed later in the week.

The Bucks also lost a dose of star power ahead of the game as the NBA opens this week.

Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday that Bucks forward Khris Middleton also isn’t expected to play in the opener. The three-time All-Star hasn’t had any 5-on-5 work in the preseason as he recovers from offseason surgeries to each of his ankles.

“It’s pretty 100% to 99,” Rivers said of the likelihood that Middleton won’t play.

A nine-time All-Star, George was injured when his knee buckled on a defensive play in the second quarter of a game last week against Atlanta.

George has dealt with injuries for much of his career before he played 76 games last season, the first time he played more than 56 since 2018-19.

He discussed the bone bruise this week on his “Podcast P with Paul George.” A six-time All-NBA selection, George said his knee was stable with no major damage, nor did it cause any long-term concern over his health.

“My leg literally just got stuck. I don’t even know what else to call it. Just my knee locked up, my leg locked up,” George said on his podcast. “When I went to go push off, all my momentum is going forward and my leg, it just caused it to go inwards. I know I’m thinking of when I seen it immediately I was like, ah, this don’t feel right, this don’t feel right.”

The Sixers’ schedule also includes games Sunday at Indiana and home games Wednesday and Saturday.

“I’m going to be good. I’m going to be good,” George said. “I should be back hopefully sooner than later, but it won’t be a long timetable I would imagine.”

The Sixers are down a familiar road with Embiid.

He did not play in the preseason because of a sore left knee.

The Sixers said Embiid was “responding well” to his individualized rehab plan and was scheduled to scrimmage this week. Embiid also will miss Friday’s game against Toronto and will be reevaluated this weekend.

“There’s been no setbacks,” coach Nick Nurse told reporters at the 76ers’ complex in New Jersey. “He’s really active. He’s lost some weight. He’s out on the court. Just kind of sticking with our plan of making sure we’re getting into a really, really good place before we play him live.”

The 30-year-old, who won an Olympic gold medal in Paris with Team USA, signed a $193 million contract ahead of training camp. The 76ers have failed to advance out of the second round of the playoffs since 2001, in large part because Embiid has failed to stay healthy for an entire postseason.

Embiid has never played more than 68 games in a season and was limited to 39 last season in large part because of knee surgery. He tore the meniscus in his left knee on Jan. 30 and had surgery on Feb. 6.

“We’ve got to do whatever it takes to make sure that in the postseason I’m healthy,” Embiid said in September. “It’s whatever it takes to make sure I get to that point and I’m ready to go. Basically, every single year of my career I’ve been hurt in the playoffs. That’s the goal, doing whatever it takes to get there.”

The 76ers finished 31-8 last season season with Embiid — about a 65-win pace — and a woeful 16-27 without him.

Embiid revealed ahead of training camp that he dropped about 25 to 30 pounds over the summer to stay in better condition for the long grind of the season. That includes not rushing back from any further issues with the knee.

“Until I’m at that point where they feel like I’m ready to go, I’m sure they’re going to hold me back,” Embiid said at the team’s media day. “I believe with the guys that we have, and what I can bring to the table, we have a pretty good chance (at a title).”

He has five All-NBA Team honors, seven consecutive All-Star selections from 2017-24, three All-Defensive Team nods and twice has been the NBA scoring champion.

With George joining the 2023 NBA MVP in Embiid and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers were expected to boast one of the most formidable trios in the league as they try to put together a nucleus that can compete with the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Maxey is expected to play after the guard suffered a bruised right thumb in the preseason.

As for the Bucks, Rivers said Middleton’s injury is more of a day-to-day issue and shouldn’t keep him out long. A variety of injuries limited Middleton to 55 regular-season games last year and 33 in 2022-23.

“I’d say if this was a playoff game, he’d probably be playing, or close to it,” Rivers said.

Taurean Prince has been starting in Middleton’s place during the preseason.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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The Premier League will update its proposals around rules governing commercial deals after a meeting of top-flight clubs on Tuesday.

It was the first meeting of the 20 clubs since the verdict in Manchester City’s legal case against the Premier League over the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules was announced earlier this month.

APT rules are in place to ensure sponsorship deals with companies linked to clubs’ owners represent fair market value.

City had some complaints upheld, with two aspects of the rules deemed unlawful by the tribunal.

The tribunal said low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of APT rules, and that changes made in February to toughen up the regulations also breached competition law.

The Premier League is hopeful it can get an agreement from clubs on the new rules in the short to medium term, but City do not share the view that the matter can be resolved fairly quickly.

There was never an intention to hold a vote at Tuesday’s meeting.

Premier League chiefs used the meeting, which officials attending said lasted just over an hour, to outline the situation from their perspective.

The league will now use the feedback to update its proposals and recirculate to the clubs. Privately, it has been suggested this could be done in a matter of days.

However, the whole issue will not be clarified until the league holds a vote, which would require 14 clubs to vote in favour.

League officials were not able to offer a timescale on that but agreed this could be over the short to medium term.

The next Premier League shareholders meeting is due to take place in the middle of November, although adequate time would have to be allowed beforehand if a vote was to take place then.