England and Norway renew a rivalry better known for one famous piece of commentary rather than football when they meet in the World Cup quarter-finals in Miami on Saturday.

It was 45 years before Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland were illuminating the current tournament that a Norwegian by the name of Bjorge Lillelien delivered the speech that has assumed legendary status.

Norway, nowhere near the dangerous force they are now in September 1981, had just beaten an England side boasting players of the class of Bryan Robson, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Trevor Francis 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier.

The win was a seismic shock, regarded as a national embarrassment for England and Norway’s greatest triumph at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.

Lillelien was not going to let the opportunity to pile on the agony for England pass him by as he directed a message aimed at the country’s political and sporting figures – especially then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

A reserved man in private, he warmed up by accusing Polish referee Jerzy Kacprzak of being “close to receiving English citizenship” by playing what he felt was too much added time as Norway protected their lead.

When Kacprzak finally blew the whistle, Lillelien was ready to let rip on the airwaves as the main radio commentator for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, known as NRK.

A slightly edited version of his wonderfully excitable commentary is: “Lord Nelson. Lord Beaverbrook. Sir Winston Churchill. Sir Anthony Eden. Clement Atlee. Henry Cooper. Lady Diana. We have beaten all of them.”

And then came Lillelien’s most famous words.

“Maggie Thatcher. Can you hear me? We have a message for you. We have knocked your boys out of the World Cup. Maggie Thatcher. As they say in your language, in the boxing bars around Madison Square Garden New York, your boys took a hell of a beating.”

He then repeated for good measure: “Your boys took a hell of a beating.”

The last line, in particular, has been repeated – and altered to suit the occasion – ever since Lillelien delivered it.

England did, contrary to Lillellen’s claim, qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, but no matter.

Social media did not exist in 1981. The impact and traction of his commentary, had it happened now, would be mind-boggling.

Lillelien, who was a hugely popular figure, died six years later aged 60, but has been immortalised by those words, which he always insisted were spontaneous, not prepared.

The emotional speech has been preserved forever by the wonders of YouTube, helped by Lillelien, fluent in English, switching from his native tongue when he said: “Maggie Thatcher. Can you hear me?” and “your boys took one hell of a beating.”

England’s defeat was one of the biggest shocks in their history, having won the first qualifier 4-0 at Wembley a year previously.

In Norway’s moment of triumph, Lillelien’s colourful commentary meant those who represented England in that defeat will never be allowed to forget it.

Every time England meet Norway, Lillelien will be remembered with affection by everyone except those who still have to suffer those painful recollections.

People love to say “you can’t predict baseball,” and here’s another chapter in the long history of that being the case. There’s a major-league player who just became the first in the expansion era (1961-present) to record a hit in 12 consecutive plate appearances, tying the overall MLB record. He was in the No. 9 hole for the Royals, one of the worst teams in baseball, on Tuesday evening. His name? Tyler Tolbert. 

Tolbert was a career .247 hitter in 85 at-bats at the big-league level before he started this streak. In seven minor-league seasons, he is a career .246 hitter. If we were tasked with predicting who could get a hit in 12 straight plate appearances, we’d get deep into the hundreds before we even thought about him. But that’s why they play the games. 

Things started innocently enough on Saturday against the Phillies with a weak infield hit. He then singled on a grounder with eyes to right field before being removed from that game. On Sunday, he didn’t even play. Monday, he was back in the lineup as Kansas City closed out its series with Philadelphia. Tolbert singled on another grounder, doubled on a line drive to the gap to drive home a run, before powering up for a home run. It was the first of his career. 

He singled two more times to go 5 for 5. 

Then came Tuesday evening in New York in a wild 16-12 win over the Mets. Tolbert was slotted ninth in the Royals’ lineup. He hit a two-run home run in the second inning. 

Hey, when you’re hot, you’re hot. 

Tolbert would single in the fourth, reach on another infield single in the fifth and then yet another infield single in the sixth. 

And, are you ready for this? In the seventh inning, he had another infield single to tie the all-time record. This was in the midst of the Royals turning a 9-4 deficit to the Mets into a 16-9 lead, by the way. 

That’s 12 consecutive plate appearances with a hit for Tolbert. That tied him for the MLB record.  

The MLB record for consecutive hits in at-bats is 12, which was done by Johnny Kling in 1902, Pinky Higgins in 1938, Walt Dropo in 1952 and Juan Miranda in 2024. If we made the requirement plate appearances, it’s just Kling and Dropo at 12. And now Tolbert has joined the latter group. 

Tolbert came to the plate again in the ninth inning with a chance to break the record, but he flied out to right field. He was unable to hold it all for himself, but he still made history and became part of the MLB record book.

Tolbert’s batting average this season was .200 before the streak. It is now .396. Gotta love those small-sample jumps.

Further, Tolbert has back-to-back five-hit games. The list of players in MLB history with back-to-back five-hit games isn’t very long. It had previously only happened twice: Hi Myers for the Brooklyn Robins in 1917 and Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente with the 1970 Pirates. Tolbert has joined them with two straight five-hit games. 

What an incredibly unlikely run.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic said Lionel Messi channeled his inner beast to guide Argentina.© AFP

There were more than five hours on the clock and yet Novak Djokovic was still not done. As Centre Court shook, Djokovic’s 11-year-old son, Stefan, watched on with his head in his hands, up way past his bedtime but gripped by what his 39-year-old father was producing. Felix Auger-Aliassime stood over a forehand and sensed his moment to strike, but Djokovic, in a flash, sprang to his right deep behind the baseline, extending the point and the Canadian third seed’s torment. Auger-Aliassime netted and it broke him; the decisive point in the match tiebreak that settled the longest Wimbledon quarter-final ever, a victory that Djokovic ranked as one of his finest on Centre Court.

“These are the moments I still play for,” said Djokovic. If the scoreline – 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (10-4) – was scarcely believable in itself, the sight of Djokovic stretching his limbs and denying the 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime, in five hours and 15 minutes, was sheer madness. It equalled the longest match of Djokovic’s Wimbledon career, eight years on from the 2018 semi-final with Rafael Nadal that was held overnight. Djokovic managed this in one epic, gruelling sitting and just five minutes before the 11pm curfew. When the moment required it, he once again raised his level, booking a semi-final with defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday.

The celebrations were memorable, the victory too – a battle Djokovic prevailed from in front of his children on Centre Court adding to the sweetness. And yet the message afterwards from Djokovic was that he is not done yet. The records – an eighth consecutive Wimbledon semi-final, the 15th of his career – did not matter. “Right now, it’s all business,” Djokovic confirmed. The pursuit of the grand slam record and a 25th title is what fuelled his extraordinary fight and refusal to submit, and yet it is still two rounds away. “I wish it was finals so I don’t need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow,” Djokovic said.

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And there could lie the problem. At this stage of his career, and since the gold medal match against Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Olympics, Djokovic’s finest victories have arrived before the final. Last season, the quarter-finals of grand slams fell in the the sweet spot where Djokovic was fresh enough to compete against younger opponents, but late enough in the tournament where he knew he needed to step it up. He did, in defeating Alcaraz at the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev at the French Open, Flavio Cobolli at Wimbledon and Taylor Fritz at the US Open. Outlasting Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon is another added to the list.

Djokovic, though, arrived at those semi-finals and found that he was physically cooked, unable to recover for the next challenge. The exception came at the Australian Open in January, and was memorable in itself with Djokovic ending Sinner’s reign in Melbourne by beating the world No 1 in five sets. But that followed a different sort of tournament for Djokovic, after his fourth-round opponent Jakub Mensik withdrew and Lorenzo Musetti retired from their quarter-final due to injury while leading by two sets. Djokovic arrived into his semi-final with Sinner fresher, but after he prevailed he still ran into Alcaraz in final, where he eventually ran out of gas.

Djokovic will have an extra day to recover before he plays Sinner on Centre Court on Friday in a rematch of last year’s semi-final. It may prove to be invaluable. “Let’s see. Let’s see,” Djokovic said. “I have an extra day, which is good.” Sinner, by comparison, has won his last four matches in straight-sets and has not been pushed past the three-hour mark since his opening-round scare against Miomir Kecmanovic last week. Djokovic, meanwhile, has only played one match in under three hours. Djokovic may be matching the heroics of fellow 39-year-old Lionel Messi, yet he wished he could play 90-minute matches like him, too.

And it is the brutal reality of sport that there is no trophy for Djokovic for reaching another semi-final, or for Auger-Aliassime for falling just a few points short after more than five hours in one of the greatest matches in Wimbledon history. But in another sense, tonight felt as if the recognition for Djokovic and his latest victory against the younger generation actually could have been enough, with Centre Court rising to its feet for the match tiebreak and this marathon quarter-final. “I still want to go at least one more step further,” he said. “But this was as good as a final for me.”

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There was no doubt, however, that Djokovic, the man who has nothing to prove, once again left behind something special on Centre Court. Even if recent history repeats itself and Djokovic arrives into his semi-final showdown with Sinner spent from his marathon efforts in the previous round, he will always have the roar of Wimbledon as he shone bright yet again on the biggest stage. Then again, there is no Alcaraz on the other side of the draw. This dominant version of Sinner has been beaten once and can be beaten again. Who would rule Djokovic out on the evidence of this unbelievable night.

Egypt ⁠coach ⁠Hossam Hassan said his team was treated unfairly ⁠and “suffered an injustice” in ​the wake of his team’s stunning 3-2 loss to Argentina in a round of 16 match in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Egypt held a 2-0 lead ​until Argentina’s Cristian Romero scored in the 79th minute. Lionel Messi tied it four minutes later and Enzo Fernandez scored the game-winner two minutes into stoppage time.

However, Hassan took issue with referee Francois Letexier on several counts.

Read moreWorld Cup 2026: Messi’s Argentina fight back from brink of defeat to edge Egypt in thriller

Egypt had a goal that had initially put them up ​2-0, but it ‌was disallowed following a VAR review. And the Pharaohs were upset that a hard tackle in the penalty ⁠box late in stoppage time was not reviewed.

“I’m not convinced with this outcome. I’m not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match,” Hassan said. “I would do not want to ‌try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selective wording, and saying hard luck, and so on and ⁠so forth.

“We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice.”

Hassan said Egypt had objected to Letexier being the referee, referring to his “background”. Letexier is from France.

Nine minutes into extra time, Hassan was issued a yellow card after ​objecting to the lack of a VAR review.

“I was just saying this is unfair. I was saying ‌maybe he’s carrying a scar,” Hassan said of their interaction. “Maybe he has something to hide. Whoever has something to hide sometimes fails to hide what he is hiding.”

Hassan vowed not to watch another match during the 2026 World Cup after his team came within minutes of upsetting the defending champions.

Read moreWorld Cup 2026: Switzerland beat Colombia on penalties to set up Argentina quarter-final

“We ‌looked better compared to the reigning champions,” Hassan said. “We were better in everything, but the result, the outcome, was influenced by internal factors on the pitch, inside the game, and external factors ​ahead of the game.

“There seemed to have been pressure exercised from the Argentinian side on the referee that had brought about this outcome.”

As the drama intensified, Letexier issued a red card to one of Hassan’s staff members. By the end of the match, ​Egypt had been issued five yellow cards while Argentina had none.

“Ordinary life, normal life is unfair, OK, but why isn’t there any ​fairness in sports? Within football,” Hassan said.

Despite his team holding a two-goal advantage late into the ​match, Hassan also questioned the noon start time in Atlanta. The only other match of the day was the final round of 16 match between Colombia and Switzerland at 4pm ET in Vancouver.

“I ​dare to say that whoever schedules those matches is someone who doesn’t and has never played football. It has nothing to do with football, because you never schedule a football match for 12pm, at noon,” Hassan said. “At noon you go for a stroll, you go to get some fresh air, to maybe go on a brunch, but you do not go to play football. You do not go onto the ⁠pitch.

“When are the players supposed to eat? Are they supposed to have their meal at 7:30am in order to be capable of playing at noon? Is ⁠this someone trying to outsmart ​everyone else?

“There have been a lot of things to be questioned on and off the pitch. Negative aspects all around. It’s just about credibility, lack of credibility with how things unfolded.

“I’m proud of my players. But we have not received what we deserve.”

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters) 

The Minnesota Vikings’ regular season is less than 10 weeks away, and when the team gets there, the rushing offense is evidently a concern, according to ESPN. The sports media giants sized up the Vikings’ roster, including strengths and weaknesses, on Monday, and Minnesota’s running backs got the unfortunate nod.

It’s true, too. The Vikings made no significant strides to improve the ground attack, except for using a 6th-Round draft pick on Wake Forest’s Demond Claiborne.

Could Demond Claiborne Change the Conversation?

ESPN: Vikings’ Roster Weaknesses = RB

Mike Clay made Minnesota’s top roster deficiency quite clear. He wrote, “Biggest weakness: Running back. It was a bit surprising that Minnesota did little to address this position after its running backs finished 30th in both rushing yards and scrimmage yards last season.”

“Aaron Jones Sr. has been solid throughout his career, but he’s entering his age-31 season and ranked dead last among 65 qualified backs in forced missed tackle rate and elusive rating in 2025, per PFF. Jordan Mason is an effective rusher (career 5.1 YPC) but isn’t a receiving option (28 career receptions). Undersized sixth-rounder Demond Claiborne was the team’s only offseason addition of note.”

On the other hand, Clay called the Vikings’ wide receivers the top roster strength. Perhaps the groups will balance.

The Unit in July

Without early- or mid-round rookie runners like Jonah Coleman or Mike Washington, who were available to the Vikings in the draft, Minnesota will enter training camp with the group:

• Aaron Jones
• Jordan Mason
• Demond Claiborne
• Zavier Scott
• Kejon Owens

Jones and Mason figure to split the RB1 workload — like last year — with Claiborne and Scott battling it out for the RB3 job at training camp and in the preseason. Owens will either make the practice squad or get cut in late August.

In free agency, the Vikings could have explored Travis Etienne (NO), Kenneth Walker III (KC), Rico Dowdle (PIT), Isiah Pacheco (DET), or Kenneth Gainwell (TB) but took the plunge with none, instead re-upping with Jones at a reduced price. He accepted a paycut to stay in Minnesota through the end of 2026.

Other veterans like Najee Harris, Joe Mixon, and Austin Ekeler remain on the open market if injuries rattle Jones or Mason.

The Efficiency Last Year

In 2025, another season when the Vikings publicly announced they would run the ball more, they ranked 15th in Rush EPA and 13th in Rush DVOA. The efficiency passed the test, but Minnesota ranked 19th in rush playcall percentage. In fact, per the DVOA stat, the Vikings ranked 13th-best running the football while calling rush plays the 13th-least.

Therefore, a fix could be simple: commit to running the ball. It’s just that head coach Kevin O’Connell has been unusually reluctant to embrace the theory, probably because he’s a former quarterback who, when in doubt, dials up pass plays.

Thankfully, the rushing frequency spiked in December last season, and Minnesota won five straight games to close out the year. Perhaps O’Connell learned a lesson that will carry over to 2026.

Claiborne as the Big Hope

Claiborne, nicknamed “Lightning,” isn’t your average rookie running back vying for a roster spot this summer. Beyond the cool nickname, his football profile suggests he could be a game-changer. If Claiborne can inject even a fraction of De’Von Achane’s explosive energy into the Minnesota offense, it could elevate the unit to an entirely new level.

The comparisons to Achane are well-founded. Claiborne possesses a similar build and a knack for creating explosive plays. Crucially, he now has the opportunity to work with Frank Smith, who coached Achane in Miami for three years. There’s a tangible connection.

Should the Vikings finally establish a formidable ground game under O’Connell, the impact would be substantial. A dominant running attack would alleviate pressure on the quarterback and punish defenses for overcommitting to Justin Jefferson. The Vikings haven’t employed a dominant running back arguably since 2021 or 2022 when Dalvin Cook was still running wild.

While O’Connell’s play-calling genius is undeniable, he also needs to reveal his ability to construct a winning offense that isn’t solely reliant on the passing game to solve every problem. Claiborne might just be the catalyst that helps him achieve that balance.

Claiborne comps profile somewhere between Achane, Jerick McKinnon, and Nyheim Hines. Fans will begin to get a sense of his style and production in 68 days, when the regular season kicks off.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker