FIFA World Cup 2026: “To beat Uruguay we need to improve,” says Spain…

Zapopan [Mexico], June 26 (ANI): Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has described his side’s upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 Group H encounter against Uruguay as an important fixture, while also underlining the focus and intensity within the Spanish camp ahead of Friday’s (local time) clash.

Speaking ahead of the high-stakes fixture, De la Fuente stressed that his team’s immediate focus remains solely on Uruguay.

“The only match of the World Cup for us is the one against Uruguay. Later on, we’ll talk about it". All my players have been and will continue to be important in this championship," Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente said. lebandit.lat

He also highlighted Spain’s consistency in playing style and the importance of sticking to their footballing philosophy.

“The best news for us is that Spain is recognisable in the style we’ve been developing for years. Tomorrow we’re going to try to minimise the rival’s options and stay true to our idea," the Spain head coach added.

De la Fuente also spoke highly of Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa, acknowledging his influence and innovation in football.

“I have a great affection for Marcelo Bielsa from his time at Athletic. He has been very innovative. I’ve learned so much from him and I declare myself an admirer. He gets a lot out of his teams," he said.

Expressing gratitude towards supporters, the Spain coach thanked fans in Mexico for their warm reception during the tournament.

“We have felt a lot of warmth from the Mexican fans both in Puebla and in Guadalajara. Thank you very much to the Mexican people for their affection. Tomorrow we play the most important match of the World Cup," Luis de la Fuente said.

Looking ahead to the contest, he acknowledged the challenge posed by Uruguay’s quality and depth.

“Rivals will increasingly demand more and better performance from us. “To beat Uruguay we need to improve. They have very important players playing in major leagues. It’s going to be a tough match and a tough rival," he said.

De la Fuente also expressed satisfaction with Spain’s preparations and squad readiness.

“I’m very pleased with the performance of my players. We’re having a fantastic level of training. “I have the confidence that whoever comes out will do well," the Spain head coach said.

Spain sit top of the table with four points, and they know a win will seal first place, but though Uruguay are second, they need at least a point to be sure of their own progress to the Round of 32, with the fairytale side of Cape Verde still in with a chance of qualifying as group winners. (ANI)

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It needed Carlo Ancelotti’s dry humour to put Neymar’s injury concerns into perspective. “If my grandfather had wheels, he would be a car,” he quipped at a media briefing a few days ago, when repeatedly asked about the ifs and buts of the calf problem that kept Neymar out of Brazil’s first two matches.

Yet there is little doubt that Neymar’s cameo against Scotland has raised more questions than answers.

For the best part of a decade and a half, the greatest figures in Brazilian football have championed Neymar’s cause. Even when the likes of Roberto Rivellino and Zico questioned his off-field activities and perceived lack of diligence compared to Lionel Messi or Ronaldo, they frequently insisted that he was the most naturally gifted footballer of his generation. Endorsement even came from Tostão, who played alongside Pelé in Brazil’s iconic 1970 World Cup-winning team.

Now, however, many of those same legends are questioning whether starting Neymar is the right call ahead of Brazil’s tricky Round-of-32 encounter against Japan.

Before Neymar was selected for the World Cup squad in March, Zico had argued that the forward needed a “10-match test” with Santos to prove both his fitness and his readiness for international football. That never happened.

Both Zico and Tostão are also of the opinion that Endrick should continue to be given opportunities in the bigger games. Zico, in particular, has highlighted Endrick’s directness and ability to take on defenders as qualities Brazil have often lacked in recent years.

The crowd in Miami, during the match against Scotland, left nobody in any doubt about where public sentiment lies. Neymar’s introduction was greeted with perhaps the loudest ovation of the tournament so far. But Ancelotti is unlikely to be swayed by emotion.

He would have noticed that Rayan’s relentless pressing forced the error that led to Brazil’s opening goal against Scotland. Would Neymar be capable of producing the same intensity? It seems unlikely.

With the other attacking positions effectively secured by Vinícius Júnior and Matheus Cunha, it will be fascinating to see where Neymar fits into this Brazil side, if he fits at all.

When Ancelotti took charge after Brazil’s 4-1 defeat away to Argentina in World Cup qualifier, one of the first things he said was that Brazil had talented individuals but lacked balance as a team.

Although he has often preferred a 4-2-4 system in the past, asking Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães to patrol midfield as a pair would leave Brazil too vulnerable defensively. That is why Lucas Paquetá has returned to create a midfield three. When Brazil are out of possession, Cunha frequently drops deeper to provide an additional body in midfield.

It is this balance that has made Brazil a far more cohesive and dangerous side during the World Cup, and it is a balance Ancelotti is unlikely to disrupt, particularly against a Japanese side blessed with pace on the counter-attack and technical quality.

For Neymar’s legion of admirers around the world, impactful cameos from the bench may prove to be as good as it gets at this World Cup.

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The first T20I match between Team India and Ireland is scheduled to be played on Friday at the Stormont Cricket Ground in Belfast.

The "Men in Blue" will enter the clash under the leadership of newly appointed T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer. The right-handed batsman will be eager to deliver a big performance after being trusted by Team India's think tank.

Ahead of the match, Team India's all-rounder Shivam Dube will look to accomplish a new feat for the "Men in Blue" in the shortest format of the game. He is falling short of just nine runs to achieve the feat of completing 1000 runs for Team India.

So far, the burly all-rounder has accumulated 991 runs in 64 appearances in the T20Is for India. With the highest score of 66 runs, he has also registered six half-centuries in the format.

Additionally, cricket fans will be excited to see teen superstar Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The swashbuckling left-handed batsman will make his debut in T20 Internationals for India. He has been a promising talent and has showcased consistency in white-ball cricket. It will be interesting to see if he tastes success in his debut match by opening the innings along with explosive batsman Abhishek Sharma.

Rajasthan Royals' (RR) opening batsman Sooryavanshi, who was the top run-getter in the concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 with 776 runs, hammered 211 runs in the recent tri-series in Sri Lanka with an impressive strike-rate of 200.95.

Earlier, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out of the upcoming white-ball tours of Ireland and England. He will not participate in both series due to the left quadriceps injury that he sustained during the third ODI match against Afghanistan.

Mumbai's Suryansh Shedge has been named Reddy's replacement.

IND vs IRE 1st T20I: Full squads

India: Sanju Samson (WK), Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Suryansh Shedge, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Ireland: George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny (WK), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (C) (WK), Gareth Delany, Ben Calitz, Tim Tector, Ross Adair, Matthew Humphreys, Gavin Hoey, Liam McCarthy, Reuben Wilson, Jai Moondra, Matthew Hollard.

Riding on Shafali Verma’s quickfire 53 off 34 balls and spinner Radha Yadav’s 3-28, India beat Bangladesh by five wickets in a Women’s T20 World Cup match here on Thursday.

Batting first, Bangladesh posted 136-8 before India chased down the target with 19 balls to spare. Earlier, India’s abysmal fielding in the tournament thus far hit a new low India, who lost to South Africa largely due to their poor fielding, dropped as many as four catches in the Powerplay. All the four chances were rather straightforward but the fielders made a mess of them.

Shafali Verma during her 53. PICS/BCCI

Among the guilty were Nandni Sharma, Yastika Bhatia and Radha, who had grassed two chances in the loss to South Africa in the previous game. The biggest beneficiary of India’s indiscipline was Juairiya Ferdous (33), who was dropped thrice by the fifth over.

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A fluent century from Sai Sudharsan and unbeaten fifties from skipper Dhruv Jurel and Shaik Rasheed put India ‘A’ firmly in control at 333-4 on Day One of the unofficial Test series against Sri Lanka ‘A’ here on Thursday.

Electing to bat, India ‘A’ piled up a big score at stumps, with Sudharsan laying the foundation with a classy 132 before skipper Jurel (68 not out) and Rasheed (53 not out) carried the momentum.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever