Vinicius Jr commits future to Real Madrid with new six-year deal

Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr has ended months of speculation over his future by signing a new six-year contract with Real Madrid, extending his stay at the Santiago Bernabeu until 2032. afnews.co.za

The 26-year-old confirmed the news with an emotional post on social media, writing: “Eight years at the Bernabeu are too short… Six more years, and then forever.”

Vinicius had entered the final year of his previous contract and had attracted strong interest from Premier League champions Arsenal. However, after negotiations that reportedly lasted around 18 months, Real Madrid convinced one of their biggest stars to commit his long-term future to the club.

The Brazilian has already joined Real Madrid’s pre-season training under new head coach Jose Mourinho, who will be counting on him to play a key role in the club’s plans for the upcoming season.

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Since joining Real Madrid, Vinicius has developed into one of the world’s leading forwards. He has scored 128 goals in 375 appearances across all competitions and has also found the net 13 times in 54 matches for Brazil. During his time in Spain, he has won two UEFA Champions League titles, three La Liga crowns and one Copa del Rey.

Real Madrid’s announcement came on the same day the club confirmed the signing of Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig. The Ivory Coast international, one of the standout young performers at the recent FIFA World Cup, became Madrid’s sixth signing of the summer after Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella and Carlos Espi.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are expected to miss out on one of their other major transfer targets. Reports suggest Rodri, who won the Golden Ball at the recent FIFA World Cup, is leaning towards a move to Barcelona. The Spain midfielder is believed to favour Barcelona’s playing style and the opportunity to reunite with several of his World Cup-winning teammates.

The post Vinicius Jr commits future to Real Madrid with new six-year deal appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.

Darwin [Australia], August 7 (ANI): Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne finds himself extremely optimistic and well-prepared ahead of the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh and feels that runs will flow if he keeps trusting his game.

The two-match series against Bangladesh will start from August 13 onwards, with Tests scheduled at Darwin and Mackay. The tour will witness Labuschagne continue his hunt for a Test century, having not reached the triple figures in the last 20 Tests since his tonne against England in July 2023 at The Oval. Since then, he has made 905 runs in 38 innings at a sub-par average of 26.61, with nine half-centuries and a best score of 90.

The former world number one Test batter is looking to lock down on the number three spot again and believes he is not far away from regaining his touch and is targeting a strong showing during the upcoming home series with Bangladesh.

Speaking as quoted by ICC, Marnus admitted to having been on the “longest break he has had" and that while he has tried to get things in order, he has found himself running out of time to commit to those changes.

“It is certainly very important to start these two Tests well," Labuschagne said.

“When you are on the road playing for probably the last seven or eight years straight, this is the longest break I have had. There have been times where I’ve tried to get things in order, but I just run out of time to fully commit to those small changes."

“It has been really nice to go back and find my best form and what it looks like for me to play at my best. The preparation over the last few weeks here with Australia has been great for that. Hopefully we can see the results off the back of all the hard work," he continued.

While Labuschagne could not find runs in Test cricket, he was more free-flowing in the Sheffield Shield for Queensland, scoring 525 runs in 14 innings at an average of 37.50, with two centuries and a fifty.

He is heading into the series after a below-average ODI run against Pakistan and Bangladesh, managing just one fifty in six innings and overall just 109 runs.

Labuschagne admitted that in recent times, he worried about the volume of runs he would score, but now is more open minded about his game and believes the big scores will come if he trusts his preparation and feels that if he keeps trusting his game, runs will come.

“When you have missed out a few times, you get a little greedy and start searching for runs, and you are not letting the game come to you," Labuschagne added.

“It is really important for me to not get too invested in the runs. We want the runs, but we want the process and that is what I am looking for."

“The runs will come as the journey goes on if I keep trusting my game. I think that is what I did really well through that period that I went really well. I trusted my game, trusted how I went about batting, reading the game and understanding what the team needed from me in that moment. That’s what I’m looking forward to," he continued.

Australia currently sits on top of the World Test Championship standings, while Bangladesh is fourth.

Australia Test squad for Bangladesh: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Series schedule:

First Test: August 13-17, Darwin

Second Test: August 22-26, Mackay. (ANI)

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Indian batters will be keen to fine-tune their skills against spin during a three-day warm-up match against a local Sri Lanka XI at the Nondescripts Cricket Club here on Friday as they gear up for a two-match Test series against the Islanders next week.

Quality spin proved to be India's Achilles Heel against New Zealand and South Africa at home recently, and the challenge will not be any different against Sri Lanka.

The Islanders have a capable unit of tweakers, particularly in home conditions, and thus this warm-up match assumes massive importance for Indian batters ahead of the first Test at Galle on August 15.

Some frontline batters like skipper Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal had started preparations against spin individually at their home facilities before boarding the flight to Colombo, but that cannot really supplant an outing on a Sri Lankan pitch.

The three-day match will give them valuable first-hand idea about local conditions, and it is important because many of them are playing the red-ball format for the first time on these shores.

India's last Test series in Sri Lanka was in 2017, and the team composition has undergone vast changes in the last decade. In fact, only Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in this squad have appeared in Test matches in Sri Lanka.

In the absence of an injured Jasprit Bumrah, pacer Mohammed Siraj will be India's bowling lead with support coming from Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain.

This largely inexperienced bowling lineup, except Siraj and Kuldeep, will be eager to bowl on a Lankan pitch once again. Both Brar and Jain had very good outings for India A against Sri Lanka A last month at Galle, and they will be raring to have another round of practice under their belt.

Head Coach Gautam Gambhir emphasised on this point. "We know what is in front of us. We can do volume, we can push our limits, we can tick all the boxes and come 15th morning whether we are batting first or bowling first we will be absolutely ready with every answer to every question thrown at us.

"So make sure to tick all the boxes from now on," Gambhir exhorted his wards in a video posted by BCCI. However, intermittent rain is predicted to lash the city from Friday and that may jeopardise India's designs.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also announced a strong SLC XI that contained some frontrunners to make it to the Test squad. Led by Sonal Dinusha, who has played three Tests for SL, the squad features pacers Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara and spinners Isitha Wijesundara and Ramesh Mendis.

Team (from)

India: Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sai Sudharsan*, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi.

SLC XI: Nishan Madushka, Ravindu Rashantha, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Pavan Rathnayake, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Sonal Dinusha (Captain), Anjala Bandara (wk), Nipun Dananjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Asanka Manoj, Isitha Wijesundara, Ramesh Mendis, Kesara Nuwantha, Dilum Sudeera.

Match starts at 10am.

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Indians vs Sri Lanka XI: Team India’s injury woes are continuing to pile on ahead of the first Test of two-match series against Sri Lanka beginning at Galle on August 15. The visitors are already missing the services of Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy due to injuries while batter Sai Sudharsan is yet to join the squad in Sri Lanka. In what will be huge blow for Team India, captain Shubman Gill has joined this injury list on Friday.

On Day 1 of their three-day warm-up game against Sri Lanka XI, Gill was missing from Indians playing 11 with vice-captain KL Rahul coming out to lead the side. The Indian skipper has picked up a finger injury after being hit on his fingers while fielding in the slips.

Gill picked up the niggle during a training session at Nondescripts Cricket Club ground on Thursday and as result, KL Rahul is leading the side in his absence. SLC XI led by Sonal Dinusha won the toss and opted to bat in the three-day practice game.

“Captain Shubman Gill sustained an impact injury to his right ring finger during India’s practice on Thursday. As a precautionary measure, he will not take the field on Day 1 of the warm-up game against SLC XI. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress,” the BCCI posted on its ‘X’ handle. “KL Rahul will lead the team in Gill’s absence.”

Update: Captain Shubman Gill sustained an impact injury to his right ring finger during India’s practice on Thursday. As a precautionary measure, he will not take the field on Day 1 of the warm-up game against SLC XI. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress.

KL Rahul… https://t.co/Mzu2yW4OgX

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 7, 2026

It remains to be seen if Gill be able to come out and bat on Days 2 and 3 on Saturday and Sunday as the Indians are expected to do majority of the batting after bowling first on the opening day. Sai Sudharsan, who is dealing with a toe niggle and is currently in Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) is yet to join the squad in Sri Lanka. According to media reports, Sudharsan is expected to arrive in Colombo on Saturday.

Bumrah has already been ruled out of the series with a knee injury and was replaced by Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi in the squad. “It becomes a little difficult that you come to the ground on the morning and you come to know a player has a niggle, then it’s almost like do you want to take a chance. Some player is 80 per cent fit, you are playing with five bowlers and if this player comes out after bowling five overs, then who will bowl? This is difficult. So as a group we need improved our fitness and all those things,” Gill had said during the ODI series in England last month.

India are touring Sri Lanka for a two-Test series, starting at Galle on August 15. The second Test will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground from August 23.

Montevideo [Uruguay], August 7 (ANI): Uruguay football legend Diego Forlan returns to the national set-up as the head coach of the senior national teams and the under-20 sides.

Forlan, who is best known for representing Uruguay from 2002-14 and clubs like Manchester United, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan, is one of the most important figures of his country’s football history. He comes to the setup after the team’s group stage finish in the FIFA World Cup, where the two-time champions failed to win a match, marking their worst performance in the tournament’s history.

A statement from the Uruguayan Football Association said, “The Uruguayan Football Association announces the return of Diego Forlan to the Uruguayan National Team. One of the most important figures in the history of La Celeste begins a new chapter: he will be the head coach of both the Under-20 and Senior National Teams."

“Forlan returns to where he left an indelible mark. A role model, icon, and emblem of an unforgettable generation, the best player of the 2010 South Africa World Cup returns now to contribute his experience, leadership, and profound knowledge of international football from a technical position," the statement added.

Forlan represented Uruguay in 112 matches, scoring 36 goals and capturing the Copa America 2011 with them and playing a crucial role in their fourth-place finish in the 2010 FIFA World Cup with five goals.

Forlan will begin working immediately with the under-20 team. There, he will lead a project aimed at developing young talent, supporting their growth, and strengthening their path to the senior national team. He will work with Santiago Espasandin and Diego Perez as assistant coaches, Marco Mansulino as physical trainer, Ignacio Bordad as goalkeeping coach, and Gabriel Skrilec as video analyst.

His first challenge at the helm of the senior national team will come during the September-October international window, when Uruguay plays its FIFA friendly matches. It will mark the beginning of a new era, with one of its greatest idols once again at the helm. (ANI)

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