Michael

Yeah, I found this out when Philipp Max first started impressing everyone at Augsburg during the 2016/17 season. Philipp also started his career at Schalke, the club where his dad Martin Max really made a name for himself. However, what I have only just found out a few minutes ago, is that Martin Max was born in Poland, and is a part of the ethnic German community that has lived in Poland for a very long time. His family migrated to Germany from Poland when he was a kid. Martin Max was then given German citizenship and actually has one international cap to his name for Germany, making his debut for Germany in 2002 against Argentina. But in general, it really great that Germany and many other European countries recognise peoples ancestry and make them eligible for German citizenship if such people can prove that they have German ancestors. In the UK, the rules were much more limited for those with British grandparents, let alone British ancestors.

I just read of his loan to Man Utd online. Sabitzer should be a good addition to their midfield. ten Hag has made some good deals recently for Man Utd.

Another player that ten Hag has his eyes on is the veteran German forward Marco Reus. ten Hag is seemingly looking to bring in some experienced players that don't cost too much, but who can make a serious impact. He has already brought in Dutch centre-forward Wout Weghorst on loan from Burnley and now it seems like Reus is the next player he wants at United.

Two fans have died and 83 fans have been injured in a stampede to enter Basra stadium that will host the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup between Iraq and Oman. This years Gulf Cup is the first time Iraq has hosted an international football tournament for decades, due to the turmoil that Iraq has experienced over the past 30 years or so. Iraqi fans from all over Iraq, with many apparently without tickets for the final, flocked to try and get into the stadium. Many have been reported to have camped outside the stadium from yesterday, in order to attend the final that takes place today. The Gulf Cup, which is a regional tournament has seen Iraq reach the final and it's the first time Iraq has reached the final of a football tournament since Iraq won the Asian Cup in 2007. The deaths from this stampede are very sad and unfortunate, while some of the injured have sustained very serious injuries. Iraq: Two dead and dozens injured after 'stampede' outside football stadium | Metro News

I am staying up to watch the Gervonta Davis v Hector Garcia fight. Many people think this will be another straightforward win for Davis, but Hector Garcia is the toughest opponent he has fought yet. Hector Garcia is an extremely tough fighter, who outclassed and beat the previously unbeaten and well respected boxer Chris Colbert not too long ago. I think that Davis has to be very focussed if he wants to win this fight. Davis was arrested only last week for allegations that he assaulted his girlfriend, but he has of course now been released. But being arrested is hardly the best preparation for a fight like this. Also if Davis beats Hector Garcia, he will face the mouth watering prospect of fighting the elite boxer, Ryan Garcia next. Davis has to completely get the thought of the fight against Ryan Garcia out of his head and put all his focus in defeating Hector Garcia. Davis should find Hector Garcia a very tough opponent, although the power in Davis's punches, is always the weapon that usually helps him win fights. But as I said, Hector Garcia is his toughest opponent to date, so it should be a very interesting contest. I've always been a big fan of Lomachenko, who was the undisputed best lightweight boxer a few years ago. But now there is a new crop of young crop of highly talented American boxers who have come onto the scene and proven themselves over the past couple of years or so. Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney have all proven themselves to be elite boxers in the lightweight division. So Lomachenko has his work cut out against these young Americans, but such is Lomachenko's talent, he has the potential to beat all of them. After dominating the lightweight division, Lomachenko surprisingly lost to Teofimo Lopez in 2020. Lopez himself another top fighter, was also undefeated going into the fight. But Lomachenko later revealed that he had a shoulder injury when he lost to Lopez and Lomachenko had surgery done after the fight against Lopez. Lomachenko said that the injury affected his performance in that fight and I tend to believe him. In any event, it will be good to watch Gervonta Davis fight in a few hours against a very competent opponent in Hector Garcia. Davis will want to win at all costs, to set up the enticing potential prospect of fighting Ryan Garcia later this year. Now that will be an even greater fight, but lets not jump the gun just yet. Gervonta has to pass today's test first.

Martina Navratilova: Tennis legend diagnosed with throat and breast cancer - BBC Sport I hope she makes a full recovery.

Is this really going to change anything? Lukashenko and his regime have as much blood on their hands as the Russian hierarchy that support this war. In reality, Belarus have been involved in this war from the start.

I want to watch the Dilian Whyte fight after the Argentina match. Any idea how good his opponent is? I've never seen Jermaine Franklin fight before.

I really hope that Germany start Goretzka instead of Gundogan in their next match. Kimmich and Goretzka play great together in Bayern's midfield, Germany should utilise their talent and understanding for their own midfield. Goretzka has been in excellent form this season for Bayern.

Is Freiburg's Grifo one of the most underrated players? Grifo put in a man of the match performance yesterday for Italy against Albania in Tirana. Grifo scored 2 goals and ensured a 3-1 win for the Italians. Grifo nearly always plays well for Freiburg, and he has put in some excellent performances in the 7 matches he has played for Italy, scoring 4 goals. Yet at 29, I would have expected him to have played more for Italy and at least played at a World Cup or a Euros. Fair enough, Italy have failed to qualify for the last 2 World Cups, but I would have still expected Grifo to have played more for Italy over the years. He wasn't selected for Italy's Euro 2020 team either, being dropped from the squad just before the tournament commenced. Moreover, with all due respect to Freiburg, I would have expected him to be playing for a much stronger team by now. He could easily perform well in any elite team around the world in my opinion.

I'd definitely have Kimmich and Goretzka in midfield, instead of Gundogan. The Bayern duo play week in, week out together, Germany have to capitalise on their quality and their excellent understanding on the pitch. I pretty much agree with the team you've selected. Except I'd have Muller or Musiala just behind Fullkrug, instead of Havertz. Havertz hasn't been in great form this season, so I think he will struggle to start for Germany, given the strong competition. I also have always had a soft spot for Neuer, so I'd still choose him over the in form Ter Stegen.

Well, Germany really struggled in their final warm up game before the World Cup against Oman. Germany had most of the possession as expected, but the Oman national team created several dangerous chances, they cut open the German defence on a regular basis. It was only poor finishing from the Omanis or last-ditch blocks by German defenders, that prevented Oman from scoring. Germany created chances of their own, but it was only until the 80th minute, that Germany managed to open the scoring, through the on form Fullkrug. But Oman put in a spirited performance and will be a somewhat disappointed with the final result, given their performance. For Germany, I think that the big-name players need to step up to the mark more. The German national team is full of excellent talent, in fact I'd say that in terms of names, this is one of the most talented German teams in years, but the players need to live up to their potential on the big stage. I think that Fullkrug is now undoubtedly going to be Germany's main striker. He has had an excellent season so far with Werder Bremen, he scored the winning goal against Oman and I think we can expect plenty more goals from him at the World Cup. But other players, like the Bayern contingent of Sane, Gnabry, Muller, Musiala, Goretzka and Kimmich, all need to show the world, their actual quality. On paper, there is little doubt that Germany have the strength and ability to win this World Cup, but they have to deliver with their performances and show their fans how much it means to represent the German national team.

Bayern put out a strong lineup today, with many of these players heading to the World Cup, but they still gave it their all and earned another important win for Bayern. RB Leipzig are trying to challenge the Bavarians, but it looks like it will probably be another title for Bayern come the end of the season.

Group A-- Spain should probably win the group, with either Scotland or an improved Norway team finishing 2nd to qualify alongside Spain. Georgia and Cyprus can be stubborn opponents on their day for the stronger teams in this group, but they are no way as strong as Spain, Scotland and Norway. Group B-- France and the Netherlands should definitely qualify from this group, although Ireland and Greece could provide some tough matches for them. Gibraltar will almost certainly lose all their matches in this group and likely concede many goals in every match that they play. Group C-- England and Italy will be favourites to qualify, but Ukraine should provide very stiff competition for the 2 qualifying places that are up for grabs. North Macedonia are strong at home, but don't have anywhere near the quality that the top 3 teams in this group possess. While Malta are the whipping boys of this group. Group D-- Croatia and Wales should qualify pretty comfortably from this group. Turkey are perhaps the next strongest side in this group, but I don't think they've got enough strength to threaten the current Croatian and Welsh national teams. Armenia and Latvia are very unlikely to trouble Croatia and Wales, although they could prove testing opposition for Turkey. Group E-- Again, Poland and the Czech Republic should win this group quite easily. Albania are the only other side in this group that could potentially be awkward for Poland and the Czech Republic, but really Albania do not have the quality players that the top 2 teams in this group have. The Faroe Islands and Moldova will very likely both finish in the bottom 2 places of the group, as they are really too weak to pose any real trouble for Poland, the Czech Republic and even Albania. Group F-- This will be a competitive battle for all of Belgium, Sweden and Austria to qualify. Belgium will be the slight favourites, but Sweden and Austria are both very strong national teams who should make this very competitive. So, any of those 3 sides could potentially finish in the top 2 positions in this group. Azerbaijan and Estonia who make the other 2 teams in this group are likely to occupy the bottom 2 places in this group, as they will lose most of their matches. Group G-- Hungary and Serbia will almost certainly qualify from this group. Hungary have proven themselves to be a really strong national side in recent years and they have beaten some of the best teams in Europe. As for Serbia, they have the talent to qualify alongside the Hungarians. Montenegro and Bulgaria are not as strong as they used to be and shouldn't pose much of threat to Hungary or Serbia, while Lithuania are more than likely going to finish bottom of this group. Group H-- Denmark should win this group, while I am tipping Slovenia to finish 2nd in the group, ahead of Finland. Finland are the 2nd seeds for this group, but I feel that Slovenia have the talent to perhaps finish above the Finns in this group. Northern Ireland and Kazakhstan will be tough opponents for both Slovenia and Finland though, so we could have some interesting results in this group. However, we can't expect many surprise results from San Marino, as they are almost certainly going to lose all their matches and lose heavily in these matches at that. Group I-- Switzerland should win this group pretty easily. I think Romania could potentially finish 2nd in the group, just ahead of Israel. Belarus and Kosovo could test Romania and Israel, but they still seem a little bit weaker than Romania and Israel. Andorra are the weakest team in this group and will certainly finish bottom. Group J-- Portugal look like they will win this group, while any one national team from Bosnia, Slovakia or Iceland could finish in 2nd place. As for Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, they are clearly the 2 weakest teams in the group and we can expect them to finish in 5th and 6th place in this group.

Bloody hell, Ukraine have been drawn in perhaps one of the hardest groups, with both England and Italy to contend with. North Macedonia should be beaten both home and away really, but they could perhaps get some shock results against England, Italy and Ukraine respectively. However, all those 3 teams will want to try and get maximum points in their matches against North Macedonia. Malta are there to be thrashed by the big teams, where goal difference could be a factor in deciding who qualifies for the Euros.

Not great results for Bayern Munich in their last few Bundesliga games, but I am sure Bayern will bounce back to winning ways after the international break.

I hope Everton have a better season than they did last season. So far they've played very well defensively, not conceding many goals. But offensively, they've struggled to score many goals, with only 5 Premier League goals in 7 Premier League matches. The fact that it is much harder to score against them though compared to last season, suggests that they should have a fairly decent season.

I think Southgate has a very tough task choosing who he is going to take to the World Cup and who he is going to leave behind. I believe England will give another good showing at the World Cup, but I don't think we will win it, despite the fact that we were so close to winning the Euros last summer.

Joyce Knocks out Parker with a left hook in the 11th round. Parker fell to the canvas and he couldn't beat the count. This is the first time that Parker has ever lost by knockout. Great win by Joyce, he looks like the dark horse of the heavyweight division right now.

Watching Joyce v Parker and Joyce looks like he has the upper hand. Both top heavyweights but Joyce has been that bit better.

Another bad result for England, losing 1-0 to Italy, but it wasn't as bad as the 4 nil drubbing England got at the hands of Hungary in Wolverhampton. England created more chances than the Italians did in Milan, but their finishing was sub-par. In the end, it was a super goal by Raspadori that undid England. I think England really need to stop employing the offside trap too much, it's a risky tactic and Italy beat the offside trap one or two times yesterday, which could have been even more costly for England.

Bobby Robson was indeed a legend of a manager and a real gentleman off the pitch. You could always feel how much passion he had for the game and he always had players best interests at heart. Asking about Gazza's performance in that tribute game was touching. But I couldn't quite understand what Gazza said in this clip, something like "He was always SOMETHING ...werent he." In any case, Bobby Robson was a great manager and he will always be fondly remembered.

Another possible issue is that the Fury team and Warren are looking to get this fight set for sometime in November, which I think is a little too soon for Joshua after his huge fight against Usyk on the 20th of August. Joshua clearly needs more rest and more preparation time to be ready for another huge fight.

Well, maybe there aren't that many people who live to their 90's in Russia, but it's become very common in the West. Gorbachev though ruled at a critical period of Soviet history. There are many people who hold him responsible for the demise and the fall of the Soviet Union. I was reading an article about him several months ago and knowing his age, I knew he wouldn't have much longer to live. Still, it's a sad moment when such a prominent former political leader passes away.

Last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev dies at 91 - BBC News RIP Gorbachev