Tag Archives: ACL

Neymar Reportedly ThisClose to Return One Year After Shock Injury

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Neymar may be getting back in the game soon…

The 32-year-old Brazilian professional footballer, who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and the Brazil national team, has made significant improvement on his knee recovery and could be fit to play on October 21, per ESPN sources.

NeymarNeymar has been sidelined for a year since sustaining a torn ACL and meniscus in his left knee while on international duty with Brazil.

Neymar returned to train with Al Hilal on September 29. People closely monitoring Neymar’s progress believe the player could return to play in time for Al Hilal’s Asian Champions League game at Al Ain on October 21.

Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus will have the final say on when Neymar will return to action.

However, he’ll first need the approval of Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar, who carried out Neymar’s surgery.

Lasmar is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to evaluate the player’s fitness.

Neymar, who is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer, joined the Saudi Pro League side in August 2023 from Paris Saint-Germain but played just five games before getting hurt.

Brazil’s Football Confederation is monitoring the situation closely and is hopeful of having Neymar available in time for the November World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Uruguay.

Catarina Macario Scores First Women’s Super League Goal in Chelsea Debut

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Catarina Macario has returned with a vengeance…

In her return from an ACL injury that had kept her out of the game since her former club team Lyon‘s final game of the 2021-22 campaign, the 24-year-old Brazilian soccer player scored a goal in her Chelsea debut.

Catarina MacarioMacario had originally hoped to be back sooner, but ended up missing more than 20 months, including the USWNT‘s participation in the Women’s World Cup in 2023.

But Macario, who plays internationally for the United States, wasn’t the only player to score her first Women’s Super League goals for Chelsea.

Nathalie Björn and Mayra Ramírez also netted goals for Chelsea as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday to go back to the top of the table, above Manchester City on goal difference.

Sweden defender Bjorn, who joined the Blues from Everton in January, broke the deadlock in the 38th minute after Leicester failed to clear a corner, hooking a shot back across the goal and over the head of keeper Lize Kop to make it 1-0.

Ramirez, another January arrival, added the second in the 44th minute with a brilliant solo effort, winning the ball in her own half and running half the length of the field before coolly rounding Kop and slotting the ball home.

Winger Johanna Rytting Kaneryd added a third before the Brazil-born Macario came off the bench to round out the scoring.

Chelsea moved back to the summit on 37 points thanks to a three-goal cushion over Manchester City, who beat Everton 2-1 on Saturday.

David Silva Announces Retirement Following Knee Injury

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David Silva is saying farewell to the game…

The 37-year-old Spanish professional footballer and Manchester City legend  has announced his retirement from professional football, days after suffering a knee injury.

David SilvaSilva had planned to continue his career at Real Sociedad but an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury picked up in preseason threatened to keep him out for most of next season and pushed him to change his plans.

“Today is a sad day for me,” Silva said in a video message posted to social media. “Today is a time to say goodbye to what I have dedicated my whole life to. I’m going to miss you. Thank you for making me feel at home.”

Silva began his career at Valencia, where he made 168 appearances and lifted the Spanish Cup, but his prime came at Manchester City, who he joined in 2010 and went on to become a club legend.

The creative midfielder was a crucial part of the Manchester City side that lifted the club’s first 2011-12 Premier League title on the final day of the season. He won three further Premier League titles at City, the final two coming under Pep Guardiola.

A statue of Silva now stands outside the club’s Etihad Stadium alongside former teammates Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero.

Silva left City in 2020 after making 436 appearances and returned to LaLiga in a move to Real Sociedad, again winning the Spanish Cup.

At international level, he played a part in the legendary Spain squad that won the 2010 World Cup, as well as back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012.

Kali Uchis to Perform at This Year’s Austin City Limits Festival

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Kali Uchis is reaching her (city) limit(s)…

The 28-year-old half-Colombian American singer/songwriter has been added to this fall’s Austin City Limits lineup.

Kali UchisThe 22nd annual event at Austin’s Zilker Park will take place over two weekends — October 6-8 and October 13-15 — and also feature performances from Hozier, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Maggie Rogers, Labrinth, Cigarettes After Sex, Niall Horan, Tove Lo and Thirty Seconds to Mars, among others.

Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, Shania Twain (weekend one only), The Lumineers, Odesza, Alanis Morissette and The 1975 (weekend two only) will headline this fall’s Austin City Limits festival.

In a release announcing the nine-stage fest, organizers noted that this year’s diverse lineup includes 45% female performers, LGBTQ+ artists, allies and icons as well as a number of Latin stars, including Ivan Cornejo, Kevin Knaarl, Eddie Zuko and others.

Three-day tickets for both weekends are on sale here with layaway plans available starting at $25 down and, new for this year, a promise of no surprise fees at checkout.

One-day general admission tickets, one-day Ga+ tickets and one-day tickets will be available at a later date. GA ticket holders will have a new experience this year, with premium cocktails for sale on bar menus throughout the festival and GA+ tickets including a full-service bar with preferred pricing for all beer, seltzers, wine and cocktails.

ACL’s focus on homegrown Texas talent will continue this year, with acts including The Mars Volta, Tanya Tucker, Ben Kweller, d4dv, Jimmy Vaughn, Asleep at the Wheel, Penny & Sparrow, Randall King, Abraham Alexander, Angel White, BigXThaPlug and many more.

Hulu will be back as the official streaming partner for the fest, with three days of select live performances, interviews and more available during weekend one; a full broadcast lineup and schedule will be announced at a later date.

ther acts slated to perform at this year’s ACL include: Noah Kahan, Lil Yachty, Mt. Joy, The Revivalists, Portugal. The Man, Death Grips, M83, Rina Sawayama, Tash Sultana, Coi Leray, Glorilla, Little Simz, Chromeo, Tegan and Sara, The Breeders, The Walkmen, Suki Waterhouse, Morgan Wade, Jessie Ware and many more.

Alexia Putellas Crowned FIFA’s The Best Women’s Player for Second Year in a Row

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Alexia Putellas is celebrating a second consecutive honor…

The 29-year-old Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Barcelona has been crowned FIFA‘s The Best Women’s Player for the second year in a row, seeing off competition from Beth Mead and Alex Morgan for the award.

Alexia PutellasPutellas claimed the prize at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, with Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi taking the men’s award.

The Barca midfielder becomes the first woman to win the accolade twice since it launched in 2016, with Carli Lloyd, Lieke Martens, Marta, Megan Rapinoe and Lucy Bronze all one-time winners.

She also became the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or Feminin twice in October 2022, finishing ahead of Mead and Sam Kerr.

The Best Women’s Coach award went to Sarina Wiegman, who led England to the title at the Women’s European Championship, and Mary Earps, who played in net for the Lionesses at the tournament, picked up Best Goalkeeper honors.

Putellas has not played since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee while on Spain duty in July. FIFA’s award only takes into account last season.

“The accolade recognizes the most outstanding performers in the women’s game from the period of Aug. 7 2021 to July 31 2022,” the organization said.

During that time, Putellas captained Barca to a third successive Primera Division title. The Catalan side made history by winning all 30 of their league games throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

She also led the Blaugrana to success in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa de la Reina to complete a domestic treble, although they came up short in the Champions League. Putellas’ goal in the final — her 11th in the competition last season — was not enough to stop French side Lyon from beating Barcelona 3-1 in Turin.

There was hope that success with Spain would follow at the European Championship in England, but she was ruled out of the tournament after injuring her ACL in training just days before La Roja‘s first game.

She has not played since, but Barca recently published a video of her doing some work with a ball on the training pitch, hinting that she could return to action before the end of the season.

Arsenal forward Mead, who starred as England won the Euros and is also sidelined with an ACL injury. She joined San Diego Wave‘s Morgan on the final shortlist and finished behind Putellas.

Mead won the Golden Boot and player of the tournament at Euro 2022 last summer, while Morgan was the National Women’s Soccer League‘s leading scorer with 15 goals in just 17 appearances.

Morgan also scored the winner as the United States beat Canada in the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship final — a competition in which she finished as joint-top scorer and player of the tournament — as she became the 13th USWNT player to pass 200 caps.

Adrian Quesada & Black Pumas to Perform at This Year’s Austin City Limits Festival

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Adrian Quesada is takin’ it to the Limits…

The 44-year-old Latino Grammy-winning guitarist and producer and singer/songwriter Eric Burton’s Black Pumas will be performing at this year’s Austin City Limits festival.

Adrian Quesada, Black Pumas

The event will be taking pace over two weekends, October 1-3 and October 8-10 at Austin’s Zilker Park.

Headlining this year’s two-weekend festival are George Strait, Billie Eilish and Stevie Nicks.

In addition to Quesada’s Black Pumas, top billing honors at ACL Fest 2021 also go to Miley Cyrus, Rüfüs Du Sol, DaBaby, Erykah Badu, Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat.

Three-day tickets are on sale now at aclfestival.com.

This year’s lineup features standout talent including Modest Mouse, Phoebe Bridgers, Jack Harlow, Jon Pardi, Finneas, Chet Faker (Weekend One), Sofia Valdes, La Doña, Dermot Kennedy, Tierra Whack, Tanya Tucker (Weekend One), Omar Apollo, Trixie Mattel (Weekend Two) and much more.

Homegrown Texans include St. Vincent (Weekend One), Marc Rebillet, Surfaces, Dayglow, Missio, Charley Crockett, Heartless Bastards (Weekend Two) and Asleep at the Wheel (Weekend One).

“Music is coming back strong to the Live Music Capital of the World,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler. “The return of Austin City Limits as an in-person festival celebrates that our efforts as a community to become vaccinated are working. Health and safety remain our top priority, and we will work closely with the organizers and Austin Public Health to ensure ACL Fest is in line with our health standards. We must continue to get everyone vaccinated and keep up our success.”

ACL Fest organizers are in regular communication with local health and public safety officials and will follow current recommendations and guidelines at the time of the festival. As the weekends approach, ACL Fest patrons will receive regular updates with important information regarding safety policies and procedures before entering Zilker Park. ACL Fest will partner with the City of Austin and Austin Public Health to encourage vaccination in the months prior to the festival.

“Austin City Limits 2021 is a result of successful vaccine efforts and more than a year’s worth of protection measures,” said Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott. “Taking the shot is our shot at getting things back to normal and we envision this happening before October if we stay the course as a community.”

Zilker Park has been the home of the Austin City Limits Music Festival for two decades. Since 2006, ACL Festival, in partnership with Austin Parks Foundation, has generated more than $41 million towards improvements to Zilker Park and parks across the city. In 2019, through a percentage of ticket sales, fans of ACL Fest contributed $6 million to improving Austin’s public parks, trails and green spaces.

Here’s the full lineup: