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GOAL takes a look at how the U.S. could line up against Canada in the Nations League final.

The U.S. men's national team heads into the Nations League final riding high after their best performance against their fiercest rival in quite some time. To put it lightly, the U.S. took Mexico apart, dominating them all over the field in a straightforward, yet still overly chaotic, win.

In an ideal world, the U.S. would simply run it back in Sunday's final against Canada, deploying the same team to keep the momentum moving. This isn't an ideal world, though, due to that aforementioned chaos.

Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest will both miss the finale after earning straight red cards in the win over Mexico. Neither dismissal has been overly criticized, as both were sent off for matching the passion of the game, but the fact is that the U.S. is now somewhat shorthanded for a big game against a solid Canada team.

Because of that, B.J. Callaghan has some massive decisions to make in his second game in charge. How does he replace two key players, both of whom were spectacular against El Tri? Does he make any other changes in the XI, potentially at striker or centerback? And how does he balance a midfield that is now without both McKennie and Tyler Adams?

GOAL takes a look at what lineup Callaghan should go with for Sunday night's final!

GettyGK: Matt Turner

No wasting time here; Turner is starting.

He was rarely tested against Mexico, as the USMNT bossed the game, but one would expect Canada to provide a bit more pressure due to their elite-level attackers.

AdvertisementImago ImagesLB: Antonee Robinson

After another solid performance against Mexico, Robinson will almost certainly remain in the XI.

Any slight chance that he'd be benched went out the window when Dest was sent off, as the USMNT's lack of depth at fullback means he'll be in the XI again.

Getty ImagesCB: Miles Robinson

Thursday night's win was exactly the type of performance that showed why, given all he's been through, many remain so convinced by Robinson.

He's all the way back from his horrible Achilles injury, as evidenced by his fantastic effort against Mexico. The Atlanta United star had an answer for everything Mexico threw at him, which is why he should remain in the XI.

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GettyCB: Chris Richards

Why ruin a good thing?

This centerback spot is one that will be up for grabs, with it likely coming down to Richards or Walker Zimmerman. The latter, of course, has the experience edge and will also be well-rested, having only come on for a cameo against Mexico.

But the Richards-Robinson partnership worked really, really well against El Tri, who never really bothered that duo. It's a tough call, for sure, but it seems like a good idea to keep that pairing together as a reward for their solid performance.

City and United account for six of the spots after both teams notched impressive victories against Chelsea and Fulham respectively

Getty Images1Anthony Martial | Manchester UnitedMartial was directly involved in two of Man Utd's three goals against Fulham, scoring one and assisting another.AdvertisementLaurence Griffiths2Sergio Aguero | Manchester CityThe Argentine striker scored with all three of his shots on target against Chelsea, netting his 11th hat-trick in the Premier League.Laurence Griffiths3Raheem Sterling | Manchester CitySterling netted a brace and created two goal-scoring chances in Man City's 6-0 win over Chelsea.ENJOYED THIS STORY?

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Getty4Paul Pogba | Manchester UnitedPogba scored with both of his shots on target against Fulham, netting two of Man Utd's three goals at Craven Cottage.

Victoria wasted little time rumbling to their second consecutive Sheffield Shield title and 30th overall, capitalising on a weakened South Australia attack to wrap up the final in little more than an hour on the last day of the final at Glenelg Oval

The Report by Daniel Brettig30-Mar-2016Victoria 399 (Handscomb 112, Dean 111, White 78, Worrall 6-96) and 3 for 196 (Stoinis 72, Handscomb 61*, Dean 54) beat South Australia 340 (Ross 72, Weatherald 66, Carey 50, Tremain 3-73, Holland 3-86) and 251 (Weatherald 96, Ross 71, Holland 5-76) by 7 wickets
ScorecardVictoria secured the Sheffield Shield for the second successive year•Getty ImagesA season of youthful batsmanship was fittingly sealed by Peter Handscomb and Marcus Stoinis as Victoria wasted little time rumbling to their second consecutive Sheffield Shield title and 30th overall.Capitalising on a weakened South Australia attack to wrap up the final in little more than an hour on the last day of the final at Glenelg Oval, Stoinis and Handscomb played with freedom in sight of the competition finish line, completing a match in which youthful batting talent was writ large across the five days – Cameron White the only batsman over the age of 30 to make a significant score.Centuries for Handscomb and Travis Dean, alongside strong contributions from Jake Weatherald, Alex Ross and Alex Carey, maintained a telling tale of 2015-16, namely the advance of a new generation to the front rank of Shield batsmen. Of the top 10 run-makers in the competition, only George Bailey was into his 30s, a marked contrast to numerous recent summers when the likes of Ricky Ponting, Chris Rogers, Adam Voges and Michael Klinger were dominant.Generational change is working its way through Australian cricket, and the selectors now have plenty of new names arrayed before them. Victoria’s captain Matthew Wade, in toasting his second consecutive title, was as pleased for the younger members of his team as he was for the coach David Saker, finally part of a shield-winning combination after missing out as a player for Victoria and Tasmania.”The opportunity to win four Shields, and to captain a back-to-back Shield is as good as it gets really,” Wade said. “I’m as proud as I’ve ever been as a captain and of the young players who have come in and taken first-class cricket by storm.”Travis Dean, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, over the last three years they’ve come in and dominated in Shield cricket and then we’ve got Boland and Tremain who have stepped up terrifically well for us in the last 12 months. It’s an honour to play in another Shield.”I was lucky enough to play with and against Sakes as a young kid in Tassie so we already had a good relationship coming into this year. It’s been a big driver for us to get Holland, Tremain and Dean their first Shield and David Saker, who’s been around the game for 20 years, has never won a Shield so to get him a medal is a big honour.”Stoinis struck three consecutive sixes to go beyond his half-century, and while he was dismissed with only a handful of runs required, Handscomb laced a boundary behind point to seal the win and earn a warm embrace from his captain Matthew Wade.The Redbacks were limited in their bowling options, having lost Chadd Sayers due to an ankle problem. They also were unable to call upon the swing bowling of a sore Daniel Worrall on the final morning, leaving Joe Mennie and Eliot Opie to be partnered by the part-time spin of the captain Travis Head. Victoria’s win means South Australia have now gone 20 seasons without winning the title, and Head described a feeling of pride without satisfaction.”Proud, not satisfied, we just spoke about that in the change rooms just then,” Head said. “Last year we won one Matador game and we went nowhere in the Shield. This year to play the brand of cricket we did in the Matador, I think we played a beautiful game of cricket in the Matador Cup and I thought throughout the Shield season, in moments, one thought the best brand of cricket in the season.”I think we got the most bonus points which showed that we played the right way. Moving forward if we get more consistent and play that way, I think we can be pretty scary. It’s been a three-year progress with Jamie [Siddons, the coach], he’s come in year one and we’ve played in two finals. If we look at in honestly and play more consistent that way, it’s going to be scary because we’ve got ourselves in two finals and there are probably a few blokes in the change rooms who are really disappointed with their seasons.”The young blokes that came in stepped up and that’s what we looked for. I think in the past couple of years we probably haven’t had the depth and there’s been six batters rotate through the season and you know that your spot’s pretty safe. At the moment we’ve got blokes in grade cricket who are making a lot of runs and they’re coming in and they’re performing. It’s fantastic to see.”Victoria’s win was marred by a ball tampering offence committed by the bowling coach Mick Lewis, and they were also helped earlier in the season when handed six points due to an unfit outfield at the SCG. Wade and his team will waste little time thinking about those episodes in their moment of victory.”I know that it was all over the South Australian papers today but not really,” he said. “We can’t control that, we were on the ground, it’s an unfortunate incident but when I look back over my career I’m not going to be thinking about Micky Lewis in the gutter. I’ll be thinking about the Shield that we just won.”

It has been reported that Serie A giants AC Milan are going to try to recruit Arsenal centre-back Jakub Kiwior during the January transfer window.

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AC Milan want to sign Kiwior Arsenal signed centre-back last January Milan suffering from defensive injuriesWHAT HAPPENED?

The gifted 23-year-old was acquired by the Gunners for £20 million from Spezia in January of last year, but he has only made intermittent appearances for the North London team thus far. This season, Kiwior has made ten appearances across all competitions; however, most of them have been cameos off the bench. Italian publication Calciomercato claims that AC Milan have been closely monitoring the defender for the past few weeks and are keen on bringing Kiwior back to Serie A. Due to multiple injuries, AC Milan are presently missing Simon Kjaer, Pierre Kalulu, Mattia Caldara, Malick Thiaw, and Marco Pellegrino in defence.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Calciomercato also reports that Antonio D'Ottavio, the sporting director of Milan, and Geoffrey Moncada, the technical director, have been "working intensely for a few days" to attempt to recruit him "on a loan deal with an option to buy." At the moment, Arsenal are hesitant to let Kiwior go, however, "discussions will continue" over a possible agreement over the upcoming weeks.

DID YOU KNOW?

Kiwior's career peaked while playing for Spezia in Serie A, so perhaps a loan return to Italy can help him regain his form. In light of this, it will be intriguing to watch if AC Milan can entice the defender away from the Emirates during the next winter.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR KIWIOR?

Arsenal have games coming up thick and fast and with the season-ending injury suffered by Jurrien Timber, Kiwior may well be in the running to start one of those games with the Champions League group stage game against PSV being one of the key opportunities considering the game is a dead rubber for both sides having secured their places in the next round.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are "almost unstoppable" amid tight title battle.

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Guardiola says title rivals "almost unstoppable"Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City in three-way battleJurgen Klopp's side lead with two points covering top threeGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

As the title battle between Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal has started to slowly boil towards the end of the season, Guardiola has admitted that his side will have to strive hard to retain the title as both the Gunners and the Reds do not seem to be in the mood to drop points.

AdvertisementWHAT GUARDIOLA SAID

Speaking to the media, Guardiola said: "How they [our opponents] are playing, even Aston Villa but especially, Arsenal and Liverpool. They are scoring three, four, five goals a day. So that means they are almost unstoppable."

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

So far in February, Arsenal have defeated West Ham by six goals, scored five against Burnley, and put three past both Newcastle and Liverpool. Meanwhile, Liverpool bagged three against Burnley, and put four past Brentford and Luton Town. Currently, Klopp's men lead the pack on 60 points with City one behind on 59 and Arsenal on 58 with 12 matchdays remaining.

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WHAT NEXT FOR THE TITLE RACE?

Liverpool will have the chance to extend their lead as they are the first of the title contenders to play on the next matchday. The Reds take on Nottingham Forest on Saturday, March 2, while Manchester City take on city rivals Manchester United on Sunday. Arsenal end the matchday with a Monday evening kickoff against Sheffield United.

Seamer Shafiul Islam and allrounder Ziaur Rahman have been called up to the Bangladesh Test squad, as cover for pacers Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2013Seamer Shafiul Islam and allrounder Ziaur Rahman have been called up to the Bangladesh Test squad, as cover for pacers Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain. Shafiul and Ziaur will fly to Harare on Sunday night.Rubel, who had back trouble during the tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year, hurt his shoulder during the first Test here, while Shahadat had missed the Test due to a knee injury. They do not have much time to regain full fitness, with the second Test beginning on Thursday, thus prompting the team to call for back-up.Bangladesh’s other injury concern is opener Tamim Iqbal, who also missed the first Test. However, his thumb injury is coming on well and indications are he should be fit in time for the second game. On Saturday, captain Mushfiqur Rahim said: “He is doing really well.”Ziaur had featured in the limited-overs leg on Bangladesh’s tour to Sri Lanka, but is yet to debut in Test cricket. Shafiul last played in the home series against West Indies, in December last year. He had made a comeback in that series, following a long injury layoff to recover from a shoulder injury that he picked up while fielding in the Asia Cup in March 2012.Bangladesh lost the first Test by a whopping 335-run margin, within four days, and will have to win the second match to squad the series.

Australian batsman Sam Robson hit an unbeaten 94 and helped maintain Middlesex’s promotion bid with a six-wicket County Championship win over Division Two rivals Surrey in Guildford

23-Jul-2011
ScorecardAustralian batsman Sam Robson hit an unbeaten 94 and helped maintain Middlesex’s promotion bid with a six-wicket County Championship win over Division Two rivals Surrey in Guildford.The 22-year-old from Paddington, New South Wales, decided the outcome by scoring the sixth half-century of his fledgling first-class career in helping to steer the visitors to their victory target of 189 with 29 overs to spare.Having seen three of his team-mates depart in the space of nine overs, Robson maintained a cool head to lead the visiting run chase with a three-hour stay that included 11 fours and a six. Together with his captain Neil Dexter, Robson added 86 in 17.3 overs either side of tea for the fourth wicket to take their side to the brink of victory before Dexter fell leg before for 31 after an hour at the crease.It was left to Robson, a dual passport holder, to see the visitors to the win line with a back-foot force to the ropes at long-on to give Middlesex 22 points to Surrey’s three. After a circumspect start to their run chase through opening partners Robson and Scott Newman, Middlesex suffered a case of the mid-session jitters in losing three quick wickets.Newman (39) tossed away a good start with a back-foot waft against Zander de Bruyn to be caught behind, then the same bowler darted one back off the seam to pluck out the off stump of Chris Rogers (6).Dawid Malan, the third left-hander in the Middlesex top four, attempted to withdraw the bat against Tim Linley only to steer a catch low to Tom Maynard at third slip to go for four and make it 84 for 3.Robson, crab-like in his stance at the crease but with a penchant for jumping into the air when forcing through the covers, found a willing ally in his skipper Dexter who departed with only 19 needed for victory. At the start of the final day Surrey, who had been made to follow on, batted for just over an hour in adding 73 to their total of 379.Again, it was Friday’s century-maker Maynard who entertained the meagre Saturday crowd with his big hitting and fearless stroke play as he took his boundary count to 17 fours and six sixes. The young Welshman rode his luck and was dropped three times; twice by keeper John Simpson when stood up and more inexplicably by Dexter, who downed a sitter at mid-on, again off the bowling of Corey Collymore.The hosts soon lost night-watchman Linley leg before to Tim Murtagh then Maynard’s career-best knock came to an end on 141 off 101 balls when he took one risk too many and skied off a leading edge to Jamie Dalrymple at slip.Murtagh then took his match tally to 10 for 128 and his season’s championship aggregate to 50 wickets when he snared Stuart Meaker leg-before without scoring. Last man Jade Dernbach holed out to mid-on to give the luckless Collymore a deserved wicket and leave Middlesex a minimum of 80 overs in which to chase their victory target and complete their first championship double over Surrey since 1983.

Ravi Bopara scored his first half-century of the summer as Essex were made to battle for runs on the second day of their Championship match against Glamorgan at Chelmsford

27-Apr-2011
ScorecardRavi Bopara scored his first half-century of the summer as Essex were made to battle for runs on the second day of their Championship match against Glamorgan at Chelmsford. But despite his 61 and 53 from Mark Pettini, the home side still finished 24 short of Glamorgan’s first innings total after being bowled out for 258.By the close the Welsh county had moved to 50 for 1 in their second innings to establish an overall lead of 74. Before the game Bopara, who is desperate to win back his England Test place after gaining the last of his 10 caps in 2009, had scored only 92 runs from six trips to the middle.But after a scratchy start, he reached his 50 from 77 balls with the help of nine boundaries and added one more before he was beaten in the flight by left-arm spinner Dean Cosker and offered a simple return catch. Following Bopara’s departure, it was left to Pettini to add some much-needed steel to the Essex reply.Recently restored to the side, the former captain followed up his unbeaten 67 against Northamptonshire with another half century that consumed 125 deliveries and contained six boundaries.Pettini’s resistance was finally brought to an end when he was caught behind by Mark Wallace to provide Cosker with a further success. Tim Phillips ensured Essex collected their second batting point with a fighting 30 before he became the fourth victim of paceman James Harris, with those wickets coming at a cost of 68 from 22.3 overs.The impressive Cosker finished with 4 for 35 from 21 overs while the other two were claimed by Huw Waters. He removed Billy Godleman and night watchman Davis Masters in the morning during a six-over spell that cost 16. But then a back problem sidelined the medium pacer for the remainder of the innings.When Glamorgan went in again, Gareth Rees and Alviro Petersen moved to 36 without too much trouble before the latter was guilty of a gross error of judgement. He failed to offer a stroke to a Bopara delivery that nipped back and was trapped leg before.Rees should have followed two runs later, but Matt Walker failed to hold on at second slip after Lonwabo Tsotsobe found the edge. That let-off left Rees going into the third day on 25 and with Glamorgan holding the upper hand.

Former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011Former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Joining Ambrose in 2011’s Hall of Fame class was an Australian trio of former allrounder Alan Davidson, former women’s captain Belinda Clark and the late fast bowler Frederick Spofforth.One of the finest bowlers of all time, Ambrose picked up 405 Test wickets at an average of 20.99 in a career that had remarkable performances. He took 6 for 24 to skittle England for 46 in Trinidad in 1993, and 7 for 25 against Australia at the WACA in 1993 to win the series for his side. He also played 176 ODIs, taking 225 wickets at an average of 24.12.”It is a privilege and an honour to be inducted in the Hall of Fame,” Ambrose said. “In the history of cricket there have been many great cricketers and to be part of that elite group, I’m very happy and very humbled.”I never thought that this day would come. This only tells me that all the hard work I put in throughout my career did not go unnoticed. I see this also as a just reward for all the joy and happiness that I may have brought to cricket and cricketers alike.”Ambrose, Davidson and Clark will be inducted during the ICC annual awards in London, while Spofforth will be inducted later next year in a ceremony involving the former fast bowler’s family.

England will name their Test squad to face Pakistan in UAE on Friday as they embark on the challenge of maintaining the No. 1 spot in Test cricket

Andrew McGlashan08-Dec-2011England will name their Test squad to face Pakistan in UAE on Friday as they embark on the challenge of maintaining the No. 1 ranking. In 2011 they played eight Tests, winning six and drawing two, but in 2012 that number swells to 15 so the much-vaunted depth of England’s resources will be tested again.A mark of England’s success in climbing the rankings has been how seamlessly players have slotted in when changes have been made through form or injury, Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan being the stand-out examples. The players who are currently outside a likely first-choice eleven are vital to the make-up of the squad. If the selectors follow the same pattern as for Australia they will favour those players ready to step up to Test level at a moment’s notice rather than those with potential in the future. The England Lions trips of the subcontinent will allow those players on the fringe to play regular cricket in case reinforcements are required.The key position is which spinner (or even spinners) accompanies Graeme Swann in the squad. There needs to be at least one option who, if the worst case scenario struck and Swann was ruled out of a match, could be the frontline spinner in a Test. Currently that man remains Monty Panesar who toured Australia as Swann’s understudy but wasn’t required. Last season he was the highest wicket-taker in Division One of the County Championship in 2011 with 69 victims at 27.24.Scott Borthwick, the Durham legspinner, Hampshire’s Danny Briggs and Simon Kerrigan from Lancashire, who took 9 for 51 against Hampshire last year, are the rising stars so it is shaping as now or never for Panesar, who has spent the last couple of months playing club cricket in Sydney, to resume his Test career.Yet, whether Panesar makes the first eleven will depend on if Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower are willing to move away from the current balance of six batsmen, the keeper and four bowlers – albeit in conditions that haven’t demanded a second spinner, or specialist fifth bowler – unless they opt for the risky strategy of two quicks and two spinners.The prolific form of England’s top five, Matt Prior’s consistency in Test cricket, plus the developing allround skills of Bresnan and Stuart Broad, suggest England could cope with the shift in strategy but don’t be surprised to see the balance remain the same. However, there is no doubt that at some point next year – whether in UAE, Sri Lanka or India – England will need two spinners in the same attack.England’s previous Test team, against India at The Oval in August, was without Jonathan Trott due to injury and Ravi Bopara was in the middle order. Trott, the ICC International Cricketer of the Year, will be back at No. 3 against Pakistan and Eoin Morgan will expect to retain his spot if he completes a successful recovery from the shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the one-day tour of India.At the end of England’s home season Bopara’s stock had risen considerably after a successful one-day series against India, but the return contest on the subcontinent didn’t see further development as he became one of a number of England batsmen to struggle against spin. The other options include promoting James Taylor or even taking Samit Patel to cover a number of bases with his spin bowling.In the pace-bowling department there are plentiful options to choose from. The depth available is highlighted by Tremlett’s situation. He began the year by helping seal the Ashes series then starred in the dramatic victory against Sri Lanka, at Cardiff, before bagging career-best figures of 6 for 48 at The Rose Bowl. Yet, so seamlessly did Bresnan replace him against India after injury struck that he was hardly missed.Now, having lost his place to injury he will need someone to break down – or Bresnan to not recover from his elbow surgery – for a spot to open up. Then there’s Steven Finn who was England’s one bright spot during the one-day series in India. He bowled with pace and hostility having developed his game away from Test cricket and looked primed for another opportunity.The final spot will be a reserve keeper and Steven Davies could fill the same role he did during the Ashes. That would mean only one change – Bopara for Paul Collingwood – from the original 16 that travelled to Australia last year. Davies hasn’t featured for England since the one-day series in Australia, at the start of which he was omitted from the World Cup squad in favour of Prior. He scored 1035 runs at 39.80 in the County Championship for Surrey although another option could be Jonny Bairstow if the selectors want to have a look to the future.Possible squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn, Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar, Steven Davies