WE’RE just hours away from Soccer Aid returning as the iconic charity match returns to Old Trafford TONIGHT!
As ever, a flurry of famous faces will come together with many football legends to raise money for Unicef – the likes of Louis Tomlinson, Bella Ramsey, Richard Gadd, Sir Mo Farah and Martin Compston are among the stars lacing up their boots.
Last year, England ended their six-year wait for a win over World XI as they took their tally of triumphs to six, which is one fewer than their rivals.
The Three Lions management team of Tyson Fury, Wayne Rooney and Harry Redknapp will be looking to equal World XI’s record for most Soccer Aid wins with victory this evening.
Follow our live blog below for all the latest from Old Trafford…
KAMARU USMAN was moved to tears after winning his do-or-die octagon return.
The former welterweight and pound-for-pound king returned to the cage for the first time in 20 months early this morning in the main event of UFC Atlanta against Jaoquin Buckley.
There were serious concerns that Usman’s time at the top was a thing of the past following three straight losses to Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev.
But the 38-year-old rolled back the years with a suffocating display across five rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory courtesy of 49–46, 49–46, 48–47 scorecards.
An emotional Usman teared up in his post-fight interview as he said: “It’s been a while. I needed to get that monkey off my back.
“I know I’m still able to do this at the highest level.
“Sometimes when you’re going up against a young, hungry guy like that, very talented, very aggressive, you’ve got to pull out the skills and use your experience.
“And that’s what I did tonight.”
Usman insists victory over the surging Buckley has shown his detractors he’s still very much at the top of his game.
He said: “I know it’s a running joke, everybody wants to get on the internet and talk s***, ‘Oh, his knees, his knees.’
“Well, shut the f*** up, I can still do what I do.
“I could do that to anybody [in the welterweight division], any one of them.
“But like I said, I needed to get that monkey off my back.
“Early on in my career as I was rolling, once I had that monkey off my back and I knew I was rolling, I was able to open up.
“And you guys saw those spectacular knockouts. I still got them in there.”
Following his dominant return to the win column, Usman has set his sights on becoming a two-time king of the welterweights.
He roared: “I have been, and always will be, the f**king boogeyman.”
WREXHAM are tracking Sheffield Wednesday cult hero Barry Bannan.
The midfielder has been a keen cog in the Owls machine since he signed in 2015.
But the 35-year-old is one of many who could leave if Wednesday fail to pay his late wages.
Wrexham – co-owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – are monitoring developments and can afford to pay a top salary.
The Red Dragons are also interested in former Scotland midfielder Stuart Armstrong, 33, who is a free agent after a short spell at Wednesday.
Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward could also make a move to the Racecourse following his release by Leicester.
The 44-cap star, 31, was a schoolkid at Wrexham until joining Liverpool in 2012.
Wednesday owner Dejphon Chanisiri wants his manager Danny Rohl to return to work now.
The pair have been clashing for months and supremo Chansiri has ordered Rohl to cut short his summer break.
Rohl has been openly chasing jobs and his staff are mainly out of contract soon.
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If he refuses the request he could be fined by the cash-hit club.
The German, 36, has been linked with the vacant manager’s job at Middlesbrough.
THE second game of England’s 2025 Euro Under-21s campaign comes against Slovenia TONIGHT.
The Young Lions scored a decent 3-1 win over the Czech Republic on Thursday night as they kicked off their campaign.
Harvey Elliott, Jonathan Rowe and Charlie Cresswell all scored as Lee Carsley’s team won their group opener in Slovakia.
They now face Slovenia, who lost 3-0 to Germany in their first game – Nick Woltenmade scoring a hat-trick for one of the tournament favourites.
While England are favourites for this match, Slovenia U21s came away with a 2-1 win the last time the two teams met in 2022.
All times BST
Wednesday, June 11
Group A
Group C
Thursday, June 12
Group D
Group B
Saturday, June 14
Group A
Group C
Sunday, June 15
Group B
Group D
Tuesday, June 17
Group C
Group A
Wednesday, June 18
Group D
Group B
Saturday, June 21
Quarter-finals
Sunday, June 22