‘Speak to Pep’, Southgate Says City Also Use Foden Out Wide 

Football - Euro 2024 Qualifier - Group C - Ukraine v England - Tarczynski Arena, Wroclaw, Poland - September 9, 2023 England's Phil Foden in action with Ukraine's Vitaliy Buyalskiy. (Reuters)
Football - Euro 2024 Qualifier - Group C - Ukraine v England - Tarczynski Arena, Wroclaw, Poland - September 9, 2023 England's Phil Foden in action with Ukraine's Vitaliy Buyalskiy. (Reuters)
TT
20

‘Speak to Pep’, Southgate Says City Also Use Foden Out Wide 

Football - Euro 2024 Qualifier - Group C - Ukraine v England - Tarczynski Arena, Wroclaw, Poland - September 9, 2023 England's Phil Foden in action with Ukraine's Vitaliy Buyalskiy. (Reuters)
Football - Euro 2024 Qualifier - Group C - Ukraine v England - Tarczynski Arena, Wroclaw, Poland - September 9, 2023 England's Phil Foden in action with Ukraine's Vitaliy Buyalskiy. (Reuters)

England manager Gareth Southgate has defended his use of Phil Foden in a wide position, saying Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola also plays the midfielder in the same role.

Foden has said he feels his game is more suited to the central number 10 role, but Southgate has been reluctant to use the 23-year-old there.

"He doesn't for his club," Southgate said. "Presumably there is a reason for that.

"You'd have to speak to Pep, who is the best coach in the world, who plays him from wide. He's always got the freedom to drift if we play him wide and that's important."

England were held to a 1-1 draw by Ukraine on Saturday, their first dropped points of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. They face Scotland in a friendly match later on Tuesday.



Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, Battling Injuries and Unhappy on the Court, Is Taking a Hiatus from Tennis

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2025 Tunisia's Ons Jabeur during her first round match against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova. (Reuters)
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2025 Tunisia's Ons Jabeur during her first round match against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova. (Reuters)
TT
20

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, Battling Injuries and Unhappy on the Court, Is Taking a Hiatus from Tennis

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2025 Tunisia's Ons Jabeur during her first round match against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova. (Reuters)
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2025 Tunisia's Ons Jabeur during her first round match against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova. (Reuters)

Ons Jabeur is taking a hiatus from the women's tennis tour, with the three-time major runner-up saying Thursday she wants to "rediscover the joy of simply living."

Once ranked No. 2 on the WTA Tour, Jabeur has battled injuries in recent years and has fallen to her current No. 71. The 30-year-old from Tunisia retired because of difficulty breathing during her first-round match at Wimbledon, where she reached the final in 2022 and 2023, and won't be playing as the hard-court swing begins.

"For the past two years, I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges," Jabeur wrote on Instagram. "But deep down, I haven't felt truly happy on the court for some time now.

"Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now, I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living."

Jabeur also was the US Open runner-up in 2022, becoming the first woman since Serena Williams in 2019 to reach the final at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows in the same year.

She fell short of becoming the first African or Arab woman to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era, but she climbed to No. 2 in the WTA rankings the next week.

She is 15-15 this year after her 2024 season was cut short by a shoulder injury, as she played just once after Wimbledon.

Jabeur, popular with other players and fans, thanked the fans in her post.

"Even while I'm away from the court, I'll continue to stay close and connected in different ways, and share this journey with you all," she wrote.