Gvardiol Proving His Worth After Early Struggles, Says Guardiola 

Football - Premier League - Fulham v Manchester City - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - May 11, 2024 Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol celebrates scoring their third goal with Phil Foden. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Fulham v Manchester City - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - May 11, 2024 Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol celebrates scoring their third goal with Phil Foden. (Reuters)
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Gvardiol Proving His Worth After Early Struggles, Says Guardiola 

Football - Premier League - Fulham v Manchester City - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - May 11, 2024 Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol celebrates scoring their third goal with Phil Foden. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Fulham v Manchester City - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - May 11, 2024 Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol celebrates scoring their third goal with Phil Foden. (Reuters)

Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol struggled to find his feet at the Premier League club but is now growing in confidence after his goal-scoring exploits in the title run-in, manager Pep Guardiola said.

The 22-year-old left back joined the treble winners from German club RB Leipzig in August, signing a five-year deal for a reported fee of 90 million euros ($97 million).

The Croatian international, who had not scored in his previous 32 appearances for City, has now netted five times in his last seven matches to help his side's push towards a record fourth successive title.

"There is an aspect in football and in life and that is confidence, confidence when you do things and it's game time, a lot of games and talking about the not proper things that you do and the good things," Guardiola told reporters after Saturday's 4-0 thrashing of Fulham.

"And you cannot forget it is his first Premier League season... so it is not easy to handle it and he struggled in the beginning a little bit, because he came into a team who had just won the treble and he was a little bit shy.

"He signed for many, many years and he has proved to himself that he can do it and play with us."

Guardiola gave his players three days off after their 5-1 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers this month.

"On the first day, he (Gvardiol) went into the training center to make a recovery, so his focus is football and he wants to be better and better and when this happens, you have something special on your hands," the Spaniard said.

City, second in the table with 85 points and one behind Arsenal who have played a game more, travel to fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
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Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”