Football star Kylian Mbappé has reportedly spurned a meeting and contract with Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal, according to multiple reports.

Mbappé became the talk of the sporting world earlier this week after reports that Al Hilal was ready to smash the world record transfer fee and pay $332 million (€300 million) for the French striker.

The proposed deal would reportedly have included a staggering $775 million salary packet for the 24-year-old Mbappe – a sum that drew immediate reaction from top athletes in other sports.

French outlet L’Equipe and renowned Italian soccer journalist Fabrizio Romano now report that representatives from Saudi Arabia’s most successful club, winners of four Asian Champions League tournaments, were in Paris to meet with Mbappé’s representatives but were rejected.

Mbappé has been left out of PSG’s squad for its preseason tour of Japan, with the club having issued him an ultimatum to sign a new contract or be sold.

He has been heavily linked with a move to La Liga giants Real Madrid.

Two-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown signed the richest deal in NBA history on Wednesday: a five-year, $304 million supermax contract extension with the Boston Celtics. 

Brown said he wants to bring Black Wall Street to Boston, tackle the “unsettling” wealth disparity in the city and stimulate the overall economy.

“I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here in Boston. I want to attack the wealth disparity here. I think there’s analytics that supports that stimulating the wealth gap could actually be something that could be better meant for the entire economy,” Brown said at a news conference at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“With the biggest financial deal in NBA history, it makes sense to talk about one year investment in community, but … the wealth disparity here that nobody wants to talk about is top five in the US (and) is something that we can all improve on it. It’s unsettling.  

“I think through my platform, through influential partners, through selected leaders, government officials, a lot who are in this room, that we can come together and create new jobs, new resources, new businesses, new ideas that could highlight minorities but also stimulate the economy and the wealth gap at the same time.”

Brown added, “Boston could be a fully integrated self-sufficient hub. I think Boston could be the pilot, not just for wealth disparity here in the US, but also for around the world.”

When asked why the news conference took place at his “7uice Foundation’s Bridge” program and not the team’s facility, Brown said, “This is the day it fell on and I knew I was going to be here spending most of my time, so I thought it was fitting. … For it to be here, I think was just divine timing and now as we are putting the pen to paper, we got a lot of work to do. I think we’re all in that same journey to make this place, this community that we all live in, better and we all have that responsibility.”

Last season, Brown, a guard/forward, averaged a career-best 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He was named to the 2022-23 All-NBA second team. Brown, the 2016 No. 3 overall pick, was eligible for the new contract as a result of making the All-NBA team.

Brown’s deal eclipsed the $276 million contract of Denver’s Nicola Jokić, signed in 2022, according to salary tracking website Spotrac.

In seven seasons in Beantown, the 26-year-old has helped the Celtics advance to five Eastern Conference Finals and an NBA Finals appearance in 2022. 

ESPN reported the contract extension begins in the 2024-2025 season and runs through the 2028-2029 season when Brown will be 32.

His previous contract was a four-year, $106 million deal, according to Spotrac.

Dangerously high temperatures that have already proven deadly in multiple states are expanding as far east as the Northeast, as they also threaten ocean ecosystems and fuel destructive wildfires that emit harmful particulates.

More than 100 million people from California to Massachusetts were under some kind of heat alert Wednesday as extreme temperatures spread across the country. Over the next seven days, 85% of the population will experience temperatures 90 degrees or higher.

The southern tier of the US has been baking for weeks, with places like Phoenix, Miami and El Paso, Texas, continuing to smash record-long extreme-heat streaks Tuesday.

Now it’s the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast’s turn.

Temperatures are forecast to top 100 degrees in places like Kansas City and St. Louis through Friday. As the heat builds into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Thursday and Friday, highs in the upper 90’s could break daily records in places like Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York. High humidity will drive up the heat index there to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The stifling forecast has pushed Connecticut’s governor to activate the state’s extreme hot weather protocol on Wednesday to provide cooling centers for vulnerable residents.

“We’ve experienced a pretty warm summer so far, but it’s expected to get particularly hot this week, including during the evening hours,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said.

And the heat has been affecting everyone: Last month was the hottest June on record dating back to 1850, according to a climate report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Globally, June 2023 set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly of any month in NOAA’s 174-year record,” the agency said. “June heat was not limited to the ocean surface; the Southern Hemisphere had its warmest June on record and the Northern Hemisphere tied 2019 for its warmest June.”

Scientists agree that human-induced climate change is the main culprit causing record high temperatures, which have led to hospitalizations and deaths in the US. Additionally, wildfires burning in Canada and US have been exacerbated by the unrelenting heat, tanking the air quality for many in both countries.

The exceptional heat isn’t confined to land, either. Ocean temperatures around Florida are so high that experts reported severe coral bleaching and a die off at some reefs, which could worsen if the extreme warmth persists.

And before temperatures begin to lessen in some places next week, here are some of the impacts it had on communities in recent weeks.

A fatal heatwave

Dozens of people across Arizona and Nevada have died this year from the physical impacts of extreme heat.

In Arizona’s Maricopa County – home to Phoenix – 25 deaths have been reported to be heat-related so far this year as of Tuesday, the county said in a weekly report. Another 249 deaths are under investigation for whether heat was a cause.

Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the US, killing more people than hurricanes or tornadoes.

And it also leads to illnesses. Last week, at least 570 hospital visits in Arizona were related to heat-related complications, the state department of health services said.

“Fire departments and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers have reported treating an increasing number of patients for heat-related illness too. These incidents are only the tip of the iceberg. We urge Arizonans to take this extreme heat extremely seriously,” the department said in a statement Tuesday.

“I chose to hike alone, without water, and I did not check the weather. When I returned, I was clammy, shaking, ash gray, had a splitting headache and felt nauseous. It took over a day to recover. Always have plenty of water.” https://t.co/0BOZ4yzAL0 #NMwx pic.twitter.com/PPNhqp2osr

— NWS Albuquerque (@NWSAlbuquerque) July 24, 2023

Wildfires destroy homes, choke air quality

A wildfire in southern Oregon fueled by the heat and strong winds destroyed dozens of homes and outbuildings and also knocked out internet and 911 services in one county.

The so-called Golden Fire burned through 43 homes and 43 outbuildings as it grew to more than 2,000 acres around 11 miles north of Bonanza, Oregon, since July 22. The fire also knocked down more than 100 power poles, blacking out internet and 911 services in Lake County, Oregon, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Nearby Klamath County, Oregon, was handling 911 calls in the meantime.

The fire was one of several also degrading air quality across the country. As of Tuesday, there were nine wildfires in each of Arizona and New Mexico, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Also, smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning across Canada continued to waft south, tanking air quality and polluting air in Chicago and Detroit. Both cities were among the 10 top cities with the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir, with Chicago ranking fifth and Detroit ninth as of early Wednesday morning.

“Today, air quality in the City of Detroit will be Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (AQI Orange) range,” the Detroit health department said Tuesday. “The air quality is being impacted by the presence of fine particulate matter (PM-2.5).”

In addition to the poor air quality, Detroit is also facing extreme heat this week, when some areas are expected to feel as hot as 99 degrees Thursday and Friday, according to the city’s National Weather Service.

“Very hot and muggy conditions are likely later this week with heat index values approaching 100 degrees,” the weather service said on Twitter.

Extreme heat impacts oceanic ecosystem

The consequences of dangerously high temperatures have stretched beyond land.

The record-breaking heatwave led to surging water temperatures off Florida’s coast, where multiple reefs around the Keys area are currently completely bleached or dead.

The mass bleaching event unfolded in two weeks, according to coral experts, who said they expect the “complete mortality” of the bleached reefs in just a week.

Because it is extremely sensitive to temperature changes, experiencing too much heat for too long causes coral to bleach and turn white as they expel their algal food source and slowly starve to death.

The water is typically in mid-80s in the region, but experts have recorded 90-degree temperatures, according to Cynthia Lewis, who heads the Keys Marine Laboratory at the Florida Institute of Oceanography.

“It is very alarming,” she said in a news release.

Teams from the University of South Florida and the Florida Institute of Oceanography Keys Marine Laboratory conducted a rescue mission for more than 1,500 corals by harvesting them from at risk sites and bringing them into a temperature controlled laboratory.

Sweltering temperatures are also posing a risk to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current, a vital system of ocean currents which includes the Gulf Stream.

A study published Tuesday in the journal Nature found the current may collapse around the middle of the century or as early as 2025.

The AMOC is a complex tangle of currents that works like a giant global conveyor belt. It transports warm water from the tropics toward the North Atlantic, where the water cools, becomes saltier and sinks deep into the ocean, before spreading southwards.

It plays a crucial role in the climate system, helping regulate global weather patterns. Its collapse would have significant implications, including much more extreme winters and sea level rises affecting parts of Europe and the US as well as a shifting of the monsoon in the tropics.

Manufacturers and airlines now have more than a decade to make bathrooms large enough for wheelchair users on the most common type of airliners under a new Department of Transportation rule issued on Wednesday.

The rule applies only to new single-aisle planes delivered 12 years from now. It does not require retrofitting existing planes with a larger bathroom.

That means the expanded bathrooms could take years to become commonplace on single-aisle jets.

Boeing aspires to make its bestselling plane, the single-aisle 737 MAX, at a rate of 50 per year.

The four major US airlines have hundreds of active planes in their fleets, and the average age of the aircraft at each carrier ranges between 12 and 16 years.

Lavatory requirements

The DOT notes that accessible lavatories have long been required on twin-aisle aircraft.

The larger lavatory on single-aisle planes must be large enough for a disabled person and an aide “to approach, enter, maneuver within as necessary to use all lavatory facilities, and leave.”

Airlines and manufacturers must meet other milestones for lavatories in the interim.

Starting three years from now, jnew planes delivered must come with grab bars and other accessible features, as well as a “visual barrier for privacy.”

Airlines also have three years to improve the features for onboard wheelchairs, improve crew training and update accessibility markings.

Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that the new rule “will make airplane bathrooms larger and more accessible, ensuring travelers in wheelchairs are afforded the same access and dignity as the rest of the traveling public.”

The Biden administration said it is also working on other changes to make airplanes more handicap accessible.

It’s rare for travelers to hanker for airline food – until it’s in short supply on a 12-hour journey.

Crew staffing a British Airways itinerary over the weekend from the Turks and Caicos Islands to London Heathrow were faced with a food shortage when the airline wasn’t able to offer its regular meal service because of “unforeseen circumstances.”

“Our teams sprung into action and made sure our customers had something to eat,” British Airways said in a statement. While the airline didn’t elaborate on what it provided to passengers, posts on social media indicate that airline employees made a Kentucky Fried Chicken run during a scheduled stopover in the Bahamas.

BA flight 252 took off on July 23 from Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos, stopped in Nassau in the Bahamas and flew on to London.

The airline made reference to its unconventional in-flight menu in its pun-ladened statement.

“We apologise to customers that their full meal service was not available and we had to wing it on this occasion. We’re sorry if we ruffled any feathers,” the statement said.

The airline did not respond to questions about what circumstances led to the lack of in-flight meal service. One social media post referenced an issue with refrigeration.

@aktivandrew, a user on Twitter that was recently rebranded to X, posted that “@British_Airways just landed @HeathrowAirport after a 12.5 hour flight BA252 from Turks and Caicos with no catering! BA had to serve @kfc at Nassau giving some lucky passengers 1 piece of chicken. The container with the plane catering wasn’t chilled so all thrown away!!”

Another user, @Hanchell, posted a story about the incident from travel site One Mile At a Time, commenting, “It was the best KFC I’ve ever had.”

British Airways gave passengers refreshment vouchers when they arrived in London, the airline said.

Snazzy new liveries have been revealed for two of NASA’s hottest aircraft projects. These upcoming planes want to be the next generation of sustainable flight – and also to look good when doing it.

First there’s the X-66A, which NASA has been cooking up along with Boeing as part of its Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project. The US aerospace behemoths want to build, test and fly an emission-reducing, single-aisle aircraft before the decade is out. The X-66A is the full-scale demonstrator on which they’ll be doing all that.

“It’s our goal that NASA’s partnership with Boeing to produce and test a full-scale demonstrator will help lead to future commercial airliners that are more fuel efficient, with benefits to the environment, the commercial aviation industry, and to passengers worldwide, “ said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement in January. “If we are successful, we may see these technologies in planes that the public takes to the skies in the 2030s.”

The design that NASA and Boeing are working on could reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30% compared with today’s most efficient aircraft, according to the agency.

It’s called the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing concept, which relies on elongated, thin wings stabilized by diagonal struts that connect the wings to the aircraft. The design’s shape creates less drag, which means burning less fuel.

The new livery was unveiled at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and features a white body with a blue, orange and red striped tail.

‘An experimental aircraft’

“This is an experimental aircraft,” Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said in January.  “This is not a commercial development of an aircraft that passengers are going to fly in today. And the reason we need to do this is because this is high-risk technology. We’re trying to validate technology.”

The first test flight of this full-scale demonstrator is set to take place in 2028. NASA hopes that one day the technology should serve about half of the commercial market through short- to medium-haul single-aisle aircraft.

Airlines largely rely on single-aisle aircraft, which account for nearly half of aviation emissions worldwide, according to NASA. Boeing estimates that the demand for the new single-aisle aircraft will increase by 40,000 planes between 2035 and 2050.

The goal is for the technology to serve about 50% of the commercial market through short- to medium-haul, single-aisle aircraft, Nelson said.

The other planes to get a new look are the hybrid electric aircraft that GE Aerospace and magniX are developing as part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EFPD) project.

The project’s goal is to enable a new generation of electric-powered aircraft. NASA is collaborating with industry partners on new technologies including lighter and more efficient motors, electronics and materials that can help improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

More flight testing to come

These technologies will be tested and demonstrated in modified existing aircraft.

A souped-up Saab 340B, with white and blue livery, with be used for ground and test flights on a megawatt-class hybrid electric powertrain being developed by GE Aerospace. (A powertrain, for the uninitiated, is the system that brings together all the components to drive a vehicle forward). NASA says the flights will take place by the middle of this decade.

A modified DeHavilland “Dash 7” aircraft, with red and white livery, is home to magniX’s hybrid powertrain, and it’s partnering with AeroTEC and Air Tindi on test flights.

It’s hoped the project eventually will benefit short-haul turboprop aircraft – the type that carry between 30 and 70 passengers – as well as regional, single-aisle commercial airliners carrying up to 180 passengers.

NASA says it plans to conduct at least two flight demonstrations within the next five years so the new technologies can be introduced commercially in the United States between 2030 and 2035.

Two Taiwan police officers are under investigation after a botched sting operation led to a minor being sexually assaulted, prompting public uproar and an official apology from the local police department.

The incident began in November 2020 when an unnamed 13-year-old girl met a man, Chang Ming-hsin, on a dating app, according to a court verdict handed down earlier this month triggering an investigation into police conduct.

According to the court verdict, Chang solicited sex from the girl, offering 5,000 New Taiwan dollars (about $160), and asked her for nude photos. They agreed to meet at a hotel several days later – and when the girl didn’t show up, Chang threatened to leak her explicit photos online.

She then reported the case to the Zhongli Precinct of the Taoyuan Police Department, in Taoyuan city, located just outside Taipei, the verdict said. The police put together a sting operation, with the girl agreeing to meet with Chang under the pretense of having sex with him, the verdict revealed.

A spokesperson from the precinct said last week that the girl had been accompanied by a guardian when she reported the case, when police took her statement, and when the operation took place. The guardian had agreed to the sting operation, the spokesperson added.

During the operation, the girl met Chang outside a fast food restaurant and asked him to step out of the car, with two police officers monitoring the meet-up on scene. But he repeatedly demanded she get in instead, and drove the girl to a parking space about 200 to 300 meters away (about 656 to 984 feet).

Chang ordered her to perform oral sex on him and she complied out of fear, the verdict said.

Afterward, Chang drove the girl back to the restaurant, where police arrested him. His case reached a verdict on July 13, when the Taoyuan District Court sentenced Chang to eight years in prison on three sexual offense counts, including coercion of a minor to engage in obscene acts and transactional sex.

But the police involvement in the botched sting has garnered further international attention and outcry.

Focus Taiwan, an offshoot of Taiwan’s official Central News Agency, reported that the girl had been instructed by police not to enter Chang’s car, and that when she did, the police officers on scene had tried to run after the car – but they were “not fast enough” to stop it.

The girl reportedly had not mentioned the assault during the following investigation by prosecutors and police, only disclosing it during Chang’s court trial, according to Focus Taiwan.

But on Saturday, a spokesperson from the Taoyuan Police Department, which oversees the police precinct, released a video statement apologizing for negligence of the girl’s personal safety and the harm caused to her.

The two officers involved in the sting operation have been referred to the district prosecutor’s office for investigation of their alleged negligence and failure in performing their duties, said the spokesperson. In the meantime, they have received demerits and been transferred to only handle administrative police duties.

Two other police officers, who had oversight of the operation, have also received demerits, said the spokesperson, citing damage to the police department’s reputation.

Some soccer players take time to adapt to a new club and country, but not Lionel Messi.

On Tuesday, Messi powered his Inter Miami team to a dominant 4-0 victory over Atlanta United in the Leagues Cup, scoring twice and assisting another in his first start for his new team.

The Argentine’s two goals mean that he has now registered three goals in 114 minutes since officially moving to the Florida-based club after his match-winning performance in Friday’s debut against Mexican club Cruz Azul.

When Messi arrived in Miami there was little doubt over the commercial viability and impact of his arrival, there were questions from some as to how the 36-year-old would fare in a sporting sense.

If his last-gasp free kick against Cruz Azul wasn’t enough to allay those fears, the ease with which he drifted off Atlanta’s defenders to bring down fellow new import Sergio Busquets’ pass in the eighth minute certainly would have surely convinced any remaining doubters.

Messi slickly gathered the pass before slipping a left-footed shot past the goalkeeper, only for it to rebound off the post back to his feet before the Argentine rolled it into the empty net.

After celebrating with his team, Messi slowed and gestured toward Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham – a reminder of the glitz and glamor, both on and off the pitch, that is transforming the DRV PNK Stadium into a genuine sporting destination.

Just 14 minutes later Messi doubled his tally, feeding Robert Taylor on the left wing before the Finn crossed into the box, leaving the Argentine World Cup winner with a simple tap-in for the 810th goal of his illustrious career.

Taylor’s unselfishness did not go unrewarded by the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, as Inter Miami took advantage of some lacklustre tracking back from the Atlanta defense for the fourth goal.

Messi drew the attention of three players before passing to Taylor, who finished with precision into the far corner to make it 4-0. It marked Taylor’s second goal of the game, having rifled a powerful shot into the right corner of the net just before halftime.

The Messi effect

Messi’s evening finished as you imagine many balmy nights in Fort Lauderdale will – leaving the field to adulatory appreciation in the 78th minute with his work convincingly completed.

Following the game, Messi traded shirts with Atlanta’s Argentine forward Thiago Almada – who missed his side’s best chance of the game when his late penalty kick was saved by Drake Callender.

Almada was a member of Argentina’s World-Cup winning squad alongside Messi – though he only featured in the group stage win over Poland. Almada became the first active MLS player to lift the hallowed trophy.

Inter Miami’s win means it has now qualified for the knockout rounds of the Leagues Cup as Messi looks to catalyse the turnaround in the team’s fortunes. The Leagues Cup, an annual tournament between MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX, was expanded this year to include all teams in each league.

While success in the Leagues Cup is no doubt welcome, Miami currently sits last in MLS’ Eastern Conference having won just five of 22 matches so far.

Twelve points currently separate Messi and co. from DC United in ninth, the final playoff spot. The arrival of Messi and Busquets, as well as replacing Phil Neville with Tata Martino as coach, should go some way to bridging that gap when the regular season resumes on August 21.

Its next fixture will be a single elimination game as one of 32 teams to progress to the next stage of the Leagues Cup. The Leagues Cup round-of-32 takes place between August 2 and August 4.

Although Apple TV doesn’t publicly release viewership figures, a video clip of Messi’s goal against Cruz Azul posted by the MLS got more than 214 million views and more than 15 million social media engagements, according to sports analytics company Zoomph.

His signing is also expected to be a boon for Apple’s nascent streaming package, MLS Season Pass. Sports Business Journal, citing industry sources, reports that the subscription packaging is “approaching 1 million subscribers” — and the company expects “that number to balloon even further once Messi starts playing.”

Women’s World Cup 2023: Live scores, fixtures, results, tables and top scorers

The second round of group stage fixtures at the 2023 Women’s World Cup is now well under way as teams look to join Spain and Japan in the knockout stages.

Thursday’s action is highlighted by a blockbuster clash between the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) and the Netherlands in a rematch of the final from four years ago.

Elsewhere, Portugal faces Vietnam and co-host Australia takes on Nigeria.

How to watch

In the US, the match will air on your local Fox channel. You can also stream the match by signing in with your TV provider at foxsports.com or on the Fox Sports app. Telemundo and Peacock are providing Spanish-language coverage.

Seven Network and Optus Sport are broadcasting matches in Australia and the BBC and ITV have the rights in the United Kingdom.

The USWNT takes on the Netherlands at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Portugal plays Vietnam at 3:30 a.m. ET on Thursday and co-host Australia looks to seal its spot in the knockout round against Nigeria at 6 a.m. ET Friday.

A full breakdown of media rights holders in each country is available on the FIFA website.

USWNT vs. the Netherlands

Tournament favorite the USWNT takes on 2019 runner-up the Netherlands in what is without a doubt the most hotly-anticipated match-up of the group stages in Australia and New Zealand.

Off the back of a comfortable 3-0 win over Vietnam in its Group E opener, the USWNT will now face a much sterner test against a Netherlands team and squad that boasts many of the same players that reached the final four years ago.

The Oranje got its campaign at this World Cup off to a winning start thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Portugal. Despite missing star forward Vivianne Miedema through injury, the Dutch can still rely on the dangerous attacking trio of Daniëlle van de Donk, Lieke Martens and Jill Roord.

“We approach every game like it’s the biggest game, and this game is no different,” USWNT star Alex Morgan told reporters. “But we have played Netherlands historically in very important matches: 2019, Olympics, even before then.

“So this is going to be an incredibly difficult match-up. Very challenging. We watched the Netherlands the other night, and they have a lot of the same players as we played them in the World Cup four years ago.

“A little bit different of a formation, but still same personnel, and that’s important for kind of team chemistry. So just knowing that we know that we have to be at our best, and we’re doing everything we can at the training field, in the meetings, watching video, doing everything we can. It’s going to be a very good match-up.”

Portugal vs. Vietnam

Next up, it’s Portugal against Vietnam as both teams look to get off the mark after defeats in their opening games.

Vietnam gave a good account of itself defensively in the defeat to the USWNT, holding the World Cup juggernaut to just three goals in the face of far less flattering pre-match predictions.

Unsurprisingly, Vietnam failed to register a single shot in the one-sided match but will likely get more of a chance to show off its attacking abilities against Portugal.

After only narrowly losing 1-0 to the Netherlands, Portugal will be confident going into Thursday’s match.

Goalkeeper Inês Pereira shone with a couple of smart saves to keep her team in the match and Portugal could have snatched an equalizer inside the final 10 minutes through substitute Telma Encarnação.

Australia vs. Nigeria

Co-host Australia is up last on Thursday as the Matildas look to book their place in the last 16 following the opening game victory over the Republic of Ireland.

Missing captain and star forward Sam Kerr, Australia looked disjointed for large spells of the match but secured the three points thanks to Steph Catley’s nerveless penalty.

Kerr will be missing again for the Nigeria match and head coach Tony Gustavsson knows the team will need to show an improvement against tougher opposition.

Nigeria impressively held reigning Olympic champion Canada to a goalless draw in its opening match, thanks largely to the heroics of goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.

The Nigeria captain made a number of vital saves throughout the contest, the most impressive coming as she saved Christine Sinclair’s penalty and then swatted away the follow up.

Argentina forward Yamila Rodríguez has defended herself for having a tattoo of Cristiano Ronaldo inked on her left shin, saying that favoring the Portugal star is not a sign she does not appreciate their World Cup-winning talisman Lionel Messi.

The 25-year-old, who also has a tattoo of Argentina great Diego Maradona on her left thigh, said she had been receiving criticism on social media for the tattoo of Ronaldo, Messi’s great rival.

“Please stop, I’m not having a good time. At what point did I say that I’m anti-Messi?” she wrote on Instagram.

“I’m not having a bad time because of you (fans) but for the atrocities that are said, without mercy. Can’t you have an idol or a player you like?

“Messi is our great captain in the national team but the fact that I say that my inspiration and my idol is CR7 (Ronaldo) does not mean that I hate Messi.”

Rodríguez said she saw no problem in having a Ronaldo tattoo as the Portugal forward, who has scored over 800 goals in his career, inspired her.

“What is the problem? We are not all obliged to only love the players of our country,” she said.

“Please understand that this is football and everyone has appreciation, their preferences and highlighting one does not mean burying the other. Enough, it tires me, it hurts me.”

Rodríguez was a late substitute in Argentina’s 1-0 defeat by Italy in their Women’s World Cup group opener. They next play South Africa on Friday.