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AFTER the Cork hurlers won their epic All-Ireland semi-final with Waterford in 2006, Brian Corcoran took manager, John Allen, aside in the dressing room.

Corcoran explained that there was a month to get things right for a potential three-in-a-row and the club games fixed for the following weekend would have to be called off. Allen was unsure, but Corcoran spoke to the players and Donal g Cusack called a vote. All the players agreed that they needed a clean run at the All-Ireland final: The clubs could wait. By the following day, Allen was pleading the case for the games to go, for the good of Cork hurling.

The club games werent played; there were no quarter-finals until the last week of September. Cork lost the final and some players admitted theyd had too long a lead-in. Corcoran and Cusack played the senior county final against each other that October. Everybody thought they were doing the right thing and everybody was in some form.

If theres a tendency to simplify the club-county conundrum as some kind of battle for the soul of GAA, this is just one of hundreds of examples that show its too nuanced and complex for that. Its possible to want to do the best by clubsmake the county team as good as it can be, but, and heres the killer, its very difficult to achieve.

The populist call has been for club action to take priority this year, that its the time for some reckoning on the inter-county scene, amid some nostalgic ideal of knockout club championships and the glory days. Theres the opposite idea, blamed on Davy Fitz, of playing club championship as a kind of two- or three-week blitz to allow the county team more time and priority.

In the middle, any thoughts of trying to cram a season of games into an already bursting calendar have quickly evaporated into logistical issues. Especially in Cork, where an inter-county player is going to face a fairly hectic schedule of games from August onwards, and where an inter-county player who also plays dual might want to cancel any outside plans.

Clubs need games: More than one, but maybe not four in three weeks. County teams need collective time together, but itll be like an international team gathering before a Fifa World Cup, trying to freshen up players after an intense end of season.

This isnt an easy fix and Anthony Daly, a pure GAA man, explained the difference in focus and analysis between the club and county games. Its grand to wonder at the point of all this inter-county preparation and make suggestions about not needing weeks or months to be ready, but then theres someone picking apart the lack of a puck-out strategy on , or calling out some poor full-back line for getting the runaround in the papers on Monday morning thats the reality of the inter-county expectation of consistent excellence now.

Another reality? The GAA needs the inter-county scene for finances, for the sponsorship and TV money that filters down to the county boards and clubs.

Another reality? The inter-county is important in winning hearts and minds. It might be a wonderful thought that the club is where it all begins, but for an awful lot of children, their first real love of the game will come from watching Munster finals and wanting to wear the county jersey.

Ronan McCarthy has said that itd be unfair on clubs to get only one knockout game after a summer of waiting and a year of being promised more games. Its hardly the right timing for a statement for the future with a grand gesture on the club/county scene, and even if theres a sense that something new is needed for them to work together, its almost impossible to meet club and county needs when both are competing for the same time.

A new and separate calendar might come into conversations again.

For now, compromise will have to do, along with the understanding that everybody players, clubs, inter-county managers is looking for the same basic needs to be met: Everyone wants games. Everyone wants the best chance to win.

Were still worlds away from providing everyone with that.

See more here:
Cork GAA forever struggles to find the balance between club and county - Echo Live

Caitlin Foord was just 16 years and eight months old when she had her first taste of World Cup football, a one-nil loss to Brazil in the first round of the 2011 women's World Cup in Germany.

Today the 25-year-old from the NSW south coast is a veteran of three World Cups and believes hosting the tournament in Australia and New Zealand would be a game-changer for the sport domestically.

"To have any major football tournament in Australia let alone a World Cup is something Australia has never seen before," Foord said.

"I think it will do massive things for the game in Australia for both girls and boys growing up playing football.

"It gives younger generations and upcoming footballers a chance to see what they can strive to be and drive towards.

Australia will learn at 2:00am AEST on Friday whether it will be hosting the women's FIFA 2023 World Cup alongside New Zealand with Colombia remaining the only rival bid after Japan withdrew from contention.

With the memories of Australia's unsuccessful bid for the 2022 men's competition lingering, the FFA will be reluctant to count its chickens before they hatch.

But Foord said if the bid was successful, hosting the tournament would be a testament to the growing popularity of the Matildas.

"As the years have gone on you can feel Australia has grown to love the Matildas as a team," she said.

"You see that when we have games at home and we get 18,000 to 20,000 people showing up."

Stepping onto the field in Mnchengladbach in 2011, Caitlin Foord became the youngest player, male or female, to play at a World Cup and was determined to make the most of her chance.

"I just grabbed it with two hands as I didn't want to miss my opportunity," Foord said.

"I was converted to a right back and the national team needed a right back at that time and it opened the door for me to start my international career."

Foord quickly locked down a place in the Matildas starting line-up and featured in all Australia's games.

Despite the Matildas exiting the competition in their first knockout game, Foord's performances in Germany turned heads and earned her the inaugural best young player accolade.

Nine years later her performances both domestically and abroad, she caught the eye of one of the biggest clubs in world football.

Foord signed with Arsenal in January this year but was only able to play a handful of games before COVID-19 prematurely ended the season.

"It was obviously not the start I wanted. I guess that's what happens."

"I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else when the lockdown hit, just because how the club looked after us and everyone was so positive it felt like you were still part of the team.

"It gave me an opportunity to get to know some of the players as well, so I think that's only going to help when we go back for next season."

Foord also said she was looking forward to working with highly regarded Australian coach Joe Montemurro when training resumed in July.

"I didn't know Joe before, but I'd only heard good things and after my first conversation I was sold.

"I haven't really got the chance to work with him that much yet so definitely looking forward to that when the season starts."

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FIFA 2023 World Cup for Australia-New Zealand will uncover next generation of Matildas says Caitlin Foord - ABC News

It would take some extremely blue-tinted glasses to argue that Manchester City deserve to win the Premier League this season ahead of Liverpool, yet there may still be a world where they remain reigning champions heading into next season.

It is far-fetched, but the longer the Premier League is suspended, the stronger the calls will be to cancel the remaining fixtures and use an alternative method to decide how - or if - the final league standings are decided.

This week France joined the Netherlands in ending their football seasons early after government directives banning sporting events before September. The Eredivisie opted to void the season and not elect a champion, with Ajax and AZ Alkmaar level on points at the top. Ligue 1 are yet to decide how to determine final standings, although PSG were 12 points clear at the top before the season was suspended so there is more justification to awarding the title.

Premier League clubs will hold a conference call later this week to discuss the next steps for finishing their own season, with the hope that it will be possible to complete the remaining 92 fixtures and finish the season through sporting merit.

However, that decision may be taken out of their hands and the decision will have to be made to void the season or decide the final standings another way.

On the face of it, voiding the season would spare City losing their status as Premier League champions and allow them to put their failed title defence behind them. The extra time to prepare for next season would also be more beneficial than a condensed run-in with nothing to play for followed by a reduced pre-season for 2020/21.

But voiding the season would likely see City's Carabao Cup and Community Shield titles scrubbed off, as well as denying them one of their main motivations for next season: a point to prove.

If Liverpool, deservedly, win the Premier League this season, City will be able to use the pain of seeing their rivals take their trophy to fuel the 2021 title challenge.

After Liverpool knocked City out of the Champions League in 2018 so emphatically, Pep Guardiola's men won two and drew one of the next three meetings with the Reds. They were stronger after the experience of seeing Liverpool succeed at their expense.

Another Champions League disappointment followed last season against Tottenham, and there was a noticeable change in determination when the next knockout game came around in March at the Bernabeu. That tie isn't finished, but City produced one of their best-ever European performances to put themselves in pole position to progress.

This is a side who do not like losing, and they rarely make the same mistakes twice.

So in order for the team to be in the right frame of mind to win back their Premier League crown, they need a trophy to win back. And that means Liverpool winning the title this season.

The alternative could be a scorned, trophy-less Liverpool side with a bigger point to prove than City could ever compete with.

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Man City need Liverpool FC to win Premier League to boost 2021 challenge - Manchester Evening News

In the 45-year history of the PBA, a Grand Slam - one team winning all three conferences in a single season - has only been accomplished five times, with Crispa winning in 1976 and 1983, San Miguel in 1989, Alaska in 1996 and San Mig Coffee in 2014. For our latest series, we interviewed one player from each of those Grand Slam teams. We started with the 1976 Redmanizers and followed it up with 1983 squad. Now we move on to the 1989 San Miguel Beermen.

Today's generation of PBA fans know very well their favorite San Miguel Beer idols like June Mar Fajardo, the pro league's only six-time MVP, Terrence Romeo, Arwind Santos, Chris Ross, and Alex Cabagnot, just to name few.

This batch of SMB has been running roughshod over its opponents since coach Leo Austria came on board in 2014. Austria brought his coaching magic to the Beermen's camp, turning the once talented but underachieving squad into the most dominant ballclub today.

San Miguel has in fact, won eight league championships, including five All-Filipino Cup crowns in a row, a feat that could be hard to match in the years to come.

Twice under Austria's watch, San Miguel came close to winning what could have been the second Grand Slam finish in franchise history. But in both instances, Barangay Ginebra thwarted that bid after ruling the season-ending Governors' Cup in 2017 and 2019 behind super import Justin Brownlee.

Former San Miguel star center Ramon Fernandez, who owns numerous individual league records, recognized the dominance of today's version of San Miguel.

But then again, he's got his own story to tell, especially since his 1989 San Miguel team finished the season with aplomb by winning the Grand Slam, making SMB just the second team to achieve the rare feat at that time.

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Black magic

San Miguel's 1989 batch comprised the core of Fernandez, playmaker Hector Calma, Samboy Lim, shooting guard Ricardo Brown, bruising forwards Yves Dignadice and Alvin Teng, and role players Elmer Reyes and Franz Pumaren.

Even with such a star-studded lineup, Fernandez stressed there were no prima donnas in the team, a reason why SMB coach Norman Black could focus on his job of plotting the team's championship run that season.

"Our team during 1989 was a powerhouse team. In fact, our internal joke back then was, even our ballboy can coach our team and win the championship," Fernandez told ESPN5, while laughing in between during the interview.

However, Fernandez, nicknamed "El Presidente", said that joke wasn't meant to disrespect nor belittle the coaching abilities of Black.

2018 San Miguel Beer versus...

1989 San Miguel Beer 1993 Coney Island 1995 Sunkist Orange 2001 San Miguel Beer 2007 Barangay Ginebra 2011 Talk 'N Text

"The great thing about having Norman was he can really focus on getting the best import for the team each conference," recalled Fernandez, who now serves as one of the commissioners of the Philippine Sports Commission.

"Norman can easily talk to the import because one, they speak the same language, and second, he understands what type of import we need for a particular conference," he added.

The 66-year-old Filipino basketball icon said he had high regard for Black, whom he faced numerous times since the American coach served as import in various teams like Tefilin (1981), San Miguel (1982) and Magnolia/SMB (1985-1988).

"As far as coaching, there's no more question about his ability because no player in his right mind would try to question Norman. He never had any problem with the team because everyone was coachable," explained Fernandez, whose bid for a then record fifth PBA MVP was denied when Shell's Benjie Paras won the Rookie of the Year and league MVP in 1989.

In the 45-year history of the PBA, there have been over 120 championship series. We take a look back at the most memorable ones, five from each decade of the league's existence.

1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Championship juggernaut

San Miguel kicked off the season by sweeping two-round eliminations of the Open Conference on the way to an immaculate 10-0 record behind import Michael Phelps, who back then was coming off NBA stints with the Seattle Supersonics and Los Angeles Clippers.

The Beermen continued their dominance in the semifinals as they breezed their way to the Finals where they arranged a best-of-seven title series with Shell, which had the do-it-all Bobby Parks as its import.

While Parks was a scoring dynamo, and Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc played their guts out during the Finals, the Turbo Chargers were simply no match for the Beermen's championship experience, talent and firepower as they went on to rule the 1989 Open Conference via a 4-1 series win.

A month after the title conquest, San Miguel resumed its title bid, this time in the All-Filipino Conference, where Fernandez's former team Purefoods emerged as the team to beat.

The Hotdogs rolled on the solid core of Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codinera and Jojo Lastimosa. But the Beermen were not far behind. San Miguel and Purefoods eventually arranged a race-to-four-wins championship series.

The championship series offered an interesting subplot as Fernandez faced his former team for the first time since his aborted stint with Purefoods in the 1988 season.

For PBA fans, there's nothing like nostalgia. A handful of ESPN5.com writers present interesting and timeless pieces, tackling a wide range of unique topics.

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Fernandez admitted he and then Purefoods president and chairman Rene Buhain didn't see eye to eye during his brief stint with the Hotdogs.

The former PBA four-time MVP had led Purefoods to a runner-up finish during the 1988 Open Conference as its playing-coach. He then guided the young Purefoods side to the Finals in the All-Filipino Conference, but was subsequently benched in the title series against Aejo Rhum.

The 65ers of playing coach Robert Jaworski eventually won the All-Filipino crown via a 3-1 series conquest.

From there, Fernandez was traded to San Miguel in a straight swap with Abet Guidaben.

With his troubles from the not-so-distant past with Purefoods as a backdrop, Fernandez played his guts out during the Finals to help the Beermen to a 4-2 series victory.

It was SMB's first All-Filipino crown in the pro league, but more importantly, the Beermen moved one conference away from the Grand Slam.

The Reinforced Conference though became the most challenging stretch for San Miguel. The Beermen struggled with Keith Smart, the team's original import, who lasted just the first round of eliminations and had to be replaced by NBA journeyman Ennis Whatley.

The Beermen though regrouped to book the semis after ending 1-2 in the standings with the Hotdogs with similar 6-4 records.

But SMB went on to win six of its last eight games from there to book the Finals seat.

Aejo Rhum, on the other hand, squeaked past Purefoods, 113-112 in their knockout game for the last Finals berth to arrange a titular duel with San Miguel.

ESPN5.com identifies 45 talented imports throughout the PBA's existence who have left indelible marks on Filipino hoop fans.

1970s edition 1980s edition 1990s edition 2000s edition 2010s edition

Other features:PBA imports who have won an NCAA titleNBA champions who played in the PBA

Although San Miguel had to deal with a scoring demon in Aejo Rhum import Carlos Briggs, who earned his reputation after recording 80 or more points three times during the conference, San Miguel emerged on top just the same.

Briggs, the Reinforced Conference Best Import, closed out the title series with an eye-popping Finals average of 64.6 points. But San Miguel saved its best in the finals, playing like a well-oiled machine behind the heads-up plays of Whatley, Brown, Lim Calma and Fernandez.

The Beermen eventually dominated the Rhum Masters, 4-1 in the Finals to complete their Grand Slam mission.

"Winning the Grand Slam is really hard. The health of the players is very critical. Certainly, you need to be intact for the whole season to make that happen, though for our team then, Ricky Brown had his own share of injuries, while Samboy missed some games also," shared Fernandez, who concluded his PBA career with 19 championships and a spot in the PBA's 40 Greatest Players.

San Miguel finished the 1989 season with a 50-21 win-loss record, with Fernandez and Calma being named to the Mythical First Team and Reyes and Teng making the Second Team. Teng was also named to the All-Defensive Team.

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'Powerhouse team': Mon Fernandez reflects on SMB's 1989 Grand Slam - ESPN

I SAW a post the other day about that day being the international day for goalkeepers. Thats interesting. Goalkeepers are a unique bunch and boy can they make or break a team. That post had me recalling some of the most memorable goalkeeping moments/personas I encountered in Cebu. Sorry, no active keepers here, you guys still have a career ahead of you.

1. Paolo Pascual. Yep, hes the son of my friend but thats not the reason why I always say hes my favorite. Ive seen this guy develop from a pudgy first grader to a pro. And, one of his memorable outings for me was when as a 16-year-old, or was it 17, he took rejected everything Joshua Fegidero had to give. During that season, the former national team could score at will, but at that game he couldnt. There was one sequence when after a save, Paolo had to run back and parry out a follow-up. This is his best performance, a coach, whose team has lost many a final to Paolo, told me that time. And thats the ultimate compliment.

2. Fr. Leo Dizon. Paolos the youngest on my list and on the opposite end is Fr. Leo Dizon. And the only reason I remember his name was when my former boss Jack Biantan told me that the starting keeper in the mens final was a 40-something priest. Seriously? I told Jack, who loved to joke. And I think he acquainted himself well in that final.

3. Ace Mangohig. Love him, hate him but Ace, the Hiroshi keeper, was one entertaining dude. Come to think of it, he was, for me the most entertaining keeper that Ive ever seen in my two decades covering football. Yep, he had antics that led to his coaches getting more white hairs but boy he did back it up with his saves. I can just imagine, if Ace was active now, his moments would go viral.

4. Crazy Global Keeper. If Ace had his antics, that crazy Global FC keeper in the AFC Presidents Cup in Cebu was just plain crazy. His awkwardness in the pre-game warm-ups made me think whoever scouted him must have needed his glasses checked but it was his actions in his last game that confirmed it. Late into a knockout game, if youre trailing, you may expect the keeper to go up field, but the crazy dude collected a cross and dribbled the ball upfield in the first half! He was promptly substituted and I was told in jest when I saw him missing in the post-game dinner that he was sent straight to the airport.

5. Unnamed keeper. Now this is a bit tragic. Every time theres talk of the best keepers in Cebu, I want to include this guys name, but I dont. The things he could do between the post was a marvel despite his small frame. But all of that is forgotten, because he holds the distinction of being the only guy who was banner news in the sports pages and banner news in the news pages a few weeks later.

The last time I chatted with him, I asked him how he was. Regrets were there, of course, and our conversations are usually ended by him saying, Ayaw saba nag chat ta, lisud na masakpan ta naa ko cell phone. Sige ra ba sila raid.

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Limpag: Moments that keep - Yahoo Philippines News