Sharks sign American centre

The Sharks have contracted a young USA Eagles midfielder ahead of the 2026-27 season. truewildgame.online

Dominic Besag has earned 20 Test caps since making his USA debut in 2023, scoring seven tries, and started at No 12 in this month’s Nations Cup wins against Portugal and Zimbabwe.

He was part of the San Diego Legion academy and captained the USA U20 team in 2023 before being called up for the senior side’s end-of-year tour.

ALSO: Lions confirm new arrivals

From the Eagles to The Sharks

USA international Dominic Besag begins an exciting new chapter in black and white.

Welcome to Durban! We’re looking forward to seeing your journey continue.#SharksRugby pic.twitter.com/59iaARt5rW

— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) July 16, 2026

Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty Images

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ATLANTA, United States, July 16, 2026 – England pride themselves on their physicality, so shouldn’t it have suited them to face a 39-year-old who spends most of his time walking?

Well, that’s not quite how it turned out.

Lionel Messi is less athletic compared to his younger self, but his footballing intelligence makes up for the physical drop-off.

As England conceded control of the World Cup semi-final because of their own fatigue and Thomas Tuchel’s in-game changes, veteran Messi strolled authoritatively and effectively served as Argentina’s on-field coach.

So how did Messi find and exploit England’s weaknesses to deliver victory for Argentina in Atlanta?

How Argentina gained a foothold after England’s start

In the first half, England looked to press Argentina high.

Wingers Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers were tasked with pressing the two Argentina central defenders – angling their body in a way that made finding the full-backs harder for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and his centre-backs, Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez.

For Argentina, it felt like the simpler passes were on through the middle of the pitch, but in playing these they fell into England’s trap early on.

Jude Bellingham was positioned deeper than Argentina might have expected. Rather than leading the press, he was being asked to pay close attention to Enzo Fernandez. Declan Rice did the same with Alexis Mac Allister and Elliot Anderson found himself paired up to Messi.

England wanted to physically bully Argentina when the World Cup holders tried to play their famously central-focused football.

The England midfield trio, showing energy early on, did well to stifle Argentina. Anderson in particular was snappy, early to his duels, smothering Messi well.

But Messi, like Fernandez and Mac Allister, began to grow into the game.

Argentina’s captain started to take deeper positions, posing Anderson a dilemma – how far should he follow him? Messi’s walking pace, a tool of great deception, came in handy here too.

From almost a standing start, Messi would burst into life, darting towards the ball. With the defending side having to react to these sudden movements, the advantage was increasingly with Argentina, especially as England’s press faded as tiredness began to set in.

With players dropping towards the ball in this way, Argentina were able to bring the ball up the pitch as a unit and begin to gain some control.

How Messi masterclass mangled England hopes

England scored through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute and held the lead for half an hour.

Fernandez struck a brilliant equaliser in the 85th minute, after Messi picked him out near the edge of the penalty area.

Lautaro Martinez then won the game in stoppage time with a header from Messi’s cross.

Between Gordon’s goal and Argentina’s equaliser, England had only 12% of the ball which meant they spent most of the second half defending in deep positions.

It became a tussle of Argentina’s attack versus England’s defence, which lived a charmed life for a while.

Argentina persisted though, with Messi exploiting weaknesses in England’s structure and flaws in individual players’ habits to inspire his side’s comeback.

After getting some joy against Messi in the early stages of the game, Anderson’s front-footed approach became less effective with Messi adapting on the fly to his direct opponent’s playing style.

In fact, Messi began to use Anderson’s aggression against him. He held the ball for as long as possible, drawing the 23-year-old out, before flicking the ball around the corner for team-mates in the knowledge there was now space to attack in the zone Anderson had vacated.

For Argentina’s opening goal, Messi, after playing a one-two following a short corner, took advantage of Anderson’s willingness to engage in duels again.

As Messi dribbled in-field, Anderson left his central position to double up on the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Messi cleverly delayed his pass, releasing it only after attracting players towards him, which allowed Fernandez plenty of space in which he could gather the ball, pick his target and strike decisively at goal without being challenged.

Recognising space and creating tension

England focused on blocking space centrally, looking to defend their lead and stop Argentina playing their natural game.

Messi left his central position and instead stood where space emerged. Against England’s deep and centrally compact shape, this space was either deep – in front of England’s block – or wide on the right touchline.

By moving into these empty spaces unmarked, Messi was either free to receive the ball with time and space, or he would drag players towards him, disorganising England’s block and opening up space elsewhere.

The positions he took up were unorthodox, but they allowed him to grasp control of the game with his familiarly impressive dribbling and passing.

Taking advantage of Bellingham’s position

As great as Bellingham was in attack during the tournament, his defensive positioning on Wednesday led to situations that allowed Messi to attack dangerously.

In a 4-4-2 block, the near-side striker is commonly asked to come across to help defend the wide areas. Down Argentina’s right, this would have been Bellingham’s job.

Messi, recognising that Bellingham was often caught high up the pitch, or drawn towards the ball, would use this as a chance to hold a position in the space behind him.

To be more specific, this space was towards the right and often just deep enough to make it hard for England’s central midfielders to get close.

This made it easy for Argentina to sustain attacks and created small-sided games that resulted in dangerous crosses into the box. Messi and a team-mate were often two against two on the right flank, but if both the winger and full-back joined Messi, there were occasions where Argentina had a three-against-two overload if Bellingham hadn’t come across.

How Argentina undid Tuchel’s tactical tweaks

Argentina committed many attackers into the box when the ball was crossed, which explains Tuchel’s move to a back five – looking to gain numerical equality in the box.

But the England head coach’s decision to move to a 5-3-2 suited the game Messi had decided to play.

With England’s back five pinned deep, the three central midfielders struggled to cover the width of the pitch.

Messi recognised this and was able to then play closer to goal but still in that deeper, right-sided role.

Following Declan Rice’s substitution and Nico O’Reilly’s introduction, England moved to a 5-4-1 which provided better coverage in wide areas. The issue England had now again related to Bellingham as he was moved into an unfamiliar holding midfield role.

From here, Bellingham’s natural instinct was to drop closer towards his own goal before then having to make longer sprints when looking to close down Argentina’s midfielders outside the box. Bellingham struggled to get close and it allowed Argentina to move the ball from the left side of the pitch to the right, where Messi could work his magic.

Bellingham’s deep position afforded Fernandez the time and space to get a shot off from distance – under little pressure – resulting in the corner Argentina equalised from.

By flipping the roles of Fernandez and Mac Allister, giving the latter the go-ahead to attack crosses in the box, and by introducing the aerially impressive Nico Gonzalez and Lautaro Martinez and bringing on Rodrigo de Paul out wide, Argentina were suddenly looking like threatening England’s goal with every attack.

Head coach Lionel Scaloni and Messi had combined to create an attacking set-up that gave them easy access to the right wing, with reliable crosses and strong attackers to head the ball too – and they had this for the best part of half an hour.

With England’s starters battling fatigue, many out of position, and facing attacks launched largely by arguably the greatest footballer of all-time, it was no great surprise that Argentina put up what many would consider their best period of attacking football in the tournament so far.

Jean-Luc du Plessis will captain a new-look Stormers XXIII side featuring six Currie Cup debutants when they launch their campaign against defending champions Griquas at Cape Town Stadium on Friday night.

The experienced flyhalf leads a squad that blends seasoned campaigners with emerging talent as the Stormers begin a new chapter in the competition under coach Tom Dawson-Squibb.

Fullback Dylan Miller, wing Mfundo Ndhlovu, lock Tom Barnard, No 8 Wandile Mlaba, flanker Xola Nyali and utility back Dominic Malgas are all set to make their Currie Cup debuts.

MORE: Stormers XXIII out to end losing streak

There are also first Currie Cup appearances in Stormers colours for hooker Vernon Paulo, prop Hencus van Wyk and scrumhalf Tiaan Fourie.

Du Plessis will partner experienced scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer in the halfbacks, while Josh Boulle and Cornel Smit combine in midfield. Gino Cupido joins Miller and Ndhlovu in an exciting back three.

Up front, veteran loosehead Oli Kebble packs down alongside Paulo and young tighthead Herman Lubbe in the front row.

Former Sharks lock Gerbrandt Grobler brings valuable experience to the second row alongside Barnard.

Mlaba anchors a mobile loose trio with Divan Fuller and Keke Morabe, while Nyali is among the impact players on the bench.

Dawson-Squibb believes his side has embraced the challenge of taking on the defending champions in their opening match.

“We are new as a team, which brings with it the chance of some adapting through the game but more importantly, it brings with it massive enthusiasm and competitiveness.

“My message for the last four weeks has been to compete ‘unreasonably’. We want this team to go above and beyond in every area and push ourselves as far as we can, which is what we mean by being unreasonable. What better way to test this than against the defending champions who are high on confidence.

“This is a big moment as we start a new era, and what better place to do so than DHL Stadium. The players and management are all looking forward to the challenge and giving all we have to make a positive start.”

TEAM: Former Stormer Maart starts for Griquas

The Stormers will also be looking to end Griquas’ dominance in this fixture, with the defending champions having won the last eight meetings between the teams.

STORMERS XXIII – 15 Dylan Miller, 14 Gino Cupido, 13 Josh Boulle, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Mfundo Ndhlovu, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (c), 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Wandile Mlaba, 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Keke Morabe, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Tom Barnard, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Oli Kebble
Bench: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Enos Ndiao, 21 Xola Nyali, 22 Tiaan Fourie, 23 Dominic Malgas

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

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Ils l’ont fait ! En renversant l’Angleterre (2-1) au terme d’une nouvelle démonstration de caractère, l’Argentine s’est qualifiée pour la finale de la Coupe du monde 2026. Les champions du monde en titre ne sont désormais plus qu’à un match d’un exploit que très peu de nations ont réussi dans l’histoire : conserver leur couronne mondiale.

Un exploit vieux de plus de 60 ans

Sacrée au Qatar en 2022, l’Albiceleste peut désormais réaliser ce qu’aucune sélection n’a réussi depuis plus de six décennies. En effet, seules deux nations sont parvenues à remporter deux Coupes du monde consécutives : l’Italie, en 1934 et 1938, puis le Brésil, en 1958 et 1962. Depuis, aucune équipe n’a réussi à défendre son titre.

L’Argentine a donc rendez-vous avec son histoire. Une victoire en finale lui permettrait d’intégrer un cercle extrêmement fermé et de rejoindre deux des plus grandes sélections que le football ait connues.

90 minutes pour entrer dans la légende

Il reste désormais un dernier obstacle sur la route de l’Albiceleste : l’Espagne. Une affiche de rêve, qui pourrait permettre aux hommes de Lionel Scaloni d’écrire l’une des plus belles pages de leur histoire.

En cas de succès, l’Argentine deviendrait la première nation depuis le Brésil de Pelé à conserver son titre mondial. Quatre-vingt-dix minutes séparent désormais les champions du monde en titre d’un exploit que le football attend depuis… 1962.

The post Coupe du monde 2026 : l’Argentine à 90 minutes d’un exploit vieux de 64 ans appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni struggled to contain his emotions after guiding La Albiceleste to the World Cup final.

The Argentina side stages a comeback to secure a 2-1 victory over England in their semi-final clash at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia.

La Albiceleste will now take on Spain in the World Cup final when they meet at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.

Scaloni hailing his players’ remarkable resilience and unwavering commitment following their dramatic comeback victory over England.

“No words, no words. A joy for our country, for our people. The other day, I said this group never stops surprising me,” Scaloni told FIFA.

“And I’ll tell you the truth, we’re going to try to win, we’re going to leave everything out there, but after this it’s very difficult to get people to understand what these players are showing.

“It’s incredible. We are unique, truly, and it’s not arrogance, it’s from the heart. We are unique. These people today carried us to win the match, so I’m grateful.”

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