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      in Soccer

      I endured the worst sexism when I started out in football, I’m so proud of our Lionesses and how far we’ve come

      by

      WIN or lose in today’s World Cup final, we should all  say thank you to our heroic Lionesses for giving us reason to be so hopeful, happy and proud this summer.What a massive achievement to go all the way and put England’s women’s football on the global map in the process.
      Whatever happens in the World Cup final, Sarina Wiegman and the England Lionesses are heroesCredit: Getty
      A peak audience of 7.3million tuned in to see England beat Australia on Wednesday, the BBC revealed, even though the time difference meant an 11am kick-off.
      And their thrilling performance was worth the watch.
      The Lionesses are an exceptionally talented bunch and they play brilliantly to each other’s strengths.
      But it’s not just about skills and teamwork. Female footballers who have come as far as these girls must be particularly determined and tenacious.
      READ MORE KARREN BRADY
      And in the excellent Sarina Wiegman they have a coach worthy of their talents.
      Despite playing for the Dutch national champions and representing her country, for most of her own football career she had to work as a PE teacher to supplement her income.
      No seamless lucrative hop from multimillion-pound player’s contract to multimillion- pound manager’s deal for Sarina.
      She had to graft to make her way as a manager. But along the way, she became a gifted and in- spirational leader.
      Most read in Football
      Within three years of gaining her full coaching licence, she led the Dutch women’s team to victory at the 2017 Euros and the final of the 2019 World Cup. Sound familiar?
      Last year, she took the Lionesses to victory at the European Women’s Championship and now our women’s team is in its first World Cup final.
      No wonder the FA are considering her as a potential successor to Gareth Southgate for the men’s national team.But for all her success, she is in a minority.
      Spain, who England will play today, have a male manager, as do many other women’s teams.
      Just 12 out of the 32 squads in this year’s World Cup are headed by female coaches, despite clear evidence that women leading women in sport adds up to success.
      And you have to ask — why are there so many blokes in charge, given that no women manage men’s teams?
      I was the first woman to hold a top-flight role in English football at Birmingham City, after joining the club as managing director aged 23.
      When I started out, I was subjected to the most overt sexist chauvinism.
      A chairman of a fellow football club claimed that I would do a “Sharon Stone” in a football tribunal to get out of a Football Association fine.
      I was banned from boardrooms — which had a “no women allowed” policy — and was once chanted at by 30,000 football fans with words too rude to print in a family newspaper.
      It was a slog and, at times, depressing. I always say that the boardroom door was the first door I kicked down, and I have held that door open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women as possible through it over the past 30 years.
      So, whatever happens today, I’m proud of how far we have come.
      Women’s football in England has come a long way and a World Cup win would take it to the next levelCredit: PA
      A nation is gripped. And proud. And excited. We are in the finals and bossing it!
      As a result, people are taking women’s football more seriously than they ever have. For which I give a giant hurrah.
      These women deserve to be celebrated, and I back The Sun on Sunday’s calls to give out gongs to the Lionesses.
      But there is still some major catching up to do when it comes to parity with men’s football.
      First, there’s the economics of it. Forget making a profit, or even breaking even.
      Every Women’s Super League club loses money.
      The interest in the game is there on a national level, which is obviously wonderful.
      FIERCE AND FABULOUS
      But it does not yet filter down to domestic leagues.
      So, the truth is that the men’s teams are funding the women’s game.
      Domestic leagues can’t even think about equal pay at this stage as the broadcast, sponsorship and gate revenue of the WSL doesn’t add up to a hill of beans. But this is expected to change.
      The latest figures from 2022 show that the 12 WSL clubs boosted their revenue by 60 per cent in one year — and that’s before the inevitable World Cup effect.
      Nike have not made Mary Earps’ England goalkeeper replica jersey available to fansCredit: AP
      So it’s a shame that sponsors Nike have yet to notice this team is breaking the mould, and they need to address that.
      How ridiculous that fans can’t buy a replica of Mary Earps’ goalkeeper’s shirt because the sportswear giant doesn’t think it’s worth manufacturing one.
      Then there’s the massive disparity in prize money.
      This summer is the ninth Women’s World Cup and each member of the winning team will get £213,000 from a total tournament purse of £88.5million.
      Meanwhile, the men’s purse has grown to £345million.
      In my view, it’s time for FIFA to take the lead. The women’s World Cup earns almost £1billion.
      They rake in SO much money from all these ever-expanding tournaments and yet, from their accounts, which I have studied, it’s hard to work out what they do with it all.
      It would be great if they made it their business to redress the balance by paying female footballers more money from their gate and broadcasting revenue.
      This is something domestic leagues can’t do because their revenue just can’t support it.
      After all, if FIFA can afford to pay their President Gianni Infantino more than £3million a year, surely they can afford to equal the women and men’s prize money?
      Unfortunately, as fierce and fabulous as the Lionesses are, when it comes to women’s football there is still too much uncomfortable mirroring with the world of regular work, where men run the show, get paid more and are taken more seriously than women.
      But the success of Sarina and her team is a great reminder that if you want something done right, get a woman to do it.
      After all, football could be coming home today.
      Read More on The Sun
      If it does, it’s the women’s team who will be carrying it.
      Come on England!
      Attitudes towards women in football used to be archaic, says KarrenCredit: Caters News Agency More

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      in Soccer

      They’re straightforward, lack vanity, refuse to be sex objects & are effortlessly patriotic – why we love the Lionesses

      by

      WATCHING the Lionesses celebrating winning their place in the World Cup Final on Wednesday, I felt a sensation unfamiliar to me.It was like my nose was running — but a bit higher up and bringing with it a feeling of happiness not generally associated with a summer cold.
      The Lionesses refuse to be sex objects and are effortlessly patrioticCredit: Getty
      Could the young Lionesses make the old Wags look any less relevant?Credit: Getty
      I was crying! I never cry. I only ever saw my dad cry once — when Prince, our Alsatian, died.
      Why do the Lionesses make me cry?
      Their confidence, not built on the quicksand of vanity.
      Their refusal to be sex objects and/or victims at a time when the objectification and mental health of young women is at an all-time low.

      Their effortless patriotism when we’ve been told for such a long time that it’s the dirtiest of words.
      Their talent and teamwork at a time when the narcissistic and lonely life of the social influencer is held up as the surest way for ambitious girls to find fame.
      Could the young Lionesses make the old Wags look any less relevant?
      Having dreams, ambitions and passions that money can’t buy — and the self-respect that only paying your own way in life can bring — seems far more enviable than being the kept woman of a man who has to take off his boots in order to count up to 20.
      Most read in Football
      If the Lionesses make Wags look bad, they make the male England players look worse.
      These alleged LGBTQ allies — led by “gay icon” David Beckham — were last seen wafting off to Qatar to give good PR to a country where migrant workers are treated like chattels, women are treated like children and homosexuals are treated like criminals.
      The Lionesses draw in multitudes turned off by the ugliness of the male game, with its inordinate share of spouse beaters, cat kickers and sexual assaulters within its ranks.
      All that hype and money — and they haven’t been able to get into a World Cup final for more than half a century.
      Football touches us because, more than any other sport, we can see the child inside the adult — the lack of accoutrements needed means that the poorest kid can access it.
      When a player scores, they react with the joy of a child, as do their friends to their fleeting triumph.
      It’s hard to see the exuberant kid in the over-paid and self-pitying male footballers — but very easy to see it in the Lionesses with their ponytails and bare-faced beauty.
      Their names — Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Mary Earps — carry echoes of our Dickensian heritage while also sounding like super-heroines from the future.
      They already sound like names on statues, even though they’re so young.
      When the Lionesses speak, they conjure up a sense of community which the money-mad and globalist male game has lost.
      And by community, I don’t just mean the country whose shirts they wear.
      I mean a wider female community stretching back into the past — the “Lost Lionesses” of the 1971 Women’s World Cup — and reaching into the future.
      Last year, when the Lionesses won the Uefa European Championship, I heard pre-teen girls yelling the players’ names, like war-cries while kicking a ball around on the public lawns at the end of my street.
      This year I heard a little girl adorably singing “Three Lions wearing skirts” in the local Pizza Express.
      This goes beyond football — it goes to the very heart of confidence for the next generation of teenage girls.
      I wonder how many “tomboys” will be stopped from taking the sad journey to the surgeon’s scalpel now that the Lionesses have shown us such a bold new way of being feminine?
      So I don’t really mind crying at long last, but I hope it stays limited to sport.
      I don’t want to start imitating a fire hydrant every time I see an injured dog on Instagram or spontaneously sobbing during ghastly “girly chats”.
      But, at 64, I finally understand why we get emotional when our team (and the Lionesses really are the first time I’ve thought of any team as being “mine”) wins — or loses, because either way, I can see myself snivelling lots tomorrow.
      Read More on The Sun
      Not just because of what they represent for women’s football — but for women.
      As the Terminator almost said: “Men — I know now why you cry.” More

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      in Soccer

      How Sarina Weigman went from disguising herself as a boy to play football to the most successful women’s manager ever

      by

      WITH the Lionesses roaring into the World Cup final for the first time, manager Sarina Wiegman is celebrating her own record-breaking achievement.The former PE teacher has become the first manager to take two national teams all the way to the final — having coached her native Netherlands through the tournament in 2019.
      Sarina Weigman has become the first manager to take two national teams all the way to the World Cup finalCredit: Getty
      Former England players have said the key to Sarina’s success is how much she gets to know her playersCredit: Getty
      Sarina, who as a child disguised herself as a boy to play in her local team, is now being talked about as a possible successor to Gareth Southgate as manager of the England men’s team.
      FA boss Mark Bullingham confirmed that it was considering appointing a woman when Southgate’s contract expires at the end of next year, saying: “It’s the best person for the job. If that best person is a woman then why not?”
      And those who have trained under mum-of-two Sarina, a three-time winner of Fifa Women’s Coach of the Year, reckon she is well qualified.
      Ellen White, part of last year’s Euros-winning squad, says the key to Sarina’s success is how much she gets to know her players.
      READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS
      Ellen, 34, said: “We needed someone to bring everyone’s strengths together on and off the pitch and allow them to be free to express themselves.
      “Sarina is a genuinely lovely person that shows a lot of empathy. She wants to know you on a human level, not just as a player. She has conversations with you about your family.
      “Her communication levels are on another level to what we have experienced before. It’s the fact she knows each player individually and knows what makes them tick.”
      True grit
      But what sets Sarina apart is also her true grit — born from a lifetime of fighting for her place in a sporting world dominated by men.
      Most read in Football
      Sarina, who learned her skills playing against boys when girls’ football was banned in the Netherlands, led the charge for women to be paid professionals in the country.
      Dutch player Leonne Stentler said: “She tried to fight for that at every moment. She saw our progression was going so fast that it would be possible some day that we would be full-time professional players.
      “She had to fight for everything. She was trying to break through every wall.”
      That fighting spirit was awakened early in her childhood in The Hague when she discovered a love of football alongside twin brother Tom.
      As her country banned girls from the pitch, she cut her hair short to look more like a boy, so she could play alongside her sibling in the local team, ESDO.
      Despite the ban, her parents supported her dreams.
      She recalled: “As a little girl, when I was five or six, girls were not allowed to play football, but I just liked football and my parents never made any fuss. They just said, ‘If you want to play football, you’re going to play football’.”
      A breakthrough then came in the 1970s, as Uefa made all of its member nations invest in women’s football and Sarina was able to move to HSV Celeritas, which had a female team.
      As a child, Sarina disguised herself as a boy to play in her local teamCredit: Twitter
      At the age of 18, Sarina was part of the Netherlands squadCredit: PA
      Despite her obvious talent, the barriers to women were so entrenched Sarina never saw it as a possible career.
      She said: “I knew in elementary school that I wanted to be a PE teacher. That’s very strange, too, but I just wanted to be involved in sports.
      “I didn’t know I could be a coach because there was nothing for women in football — I couldn’t see it, so I didn’t think that it was an opportunity.”
      In 1987, the midfielder joined the Delft club KFC 71, winning the national cup the same year and was selected to play for her country.
      A year later, at the age of 18, she was part of the Netherlands squad invited by Fifa to compete in the Women’s Invitation Trophy, a precursor of the World Cup, in China.
      While there, she caught the eye of Anson Dorrance, the manager of the US Women’s Team and head coach at the University of North Carolina, who offered her a sports scholarship and a place in the university’s Tar Heels women’s soccer team.
      The secondment to the US, where women’s football was on the up, was a turning point, making her more determined to make her mark in her homeland.
      “It was an absolute trigger for me,” she said. “I thought: ‘If I can contribute in the Netherlands, to create what is in the US in the Netherlands, I would be a happy person.’ It took 20 years.”
      On her return, she worked as a PE teacher at Segbroek College in The Hague, a job she kept throughout her playing career.
      She trained with the men at ADO Den Haag several times a week and eventually joined the women’s team of Ter Leede, where she played for nine years, helping them to win two league titles and the Dutch cup, while also earning 104 caps for her country.
      As captain of the team, her leadership skills were clear — as well as her need to nurture the players who, unlike their male counterparts, were not paid professional wages.
      Teammate Jeanet van der Laan recalled: “She was pretty loud in the dressing room and very confident about her qualities.
      “Sarina came to visit me because she wanted to see where I lived.
      “I only had a washing machine and not a dryer.
      “She asked me, ‘How are you going to do this? You have to train, practise almost every day. How are you going to dry your gear?’.
      “I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t have any money’. So, she gave me her tumble dryer. And that’s something I will never forget.”
      Sarina, who is married to childhood sweetheart and sports lecturer Marten Glotzbach, retired from the pitch to start a family at 33, and had daughters Sacha and Lauren.
      While still working as a PE teacher, she returned to the club as its coach, winning the double in her first season — and continued to fight for the rights of women players.
      When the Dutch women’s league, Eredivisie, was launched in 2007, she was asked to coach a new team for Ado Den Haag on a part-time basis but she refused until they gave her a full-time job.
      She became the first female coach at a Dutch professional football organisation when she joined Sparta Rotterdam.
      Host of honours
      In 2014, she became the assistant coach of the Dutch women’s team but turned down the top job a year later. “Sarina only begins a new adventure when she’s ready for it,” explained husband Marten.
      In 2017, she agreed to take over as head coach and, in one of the first team meetings, she handed players an article entitled “Thirteen things you should give up if you want to be successful”.
      Sarina celebrated with the Lionesses after dispatching Australia 3-1 in Sydney to reach England’s first World Cup FinalCredit: Getty
      Included on the list was, “Give up your need to be liked”.
      It’s a philosophy that Dutch former player Leonne Stentler says the single-minded coach lives by.
      She said: “Sarina is someone who has a goal and just tries to reach that goal.
      “To anything else, she’s just . . .  blind is not the right word, but she doesn’t let anyone or anything change her mind or influence her.”
      The approach worked — as she guided the Netherlands to their first Euros win in 2017, earning Sarina a host of honours, including being named Best Fifa Women’s Coach and a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
      She followed it by taking the Dutch team to a runners-up medal at the 2019 World Cup, following which she became the first woman to be honoured with a statue at the Dutch Football Association.
      But a year after the World Cup triumph she disappointed her home fans by agreeing to take over from Phil Neville as head coach of the Lionesses, saying: “Why not? I only want to work at the top. I wouldn’t be happy with any less.”
      A brilliant tactician, Sarina has turned around the fortunes of the England team, who have lost just one match out of 38 under her stewardship.
      While she nurtures her players, she also has a ruthless streak, and caused controversy by leaving England captain Steph Houghton out of this year’s World Cup squad because of injury.
      As she heads to her second World Cup final as a national coach, she says winning is not as im­portant as changing the perception of women’s football — and creating opportunities she was denied as a child.
      Sarina said: “I really love the medals but what I’m proud of most is that now young girls have perspective, young girls can play football and young girls can wear shirts [with players’ names on].
      “When you go to the grocery store and people tell you, ‘My daughter was wearing that shirt but my son is wearing that shirt now too’, we’ve changed society.
      Read More on The Sun
      “That’s the change I’m proud of the most. I didn’t have opportunities. I have two daughters, they played football in mixed teams when they were younger, and it was normal.
      “Things are changing, but there is still a long way to go.”
      Sarina Wiegman, second from left on bottom row, as a girl in her local football team in the Hague
      Sarina retired from the pitch to start a family at 33, and had daughters Sacha and Lauren with husband MartenCredit: sarina.wiegman/instagram More

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      in Soccer

      How Lionesses Alessia Russo became England’s ‘million pound’ golden girl but was left blushing after meeting famous fan

      by

      AT 11, Alessia Russo was tipped as a future England star by goalscoring great Kelly Smith – and now, 13 years later, she really is making the Lionesses roar.The World Cup forward, who scored the winning goal against Colombia on Saturday to take England into the semi-finals, has been dubbed the “golden girl” of the Women’s Super League.
      Alessia Russo has been dubbed the ‘golden girl’ of the Women’s Super LeagueCredit: MARK CANT/Women’s Health UK
      Alessia in her new Arsenal strip having left Man Utd in a shock transferCredit: Getty
      Alessia with her mum, dad and brotherCredit: Instagram @alessiarusso99
      The 24-year-old had already cemented her place in the nation’s hearts with a spectacular backheel goal for England in last year’s Euros semi-final against Sweden which was named the Goal of the Tournament.
      Now, a month after her transfer to Arsenal from Manchester United, Alessia — known to her family as Lessi — is lighting up the World Cup too.
      And she’s going for gold as well as goals.
      Factoring in commercial deals with such brands as Adidas, Gucci, PlayStation and Beats by Dre, she is now thought be the first WSL player to earn more than £1million a year.
      Read More on Alessia Russo
      With celeb fans such as David Beckham — and his daughter Harper — she is already such a national treasure that her boots have been displayed in the Tower of London.
      Colin Whitfield, a former coach at Bearsted FC in Kent, where she began her footie career, told The Sun she is inspiring a new generation.
      He said: “The girls in particular all want to be the next Alessia Russo. She has inspired lots of people, not just at Bearsted.
      “There’s a real sense of excitement off the back of her success. I can’t see it ever disappearing.”
      Most read in Football
      The Kent-born striker’s rise to the top was on the cards from a young age.
      Coming from Sicilian stock, Alessia grew up in Maidstone in a sporting family — policeman dad Mario played for Met Police FC and coached local kids, brother Giorgio played for non-league team Ramsgate and younger brother Luca represented England in under-20s track and field events.
      Mum Carol recently recalled Alessia as a “cute three-year-old dancing in a tutu” but added that she had been desperate to ditch ballet because she wanted to go to football training with her dad and brothers.
      Coach Mario revealed he had got “strange looks” from other parents when he moved his daughter from the girls’ to the boys’ team after spotting her potential.
      At St Simon Stock Catholic School in Maidstone, Alessia’s star quality was clear, and former head teacher John Malone and PE teacher Claire Brown recall she was a “driven” pupil who “already had the mindset of a great sporting star”.
      John told Good Morning Britain: “She played for the girls’ team but also, up to a certain age, girls can play for the boys’ team.
      “Her reputation was out there in the community. So PE departments from other schools would be calling us on the match day to say, ‘Is that girl playing for you this evening?’.
      “If the answer was yes, they knew that they were going to lose.”
      From the age of eight, Alessia trained at Charlton Athletic’s academy, where in 2006 she was led on to the pitch as a mascot by Casey Stoney, who would later become her boss at Manchester United.
      Offered a contract by Chelsea just as she was considering university, she opted to take a soccer scholarship at the University of North Carolina, where her brother Luca was already studying on an athletic scholarship.
      Her first-year roommate was fellow England player Lotte Wubben-Moy.
      Sporting star
      Her university coach Anson Dorrance — who also trained Lioness Lucy Bronze — told a newspaper: “Players usually slow down in shooting practice to achieve more accuracy.
      “But Alessia never did that, she always played the game. She always went 100mph to try and score a goal, even in an exercise. Russo trained ruthlessly to become the player she is and she’s going to keep getting better.
      “So even to this day I use examples of my great players, Alessia certainly being one of them, to help my current players become elite.”
      Always a star of the England youth teams, once scoring five goals in one match against Croatia aged 17, she was called up to the senior squad in February 2020.
      Seven months later, on her return from the States, the life-long Manchester United supporter was snapped up by the Red Devils.
      Last month, when she left after three years to join Arsenal, she reflected on how it had always been her dream to play at Old Trafford.
      She said: “If I ever picture myself as a little girl, I’m wearing a United shirt with a ball glued to my feet. If someone told that little girl she’d represent the club one day, create so many memories and score at Old Trafford, I can’t imagine how she’d contain the excitement.”
      Alessia has also revealed her health struggles, telling Women’s Health magazine: “In lockdown, it was tough. I was training on my own, I was home and I lost quite a bit of weight.
      “Then I signed for Man United soon after lockdown and within about six weeks, I completely tore my hamstring, which I could only relate back to losing a lot of weight because I’ve never had a muscle injury before.
      “[My diet] was high in protein but I was sacrificing all the carbs and the fats. I used to track everything.
      “I was at a low point with my food and with my weight. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t robust. I thought I looked great but really, on the football pitch, I wasn’t strong enough to compete.”
      While at United, Alessia went on to become United’s top scorer, earning an estimated £35,000 to £45,000 a year, rising to more than £60,000 in her third year, as well as bonuses for goals and winning matches, placing her among the WSL’s highest earners.
      Her income was boosted by her call-up to the Lionesses, with each player paid £2,000 per game for an average of 11 a year.
      Winning the 2022 European Championship brought the elite players into a whole new ball park for earnings, with each of the Lionesses receiving a £50,000 bonus.
      They were also paid £430 a day to take part, for a total of 37 days, meaning a pay cheque of £15,910.
      Along with the Arnold Clark Cup and the Finalissima tournament, each player banked around £88,000, claims sport website The Athletic.
      With Euros glory still fresh in fans’ minds, Alessia was already hot property when she joined Arsenal, who signed her on a free transfer after being knocked back with a world-record bid, estimated to be around £500,000, in January.
      Alessia, who has 567,000 followers on Instagram, can expect to cash in on her fame with commercial deals worth six figures.
      This month, boot sponsor Adidas selected her as one of five players to promote its Champion The Girls initiative, aimed at preventing teenage girls from dropping out of sport, and she appeared alongside David Beckham in a campaign for the brand as well as modelling its Gucci collaboration range.
      After her spectacular Euros goal against Sweden, Adidas displayed her green boots among the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, declaring her a “national treasure”.
      Her advertising earnings are thought to be between £300,000 and £500,000 a year and estimates suggest Alessia earned almost £4,000 from sponsored Instagram posts in the first quarter of 2023, bettered only by England team-mates Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson.
      Her earnings from social media are expected to have doubled in the run-up to the World Cup.
      PR expert Nick Ede said: “Alessia Russo is a breakout star and with her athletic good looks she can command millions this year.
      “She’s already an ambassador for numerous brands and I can see her expanding this into more luxury and beauty territories.”
      Other schools would call us to ask if she was playing …and if the answer was yes they knew they were going to lose.Former teacher John Malone
      With their sights on the World Cup, the Lionesses stand to earn even more.
      Fifa has guaranteed that every player competing in the tournament will be paid at least £23,500, with every winning player receiving at least £213,000.
      Despite Alessia’s success, many in the world of football praise her lack of arrogance.
      Man United’s Leah Galton said: “She works extremely hard and she’s one of the nicest people off the pitch I think I’ve ever met.”
      David Beckham and 12-year-old daughter Harper enjoyed a chat with Alessia, hosted by Adidas, before England’s World Cup game against Haiti last month.
      Afterwards Alessia said: “He’s been one of my idols ever since I was a little girl.
      “That’s probably one of my biggest highlights, having a normal conversation with someone you used to watch on the world stage when you were younger.
      “It was amazing and he was really nice, a bit of a pinch-me moment in terms of what women’s sport is doing. It’s special to hear that Harper is a huge fan.
      “He said we should never lose sight of what we are doing as a team, which was really cool because we’re all in the moment in terms of all we see and competing every day on the pitch. The impact you have away from that is what’s really special to hear.”
      But Alessia’s biggest fans are still her devoted family, and earlier this month, as she left for the World Cup in Oz, mum Carol posted an emotional tribute to “Lessi”.
      She said: “The day is finally here, I can’t believe you’re off to your first senior World Cup.
      “How exciting. It only seems like yesterday you were that cute little three-year-old, dancing around in your tutu but desperate to give it all up so you could join football coaching with Daddy and play football with Luca and Giorgio.
      “We had no idea, did we, that it would lead to all this?
      Read More on The Sun
      “You’re living your dream and doing what you love, and shining like our little superstar.”

      7.2M see triumph on telly
      THE Lionesses’ 2-1 World Cup win over Colombia was seen on TV by 7.2million delighted fans.
      The quarter-final match drew the tournament’s highest audience so far and was ITV’s second biggest peak audience this year, behind the Grand National.
      England’s win secured a place in the semi-finals against tournament co-hosts Australia on Wednesday.
      And if they beat the Aussies they will then face the winner of the match between Sweden and Spain in Sunday’s final.
      Colombia match winner Alessia said the England team celebrated reaching the semi-finals with a trip to see dolphins.
      On the outing, her team-mate Ella Toone jokily threw a yabby – a type of crayfish – into Lessi’s lap, causing her to fall off a wall.
      And she revealed there was already some friendly rivalry between the England squad and the host nation ahead of Wednesday’s big match in Sydney.
      Arsenal striker Alessia told the England Football YouTube channel: “Some Aussie couple came up to us and said, ‘Congratulations for last night. Good luck for Wednesday – but not too much luck’.
      “I think everyone is looking forward to it and so are we as players. It makes it even more exciting that you’re playing the hosts.
      “We know it’s going to be packed out, so yes, just buzzing for it.”

      Triumphant Alessia in England’s defeat of ColombiaCredit: Rex
      Adidas selected Alessia as one of five players to promote its Champion The Girls initiativeCredit: ADIDAS
      Alessia also has a deal with Beats by Dre
      Young talent Alessia as a footie-mad childCredit: INSTAGRAM/ALESSIA RUSSO
      Mascot Alessia with Casey Stoney in 2006
      Alessia takes a tumble and falls off a wall More

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      in Soccer

      I’m a coach where Mbappe trained – heartbreaking reason this poverty-stricken area produces so many football stars

      by

      LITTLE Ismael weaves like a magician, the ball glued to his feet as he glides past opponents on the thread-bare astroturf.Moments later, the ten-year-old shoots into the bottom corner of the net — before triumphantly folding his arms in celebration, just like his footie idol Kylian Mbappe.
      Kylian Mbappe does his famous goal celebrationCredit: Getty
      Ten-year-old Ismael shoots into the bottom corner of the net — before triumphantly folding his arms in celebration, just like his footie idol MbappeCredit: Ian Whittaker
      Coach Faher Aboubou, of club AS Bondy with the talented young playersCredit: Ian Whittaker
      Schoolboy Ismael plays on a pitch surrounded by 10ft metal fences in the same poverty stricken neighbourhood where the Paris Saint-Germain and France ace, 24 — currently the world’s most in-demand player — honed his amazing kills.
      And we can reveal that, incredibly, almost half of France’s current national side hails from similar outlying areas around the capital known as the “banlieues”.
      The Sun visited this week and found the conveyor belt of fresh talent is continuing to churn out mini-Mbappes at a rate that should worry England fans ahead of the Euros next summer.
      Love your dream
      Forward Mbappe is hot property this transfer window as clubs battle it out to sign him.
      READ MORE ON KYLIAN MBAPPE
      He has been linked to Chelsea and Barcelona, and snubbed a reported world-record £260million offer from Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal.
      Coach Faher Aboubou, of club AS Bondy, where Mbappe began his career, reckons Ismael has the talent to follow in his hero’s footsteps.
      And he revealed the lad is typical of the youngsters using football to escape suburbs riddled with gangs and drugs — and a world away from the City of Love’s chic cafes and restaurants.
      Faher, 39, said: “In France there is a lot of prejudice, especially against young men with dark-coloured skin.
      Most read in Football
      “The joy of football is that these divisions disappear.
      “You are solely judged by your talent and, for this reason, these highly dedicated young footballers do the best they can to succeed.
      “They dream and then they turn their dreams into reality.
      “My advice to all of them is that they need to work hard at school, because only five or six out of 100 will have what it takes to reach the top level. But there are some terrific players here, including Ismael, who has incredible talent and never stops working.
      “He is determined to succeed. He is just the type of player that could turn into the next Mbappe. An important part of the game is that it keeps youngsters away from the drugs and the street bandits that would otherwise destroy their lives.
      “That is very important if you are living in a place like this.”
      Residents of Parisian suburb Bondy whistle in astonishment when asked about Al Hilal’s reported mega-money bid for Mbappe, who is currently rated world No1.
      It is understood the forward knocked back the offer as his heart is set on joining Real Madrid in Spain.
      But he is now locked in a tense stand-off with the owners of PSG as he only has one year left on his contract, at the end of which he could move for free.
      Wearing a Manchester United T-shirt with France and former Reds idol Paul Pogba’s name printed on the back, Faher added: “In the end it’s all about money, and there’s clearly too much money in the game.
      “Players can lose their value if they become obsessed by money. My view is that Mbappe is a very intelligent footballer and he will be thinking about his long-term career. He’s not solely interested in what he can earn.
      “Mbappe often comes back here to see the young players who, ultimately, are just like him. My view is that he’s going through a divorce at the moment with PSG.
      “It’s a long and troubling separation and it means he’s not solely concentrated on what he does next. I think he will go to Real Madrid, if not this year, then next.”
      The £605million-a-year deal offered to Mbappe by Al Hilal is mind-boggling compared to the average annual wage of £7,2000 in the banlieues.
      In Bondy — a commuter town in the socialist-run Red Belt, north east of Paris — around 40 per cent of the housing is council-owned.
      A large part of the 54,000 population is made up of African migrants, and 30 per cent of residents are classed as poor, defined in France as having a monthly income of less than £685.
      Crime is above average, with around 3,000 incidents re-corded in the area last year. Rioting erupted after police shot dead 17-year-old Nael M in the Paris suburb of Nanterre in June.
      Yet the French national team, which knocked England out of the World Cup last December, would have little depth were it not for the vast reservoir of talent it can call upon from its urban sprawl.
      Current Les Bleus stars including Mike Maignan, 28, Alphonse Areola, 30, Dayot Upamecano, 24, Jules Kounde, 24, Ibrahima Konate, 24, Axel Disasi, 25, Youssouf Fofana, 24, Kingsley Coman, 27, and Christopher Nkunku, 25, all hail from the banlieues. Mbappe, Randal Kolo Muani, 24, and Arsenal defender William Saliba, 22, were raised amid Bondy’s graffiti-covered tower blocks.
      Meanwhile, recent greats including Pogba, 30, N’Golo Kante, 32, Benjamin Mendy, 29, as well as former ace Thierry Henry, 45, all got their start in parts of the capital where most tourists would not dare tread.
      Zakaria Benbetka watched the recent riots unfold from the window of the Fashion Sports store in Bondy, where he works as a shop assistant.
      The 18-year-old said: “Babies are born with a football at their feet in the banlieues and they start playing as soon as they can walk.
      “Football is a way to escape because some of the things we see here are not normal. During the riots I saw 100 people break into Darty electronics over the road. They smashed the windows and stole whatever they wanted. Some of the rioters had weapons, it was scary.
      “But kids here are poor and hungry. Drugs are everywhere and some areas do not have electricity.
      “That is why young people dedicate everything to football. They know they have to work harder than everyone else to get ahead.”
       His friend Mehmet Celiblilet used to dream of being a footballer but now sells photographs to tourists in central Paris, earning between 40 and 70 euros a day.
      Mehmet, 30, said: “When I was growing up, the only thing we could do was play football. We didn’t have video games back then. There weren’t any basketball courts or anything like that, so football was our life.” Gaetan Ekagna, 47, was walking with his son Andrew, five, when we bumped into him.
      He immediately asked if we could find an agent for his older son, who is 17. Gaetan said: “My son is very talented and he would love to play for Chelsea one day.
      “Everyone is obsessed with football in Bondy. I have lived here for 35 years after moving to France from the Congo. It is incredible how many footballers come from here.
      “I don’t know why it is such a hotbed of talent and we need more football pitches in Bondy. Whenever my son wants to play he has to travel to another part of Paris.”
      Rania Bouriche is a waitress at Harry’s Café in the banileue, next to which a huge mural of Mbappe has been painted above the words, “Love your dream and your dream will love you in return”.
      The France ace grew up in a nearby tower block and is famed for celebrating his goals by folding his arms in front of his chest — a gesture he apparently stole from his younger brother Ethan when they were playing video games.
      Rania, 20, said: “People here are football crazy. I still remember when France won the World Cup in 2018, the atmosphere was amazing.
      Read More on The Sun
      “We weren’t as lucky last year as we lost to Argentina on penalties. But I’m sure with Mbappe in the team we will triumph at the Euros next summer — and the World Cup after that.
      “In France, there is too much talent.”
      Many of the current France squad including Konate, (front left), Kounde (front third left) and Mbappe, (front right) all hail from poor Paris suburbsCredit: Getty
      France and Arsenal ace Thierry Henry with young Kylian
      Bondy coach Faher says: ‘An important part of the game is that it keeps youngsters away from the drugs and street bandits that would otherwise destroy their lives’Credit: Ian Whittaker
      Bondy local Rania standing in front of a Mbappe muralCredit: Ian Whittaker More

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      in Boxing

      Tyson Fury’s Netflix show goes inside wild life of boxing superstar – with 6 kids, chaotic moods & lavish impulse buys

      by

      “UNLESS you live with us, I don’t think you can understand what really our life is . . . how mad it is,” says Tyson Fury’s wife Paris in their new Netflix reality show.But for the millions of devoted fans of boxer the Gypsy King, At Home With The Furys offers a pretty good insight into their chaotic world, with six lively kids, during his short-lived retirement in 2022.
      Champ Tyson Fury versus Dillian Whyte in 2022Credit: Getty
      Paris and Tyson with their broodCredit: Courtesy of Netflix
      The couple enjoy a rare moment of relaxationCredit: NETFLIX
      As the heavyweight champ, 34, battles with his hiatus from the ring, feeling lost and lacking purpose, Paris worries he will slip back into the depression and addiction that led him to the brink of suicide when he also quit the sport in 2019.
      She says: “When he last stopped boxing, Tyson had an alcohol and drug addiction.
      “He suffers from a few mental health problems. He’s got ADHD, depression, and it all spiralled out of control. We had a bad two years.
      “There’s no point saying that won’t happen again because that’s the elephant in the room I think about.”
      Read More on Tyson Fury
      Tyson’s bipolar disorder, diagnosed in 2017, means he has huge highs and deep lows and is prone to spontaneous acts — from booking a last-minute trip to Iceland to “pick a fight” with the world’s strongest man, to declaring he’s going to buy Blackpool airport and a second private jet.
      Somehow long-suffering Paris, 32, pregnant with baby No7, manages to find a way through the mayhem he creates, while calmly running their Morecambe Bay household and bringing up their huge brood, Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, 11, Prince Tyson II, seven, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah, four, and Athena, who turns two this week.

      “Paris is amazing,” says Tyson. “We’ve been together 18 years and she’s put up with everything, all the good and bad times, the highs and lows. I wouldn’t be here without her. Where would I be? Dead, probably.”
      Tyson and Paris, who come from a traveller background, met when he was 17 and she was 15.
      Most read in Boxing
      For their first date they watched King Kong at the cinema, and she recalls: “I kept thinking, ‘Is he gonna kiss me?’ I’d never been kissed.
      “The movie went on for three hours and the moment King Kong climbs up the Empire State Building, that’s when Tyson decides to lean in and kiss me. It was the most awkward and embarrassing moment of my life.
      “Then he says, ‘Are you going to go out with me? Are you going to be my girlfriend?’ So I said, ‘Yeah’.”
      They married in 2008 and Tyson went on to become the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, and now has an estimated £51million fortune.
      But the nine-part Netflix series also shows his grounded side.
      As he walks his dog he greets the many locals who say a friendly hello, posing happily for pictures and passing the time of day.
      With a collection of supercars which includes a Ferrari and a £384,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom, the self-proclaimed “King of the Chavs” prefers to drive around in his £500 2006 VW Passat, which he tells Paris is “worth less than your shoes”.
      And while Paris plans “Instagram-perfect” parties, including a lavish bash to mark Athena’s christening with a room full of pink balloons and a soft play area, the Gypsy King gets boxer shorts, socks and a £5 T-shirt for his 34th birthday.
      “Money isn’t the be all and end all of everything,” he says.
      “But for Paris it’s probably harder to go from lemonade to Champagne and back to lemonade again, rather than never having Champagne.”
      ‘Paris is amazing. Without her I’d be dead, probably’
      Tyson is a mass of contradictions. A devoted dad who often declares “home is where the heart is and where the family is”, he rails against the mundane routine of everyday life.
      Mucking in with household chores, he moans: “I’m the busiest retired man in the world.
      “I’d rather get punched the f*** out of me by ten world champions than stay at home a week and do all these jobs.”
      He is little help during the chaos before the morning school run, with Paris running around the house screaming: “Adonis, are you up yet?
      “Venezuela, are you in the bathroom?” — and when he’s left to look after the kids while she takes a ten-hour round trip to appear on TV’s Loose Women, he takes them all camping without telling her.
      Returning to an empty house, Paris fumes: “I’ve got a giant, 6ft 9in child. I don’t see the sense, the kids are in school tomorrow.
      “That’s the problem with living with him, he’s so up and down, which I suppose is a definition of the bipolar.
      “Instead of just being set in the routine of taking kids to school, which is normal, he’ll wake up and — ­bam! — we’re doing something else.
      I’d rather get punched the f*** out of me by ten world champions than stay at home a week and do all these jobs.Tyson Fury
      “I try to go along with his mood swings and his little ideas but these sorts of things are a definite interference in life.”
      She adds: “I’ll humour my husband and pretend this is normality when really, it is absolute madness.
      “But if I don’t let him have his little moments he gets a bit down and depressed and he gets upset.”
      In another impulsive moment, after goading strongman Thor Bjornsson over social media, Tyson flies to Iceland to challenge him to a fight.
      But on landing, he discovers Thor is in Rome, sending Tyson into a downer and causing him to fall off the wagon and sink a few pints.
      All this is witnessed by his dad John, who says: “When I’m looking at Tyson drinking I’m watching carefully because it caused so much trouble in the past. Last time Tyson retired he wasn’t in a good place and the fear of him going back there I couldn’t handle. I’d rather be dead than see him go down that road.”
      The undefeated champ’s frustration at having handed in his title is at its most palpable when he watches Anthony Joshua’s 2022 bout with Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk.
      ‘Boxing is not a game, it’s very dangerous’
      Dismissing the fight — which Usyk won — as “s***e”, he is pumped up as he posts on social media that he would “go over there and fight them both on the same night”, as worried Paris watches.
      She says: “Boxing is not a game, it’s a very dangerous sport. One punch can cause life-devastating effects. He’s got nothing to prove.
      “He’s never lost. He’s won all the belts. It wouldn’t be worth it to keep going in the ring and take those risks.”
      Shortly after the bout, Tyson announced his return to the ring, taking on Derek Chisora in a December 2022 clash that saw him once again walk away the victor.
      While Paris and Tyson come across as a solid couple, sometimes his behaviour clearly upsets her.
      As he returns from an event in the Isle of Man, Paris, who has been busy making his favourite trifle, has his coat thrust at her as he grunts that he’s going to see his dog, leaving her ranting: “I feel like putting the trifle over his head.”
      After arranging a romantic picnic and boat trip on a Scottish loch, he leaves her stranded in a tiny dinghy because he is annoyed, and he walks out when Athena’s christening party is in full swing, telling his wife he’s going to walk the dog.
      “When I’m low, Paris gets the brunt of it,” he says. “I don’t feel good about that.”
      Paris adds: “Tyson’s moods are on a regular up and down. It is hard to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
      “It does get on our nerves but I love him and I’m going to support him and help him.”
      But she admits she wanted to flee the marriage when his addiction and depression were at their worst.
      I’ve got a giant, 6ft 9in child. I’ll humour my husband and pretend this is normality when really, this is absolute madness.Paris Fury
      She says: “I don’t know what is worse, Tyson coming out of retirement and risking his physical health or staying in retirement and risking his mental health, because we’ve been at the bottom before. Tyson was going through the darkest time of his life.
      “He got massively overweight. The only thing he was interested in was lying in bed most of the day and drinking through the night.
      “At that point I really wanted to leave. But I thought if I left him, Tyson would go through with what he kept saying he wanted to do, which was kill himself.”
      Tyson has always been open about his fragile mental health and admits his 2019 retirement sent him to the brink.
      He says: “I’ve had a lot of dark moments thinking, ‘You’re going to end up in a padded room. You’ve lost your mind’.
      “You have thoughts of not wanting to live any more, even though you’ve got a family and kids and everything to live for.
      “Exercise for me is the key. The moment I stop exercising I go straight back to Hotel California — you can check out any time you want but you can never leave.
      “That’s mental health. It’s not IF you get unwell again, it’s when.”
      Dad John, a former boxer, agrees with Tyson’s view that regular exercise is the only thing that keeps mental illness at bay.
      He adds: “If I don’t train, I can’t function, I can’t think straight.
      “I’ve had it all my life. When I was younger we didn’t know anything about it. We thought a kick up the backside would sort it out.
      “In Tyson’s case, you could have all the fame or fortune the world has got to offer. When mental health kicks in, you can still slip 100 miles an hour to a dark place.”

      At Home With The Furys is released on Netflix on August 16.

      Nice thing in a small package
      THE touching moment Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague tell his brother Tyson and Paris they are expecting a baby is caught on camera in the reality show.
      And Tommy reveals the sweet way the influencer broke the news to him.
      Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury tell his brother Tyson and Paris they are expecting a babyCredit: NETFLIX
      Tommy reveals the sweet way the influencer broke the news to himCredit: NETFLIX
      “I came home and she had a little parcel and I thought it was a designer T-shirt or something,” he tells Tyson.
      “I thought, ‘That’s nice’ and I opened it up and it was a little baby-gro. That was it, it was a shock.”
      The couple, who met in Love Island in 2019 and had baby Bambi in January, also allowed cameras into their home for the documentary.
      Molly-Mae tells about joining the Fury family and how they have welcomed her.
      “I am the only non-traveller ‘wife’ but I’ve never felt out of place,” she says.
      “They’ve been so lovely to me and made me feel part of the family straight away.”
      Paris has nothing but praise for the 24-year-old and says she knows how daunting it can be to fit in. “Molly is a lovely girl,” she says.
      “Coming into the Fury family is intimidating because there are 6ft 9in giants walking around like it’s normal.
      “When I met Tyson they were all welcoming and I think if you come into the family and just embrace it, roll with it, you’ll get along fine.”
      She adds: “Chaos is a way of life for the Fury family. I don’t think you can impose order.”
      However, the different upbringings between the Love Island sweethearts is clear when they discuss the number of kids they want, with Tommy saying he wants ten and Molly-Mae drawing the line at three.
      She also worries about the differences ahead when it comes to raising her daughter, with Tommy insisting that, like Tyson’s children, they will be raised in the “traditional” traveller way.
      While Tyson’s oldest Venezuela left school at 11, as is customary in the community, Molly-Mae is keen for Bambi to complete her formal education.
      Read More on The Sun
      “With Tommy being raised a traveller, he’s had a conversation about our child not going to school but that’s non-optional,” she says.
      “I’ve been raised differently to that and there’s no question of our child not going to school. I just hope that doesn’t cause too many rifts.”
      Tyson poses for a selfie with fansCredit: NETFLIX
      Prince Adonis Amaziah gives the finger on the showCredit: NETFLIX More

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      in Soccer

      Man City star Kyle Walker’s ex Lauryn Goodman becomes a mum to a baby girl again – and the dad ‘is another footballer’

      by

      FOOTIE star Kyle Walker’s ex Lauryn Goodman has become a mum again to a baby girl and told friends she is “overjoyed”.She shares her first child — three-year-old son Kairo — with the England and Manchester City defender, 33.
      Kyle Walker’s ex Lauryn Goodman has become a mum again to a baby girl and told friends she is ‘overjoyed’Credit: BackGrid
      Lauryn has not revealed the father of her newborn, but pals believe him to be a footballer
      A source told The Sun on Sunday: ‘The baby girl is adorable. Very placid and feeding constantly’
      Lauryn, 32, has not revealed the father of her newborn, but pals believe him to be a footballer.
      She fell pregnant with Kairo in 2019 while Kyle was on a temporary split from wife Annie — the mother of his three older sons.
      Of the new arrival, a source told The Sun on Sunday: “Lauryn hasn’t said who the baby’s father is.
      “Her friends think it is a footballer and have asked her outright — but she won’t tell anybody.
      Read More on Football
      “The baby girl is adorable. Very placid and feeding constantly.
      “She has a huge amount of hair — a full head just like Kairo had when he was born.”
      Before the arrival of her daughter, influencer and ex-Towie star Lauryn was asked if she would reveal the dad’s identity.
      She replied: “It’s not a case of revealing, but it will be known when the time is right.”
      Most read in Football
      Lauryn also hasn’t disclosed the name of her newborn daughter.
      The source added: “She’s still trying to choose a name but is going to pick something beginning with K — just like older brother Kairo.
      “It took nearly a year before she publicly revealed Kairo’s name.
      “But she had privately decided on Kairo and had a necklace made up with the initials KW — which are the same as his dad’s — long before she made it public.
      “So I expect she won’t rush into revealing her daughter’s name either.
      “But she has asked her followers on Instagram for their thoughts about a girl’s name beginning with K.
      “Lauren is a brilliant mum.
      “She dotes on Kairo and is absolutely thrilled that this one is a little girl, one of each.”
      Lauryn was involved in a public spat with Kyle’s wife in June after Annie posted a photo on social media following Manchester City’s win in the Champions League final.
      The snap featured Kyle and their three children — Riaan, Roman and Reign — on the pitch captioned: “3 is the magic number.”
      Annie wrote: “Winning the champions league with your daddy.
      “All these memories you get to have with your daddy.
      “Nothing and no one will ever take that from you. We’ve got you 3.”
      Lauryn, who lives in Hove, East Sussex, hit back, saying that Kyle had four sons and Kairo should not be “eradicated from existence”.
      She added: “He is Kyle’s son.
      “He doesn’t just have three sons.
      “Annie needs to accept that.
      “Families come in all shapes and sizes these days, stepchildren, estranged children.
      “It is the job of the parents to act like adults and do the best for them, that’s what I try to do.
      “Annie, if you are reading this, just stop being so cruel to Kairo because our little boy has done nothing wrong and doesn’t deserve to have you so vindictively making digs at him and treating him like an outcast.”
      “When Annie got back with Kyle she knew I was pregnant.
      “If she couldn’t handle the fact he was going to have another child she should never have got back with him.”
      Annie and £150,000-a-week Kyle — a transfer target of German side Bayern Munich — have been together since they were teenagers.
      They split in 2019 after reality star Laura Brown revealed that she had romped with Kyle in his £200,000 Bentley.
      He moved out of the £3.5million family home in Cheshire and grew close to Lauryn.
      Read More on The Sun
      She fell pregnant and Kairo was born in April 2020.
      Kyle and Annie then rekindled their relationship and got married in November 2021, after he proposed to her with a diamond ring.
      Lauryn shares her first child Kairo with defender KyleCredit: Tim Stewart
      Kyle is a transfer target of German side Bayern MunichCredit: Getty More

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      in Motorsport

      I was a video game nut until Nissan let me race real cars – now I’m the inspiration for Hollywood movie Gran Turismo

      by

      THE first time Jann Mardenborough sat behind the wheel of a racing car in 2011, his only experience of being on a track was in a video game.The teenager had failed his driving test for being too hesitant and he had only tried out a go-kart at a friend’s birthday.
      Jann Mardenborough celebrates on the winners’ podium at the 2015 GP3 race in Sochi, RussiaCredit: Getty
      Archie Madekwe, Geri Horner and Dijimon Hounsou as Jann’s dadCredit: Alamy
      Archie As Jann in the movieCredit: Alamy
      Yet, aged just 19, he found himself clocking 185mph around Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit as he competed for the chance to be a professional racer.
      Now the story of how he won Nissan’s innovative GT Academy programme to transform young PlayStation talents into motor racing stars has inspired a Hollywood film, Gran Turismo.
      Starring Orlando Bloom, Stranger Things star David Harbour and Geri Halliwell, it tells how Jann overcame the odds — and a horrific crash — to prove that gamers can earn a place on a real race circuit’s starting grid.
      Out of all Nissan’s Academy graduates, Jann, now 31, rose the highest and stayed in the sport the longest.
      READ MORE MOTORSPORT NEWS
      He reached the podium in the gruelling Le Mans 24-hour race, won in Formula 3 and was signed by Formula 1 team Red Bull’s chief Christian Horner.
      Jann, who grew up in Ely, Cardiff — which was hit by riots after the fatal crash of two schoolboys on an electric bike in May — showed that he could keep up with the rich kids who dominate the sport.
      The traditional way into racing is via go-karting, often starting at the age of six, but it costs around £200,000 a year to compete at European level.
      Big chance
      Since the GT Academy closed in 2016 most youngsters can only dream of being on the winners’ podium.
      Most read in Motorsport
      Current top Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen’s dad Jos is a former F1 driver too and Jann,, who loved cars from a young age, says: “There is zero way for a normal, regular person to enter motorsports at a level I have competed at without a competition like GT Academy. It doesn’t exist.
      “They could find somebody with the talent of ­Verstappen, but we don’t know who it is, as they don’t have the opportunity.”
      In the beginning, for Jann — played in the film by Archie Madekwe — it was a challenge simply to be allowed to use his PlayStation.
      He started gaming well before you could earn a living from electronic sports — better known as esports — so his mum Lesley and dad Steve, an ex-journeyman footballer who played for Cardiff City and Wolves, did not approve of his obsession.
      Jann says: “They would turn the internet off during those times when I would ignore them.”
      His big chance for real racing glory came after businessman Darren Cox dreamed up the idea of putting the best Gran Turismo game players into actual high-powered vehicles.
      Starting in 2008, those with the fastest virtual track times could go on to spend a week at Silverstone competing to see who could handle the life-and-death speeds of real racing.
      Jann had to wait three years for his chance, because contestants had to be over 18 and have a driving licence.
      He only passed his test at the second attempt, and recalls: “I failed the first one because I was too hesitant on a roundabout. I don’t know why, it just happened. It’s a black mark.”
      There was no such hesitancy when he won a place at the Academy, ­beating 90,000 other PlayStation fans.
      He recalls: “My first time driving on the motorway was to the GT Academy finals and I wasn’t sure if the car would make it.
      “I’d never driven on a track, I’d never driven a car over 135 horsepower. All I had was Gran Turismo.”
      Suddenly he found himself putting on a helmet and climbing into a 485-horsepower Nissan GT-R sports car, competing with 11 other finalists at the Silverstone circuit in Northants.
      He recalls: “I was just overwhelmed by adrenalin. I’m doing 185mph down the Wellington Straight. It’s the fastest I had ever gone in my life and it was painful for me to think about going home and never experiencing this again.”
      Jann on the Nissan Academy simulator in 2012Credit: Patrick Gosling
      A snap from Jann’s Instagram account in 2015 as he prepares to race
      Unlike in a computer game, there is no reset button if you smash up a real car that can do 200mph, but Jann knew that being cautious could only result in defeat.
      He says: “You have to go over the limit, and that means crashing.
      “The reason people do karting at six years old is that you can go off the track and tune that feeling, so that when they jump in the car they know where the limit is. I didn’t have that.”
      But despite being up against drivers who all had some race track ­experience, Jann managed to win.
      Two weeks later he moved to Northampton to join a development programme, which included a tough fitness regime coupled with psychological testing.
      At his first proper competition outside the academy he experienced a backlash against “sim racers” — those whose experience is limited to ­simulated racing — with one arrogant driver telling Jann to let him pass.
      The top racer told the newcomer: “If you see me in your mirrors, don’t fight me, let me go.”
      Jann recalls: “That didn’t happen because the guy was in my mirrors.”
      In his first season in the British GT Championships he achieved three podium finishes, including one win, and the British Racing Drivers’ Club awarded him Rising Star status.
      The following year he finished third in the legendary Le Mans race and in 2014 Christian Horner signed Jann to his Arden International GP3 team.
      By then his mum Lesley had a lot more to worry about than the risk of Jann becoming addicted to computer gaming.
      He rolled one car in the Netherlands in 2012 and a year later another racer’s car was sent flying into the air after clipping the front wing of Jann’s vehicle.
      He tried his best to reassure his parents, and recalls: “I remember sitting at the dinner table, telling them the cars have roll cages, we have fire proof underwear, fireproof socks.
      “That did bring her down a little bit. I was going racing regardless, even if you say no, but it gave me a feeling to know my mother was calm when she saw me on the screen when something terrible happened.” And in March 2015 something terrible did happen at Germany’s Nurburgring Grand Prix race track — nicknamed The Green Hell by three times F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart.
      As Jann came over the brow of a hill, a gust of wind lifted the front end of his car off the Tarmac. His Nissan GT-R somersaulted through the air, bouncing several times, then cleared the safety fence.
      Tragically, one spectator was killed as the car landed on a high bank.
      Jann was flown to hospital by helicopter, but his injuries were not found to be life-threatening. However, finding out someone had died in the crash was tough, and he recalls: “You are there, you are lonely — it’s dark, it’s very dark.”
      Jann has never seen footage of the fatal crash and didn’t watch the scene in the movie.
      He says: “I couldn’t watch it, I have never seen it.
      “It’s uncomfortable, I know exactly what happened. It’s not so easy, but it needs to be in there.”
      Race officials decided Jann was not to blame for the incident and within a week his team told their star to get back in a car.
      In the movie Geri Halliwell — the real-life wife of Christian Horner — plays Jann’s mum Lesley, and she impressed both mother and son with her portrayal, especially the crash scene where Lesley reacts to the sight of her son coming close to death.
      Jann says of his mum: “She loved it. She had her phone number and they would be speaking regularly. Geri would want to know how I would act in this situation.
      “Everybody knows Geri Halliwell, but now she is playing my mum. It’s weird, it’s so crazy, so far-fetched.
      “She did it perfectly. She nailed it.”
      Today Jann is still in the race game, most recently taking Nissans round hairpin bends in Japan. He says: “I have got a long time left in the tank.”
      And he thinks the movie should persuade motorsport’s money men to give more ordinary kids like him a chance to get revved up on the Grand Prix race track.
      He says: “I hope the Gran Turismo movie will inspire some private money, whether it be manufacturers or big multinational companies.
      “If they want to change motorsport, make it more accessible, you have to start there.
      “I’m a product of the GT Academy and Nissan and Sony took a big risk back then.
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      “It’s proof that it works — there’s my career, a movie, the proof of what I achieved.”

      Gran Turismo: Based On A True Story is in cinemas from Wednesday.

      The movie’s cast, Maximilian Mundt, Geri Halliwell, Orlando Bloom and Archie Madekwe at the Canne’s Film Festival in MayCredit: Getty
      Geri plays Jann’s mum Lesley in the movieCredit: Getty
      Gran Turismo: Based On A True Story is in cinemas from August 9 More