Riath Al-Samarrai

The secrets and dirty tricks behind winning away in the Ryder Cup To measure how difficult it is to win away in the Ryder Cup, chat to Tony Jacklin. He is among the very few Europeans to do it, but can still work himself into a state of incredulity about a defeat fr...

“If you win you’re a genius, if you lose you’re a schmuck”

The secrets of winning away in the Ryder Cup by those who have done it…

🍷Wine and cigars
🛩️Concorde, cashmere, lost knighthoods
✍️Autographs and smiles
📻Dirty tricks

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/a...

What Snoop Dogg's weird, offbeat investment really means for Swansea RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: I enjoyed Snoop Dogg 's involvement with the Paris Olympics last summer. The old mutt was everywhere, peaking one afternoon when he rocked up at the equestrian.

This week’s column on Snoop Dogg, Swansea, cheap gimmicks and expensive carrots.

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RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Why did Arsenal keep picking Thomas Partey? RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Arsenal put out a little note on their website on June 4. It was the usual for that time of year, which meant thanking 20 players who were being released.

This week’s column on Thomas Partey and the things that seem to be “really important”.

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Jannik Sinner's three-month tennis drugs ban felt all too convenient RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Wimbledon commences on Monday and the top seed in the men's draw is Jannik Sinner, who blamed a failed drugs test on an extraordinary chain of events.

This week’s column on Jannik Sinner and a doping case that stank in a variety of ways and still does as we approach Wimbledon.

As an aside, a dog once did eat my homework.

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The making of the 'monster' Jack Draper RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: There's yarn about Jack Draper that tells us a little about his backhand and far more about his mind. It is also why the sharer of this tale uses 'savage' as a term of endearment.

A long read on Jack Draper, “the kindest guy you’ll meet and also a savage”.

📧 The rage email that changed his life
🎾 “Why you showing me Melzer?”
⚽️ The Chelsea dilemma
🚑The injuries and the time bomb
📈A quicker jump than Federer/Murray/Sinner

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www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis...

Athletes face abuse until social media giants act: Riath Al-Samarrai RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: By now, we are well aware of the toxic messaging that regularly finds its way to an athlete's inbox - abusive, threatening, often from a faceless minority of low-lives.

This week’s column on Katie Boulter, social media abuse and the futility of wanting it to change.

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The Club World Cup is a grubby, contrived vanity project RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: There are some nice angles to FIFA's Club World Cup . Here's one: Auckland City. Here's another: their goalkeeper. That would be a guy named Conor Tracey.

This week’s column on the Club World Cup, forklift drivers and failing to learn from LIV Golf. Infantino thought he was shooting fish in a barrel and appears to have to lost a toe instead.

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Why Son is now a bigger Tottenham legend than Kane, Bale and Modric RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: We spoke one morning in 2019. That was in the August, in London, so two months after the evening in Madrid when everything went wrong against Liverpool.

This week’s column on Son Heung-min and the beauty of going the hard way. Wednesday was told predominantly through the lens of Postecoglou’s second season but it was every bit as much about the 10 of Son. A brilliant vindication.

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Why Son is now a bigger Tottenham legend than Kane, Bale and Modric RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: We spoke one morning in 2019. That was in the August, in London, so two months after the evening in Madrid when everything went wrong against Liverpool.

This week’s column on Son Heung-min and the beauty of going the hard way. Wednesday was told predominantly through the lens of Postecoglou’s second season but it was every bit as much about the 10 of Son. A brilliant vindication.

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mol.im/a/14742779

Why Ruben Amorim may have already said too much to potential signings Honesty is a fine thing. For Ruben Amorim, it might be all he has. But is it the best policy? Does it help? Has he heard of Gerald Ratner?

This week’s column on Ruben Amorim and honesty. Always the best policy? Or has he done a Ratner?

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India's 14-year-old 'Boss Baby' and sport's battle with age fraud RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Little can match the thrill of seeing the next big thing but even less ranks above the sight of a 14-year-old smashing a century in the Indian Premier League.

This week’s column on 'Boss Baby' and sport's silent, unwinnable battle with age fraud.

One of the world’s lead investigators told me it’s as hard to prove as doping. It’s probably harder. Read ⬇️

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A trophy won't save Ange Postecoglou, but it would be the right call RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: We're a month shy of two years since senior elements of Tottenham Hotspur thought their next manager would be Arne Slot, who is now loving life at Liverpool.

This week’s column on Ange Postecoglou, a manager to be enjoyed but never copied. Sacking him even if Spurs win the Europa League would be sad but not wrong.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold is taking a risk if he goes to Real Madrid RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: I've always viewed Real as all trophies and no soul, a club that can elevate a player to untold heights just as easily as it can chew them up for no good reason.

This week’s column on Trent Alexander-Arnold, the last man standing. He owes Liverpool nothing.

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Augusta's most old fashioned rule is a stroke of genius RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Let's start with the Spanish lad who did that thing in the wrong place at Augusta National on Thursday.

This week’s column on Augusta National and the one rule they got absolutely right. Featuring the Spanish amateur who peed in the holy water.
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Inside the ultra-secret world of Augusta, the Masters nirvana RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Before getting into the weeds at Augusta National, there are yarns to share about grass. The mechanisms of control at this sporting nirvana go down to the roots.

You can bend a tree at Augusta but you’ll never fold a green jacket to your will. A piece on Bobby Jones’s timeless fantasyland, featuring boiler suits, squirrels and unanswered queries about the direction of grass…

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Meet Masters champion back at Augusta for the first time since JAIL EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: No subplots to The Masters are as provocative as the presence of an ex-champion making his first return after being in prison for domestic violence.

“I regret everything that I have done wrongly in my past. I made mistakes.”

⛳️Exclusive interview with Angel Cabrera, 2009 Masters champion, on his return to Augusta after serving 30 months in prison for domestic violence. 

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www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/a...

EXC: How UFOs and aliens are inspiring Hovland's bid for Masters glory EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: To understand the undulations of Viktor Hovland's golf, it is probably necessary to start with the boundaries of his curiosity.

An interview with Viktor Hovland on quantum mechanics, evolution, UFOs and ontological truth. Obviously. And also some golf. Fascinating guy.

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How Rory McIlroy is attempting to lift his 'Masters curse' For all the complications written across Rory McIlroy's scorecards at Augusta, the solutions sound so simple when they come from the man entrusted with his mind.

“He is the outright favourite.”

⛳️ A piece on Rory McIlroy and the annual question of whether this is the year. With insights from Dr Bob Rotella, Butch Harmon and Paul McGinley.

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RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: If Man City ARE guilty, titles must be stripped RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Manchester City made an announcement on Friday morning. It wasn't the one we're all waiting on, but they do have a new energy drink partner in Vietnam.

This week’s column on Manchester City, the butterfly effect, and the impossibility of finding a punishment to fit the crime if they’re guilty. Stripping of titles should be the minimum.

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Why we should not get our violins out for Lucas Paqueta yet RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: A few tales have reached me about how West Ham's Paqueta managed his existence in the early days of an important saga, once the asteroid came into view.

This week’s column on Lucas Paqueta and the trial to establish if he was a good bet for a yellow card or a sure thing.

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‘Tiger was livid and carried on like an absolute pork chop. I gave him a dressing down.'

⛳️An interview with Steve Williams on Tiger Woods, inc swings, seals, scandal and why he can still win majors...

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/a...

Was Diego Maradona 'MURDERED'? Inside the graphic trial RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: The tragedy of Diego Maradona was told in many details this week, but none were so arresting as those contained in a single photograph.

This week’s column on Diego Maradona and the chaos that follows him, even in death.

mol.im/a/14501785 via @MailSport

How long can Emma Raducanu chase glory after 'stalker' hell? If we are to fully understand the fear that compelled her to hide behind an umpire's chair in Dubai on Tuesday, then we should look back to an incident closer to her home. Far closer.

This week’s column on Emma Raducanu, fixations and the accumulation of scar tissue. She is overdue a good bounce and I’d hope she gets one before deciding this line of work isn’t worth the fuss.

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Ratcliffe's first year at United: High-profile sackings and mistakes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: A birthday is approaching at United and it will be accompanied by a few questions, one of which might be: does Ratcliffe have enough spare cash to spring for a cake?

This week’s column on Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Thursday marks a year since he bought into Man United. A hatchet man sold as a white knight.

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EXC: Inside £3BILLION Birmingham revolution and Tom Brady's big role Hearts and minds don't come cheap in football. For Birmingham City's American ownership group, the bill is being paid one pint at a time.

A long read on one of the most fascinating projects in British football – Birmingham City

🍺 Hearts, minds and pints
📺 Plans for a documentary
🇺🇸 Is Tom Brady a PR gimmick or a driver of stateside fortunes?
💰 Major sponsor deals and more imminent

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Sebastian Coe is the only man for the job, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Out of the dustiness of Olympic politics came a pair of related thoughts this week. They both went to the subject of blood. The blood of a female boxer and a bloodline.

Who talks about protecting women in sport and who actually does it? It’s a question at the heart of the race to become the next president of the IOC. Sebastian Coe is the only candidate with a good answer.

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Why Daniel Levy should be embarrassed, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Levy could sign three players on £250,000 a week and still be within 50 per cent of turnover. Levy should be embarrassed by those beans, ones of institutional cowardice.

This week’s column on Tottenham, beans and the new figures that reveal a club governed by cowardice. Daniel Levy should be embarrassed by what it is happening.

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How Forest's astonishing football has poked tactical snobs in the eye RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Among some healthy praise for the team he faced, this is what he said: 'There was also a lot of moments where it took a while before the play restarted.'

🌳This week’s column on Nottingham Forest, Nuno and the insertion of a twig in the eyes of tactical snobs everywhere. In a samey landscape, what they’re doing is fabulous and wildly unusual.

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Good luck to David Moyes - this is not the Everton you remember The Everton of today isn't the same image of competency Moyes remembers. Today's Everton beat the fight out of Dyche across a two-year period at Goodison Park.

This week’s column on David Moyes and his reunion with a club that has lost its class, lost its way and is never far from its next brain fart. Hope it works for his sake, but not convinced it makes sense for either party.

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Good luck to David Moyes - this is not the Everton you remember The Everton of today isn't the same image of competency Moyes remembers. Today's Everton beat the fight out of Dyche across a two-year period at Goodison Park.

This week’s column on David Moyes and his reunion with a club that has lost its class, lost its way and is never far from its next brain fart. Hope it works for his sake, but not convinced it makes sense for either party.

mol.im/a/14273373