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• Ederson slams reports of rift with Man City backup Ortega

  Ederson has hit out at reports of a rift between himself and fellow Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

  The Brazilian was substituted after suffering a fractured eye socket in City's penultimate game of the Premier League season, a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham. 

  Ortega replaced him and made a brilliant save to deny Son Heung-min as City maintained their slender lead over Arsenal at the top of the table, sealing an unprecedented fourth straight title by beating West Ham five days later. 

  Ortega was widely lauded for his role in that triumph, and an article published by The Athletic this week suggested Ederson took issue with that praise.

  However, the goalkeeper – who missed the Copa America as a result of his injury – has now moved to shut down those suggestions with a post to his Instagram story.

  "I would like to clarify that the note published by The Athletic yesterday, referring to my alleged dissatisfaction with a co-worker, is completely false," he wrote. 

  "The alleged day reported was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my career, when I suffered a fracture that prevented me from playing in the final stretch of the season and, consequently, from representing my country in the Copa America.

  "At the time of the injury, my only thought was to continue in the match, defending City in the fight for the title. 

  "But the emotion of the match would be greater than the reality and, inevitably, I would not be able to continue as I would have liked due to the damage it caused, completely blocking my field of vision. I remain focused on preparing for the season."

  Ederson has been linked with a transfer in recent days, reportedly attracting interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.

• McAllister cannot see Klopp or Guardiola succeeding Southgate

  Gary McAllister finds it hard to believe that either Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager.

  Southgate, who led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, ended his eight-year tenure following their defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 showpiece.

  The 53-year-old was often accused of a cautious approach despite only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) overseeing more England goals than his 213, with supporters wanting to see a more attack-minded manager take over.  

  And two of the names linked with the vacant position have been pioneers of Premier League football in recent years.

  Klopp ended his nine-year stay at Liverpool in May to take a break from management, while some expect Guardiola to leave Manchester City at the end of his current deal, which expires next year. 

  The pair have won 653 games between them and shared 25 major honours during their time in England and could be seen as the ideal candidates to end the Three Lions' 58-year wait for silverware. 

  However, former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder McAllister believes Klopp and Guardiola are unlikely to become England's next manager. 

  McAllister, who played 57 times for his nation, believes supporters would prefer an English manager at the helm.

  "I think people are linking Jurgen with the England job purely because he has experience working in the English Premier League," McAllister told Stats Perform.

  "He's worked with elite players for many years now at Dortmund and at Liverpool. So people are putting two and two together.

  "Personally, I don't see it happening and I think I also see that there were links to Pep Guardiola and I don't see Pep managing England either.

  "It's hard for me to comment on this because I'm obviously not English, I'm Scottish.

  "The people I speak to within the game, there is a feeling that the manager of England should come from St George's Park, which is the headquarters of English football, the FA and all the coaching programmes that they have there.

  "Why would you have all this and then put a manager not from England in? I think most of the people in England are looking for an English manager."

  The Three Lions' next game is a Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland in September, with Finland their next opponents three days later.

• Paris Olympics: Home hero Dupont sends France into rugby sevens semi-finals

  Antoine Dupont sealed hosts France's progression to the rugby sevens semi-finals as his late try clinched victory over Argentina at the Paris Olympics.

  Dupont, voted the 2021 World Player of the Year, missed out on this year's Six Nations to prepare himself for the sevens at the Games.

  And he scored a brilliant solo try in the dying seconds at a jam-packed Stade de France to wrap up a 26-14 triumph over Argentina on Thursday.

  Aaron Grandidier had earlier crossed the line twice along with back-rower Andy Timo's opener in a dominant first half, though Argentina fought back after the break.

  Rodrigo Isgro responded for Los Pumas before Marcos Moneta sneaked over after France were reduced to six when Jordan Sepho was sin-binned.

  Yet home favourite Dupont stepped up in the decisive moment, whipping the crowd into frenzy after setting up a last-four meeting against South Africa, who overcame New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

  South Africa finished third in Pool A as New Zealand topped the group, but the Springboks exacted revenge against the All Blacks to secure a semi-final berth.

  The Springboks raced into a two-try lead before holding out for a 14-7 victory to stun one of the pre-tournament favourites.

  Fiji, champions in 2016 when the event was first introduced and four years later in Tokyo, unexpectedly found themselves up against it as Chay Mullins bundled over twice to snatch a 10-7 lead for Ireland at half-time.

  Zac Ward extended the Irish lead but two tries in less than 30 seconds from Selestino Ravutaumada and Terio Tamani snatched a 19-15 turnaround.

  The two-time Olympic champions will meet Australia after the Wallabies downed the United States with ease.

  Corey Toole and James Turner both crossed in the first half en route to a convincing 18-0 triumph in the final match of the day, sending Australia into their first rugby sevens semi-final at the Olympics.