KYLE WALKER may have had a shocker against Senegal – but he is now just four caps away from completing England’s perfect centurion XI.
The Manchester City veteran struggled badly on his 96th cap in Tuesday’s 3-1 friendly defeat at the City Ground, which was our first-ever loss to an African nation.
It left many fans wondering if he will even make it to a 97th cap, let alone 100, although Thomas Tuchel’s comments afterwards will have reassured the 35-year-old.
And should he manage to dust himself down and convince the German of giving him the quartet needed to reach a century, he will be the eleventh player in Three Lions history to make it to triple figures.
And in a coincidental twist of fate, if Walker does hit 100 then he would be the final piece in the jigsaw to complete a tonne-up team.
In goal is our nation’s record appearance-maker Peter Shilton on 125 games.
Walker would take the right-back slot, with former Arsenal and Chelsea star Ashley Cole at left-back on 107.
In central defence, World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore (108) lines up alongside Billy Wright.
The latter was a one-club man for Wolves just after the war and became the first player in world football to reach 100 caps for his country, ending on 105 in 1959.
Playing out wide left in a 4-4-2 formation is the late Sir Bobby Charlton, who netted a stunning 49 goals in 106 caps, winning our only World Cup in 1966.
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On the right wing is ex-captain David Beckham, who The Sun exclusively revealed will be knighted in the King’s upcoming Birthday Honours List, on 115.
In the middle is Steven Gerrard (114) and Frank Lampard (106), trying to ignore the old debate of whether they could actually play together as a midfield pairing.
Up top are our two greatest goalscorers – and arguably two best strikers, though Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves may have something to say about that.
Harry Kane leads the line, having blasted an astonishing 73 goals in 107 caps, with his latest of each coming against the Senegalese.
Wayne Rooney, whose goals record Kane surpassed two years ago, completes the awesome line-up thanks to 53 goals in 120 caps.
Only three England bosses made it to 100 games in charge, including the first two, Walter Winterbottom (139), Sir Alf Ramsey (113) and, years later, Sir Gareth Southgate (102).
Walker, 35, is desperate to make it to 100 caps.
After winning his 80th in a 2-0 win over Malta in November 2023, he said: “That’s one of my big objectives.
“There are very few players that are in that bracket and have made it to the 100 club.
“If I can do that I’ll be over the moon and delighted from when I first started in 2011 when I got my first call-up under (Fabio) Capello.”
Walker could complete his century before the year is out, with England having six World Cup qualifiers between September and October.
But given the level of competition at full-back, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Tino Livramento, and Walker seemingly having no future at City, it is by no means a given he will do it.
Walker also seems in limbo club-wise, with City not taking him to the Club World Cup and a return to AC Milan, where he spent the second half of the season on loan, looking off the cards.
Tuchel feels the treble-winner’s lack of recent action contributed to his dire display against the Senegalese where his touch was rusty and he looked uncharacteristically slow.
But the former Chelsea boss remains a huge fan of Walker, which will give the full-back confidence his century dream can be realised.
Asked why Walker deserved to play against Senegal in his post-match press conference, Tuchel said: “Because it counts also what he did in the first camp.
“His first two matches were good. He was a regular player at Milan and then broke his elbow.
“Once we saw him in camp, he trained at the highest level, I felt him very composed, very proud to be in the camp.
“He took responsibility, he helped everyone out and pushed the standards and levels. I think he deserved to play.
“I see the lack of rhythm, clearly, the lack of rhythm in misjudgements and duels and anticipation, of course.
“That is also maybe the nature of a June camp and a player who does not have every minute in his legs lately and has struggled to come back because of injury and the contract situation when he was just on loan.”
A HOUSE which featured in a classic 90s sitcom seems inconspicuous in a sleepy town – but do you recognise it?
Clue: The main character insisted her name was pronounced ‘Bouqet‘.
An unassuming house was seen by millions on the iconic comedy Keeping Up Appearances.
The property is situated in Binley Woods, Coventry, and featured regularly on the BBC1 comedy.
The show followed shameless social climber Hyacinth Bucket, who was played by Dame Patricia Routledge, now 96.
Hyacinth was accompanied by her henpecked husband Richard, played by late acting legend Clive Smith.
Next door to the Buckets lived upper-middle class characters Elizabeth, and her brother Emmet, with whom Hyacinth competed against.
The show was written by Roy Clarke, who also penned Open All Hours, and ran between 1990 and 1995.
It easily ranks as one of the UK’s most treasured vintage comedies, and has been sold almost 1,000 times to overseas broadcasters.
And the property where Elizabeth and Emet lived still remains, having gone on the market for £495,000 in 2019.
The four bedroom detached house’s exterior was visible to viewers of the show.
Annabel Dixon, writing on property website Zoopla said: “Hyacinth was often name-dropping her sister Violet, who ‘had a Mercedes, swimming pool, sauna and room for a pony.’
“So the grande dame would surely approve of this unusual opportunity to snap up the home of her twitchy neighbours, Elizabeth and Emmett.
“Its features include a landscaped garden, heated swimming pool, hot tub and wooden summer house.’
The real life owner of the house where the Buckets lived in the show, Rosemary Healey, has lived in the property for 47 years.
She told CoventryLive what it’s like living in a house which was part of a cult classic: “I’ve been here for 45 years and I was at work when the BBC first came round to ask about filming at my home.
“My son answered the door and told me they would come back the next day, which they did.
“They had contacted estate agents in the city looking for a property to film as Hyacinth’s home.
“Mine was chosen because, before we had the extension, you could talk door-to-door with my next door neighbour.”
The show may be 35 years old, but Mrs Healy says this doesn’t stop fans coming to pay a visit to the property.
“We get lots of people coming to take photos and occasionally get people knocking on the door,” she said.
“It’s never been a problem though.”
While the Binley Wood houses were used for external shots, most of the indoor scenes were filmed in a studio in London.
Nearby Warwickshire town Leamington Spa was also used for some filming.
AS her 16-year-old adopted daughter threatened her with a kitchen knife, Sophie Chambers feared she might die.
She and husband Tim knew that adopting wouldn’t be easy but never imagined such grave danger.
The siblings they had welcomed into their home as a baby and tot had turned violent.
Eventually, things got so bad, Sophie and Tim returned Sienna to care.
“I wouldn’t blame anyone for being shocked we made our child homeless,” Sophie says.
“People must think I’m a monster. But we had been put in an impossible position.”
According to Adoption England, around three per cent of adoptions are officially disrupted – meaning the children can’t stay with the adoptive parents.
Sophie and Tim, who wed in 2003, had always wanted a family.
But after battling infertility for five years, including three failed rounds of IVF, they adopted.
“We had good jobs,” says Sophie.
“Tim works as an IT manager and I’m in advertising. We live in a beautiful home in Cheshire. We had idyllic childhoods and thought we would replicate that.”
A year after starting the adoption process in 2008, the couple were matched up with siblings Sienna, two, and Jax, nine months.
Sophie recalls: “They’d suffered horrific abuse and we were told we would be able to access support — but it never came.”
On the day she brought the children home for the first time, she said: “We had been so excited. We spent hours playing with them, before bathing them and putting them to bed. We instantly loved them.”
But within a few weeks, things started to unravel.
“They were difficult children, but we didn’t go into this thinking it would be easy,” Sophie says.
“Our daughter would throw epic tantrums, often lasting more than eight hours.
“The bedtime routine would regularly last until gone 2am.
“They’d been taken away from family after Jax sustained serious injuries and Sienna was found to have been physically abused.
“Their behaviour was terrible — they were mean and violent.
“On one occasion, my parents had put them to bed and they got up. When they told them to go back to bed, my son spat in his grandmother’s face.
“They also struggled to make friends. I tried to help them connect with peers and, for Jax’s 5th birthday party, we invited his whole class. Not a single child came. My heart broke.
Their behaviour was terrible — they were mean and violent
“Despite their behaviour, which we knew was the result of trauma, we loved them.
“We took them to dance and music lessons and on foreign holidays, but it made no difference.
“They often got into trouble at school, starting in primary school but escalating by the time they got to secondary.
“Our son took a penknife into class and our daughter walked out of lessons and backchatted.”
From when the children were as young as around six or seven, the couple begged social services for help, but were only sent on parenting courses.
EMILY FRITH, CEO of the charity Adoption UK said: “Adoption is a vital option for children unable to safely grow up with any member of their birth family. These are children with an incredibly tough start in life.
“They have the same potential as any other child, which is limitless.
“With the right support, adoptive families can flourish. Right now, there are still too many children who aren’t getting the support they deserve.
“We’re working hard with adoption agencies, schools, the NHS and government to champion adopted children and adult adoptees.”
Sophie says: “The best we got was a charity taking the kids for an hour every other month.
“By the time Sienna was 13, things were horrendous. She fell in with a bad crowd and started sneaking out at night.
“The first time she did it, I’d found her bed empty. I was in a panic, rang friends and the police. It was 24 hours before she came back. It happened again and again.
“She and her friends would steal alcohol and trash the house.”
The couple put locks on all their doors to stop Sienna breaking out at night.
“I’d walk round with keys, like a prison warden,” Sophie says. “We bought safes for our valuables.
“I was too scared to go into my own home. While I loved Sienna, I was also starting to hate her.
“Although both Sienna and Jax were very difficult, Jax handled his trauma in a more insular way — he’d refuse to come out of his room. But he didn’t get as violent with us as Sienna.”
Things became so unbearable, Sophie contemplated suicide.
People must think I’m a monster. But we had been put in an impossible position
She says: “I remember thinking about driving my car into a tree.
“I later told Tim, but other than to hold me and tell me he was there for me, there was nothing he could do. I knew he was at breaking point too.
“We both felt that the training we’d had around bringing up adopted children was wholly inadequate, but Tim and I had spent years doing our own research.
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
“If we’d had the right support, we might have been able to cope.
“When we told a social worker [Sienna] had been smoking cannabis, he said we should consider ourselves lucky it wasn’t more hardcore drugs.”
In May 2024, Sienna tried to walk out of the house on the day of a GCSE exam and Sophie put her foot down.
She recalls: “Sienna had run away for the night, and the police had just brought her back.
“We heard the friend she’d run away with back out on the street, shouting for Sienna to go back out with her. I was furious. I told her there was no way she was going out. She lost her temper worse than I’d ever seen it before.
“We were at the breakfast table, and she started screaming ‘Let me go!’ and grabbed a kitchen knife, waving it at all three of us and saying she was going to kill us.
“I honestly thought one of us was going to end up dead. Tim called 999 and a team of police officers burst into the house.
“The police arrested her, but the next day she came home.
“We knew we couldn’t risk that happening again. We had to protect ourselves and Jax, now 14.
“I rang social services and said we couldn’t cope. They said our only option was to make our daughter homeless.”
Reluctantly, Sophie drove Sienna to the council and did just that.
Sienna was crying and pleading to come home. It felt like the biggest betrayal I could make
She says: “Sienna was crying and pleading to come home. It felt like the biggest betrayal I could make.
“We were both in tears. I told her we loved her but this is the only way we could help her now.”
Sienna was moved into supported living, and the couple see her every few weeks.
Sophie says: “Our relationship is stronger since she moved out. At times, the guilt is impossible. Jax fears we will do the same to him, however much we reassure him.”
The couple have since found online support group PATCH, which helps adoptive families.
Sophie says: “I hope by sharing our story, it may help other families going through similar.”
In the UK, there is lengthy process involved with adopting a child and it can take up to six months for the paperwork to be finalised.
To even be considered, you have to meet the following criteria:
You will also have to go through an inital background check and assesment, which will consider whether you are the right fit for adoption.
Potenital parents will also have undergo training and a process to match them with the right child.
MAX O’Leary revealed he took a risky move this week before showing a safe pair of hands on his debut.
Bristol City goalkeeper O’Leary, 28, made his Ireland debut as he kept a clean sheet – the first of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s ten-game reign to date – in the 0-0 draw against Luxembourg.
And he did so with family watching from the stands, including parents Claire and Edward, as they flew from England to see it after he got a hunch that Luxembourg would be his debut.
O’Leary revealed: “My family came over, managed to get last-minute tickets. It was good to have some familiar faces in the crowd and to see them.
“I actually said to them earlier in the week that there might be a chance. You don’t know until it is confirmed. They took a risk and came over but I’m glad they did.”
They then saw O’Leary not look out of place on his debut that has been a long-time coming as he was first called into the squad in June 2019 by Mick McCarthy.
And he showed his worth saving anything Luxembourg threw at him.
He continued: “It is unbelievable. A big occasion for me. I took it in my stride and just wanted to enjoy it more than anything.
“Not think too much about the outcome. Stay in the present. Have a bit of fun out there and get a result for the team.
“Course you want to go and win the game. But we said at half-time that the worst case is we keep it at 0-0, we know we would get chances.
“We hit the bar. Troy Parrott’s had a chance [goal] that was ruled offside.
“Little bits and pieces we know we can improve but we have built foundations, going into competitive game, where we know we can improve.”
But the result could not dampen O’Leary’s delight after his long wait for his debut.
He continued: “I’ve seen a few managers, been in lots of camps so it is finally nice to get that first cap.
“Anyone can play but it is rare to see a goalkeeper come on for a five, ten minute run around cameo.
“When you play you’ve got to stick in there and make it your own. It is my job to push the boys.
“That availability, knowing you might not play, but still turning up, and working every day, I love doing it.
“I love working hard to help others out when I need to, so when it is my time, I am ready to go.
“Even if I didn’t play I am happy to come in and help the group. I feel I can bring something to the group. This time I got my chance.
“I’ve tried to be patient. I’ve been patient pretty much my whole career.
“I’m a bit older now so I know how the game works – you come in and it is something different, being with the boys, different coaches and you can learn off great players as well.
“The group we have got is really good. Caoimh (Caoimhín Kelleher) has been really great with me this week. So has Josh (Keeley).
“We know there are other lads waiting as well, there is a good unit there.”
SUMMER is nearly upon us and shoppers are already stocking up on an essential buy that could be perfect for cooling off.
Sun worshippers have been sharing how they are buying bargain “tanning pools” to lie in and get a golden glow.
TikTok user @jessicaaknowsbest showed her enviable set up, which had an inflatable with some shallow water and a hands-free Kindle device for reading.
She also added some snacks and a drink so she had everything she would need without needing to move.
On her video, which has racked up over 115,000 views, she said: “I’ll be here all summer.
“Till further notice.”
Many people were very jealous of her summer set-up and were quick to comment on the video.
One said: “This is perfection.”
Another tagged their friend, and wrote: “This is what we need since we both don’t have a pool.”
A third asked: “Where might one acquire the pool!!!??”
While Jessica is based in the US, the UK has a number of versions of the tanning pool on Amazon.
The retailer is selling a £17.99 Splosh lounger which comes with a ribbed air cushion base and jumbo pillow.
Measuring 73cm long and 120cm wide, it is said to be perfect for “staying cool” in the garden as a “splash pool.”
Book worms can also get comfy as the pillow provides “additional neck and back support.”
It is said to be made from a strong, “UV resistant PVC”, to help it stay inflated for longer.
One person who gave it a five-star rating said: “Love this! Was so easy to blow up, so nice to cool down in on a hot day, very comfy.”
Another added: “Works great to keep me cool while getting sun.”
The bed is available on Amazon Prime, so it can be delivered within just one day if you wish.
There is also a 30-day window for returns if you change your mind.
One of the easiest ways to keep bugs out of your pool is to cover it with a dark sheet (like bin bags) when it’s not in use.
This can also help keep the water warm for kids as well.
Bug traps around the pool can also be useful.
To naturally stop bugs from coming around you can plant such as lavender, basil or mint as they hate the smell.
Alright, let’s start with the obvious: if you’ve seen To Be Hero X, then you absolutely get that this anime is chaos with a capital C. One minute it’s making jokes, and the next you’re just sitting around going, “Wait, what the heck is happening?” And right in the middle of all that emotional rollercoaster, […]
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