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Paraguay star Diego Gómez says he feared the worst with World Cup injury scare

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Paraguay international and Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Diego Gómez revealed he feared the worst after he landed awkwardly on his left knee during a 2-2 draw against Tottenham on April 18. Speaking to DSports on Monday, Gómez said he is not quite fully fit but he is now focused on representing his country at the World Cup this summer.

“I thought the worst, but thankfully it was not a serious injury,” he said. “Now I’m recovering and thinking about being 100 percent fit for the World Cup. When the injury occurred my first thought was the World Cup. I thought that I was going to miss the World Cup.”

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler told reporters two days after the match against Tottenham that Gómez that a scan on the player’s knee showed that the injury “had not been that bad.”

“We have to go week to week,” Hurzeler said at the time. “It’s not an injury that will take him out for months. It is something with his knee.”

Gómez told DSports that if he’s fully fit, he’d like to play in Brighton’s final Premier League match against Manchester United on March 27; however, he added that there would be no point in featuring that day if he’s at risk of an injury.

“Honestly I feel really good right now,” Gómez said. “Hopefully I can play and I’m thinking about that last game if I’m fully fit, but I’m not going to risk anything at this point. But the goal is to play that game.”

Gómez, 23, is expected to be among Paraguay’s standout players this summer. As a box-to-box midfielder who also has a nose for goal, Gómez will be a player that Group D opponents will have to game plan around. His fitness scare comes at a time when all four nations in the group are sweating over some key names. The U.S. just lost Atlético Madrid midfielder Johnny Cardoso to an ankle injury, while Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah and Tanner Tessmann have all missed recent matches for their clubs. Turkey’s Arda Güler and Hakan Çalhanoğlu have been warding off muscle injuries, and Australia has concern over the availability of MLS-based midfielders Patrick Yazbek and Aiden O’Neill.

As for Gómez’s Paraguay, it will be the first opponent for the cohosts U.S., when they meet on June 12 at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles. Gómez believes that Paraguay is at the same level as South American World Cup participants Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Uruguay.

“We finished with the same points total as Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil,” Gómez said in reference to Conmebol 2026 World Cup qualifying. “We were always right there.” The former Inter Miami standout, though, had high praise for the U.S. side he’ll be facing.

“(The U.S.) is a great team and that will be a huge first match for us,” he said. “It’s against the tournament hosts. They’ll be at home. It’ll be a great game and it’s a great group, a difficult group that we’re in. We hope it works out for us in the best possible way. It’s an even group. All three teams could lose or win (against each other). All three games are going to be very difficult. We’re going to leave everything on the pitch. Our mentality is to go (to the World Cup) and make our country proud.”

In 2026, Gómez scored 10 goals for Brighton in all competitions. He became just the third Paraguayan player to score five or more goals in a single Premier League season. Roque Santa Cruz (19 goals in 2007-08 for Blackburn Rovers) and Miguel Almirón (11 goals in 2022-23 for Newcastle United) had previously set that standard.

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Matt Fitzpatrick on Open de France victory, his ‘best period of golf’ ever and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship hopes | Golf News

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Matt Fitzpatrick believes he is currently playing the best golf of his career, ahead of the world No 4 teeing it up alongside his father at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Fitzpatrick registered a fourth worldwide win of the season with a three-shot victory at the FedEx Open de France on Sunday, having already won three times on the PGA Tour during an impressive campaign.

The Englishman failed to finish higher than 14th in any of the majors in 2026 but still had six worldwide top 10s along with his victories, with Fitzpatrick proud of his season and contending so frequently.

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Highlights of the final round of the FedEx Open de France, where Fitzpatrick closed out an impressive victory

“This is the best period of golf I’ve played for sure,” Fitzpatrick told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. “2022 was right up there, but I’ve had three wins and obviously a fourth now. I think just the sustained consistency has been the big thing really.

“Obviously that [a disappointing major season] is a disappointment. It’s the goal of anyone’s at the start of the year to contend in the majors – those are what mean the most and those are what matter.

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“It’s disappointing not to do that this year. Just felt a couple days off pretty much during three of the four, then in the last one I just didn’t play great and I got my strategy wrong.

“At the same time, that doesn’t really take anything away from the season as a whole. I have contended a lot in a lot of golf tournaments and that’s all you could ask for in a year.”

Fitzpatrick’s latest victory moved him top of the Ryder Cup qualification standings and inside the top 10 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings, while the 32-year-old could move to a career-high world No 2 with a strong showing in Scotland.

Fitzpatrick has won the Valspar Championship, RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Open de France already this year
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Fitzpatrick has won the Valspar Championship, RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Open de France already this year

When asked on whether there are areas where he can still improve, Fitzpatrick added: “I think there’s various bits and pieces that we’ve looked at. We’re coming to the year end and making those decisions on what the off-season plan needs to be.

“There’s a few things that we’ve got down already to go to – it’s just about how you go about that and how that’s structured.”

Fitzpatrick previously won the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with his mother Sue as his partner in the pro-am team event, with Fitzpatrick teaming up with dad Russell for this year’s contest.

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Fitzpatrick and his mum Susan won the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

“I think he might get a few more strokes – he’d probably say that himself!” admitted Fitzpatrick, who also won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his brother Alex Fitzpatrick in April.

“We’re going to need a big few days I think, to get us in some form of position. Hopefully, Johan [Rupert, tournament organiser] doesn’t cut his handicap too much after this past week!

Will Fitzpatrick more success alongside a family member this week?
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Will Fitzpatrick more success alongside a family member this week?

“I think he’s been playing quite nicely, so you never know – when the pressure’s on, it can be a little bit different, but we’re there to have a good time and enjoy ourselves.”

Listen to the full Matt Fitzpatrick interview on the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, hosted every week by Jamie Weir. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Spreaker, while vodcast editions can be found on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.

Who else is playing the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship?

Matt’s brother Alex is partnering mum Sue in the team element of this year’s event, played across Carnoustie, Kingsbarns Golf Links and the Old Course at St Andrews.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre returns as defending champion, while Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose are other Ryder Cup players in the field, with Brooks Koepka and Cam Smith among the past major winners also in action.

Who will win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship? Live coverage begins Thursday from midday on Sky Sports Golf. Get latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW.

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Leaked video: Man City CEO Soriano sends message to staff and players

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Sky Sports News has obtained a video of Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano that has been sent to internal staff and players at the club after the guilty verdict in relation to allegations of serious breaches of financial rules.

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'Has he lost his mind?!' Rock throws bull-one-bull for 101 and Mardle loses it!

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Josh Rock went a slightly different route to usual as he attempted to checkout 101, leaving Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle with a lot to say!

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