⚽ Celebrating Our Mayne Man

It's chilly, it's Wednesday, 15 June

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Martin Gabor and Lucy Watkin are at the mic.

Today's listen time: 9.30 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺 What we're watching

⚾ 9.00am - MLB - Mets v Brewers - Citi Field, New York City - Foxtel, Kayo

🥊 7.00pm - Heavyweight Boxing - Justis Huni v Joe Goodall - Nissan Arena, Brisbane - Main Event

⚽ 11.00pm - Under-23 Asian Cup Semi-Final - Australia v Saudi Arabia - Pakhtakor Soccer Stadium, Tashkent - Paramount+

All times are in AEST

⚽ Redmayne becomes a national hero

We haven’t had much sleep lately, but at least we know we haven’t been dreaming. Australia did qualify for the World Cup yesterday, and it’s all thanks to Andrew Redmayne.

Golden points: The crazy thing is that the goalkeeper nearly quit football a few years ago to become a barista.

• But he changed his mind, kept playing for Sydney FC, and now he’s everyone’s favourite Socceroo after his heroics in the penalty shootout against Peru. The decision to bring him on was so secret that even captain Mat Ryan didn't know.

• Even the Wiggles are on board. They’ve called him the grey wiggle because of his hectic dance moves before each shot.

• And that face he pulled after the final save? That’s nothing new. His 1yo daughter gets it whenever she needs to smile. But not everyone was smiling.

They said it: “I am the only one responsible for this debacle and my life will not be enough to apologise.” - Peruvian player Luis Advíncula missed a penalty yesterday and quit the team moments later.

Watch it: Sleep is overrated. If you wanna keep supporting local football then you can watch Australia play Saudi Arabia at the Under-23 Asian Cup at 11.00pm (AEST) on Paramount+.

🏏 Aussies taking it to the Max

The Aussies are 1-0 up in their ODI series against Sri Lanka thanks to Glenn Maxwell.

The score: Australia (8/282) defeated Sri Lanka (7/300) with nine balls to go.

Golden points: Hang on, 282 is a losing score. You’re right, but you’re also wrong. There was a bit of rain in Sri Lanka so the target was reduced.

• That target could've been really big after their top three batters all passed 50 in Kandy.

• But some slick fielding including this stunning David Warner catch helped slow things down.

• The rain hit during Australia’s run chase but it didn’t matter. Glenn Maxwell came in and whacked 80 not out off 51 balls and sealed the win with his 6th 6.

What’s next: The 2nd game is on tomorrow at 7.00pm (AEST). Ashton Agar is in doubt with a side injury.

Watch it: Here are the highlights from the first of 5 ODIs.

🏐 Diamonds name shiny new squad

There’s a fair bit happening in the world of netball. We’ve got the finals to look forward to this weekend, and now we know who’ll represent the Aussies at the Comm Games.

Golden points: There were whispers of a leaked squad on Monday, but things got a bit more official yesterday.

• Selectors named a squad of 12 for the Games in Birmingham.

• Only 4 of the players were there in 2018 when the Aussies lost the gold medal match to England by a goal. That includes skipper Liz Watson.

• There aren’t too many surprises, but Maddy Proud must have been close after she broke the record for most Super Netball feeds on the weekend.

What’s next: The Diamonds have a busy few weeks coming up. They’ve got training camps in Perth and Manchester before their first game against Barbados on 29 July.

🎾 Serena set for Wimbledon return

It started with a tease on Instagram, and now we know that Serena Williams is finally returning to tennis.

Golden points: And we don’t have to wait long. News came through overnight that the former world #1 is going to play at Wimbledon.

• It feels like a lifetime ago that we last saw Williams in action. Hasn’t quite been that long, but it has been a year.

• She hurt her ankle in the first round at last year’s Wimbledon and hasn’t played since because of several leg injuries.

• That’s affected her ranking. She’s dropped down to #1208 but has been given a wildcard to play in London.

What’s next: She might be a bit rusty so she’s going to team up with Ons Jabeur and play some doubles at Eastbourne next week.

🏀 Cold Curry ready to be reheated

He’s the hottest shooter of all time, but even Steph Curry can go ice cold.

Golden points: The Golden State Warriors are one win away from another NBA title. They beat the Celtics 104-94 to take a 3-2 series lead, and they did it even though Curry couldn’t make a shot.

• This is a guy who has basically got every record when it comes to hitting 3-pointers.

• But he went 0-9 from long range yesterday. That snapped his record streak of 233 games with a 3. 

• This is so rare. Since 2013, there have only been 9 games where he hasn’t splashed a shot from deep. The last time it happened was 8 November, 2018.

They said it: “He's going to be livid going into Game 6, and that's exactly what we need.” - Teammate Draymond Green is expecting a big response on Friday.

👀 Quick singles

⚽ New Zealand will not be joining us at the FIFA World Cup. They lost 1-0 to Costa Rica this morning after a couple of tough calls went against them.

🎾 The US Open has decided to allow Russian and Belarussian players to compete later this year. That’s great news for defending champ Daniil Medvedev after Wimbledon decided to ban players from those countries because of the Ukrainian invasion.

🏏 Ancient records nearly got smashed overnight as England chased down New Zealand’s total to win the 2nd Test. NZ scored 553 runs in the first innings but couldn’t hold on as Jonny Bairstow went ballistic with the bat.

🏉 Russell Ebert was moved up to Legend status at last night’s AFL Hall of Fame ceremony. It was a huge night in Melbourne with 8 others joining the Hall of Fame, including games record holder Brent Harvey.

🥊 The big boxing bouts in Australia continue with another massive fight tonight. Justis Huni takes on Joe Goodall in what’s been called the biggest heavyweight fight in Australia in 100 years.

🏇 Nature Strip could be one of the best sprinters of all time. The Aussie horse won easily at Royal Ascot to take out the King's Stand Stakes overnight.

🏉 Storm forward Felise Kaufusi is a little bit richer after he avoided a fine at the judiciary. He argued that he didn’t intentionally elbow Sam Walker, was found not guilty and didn’t have to pay a fine.  

🙃 Left of field...

There will be some pretty sore heads in Qatar this morning. But before the Socceroos could celebrate, fans in Melbourne were partying hard.

Golden points: How do we know? Well, the ABC had a camera there and sports presenter Tony Armstrong was caught in the middle of it.

• The quotes don’t really make any sense but they were still great.

• There was a lot of shouting and running around at Fed Square.

• One guy couldn’t contain his excitement and gave the camera a smooch.

Watch it: There’s no chance these people rocked up to work after this.

📽 The highlight reel

No, we're not recycling old content. Jordan Poole hit his 2nd buzzer-beater of the NBA Finals. Surely Poole joins Steph Curry and Klay Thompson as a Splash Brother.

📸 Photo finish

Okay, one last look at the Socceroos' epic win. Fair to say the dressing room was a happy place.

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

Williams has 7 titles at Wimbledon. She's won 23 overall.