Boca Juniors full-back Clemente Rodriguez has been named in the Argentina squad for their World Cup qualifiers with Bolivia and Colombia.
Manager Alejandro Sabella announced the names on Sunday, having released the list for foreign-based players the previous week.
Rodriguez is joined by Boca team-mate Agustin Orion and Estudiantes pair Rodrigo Brana and Leandro Desabato as potential debutants to take on Bolivia and Colombia.
All four men are well known to Sabella. The quartet served under the coach in his previous term at Estudiantes, forming part of the team which lifted the 2009 Copa Libertadores and the 2010 Apertura under his guidance.
Argentina host Bolivia at the Estadio Monumental on Friday, before travelling to Barranquilla to face Colombia on …
Federico Chiesa was sent off on his Juventus debut as the Cristiano Ronaldo-less Serie A champions drew 1-1 with Crotone on Saturday.
Bereft of the talismanic Ronaldo, who is self-isolating after testing positive for COVID-19 while on international duty with Portugal, Juve looked far from their best at Stadio Ezio Scida.
Alvaro Morata s first goal since rejoining the club on loan from Atletico Madrid cancelled out Simy s early penalty for the hosts, but their hopes of going on to claim all three points were dealt a blow with 30 minutes remaining when Chiesa, who joined on loan from Fiorentina on transfer deadline day, received a straight red card.
Juve whose veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made his 650th Serie A appearance thought they had won it late o…
Uzbekistan need to make a winning start against North Korea if they are to advance beyond the Asian Cup group stages.
Mirjalol Qosimov s Uzbeks are expected to advance from Group B, which also includes Saudi Arabia and China.
But they need their tournament to start with a victory when they face North Korea at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.
North Korea are Asia s 24th-highest ranked team, making them huge outsiders at the 16-team tournament in Australia.
Uzbekistan were fourth at the 2011 edition of the tournament and they could achieve that once more given they are expected to progress to the quarter-finals.
Qosimov s men played four December friendlies, so they should be match-ready for the opening game.
A pair of those were victories…
Southampton are waiting on a response from Jack Cork after offering the midfielder a new contract.
Cork has made 125 appearances for Southampton since joining the club from Chelsea in 2011, although he has only started five Premier League games this term.
The 25-year-old, who could make his first appearance in more than a month at Manchester United on Sunday after overcoming an ankle injury, is out of contract at the end of the season but has been offered fresh terms at St Mary s Stadium.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, manager Ronald Koeman said: He can stay. The board of the club is talking to him and to his agent and we offer a contract.
Jack Cork by himself has to say yes or no. We re waiting for that.
Koeman also expressed a de…
Pep Gaurdiola and Jose Mourinho will renew their managerial rivalry next season in the Premier League
Last season was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary in Premier League history. The biggest surprise was obviously Leicester’s amazing Premier League title triumph.
Something tells me that the old order may not be as easy to overthrow next season.
The appointment of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and Jose Mourinho at city rivals Manchester United means that neither will be so disappointing in the new campaign.
The pair will be renewing an old rivalry that was cranked-up in the Spanish top-flight when they managed on either side of the Barcelona and Real Madrid divide.
Old foes go head-to-head once again
Two of the world’s most …
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos will be investigated over comments he made following his booking during Wednesday s Champions League win at Ajax, UEFA has announced.
Making his 600th appearance for the club, Ramos was booked late in the game for a foul on Ajax striker Kasper Dolberg.
Madrid were leading 2-1 at the time of the yellow card being shown to Ramos, who will miss the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu through suspension as a result.
Ramos appeared to initially admit he deliberately earned the booking so he could serve the ban before the quarter-finals, should three-time defending champions Madrid progress.
Looking at the result, I d be lying if I said I didn t force [the booking], he told reporters after the game.
It is not to undere…
Maicon has backed his coach Claudio Ranieri s opinion that the current Inter Milan side is not as good as that which won a historic treble in 2010.
Under former boss Jose Mourinho, Inter claimed the 2009/10 Serie A title, Champions League trophy and the Coppa Italia, but they struggled last season and could only manage the latter.
The team made a disastrous start to the 2011/12 campaign, causing coach Gian Piero Gasperini to be shown the door after only five games in charge, and he was replaced by veteran campaigner Ranieri.
While there has not been an overly dramatic turnover in terms of personnel at San Siro in the past 18 months, Mourinho s departure, and that of star forward Samuel Eto’o, has left a considerable void.
With Inter now clearly in tran…
Bayern Munich moved three points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win over Stuttgart on Sunday, as Borussia Dortmund drew.
Visitors Bayern trailed to Christian Gentner s goal five minutes into their match at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion.
Former Stuttgart man Mario Gomez scored against his former club to level for Bayern eight minutes later.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side when they had Christian Molinaro sent off in the 28th minute.
And Gomez completed the misery for his old colleagues, bagging his and Bayern s second to make it 2-1 on 57 minutes.
It was Bayern s third win in their last three visits to Stuttgart, and the sixth goal netted by the returning Gomez.
The Germany international continues to haunt his…
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Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the Serie A table, Juventus will make the trip to a struggling Verona on Thursday night.
Verona
Starting with the hosts, while Verona might have shocked many across Italy last season as they claimed a top-half finish last season, the Gialloblu have rather drastically failed to keep up that momentum this time around. Last seen putting in another worrying display as they were hit with a deserved 2-0 loss away at Monza, Salvatore Bocchetti s men find themselves at the heart of a Serie A nightmare. Managing to muster just five points from their opening 13 top-flight contests, the Veneto-based outfit sit rock-bottom of the table and tipped as a leading relegation pick as we …
France boss Didier Deschamps confirmed Karim Benzema will be available for their penultimate World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan on Saturday.
The world champions sit top of Group D and will qualify for Qatar 2022 if they win either of their final two games against Kazakhstan and Finland.
Benzema was taken off in the 83rd minute of Real Madrid s 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano by coach Carlo Ancelotti last weekend, but Deschamps said he is on course to play for his country despite a small problem .
At a media conference ahead of Saturday s match, the former Monaco and Juventus head coach was asked about the availability of Benzema and reassured reporters. He said: He didn t do a collective session but did some very good [individual sessions]. We took no risk…