Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger believes the gap between Europe s top nations and its minnows is narrowing.
Germany continue their qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championships when they play host to Group A cellar dwellers Kazakhstan on Saturday.The 2008 European runners-up are five points clear on the group s table with straight wins over Belgium, Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as a 3-0 win at Kazakhstan.But Schweinsteiger cautioned his team-mates not to expect an easy victory when Kazakhstan visit Kaiserslautern, saying minnow nations no longer feel fear at the thought of taking on top sides like Germany. It is not easy to scare those teams out of the stadium anymore, Schweinsteiger said. They improve and they learn more these days. Maybe in the past you …
Wales boss Rob Page has defended Danny Ward and blamed “politics” for the out-of-favour Leicester goalkeeper not moving in the January transfer window.
Ward, Wales’ number one, has not played for Leicester in over 12 months and finds himself third-choice goalkeeper at the Championship promotion-chasers.
Page urged several Wales players to change clubs in January in order to play more ahead of the Euro 2024 play-offs, which starts with a semi-final against Finland in Cardiff on Thursday.
Almost to a man Page’s call was heeded but Ward has remained frozen out at Leicester, drawing plenty of criticism from Wales fans on social media who feel he should have moved with ambitions of a third successive European Championship appearance.
“I’ve spoken t…
Defending champions Mexico and Jamaica played out a dour goalless draw at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Denver.
Much was expected of the Group C clash on Thursday – a repeat of the 2015 Gold Cup final which Mexico won 3-1 – but it did not deliver.
In fairness, Mexico were without stars Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela, Hirving Lozano, Giovani dos Santos and Andres Guardado following the Confederations Cup in Russia.
Erick Torres, however, did come close for the Mexicans, hitting the post in the first half in the only highlight of the match.
The stalemate leaves Mexico and Jamaica level on four points after two matches, a point clear of El Salvador, who beat Curacao 2-0.
Orbelin Pineda was rewarded with a start after coming off the bench and scoring i…
Serie A giants AC Milan will travel to Romanian side Universitatea Craiova in the first leg of the third round of qualifying for the Europa League.
Milan have embarked upon an ambitious close-season of spending under the ownership of Yonghong Li s Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux group and are on the brink of a significant transfer coup by signing Italy centre-back Leonardo Bonucci from Juventus.
Vincenzo Montella s side will have ambitions to go deep into Europe s secondary club competition as they look to re-establish themselves as a major force and their first hurdle comes against a Craiova team who came fifth in Romania s Liga I last term.
Everton, buoyed by the return of Wayne Rooney, are to face Ruzomberok of Slovakia or Norwegian side SK Brann.
PSV, …
Kieran Trippier has signed a new deal with Tottenham, committing him to the club until 2022.
The right-back joined Spurs from Burnley in 2015 and, following Kyle Walker s £50million sale to Manchester City earlier this month, appears to be the club s first choice, having enjoyed an extended run in the team towards the back end of last season.
Trippier made just 18 Premier League starts during his first two campaigns, but looks set to become a firmly established part of Mauricio Pochettino s plans as Tottenham aim to improve on their second-place finish in 2016-17.
His displays for Spurs earned the full-back a maiden England cap earlier this year, when he started the 3-2 friendly defeat to France in Paris in June.
We are delighted to announce that has si…
Day two at the Confederations Cup saw Cristiano Ronaldo take centre stage.
The Portugal superstar, who is thought to want out of Real Madrid due to accusations of tax fraud in Spain, played 90 minutes as the Euro 2016 champions were denied a winning start by Mexico s Hector Moreno in a 2-2 draw.
Chile then got the better of Cameroon 2-0 thanks to late goals from Arturo Vidal and Eduardo Vargas.
Away from the on-field action, there was plenty going on around Russia and Omnisport s team on the ground was on hand to get the best bits.
SO FAR, SO-CHI GOOD
Sochi hosts its first game of the Confederations Cup on Monday when an experimental squad representing world champions Germany take on Australia. While one of the main purposes o…
England Under-21s reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2023 as Group C winners following a comfortable 2-0 victory against Israel.
Anthony Gordon’s header put them in front in the 15th minute before Emile Smith Rowe doubled the lead in the second half.
Lee Carsley’s side, guaranteed top spot after beating the Czech Republic in their opening match, will meet Germany in the final group game on Wednesday.
After starting brightly, England nearly took the lead after some quick passing around the box was finished by Smith Rowe, but his backheeled effort was ruled out for offside.
MGW AG
— England (@England)
They continued to attack with Gordon firing a promising ball into the box and Curtis Jones’ shot was well defended by Gil Cohen.
…
Best Odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
Hoping to make an immediate return to winning ways in midweek, Napoli will welcome Bologna to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday night.
Napoli
Starting with the hosts, while Napoli would have been disappointed to have only collected a single point over the weekend, the mood in the Blues camp should be at a red-hot high. Playing out a 0-0 stalemate away at Roma, Luciano Spalletti s squad have only continued to gain a host of plaudits from across Italy since opening the 2021/22 campaign. Managing to muster a staggering points tally of 25 and with their sights set on making a shock charge for the Serie A title this season, their new boss has been filled with praise for his side s remarkable start. While Gli Azzurri might have…
the Chelsea could attempt to resign Romelu Lukaku from Everton.
The Belgium international scored twice as the Toffees beat the Blues in the quarter finals of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.
That brace took his season’s tally to twenty-five in all competitions ten more that Chelsea hitman Diego Costa, who has been linked with a summer move away from Stamford Bridge.
Lukaku moved to Goodison Park, initially on loan in the summer of 2013 and has since racked up one hundred and seventeen appearances in all competitions, scoring sixty-one goals.
Whilst he was at Chelsea, he failed to score in fifteen senior appearances though he did have a successful season-long loan spell at West Bromwich Albion in 2012/13.
Having knocked out the Premier League …
Brazil captain Neymar has reiterated his desire to represent his country at their home Olympics in Rio this year, despite a hectic close-season schedule.
Barcelona star Neymar could feature for Brazil at the Copa America Centenario starting in June, before the Olympics get under way in Rio in August.
It remains to be seen whether he will play in both tournaments, with Brazil coach Dunga set to meet Barca counterpart Luis Enrique to discuss the forward s commitments.
But Neymar, who would qualify as one of Brazil s three over-23 players in Rio, says he is desperate to play his part in the country s quest for a first Olympic gold in football.
For me, to play once again at the Olympics would be a dream, a great honour to represent Brazil once again at th…