Best odds: 43/20
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Japan and the United States of America will measure their respective qualities against each other ahead of their adventures in Qatar, in their third ever international encounter on Friday at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. The previous two matches they played ended with one win each as Japan took the one played at the Kirin Cup in 1993 and the USA won the last one, in 2006.
Japan
The Blue Samurai finished second in Group B of the third qualifying round, one point behind Saudi Arabia, to earn a place at the upcoming World Cup. The last time out, in 2018 in Russia, they managed to navigate successfully through the group stages together with Colombia, at the expense of Senegal and Poland. They were narrowly beaten by Belg…
Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed his latest goals at Sweden s Friends Arena as he brought up a century of international strikes, although the Portugal captain insisted he had no point to prove.
Ronaldo was playing for his country for the first time in 2020, having sat out of last week s 4-1 defeat of Croatia.
That result had prompted suggestions Portugal might be better in the absence of their talisman, but he set the record straight on Tuesday.
Two goals his 100th and 101st at international level secured a 2-0 win, adding to a hat-trick at the same stadium as Ronaldo single-handedly defeated Sweden in 2014 World Cup qualifying.
The Juventus forward said afterwards: I didn t follow the comments. It s an opinion.
I knew I had left a mark at this stadium …
Mohamed Salah is contracted with Liverpool until 2025 having penned an extension in July.
Salah s new deal is reportedly worth around £350,000 per week.
However, the 30-year-old has only managed 11 Premier League goals this term, with Liverpool s hopes of mounting a title charge long gone, and their place in next season s Champions League is far from secure.
There is now speculation that one of Europe s elite is looking to poach Salah ahead of next season.
TOP STORY – SALAH STRONGLY WEIGHING UP LIVERPOOL EXIT
Fichajes reports Mohamed Salah is strongly considering departing Liverpool, with Paris Saint-Germain circling.
The Egypt forward extended his Anfield stay last year but the situation has changed amid an underwhelming season.
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Barcelona are interested in signing Aymeric Laporte from Manchester City in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the former La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners are looking to replace Gerard Pique in the squad in the middle of the season following the Spanish central defender’s retirement, and that Laporte is one of the players on their radar.
Laporte has been on the books of Manchester City since 2018 and has been hugely successful for the defending English champions. The 28-year-old Spain international centre-back has won the Premier League title four times, the FA Cup once, and the EFL Cup on three occasions.
Barcelona are at the top of the Premier League table at the moment with 37 points from 14 matches, five points clear o…
England complete their group games in the inaugural Women’s Nations League over the next few days, playing the Netherlands at Wembley on Friday and then Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the talking points ahead of the double-header.
Must-win
NEXT UP: A big clash at Wembley. |
— Lionesses (@Lionesses)
This competition provides England with the chance to secure Paris 2024 Olympic qualification for Great Britain, should they first finish top of Group A1 – something they are in considerable danger of failing to do. Lying third with six points from four games, three points behind the Dutch and one behind Belgium, they have to win on Friday to stay in contention. They lost 2-1 in the Netherlands in Septe…
Inter kept themselves on course for a top-four finish in Serie A after they defeated Roma 2-0 in an ill-tempered clash on Saturday.
The Nerazzurri seized a first-half lead through Federico Dimarco s close-range finish before Romelu Lukaku s breakaway strike 16 minutes from time sealed the three points at Stadio Olimpico.
Ahead of a Champions League semi-final with arch-rivals Milan on Wednesday, Simone Inzaghi s team returned to the top four and boosted their hopes of qualifying for next season s competition.
For Jose Mourinho s Giallorossi however, defeat leaves them five points off the top four with just four games left to play, leaving them with an uphill battle in hand.
Several stoppages due to injuries meant chances were at a relative premium during …
Verdict: Over 3.5 goals
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With many around Manchester believing that this could be the year they deliver European success, City will be looking to make a statement when they welcome Lyon to the Etihad on Wednesday night.
Manchester City
Starting with the hosts, although they may have failed to come past Liverpool in a 5-1 aggregate loss last season, Pep Guardiola s side believe this could be their year. Yet to be beaten in any competition this season, Manchester City also boast a stellar record on home soil, winning every game at home this season, they have also scored 11 in their last three match in Manchester. In fact, they have now not lost a Champions League game at home since September 2015. Known for their goalscoring re…
No one man can boast more success at the World Cup than Brazilian Mario Zagallo, who died at the weekend at the age of 92. Zagallo played alongside a 17-year-old Pele in the 1958 final as Brazil won the title for the first of three times in 12 years in 1958 with a 5-2 victory over hosts Sweden, and repeated the feat four years later in Chile, when they beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final. He was in the dugout by the time arguably the greatest side to have graced the competition completed a treble in 1970 with a 4-1 demolition of Italy in Mexico City, and served as assistant to Carlos Alberta Parreira when they got the better of the Italians on penalties at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl in 1994.
Franz Beckenbauer
West Germany’s Beckenbauer – or ‘Der Kaiser’ as he was known to …
Patrick Kluivert has been appointed director of youth football at Barcelona on a two-year contract.
The role marks a return for the former Netherlands international to the club where he spent six seasons as a player.
Kluivert will be responsible for overseeing the famed La Masia academy, which produced Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets.
I am very happy to be back home and looking forward to this new era, with the challenge of keeping Barca among the top teams in the world, Kluivert said.
I grew up at the Ajax academy, which is very similar to La Masia, and I think I can do a lot for the development of young Barca players.
[ÚLTIMA HORA]
Patrick Kluivert, nou director del futbol formatiu.
— FC Barcel…
The safety plans of every organisation responsible for staging next year’s Champions League final at Wembley must be “tested to destruction”, Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt has said.
There is immense pressure on the FA and UEFA for the event to be a success after problems arose at the last two finals.
The 2022 match in Paris almost became a “mass fatality catastrophe” according to an independent report commissioned by UEFA. Liverpool fans found themselves penned against stadium perimeter fences ahead of the match against Real Madrid due to organisational failings, and were then tear-gassed by French police.
While the problems around this year’s final in Istanbul were less severe, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin admitted last week that “n…