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 …
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…
Leeds United suffered their first defeat of the Championship season as they were beaten 1-0 at home by fellow promotion hopefuls Burnley.
Daniel Farke’s side came into Saturday s encounter having won back-to-back matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City, but their momentum was halted by their clinical visitors.
Burnley forward Luca Koleosho scored the only goal of the game the day before his 20th birthday.
Koleosho took advantage of a slip from Manor Solomon after 18 minutes, before sprinting 70 yards and drilling a shot past Leeds goalkeeper Ilan Meslier.
That proved to be enough to inflict on Leeds a third home league defeat in six matches going back to last season, despite the hosts applying plenty of pressure as they sought an equaliser.
Anita Asante feels there have been “important steps” taken with regard to the diversity issue in English women’s football but has stressed it will take some time to see them bear fruit.
During England’s run to winning Euro 2022, Asante wrote in the Guardian about the lack of diversity in a squad featuring just three members from black, Asian or mixed heritage backgrounds out of 23, with the player pathway and access to football for girls in schools among the issues the former Lioness pointed to as problems.
In February, the Football Association announced a revamped women’s and girls’ pathway that it said would make the game more diverse and accessible, with up to 70 ‘Emerging Talent Centres’ being established across the country.
A new-look women�…
Thiago Alcantara admits Liverpool could not imagine in their worst nightmares how bad this season would pan out, but the midfielder is hopeful his side are in the process of turning things around after advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Liverpool have sent a number of unwanted records tumbling this season, including a run of six successive top-flight defeats at Anfield for the first time in their history.
The reigning Premier League champions have long been out of title contention and find themselves eighth with 10 games to play, seven points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.
However, Jurgen Klopp s side put their domestic woes to one side on Wednesday by seeing off RB Leipzig 2-0 in Budapest to complete a 4-0 aggregate victory in their last-16 t…
Barcelona have set midfielder Marc Bernal s buyout clause at €500million and extended the 17-year-old s contract until June 2026, the LaLiga club said on Monday
When Spaniard Bernal will no longer be an Under-19 player in 2026, he will have an option to extend for an additional three years, Barca added.
Bernal ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during Barca s 2-1 victory at Rayo Vallecano last month, where he was forced off the pitch in the final minutes.
A product of Barcelona s youth academy, Bernal has made three league appearances since his debut for the senior team in their LaLiga opener against Valencia.
LATEST NEWS | Update to Marc Bernal s contract
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
Barcelona and Marc Bernal have reache…
Over the course of his two decades at the top of world snooker, Ronnie O Sullivan has carried an air few sportsman are lucky enough to possess.
The feeling has often been, no matter what his opponents do, if O Sullivan is in the mood then the outcome is entirely in his hands. He might lose focus or get bored, but the only person who can beat peak Ronnie is Ronnie.
A keen Arsenal fan, if O Sullivan had been watching his team on the television on Sunday, he might have seen something of himself in Manchester City s nonchalant dominance.
By the time Raheem Sterling leapt to head home Riyad Mahrez s cross after 75 seconds, the England forward had already swiped errantly at a left-footed volley after City s battery of playmakers cut Arsenal to ribbons from kick-off.
Massimiliano Allegri is a complete coach who has the ability to turn Juventus season around, according to midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
Experienced coach Allegri won 11 trophies in his first five-season spell with Juve, but he is under intense pressure a year and a half on from returning to the Allianz Stadium.
Juventus finished fourth in Serie A last season and ended the campaign trophy-less for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
The Bianconeri have started this season slow, too, with Saturday s 2-0 loss to rivals Milan leaving them eighth in the table and already 10 points off top spot after nine matches.
But speaking ahead of Juve s Champions League tie with Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday, Rabiot gave his backing to the under-fire coach.
Allegri…
A goal in the 98th minute from substitute Fabio Carvalho gave Liverpool a dramatic 2-1 win against Newcastle United at Anfield on Wednesday.
Newcastle debutant Alexander Isak, playing just hours after receiving his work permit, had given his new team a first-half lead with a fine finish, only for Roberto Firmino to equalise in the second half.
It looked like more dropped points for Jurgen Klopp s side as the game ticked into stoppage time, but a late corner caused a goalmouth scramble, which ended in Carvalho scoring for the second time in a week.
Eddie Howe will be disappointed with the result but would have been pleased with the efforts of his team, who were missing key players Bruno Guimaraes and Allan Saint-Maximin.
90+ The day after his 20th bir…
Massimiliano Allegri has his sights set on a third-placed finish in Serie A after Juventus came from behind to beat Sassuolo 2-1.
The Bianconeri snatched all three points at MAPEI Stadium – Citta del Tricolore on Monday to take a big stride towards qualifying for the Champions League after Giacomo Raspadori opened the scoring.
Paulo Dybala equalised just before half-time and Moise Kean came off the bench to win it in the 88th minute.
Victory for Juve moved them eight points ahead of fifth-placed Roma with four games to play and just a point adrift of third-placed Napoli.
Defeat was harsh on Sassuolo, who posed a big threat going forward with Domenico Berardi, who has now assisted 12 goals in Serie A, the most of any forward in the competition in …