Gareth Southgate is relishing the prospect of going all the way at Euro 2020 and called on his England squad to stamp their names in the history of international football.
Southgate announced his 33-man provisional squad for the upcoming tournament – delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic – on Tuesday.
The England boss will have to cut that number to 26 by June 1, ahead of friendlies against Austria and Romania. The Three Lions start their Euro 2020 campaign in earnest on June 13, taking on Croatia.
With a wealth of talent at his disposal, albeit Southgate holds doubts over the fitness of the likes of Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire, the England boss is hoping for a long run in the tournament – the last three matches of which…
Portugal s Euro 2016 semi-final against Wales will see Real Madrid team-mates Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale do battle in Lyon.
Fresh from helping their club to an 11th European title after a Champions League final victory over Atletico Madrid, the attacking duo have seen their respective nations progress to the last four.
Here, with the help of Opta data, we compare Ronaldo and Bale s performances in France.
RONALDO THE BETTER TEAM PLAYER?
Bale has routinely spoken of the team spirit that courses through Wales squad, while Ronaldo s histrionics on the pitch have been criticised in some quarters – especially after his one-man nightmare against Austria in the group stage.
However, the players numbers tell a different story, with Ronaldo ap…
Jurgen Klopp said he could not imagine leaving Liverpool in 2022 after the manager opted to extend his contract.
The German, who led the Premier League giants to Champions League glory last season, extended his deal at Anfield until 2024 on Friday.
Klopp said the position Liverpool were in meant he could not see himself leaving at the end of his previous contract.
I couldn t imagine I would leave, he told UK newspapers ahead of hosting Watford on Saturday.
That was the moment I thought we can start thinking about how long do I want to stay? I have no clue how long it will be in the end, but it was not possible for me to imagine that I would leave in 2022 because of the people we have and what we have created here.
It was not that I went to the …
UEFA have acknowledged there was racial abuse directed at the Netherlands squad on Wednesday and vow to act should it reoccur.
Bert van Marwijk s squad were subjected to monkey chants during an open training session in front of over 20,000 fans in Krakow.
While Dutch captain Mark van Bommel labelled the incident a real disgrace , UEFA initially said it was not racially motivated but rather a group of fans protesting the decision not to select Krakow as one of the host cities for Euro 2012.
In a statement on Friday, UEFA said: UEFA has now been made aware that there were some isolated incidents of racist chanting that occurred at the opening training session of the Dutch team.
UEFA has not yet received any formal complaint from the KNVB (Royal Dutch Foot…
This is our second exclusive pre-Euro 2008 interview that we are presenting to you here at SoccerNews.com. This time it s with Juventus and Italy goalkeeper (best goalie in the world?) Gianluigi Buffon, who will take the hot seat and answer some questions.
Buffon discusses his team s chances of winning the competition, the pressure of entering the competition as current world champions, teams in their group (Holland, France Romania), and favorite song movie. Enjoy!
[flashvideo filename=interviews/buffon.flv /]
GIANLUIGI BUFFON (ITALIA/ITALY) INTERVIEW:
Gianluigi….cuéntame tus expectativas de cara a la Euro 2008
Gianluigi Tell me your expectations for Euro 2008.
La expectativa es tratar de llegar lo más alto posible c…
Transfer spending in the Premier League has reached £1billion in a calendar year for the first time.
The English summer transfer window closed on Tuesday, with spending reaching a new record of £870million, according to analysis by business advisory firm Deloitte.
This marked a rise of four per cent on the 2014 figure of £835m and moves overall spending to the £1bn barrier when added to the £130m outlay by clubs during the January market.
Alex Thorpe, senior manager in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: With all 20 of the Premier League clubs now ranked in the top 40 globally by revenue, we have seen clubs across the league compete successfully in the market for international talent.
Premier League clubs gross spending on players f…
Newcastle United has opened talks with FC Basel for striker Eren Derdiyok. According to the Sunday Sun, United officials first met with representatives of the 20-year-old Swiss striker in London last week.
It was reported that further positive discussions took place and that everything is now set for the Magpies to move in with a firm bid and imminently land the youngest player to feature at Euro 2008.
Derdiyok, whose parents are Turkish, is also attracting interest from Besiktas and Fenerbahce, but neither club could match the wages on offer from Newcastle.
[Source: The Sunday Sun]
…
Belgium were eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage after drawing 0-0 with Croatia at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Thursday.
Morocco s 2-1 victory over Canada elsewhere in Group F meant Belgium had to win to advance to the last 16, while Croatia needed to avoid defeat.
A low-quality first half, in which the only talking point was an overturned Croatia penalty, made way for a far more gripping second period.
Romelu Lukaku was brought on at half-time and wasted a few big chances, hitting the post from one of them, but the match finished goalless as Belgium suffered a shock exit.
Belgium were given an early reprieve when a penalty awarded for Yannick Carrasco s challenge on Andrej Kramaric was overturned for offside against Dejan Lovren in the build-u…
When it comes to making NFL betting picks, everyone has their own process. Some folks dig deep into the digits and rely on advanced models to make their bets for them. Others monitor the markets, catching key numbers and chasing steam.
Myself, I do a little bit of everything, including going beyond those handicapping tactics to see what the schedule is serving up. Situational handicapping – AKA spot bets – is a fantastic way to undercover value that others may miss.
Here are the spot bets – letdown, look-ahead, and schedule – to keep in mind when making your best NFL Week 5 bets.
…
One of the final major dominoes yet to fall leading up to the NFL Draft is Deebo Samuel, who’s broken off contract negotiations with the San Francisco 49ers and is now asking for a trade.
Samuel is coming off his best season as a pro, hauling in 77 catches for 1,406 yards and six touchdowns. He’s entering the final year of his rookie deal but while the 49ers appeared ready to make him one of the league’s highest-paid receivers, the star wideout expressed frustrations about his usage within the San Francisco offense.
“He’s a top receiver but he also takes a lot of hits and is used like a running back, put all over the field and it just does not sound like he’s comfortable as of right now with the way he is being used,” explained NFL insider Ian Rapoport.<…