2010 World Cup winners are determined to reclaim their place at the pantheon of world’s best teams this summer.
La Roja will be keen to put Euro 2016 disappointment behind them as they keep flying high under the guidance of Vicente Del Bosque’s successor Julen Lopetegui. Spain are coming off from a dominant World Cup qualifying campaign during which they scored 36 goals and conceded only three.
Julen Lopetegui effect is clearly evident through the fact Spain scored a whopping tally of 60 goals in just 19 matches under the guidance of 51-year-old tactician. La Roja can be expected to go full throttle at the World Cup in Russia and can already be found at 25/1 betting odds to lift the trophy.
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Phil Jagielka has withdrawn from the England squad to face Malta and Slovenia with a thigh injury.
The Everton defender an unused substitute when England opened their World Cup qualifying Group F campaign with a 1-0 win in Slovakia last month has not been replaced by interim manager Gareth Southgate.
Everton also confirmed the 34-year-old will return to the club for assessment, but they do not believe the injury is a serious one.
Jagielka has earned 39 England caps since making his international debut in 2008.
His withdrawal leaves Gary Cahill, Michael Keane, Chris Smalling and John Stones as Southgate s options at centre-back.
There s been an update to the squad, with withdrawing due to injury. No replacement will be called up at this time.
Egypt take on Uganda on Saturday in need of a convincing victory to kick-start their bid for Africa Cup of Nations glory.
The Pharaohs have won the competition on each of their last three appearances in 2006, 2008 and 2010 and hold the overall record of seven titles.
But Egypt have not qualified for the three editions since and, after finally breaking that duck by reaching this tournament, drew their opening match 0-0 against Mali in Port-Gentil, also the venue for the meeting with Uganda.
The Mali match saw Egypt lose goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy to injury. With Sherif Ekramy already ruled out of the opener, 44-year-old Essam El Hadary became the oldest player in the history of the tournament and the veteran will be relied upon again here.
Uganda, meanwhi…
West Ham have formally rejected the offer amounting to a total of £90 million (£80m straight up and another £10m through add-ons) which they received from Manchester City for the services of Declan Rice, according to multiple sources.
The 24-year-old West Ham captain is being strongly pursued by Arsenal as well, and the Gunners, believed to be Rice s preferred destination at this points, have already had two bids turned down.
City have just lost their own captain Ilkay Gundogan has turned down their proposal of a new contract and has already completed a free transfer to Barcelona, and there s a real possibility of Bernardo Silva leaving for Saudi Arabia. Top-level midfield reinforcements are obviously of vital importance for the 2022/23 treble winners, but Premier Le…
Brazil cruised into the final of the Olympic Games with a 4-2 victory over Spain at the Orange Velodrome on Tuesday.
Salma Paralluelo netted two late consolations, but the damage was already done as Irena Paredes own goal, Gabi Portilho, Adriana and Kerolin denied the world champions a place in the gold-medal match.
Brazil were still without legend Marta after she lost her appeal over a two-game ban, but her team-mates ensured she would bow out of Olympics action with the chance to play for the top prize.
Spain were behind after just six minutes as Cata Coll s poor clearance struck the unfortunate Paredes on the side to send it cannoning over the line.
La Roja struggled to gain a foothold, and Brazil doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time than…
Jude Bellingham has slammed the racial abuse that followed England s Euro 2020 final loss, stating you re English for seven games and then all of a sudden, you re nothing .
England followed up reaching the World Cup semi-final in 2018 by making their first major final in 55 years, where they lost to Italy on penalties at Euro 2020 at Wembley Stadium last July.
Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho all missed from 12 yards against Gianluigi Donnarumma, before the English trio were met with racial abuse online in the aftermath of the defeat.
England players and supporters rallied in support of Rashford, Saka and Sancho as the messages were greeted with widespread condemnation.
Bellingham has admitted his shock and disgust at seeing fellow young, bl…
Lucas Moura remains an important part of the plans at Tottenham next season amid talk of the Brazil international being involved in a swap deal for Everton star Richarlison.
That is the message from Moura s agent, Junior Pedroso, after the forward revealed earlier in the week the 2022-23 campaign could be his last with Spurs.
Moura had to settle for a limited role in Antonio Conte s side following the January arrival of Dejan Kulusevski, with Tottenham now reportedly interested in Raphinha and Richarlison to bolster their attack.
Conte has already brought in Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic and backup goalkeeper Fraser Forster in a bid to boost his squad depth ahead of competing in the Premier League and Champions League.
Moura previously expressed his excite…
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the new interim boss at Manchester United, taking over from Jose Mourinho, who was sacked on Tuesday.
The former Norway international returns to Old Trafford having spent 11 years at United as a player between 1996 and 2007, before going on to manage Molde and Cardiff City.
Solskjaer, who started his coaching career at United by taking charge of their reserves, has been installed as Red Devils boss until the end of the season, after a dismal first half of the campaign led to Mourinho s dismissal, with a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday proving the final straw.
Here, we assess Solskjaer s playing and managerial record in league football, using Opta numbers.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the with :
235 appearances
91 goals
…
Valencia have managed to comfortably beat Barcelona on Saturday when the two sides met at Mestalla, but now it looks like the two clubs might have some more work to do between each other. Reports from Spain are claiming that Rodrigo could be making a move to Camp Nou in this January transfer window as Barcelona continue their search for another forward in the light of Luis Suarez s knee injury.
According to Superdeporte, Valencia president Anil Murthy was in the Catalan capital on Monday morning, where he went to discuss a move for the former Real Madrid and Benfica forward. Apparently, Barcelona have already sent a couple of proposals for this transfer, some of them even including other players, such as Moussa Wague and Abel Ruiz, but Valencia all rejected them.
Valenc…
Turkey great Rustu Recber has been hospitalised after testing positive for coronavirus, his wife Isil has revealed.
Goalkeeper Rustu spent much of his club career at Fenerbahce, including a loan stint with the Turkish Super Lig giants during a three-year stay at Barcelona.
A star of the 2002 World Cup, Rustu played just seven times for Barca all within the 2003-04 season but retired aged 39 in 2012 with 120 international caps to his name.
The 46-year-old s wife Isil posted on her Instagram page on Saturday to inform fans of her husband s diagnosis.
I would like to give you more positive news while sharing the truth in the most transparent way, but I m sorry to say that my husband Rustu is hospitalised with the diagnosis of COVID-19, she wrote.
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