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Venezuela and Argentina are set to lock horns on Friday in the quarterfinals of this year s Copa America edition.
Venezuela
Having successfully navigated through Group A of the competition without a defeat, Venezuela have been somewhat of a pleasant surprise, especially as they held off hosts Brazil to a 0-0 draw. They achieved the same result against Peru in the opening round, and booked their place in the knockout stages by putting three past Bolivia and conceding one in return.
Apart from Brazil, this is likely to turn out their greatest challenge so far.
Team News
Despite being available for selection after serving a one-match ban, Luis Del Pino is expected to sit this one out too, with Ronald Hernandez looking li…
Phil Jones believes Gareth Southgate s England are enjoying a fresh approach ahead of their World Cup opener against Tunisia.
The Three Lions face their Group G rivals in Volgograd on Monday, 20 years on from the sides meeting in Marseille that began their respective France 98 campaigns.
Southgate, along with Tony Adams and Sol Campbell, formed part of a three-man central defence that day as goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes secured a 2-0 victory, and two decades later England s manager looks set to deploy a similar shape.
It seems unlikely Jones will earn a starting spot against Tunisia but the Manchester United defender a survivor from England s desperate disappointment of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil believes the squad are in a much better place und…
William Gallas says the decision by Harry Redknapp to make him Tottenham captain helped to inspire their famous derby win over Arsenal six years ago.
Spurs came from two goals down to win 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium in November 2010, ending a 17-year wait for a victory away from home against their north London rivals.
The build-up to the match had been overshadowed by a feud between former Gunners defender Gallas and Samir Nasri, which stemmed from claims made in a book by the centre-back relating to the in-fighting in the France squad.
Nasri refused to shake Gallas s hand before the match after feeling he had been accused of inflaming tensions in Raymond Domenech s party, and the occasion threatened to boil over when the two were involved in a heavy coming-toget…
Germany became the latest nation to fall foul of the champions curse at the World Cup as they bowed out at the group stage in Russia.
Joachim Low s side s thrilled in Brazil four years ago with a stunning semi-final destruction of the hosts, before pipping Argentina to the crown in Rio.
The defending champions sailed through qualification winning all 10 of their matches, scoring 43 goals and conceding just four.
However, Germany crashed out of the finals at the first hurdle following defeats to Mexico and South Korea, finishing bottom of Group F.
They are not the only defending champions to suffer such embarrassment, though, with three other recent winners also going the same way.
4 4 of the last 5 World Cup title holders have been eliminated in t…
Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi is seriously considering his options due to a lack of first team football, .
The Belgian footballer arrived in a big money move from Marseille in the summer, but he has yet to start his first Premier League game.
With Diego Costa and Eden Hazard both in front of him in the pecking order and a new striker set to arrive if the Spaniard leaves, Batshuayi is thinking about a summer exit.
The 23-year-old wants to be playing at regular basis and he could request a transfer unless he is given assurances that he will be used more next season.
Batshuayi has so far made 16 substitute appearances in England’s top flight, spending less than 100 minutes on the pitch in total, so no wonder he only scored one goal.
Prior to joi…
England forward Alessia Russo is targeting silverware after joining Arsenal on a free transfer.
As her contract with Women’s Super League rivals Manchester United expired, the Gunners swooped to land the 24-year-old striker.
Russo hit 10 goals in the WSL last season as United finished runners-up to champions Chelsea.
She emerged as a January transfer target for Arsenal, but a world-record bid was shunned by the Red Devils as they pushed to claim the title.
Russo did not sign a new deal and was instead free to leave Manchester for north London – where she is keen to add domestic medals to the Women’s Euro success she enjoyed with the Lionesses last summer.
“I’m really excited to be here and I can’t wait to get going,” Russo said after…
Yaya Toure s agent Dimitri Seluk has launched a fresh attack on Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, urging the club to intervene and tell him the midfielder is considered as family at the Etihad Stadium.
Seluk previously slammed the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach for humiliating Toure by leaving him out of his first-team plans and the club s Champions League squad, before going on to talk down the Catalan s coaching achievements at his old clubs.
Guardiola has said Toure will not play for him again at City until he and the club s players receive an apology from the midfielder over his representative s remarks.
But Seluk has already insisted he will not be saying sorry and feels there is nothing wrong with questioning Guardiola s decision to only pl…
Newcastle produced a rampant first half display in their penultimate pre-season outing as they thrashed La Liga side Girona 4-0 on Friday.
The Magpies blitzed their opponents in the opening 45 minutes, with Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon giving the hosts a 3-0 lead after just 15 minutes.
Longstaff notched his brace before the interval to secure the Magpies first win in their two pre-season fixtures taking place at St. James Park this weekend.
In a frantic start to proceedings, Longstaff opened the scoring in the third minute, with Murphy adding Newcastle s second with a fierce strike off the crossbar.
A mistake by David Lopez allowed Alexander Isak to pick out Gordon two minutes later, composing himself before sending a left-footed st…
Kasper Schmeichel accused referee Michael Oliver of wanting to make himself a hero in Leicester City s 4-0 loss to Liverpool.
The second-placed Foxes were comprehensively beaten by the Premier League leaders at the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day to fall 13 points behind Jurgen Klopp s Reds.
Liverpool went in front through Roberto Firmino s first-half header and scored three times in seven second-half minutes, with the first of those goals coming from a James Milner penalty.
Schmeichel was incensed by the
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decision to award the spot-kick, which came after Caglar Soyuncu leant into the ball and it struck his arm following a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner.
Asked whether the final score was a fair reflection, Schmeichel told Amazon Prime: I thi…
The powerful European Club Association hailed the latest setback to the European Super League as a clear rejection of the plans of a self-interested few .
UEFA and FIFA would be acting lawfully by freezing out the proposed competition and its teams, the European Union Court of Justice advocate general Athanasios Rantos said on Thursday.
Formally announcing his non-binding opinion in Luxembourg, ahead of a judgement expected in the new year, Rantos was responding to a request by a Madrid court for a ruling on whether FIFA and UEFA would have the right to take action in accordance with competition law and fundamental freedoms.
European Super League (ESLC) officials have argued such actions should be regarded as anti-competitive and incompatible with EU competition …