When Fernando Santos called time on his eight-year stint as Portugal head coach after their 2022 World Cup quarter-final elimination, few would have correctly predicted his replacement.
Roberto Martinez also left his national team role after the tournament in Qatar, with Belgium disappointingly falling at the group stage.
The former Everton and Wigan Athletic boss took the Red Devils to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, before reaching the last eight of Euro 2020, being eliminated by the eventual winners in both.
Martinez finds himself in charge of A Selecao now after his appointment was confirmed on Monday, and there is plenty of work to be done.
Qualifiers for the 2024 European Championships get underway in March and with the talent at their disposal, …
Tottenham discovered who they will face in the Europa Conference League on the day Harry Kane reportedly did not show up for pre-season training.
Finishing seventh in the Premier League in the 2020-21 season secured Spurs a place in UEFA s new club competition, with matches to be staged on Thursdays.
The north London side have been drawn to play the winner of the qualifier between Larne from Northern Ireland and Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira.
That play-off tie will take place across two legs on August 19 and 26, with the winner progressing into the group stage of a tournament that will run alongside the Champions League and Europa League.
It remains to be seen whether Kane will be playing for Spurs in those fixtures, though, as the striker s futur…
It was no real surprise to see Ruben Dias come straight into the Manchester City team for his Premier League debut at Leeds United.
Pep Guardiola s men were returning to league action for the first time since a humiliating 5-2 defeat at home to Leicester City last weekend – the centre-back pairing of Nathan Ake and Eric Garcia on that occasion were subsequently dropped.
Dias, a Portugal international, arrived from Benfica this week in a deal worth an initial £62million (€68m) following several months of speculation linking City with new centre-backs.
After being comfortably beaten to the Premier League title last term, Guardiola was certain what area of his team needed improving and he has been backed.
At Elland Road on Saturday, Dias did little wron…
Erling Haaland doesn t often miss penalties.
Erling Haaland doesn t often hit straight at the goalkeeper when one-on-one.
And Erling Haaland doesn t pass up a third invitation to score.
Having sliced over the crossbar from 12 yards in the first half of Manchester City s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich, and then shot straight at Yann Sommer in the 55th minute, Haaland might have been forgiven for thinking it was not going to be his night on Wednesday.
Yet even when Haaland does, indeed, miss, he still must score. It s as predictable as day turning to night. Death, taxes and Haaland scoring goals.
It s just what he does, and he did it again – for a 48th time this season – 57 minutes into a thrilling game at Allia…
Mattia De Sciglio has signed a new contract to keep him at Juventus until June 2025.
The Italy international came through the Milan academy before joining Juve for €12million on a five-year contract in 2017.
De Sciglio has had to settle for a rotational role with the Bianconeri, with wing-back options Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado preferred on either flank.
The 29-year-old was sent to Lyon for the 2020-21 season and impressed before returning to Juve, who finished fourth in Serie A the following campaign with Massimiliano Allegri back at the helm.
De Sciglio has made 91 appearances for the Bianconeri, scoring twice and providing four assists, while also contributing to 30 clean sheets.
The versatile full-back was set to see his contract at the…
Jurgen Klopp explained his touchline row with Mikel Arteta was because the Spaniard and his coaching staff attempted to get Sadio Mane sent off during Liverpool s 4-0 demolition of Arsenal.
Mane, who has only scored more Premier League goals against Crystal Palace (13) than he has against Arsenal (eight), netted the opener in the first half at Anfield, before Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Takumi Minamino sealed an emphatic win for the Reds, who moved up to second place.
The Senegal forward s header came shortly after an altercation between the managers on the sidelines, after Mane had been involved in a collision with Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Arteta and his staff were furious, seemingly suggesting Mane had intentionally elbowed the Arsenal defender. Klopp retaliated, w…
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On Friday, the two bottom-placed teams in the Serie A will meet at the Stadio Arechi, with Salernitana hosting Sassuolo.
Salernitana, who currently sit at the bottom of the league table, are facing an uphill battle with eight league games remaining. They trail their upcoming opponents by 10 points. Sassuolo, meanwhile, are just one point away from leaving the relegation zone.
Salernitana
Having successfully avoided Serie A relegation in the previous two seasons, Salernitana find themselves enduring a dismal campaign this time around. With just 14 points on the board after 30 games, they are all but condemned to the drop.
Throughout the season, I Granata have managed only two victories, both occurring in 2023, and have a…
Jamie Vardy grabbed his first Championship goal of the season as Leicester climbed to the top of the table with a 4-1 thrashing of Southampton.
Vardy needed just 21 seconds to open the scoring before Kasey McAteer, Wilfred Ndidi and Stephy Mavididi made things dominant for the Foxes despite Sam Edozie’s goal.
Leicester and Southampton were the Championship’s favourites for promotion after their Premier League relegation last season.
Both had started with four matches unbeaten – including four wins for the Foxes – before suffering shock defeats before the international break.
As stunned as Southampton were at losing 5-0 to Sunderland, it was doubled by being behind inside a minute.
Former England striker Vardy made his first start since the…
According to German outlet , Bayer Leverkusen have entered the race for the signature of Leeds United winger Crysencio Summerville. The report mentions Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur as other candidates, while stories elsewhere suggest the 22-year-old is being closely watched by AC Milan, Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle as well.
Summerville took his first football steps with Feyenoord and had several loan spells at youth level before joining Leeds Under-21 side in 2020. A year later he earned first-team promotion and since then, he s gone on to score 22 goals and produce 11 assists in 82 appearances in all competitions for the club. What makes his numbers interesting is the fact that 18 of those 22 goals have come this season, as well as nine of the 11 assists.
Most fre…
Antonio Conte celebrated the journey he has been on at Inter and the success of being able to break the logic of mediocrity after he decided to leave the Serie A champions.
Conte guided Inter to their first Scudetto since 2010 in the 2020-21 season, with the Nerazzurri ending Juventus dominant nine-season streak.
Inter finished second and reached the Europa League final in Conte s first season at the club, but there was speculation he would leave then amid rumours of disagreements with the club s hierarchy.
Conte stayed on but, with speculation of a supposed dispute with the club s owners over salary cuts and player sales, his departure was confirmed on Wednesday.
Links to the now-vacant Real Madrid job have already started to surface, while Inter rep…