Antonio Rudiger has warned against overlooking Germany s chances of emerging victorious at the World Cup in Qatar, declaring: You can never count us out .
Having won the 2014 World Cup, Germany mounted a dismal defence of the trophy four years ago as they crashed out in the group stages in Russia following defeats against Mexico and South Korea.
Germany also suffered a last-16 elimination against England at Euro 2020 – Joachim Low s final match before being replaced by Hansi Flick – leading many onlookers to favour the likes of Brazil, Argentina and France for glory in Qatar.
While Rudiger acknowledges Germany s recent form means Flick s men may not favourites for the tournament, he believes they have the talent to spring a surprise.
Honestly, if we…
Emiliano Martinez was Argentina s penalty shootout hero once more as they edged out Ecuador to reach the Copa America semi-finals, despite Lionel Messi s failed Panenka attempt.
The reigning champions survived a huge scare at NRG Stadium, where Kevin Rodriguez s stoppage-time equaliser cancelled out Lisandro Martinez s first-half header to take the last-eight tie the distance.
It appeared La Albiceleste s title defence was in doubt when Messi, back in the side after missing the Peru match with a hamstring injury, chipped the first penalty against the crossbar.
But Emiliano Martinez, who played starring roles from the spot during La Albiceleste s 2022 World Cup triumph, made saves to deny Angel Mena and Alan Minda, before Nicolas Otamendi struck the decisive kick …
Real Madrid have filed a complaint with the Spanish legal authorities after “racist and hateful insults” appeared to be directed at their striker Vinicius Junior by Atletico Madrid and Barcelona fans this week.
Footage on social media appeared to show Atletico fans chanting about Vinicius in a discriminatory way prior to their side’s Champions League last 16 match against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Real have now taken steps to report it to the Spanish authorities and allege there were similar chants from Barca fans before their match against Napoli on Tuesday.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden)
“Real Madrid has filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office against hate crimes and discrimination, for the racist and hateful insu…
Having tried all summer to secure a move away from Napoli and failed, Victor Osimhen has been left out of the squad for the Serie A season, and according to various reports, the relationship between the Nigerian striker and the club hierarchy has been broken beyond repair.
Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea were the two clubs most frequently credited with interest in Osimhen, though Manchester United were mentioned as well. However, no deal materialized obviously, with reports suggesting the main reason for it was that he refused to have his salary reduced, and the situation has left the 25-year-old in a difficult position. His future is less certain than ever, and all parties are believed to be searching for a satisfactory solution to the problem.
Since joining the club i…
Watford captain Moussa Sissoko is on the verge of completing the transfer to Nantes, according to Adam Leventhal of . The medical ahead of the proposed move is scheduled for today (Thursday), with the Hornets set to receive a fee of around £1.7 million for the services of the 32-year-old.
Sissoko rose through the youth ranks at Toulouse and spent six years as their first-team player before moving to England to join Newcastle in 2013. Three years later, Tottenham Hotspur took him to North London as Mauricio Pochettino conducted the process of building a team that would eventually reach the Champions League final in 2019. Having made a total of 201 appearances for Spurs, the versatile midfielder left to join Watford last summer.
Watford have been relegated to the Champio…
Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored in the space of six second-half minutes as Tottenham fought back from 2-0 down to claim a draw against Brentford in the first Premier League game following the World Cup on Monday.
Spurs, boasting a line-up including a host of players who featured at Qatar 2022, were dismal in the opening hour in west London and deservedly found themselves two goals behind courtesy of efforts from Vitaly Janelt and Ivan Toney.
Kane, playing for the first time since his vital penalty miss in England s quarter-final defeat to France, pulled one back for Antonio Conte s side with 25 minutes remaining.
And the visitors claimed a share of the spoils soon after when Hojbjerg coolly slotted home his fourth league goal of the season.
Ba…
Liverpool took all three points from their trip to the London Stadium on Wednesday, where they took on West Ham in a rather exciting Premier League clash. The home side took the lead through Lucas Paqueta in the 12th minute, and Cody Gakpo equalized in the 18th. In the end, it was Joel Matip who settled the contest in the 67th.
The game
Both teams need as many points they can get between now and the end of the season, but Liverpool s need is arguably greater at this point as they fight to qualify at least for the Europa League, if they must miss out on the top four.
It was completely to be expected that the Reds take charge of the proceedings and take charge they did, ending the contest with the ball at their feet for 72% of the time and a total of 11 shots, four on ta…
Pep Guardiola is backing Xabi Alonso to make a success of his big break at Bayer Leverkusen.
Former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder Alonso was named head coach of the Bundesliga team on Wednesday.
It is the 40-year-old s most prominent role since retiring from playing in 2017, since when he has been building towards a top job, spending three years as coach of Real Sociedad B.
Like Guardiola, Alonso s playing career was spent largely as a deep-sitting central midfielder. Both men played for Spain, with Guardiola earning 47 caps and Alonso representing his country 114 times.
Alonso won a World Cup and two European Championships in Spain s golden era of success from 2008 to 2012, a period which coincided with Guardiola s reign as Barcelon…
Messi overtakes Maradona with ninth goal, but Argentina legends are amazingly tied for two World Cup
Lionel Messi has now gone past Diego Maradona for World Cup appearances and goals – and the Argentina number 10 has pulled exactly level with his predecessor on two important statistics that showcase their creative brilliance.
Saturday s hard-fought 2-1 win over Australia carried Argentina into the quarter-finals, with Messi scoring the ninth World Cup goal of his career to put Lionel Scaloni s team 1-0 in front in the first half.
That nudged Messi ahead of Maradona s career haul of eight goals, while he has moved to 23 World Cup appearances during this tournament, two ahead of his late compatriot and fellow number 10 shirt wearer s previous national team record.
Messi is just one behind Gabriel Batistuta s record of 10 World Cup goals with Argentina, and he ma…
Leicester became just the second former Premier League champions to be relegated despite a 2-1 home victory over West Ham on the final day of the season.
The Foxes, who won the title seven years ago, needed to win and hope that Everton did not get three points in their clash at home to Bournemouth.
And for a large part of the afternoon that looked like playing out as they went ahead through Harvey Barnes and Wout Faes before the crushing news of Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal for Everton came through.
Everton stay up on a dramatic final day, while Leicester City and Leeds United are relegated
— Premier League (@premierleague)
And with the Toffees hanging on at Goodison Park it condemned Leicester to the drop which represents a huge fall from gra…