Spain have a tricky trip to Lithuania, while the Netherlands are firm favourites against Hungary as a host of countries meet in Euro 2012 qualifying on Tuesday.
Lithuania have it all before them when they take on reigning European and world champions Spain, though they do have the benefit of home advantage.Sitting fourth in Group I on four points with a game in hand on their rivals, Raimondas Zutautas men can prove their worth against a team wielding the likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.Spain have won all four of their qualifying encounters, scoring 12 and shipping four goals, including a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Czech Republic on Friday courtesy of two Villa goals.Lithuania are also a country in form however, after they a…
Al-Ittihad are interested in signing Ederson Moraes from Manchester City this summer, according to the , and they re apparently prepared to pay a sum of £25 million for his services straight away, with add-ons devised to raise the total transfer fee under certain conditions.
The Brazilian goalkeeper joined City from Benfica in 2017 and has been Pep Guardiola s first choice between the posts ever since. With 155 clean sheets from 332 games in all competitions, he has certainly played a big role as the Catalan tactician led his team to what can only be described as total domination in the Premier League, with the 2023 Champions League trophy on top of everything else.
However, injury problems kept him out of action in the final rounds of the campaign as City charged towa…
First-half goals from Juan Mata and Xabi Alonso secured Spain a comfortable 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic in Euro 2012 qualifying.
Reigning world and European champions Spain took the lead in Prague early on through Mata, after Xavi dissected the Czech defence with a delightful through ball.
Alonso added a second midway through the first half after another wonderful assist, this time from David Silva.
Spain looked extremely comfortable as the game approached half-time and Xavi came close to making it three with a wicked free-kick that dipped just over the bar.
The closest Czech Republic came to scoring in the opening 45 minutes was a tame Tomas Rosicky effort that drifted past Iker Casillas s right-hand post.
Czech holding midfielder To…
Usain Bolt hopes he can begin his football career in 2018, revealing a lot of clubs had reached out to him.
The retired sprinter, an eight-time Olympic champion, has previously spoken about his desire to one day play professional football.
A Manchester United supporter, Bolt said he wanted to begin his career next year after tearing his hamstring in August.
Yes, I would love to play football now I ve retired from track and field, the 31-year-old Jamaican told FIFA.com.
I ve been talking about it in interviews and a lot of clubs have reached out.
Unfortunately, I got a bad hamstring injury in August and haven t been able to do any training since then. Hopefully I will be able to play some games in 2018.
Bolt finished his athletics caree…
Avoiding what could have been a potential EURO 24 banana skin on Tuesday evening, the Netherlands booked their quarter-final ticket as they secured a 3-0 victory against Romania in Munich.
Although Romania might have come flying out of the traps here, Liverpool star Cody Gakpo opened the scoring midway through the first-half as the 25-year-old produced a thunderous strike.
Dominating large spells after opening the scoring in Munich, Ronald Koeman’s men created a string of chances on either side of the half-time break as they made quite the statement.
While Gakpo might have notched a third EURO 24 strike here, it was second-half substitute Donyell Malen who came on and finished the job for Holland.
Tapping home from close range following Gakpo’s subli…
Christos Tzolis scored the only goal as Club Brugge edged out Sturm Graz 1-0 for their first win in this season s Champions League.
The Greece international delivered the decisive blow in the 23rd minute at 28 Black Arena on Wednesday.
Both sides were seeking their first point in the competition, having recorded defeats on matchday one against Borussia Dortmund and Brest respectively.
Brugge broke through midway through the first half, as Tzolis controlled before firing in off the post from the edge of the penalty area.
The visitors went close to doubling their lead after the break, but Sturm Graz goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen came to the hosts rescue with a series of fine saves.
Urged on by the home fans, Christian Ilzer s side went in search of an e…
Pep Guardiola is hopeful Manchester City will have Phil Foden available after the international break, casting doubt on his chances of representing England in the Nations League.
Foden has suffered from illness in the early stages of the season, missing victories over Ipswich Town and West Ham after playing 45 minutes at Chelsea on matchday one.
While City have not suffered for Foden s absence, maintaining a perfect record to start the campaign, Guardiola is keen to have the 2023-24 Premier League Player of the Season available as soon as possible.
Foden scored 19 league goals and added eight assists in 2023-24, netting vital hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa as City were flawless throughout the run-in.
He has been included in Lee Carsley s Eng…
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of four Portugal players to have been named in the official Euro 2016 team of the tournament, but Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale has missed out.
Portugal captain Ronaldo scored three goals and supplied three assists to help Fernando Santos side claim their country s first major international trophy.
The Madrid star was replaced by Ricardo Quaresma in the 25th minute of Sunday s 1-0 extra-time victory over hosts France, but his prior contribution had been enough to warrant a spot in the 11 players picked by a panel of experts.
The team of the tournament as picked by a panel of technical experts
— UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO)
Ronaldo is joined by fellow winners Rui Patricio, Pepe and Raphael Guerreiro, but Renato S…
Gareth Bale refused to answer questions over his future after Wales crashed out of Euro 2020 with a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Denmark.
Kasper Dolberg scored twice before late goals from Joakim Maehle and Martin Braithwaite sent Denmark into the quarter-finals with an emphatic win in Amsterdam.
It brought up the first time Wales have lost successive matches at a major tournament – after their defeat to Italy in the group stage – with Robert Page s team also having Harry Wilson sent off late on.
Indeed, Wales were on the receiving end of a result which saw Denmark become the first team to score four or more goals in consecutive matches in European Championship history.
After a bright start in which he went close with a long-range strike, one of t…
As you can see, Germany are the bosses of Group B at the moment, which goes along with the bookmakers group predictions.
However, the bookmakers were unable to predict a lackluster Holland, who have unprecedentedly lost their first two games in the Group of Death.
With that said, the Oranje can still advance with a tw0-goal victory over Portugal and a Germany win.
All four teams in Group B have everything to play for, with none of them through or eliminated thus far. All signs are pointing to a cracking day of football on Sunday.
Euro 2012 Preview: Denmark v Germany
Jogi Löw and Germany will face Morten Olsen s Denmark in the 2012 UEFA European Championship in Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine on Sunday, June 17.
Germany have been far from spe…