There was bitter disappointment for Dutch captain Gionvanni van Bronckhorst on Sunday as he ended his 14-year Oranje career after the 1-0 defeat to Spain in the World Cup final.
The injury-time goal by Spain s Andres Iniesta in the 116th-minute was enough to give Vicente del Bosque s side their first World Cup title in their first final.
But it was heartbreak for van Bronckhorst s Holland as the Netherlands have now added defeat at the South Africa 2010 final to losing both the 74 and 78 World Cup finals.
The 35-year-old earned his 106th cap on Sunday at the same stadium he won his second cap and the former Arsenal and Barcelona star will now study for his coaching badge before becoming assistant coach to the Dutch Under-21 side.
Having netted arguably t…
Sevilla coach Unai Emery is confident goalkeeper Sergio Rico will rise to the occasion of his Champions League debut against Borussia Monchengladbach.
The 22-year-old played 37 times in all competitions last season but began this term as understudy to Portuguese Beto.
Rico will nevertheless be thrust into action for the Group D opener against the Bundesliga outfit after Beto sustained a knee injury in last Friday s draw with Levante, ruling him out for six weeks.
Sergio Rico is ready to play, Emery said. He matured last year in important matches and this type of match will help him. We trust on Sergio.
Sevilla qualified for the Champions League by virtue of continuing their dominance of the Europa League last term, securing their second consecut…
Manchester City s Premier League title destiny is back in their own hands following a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Manuel Pellegrini s men sit third in the top flight, three points behind leaders Liverpool, but triumphs in their three remaining fixtures would almost certainly be enough to secure glory after the Anfield outfit lost to Chelsea earlier in the day.
The 2011-12 champions, who hold a game in hand over Liverpool and a significantly superior goal difference, wasted no time in making the Merseysiders pay for their earlier slip-up – Edin Dzeko heading City in front at Selhurst Park with the game less than four minutes old.
The remainder of the first half passed by largely without incident, until Yaya Toure making his return from injury curled home a wo…
Anthony Martial is ready to commit his future to Manchester United, according to the Express.
The twenty-two-year old’s future at Old Trafford has been the subject of much speculation though he is set to stay put, with the club lining up a fresh £190,000-per-week offer.
Martial has been in sublime form recently scoring in each of his last four Premier League games – a run that includes a brace in last month’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea.
His next appearance for the club will be his one hundred and fiftieth since signing from Monaco in the summer of 2016 whilst during that time he has scored forty-two goals and clinched winners medals in the EFL Cup, the FA Cup and the Europa League.
He was not selected for France’s squad that triumphed in Russia tho…
Gary Cahill lauded Chelsea s Premier League title triumph as the best way to silence the critics following a disappointing defence of their crown the previous season.
The Blues finished 10th in 2015-16, having lifted the trophy under Jose Mourinho 12 months previously, but the arrival of Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge heralded a revival.
Friday s 1-0 win at West Brom sealed with an 82nd-minute winner from substitute Michy Batshuayi secured the club s fifth Premier League crown one that was richly deserved, according to Cahill.
There s opportunities you get that you want to grasp with both hands and you have to cherish them, he told Sky Sports.
We ve been the best team in the league. We deserve it. We ve worked hard. There s no better feeling. We have …
RB Lepizig defender Ibrahima Konate has passed his medical ahead of a proposed move to Liverpool, according to , who adds that the Merseysiders are set to trigger Konate s release clause set at €35 million and that everything is now practically done.
Liverpool paid a huge price for entering the 2020-21 season with only three designated senior centre-backs. Following season-ending injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, they were forced into last-gasp winter signings of Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke 04 and Ben Davies from Preston North End, who is yet to play a single minute for the Premier League side.
The signing of 21-year-old Konate is certainly a step in the right direction towards improving defensive stability of the squad under Jurgen Klopp s co…
Jose Mourinho will not be sanctioned by UEFA following his bottle-throwing antics at the end of Manchester United s 1-0 win over Young Boys on Tuesday.
The Portuguese chose to celebrate Marouane Fellaini s 91st-minute winner against the Swiss club by picking up a crate containing 10 drinks bottles and hurling it to the floor.
The incident inevitably created headlines but UEFA has opted not to take the matter further with neither Mourinho nor United facing a disciplinary charge.
It s not the first time Mourinho has taken his frustration out on a water bottle.
In November 2016, Mourinho received a one-match touchline ban from the Football Association for kicking a drinks container during a draw with West Ham but he escaped sanction for a similar act earlier…
The German Football Federation (DFB) will in January nominate a candidate to replace Franz Beckenbauer on FIFA S executive committee, it was revealed Friday.
Both DFB president Theo Zwanziger and Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge are both in the frame to be named as candidates by the Germans, according to reports in the media.
Beckenbauer s successor will then be named on May 22 in Paris at the 35th UEFA Congress. The successful candidate can come from any of the European nations and will hold a seat on the FIFA committee as UEFA s representative.
Beckenbauer said Thursday he will not stand for re-election to the executive committee of world football s governing body FIFA to spend more time with his family.
The 65-year-old Beckenbauer has alre…
Holders Inter Milan, 2009 champions Barcelona and last season s semi-finalists Lyon can all reach the last 16 of this season s Champions League with victories in the group stage on Tuesday.
Inter, who ended a 45-year wait for Europe s top club prize in May, face perhaps the most difficult assignment of the three in the shape of a trip to competition debutants Tottenham in Group A.
The sides shared seven goals when they met in Milan 12 days ago, but despite Inter having led 4-0 after 35 minutes, Spurs emerged from the game with real credit thanks to a stunning second-half hat-trick by Gareth Bale.
Bale s performance at the San Siro prompted his coach Harry Redknapp to label the 21-year-old Welshman one of the world s top left-sided players, and his late cameo gav…
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lucas Moura has revealed he would be happy to see compatriot Oscar join the club from Chelsea in the summer.
The French champions, who are scheduled to host Chelsea in the first leg of UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday night, are reportedly contemplating a £41.5 million offer to lure Oscar to the Parc des Princes.
A massive offer could tempt the Blues to sell the Brazilian maestro, especially when considering the form of André Schürrle.
Schürrle, 23, joined Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth around €21 million in June 2013 and has gone to score seven goals in 24 English Premier League appearances, including a hat-trick in the West London derby against Fulham earlier this month.
M…