Month: December 2024

UEFA says it is proud to wear the colours of the rainbow amid controversy over the decision to reject Germany s request to light up the Allianz Arena for Wednesday s Euro 2020 clash with Hungary.

Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter asked the European football governing body for permission to illuminate the stadium in rainbow colours in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

He made the request after Hungary last week passed a law that prohibits the sharing of content in schools that could be deemed to promote homosexuality and gender change.

However, UEFA proposed alternative dates for the ground to be lit up as the gesture was deemed to be of a political nature.

Given the political context of this specific request – a message aiming at a decision taken by the Hun…

Well-known journalist Nicolo Schira has claimed on that Leeds United are interested in signing Todd Cantwell from Norwich City in the summer transfer window. Schira has stated that the Premier League club have offered the Championship outfit €18 million (£16.35 million) in transfer fees to sign the 22-year-old, who has agreed personal terms with the West Yorkshire side.

are in advanced talks for Todd . Offered €18M to . The midfielder has agreed personal terms with .

Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira)

Cantwell has been at Norwich his entire professional club football career so far and played well for the Canaries in the Premier League last season, although he could not prevent his team from getting relegated to the Championship. According to , the 2…

Scotland head coach Pedro Martinez Losa has shown his support to Partick Thistle goalkeeper Ava Easdon after the 17-year-old was at the centre of criticism of the women’s game from Joey Barton.

The former England midfielder, who had a brief and unsuccessful spell in Scottish football with Rangers, highlighted a goal the Light Blues scored against Thistle in Sunday’s Sky Sports Cup final and wrote on X: “I mean let’s just talk about the goalie! How is this nonsense on the box?”

The goalkeeper’s father, seven-time world kickboxing champion Lex Easdon, accused Barton of playing up to his “fan boys” on social media and wrote: “In 2024 and ‘grown’ men feel the need to belittle and bully a 17yr old school kid, who doesn’t get paid to play unlike some me…

Fluminense midfielder Deco said Pep Guardiola s Barcelona side is not as good as the one he played in.

Deco, now 34, starred for Barca from 2004 until 2008, winning two La Liga titles and one Champions League trophy during his spell at Camp Nou.

The former Portugal international claimed the squad he was part of had more individual quality, although the present team is more complete.

This Barcelona really play like a team and they have more quality overall than my Barca, Deco told Terra Brasil.

However, looking at individual quality, we had more players who could make the difference,

The current team plays better football, is more complete and always finds solutions for every situation. However, we had more star players and individual class. <…

Another Argentine journalist died in Brazil on Wednesday, as his taxi was struck by a stolen car that was being pursued by police.

Jorge Topo Lopez, 38, was killed in Guarulhos in the early hours of Wednesday morning Brazil time just a week after fellow Argentine journalist Maria Soledad Fernandez also died in a car crash when travelling from Sao Paulo to Belo Horizonte.

Guarulhos is the second-largest city in the state of Sao Paulo.

A stolen car, which was being pursued by military police, reportedly struck Lopez s taxi and some media sources have claimed he was thrown from the vehicle.

The taxi driver was injured, while the three individuals in the stolen car were apparently unharmed.

The trio were arrested at the scene.

Lopez was coveri…

Substitute Stephen Ireland grabbed two late goals as Stoke City avoided FA Cup third-round humiliation with a 3-1 win over Wrexham.

Conference side Wrexham rose to the challenge of taking on a team 96 places above them and looked to be heading for victory when they opened the scoring in the 73rd minute on Sunday.

Mark Carrington s header had the 4,382 visiting fans that made the journey from north Wales to Staffordshire dreaming of a shock triumph.

However, Premier League Stoke FA Cup finalists in 2011  eventually found their stride and secured progression to round four with a trio of late goals.

Marko Arnautovic equalised in the 80th minute, the Austrian s close-range effort allowed to stand despite a suggestion of offside.

Ireland then b…

Jose Mourinho says he took off Juan Mata just half an hour after his introduction in order to defend against high balls in the final minutes of Manchester United s 2-1 Community Shield win over Leicester City.

Mata was introduced on 63 minutes for opening goalscorer Jesse Lingard, who had taken a knock to his foot, but was hauled off in injury time for Henrik Mkhitaryan as the Premier League champions pushed for an equaliser.

The 28-year-old, who has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford in recent weeks, was visibly frustrated as he made his way back to the dugout for the final seconds of United s triumph at Wembley.

But Mourinho, who sold Mata to United during his first season back as Chelsea manager in 2013-14, says he made the change to help run out …

Antonio Barragan speaks of his excitement after signing a new two-and-a-half-year contract to extend his stay at Valencia.

Valencia have announced defender Antonio Barragan has agreed a new contract that will keep him at the Mestalla until 2017.

The 27-year-old, a first-team regular for Valencia since moving from Real Valladolid in August 2011, has penned a new two-and-a-half-year deal.

Barragan has made 18 Liga appearances for Nuno Espirito Santo s side this season, helping Valencia climb to fifth in the league table.

I am very pleased with the renewal, it is what I wanted, said the defender. In the end we came to an agreement that suited both parties. 

I am very happy to continue in this great club.

Having started his career with S…

Paulo Dybala will get his wish as Juventus prepare to offer the forward a blockbusting new deal in order to ward off any potential suitors.

The Argentina international joined the Serie A champions from Palermo in 2015 and has swiftly established himself as one of the most sought-after players in Europe.

Barcelona were heavily linked with Dybala as a replacement for Neymar, but any speculation has failed to distract the 23-year-old, who has 10 goals in only seven league appearances this season.

Dybala did miss a late penalty as Juve were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at Atalanta last time out, but the club s CEO Giuseppe Marotta says the forward will be going nowhere any time soon, with a fresh contract on the horizon.

He is priceless, because we ar…

Diego Simeone says his past experience of facing Champions League minnows means Atletico Madrid will know to expect a tough test against Qarabag.

Atleti have collected only a single point from their opening two Group C games having been held to a stalemate at Roma and lost to Chelsea and Simeone s men must now defeat Qarabag in Azerbaijan to ensure they remain on track for qualification.

But the Spanish side have dropped points in similar games before drawing 0-0 against Astana in 2015 and their coach is wary of another upset as he acknowledges the importance of this clash.

I believe in my team and believe that we can win, he told a pre-match news conference. I think we are on the right track.

We should have won the match with Roma, but dropped points.…