Women´s World Cup Review: Chile pay the penalty for Lara miss

Former Barcelona captain Xavi is adamant Lionel Messi is of a higher calibre than his Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

The duo have long been thought of as the top two players in world football, sharing the last eight Ballons d Or.

Messi holds the title, but Ronaldo s exploits with Madrid and Euro 2016 winners Portugal saw him named UEFA s Best Player in Europe last month.

His performances in the 2015-16 campaign have made him favourite for the world title, but Xavi believes the 31-year-old is nothing compared to his former Camp Nou team-mate.

And the Al Sadd midfielder says the whole world agrees with him apart from those linked to Madrid.

Ronaldo is a player of his time, the problem is that there is another who has been pretty much t…

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli said long balls will be few and far between for his men, in their Copa America opener against Ecuador on Thursday.

Sampaoli s men will look to give the host fans a winning start in Santiago, although the coach predicted his side would play the ball on the ground especially given the vertical challenges of his squad.

Only one of the 20 outfield players Sampaoli has at his disposal at the continental tournament is six feet tall striker Mauricio Pinilla coming in at 185 centimetres with the next tallest five-foot-11 (Miiko Albornoz, Arturo Vidal, Angelo Henriquez).

Ecuador, conversely, have five players in their squad that are six feet or taller including towering Gremio centre-back Frickson Erazo and fellow central defender Arturo Mina.

Alen Halilovic has completed a medical ahead of his proposed move from Barcelona to Hamburg.

Croatia international Halilovic spent last season on loan at Sporting Gijon and was not present as the Barcelona squad returned for pre-season training this week.

Hamburg revealed on Thursday that Haliliovic had completed his medical, posting a picture of the 20-year-old in the club s training kit on Twitter.

Wir wollen euch nicht länger auf die Folter spannen: ist in HH angekommen absolviert den Medizincheck

— Hamburger SV (@HSV)

Halilovic joined Barca from Dinamo Zagreb in 2014, but failed to make a single LaLiga appearance for the Catalan giants.

Last season s stint at Gijon saw Halilovic make 35 league outings, scoring three goals, and he…

Roma s new signing Kevin Strootman has expressed his excitement at getting the opportunity to play in Serie A.

The 23-year-old midfielder penned a five-year deal with the Italian side on Wednesday, departing PSV Eindhoven, where he had been since 2011.

The Dutch international had been linked to a number of top sides, with rumoured interest including Premier League champions Manchester United, but Roma won the race to his signature.

Strootman told De Telegraaf: What counts for me is the number of big games I am going to play here.

I will train every day with top players and get to play against the likes of Inter Milan, Juventus and Napoli.

The midfielder cultivated interest after a strong 2012-13 campaign with PSV, which saw him score five goals in 32 app…

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho feels the Premier League title is Manchester City s for the taking after their off-season transfer splurge.

New City boss Manuel Pellegrini may have lost Carlos Tevez, Kolo Toure and Maicon among others, but there has been no shortage of quality in the men brought in to replace them.

Spanish duo Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo, Montenegrin forward Stevan Jovetic and Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho have all landed at Eastlands under Pellegrini s watch.

And Mourinho feels those quality signings will see City head into the new season as favourites to regain the title they won in sensational style in 2011/12.

They bought very well, Mourinho said. That doesn t surprise me, because they have the money to buy but also the knowledge.

T…

Everton have reportedly agreed a fee of £5.7 deal for Atletico Madrid defender John Heitinga and are now trying to agree personal terms to bring the defender to Goodison Park.

Everton boss David Moyes is hoping to pair the Dutch international with fellow new signing Sylvain Distin after the departure of Joleon Lescott for £24 million.

The Dutch star is renowned for his adaptability on the pitch being able to play as centre-back, right-back or as a defensive midfielder and only recently joined Spanish side Atletico Madrid in 2008 for a fee of €10 million.

However Moyes is still on the look out for more players before the transfer window closes with midfielders Ever Banega and David Bentley said to be high on the wish list, although…

Australia international Matthew Spiranovic has left Western Sydney Wanderers to sign for Chinese Super League (CSL) strugglers Hangzhou Greentown.

Spiranovic, who has played 27 games for his country, ended his two-year association with the Wanderers on Friday, with the A-League club confirming his departure.

The central defender won the AFC Champions League with Western Sydney in 2014, while he was also part of the team that lost the 2014 A-League grand final to Brisbane Roar, scoring the opening goal before the Wanderers succumbed 2-1.

Matthew s time at the Wanderers saw our club reach the heights in both the domestic competition and AFC Champions League and he will be fondly remembered by the Wanderers faithful, Western Sydney CEO John Tsatsimas said in a stat…

Napoli have signed Romanian defender Vlad Chiriches from Tottenham in a deal thought to be worth £4.5 million.

The 25-year-old international was the subject of interest from Roma and Fiorentina, but Napoli have won the race for his signature after he passed a medical at the San Paolo.

The transfer brings to an end Chiriches’ torrid spell in north London, which yielded only 24 starts in the Premier League after a £6.8 million move from Steaua Bucharest in 2013.

Chiriches made just 10 appearances in the league for Tottenham last season, and was notably sent off in the club’s 3-0 defeat at Stoke City, compounding the disappointment of fans who had high expectations for the defender when he arrived at the club.

Tottenham’s summer signing Toby Alderwei…

Swansea City have begun negotiations with Liverpool about the prospect of signing Rhian Brewster on loan in January, according to .

The 19-year-old striker was kept at Anfield by manager Jurgen Klopp for the first half of the season, but with the team out of the Carabao Cup, the competition in which Brewster made both of his first-team appearances this season, the German is now willing to allow him to leave on a temporary basis in order to gain some valuable experience. There was some talk of Crystal Palace being interested too, but Eagles boss Roy Hodgson refused to promise the youngster any amount of game-time, which is something the Swans are willing to do. Further more, Brewster has already played under Swansea manager Steve Cooper during his time with England s U-17s.

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Atalanta earned another considerable Serie A scalp as they thumped league leaders AC Milan 3-0 at the San Siro on Saturday evening.

Christian Romero struck the opening goal of the game as he converted with a great, diving header just before the half-hour mark. The visitors then doubled their advantage after the break, with Josip Ilicic winning and scoring a penalty. Duvan Zapata sealed the victory with just under a quarter of an hour remaining as he polished off a lethal counter-attack to condemn Milan to just their second league defeat of the season.

Here are three things we learnt from the San Siro:

Uncharacteristically wasteful from Milan

Sitting top of Serie A ahead of the match, AC Milan were aiming to extend their advantage but they simply were not able t…