European champions Portugal have to be regarded as one of the favourites for the World Cup, according to former midfielder Deco.
Fernando Santos men were by no means expected to clinch Euro 2016 glory and could consider themselves lucky to even get out of Group F as one of the best third-placed teams.
Portugal finished behind Hungary and Iceland, but subsequently scraped past Croatia and Poland in the first two knockout stages before beating Wales in the last four and hosts France in the final.
Despite that triumph, few are speaking of Portugal as one of the teams expected to go deep into the competition in Russia, something Brazil-born Deco – who played for his adopted country for seven years from 2003 – thinks is odd.
The World Cup is a more diff…
Guus Hiddink believes Antonio Conte is well equipped to deal with the pressure of turning Chelsea s fortunes around next season.
Conte was confirmed as the permanent replacement for Jose Mourinho on Monday, with the Italian to vacate his position as coach of his country s national team after Euro 2016.
Hiddink has steered Chelsea away from the lower reaches of the Premier League since taking over in December and remains unbeaten in 14 top-flight matches at the helm.
Despite their impressive run, Chelsea are only 10th in the table, 10 points off the Champions League places, but the Dutchman has confidence in former Juventus coach Conte to take the club forward.
Hiddink said in his pre-match media conference ahead of Saturday s trip to Swansea City: It s …
Newcastle United are determined to sign Raphinha from Barcelona in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Newcastle are willing to pay over €80 million to get a deal done for the former Leeds United winger, who moved to Barcelona from the Whites only in the summer of 2022.
Raphinha made 25 starts and 11 substitute appearances in La Liga for Barcelona this past season, scoring seven goals and giving seven assists in those games. The 26-year-old Brazil international winger made four starts and one substitute appearance in the UEFA Champions League for Xavi’s side this past campaign, providing two assists in those games.
Newcastle finished fourth in the Premier League table this past season and will play in the UEFA Champions League next…
Liverpool midfielder James Milner is targeting redemption in the Europa League decider after enduring several cup final exiles in his time at Manchester City.
While Milner won two out of three cup finals at City, the 30-year-old played in just one of them a 1-0 loss to Wigan Athletic in the 2013 FA Cup decider.
His record at other clubs is not much better, losing the 2009-10 League Cup final against Manchester United and the 2015-16 edition of the tournament against former c
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lub City.
But now, as he prepares to captain Liverpool in Wednesday s Europa League final against Sevilla, Milner will need to put those bad experiences behind him.
A couple of times I had played every round so thought I might play in the final. But the manager picks…
Sandwiched between two rounds of European fixtures, this weekend s Fantasy Football selections will be giving managers one serious headache.
The Premier League big boys look set to continue rotating their squads during a gruelling period, leaving plenty of guesswork for those of us on the outside.
That is not to mention a growing list of injuries and suspensions, which could force many to opt for their wildcard at this still-early stage of the campaign.
But fear not as, with the help of Opta data, Stats Perform has picked out four names we not only expect to start this weekend but also accrue some valuable points.
Emiliano Martinez (Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa)
Aston Villa s form has improved of late with two draws, including against Mancheste…
Kylian Mbappe has welcomed Neymar s increasingly positive comments on his Paris Saint-Germain future, saying his team-mate deserves to enjoy a historic career in France.
Neymar, who has repeatedly been linked with a move away from PSG since joining the Ligue 1 giants in 2017, last month appeared to give a firm indication he will remain in Paris.
The Brazil superstar told TF1: I want to stay at PSG and I hope Kylian stays too.
Neymar is reportedly close to agreeing a new four-year contract with the club and played a role in Sunday s 2-0 win over Classique rivals Marseille despite this week suffering with illness.
Keeping Neymar and Mbappe on board would represent a huge boost to PSG in their long-term bid to win the Champions League, having reached the fi…
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca hopes the Premier League will alter their financial rules so clubs are not encouraged to sell their academy players.
When clubs sell players from the academy, the entirety of the transfer fee goes down as ‘pure profit’ and this can be beneficial to those who are battling against the league’s profit and sustainability rules.
Chelsea have already shown this in the past, selling the likes of Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to Manchester United and AC Milan respectively.
The Blues have also done so during the current transfer window, with Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson completing moves away from Stamford Bridge for a reported combined total of £46m.
Nevertheless, Maresca said the rules acted against the rom…
Chelsea are considering moving for new players in the market in case their ongoing talks over a new deal with Mason Mount don t produce results, according to .
Mount s current deal with the London Blues will be entering its final 18 months this winter, and the club would like to tie their academy product down to a new deal, but for the time being, it s not happening. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder, who has 32 caps as an England international and has been included in Gareth Southgate s team for the upcoming World Cup, has so far scored 32 goals and produced 37 assists in 181 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea. He was an important part of the team which won the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup under Thomas Tuchel in 2021.
As …
Ansu Fati became Barcelona s youngest LaLiga goalscorer and the third-youngest in the competition s history against Osasuna on Saturday.
The 16-year-old came off the bench at half-time at El Sadar and made it 1-1 six minutes later, burying Carles Perez s cross with a fine header.
It was an historic moment for Fati, who last week became the second-youngest player to appear for Barca in the top flight when he came on for Perez in the 5-2 defeat of Real Betis at Camp Nou.
Fati takes the record as Barca s youngest scorer from Bojan Krkic, who wrote on Twitter: It s always a great joy to see boys from the Masia enjoying and achieving their dreams. Congratulations for your record, Ansu!
3 Ansu Faty (16 years and 304 days) has become the third youngest player t…
I honestly am not ready to write this message and I think I never will be, De Ligt wrote.
It’s too early for us players, for your family but especially for you. You had so many dreams to fulfil, so many things left to do… you were always right in the end. You knew how the world worked. Nothing is impossible and you showed that to the whole world.
You fought for your players together with your team and that’s why you were so loved by all of them. Because as you always said: they are my sons, my family.
Mino, I will miss you for everything… to be my agent, but especially to be my best friend.
Pogba, who is set to be on the move at the end of the season following the expiration of his United contract, oposted a series of photos of himself an…