The squads of the eight teams competing in the upcoming FIFA Confederations Cup have been finalised.
The competition begins on June 15 when the hosts Brazil face Japan in Brasilia and those two sides, plus Spain, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Uruguay and Tahiti, confirmed their 23-man squads on Friday.
New Barcelona signing Neymar is undoubtedly one of the stars of the Brazil squad and he, along with the likes of Fred and Hulk, will be hoping to provide the goals for the hosts.
Milan s Mario Balotelli features in an Italy squad that also includes Juventus stars Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon.
Manchester United attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa will be the focus of Japan s team, while club team-mate Javier Hernandez is likely to be Mexico s talisman.
Chelsea John Obi Mikel…
Daniel Didavi will leave Stuttgart for Wolfsburg on a free transfer at the end of the season.
The 26-year-old, who had an expiring deal with Stuttgart, has signed a contract until June 2021 with his new club.
We are very happy that Daniel has opted in favour of a move to Wolfsburg, general director Klaus Allofs told the official Wolfsburg website.
We have kept a close eye on his development over a lengthy period of time. He has developed into a key figure at Stuttgart over the past few seasons.
He fits our profile perfectly and adds even more quality to our attacking midfield area.
The former Germany Under-21 international came through the ranks of the Stuttgart youth academy, while he also enjoyed a successful loan spell with Nurnberg in 20…
Premier League duo Chelsea and Everton are considering moves for Paris Saint Germain forward Edinson Cavani, according to the Mail Online.
The Uruguay international clashed with teammate Neymar during PSG’s 2-0 win over Lyon on Sunday and while the Ligue 1 giants are keen to quash any reports of a rift it is not the first time the former Napoli man has had to play second fiddle.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was very much the main man at the Parc des Princes before he moved on to Manchester United and Cavani is ready to weigh up his options.
Also, PSG are under pressure to sell in January to comply with FFP rules with Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and Lucas Moura also set to be moved on.
Cavani has been plying his trade in the French capital since the summe…
Costa Rica defender Kendall Waston is ready for Switzerland s plan to create organised chaos through Xherdan Shaqiri in Wednesday s World Cup clash.
Shaqiri struck the winner in the 2-1 triumph over Serbia on matchday two, a goal that has put Switzerland within touching distance of the last 16.
The Stoke City forward has been involved in five of his country s last six goals at the World Cup and scored a hat-trick against Honduras at this stage of the 2014 finals to send his side into the knockout phase.
Head coach Vladimir Petkovic applied the organised chaos epithet to Shaqiri s performance against Serbia, but Waston says Costa Rica must focus on their own qualities as they look to end a disappointing campaign with a win.
He has the potential, right? he…
Raheem Sterling was overcome by a beautiful feeling after scoring his first England goals in over three years to help the Three Lions see off Spain 3-2 in Seville on Monday.
Sterling scored either side of Marcus Rashford s effort as Gareth Southgate s side dismantled Spain in the first half of their Nations League encounter, ultimately giving the hosts too much to do after the break.
The Manchester City star s 16th-minute opener was his first England goal since October 9 2015, and Sterling acknowledged that finally ending his drought provided a huge relief.
It was a beautiful feeling to score, I put pressure on myself, it s my position to score goals, Sterling told Sky Sports.
It means a lot to me. Three years is a long time not to score!
2 Rahe…
Philippe Coutinho was in dazzling form as Liverpool got back to winning ways with an impressive 4-0 victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday.
A scintillating solo strike and an assist from Coutinho lifted Jurgen Klopp s side back up to fourth after successive draws against Everton and West Brom saw the gap to the top three widen.
Coutinho started wide on the left as Sadio Mane was granted a rest under the rotation policy for which Klopp has come under fire and the Brazilian quickly set about ensuring the scrutiny of his manager would be minimal with a fine individual goal.
Klopp this week lauded Liverpool s scouting department for their role in the signing of Mohamed Salah from Roma and they may be expecting further praise after the winger adde…
James Milner and Roberto Firmino are set to be absent as an excited Liverpool launch their Premier League chase , manager Jurgen Klopp announced.
Milner was forced off in the 38th minute of Liverpool s 3-2 EFL Cup defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday after sustaining a hamstring injury against his old club.
He will now be unavailable for the Premier League trip to another of his former teams, Aston Villa, on December 26, and the December 30 clash at Anfield with Leicester City.
Firmino missed the loss to City with a calf injury sustained in training, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been dealing with a virus that kept Trent Alexander-Arnold out of the last-16 defeat. Oxlade-Chamberlain came on as a substitute against City.
Milly […
Mohamed Salah is targeting a third consecutive African Player of the Year trophy after being named on the preliminary list of nominees for the 2019 award.
Salah defended his crown last year after scoring 44 goals for Liverpool and Egypt in 2018 and finishing as the 2017-18 Premier League Golden Boot winner with 32 goals.
The 27-year-old faces competition for this year s honour from Reds team-mate Sadio Mane. The Senegal international was joint top scorer in the Premier League last season with 22 goals alongside Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has also been named on the 30-strong list.
Manchester City and Algeria forward Riyad Mahrez, who won the award in 2016, is also included on the list announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
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England great Geoff Hurst labelled Pele as the greatest of all time after the Brazil legend s death was confirmed on Thursday.
Pele, a three-time World Cup winner, had been moved to palliative care early in December after his body stopped responding to cancer treatment.
The 82-year-old s daughter announced his passing after his family travelled to be by his side at Sao Paulo s Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital before Christmas Day.
Tributes have flooded in for the footballing icon after he left a lasting legacy on Brazil and Santos, for whom he scored 643 goals in 659 matches over an 18-year period.
England s 1966 World Cup winner Hurst, who was the only man to score a hat-trick in the final of the tournament before Kylian Mbappe at Qatar 2022, believes …
Fabien Barthez does not believe Paris Saint-Germain are getting the best out of their team by alternating between goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma and Keylor Navas.
Donnarumma signed for PSG in the off-season, as one of four remarkable free signings alongside Lionel Messi, Georginio Wijnaldum and Sergio Ramos.
It is fair to say that none of those additions have been rip-roaring successes. Messi has failed to replicate his Barcelona form and scored only seven times across all competitions, albeit that does make him PSG s second-highest goalscorer so far this season, behind Kylian Mbappe (26).
While Messi has at least provided 10 assists, Wijnaldum has only directly contributed to six goals in all competitions (three goals, three assists), creating just 11 chances …