Fernando Hierro says there is no time for Spain to lament their pre-World Cup plans being left in disarray by the shock dismissal of Julen Lopetegui.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation announced on Wednesday, the eve of the finals, that Lopetegui had been sacked, just 24 hours after it was confirmed he would take over at Real Madrid following the tournament.
Hierro, a former captain of La Roja whose international career spanned from 1989 to 2002, has assumed the reins for the World Cup, where Spain must first tackle a Group B consisting of Portugal, Iran and Morocco.
And the retired defender insists that rather than rue their chaotic preparations, the 2010 winners must move on swiftly, with Cristiano Ronaldo and the reigning European champions looming as their…
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has nothing but praise for Pep Guardiola ahead of Wednesday s Champions League encounter and believes the current Manchester City boss will go down in history as one of the greatest ever.
Guardiola enjoyed a hugely successful spell in charge of Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, before guiding Bayer Munich to three consecutive Bundesliga titles between 2013 and 2016.
He left Bayern for City during the off-season and Luis Enrique already sees his compatriot s impact at the Etihad.
I take it as a habit to value my friends more than enemies. Pep is a good friend. It is easy to value him. I think he is the best coach, Luis Enrique said at a news conference.
When you coach at this level if you win everything it is easy. When you lo…
Vanessa Gilles scored a 112th-minute winner as Canada put their off-field issues aside to beat hosts France 2-1 at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
After being found guilty of using a drone to film opponents training at this and past tournaments, the Tokyo champions had six points deducted, while head coach Bev Priestman has been banned from all football-related activity for one year.
The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) are considering an appeal against the decision, but those controversies were put to one side when the team took to the field.
Starting the day bottom on -3 points, Canada, led by Andy Spence, had to come from behind to beat France after Marie-Antoinette Katoto put Les Bleues ahead just before half-time.
Jessie Fleming equalised from close r…
Graham Potter was full of praise for his really impressive Chelsea players after they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Wolves at Stamford Bridge.
A brilliant Kai Havertz header in first-half injury time set the Blues on their way, before Christian Pulisic and substitute Armando Broja added second-half goals to cap a brilliant display.
The three points took Chelsea into the top four and gave Potter an important first home league victory after arriving from Brighton and Hove Albion in September.
Potter was delighted with his team after the game, telling reporters: Winning games helps so we look forward to the games.
It s about hard work, it s being together, that stuff is important but the guys have been really impressive.
Credit to Wolves, they came…
Ange Postecoglou remained defiant and insisted Tottenham were on the path to being “a very good football team” despite a 2-1 home loss to Aston Villa consigning them to a third consecutive defeat.
Spurs were without 11 first-teamers but Postecoglou doubled down on his philosophy with a back four containing no centre-backs, several attacking players handed first league starts of the season and no recognised defensive midfielder in the starting line-up.
It initially paid off with Giovani Lo Celso firing Tottenham ahead in the 22nd-minute and while the hosts had 18 shots, three goals disallowed and hit the woodwork twice, Aston Villa punished their profligacy to move above them into the Premier League’s top four.
Defeat at
— Tottenham Hotspur (@Spu…
Market: Greece win
Odds: 8/11 @
Looking to build off of their eye-catching display in midweek, Greece will welcome Honduras to the Stadio Toumbas in Thessaloníki on Sunday afternoon for a friendly showdown.
Starting with the hosts, while Greece might have faced an overwhelming test when opening their World Cup qualifying campaign in midweek, the one-time European champions did put in a rugged display. Despite opening their trip to Spain as a landslide underdog, John van t Schip s side came from behind to pick up an impressive point on foreign soil. Leaving Getafe with a 1-1 draw to show for their troubles, Ethniki have made a string of improvements since bringing in their Dutch boss. While Greece might have failed to book their spot at this summer s delayed Eur…
As claim, counter-claim and another news bombshell thudded into one another regarding the purported launch of a European Super League on Sunday, many football supporters and those involved with the game expressed wishes for a simpler time.
One of those was Mark Pougatch, esteemed anchor of ITV s UK coverage of England matches, who was probably wondering what side Gareth Southgate might be able to put out given UEFA s threats to ban players from the 12 Super League clubs from representing their national teams.
Pougatch asked whether the chairmen of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham in the 1980s and 1990 – local figures rooted in their communities – would have let such tawdry antics occur on their watch.
A glance at h…
It was a great couple of days for goalscorers in the Premier League, as matchday 15 saw its 20 teams record a feat that had not been achieved for eight years.
Every side was in action across Tuesday and Wednesday, and they all found the net at least once in an entertaining set of fixtures.
It marked the first time since November 27-28, 2010 that every team in the division had the found the net on the same matchday.
However, it would not have been the case had Charlie Austin not scored in the third minute of stoppage time for Southampton against Tottenham, with his consolation in a 3-1 defeat made a little bit more meaningful.
20 This is the first Premier League matchday in which all 20 teams have scored a goal since November 27-28th 2010 (MD15). Party.…
According to a recent report from Sky Sports News, Manchester City are interested in potentially signing Leicester City defenders Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu. The pair are sat amongst a series of top targets for City, although manager Pep Guardiola has made it known that they are not going to try and bring anyone in during the January transfer window.
Whether or not that actually comes to fruition remains to be seen, especially given the defensive performance that City put in during their loss to Liverpool last weekend. With the Reds currently sitting nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table, Manchester City cannot afford to drop any more points – and the way in which they’re going to drop those points is by conceding sill goals courtesy of their poor …
Verdict: Over 3.5 goals scored yes
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Two of the best sides in La Liga this season will go head-to-head this Saturday at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. On one hand, Sevilla are looking to keep themselves in the Top 4 of the standings, and are in dire need of a win based on their recent performances. But they will host a Barcelona side that keeps inching closer and closer to the league title after each week. This star-studded contest will kick of at 15:15 GMT.
Sevilla
Sevilla are in a tough spot since they re also further than what they would like in a potential title race. Los Nervionenses managed to hang on in the title race during the first 15 matches of the season, but have crumbled afterwards. They have maintained themselves a…