World Champions
Luke Shaw hits back at Jose Mourinho in Rome as England roll on
At Jose Mourinho’s new home, the Stadio Olimpico, Luke Shaw, chose the perfect setting for his latest riposte to his former boss with two assists in England’s 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine to reach the Euro 2020 semi-finals. Shaw suffered at the hands of Mourinho for three seasons at Manchester United, a string of public criticism not a patch on what was said behind closed doors, the 25-year-old admitted this week. Mourinho’s arrival at Old Trafford came hot on the heels of a horrible double leg fracture Shaw suffered in September 2015. The former Southampton defender revealed in 2018 there had even been fears his right leg would have to be amputated because of blood clots that required emergency surgery. His career never got back on track during Mourinho’s tempestuous time at United, where he ...
Euro 2020: Knockout games bring the best out of France – Hugo Lloris
A depleted France will draw motivation from the threat of elimination as they prepare to face Switzerland in their European Championship last-16 match, captain Hugo Lloris said on Sunday. World champions France topped Group F with one win and two draws ahead of Portugal and Germany but key players in their backline have picked up injuries to give coach Didier Deschamps a selection headache on Monday. While Ousmane Dembele and Marcus Thuram are unavailable, Deschamps confirmed full backs Jules Kounde and Lucas Digne are also ruled out against the Swiss. Left back Lucas Hernandez, who injured his knee, has a chance to feature. Speaking at a news conference, goalkeeper Lloris said France – who finished runners-up in 2016 – were accustomed to do-or-die situations and thrived under pressure. “W...
Euro 2020: France avoid major upset in draw vs Hungary
France were forced to wait to secure qualification for the knockout stages of the Euros after they were held by a resilient Hungary to a 1-1 draw in front of a capacity crowd at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. Meeting in scorching sunshine in front of more than 60,000 fans, Hungary stunned the world champions by taking a shock lead through Attila Fiola when he burst clear to finish calmly beyond Hugo Lloris in first-half injury time. France were rocked heading into the break but equalize through Antoine Griezmann in the 66th minute following some route-one football from goalkeeper Lloris and clever hold-up play by Kylian Mbappe. France pressed strongly in the closing stages but failed to get the breakthrough as a raucous crowd in Budapest celebrated as if their team had won. The result puts ...
France coach fires warning ahead of Euro 2020 opener
Didier Deschamps has attempted to play down the hype surrounding his France side going to the European Championship, warning those who think they “have already won” that plenty of hard work lies ahead. The 2018 World Cup winners are favourites to land this summer’s tournament, with Deschamps possessing a hugely talented squad with depth in all areas. That has understandably caused excitement among the supporters across the country, something Deschamps is keen to temper before the big kick-off. Asked whether not winning the tournament would be considered a failure given the talent at his disposal, Deschamps told Mundo Deportivo: “Right away there is talk of failure. We are world champions. I am aware, and the players are too, of our strengths. “We have quality, talent, high-level players, b...
Euro 2020: Germany still need some work ahead of France opener – coach
Germany still need to work on parts of their game before the start of the European Championship, coach Joachim Loew said on Sunday at the end of their nine-day training camp in Austria. The Germans, starting their tournament against world champions France on June 15, play their last warm-up match against Latvia on Monday. The Euros open on Friday. “I cannot fully draw conclusions from our camp just yet because our preparation continues and after the game tomorrow we have a week in Duesseldorf to prepare for France,” Loew, going into his final tournament as Germany coach, told a news conference. Loew has been in charge since 2006 and will be succeeded by his former assistant and former Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick after the tournament. The Germans also play European champions Portugal as...
WCQ: Tottenham’s Tanguy Ndombele returns to France squad
Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele has been rewarded for his upturn in form with a recall to the France squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The 24-year-old hasn’t featured for Les Bleus since the summer of 2019 but now has the chance to add to his six international caps in matches against Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Other notable returnees include Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Lemar, who hasn’t featured since November 2019, while Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, a member of their 2018 World Cup-winning squad, is back for the first time in two-and-a-half years. This represents Ndombele’s first international call up since his club-record €60 million (£54m/$68m) move from Lyon to Tottenham. The Frenchman arrived in north London with a reputation as an all-action midf...
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets group for U-17 AFCON revealed by CAF
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets have been drawn in Group B of the 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted by Morocco. Five-time world champions are one of three top seeds for today’s draw along with host nations Morocco and defending champions Cameroon. CAF revealed the draw via their Twitter handle as Golden Eaglets avoided the Group of Death after pitted alongside Tanzania, Algeria and Congo. Hosts Morocco head Group A along with Uganda, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire, while defending champions Cameroon will battle it out with Senegal, Mali and South Africa in Group C. The overall winners of the three groups, as well as the best runners-up from all three groups, will advance to the semifinals of the competition. The competition will start in Morocco on March 13. Nigeria may have conquered the wo...
Golden Eaglets qualify for WAFU U17 Cup semi finals
Nigeria reached the semi finals of the WAFU U17 Cup Tournament ongoing in Lome, Togo on Tuesday evening after Group B pacesetters Cote d’Ivoire hammered the Black Starlets of Ghana 3-1 at the city’s Stade Municipal. Five-time world champions Nigeria, who lost by the odd goal to the Ivorians on the opening day of the competition and were forced to a 1-1 draw by the Starlets at the weekend, needed a favour from the Ivorians to progress to the knockout stage. And the Ivorians obliged. The Baby Elephants raced into the lead after only nine minutes and consolidated at 2-0 as the match wore on. But the Starlets, themselves two-time champions of the world, pegged back their neighbours to leave Nigeria’s chances on the wire. The Eaglets and their Ghanaian counterparts had both scored through penal...
