Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez was delighted after netting his 50th international goal on Saturday in the 2-1 victory over South Korea, but he still wants more from El Tri at the World Cup. Leading Group F on six points from two games, Mexico only need a draw in their next game against Sweden to reach the next stage as group winners. “There are no words to express all this we are going through,” Hernandez said. “For me, [the 50 goals] are very special. We will try to achieve a lot more. We have to imagine amazing things. “We have to channel…
Author: David Folami
Radja Nainggolan has confirmed that he will be leaving Roma for Inter Milan, although he insists it was not his choice. The Belgian midfielder is set to join the Nerazzurri for a fee of €24 million with Davide Santon and Nicolo Zaniolo both heading in the opposite direction. He has repeatedly turned down the opportunity to leave Roma, rejecting advances from Chelsea and Chinese clubs in the past, but he has told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport that he has practically been shown the door by the club this summer. “I will always carry every moment I spent with the…
Roberto Martinez has said he would field a much-changed side against England in their final World Cup Group G clash, resting a starting 11 who have all but qualified after scoring eight goals in two games. “It will be major changes against England,” Martinez told reporters after Saturday’s 5-2 thumping of Tunisia in Moscow that means the Belgians will be sure of reaching the last 16 if Panama, whom they beat 3-0, fail to beat England on Sunday. Injuries to striker Romelu Lukaku and his two forward support men did not seem to trouble the Spaniard, but given a lack…
Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Brazil international midfielder Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk. Fred, 25, has agreed a five-year contract at Old Trafford club and becomes their second first-team signing of the summer. “Fred will complement our other midfielders’ qualities, which we need; his creative brain and passing vision will give us another dimension to our game,” United manager Jose Mourinho told the club’s website. “I am very happy he is joining our club and I believe our players know how important he can be in our team.” Fred, with the Brazil squad at the World Cup in Russia,…
Toni Kroos has said his dramatic late winning goal against Sweden will upset many of Germany’s critics at home whom he believes were rooting for die Mannschaft to be eliminated from the World Cup. After falling behind early on Saturday, Germany were staring at their first-ever group-stage exit at a World Cup, but Marco Reus got a goal back just after half-time and Kroos made their task of advancing much easier when he curled a shot home from a set piece in the 95th minute to seal a 2-1 win. Germany had been inundated with criticism after losing to Mexico…
Janne Andersson hit out at the German bench for “rubbing in” their victory as they celebrated Toni Kroos’ stoppage-time winner in Germany’s 2-1 World Cup Group F triumph on Saturday. There was a confrontation between members of both teams on the sideline at midfield and the two groups had to be separated. “Some of the German leaders of the team celebrated by running in our direction and rubbing in to our faces by making gestures, and that really got me annoyed and angry,” said the Sweden coach, whose team had led 1-0 at half-time. “There were many people on our…
Douglas Costa will miss Brazil’s World Cup game against Serbia on Wednesday with a thigh injury, team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said. Costa injured the thigh in Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Costa Rica on Friday and, after scans, was ruled out for the Group E game in Moscow. “Yesterday, at the end of the game, Douglas Costa complained of pain in the back of his right thigh, only remembering that he was injured, but in the left thigh,” Lasmar said on Saturday. “It’s been diagnosed as a small muscle injury, so he will not travel with us. He will stay in…
Dele Alli won’t feature for England against Panama because of a thigh injury, Gareth Southgate confirmed, but the manager did let his team know who would be starting in their second Group G match at the World Cup on Sunday. Alli, 22, picked up the knock in England’s 2-1 opener against Tunisia on Monday and missed training the following day to undergo a scan. He is likely to be replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who came on for the Tottenham attacker in the 80th minute and played well. Southgate said: “This morning he followed the exact programme we had planned. He…
Romelu Lukaku is optimistic that he will be able to play against England on Thursday in Kaliningrad despite injuring his ankle during Belgium’s impressive 5-2 win against Tunisia on Saturday. The Manchester United striker limped off just before the hour mark but reassured fans when asked about his injury after the game. “I am a quick healer,” he said. “I will see how I feel tonight and tomorrow with the medical staff. I am not too worried. I am just relaxed about the England game. “It is going to be nice to see a couple of my club teammates on…
Neymar will start against Costa Rica on Friday but may need to play five games before he’s fully fit, Brazil coach Tite said after the star forward left training on Tuesday with an ankle injury. Brazil, one of the favourites for the World Cup, could only manage a draw in their opening Group E match against Switzerland as Neymar played in just his second game since breaking a bone in his foot in February. “It’s still the same prognosis. He played his first 90 minutes [against Switzerland] in three and a half months,” Tite said in a news conference. “There…
France are through to the last 16 of the World Cup after beating Peru 1-0 in Ekatrinburg thanks to a first-half Kylian Mbappe strike. It was not pretty at times, but Les Bleus got the job done after Didier Deschamps made two changes to the starting XI that beat Australia in the Group C opener last Saturday. The result and qualification. It might not have been the sexiest win, but France have made it out of the group stage after two matches and will advance in top spot if they can avoid defeat against Denmark. With the pressure well and…
Hugo Lloris has praised Peru for their effort and called the match like playing an away game after Les Bleus won 1-0 in Yekaterinburg on Thursday to move to the top of Group C and confirm the South Americans exit before the round of 16. Kylian Mbappe’s first-half strike secured all three points for the French and Lloris, who made an excellent low save to deny opposing captain Paolo Guerrero in the first half, admitted that the Peruvians did not give up without a fight. “Peru were aggressive, as we expected them to be,” the Tottenham Hotspur keeper told journalists…
Patrice Evra has said he mocked Arsenal as a “baby team” when Robin van Persie joined Manchester United — and that the striker “understood straight away” what he meant. Van Persie left Arsenal in 2012 after turning down a contract extension, saying the club’s ambition didn’t match his own. He signed for United instead and won the Premier League title in his first season there — which proved to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s last as a manager. When Evra highlighted the work ethic United had under Ferguson, he recalled how he and Van Persie talked about the differences from Arsenal,…
Four years ago, Ahmed Musa scored two spectacular goals as Nigeria came within a Marcos Rojo header of tying Argentina and finishing as group winners at the World Cup in Brazil. Instead, the defender scored from a corner kick, and the Super Eagles lost 3-2. They advanced in second place, having beaten Bosnia in the second game of the group, but had to contend with France in the Last 16 and lost 2-0. The CSKA Moscow forward was unplayable against Messi and co., and could well have had a hat trick. But between then and very recently, a combination of…
Recent reports have suggested that Manchester United are looking to add not one Brazilian midfielder to their ranks, but two. Much has been written about Fred, acquired from Shakhtar Donetsk, but Chelsea’s Willian could prove an even more versatile signing. It is unclear why Chelsea would contemplate letting him go, but if United have a chance to buy him they should take it. Willian is the perfect Jose Mourinho player: in the sense that he is tactically intelligent, works extremely hard in defence and attack, and does not need to be integrated into complex attacking systems in order to thrive.…
Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli took full blame for Argentina’s embarrassing 3-0 loss to Croatia in their second Group D game on Thursday. The South Americans crumbled after an awful error from goalkeeper Willy Caballero led to Ante Redic’s second-half opener in Nizhny Novgorod. Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic then added two more goals late to put the game out of reach, with Argentina defenders appearing to give up on Rakitic’s stoppage-time strike. Speaking to reporters after the match, Sampaoli said the responsibility for his side’s below-par performance falls squarely on him. “I am the only one responsible for making the…
Gerard Pique has said he is willing to speak with the Barcelona hierarchy about his role in a documentary in which Antoine Griezmann turned down an offer from the club. Griezmann revealed he would stay at Atletico Madrid last week in “The Decision,” which was produced by Kosmos Studios, a company owned by Pique. Barca vice-president Jordi Mestre said earlier this week that the club planned to speak to Pique and Samuel Umtiti, who publicised his France teammate’s programme via social media, about their involvement after the World Cup. “They have my number, they can call me to talk,” Pique…
Luka Modric said Croatia “cut off” Lionel Messi from the ball but insisted his side’s 3-0 win over Argentina was not as straightforward as it appeared. Croatia limited Messi to only one shot after the Argentina talisman took 11 in their first game, a 1-1 draw with Iceland, and Modric said it all went according to plan. “This result and Argentina’s poor display was due to our good game, our compact block all over the pitch, particularly when we didn’t have the ball,” Modric said in his postgame news conference. “We cut off Messi, stopped him receiving the ball. He’s…
Nigeria captain John Mikel Obi says he will play anywhere on the pitch if that is what it takes to help the Super Eagles win. Chatter in the media and among fans after the Croatia loss has been that Gernot Rohr wrongly deployed Mikel as an attacking rather than a defensive midfielder in the 2-0 defeat. José Mourinho, who coached Mikel through his formative years and all the way to maturity while at Chelsea, added more fuel to the fire by saying that Nigeria “lost a great 6 to get a bad 10”. In response to a question by KweséESPN…
Dayo Adeyeye on Monday accused Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State of promoting violence in the state. The former Minister of State for Works said in Ado-Ekiti that the governor should be held responsible for the destruction of the campaign materials of the APC candidate in the July 14 election, Dr Kayode Fayemi. He said in a statement issued by his Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Omoniyi Ojo, that the governor was also heating up the polity with the threats to the perceived enemies of the administration.