Full-back Marc Cucurella has said he “understands” criticism of Spain‘s World Cup performances, as the team prepares to play Austria in the round of 32. European champions Spain were unbeaten as they topped Group H, qualifying for Thursday’s game in Los Angeles, but haven’t looked at their brilliant best so far at the tournament. The squad trained at Dignity Health Sports Park — home of LA Galaxy — on Wednesday,…
ATLANTA — Thomas Tuchel has said it is “impossible” for England to adapt to the altitude ahead of Sunday’sround-of-16 World Cup clash with Mexico in Mexico City. The Three Lions set up a meeting with the World Cup co-hosts after coming from behind to beat Congo DR 2-1 in Atlanta on Wednesday. Brian Cipenga’s seventh-minute strike handed Congo DR a shock early lead but Harry Kane struck twice in the…
Wayne Rooney hailed “hero” Harry Kane after the England captain scored twice as the team came from behind to beat Congo DR 2-1 in their round-of-32 World Cup clash. The Bayern Munich striker led from the front in the second half with a header to cancel out Brian Cipenga‘s seventh-minute opener before a brilliant strike in the 86th minute set up a round-of-16 encounter with co-hosts Mexico. “His header was…
ATLANTA — Harry Kane saved England’s World Cup hopes with two late goals against Congo DR and according to his teammate Anthony Gordon, Kane is now playing at Lionel Messi-esque levels. Congo DR were on the verge of a monumental World Cup upset after Brian Cipenga opened the scoring after just seven minutes. England continued to pile pressure on Congo DR’s backline, but had to wait until the 75th minute…
Vitor Pereira said he was taken by “complete surprise and without any warning” after confirming his time as head coach of Nottingham Forest has come to an end effective immediately. Pereira signed an 18-month contract at the City Ground in February and guided Forest to Premier League survival and the Europa League semi-final. There was a break clause in his contract for June, and it is understood Forest informed the…
New Bayern Munich signing Ismael Saibari admits head coach Vincent Kompany played a key role in his decision to join from PSV Eindhoven. The 25-year-old Morocco forward, still at the World Cup, has signed a five-year contract in a deal reported to be worth up to £45 million ($60m). “As a child, you dream of signing a contract with a club like Bayern — everybody knows it’s one of the…
Aston Villa have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn a FIFA block preventing the club from registering 17-year-old forward Brian Madjo, who has been refused permission to play this year. Villa spent a reported €12 million ($13.6m) in January to buy the contract of north London-born Brian Madjo from French club Metz but have been unable to field him. FIFA blocked Madjo’s registration because its…
The Chancellor of Germany has been subject to derision online following a social media post in which he lauded his national team’s “team spirit” after their World Cup elimination — and claimed that the public were “thrilled.” Friedrich Merz, who took office in Berlin last year, praised Die Mannschaft shortly after their penalty shootout loss to Paraguay — which continued their torrid three-tournament streak without progression to the round of…
Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer insists he has “no regrets” after announcing his decision to retire from international duty – for the second time in his career – following Germany‘s “very painful” World Cup exit. The 40-year-old goalkeeper first walked away from his national team after the 2024 European Championship, but made a “conscious decision to play one more time” at the 2026 global showpiece. He called it quits again…
A 13-fold increase in abusive social media posts directed towards World Cup participants compared to the last tournament four years ago has been identified by football’s world governing body FIFA. The Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) operated by FIFA has shielded players from 89,000 posts verified as abusive during the opening round of the tournament. At the same stage of the 2022 finals in Qatar, 6,700 posts had been identified,…