The odds on England winning next year s World Cup were cut Friday after a draw that was seen as handing Fabio Capello s squad a comfortable introduction to the tournament.

England were placed in group C with the United States, Algeria and Slovenia with their opening match against the Americans, in Rustenburg on June 12.

Although the United States were arguably the strongest team England could have faced from a pool comprising qualifiers from North and Central America and Asia, England will be comforted by the fact that they will face them in their opening match in the city where they plan to base themselves.

Capello s men will then take on Algeria, regarded as the weakest of the five African teams in the tournament, in Cape Town, and Slovenia, who qualified via …

Marseille must beat Toulouse on Saturday to delay Paris Saint-Germain s Ligue 1 title celebrations.

PSG s 19-year wait to be crowned domestic champions will come to an end if Marseille lose or if the capital club are victorious against Lyon on Sunday.
Carlo Ancelotti s side, unbeaten in eight, have not been afforded an easy ride by Elie Baup s outfit, who are on a nine-match unbeaten run and have conceded just two goals in that time.
They have refused to give up hope of reclaiming the prize they last earned in 2010 and the visit of mid-table Toulouse will hold no fear for them.
Third-placed Lyon have their own incentive for spoiling PSG s party, with Nice and Saint-Etienne, both playing Sunday, coveting their UEFA Champions League qualifying spot.
Nice head to relegation-threat…

Belgian champions Standard Liege began their 2009-2010 campaign with a Super Cup victory over Genk.

Wilfried Dalmat put Standard in the lead after 30 minutes, and Axel Witsel made it 2-0 on the hour mark.

It is Standard s fourth Super Cup victory, after having won the trophy in 1981, 1983 and 2008.

The Belgian league kicks off next Friday as Standard host newly promoted Sint-Truiden.

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Manchester City winger Leroy Sane has hailed David Silva s vision and feels there are few players who read the game as well as the Spain international.

Sane joined City from Schalke ahead of the 2016-17 campaign and he is impressed with the star-studded squad he has joined at the Etihad Stadium.

Here, the quality is incredible. All the players at City are famous players who play for their national team. So the technical quality here is high, Sane told the official City website.

David Silva has impressed me a lot because if you see how he plays, he always knows what he has to do next. If you see the boxes [passing drills in training], he is never in the box!

He is one of the players that really impressed me so far. He can read the game very well. He can…

Diego Simeone labelled former Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres as an absolute legend of football after the Spain great played the last game of his career on Friday.

Torres, 35, announced his decision to retire in June, targeting Sagan Tosu s clash with Vissel Kobe as the perfect match to finish with due to the presence of his former national team colleagues David Villa and Andres Iniesta.

Unfortunately for Torres, Tosu were on the end of a 6-1 hiding at home – Iniesta playing a key role, while the man of the moment failed to bring his career to a close with a goal.

Torres spent much of his career with Atletico, playing with and for Simeone at the club before moving to Japan in 2018.

And Simeone paid tribute to Torres in his news conference on Sat…

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson feels that his team are hitting form just as the season is beginning to get serious.

United have already lost five Premier League matches this season and were knocked out of the FA Cup at the third round stage by League One team Leeds.

Having lost in the Champions League at home to Besiktas and also suffered defeat in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final with Manchester City, United have had an unusually inconsistent opening to the campaign.

But, having beaten Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates last weekend, Ferguson s team are still firmly in the race for the Premier League title race with Chelsea.

They have also lined up a League Cup final date with Aston Villa and are through to the second round of the Champi…

England midfielder David Beckham is relishing the chance to play Champions League football again once he returns to AC Milan on his second loan spell in January.

Milan missed out on Champions League qualification last season but are on course to progress from the group stages this time around, allowing the 34-year-old to be eligible for the start of the knockout phase in February.

I ve not been involved for a few years now but I always enjoy Champions League games, said Beckham, who first joined the Serie A side from the Los Angeles Galaxy at the start of 2009.

A Champions League winner in 1999 with Manchester United, Beckham s last appearance in the competition came for Real Madrid in 2007, prior to joining the Galaxy that July.

They re different from…

Volker Finke has been axed as Cameroon coach, the nation s football federation announced on Friday.

The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) decided to part ways with Finke, two weeks before Cameroon s CAF World Cup qualifier against Niger, after an executive meeting.

Alexandre Belinga was appointed on a temporary basis, with fellow Cameroonian Bonaventure Djonkep his assistant ahead of a two-legged second-round tie against Niger, which gets underway on November 13 and concludes four days later.

Finke, who took the reins in May 2013, was under pressure following a number of poor results.

The 67-year-old German oversaw Cameroon s winless 2014 World Cup campaign, where they lost all three games against hosts Brazil, Mexico and Croatia.

Cameroon a…

Jurgen Klopp the new king of the Kop already seems to have the belief of everybody at Liverpool

When I heard Jurgen Klopp was heading for Anfield, I just held my head in my hands and thought why Liverpool? The German had a host of clubs to pick from and he chooses the ailing Merseyside giants.

I have always held the former-Dortmund boss in high esteem and seen him as some of a visionary when it comes to his teams style of play, so for him to turn up at Liverpool was very disappointing to me, as a fan of the club from across Stanley Park that is.

The Reds are unbeaten under Klopp so far and there are already signs that his team are moving in the right direction, much to my chagrin.

Liverpool host Crystal Palace later today looking to keep that good start …

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp expressed his confusion over England starting Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield against Andorra.

Alexander-Arnold occupied a first-half midfield position for Gareth Southgate s men in the 4-0 win before reverting to his usual full-back role in the second half.

The right-back has created more chances than any other player in the Premier League this season (15), while no player has provided more successful open-play crosses (six) than the 22-year-old.

As Liverpool look to extend their unbeaten run to 14 matches when they take on Leeds United on Sunday – the second-longest streak in England s top four tiers after Brentford Klopp questioned if the shift was necessary.

If you watch our games, Trent s position already change…