Robin van Persie has been recalled to the Netherlands squad for for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against France and Bulgaria, with Ryan Babel also back in the international fold after a six-year absence.
Van Persie s last outing for the Oranje came in October 2015, when he scored his 50th international goal in a 3-2 defeat to Czech Republic.
Babel s time out of the side goes back much further to a 3-0 friendly loss against Germany in November 2011.
The Besiktas winger expressed his frustration at being left out for Netherlands end-of-season friendlies against Morocco and Ivory Coast but has won the nod from head coach Dick Advocaat this time around.
There is no place for Virgil van Dijk – the centre-back currently out of first-team action at Sou…
England s friendly clash with Germany at Wembley on Friday will see a video assistant referee (VAR) used in an official match for the first time in the United Kingdom.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) agreed to a two-year test of VAR in 2016, making goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity cases reviewable by match officials.
VARs and other officials do not have the power to insist that the referee consults video evidence of an incident, but they are able to recommend that a decision is looked at.
Wembley has seen VAR used once before, with a charity match in October playing the role of testing ground for the system.
Fittingly, England and Germany matches have a history of controversial incidents which would have been…
Rafinha has warned his Bayern Munich team-mates they cannot afford to give Claudio Pizarro any space in Saturday s Bundesliga clash with Werder Bremen.
The Peruvian attacker was deemed surplus to requirements at Bayern last season, but has shown in 2015-16 that he remains a force to be reckoned with.
Pizarro has claimed 12 goals and two assists in his last 11 appearances in all competitions and is the Bundesliga s top scorer in 2016 with nine goals, one more than Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski.
The 37-year-old will be looking to add to his tally at the weekend, but Rafinha is determined to keep his former team-mate quiet at the Allianz Arena.
Claudio s goal at the weekend goes to show yet again that goalscoring is his speciality. He s ruthless in the …
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is to appear in court to answer accusations of tax fraud in Madrid later on Friday.
The 54-year-old was summoned at the end of September over allegations he defrauded Spanish tax authorities of €3.3million between 2011 and 2012, while he was head coach of Real Madrid.
When the charges were announced in June, Mourinho s representatives issued a statement denying he had been contacted by prosecutors and insisting his taxes had been paid in full.
United altered their pre-match media duties earlier this week due to the court hearing, which is scheduled for 10am local time in Pozuelo de Alcarcon.
Addressing the impending court case at a media briefing on Thursday, Mourinho said: No [it has not been a distraction].
Indonesia have set out on the ambitious task of appointing Jose Mourinho as their new national team coach, according to youth and sports minister Imam Nahrawi.
Indonesia ranked 185th in the world are banned by FIFA from competing in international fixtures, including qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup, due to the government s interference in the country s national league last year.
Nahrawi said he is keen to return enthusiasm in Indonesia s national team, starting with appointing an experienced foreign coach to take over the reins.
This plan has been discussed with President Joko Widodo and the Chairman of the Indonesian Olympics Committee, Erick Thohir, even though this won’t be easy, Nahrawi said on Tuesday.
Our national tea…
England setting the bar after decades of underachievement as Walker suggests ´it means something now
Kyle Walker feels England have set the bar for future generations at Euro 2020 following decades of disappointment and is convinced a rediscovered sense of national pride in the team has inspired them.
England beat Denmark 2-1 after extra time on Wednesday to secure a first ever appearance in the European Championship final, having not reached the showpiece of any major international tournament since winning the World Cup in 1966.
That 55-year period is the longest gap between major finals for any European nation, and now only Italy stand between England and the trophy.
The closest England had ever got to winning the competition before 2021 was in 1996 when they fell at the semi-finals stage, with the so-called Golden Generation that followed defined by their und…
Sweden international Albin Ekdal has fond memories of his time alongside Giorgio Chiellini at Juventus, but has warned the defender can be a swine on the pitch ahead of his country s euro 2016 encounter with Italy.
Ekdal joined Juventus from Brommapojkarna ahead of the 2008-09 campaign to become team-mates with Chiellini, before leaving the Turin side for Siena the season after.
Chiellini treated me, maybe not as a little brother but like a youth team player, Ekdal told Expressen.
He drove me to training when I didn t have a driving licence and so on.
On the pitch he can be a swine, though. He knows that himself but then everyone wants a player like that.
We will have to try to wind him up but he is not an unwise swine. He doesn t do much off …
Andres Iniesta said Spain were too focused on Italy after the two-time European champions crashed out of Euro 2016 in the round of 16.
Title holders Spain were sent packing from the tournament on Monday, accounted for 2-0 by the efficient Italians at Stade de France in Paris.
Goals from Giorgi Chiellini and Graziano Pelle condemned Spain to a last-16 exit and star midfielder Iniesta bemoaned the fact that the 2008 and 2012 champions strayed from their natural game.
There s little to say. We have to accept the disappointment and that they were more efficient in the key moments and they outdid us, Iniesta said.
I think we were focused too much on what they were doing and sometimes that can punish you.
In the first half we got it wrong, we were lo…
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Mallorca are set to host Valencia at the Iberostar Stadium in Palma de Mallorca on Thursday evening, in a game within round 36 of the 2022/23 season in La Liga. It will be a contest between the two teams to determine if either will keep a bleak theoretical chance (all realistic chances are gone) of playing in Europe next term, but interestingly enough, one of them still needs to secure survival in the Spanish top flight.
Mallorca
With two wins, one draw and three defeats from the last six matches, Mallorca cannot be said to be on a good run of form right now. They beat Getafe at home by 3-1, lost away to Atletico Madrid by 3-1, drew 1-1 at home against Athletic Bilbao, lost 2-1 away to Girona, beat Cadiz at home by 1-0, and eventually…
The Chinese Super League might be buzzing after transfer records were sent tumbling ahead of the new season, but a crumbling infrastructure underneath might threaten its long-term prospects.
After CSL champions Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao sold top scorer Elkeson to Shanghai SIPG for a record €18million in the name of supporting Chinese teams to compete in the AFC Champions League, and for the national glory , the ante was swiftly raised.
Chelsea selling Ramires to Jiangsu Suning (€26m), Jackson Martinez s €42m move to Evergrande and then Alex Teixeira joining Ramires in Nanjing after a €50m move from Shakhtar Donetsk saw the CSL s transfer record demolished four times in under a fortnight as China muscled in on the European market.
The government-backed s…