Gareth Southgate has been pleased by England’s progress during an unbeaten 2023 but knows there is work to do as the team tries to win the European Championship.
The Euro 2020 runners-up are among the favourites to win in Germany next summer but seemed to lose their edge after sealing qualification with two matches to spare.
Friday’s uninspiring 2-0 Wembley win against minnows Malta was followed three days later by an underwhelming 1-1 draw in North Macedonia as the curtain came down on an undefeated year.
November’s double-header will not live long in the memory but Southgate has “learned a lot” from the fixtures, with attention now intensifying on his fourth – and possibly final – major tournament in the dugout.
“We wanted to look at a f…
What the papers say
Paris St Germain and Newcastle are believed to be leading the chase for Kalvin Phillips. According to The Telegraph, the Manchester City midfielder is likely to leave the club this month in search of regular football, having made just two starts for City since his £45million move from Leeds 18 months ago.
The Hull Daily Mail reports Burnley winger Manuel Benson has entered talks with Hull City. The paper says the development comes after the two sides verbally agreed on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Manchester City are reportedly among a wealth of teams interested in 18-year-old Lille defender Leny Yoro. Le 10 Sport, via the Manchester Evening News, says Liverpool and Paris St Germain are also tracking Yoro, but Lille are unlikely to enter…
France got back to winning ways as they came from behind to beat Chile 3-2 at Stade Velodrome.
Les Bleus endured a poor start for the second time in as many games, falling behind after just six minutes in Marseille through Marcelino Nunez s finish.
However, they turned the contest on its head before half-time with Youssouf Fofana equalising and Randal Kolo Muani heading them in front.
Olivier Giroud ultimately got the winner for Didier Deschamps side who, despite Dario Osorio s late strike, completed their Euro 2024 preparations with a ninth victory in 12 games since their 2022 World Cup final defeat to Argentina.
France, who conceded after just seven seconds against Germany on Saturday, were punished for another slow start as a neat one-two down the righ…
Newcastle United are back among Europe s elite and Harry Redknapp sees no reason why Magpies supporters will care about their Saudi Arabia-backed ownership if their success continues.
Eddie Howe s side finished fourth in the Premier League last season, qualifying for the Champions League in their first full campaign under the majority control of Saudi Arabia s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The Magpies were flirting with relegation when a PIF-led consortium took charge in 2021, with signings including Bruno Guimaraes eventually helping them to safety.
Sandro Tonali, Alexander Isak and others have since joined as Newcastle continue to invest heavily, though their owners have attracted plenty of criticism from supporters of other clubs.
Saudi Arabia has been…
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Smelling a real chance on foreign soil this week, defending world champions France will make the trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina for a Group D qualifying showdown on Wednesday night.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Starting with the hosts, while Bosnia-Herzegovina might have managed to snatch a late point away against Finland in their opening qualifying contest last week, The Dragons are in the midst of a real blip. Facing what appears to be a stern test in Group D, a group that they share with the likes of France, Ukraine and Finland, Ivaylo Petev s side know that have a real uphill battle if they re to shock many and secure a route to the 2022 World Cup Finals. Left heartbroken back in October after suffering a penalties defeat against Northern Irel…
Luis Suarez was Barcelona s hero as the striker scored twice – including a late winner – to secure a 2-1 Champions League victory over Inter at Camp Nou, with Lionel Messi impressing upon his return from injury.
Although Messi had been considered a doubt after sustaining a thigh injury against Villarreal, he came straight into the line-up for his second start of the season and set Suarez up for his 84th-minute decider, as Barca just about did enough to see off the Serie A leaders.
An Argentinian No.10 was on the scoresheet in only the second minute of the match, but it was not the returning Messi, as Lautaro Martinez got his first ever Champions League goal.
Barca – who were dominated in the first half – took charge after the interval and restored par…
Prediction: Spain win
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Now that we have the full line-up of 24 countries that will take part in next year s UEFA Euro 2021 tournament, it s time to turn our attention back to the UEFA Nations League. This competition, that is still in its infancy, proved last night why it can serve as such a valuable tool for teams that are looking for an alternate route into a major international tournament. Today, we re going to take a look at what should be an exciting UNL clash between two nations that won their Euro 2021 qualifying group Switzerland and Spain.
Switzerland
For the last decade or so the Swiss have been known as the what if? country in European football. They always seem to do really well in qualifying, but then when it comes…
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed Manchester United s display in Saturday s derby as the best of his tenure against Manchester City, despite a tedious 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.
The Manchester rivals looked every inch the seventh and eighth best teams in the Premier League over the course of a cagey affair, with each side managing a shot apiece on target in either half.
United thought they would have a chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot early in the second half after Kyle Walker brought down Marcus Rashford, but replays showed the England forward was offside before being fouled.
United beat City in three of their four meetings last season, including both Premier League matches, but Solskjaer lavished praise on what his players produced on the back of their…
Former Juventus and Inter full-back Kwadwo Asamoah has announced his retirement from playing at the age of 33.
Asamoah, who was capped 74 times by Ghana and appeared at two World Cups, most recently featured for Cagliari at club level in the 2020-21 season.
He confirmed on social media he has officially called time on one chapter of his career and will now become a player agent.
Versatile defender Asamoah started his career at Udinese and made 279 appearances in Serie A – the most for an African player in the competition s history.
Asamoah joined Juve from Udinese in July 2012 and won 13 titles across six seasons with the Turin giants before spending two years with Inter.
Injuries curtailed his time at Cagliari, for whom he made his final appear…
Romelu Lukaku scored twice in the first half of Inter s Serie A clash with Lazio on Sunday to bring up the 300th goal of his career.
The Belgium striker opened the scoring from the penalty spot at San Siro and added a second late in the opening period the goal allowed to stand after initially being ruled out for offside.
Lukaku moved onto 56 goals for Inter in all competitions since joining from Manchester United in August 2019, 16 of those coming in the league this season.
That is one fewer than the 27-year-old has scored for his national side at senior level, though he still has some way to go before equalling the 87 netted for Everton between 2013 and 2017.
Lukaku s other goals were scored for United (42), Anderlecht (41) and West Brom (17). He failed …