Diego Maradona believes the 2018 World Cup can still be Argentina star Lionel Messi s tournament.
Argentina battled into the last 16 in Russia, needing a dramatic 2-1 win over Nigeria to clinch second spot in Group D with their first victory of the tournament.
Under pressure to win a first senior trophy with Argentina, Messi opened his account at Russia 2018 with a classy strike in that success.
Maradona, an Argentina great who won the 1986 World Cup, feels this year could still be Messi s, as his nation prepare to face France in the last 16 on Saturday.
Yes, of course, it can be, he told Marca when asked if it could still be Messi s tournament.
This is just beginning, it s in diapers. Now is when we start playing.
Maradona added: No-on…
Borussia Dortmund s Julian Weigl has signed a new deal, tying him to Signal Iduna Park until 2021.
Weigl has made 73 appearances for Dortmund since joining from 1860 Munich at the start of last season, anchoring Thomas Tuchel s midfield.
His performances at Dortmund have been rewarded with a senior Germany debut, while Real Madrid and Barcelona have been credited with an interest in him.
Tuchel said earlier this month that Weigl is yet to reach a level suitable for the Spanish giants, but team-mate Marc Barta has compared the 21-year-old with his former Barca colleague Sergio Busquets.
I feel very well cared for at Dortmund, both in a sporting sense and the whole environment, Weigl said.
It was a logical decision for me and I did not have to th…
Joshua Zirkzee marked his first Netherlands start with a goal and an assist as Ronald Koeman s side kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Manchester United forward opened the scoring early on at the Philips Stadion.
A quiet start to proceedings burst into life in the 13th minute as Simons deflected effort dropped kindly for Zirkzee, who nodded the ball beyond Nikola Vasilj.
But with their second shot on target, Bosnia snatched an equaliser after Denis Huseinbasic s defence-splitting pass picked out Ermedin Demirovic, who finished smartly.
Teed up by Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts advantage before teeing up Cody Gakpo, who maintained the goalscoring form he displayed at Euro 2024.
Bos…
Istanbul will finally get to stage the Champions League final in 2023, UEFA has announced.
The Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Turkey was originally due to put on Europe s biggest club match in 2020, only for the coronavirus pandemic to mean the closing stages of the tournament were shifted to Lisbon.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were all played in Portugal s capital, with Istanbul awarded the 2021 final instead.
However, that too was taken away when UEFA moved the match between Chelsea and Manchester City to Porto, this time because Turkey was on the United Kingdom s travel red list amid the continuing COVID-19 health crisis.
Supporters of the two English clubs would have been unable to make the trip to Istanbul, but restrictions on travel to P…
Gareth Southgate has offered heartfelt thanks to England fans for their support ahead of a first major tournament final appearance in 55 years.
The Three Lions have played five of their six games en route to the showpiece fixture of Euro 2020 in front of a partisan crowd at Wembley Stadium.
And they will contest a sixth at their home ground on Sunday when they take on Italy aiming to win a first piece of silverware since the 1966 World Cup.
Ahead of that showdown, Southgate has placed on his record his appreciation for the backing he and his team have received both from the stands and further afield.
He said: I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to everybody for the incredible support we ve received throughout this tournament.
We…
Borussia Dortmund kicked off their domestic campaign with a relatively straightforward 2-0 victory at Chemnitzer in the DFB-Pokal first round.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 25th minute but, with less than a week to go until Dortmund s first Bundesliga fixture against Borussia Monchengladbach, Thomas Tuchel s side resisted the urge to overexert themselves in search of more goals.
That said, the visitors were in control for the most part and rarely looked in danger of surrendering their slender advantage.
Marco Reus and Ilkay Gundogan both came close to doubling Dortmund s lead either side of the break, while third-tier Chemnitzer briefly threatened an equaliser late on.
But Henrikh Mkhitaryan produced a neat finish in the 82nd minu…
Pep Guardiola spoke of his pride after Manchester City thrashed Fluminense 4-0 to win the Club World Cup for the first time on Friday.
It was the club’s fifth trophy of a memorable 2023 after their previous successes in the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and European Super Cup.
Julian Alvarez began the rout after just 40 seconds, teed up another for Phil Foden and then wrapped up a one-sided victory in the closing minutes. City also benefited from an own goal as they overran their Brazilian opponents.
Your 2023 champions!
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
City manager Guardiola, who had previously won the competition three times, told the club’s website: “I am so proud of this club. What we have done is an outstanding achievement.<…
Opportunity knocks for Mac Jones as the New England Patriots travel to MetLife Stadium to take on the revamped offense of the New York Giants in preseason action Sunday.
Jones has one more game to impress and try to win the No. 1 QB job in New England. However, Cam Newton is back after a brief protocol absence and both quarterbacks will likely see the field Sunday.
The visitors opened as 4.5-point betting favorites before dropping a point, while the total has been bet up to 35.5.
Here are our free NFL picks and predictions for Patriots vs. Giants on August 29.
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As Week 17 is upon us, we look at a week with important playoff implications and potentially some matchups that could pose as playoff previews as the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals do battle and the red-hot Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals meet as we see two teams trending in opposite directions.
Here’s a look at my favorite spreads, player props, and totals I’ll be targeting in Week 17.
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There are a lot of uncertainties with the Thursday night game between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, but with Deebo Samuel out, there are some targets to go around and I don’t think the books have corrected the numbers enough when comparing them to the SF pass-catchers Week 12 totals.
Here are my NFL player prop picks for Thursday Night Football’s battle between the 49ers vs. Seahawks. Don’t forget to also check out Jason Logan’s 49ers vs. Seahawks TNF picks and predictions as well as Jared Hochman’s three favorite Christian McCaffrey TNF spotlight props!
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