France have made it through to the last eight after beating Nigeria with two goals in the final 11 minutes. It was the Africans who dominated the early goings and it was goal hungry Ahmed Musa who came close in the 19th minute when he saw his prodded effort go close. That effort came just before he set up Emmanuel Emenike, but the busty striker was unable to direct his header at the back post. France looked jaded and tired in the Brazilian heat, but they did create a first half chance through Paul Pogba, who raced forward to find…
Author: Staff Writer
Former Chelsea captain Ron Harris is of the view that England supporters who spent hundreds or even thousands on airfares and hotel costs for Brazil should be compensated by the players who let them down. Harris, 69, said people have saved their hard-earned cash and spent fortunes on travel costs to enable them to go to World Cup, only to be let down by lacklustre performances displayed by the England squad. This spectacle, in his view, served as very poor justice to those faithful supporters. He said the England players are due to receive hundreds of thousands of pounds for…
Italy’s veteran talisman Andrea Pirlo knows the secret to maintaining world class form in a player’s twilight years and it is all down to his leisurely legs, in the eyes of former playmaker Alan Hudson. Hudson, who played for Chelsea, Arsenal and Stoke City and is now a football pundit, described Italy captain Pirlo as a fine example of how top players should be in order to maintain their form if they wish to play international football well into their 30’s. He told Football Express News: “What’s so great about Pirlo, is he doesn’t waste all his energy running here,…
Torino president Urbano Cairo has insisted that he will do all he can to halt Alessio Cerci joining the likes of Manchester United this summer. Alessio Cerci finished the 2013/2014 season in superb form for Italian side Torino and quickly gained interest from a number of top European clubs, which included the likes of Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester United. And, it is the latter who have maintained interest with a source close to the club telling us last week that he remained on Louis van Gaal’s radar. The versatile attacker, who can operate out wide on both flanks or…
Atletico Madrid are to use their funds from the sale of Diego Costa to Chelsea on Manchester City’s Alvaro Negredo, according to AS. Spanish daily AS claim that the Spanish champions will make Negredo their first priority once the completion of Diego Costa’s move to Chelsea has been made. Officials from both Atletico and Chelsea are due to meet on Monday morning to discuss final terms on Costa’s move, with Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku expected to move to the Estadio Vicente Calderon. Lukaku’s arrival in Spain sees a direct replacement for Costa but it is understood that boss Diego Simeone…
Real Madrid have agreed to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos, according to Spanish daily Marca. The German midfielder has been linked with a summer move away from the Bundesliga champions since the turn of the year and whilst Manchester United were heavily linked, it is now being confirmed by Spanish reports that Real Madrid have signed the 24-year-old. Kroos, will see his current deal at the Allianz Arena expire next summer and failing to negotiate a new deal have prompted Madrid to negotiate a fee with Bayern Munich. The exact fee is set for around £25m, with the midfielder…
England may have invented the game of football, but their days of possessing world class talent are long gone and this is why they fell out of bed in Brazil, according to Chelsea legend Ron Harris. England found themselves dumped out of the World Cup during the early group stage of the competition, limping across the line in forth place behind Italy in third, Uruguay in second and Costa Rica in first. Former Chelsea captain Ron Harris, who served his time in the beautiful game during the 1960’s and 70’s, said the quality of players England possessed in his day…
Manchester City target Mehdi Benatia is becoming increasingly unsettled at Serie A side Roma, according to fresh reports in Italy. Il Tempo claims the Moroccan centre-half feels betrayed due to broken promised over a lucrative new contract and is anxious to leave the capital before the 2014-15 campaign gets started. However, there is something of a stalemate as Premier League champions City are yet to match Roma’s £32million valuation of the 27-year-old and the Italians are not willing to sell him on the cheap. The report reveals that the Blues have already made it clear they are willing to pay…
Liverpool will reportedly allow goalkeeper Pepe Reina to rejoin Napoli on loan if the Serie A outfit agree to pay more than half of his wages. The Spaniard spent last season with the Italian side, who funded 50 per cent of his salary for the duration of the 2013-14 campaign. However, according to Il Mattino, the Reds will only grant their former manager Rafael Benitez permission to lure his compatriot back to Naples if the Italians make room in their budget to cover the majority of Reina’s earnings. He is thought to be on a lucrative contract worth in excess…
Juventus know they face a major battle with Arsenal to secure the services of Barcelona attacker Alexis Sanchez, according to fresh reports in the Italian media. As Football Express News reported last night, the north London outfit have made the Chile international one of their leading summer transfer targets. And this morning Mundo Deportivo claimed Barca have told the Gunners they must stump up even more money for him in light of his impressive displays in the World Cup. Italian source TuttoSport has now revealed that Turin giants Juve are fully aware that both Arsenal and Liverpool will fight them…