Kylian Mbappe has come under fire from the French press for his comments ahead of his country's Nations League clash with Italy.
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Real Madrid has officially announced that midfielder Luka Modric has signed a new one-year contract extension to stay with the Spanish giants.
It will mark the 10th season that the Croatian has spent with Real after making his way over from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, confirming what many had suspected he’d do for quite some time now.
A few years back it seemed likely that Modric would leave and could potentially even make his way over to Inter Milan. Now, he looks set to stay, and potentially even retire in Spain.
He will go down in history as one of the best midfielders in his generation and rightly so, but it ll be interesting to see what he can accomplish before he officially hangs up his boots.
Madrid are smart to keep him on the books as a veteran…
Cristiano Ronaldo s lawyer says the Juventus forward vehemently denies a rape allegation and claims statements reportedly originating from the player are fabricated .
American Kathryn Mayorga has accused Ronaldo of sexually assaulting her in a hotel in Las Vegas in 2009, something the Portuguese has strenuously refuted.
German publication Der Spiegel first reported the claims, which also included the suggestion Ronaldo paid Ms Mayorga $375,000 in 2010 as part of a privacy agreement, preventing her from going public with the allegations. Ms Mayorga filed a lawsuit last month in an attempt to quash that agreement while Las Vegas police have re-opened an investigation.
Ronaldo s lawyer Peter Christiansen confirmed the payment was made to Ms Mayorga, but criticised a…
Prediction: Shamrock Rovers to win 4-0
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Shamrock Rovers and University College Dublin will lock horns with each other in the League of Ireland Premier Division this week. The match between Stephen Bradley’s side and Andrew Myler’s team will take place at the Tallaght Stadium in Tallaght, South Dublin and is scheduled to kick off at 8pm UK time on Friday.
Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers are one of the biggest and most well-known clubs in the Republic of Ireland and regularly challenge for the title. The Hoops won the League of Ireland Premier Division title last season, and it is very likely that they will do the same this time around. Rovers became the champions of the Republic of Ireland in 2020 and 2021 as well.
Ste…
Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a hefty instant return on their €20million investment in Erling Haaland as the 19-year-old wonderkid produced a debut to savour on Saturday.
Introduced as a second-half substitute with Lucien Favre s side 3-1 down at Augsburg, Haaland promptly scored a hat-trick to inspire a 5-3 victory.
The Norway international s first moments in Dortmund colours are sure to live long in the memory and he is in good company when it comes to elite strikers announcing their arrival with a bang.
Here, we look back at some other standout debuts.
Wayne Rooney
The 18-year-old Rooney arrived at Manchester United from Everton amid huge fanfare after starring for England at Euro 2004, but he also suffered a metatarsal injury early in the Three…
No close season seems complete without a transfer saga.
This window has seen Neymar take centre stage and not for the first time in his career either as we waited to find out his location by the end of September 2.
Now we know. Despite all the speculation, and even with the media suggesting half of the Barcelona squad could be moving in the opposite direction, the Brazilian forward will not be back at Camp Nou but instead remain at Paris Saint-Germain at least for the next few months.
The story had more twists than the career of a rollercoaster designer. It was on, then off. Then back on again. Meanwhile, almost as a sideshow while the window remained open, the two clubs happened to start playing competitive games again in their domestic leagues.
Here, …
Duncan Ferguson has left his post as head coach of Forest Green.
The Gloucestershire club appointed the 51-year-old Scot in January but he was unable to keep them in League One, with Rovers winning just six of their 46 games.
“It had been a privilege to work with Dunc these last few months and this was a very difficult decision to make,” Rovers chairman Dale Vince said.
“I’m grateful to Dunc for joining us in such difficult circumstances and for all of his hard work at the club.
“But I feel this is overall the right decision for everyone and I wish Dunc well in his next coaching role. We are parting as friends. You can’t ask for much more than that.”
Forest Green have previously demonstrated a desire to steer away from the convention…
Lionel Messi is the world s best player because he is always a step ahead of everyone else , according to Inter striker Lautaro Martinez.
Martinez had been tipped to join his compatriot at Barcelona during the transfer window, but the Catalans were unable to strike a deal with the Nerazzurri even after Messi had ended his attempt to leave Camp Nou.
Still, Messi and Martinez have played together for Argentina since the latter made his international debut back in 2018.
The 23-year-old says he always tries to learn from the six-time Ballon d Or winner – a player he claims understands football on a different level to his contemporaries.
I know Leo more from the times we ve been team-mates for the Argentina national team rather than from havin…
Robbie Kruse scored his first A-League goal since 2011 to fire Melbourne Victory to a 1-0 win over Perth Glory that lifts them above their opponents into sixth.
Kruse, making his first start since rejoining the club in July after eight years away, tapped in from a few yards out with 33 minutes played for what proved to be the only goal of Friday s game at AAMI Park.
Neil Kilkenny went close with a long-range attempt, but Kruse soon found a way through up the other end after being teed up by Andrew Nabbout.
Glory had lost just one of their last 18 away league matches and nearly kept that record intact as Bruno Fornaroli rattled the post five minutes into the second half.
A good chance also came and went for Alex Grant, whose looping header skimmed the cr…
Eastleigh earned a vital point in their National League survival bid as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with Hartlepool.
Hartlepool took the lead in the 19th minute when Joe Grey rounded off a well-worked team move by slotting home from inside the box.
Eastleigh had a chance to get on level terms with 13 minutes to play when they were awarded a penalty for a handball inside the area.
Chris Maguire, who joined Hartlepool on a short-term contract in 2022 but was not allowed to play due to a Football Association betting charge, made no mistake from the spot and slid it into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1 and leave them three points above the drop zone.
…
Napoli head coach Gennaro Gattuso believes Zlatan Ibrahimovic is better now than he was 10 to 12 years ago following his match-winning display for Milan.
Ibrahimovic scored twice as Milan returned to the top of the Serie A standings with a 3-1 win over 10-man Napoli on Sunday.
Evergreen Milan star Ibrahimovic became the oldest player to score at least 10 goals in the first eight Serie A matchdays, the 39-year-old surpassing Lazio s Silvio Piola (29 years old in 1942-43) for the record.
Ibrahimovic – who struck in the 20th and 54th minutes before hobbling off – also matched Gunnar Nordahl for second-most Serie A goals from the first eight games played of a season by a Milan player, only adrift of Marco Van Basten (12 in 1992-93).
10 Zlatan is the olde…