David Moyes admitted it was “surreal” to walk out at the Eden Arena in Prague preparing for his first European final, the “biggest moment” of his career.
Moyes’ West Ham face Italian side Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final in the Czech capital on Wednesday night.
The 60-year-old, who began his managerial career with Preston in 1998, is yet to lift a major piece of silverware, the Community Shield with Manchester United in 2013 notwithstanding.
Moyes is looking to become the first British manager since Sir Alex Ferguson, the man he replaced at the then champions, to lift a trophy, and join the former United boss in the pantheon of great Scottish managers in the English game.
Moyes, who has attended plenty of European finals in his r…
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has offered his unconditional support to Russia s hosting of the 2018 World Cup.
Recent reports suggested some European nations would consider boycotting the tournament due to the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.
However, Blatter warned against such action on Tuesday, claiming that nothing good would come of it and comparing the situation to Russia s hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
FIFA unconditionally supports the staging of the World Cup by Russia, he said. A boycott will never give any positive effect. We trust the country, its government.
Russia is the world s biggest country. You know, Russia is in the eye of the international media. Football cannot only unite Russia but show the whole world that it is stronger tha…
Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes has been ruled out of Euro 2024 after picking up an injury in training on Friday.
While preparing for their upcoming friendly against Gibraltar, Dykes left the training pitch on a stretcher with an apparent knee injury.
On Saturday, Scotland confirmed that the 28-year-old will miss the tournament, though the injury has not been specified.
Dykes has scored nine goals for Scotland in 36 appearances, and played in all eight of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, scoring once.
Steve Clarke s side will begin the tournament against hosts Germany in the opening match on June 14.
Following an injury in training yesterday, Lyndon Dykes has been ruled out of the squad for UEFA EURO 2024.
We’re gutted for you, Lyndon, but know…
Wayne Rooney has no intention to come out of international retirement to try and help England at the 2018 World Cup should they qualify.
England s record goalscorer called time on his career with the national team in August after falling out of favour with Gareth Southgate due to a lack of playing time at Manchester United.
Two goals in his first two matches for Everton this season had led to calls for a recall, but Rooney retired before Southgate named his squad to play Malta and Slovakia.
And the 31-year-old insists there will be no come back to help England in Russia next year, the striker believing it is time for the next generation to take the team forward.
My mind is made up, Rooney, who was charged with drink driving on Friday, told talkSPORT. I h…
Best odds: 6/4
Bookmaker:
After navigating contrasting paths in the group stage, Spain and the Euro 2024 underdogs Georgia will clash in a last-16 matchup in Cologne on Sunday evening.
Spain topped Group B with an unblemished record, showcasing their strength by winning all their matches. In contrast, Georgia pulled off a remarkable upset to defeat Portugal, securing their spot in the knockout stage. The two sides now compete for a coveted place in the quarterfinals.
Spain
Securing victories in all three group games of a European Championship for the first time since their era of dominance began in 2008, Spain comfortably advanced to the knockout stages of Euro 2024. With top spot in Group B already assured, Luis de la Fuente took the opportunity to rot…
Lucas Paqueta scored a last-gasp penalty as Brazil twice came from behind to draw 3-3 with Spain in a thrilling friendly at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Paqueta converted with one of the last kicks of the game, less than 10 minutes after Rodri thought he had grabbed the winner for Spain in their first meeting with Brazil for 11 years.
Rodri had opened the scoring from the spot before Dani Olmo s strike doubled Spain s advantage.
Rodrygo issued an immediate response to halve the deficit and Brazil wonderboy Endrick scored for the second game running to level the score, paving the way for the late drama.
Having missed an early opportunity when he failed to test Brazil goalkeeper Bento, Lamine Yamal was at the heart of Spain s opener when, in the 11th minute, he w…
Best odds: 4/6
Bookmaker:
VfL Bochum will play host to Fortuna Dusseldorf at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion in the first leg of the Bundesliga relegation play-off on Thursday night.
The hosts are aiming to retain their top-flight status for next season, while the visitors aspire to return to Germany s top tier for the first time in five years.
VfL Bochum
Bochum s three-year stay in the Bundesliga is at risk after slipping into the bottom three on the final day of the regular season, following a heavy 4-1 defeat at Werder Bremen last weekend.
The Blues started the day in 14th place, one point clear of the danger zone, but defeats coupled with victories for Union Berlin and Mainz 05 relegated them to the playoff spot for the first time since 2011.
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The entire month of football has come down to this single moment in Paris with host nation France locking horns with Euro 2016’s ugly ducklings Portugal.
France have had a successful campaign thus far and are keen to make one more step towards lifting the trophy in front of their own people. Didier Deschamp’s men will be highly motivated and Portugal are in for a hell of a fight.
The Selecao have reached the final with a single win in normal time and are the tournament’s villans at this point with the entire football community cheering against them. It will not prevent Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates from putting in their best performance and France will have to be wary of the challenge.
Our friends from Coral believe France got what it takes to win in…
Virgil van Dijk believes the Netherlands may have overestimated their qualities ahead of Euro 2024, having scraped through Group D in third behind Austria and France.
A 3-2 defeat to Austria in their final group game saw Ronald Koeman s Oranje pass up the opportunity to top a difficult pool and instead finish as one of the tournament s best third-placed teams.
That could end up benefitting the side as they have landed on the opposite side of the draw to Germany, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium.
The Oranje were given a 5.1% chance of winning the tournament by the Opta supercomputer before a ball was kicked, but their hopes are now estimated at 7% ahead of their last-16 tie with Romania.
The team s performances have been fiercely criticised by the Dutch…
The 2010 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa will leave the legacy of security in the country and of pride on the continent, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Monday.
There will be a double legacy. There will be the one in South Africa. There will be extremely tight security. We hope that this security will be maintained after the World Cup in order to ensure that we have left a legacy, he said in an interview to mark 500 days to go to the event.
The other legacy is for the whole of Africa. We want them to be proud and be able to say we Africans have organised the world s most important sporting event: the FIFA World Cup, Blatter said in the exclusive interview to FIFA.com, copies of which were were released here.
We have to trust in the African ability …