Essam El Hadary will become the oldest player in World Cup history when he lines up for Egypt against Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The goalkeeper appeared five times in qualifying and, at 45 years and 161 days old, he will make his finals debut in Volgograd, with Egypt and Saudi Arabia playing just for pride having already been eliminated.
El Hadary takes the record from Faryd Mondragon, who appeared in goal for Colombia in 2014 just three days after his 43rd birthday.
There are three managers at Russia 2018 – Serbia s Mladen Krstajic, Aliou Cisse of Senegal and Belgium boss Roberto Martinez – who are younger than the Pharaohs keeper.
إليكم تشكيل لمباراة اليوم أمام
— Egypt National Football Team (@Pharaohs) <…
Crystal Palace have sacked Frank de Boer after his first four Premier League matches in charge all ended in defeats.
Palace became the first side in Premier League history to lose their opening four fixtures without scoring a goal and De Boer paid the price, with his three-year deal terminated after a mere 77 days in charge.
The Dutchman was appointed by Palace on June 26, replacing former England boss Sam Allardyce after his surprise retirement.
Allardyce s predecessor as England manager, Roy Hodgson, is viewed as an early frontrunner for the Selhurst Park post.
The 70-year-old last managed in the Premier League with West Brom before leading the Three Lions at Euro 2012 and he has been tipped to sign a two-year deal at Palace.
Amid mounting specu…
Pep Guardiola has no concerns over throwing Raheem Sterling into the mix at Anfield when Manchester City take on fellow Premier League title contenders Liverpool.
The England forward became a target for disgruntled Reds fans when he left Merseyside in 2015 and still has not been forgiven by some.
Sterling did not start in the Champions League clash away to his former club in April, but Guardiola cited tactical reasons for that decision.
Ahead of Sunday s showdown with Jurgen Klopp s side, who are also unbeaten in the league, Guardiola said of Sterling s potential Anfield return: It s not the first time.
34 Raheem Sterling has been directly involved in 34 Premier League goals since the start of last season (22 goals, 12 assists), a haul bettered only by M…
Charlie Austin s seventh goal in his last 10 Premier League starts rescued a point for Southampton, as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with Bournemouth.
Austin s return to the starting line-up has provided significant dividends for Mauricio Pellegrino, with Sunday s strike his third goal in as many games.
Southampton posed more of an early threat but Bournemouth were gifted the game s opening goal as Wesley Hoedt was caught in possession – Ryan Fraser the eventual benefactor as he swept home his first league goal since January.
It was not enough to secure a much-needed home win for Eddie Howe s side, though, as Southampton came roaring back after the break.
Austin was the man to eventually find a way through, his low strike beating the outstretched ha…
Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness welcomed Mesut Ozil s international retirement as long overdue in an extraordinary attack on the midfielder s performances for Germany.
Arsenal star Ozil cited a feeling of racism and disrespect as the motivation for his decision to step down from the national team, which he confirmed on Sunday in a series of statements posted on social media.
The 29-year-old claimed the media and German Football Federation (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel made him a scapegoat for Germany’s poor World Cup displays as part of a wider agenda against his Turkish roots.
Ozil had received criticism for posing in a photo with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan shortly before the World Cup.
III / III
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1…
Rony Lopes believes Lille are capable of claiming silverware this season as the former Manchester City youngster also sets his sights on breaking into the Portugal set-up.
Lopes is back on loan at Lille from Monaco – his third spell with the club having spent the second half of last season in northern France following a previous stint in 2014-15 and the 20-year-old is dreaming big both at club and international level.
The attacking midfielder scored two goals in 12 Ligue 1 appearances as Lille finished fifth last term, securing a spot in the Europa League in the process, though they were eliminated by Qabala in qualifying this month, while Frederic Antonetti s men reached the Coupe de la Ligue final.
Lopes already has two goals to his name in 2016-17, followi…
Best odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
Liverpool are set to play host to Leeds United at Anfield on Thursday, in a game that was postponed some time ago at Leeds request due to a heavy COVID-19 crisis in Marcelo Bielsa s squad.
Liverpool
The title race in the Premier League took a rather surprising turn this past weekend. Only a few weeks ago, no-one could ve imagined Manchester City s hold on the crown being in any kind of danger. However, a recent 1-1 draw against Southampton shook those foundations slightly, and the shocking 2-3 defeat at the Etihad at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday has thrown everything out the window.
With a game in hand on the defending champions and still to face them at the Etihad, Liverpool are six points behind, and they obvi…
Ed Woodward insists Manchester United want to bring in world-class signings to complement academy graduates despite the club s net debt increasing by £137million in the first quarter of 2020.
United announced their latest financial figures on Monday, in which they confirmed net debt had risen from £247m to £384m, based on the three months ending September 30 in 2018 and 2019.
United put the increase down to the investment in new signings Harry Maguire, Dan James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the transfer window, which was partly offset by the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Inter.
The club was still able to post an increase in total revenue of £0.4m and no change in gross debt levels, despite the outlay on their three most recent signings and the loss of Champions Leagu…
According to reports in England, Italian side Roma are said to be working on an agreement to sign Thorgan Hazard. The younger brother of Eden is drawing just as much attention when it comes to the transfer market, and rightly so. He’s done some great things with Borussia Monchengladbach since signing back in 2015, and he appears to be ready to take his career to the next level.
Of course, they aren’t the only ones that are interested, with Liverpool also being on the verge of putting forward an agreement to the German club.
Atletico Madrid may also have something to say about that, as the battle continues for the Belgian international.
If Thorgan does wind up moving to Liverpool then that’d create quite an interesting dynamic for when they go up against Ch…
Market: Preston draw no bet
Odds: 8/11 @
Looking to extend on their remarkable Championship romp, Preston will welcome West Brom to Deepdale on Saturday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, shocking many last season as they clinched a top-half finish, the Lilywhites are enjoying another remarkable Championship romp this time around. While Ryan Lowe’s men might have been last seen having to settle for a 1-1 stalemate away at Rotherham, the Lancashire-based outfit certainly find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Marking their return from September’s international break with a 2-1 win at home against Plymouth, the one-time Bury boss has seen his side gain a string of plaudits. Opening this weekend’s fixtures sat third in the table and just a single poi…