Emiliano Martinez returned to Aston Villa on Friday after his World Cup heroics with Argentina, which were followed by controversial and crude post-match celebrations.
Martinez was a penalty shoot-out star for La Albiceleste, helping them to victory over France in the final by saving Kingsley Coman s spot-kick and winning the tournament s Golden Glove award.
However, to many critics the goalkeeper s subsequent celebrations crossed the line of acceptability.
Martinez, whose gamesmanship in the shoot-out had already drawn criticism, appeared to repeatedly taunt beaten France hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappe, while he made a seemingly deliberate lewd gesture with the Golden Glove trophy.
The former Arsenal player called for a moment of silence for Mbappe in the …
David de Gea bemoaned an abject Manchester United season as he insisted his Red Devils team-mates who are not committed do not have to stay .
Ralf Rangnick has failed to transform United s fortunes following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s departure in November, ending his tenure with the lowest win rate of any manager in the club s Premier League history (41.7 per cent – 10 wins from 24 games).
Erik ten Hag watched on as United fell to a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, albeit they will be playing in the Europa League next season after West Ham failed to leapfrog them on the final day.
The incoming Ten Hag will have a sizeable rebuilding task at hand after United failed to end a league campaign with a positive goal difference (zero in 2021-22) for the first time since t…
Former Netherlands international Edson Braafheid, who spent last season out of action, has been snapped up by Serie A outfit Lazio.
The 31-year-old has 10 caps for his country, the last having been earned in a friendly against Germany in November 2011, but endured a torrid 2013-14 campaign.
Braafheid did not make a single appearance for Hoffenheim and was made to train with the club s under-23 squad.
The defender enjoyed previous spells at Bayern Munich and Celtic, before joining Hoffenheim in 2011.
Braafheid then made 31 Bundesliga appearances at Hoffenheim, before being loaned to Dutch side Twente for the 2012-13 campaign.
That transfer marked a return to the club he left for Bayern in 2009, and Braafheid made 25 league starts before returning t…
Jurgen Klopp is to leave Bungesliga giants Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season after seven years in charge.
The 47-year-old had a contract at Signal Iduna Park that ran until 2018, but has been permitted to terminate his deal early.
Klopp stated that the decision was taken because he no longer felt he was the best coach for Dortmund.
We ve both invested a lot and got a lot back. No-one needs to be thankful, he said.
I ve said over the last few years that when I m no longer in the best place to coach, I will say so.
I chose this time to announce it because in the last years some player decisions were made late and you couldn t react.
I definitely believe this to be completely the right decision. This club deserves a manager who i…
Bayern Munich and Poland’s star striker Robert Lewandowski is arguably the best out-and-out number nine in the world. Season upon season the 29-year-old has been deadly in front of goal.
Lewandowski has also proven deadly for Poland, as he is his country’s all-time record goalscorer with 52 goals in 93 appearances. He became Poland’s record goalscorer in qualifying for this summer’s World Cup, scoring 16 goals in qualifying. Not only did it propel the Red and Whites to the finals, it was also a record tally in European qualifying.
No doubt Lewandowski will be one to watch when the World Cup starts in just under a week’s time, as Poland are in a group alongside Senegal, Colombia and Japan in Group H, on paper the most open group in Russia.
Not lived-up to …
Brighton Hove Albion boss Sami Hyypia expects in-form defender Lewis Dunk to attract interest during the January transfer window.
Dunk, having impressed for Brighton this term, is reportedly attracting interest from the English Premier League.
The 22-year-old defender, whose current deal at the Falmer Stadium is due to expire at the end of the season, has already scored four goals in 12 league appearances for the Seagulls, who are currently just two points above the drop zone.
Hyypia is hoping the club can keep hold of their prized asset, and rightly so.
Should the Seagulls lose Dunk in January, the club s supporters will likely be cheering on a third-tier club come next season.
I m very happy that he is playing well and he has b…
Ajax have sacked head coach Alfred Schreuder after a poor run of results.
Schreuder replaced Erik ten Hag after his move to Manchester United at the end of last season, and initially seemed to be a good fit in Amsterdam, winning his first six league games and thrashing Rangers 4-0 in Ajax s first Champions League game of the season.
However, elimination from the Champions League group stage also led to form dipping drastically in the Eredivisie, having not won a league game since October, although that gap included a break for the 2022 World Cup.
Following Thursday s 1-1 home draw with strugglers Volendam, the club decided to act after failing to win any of their past seven games in the Eredivisie (D6 L1), leaving them fifth in the table, seven points behind lea…
Saudi Arabia coach Cosmin Olaroiu has called on his team to remain confident, despite making a losing start to their Asian Cup campaign.
As the Saudis prepare to face North Korea in Melbourne on Wednesday, the three-time Asian champions are still coming to terms with their late 1-0 defeat to China over the weekend.
Saudi Arabia were left to rue a missed penalty as Yu Hai gave the Chinese maximum points in Group B action at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
Striker Naif Hazazi s saved penalty in the 62nd minute, that made the headlines after a ball boy told China goalkeeper Wang Dalei which way to dive, came back to haunt Saudi Arabia in Brisbane.
Yu struck the match-winner nine minutes from time, with his deflected free-kick condemning Saudi Arabia to a fourth…
Barcelona have been linked with a shock move for Liverpool defender Glen Johnson, .
The La Liga leaders are eyeing a replacement for Dani Alves, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season, and could move for the England international who has been continuously linked with a move away from Anfield in recent months.
The 30 year old full-back has played in less than half of the Reds’ Premier League games so far this season while he hasn’t featured at all for his country since playing in the 2-1 defeat to Uruguay in the group stages of last summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
This is Johnson’s seventh season at Anfield having signed from Portsmouth back in 2009, and he was part of the squad that won the League Cup in 2012 while he also won silv…
Gareth Southgate hailed the togetherness and spirit demonstrated by England, but acknowledged the need to improve ahead of their Euro 2024 quarter-final with Switzerland.
The Three Lions were considered one of the pre-tournament favourites to go all the way in Germany, but have produced generally underwhelming displays in their four matches so far.
England topped Group B despite winning just one of their three games, and were just seconds away from a humbling last-16 exit against Slovakia, until Jude Bellingham s sublime acrobatic effort spared their blushes.
Harry Kane then completed the turnaround in the early stages of extra time, as Southgate s relieved side scraped through to the last eight by the skin of their teeth.
Nevertheless, the England boss i…