Putting in what was a routine display at Wembley on Sunday evening, England cruised their way to a 2-0 victory against Ukraine and secured back-to-back qualifying wins.
While England s Group C rivals might have put in a rugged performance for large spells of the first-half, it was the record-breaking Harry Kane who opened the scoring in the 37th minute.
Only days removed from becoming the Three Lions all-time leading goalscorer after converting from the spot out in Italy on Thursday, Gareth Southgate didn t have to wait long for his side to double their advantage.
With the red-hot Bukayo Saka producing a wonderful whipped effort just three minutes after Kane s opener, England largely didn t need to get out of third gear on home soil.
Really impressing du…
Verdict: Draw
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
In the months preceding a FIFA World Cup, you d expect the sight of an England vs Italy friendly to fill most fans with joy but not this time. The Italians are still licking their wounds meanwhile the English couldn t be any less optimistic about their hopes of succeeding in Russia if they tried. Still, it s England vs Italy, which should be enough to generate even a small amount of excitement.
England
Despite nobody backing him to succeed, Gareth Southgate has done a fairly good job of steadying the ship for England ahead of this summer s World Cup in Russia. The expectations from back home are much lower than they ve ever been before, which could be a good thing given how much pressure is usually put on the squ…
James Rodriguez, who is currently in the middle of a two-year loan from Real Madrid to , says he s happy at the Allianz Arena.
The attacking midfielder has recently been linked with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea, but Marca claim he told them he s happy where he is. He plays a lot which is enough to make him happy, as he intends to approach the World Cup in Russia this summer in the best rhythm possible.
Four years ago, in Brazil, the Colombian was the top scorer of the tournament with six goals to his name, and one of the finest performers overall. This earned him his dream move from Monaco to that summer, but things didn t really work out for him in the Spanish capital. He was therefore loaned out to Bayern last summer, and at the moment he see…
Sunday s 1-0 victory at Atletico Madrid made it a case of one down, two to go for Barcelona in their quest for treble-winning immortality.
Amid this rousing conclusion to a campaign he once seemed unlikely to see out, coach Luis Enrique might allow himself to wonder where it all went right.
World Cups provide an opportunity to take the temperature of the global game and, in Brazil last year, Barcelona s stars were in worryingly ill health.
The Spanish contingent returned early from a humiliating campaign that appeared to sound the death knell for the tiki-taka style perfected during Pep Guardiola s golden reign at Camp Nou. Although Lionel Messi helped Argentina to the final, he was a shadow of his irresistible best.
Luis Suarez bit Italy s Giorgio Chi…
The agent of Liverpool F.C. striker Mario Balotelli, Mino Raiola, has revealed the player will not be leaving Merseyside this summer.
The Italy international, who joined Liverpool from AC Milan in a deal worth £16 million last summer, endured a dismal 2014/15 campaign at Anfield, netting just four goals in 28 appearances in all competitions.
Despite Balotelli being dropped from the first-team squad for much of the latter part of the season, Raiola has insisted his client is going nowhere.
We had talks with Liverpool and he will definitely stay, Raiola told Sky Sports News HQ reporter Paul Gilmour.
Earlier in the season, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers implied that he and Balotelli were struggling to adapt to each other, but Raiola has mo…
Anzhi Makhachkala director Roberto Carlos is interested in becoming a coach.
The Brazilian, who made 125 appearances for his country, ended his career at the Russian club last season with a proud record of three Champions League trophies and a 2002 World Cup winners medal.
Although enjoying his work as a director for his club, the 39-year-old is now flirting with the idea of taking on a more hands-on role.
It s great to be a director and take on the responsibilities that come with it, but my business is down there on the touchline. That s what I want, he was quoted on FIFA.com.
I ve been travelling with the team and working side-by-side with the coaches, but I m still taking part in training sessions out there on the pitch.
It s a new life, o…
Hull City are closing in on the signing of Burnley striker Charlie Austin, .
Steve Bruce has identified the 24 year old as his number one target as he continues to build a squad for the club’s first season back in the Premier League.
The 52 year old had hoped to agree a deal for Celtic striker Gary Hooper, though the Scottish Premier League club last month turned down a £5million offer from the Tigers.
Austin has just one year remaining on his contract at Turf Moor, and it is understood that the two clubs are close to agreeing a fee.
The former Swindon Town man, who has scored forty-five goals in ninety appearances since signing for the Lancashire club in January 2011, has previously been linked with moves to Celtic and Southampton, though the KC…
Lyon agreed Wednesday to sell France international Karim Benzema to Real Madrid for 35 million euros, Spanish media reports said.
The deal was reached after Real agreed to up its offer from 32 million euros, the sports newspaper Marca said on its Internet site.
Radio Cadena Ser said Benzema will sign a six-year contract with the Spanish giants.
It would be the fourth signing by Real under the new presidency of Galacticos president Florentino Perez, after Brazilian midfielder Kaka, Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and Spanish defender Raul Albiol.
After Kaka was presented to fans at the Bernabeu stadium on Tuesday evening, Perez told Spanish radio that the next signing would be announced today or tomorrow.
Real are looking for a striker and ha…
Liverpool and Arsenal, the two teams currently occupying the top two positions in the Premier League table, faced each other at Anfield on Saturday and shared the spoils at the end.
Gabriel Magalhaes hit a fine header in the fourth minute to sent the Gunners ahead, and Mohamed Salah again showed his quality with an excellent equalizer in the 29th. There was a number of chances at either end in the remaining hour, but the scoreboard stood still at 1-1.
Top teams, top game
The first thing to say about this game is that both teams played at a very high level, completely justifying their respective positions in the table. It was a proper derby-style battle, loaded with duels, creativity, fine defending, smart runs, dribbles, excellent game-reading, and very few mistakes.
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 2/3 @
Smelling a real chance on the road in midweek, Roma will make the trip to the Stadio Ezio Scida when they face off against Crotone on Wednesday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, while Crotone might have managed to pick up a much-needed 2-1 win against Parma when heading into the festive break, I Pitagorici came crashing back down to reality over the weekend. Despite taking a shock lead away at Inter Milan, Giovanni Stroppa s men were hit with a 6-2 drumming at the San Siro and they still find themselves at the heart of a relegation scrap. Still sat two points adrift at the foot of the table and seen as leading relegation contender, fans around the Stadio Ezio Scida will at least take some solace from their recent improv…