Arnold to coach Australia through to 2026 World Cup

Graham Arnold will stay on as Australia head coach heading into the 2026 World Cup.

The Socceroos reached the round of 16 in Qatar last year, matching the achievement of 2006.

After losing to eventual finalists France in their opening group game, Australia beat Tunisia and Denmark to record their best performance at a World Cup finals. They lost 2-1 to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina in a tight last-16 tie.

Arnold, who was caretaker manager of the national team between 2006 and 2007 and also took charge of Australia s Olympic side at the delayed Tokyo 2020 tournament, has now signed a new contract to keep him in place through to the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Football Australia chair Chris Nikou said: Wha…

Jardim lauds record-breaking Monaco

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim praised his side for overcoming a slow start against Metz to record a 15th straight Ligue 1 victory, a new record in the competition.

Radamel Falcao s 78th-minute goal secured a 1-0 away win and moved the champions one clear of the previous best of 14 set by Bordeaux in 2009.

Monaco s run began back in February and has been completed without Kylian Mbappe, who was left out of Friday s squad amid rumours of an impending move away from Stade Louis II.

The visitors were made to work for their piece of history by a resilient Metz before Falcao s late intervention made it 23 league matches unbeaten.

We re happy because we finished with a win and we set a new record of 15 wins in a row, Jardim said after the match.

I thin…

Barcelona beaten by Royal Antwerp after crazy finish in Belgium

Barcelona finished on top of Champions League Group H despite slipping to a shock 3-2 defeat to Royal Antwerp in a dramatic contest at the Bosuilstadion.

After the first half had seen Arthur Vermeeren’s early effort for the hosts cancelled out by Ferran Torres, former Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen restored the lead for Mark van Bommel’s Antwerp 11 minutes after the break.

Barcelona then hit back via Marc Guiu in stoppage time, only for George Ilenikhena to reply moments later to wrap up a historic win for the Belgians, who had lost each of their previous five games in what was their debut Champions League group campaign.

WHAT A GAME!

LEAVING THE UCL IN STYLE…

3-2 (FT)

— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc)

Barca had …

Prediction: RB Leipzig vs Manchester City

Best Odds: 7/10

Bookmaker:

Looking to pick up a Champions League first-leg advantage in Germany on Wednesday night, Manchester City will make the trip to RB Leipzig.

RB Leipzig

Starting with the hosts, while RB Leipzig might have been left hugely frustrated by their 2-1 loss at home against Union Berlin on February 11th, Marco Rose s men came roaring back last weekend. Picking up some perfect momentum as they breezed their way to an eye-catching 3-0 romp away at Wolfsburg, the former Borussia Dortmund boss has seen his side impress many on either side of the World Cup break. Along with opening February with a 3-1 victory against Hoffenheim as they extended on their DFP Pokal adventure, the Whites will be desperate to spring a major upset on Wednesday night. Now…

He´s England´s best centre-back – Southgate leaps to defence of Stones

Gareth Southgate has offered his full backing to John Stones following the defender s costly error against the Netherlands, insisting he remains England s best centre-back.

Thursday s Nations League semi-final was poised at 1-1 in the first half of extra time when the 25-year-old was caught in possession on the edge of his own box.

Stones was robbed by Memphis Depay, who forced a save out of Jordan Pickford, but Kyle Walker bundled the ball into his own net under pressure from Quincy Promes.

The Netherlands went on to win 3-1 to set up a showdown with Portugal in the final, with Stones taking plenty of flak after the match.

It s all over in Portugal and it ends in disappointment for the .

Congratulations to the Netherlands on reaching the final. <…

Liverpool 4 Manchester City 3: Klopp´s men beat City and the Coutinho blues

Liverpool left Manchester City s unbeaten Premier League record in tatters with a thrilling 4-3 win over the leaders.

Anfield has long provoked a sense of dread for City, who last won at the Merseyside ground in May 2003, and they collapsed under an unsustainable weight of individual errors as Liverpool ran amok after half-time.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain produced a midfield performance to thrill the Liverpool faithful in the wake of Philippe Coutinho s departure to Barcelona and opened the scoring with an excellent ninth-minute opener on an afternoon of high-class finishing.

Leroy Sane thrashed a shot beyond Loris Karius at the near post to draw City level five minutes before half-time and Jurgen Klopp s choice of goalkeeper might have come in for greater scrutiny …

CSKA Moscow 1 Roma 2: Di Francesco´s side edge towards knockouts

Roma significantly boosted their chances of progressing to the Champions League knockout stages with a 2-1 win over 10-man CSKA Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday.

Eusebio Di Francesco s side punished Hordur Magnusson for receiving two yellow cards, with Lorenzo Pellegrini adding the winner to his assist for the opener to put Roma on the brink of the last 16.

Kostas Manolas capitalised on poor goalkeeping from Igor Akinfeev to put the visitors in front, but CSKA drew level after the restart through Arnor Sigurdsson.

Roma needed less than three minutes to take advantage of their numerical superiority and seal the win following Magnusson s dismissal, though Pellegrini appeared to have stroked home from an offside position.

CSKA beat Real Madrid in …

Paratici rules out Juventus signings

According to a recent report from Sky Sport Italia, Juventus’ chief football officer Fabio Paratici has ruled out the possibility of making any signings during the upcoming January transfer window. The expectation has always been that the Old Lady would be dipping into their pockets in order to try and bring in a few new faces, especially when you consider just how tight the Serie A title race is right now with Inter Milan and Lazio keeping it tight as we head into the second half of the campaign. 

Paul Pogba is the big name that continues to be linked with a return to Turin, but it really doesn’t seem as if that’s going to be done until the summer at the very least. Paratici has always been pretty active when it comes to discussing Juve’s transfer dealings, and ba…

Rumour Has It: David Silva set to join MLS side Inter Miami

Inter Miami have found their star signing, set to land Manchester City playmaker David Silva.

The MLS side, set to start playing next year, have been linked with numerous big names, with Barcelona star Lionel Messi among them.

But they appear to have found the man to lead them into their debut campaign.

 

TOP STORY – DAVID SILVA SET TO JOIN MLS SIDE INTER MIAMI

David Silva is likely to join Inter Miami at the end of the 2019-20 season, according to the Independent.

The 33-year-old has previously said this campaign would be his last with Manchester City, the club he arrived at in 2010.

David Beckham is a co-owner of Inter Miami and it seems they are set to land the star they have been chasing.

Exclusive: David Silva set t…

Rolando extends Marseille stay

As reported by L Equipe, Rolando has signed a contract extension with Marseille that will keep him at the French club for at least another season. The 32-year-old has been recovering from an Achilles tendon injury with many believing that it d be the catalyst behind his departure from Marseille, but clearly, that isn t the case, and he ll instead be battling to get back on the pitch with the end of 2018 being targeted as a realistic date.

Rolando, who was born in Cape Verde, has been with Marseille since 2015 when he made the switch over from Portuguese giants Porto. He s made more than 20 appearances for the Portugal national team since debuting back in 2009 but has been out of favour for quite some time now, focusing more on his domestic football.

Despite reaching the…