Didier Deschamps will not change course ahead of France s Nations League clash with Belgium despite defeat to Italy in their last match.

France fell to a shock 3-1 loss in Paris in their opening Group A2 game at the Parc des Princes on Friday.

Deschamps handed debuts to Bayern Munich s Michael Olise and Roma s Manu Kone, who came on as a substitute.

The France manager, however, feels he must continue with the rotation against Belgium due to the structure of World Cup qualification.

The six Nations League matches must be used to introduce new players and distribute playing time, Deschamps told reporters.

If we had a different schedule and were playing World Cup qualifiers, I would not have chosen this course, that s for sure. But I chose it becau…

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Monaco and Barcelona, both undefeated so far this season, will clash at the Stade Louis II in Thursday s Champions League fixture.

After finishing second in their respective domestic leagues last term, both teams are aiming to go one step further this season, buoyed by strong starts.

AS Monaco

Under Adi Hutter s leadership, Monaco appear to be on the right track following their second-place finish behind Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 last season. Their unbeaten run was extended to four games with a 3-0 victory over Auxerre last weekend, which allowed Hutter to rotate his squad after securing the result within an hour.

However, this upcoming fixture marks a significant step up from their domestic opposition, putting th…

Few of Russia s host cities can rival Kazan for sheer drama in week two, as the Tatarstan capital became the end of the road for Lionel Messi, Argentina and defending champions Germany.

The week began with something of a lull, as the city recovered from several days of Colombian noise, passion and colour the South Americans crushing Poland 3-0 last Sunday.

But when the action returned to Kazan, it couldn t have been more shocking the world champions Germany seeing their campaign end in the first round for the first time since 1938, South Korea beating them 2-0 in dramatic circumstances.

If that wasn t enough, the most tantalising of the eight round-of-16 matches came to the Kazan Arena and it surpassed all expectations, as France and Argentina played out what wi…

Eliseo Quintanilla s penalty kick in the 86th minute gave El Salvador a stunning 2-1 triumph over Mexico to damage the favored Tri-color s bid to reach the 2010 South Africa World Cup.

A handball penalty in the area against Mexico set the stage for Quintanilla to become the hero and boost the Salvadorans into third place the final guaranteed World Cup qualifying position in the six-team round-robin event.

It was a debut defeat for new Mexico manager Javier Aguirre.

Aguirre, who guided Mexico to the round of 16 in the 2002 World Cup, replaced fired former England manager Sven Goran-Eriksson after Mexico s 3-1 loss at Honduras in April.

But the problems with the Mexican side remained even with the change in leadership.

Julio Martinez had given El S…

Hungary have been ordered to play their next two UEFA competition matches behind closed doors following an investigation into discriminatory behaviour by supporters at Euro 2020.

Budapest hosted four games of the tournament, which concludes on Sunday when England face Italy in the final at Wembley.

Hungary s 3-0 defeat to Portugal and 1-1 draw against France in Group F each took place at the Puskas Arena in front of packed crowds of over 60,000.

During the Portugal game, images of a banner among the home supporters in the stands reading ANTI LMBTQ – referring to the Hungarian language abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer – circulated on social media. The matter was reported to UEFA by anti-discrimination group Fare.

Before t…

Hat-tricks are becoming a habit for Tottenham s free-scoring striker Harry Kane.

The England international scored his sixth of the calendar year for Spurs on Tuesday as they beat APOEL 3-0 in the Champions League.

But, while trebles are now becoming commonplace for Kane, his effort in Cyprus still represented a first for the 24-year-old. Here, using Opta data, we look back at his hat-tricks in 2017.

Tottenham 4-0 West Brom, January 14

Kane sent Spurs second in the Premier League table with a lethal display against the Baggies. He opened the scoring by collecting a neat Christian Eriksen pass and firing in off the post before hitting home with an acrobatic volley and then converting Dele Alli s superb lofted pass.

Fulham 0-3 Tottenham, F…

Kasey Keller, whose 22-season career included stints with several top European sides, said Friday he will retire after playing in 2011 for Major League Soccer s Seattle Sounders.

The 41-year-old former US World Cup goalkeeper agreed to terms on Friday for a one-year deal with the Sounders, his third campaign with the club.

I don t want to be that guy where everyone says, You should have retired last year,’ Keller said.

Keller was part of American squads at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 1998 and 2006 World Cups.

Keller s career has included stops at Millwall from 1992 to 1996, Leicester from 1996 to 1999, Rayo Vallecano from 1999 to 2001, Tottenham Hotspur from 2001 to 2005 with a loan to Southampton in 2004, Borussia Moenchengladbach from 2005 to 20…

Rebecca Welch became the first female referee to officiate an entire EFL match, on this day in 2021.

Welch made EFL history as she oversaw Harrogate’s 2-0 League Two home defeat by Port Vale where her day went unspoilt – without any major controversy – and Harrogate manager Simon Weaver praised the referee post match.

“I think she was very good indeed,” he said after the game.

“Important calls were made throughout and they were the right calls.

“Hopefully it’s just par for the course that we see female referees and officials in the EFL. It’s about time.”

Amy Fearn became the first woman to referee an EFL game after coming on as an injury replacement in the 2010 Championship game between Coventry and Nottingham Forest, but Welch…

Covers is throwing an entry into the Circa Million Pro Football contest for the 2021 season and Adam Chernoff has been tabbed to make the weekly picks so let’s dig right in.

Here are his five ATS picks for Week 3 of the Circa Million betting contest.

Week 2 record: 2-3Season to date: 7-3Place: T-345 / 4,086

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The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t earn a first-round bye to kick off their quest for a third straight AFC Championship, but bookies don’t expect much resistance when they welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to Arrowhead Stadium for the Wild Card Round on Sunday night.

Pittsburgh narrowly slid into the NFL Playoffs thanks to a wacky Week 18 of the regular season. Now, oddsmakers are giving the Steelers nearly two touchdowns on the road against a team that flattened them 36-10 in this same stadium just a few weeks back. In other words, things aren’t looking good for Ben Roethlisberger & Co.

Go wild this weekend with our NFL free picks and predictions for Steelers at Chiefs on January 16.

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