Herve Renard s arrival as France coach has made Les Bleues think they are the best in the world and fostered belief in their chances of winning the Women s World Cup, says Selma Bacha.
Renard, who oversaw Saudi Arabia s incredible win over eventual champions Argentina at the men s World Cup last year, took the reins in March following the dismissal of Corinne Diacre.
The French Football Federation removed Diacre from the role after a group of players – including captain Wendie Renard – refused to represent the team if she remained in charge.
With France gearing up to face Jamaica in their Group F opener in Sydney on July 23, Lyon star Bacha has been impressed by Renard s impact, telling Stats Perform: He put us in a good mood.
He made us realise tha…
Xavi never doubted Frenkie de Jong s commitment to Barcelona amid speculation linking the midfielder with a move to Manchester United last year.
United identified De Jong, who came through at Ajax under Erik ten Hag, as a priority target ahead of their new manager s first season in charge.
A move never materialised, with United instead buying Casemiro from Real Madrid.
Casemiro has gone on to solidify himself as one of the most impressive midfielders in the Premier League, but ahead of Thursday s Europa League encounter between United and Barca, Xavi said De Jong never wanted to leave the Blaugrana.
I think he was really clear to me: he wanted to stay with us. So there was no doubt, Xavi said at a press conference.
Now he s our player, I’m rea…
Manchester United are willing to sell Mason Greenwood in the summer transfer window, according to . Greenwood is on loan at Getafe at the moment, and United are ready to cash in on him at the end of the season.
Greenwood joined Spanish club Getate on loan from former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners United in the summer of 2023. He is scheduled to return to Old Trafford at the end of the season. The 22-year-old forward has made 21 starts and three substitute appearances in La Liga this season. He has scored six goals and given five assists in those games.
Football Transfers has reported that Atletico Madrid want to sign Greenwood in the summer transfer window. Barcelona are also keen on the youngster. United, who are aiming to finish in the top four of t…
Sarina Wiegman s success with England shows female coaches are deserving of further opportunities, says former Italy boss Carolina Morace.
Wiegman led the Lionesses to their first major tournament triumph at Euro 2022 before overseeing this year s run to the World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand, where they were beaten 1-0 by Spain.
She has earned plenty of plaudits since succeeding Phil Neville in the role in 2021, only losing two of her 39 matches at the helm (30 wins, seven draws) and overseeing a positive World Cup campaign despite injuries to key players including Leah Williamson and Beth Mead.
While the 2023 World Cup featured 32 teams for the first time, Wiegman was one of just 12 female head coaches present at the tournament.
Morace wants …
He raised the level of competitiveness in the three years that he was here, Perez said.
And since 2011 we have reached nine of 11 Champions League semi-finals. I will always be grateful to him for that gene that he implanted in us. Before [Mourinho arrived] we were always getting knocked out in the last 16.
There were moments during this season when the position of Zinedine Zidane as the head coach at Real was reportedly in serious doubt. Real s results have picked up lately they ve reached the Champions League semifinals and are very much in the race for the La Liga title, but various speculative reports still suggest the club could be in the market for a new man in charge of the team this summer.
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Everton have been deducted 10 points by an independent commission after being found to have breached Premier League financial rules.
The league referred Everton to the commission in March for an alleged breach of its profitability and sustainability rules in the period ending in the 2021-22 season.
The rules allow clubs to lose a maximum £105million over a three-year period or face sanctions.
Everton issued a statement confirming their intention to appeal against the sanction.
The Premier League said in a statement published on its official website: “During the proceedings, the club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2021/22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.
“Following a five-day hearing last mo…
FIFA’s determination to press on with plans for an expanded Club World Cup shows it only pretends to care about player welfare, Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango has said.
Football’s world governing body set out more detail about the 32-team, summer 2025 tournament following a meeting of its ruling Council in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Sunday.
The competition will begin on June 15 and run to July 13, but its scheduling and size has caused serious concerns amongst unions and leagues.
FIFA Council confirms key details for FIFA Club World Cup 2025
First edition of FIFA’s new prime club competition to be played from 15 June to 13 July 2025 in the United States
Ranking methodology confirmed based on s…
Out-of-sorts Manchester United have lost three successive matches for the first time since 2019 as their concerning start to the season continues.
The 4-3 defeat at Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s Champions League opener was the latest and, here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the issues facing the Old Trafford giants.
Weren’t things looking up under Erik ten Hag?
After a wretched 2021-22 season, the Red Devils turned to meticulous Ajax boss Ten Hag in a bid to improve the club’s fortunes. The response was impressive as United went on to win the Carabao Cup – their first trophy in six years – and finish third in the Premier League, as well as going on to finish runners-up to Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
How has his second season begun?
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Antonio Conte is embracing Napoli s recent run of form after they extended their lead at the Serie A summit to four points ahead of the international break.
Scott McTominay s early opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza, only for star man Romelu Lukaku and substitute David Neres to seal the win after the break.
Conte is now the sixth manager to have won each of his first four home games as Napoli head coach in Serie A, after Paolo Iodice, Luis Vinicio, Alberto Bigon, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.
The Italian, however, started his Napoli reign with a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona on the opening day, but his team have since gone seven games unbeaten, scoring 19 goals during that run.
Conte acknowledged that his side may not deserve to…
Pep Guardiola is not worried about Manchester City s defending despite the reigning champions failing to keep a clean sheet in their last six Premier League matches.
City went 1-0 down against Fulham before fighting back to win 3-2 on Saturday. Their opponents also amassed an expected goals (xG) total of 2.4 compared to City s 1.55.
It follows a trend of unusually sloppy defensive displays from the champions, who have conceded eight goals in their last six league matches. They also had to come from behind against Brentford in September.
Guardiola, however, is not overly worried.
Sometimes I give credit. The first goal – why don t we give credit to them rather than [be critical] defensively? There are actions we can defend better but step by step we wil…