France midfielder Blaise Matuidi has endorsed Karim Benzema to lead their line at the FIFA World Cup.
The Real Madrid man scored twice against Jamaica in their 8-0 friendly rout on Sunday, his first goals for either club or country since April.
Benzema, 26, is one of just three players in France s squad with over 50 international caps Patrice Evra and Hugo Lloris the others after Franck Ribery s withdrawal due to a back injury.
Matuidi said Benzema can handle the expectation, and will score the goals France need to progress out of a Group E consisting of Ecuador, Honduras and Switzerland.
Everybody can see that he (Benzema) deserves it, Matuidi said of their starting striker position.
Karim is a world-class scorer. He s a player for Real Madrid, a team whic…
Borussia Dortmund begin their title defence at home to Hamburg when the 2011/12 Bundesliga season kicks off on Friday.
Dortmund lifted their first title in nine years last season, finishing seven points clear of Bayer Leverkusen.
Jurgen Klopp impressed in orchestrating that triumph during his third full season as head coach and Dortmund have thus far managed to ward off any interest in the 44-year-old s services.
They have also retained the bulk of the club s championship-winning squad, with deep-lying playmaker Nuri Sahin the only exception.
Turkey international Sahin succumbed to the advances of La Liga runners-up Real Madrid in May for a reported fee of nine million euros.
In capturing the title last season, Dortmund were the beneficiaries of …
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has denied suggestions the Ligue 1 champions are in talks with Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez over a transfer ahead of the 2016-17 campaign.
The 24-year-old endured a difficult season at Madrid under Rafael Benitez and Zinedine Zidane, partially due to injury, and has been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu side on more than one occasions.
Manchester United have been credited with an interest in signing the Colombia international, while recent reports suggested PSG have already sounded the attacking midfielder s camp out over a potential transfer.
Nevertheless, Al-Khelaifi has made it clear there is no truth in such rumours.
It is not true that we have already spoken with James, the…
Former Germany star Gunter Netzer feels Mario Gotze has made no progress since joining Bayern Munich from Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and believes the attacking midfielder is at a crucial stage in his career.
Gotze, 24, has struggled to live up to the high expectations at the Allianz Arena over the past three seasons and has been heavily linked with a move away from Bayern in recent months, with a return to Dortmund, Liverpool and Juventus touted as potential destinations.
Netzer is not impressed with the recent exploits of Germany s 2014 World Cup hero and has stressed it is time for Gotze to show what he s made of.
I get the feeling that he is still looking for his former self. He has not developed at all at Bayern. He never really lived up to the expectations a…
Matt Ritchie acknowledged that the mood around Newcastle United has been low, but is hopeful his late winner against Manchester City can spur Rafael Benitez s side on for the rest of the Premier League campaign.
Despite falling behind to a Sergio Aguero goal inside 25 seconds, Newcastle rallied in the second half to dent City s title hopes – Ritchie hammering home from the spot following Salomon Rondon s equaliser to secure a shock 2-1 win.
Tuesday s victory lifts Newcastle into 14th position, five points clear of 18th-placed Cardiff City, who occupy the third and final relegation spot.
And with Newcastle reportedly on the verge of securing playmaker Miguel Almiron from MLS champions Atalanta United, with the potential for more new arrivals to follow in the c…
Tyrone Mings will not face punishment from the Football Association (FA) following an incident with Nelson Oliveira that left the striker with facial injuries, Reading have confirmed.
Mings, who is on loan at Aston Villa from Bournemouth and was making his debut for the Championship club, landed on Oliveira s face with his studs during Saturday s 0-0 draw.
The Portuguese forward, who was bleeding heavily after the clash, was taken to hospital and his partner Mel Oliveira wrote on Instagram on Monday that Mings ought to get a lengthy ban .
She posted: There s absolutely no excuse for his behaviour. Any injury is upsetting but something like this is just disgusting. I hope something will happen, he can t get away with that!
…
Making real history last weekend as they clinched a nail-biting against Spain, England’s Young Lions won the European Under-21 Championship for the first time in almost four decades.
Enjoying what was a famous summer romp and writing themselves into the history books, Lee Carsley’s young squad certainly gained a fearsome reputation for their exciting brand of football.
Smashing a host of long-standing records during their European charge and also becoming the first team to record six successive clean sheets in the tournament s history, England’s budding superstars have received a huge amount of praise.
With all of Carsley’s squad stealing many of Europe’s headlines over the past few days, a number of England’s summer heroes have attracted plenty of …
Paulo Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain helped Juventus move seven points clear at the top of Serie A with a resounding 4-0 win over 10-man Lecce at the Allianz Stadium.
Fabio Lucioni s first-half dismissal left lowly Lecce, who had started brightly, facing a daunting task yet it needed a moment of brilliance from Dybala to open the scoring after 53 minutes.
Ronaldo and Federico Bernardeschi were guilty of woeful misses in the opening period but the former lashed home his 23rd Serie A goal of the campaign from the penalty spot before excellently setting up Higuain.
Matthijs de Ligt added a fourth that was harsh on Lecce as Maurizio Sarri s men stretched their lead on Lazio, beaten 3-2 by Atalanta last time out, albeit their rivals have a game in hand.…
“I think now he’s found a bit of confidence, consistency and understanding of how we play, he’s getting the rewards, which is great.
“But he’s still a young guy and we bought him with very much an eye that whatever he does this year, there’s definitely a lot more in him.
“And when you see improvement that encourages us even more because it makes you think that if we invest the time in him even more, he’s going to be a super player for us.”
Johnson’s midweek effort was not enough to fire Tottenham to victory at West Ham, with the hosts able to claim a point after Kurt Zouma scored from a corner.
Spurs have conceded 10 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, but Postecoglou rejected suggestions it has become an Achilles�…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp saw Manchester United throw a spanner in the works of their bid to equal their arch-rivals’ record of 20 league titles, but he does not expect Erik ten Hag’s side to do them any favours when Arsenal come calling.
Klopp said he was “absolutely fine” with their situation after two dropped points in the title race after the 2-2 draw kept Arsenal top of the table on goal difference.
The Gunners are due at Old Trafford on the penultimate weekend of the season, but the Liverpool boss does not hold out much hope of a helping hand.
It finishes level at Old Trafford. ||
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
“Probably if we are still around then it would be great but Arsenal is a good football team and if they (United)…