France captain Patrick Vieira and Chelsea midfielder Florent Malouda were recalled to the national squad by coach Raymond Domenech on Monday for the June friendlies with Nigeria and Turkey.
Vieira has had an injury-wracked season and had already missed France s unhappy Euro 2008 campaign because of injury while Malouda was last selected for the friendly with Tunisia last October and then he only came on for six minutes as a substitute.
However, the 44-times capped former Lyon star who has voiced criticism of Domenech has rediscovered his form at Chelsea since Guus Hiddink took over in February as interim manager following the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Domenech insisted that his recalls of Malouda and Vieira who won the last of his 106 caps last November in…
France No. 1 goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has revealed that he is not delighted with his current club situation at Tottenham Hotspur, which currently has him as Spurs No. 2 shot-stopper behind Andre Villas-Boas first-choice Brad Friedel, .
Lloris, who joined Spurs from French giants Olympique Lyonnais for a fee of £8 million on transfer deadline day, has started just one English Premier League match for Tottenham this season, despite keeping a clean-sheet in his only start against Aston Villa on 7 October.
I m training, I do the maximum, and the coach made his choice, Lloris told L Equipe following France s 2-1 win over Italy on Wednesday.
It is difficult to accept. It is a little hard. You will have to ask the coach. I just stay professional.
N…
United States head coach Gregg Berhalter feels his side have been handed a tough draw in the 2024 Copa America, but he knew that was always likely to be the case.
Tournament hosts USA will take on Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia in Group C after the draw was made in Miami.
USMNT and Uruguay will be the initial favourites to progress from the pool and reach the quarter-finals.
But securing first place could be even more important on this occasion than in other tournaments, because the runners-up are likely to face Brazil, who will be expected to top Group D, in the last eight.
It is a tough group, said Berhalter.
I think any group that was going to be drawn was going to be difficult the Copa America is a very difficult tournament.
For us, w…
The body responsible for Premier League match officials will investigate after an assistant referee appeared to elbow Liverpool s Andy Robertson during Sunday s draw with Arsenal.
Liverpool recovered from 2-0 down to dent Arsenal s title hopes in a thrilling game at Anfield, with Roberto Firmino heading a late equaliser to deny the Gunners a crucial win.
The match was played out in a fierce atmosphere, and the end of the first half saw a bizarre altercation between linesman Constantine Hatzidakis and Reds left-back Robertson.
As Robertson spoke to the official, television pictures seemed to show Hatzidakis raise his right elbow and make contact with the Scotland international.
According to Sky Sports, Robertson alleged the official had elbowed him in the …
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer again compared Marcus Rashford to Cristiano Ronaldo after Manchester United s win over Newcastle United.
Rashford scored his 11th Premier League goal of the season – his best tally in a campaign – in the 4-1 Boxing Day victory at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer has compared the 22-year-old to former United star Ronaldo previously and the manager did so again after Rashford s superb header.
He is a physical specimen. He s looking after himself, working hard in the gym, he told a news conference.
When you ve got that spring, it s just about having courage and getting up there.
I remember a boy I used to play with that used to head it quite well when he was close to goal. And we compare them quite often.
So, that s anothe…
Chelsea has vowed to vigorously contest FIFA sanctions that would prevent the London club from signing any new players until January 2011.
World football s governing body announced the ban on Thursday after its Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) concluded that the Premier League club had induced promising French youngster Gael Kakuta to break his contract with his first club Lens.
FIFA s DRC said Chelsea would not be allowed to register players in the next two transfer windows January 2010 and the period between the end of the current season and the end of August 2010.
Kakuta was banned from playing for four months and ordered to pay Lens 780,000 euros compensation. Chelsea will be liable for that amount and a further compensation payment of 130,000 euros to the …
Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard grabbed two goals each as England booked their place in next year s World Cup in style with a convincing 5-1 win over Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday.
Wayne Rooney s ninth goal of the qualifying campaign completed the humiliation of a Croatian side that was a pale shadow of the one that had denied England a place at Euro 2008 with a famous victory here two years ago.
Ukraine s goalless draw in Belarus earlier in the evening had ensured Fabio Capello s men kicked off knowing a draw would be enough to send them to South Africa.
Deprived by injury of both their principal playmaker, Luka Modric, and their main defensive organiser, Vedran Corluka, Croatia would probably have been glad to settle for such an outcome.
That was qu…
Jose Mourinho has revealed his previous differences with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich are long behind him and they now enjoy a harmonious relationship.
The Chelsea boss was sacked by Abramovich in 2007 despite claiming two titles in his first three seasons at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho departing after an indifferent start to the 2007-08.
Trophy-laden spells with Inter and Real Madrid followed before the 52-year-old was lured back to the Premier League by Chelsea in 2013, Mourinho winning his third English title in his second campaign back at the club.
As Chelsea prepare to begin their latest title defence against Swansea City this weekend, Mourinho is delighted with his working environment.
In my first period, my personal relationship [with Abramovich] …
Hull City manager Steve Bruce has confirmed he wants to sign Chicago Fire midfielder Shaun Maloney.
In his maiden season with the Fire, Maloney has scored three goals and set up another two in 13 appearances in MLS after his move from Wigan Athletic in January.
But the 32-year-old could be on his way back to England and the Championship, with Bruce keen to bring in the former Celtic man who played his part in Wigan s FA Cup triumph in 2013.
He [Maloney] is another one that we hope that we can get that over the line. It s difficult, he s only been there six months but we re trying. He s somebody I have liked for a long time, Bruce told The Herald.
We know we re thin on the ground but I m still confident that by the end of the window we ll have enough…
Barcelona winger Malcom missed training on Thursday in order to finalise a move away from the club, with Zenit his expected destination.
The 22-year-old is reportedly due to be in St Petersburg on Friday to complete a medical after Barca accepted an offer in the region of €40million.
In a short message published on Twitter, Barca said: Malcom is not training with permission of the club in order to resolve his future.
The Brazilian joined the Catalans from Bordeaux last year in a deal rising to €42m, after making a late decision to head to Camp Nou rather than Roma in Serie A.
However, he managed just six starts in LaLiga under Ernesto Valverde in 2018-19 and scored only four goals in 25 appearances in total in all competitions.
Barca are beli…