Eden Hazard is desperate for Belgium to live up to expectations at the World Cup and not underachieve like England s so-called golden generation .
The 2018 World Cup in Russia will be the third successive international tournament Belgium have qualified for after Brazil 2014 and Euro 2016, reaching the last eight on both occasions.
But Belgium went to each of those competitions with a formidable squad and, despite reaching the quarter-finals, they hardly made a lasting impression.
Parallels can be drawn with the England team which achieved little between the years of 2002 and 2010, even with a collection of players including Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, John Terry, Frank Lampard and more.
Hazard is fully aware of that England…
James Rodriguez needs to feel important to reach his previous heights, according to one of his former coaches.
Julio Cesar Falcioni coached James in his youth and led him to his first senior trophy at Banfield, who won the club s first ever Argentine championship in 2009.
Falcioni believes the key to getting the best out of James, now at Real Madrid, is making him feel cherished.
We gave him a position in the team with not that much responsibility so he could grow, he told Marca.
We have a lot of affection for each other because of how I looked after him in those early moments, we gave him a lot of freedom to play and he was happy to express himself with the ball.
I think the [Real Madrid] shirt carries a huge weight but I believe he has the ta…
Roberto Mancini praised Italy s new generation following a 1-0 victory over England in the Nations League.
Giacomo Raspadori s strike at San Siro condemned the Three Lions to relegation to League B, while Italy will face off against Hungary on Monday to decide who will advance to the Nations League finals.
Having failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, Mancini has looked to younger players for the future as the likes of 22-year-old Raspadori have made an impression for the European champions and hailed the displays of his young guns.
We rebooted in June and were always in the running in this Nations League group. Clearly, we need these games, these wins, so we can grow, he said.
I expected a good performance and knew it would be difficult, becaus…
Cristiano Ronaldo has the edge on Lionel Messi because he could play for Stockport County and score a hat-trick , Alex Ferguson believes.
The debate over which of the Real Madrid and Barcelona superstars is a better player has raged for many years, with the pair enjoying a duopoly on the Ballon d Or since 2008.
While Messi has won five Ballons d Or to Ronaldo s three in that period, many of the Portugal star s supporters insist he is a more complete player than his Argentina rival.
And it would seem that legendary Manchester United boss Ferguson, who managed Ronaldo at Old Trafford between 2003 and 2009, agrees.
Speaking at an event with Rory McIlroy in Dublin, Ferguson said: It s interesting to me that we hear so much about two players these days: Rona…
Miralem Pjanic has hit out at former Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, claiming training sessions lacked intensity, tactics and ideas during the Dutchman s spell at Camp Nou.
Pjanic made 19 league appearances for Barcelona in the 2020-21 season after joining from Juventus, spending the last campaign on loan at Besiktas before joining Emirati outfit Sharjah last month.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international has been critical of Koeman in the past, accusing the Dutchman of disrespecting him following his move to Turkey in September 2021.
Speaking to Cadena Ser on Friday, Pjanic attacked Koeman s methods once more, saying: I was very surprised in training with Koeman.
There was no intensity, no tactics, no ideas. We did not prepare for the games.
Pj…
Phil Foden must be calm and humble as the plaudits flow his way, according to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Foden completed the scoring in Sunday s 4-1 win over Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield, having also had a hand in each of Ilkay Gundogan s two second-half goals.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder has 10 goals for City in all competitions this season and has played an integral part in them establishing a five-point lead at the top of the table.
However, Guardiola was critical of Foden s performance in the false nine role before half-time on Merseyside and, speaking ahead of Wednesday s FA Cup trip to Swansea City, said he felt Raheem Sterling was City s standout weekend performer.
I said to [Foden], Don t read much, don t li…
Market: Ceara win
Odds: 2/3 @
Looking to make an immediate return to winning ways in the early hours of Wednesday, Ceara will welcome Guarani to the Castelao.
Starting with the hosts, although Ceara might have struggled with their consistency since opening up the 2024 campaign, Vagner Mancini’s men do appear to have turned a recent corner. Snatching a thrilling 2-2 stalemate away at promotion contenders America MG, the Vovo have collected seven points from their previous three Serie B appearances and they have continued on an impressive rise up the standings. Finding a route into the top-half and now sat within touching distance of the promotion spots, the former Santos boss will also be excited by his side’s recent success in the final third. Laying down a …
Two Edin Dzeko goals helped Inter move clear of Atalanta and into Serie A s top form with a 3-2 win at Bergamo going into the World Cup break.
Inter trailed to Ademola Lookman s penalty on Sunday, but Dzeko scored either side of half-time to swing the game back in the visitors favour.
Dzeko s second effort benefited from a deflection off Joakim Maehle, and Atalanta helped the Nerazzurri out again when Jose Luis Palomino put through his own net for the third.
Although Palomino later scored at the right end, it was too little, too late, as Inter opened up a three-point gap to Atalanta, level on points with second-placed Lazio ahead of the rest of the day s action.
8 Edin , for him today 250th game played in Serie A, has scored 8 goals vs Atalanta: against n…
England have sold out Wembley for the first time for a women s match ahead of next month s friendly against Germany, the Football Association (FA) has announced.
A capacity crowd of 90,000 on November 9 would top the record attendance for a women s match in the United Kingdom, set at the 2012 Olympics as 80,203 spectators watched the United States defeat Japan to claim the gold medal at Wembley.
Meanwhile, the record attendance for a Lionesses home fixture stands at 45,619 for the previous meeting between England and Germany at the same venue in 2014.
England played in front of a crowd of 29,238 at the Riverside Stadium earlier this month a record for a Lionesses match outside of Wembley in their first game since reaching the Women s World Cup semi-finals…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had fun during his time at Manchester United as the haters gave him further fuel to demonstrate his class.
The legendary Sweden striker scored 28 goals in his only full season with the Red Devils in 2016-17, finding the back of the net 17 times in the Premier League.
Ibrahimovic won the EFL Cup and also picked up a Europa League winners medal, although he did not face his former club Ajax in the final due to injury.
The 40-year-old Milan frontman revealed he enjoyed silencing those who wanted him to fail in England before departing in March 2018.
He told ESPN s Gab Juls Show: I had fun. I really enjoyed because when I came, everybody was against it. And then in England, they didn t like me.
All these haters, after three month…