Ruben Dias declared Manchester City love to win finals after they defeated rivals Manchester United on penalties to win the Community Shield.
The reigning Premier League champions avenged their defeat to United in May s FA Cup final with a 7-6 shoot-out win at Wembley on Saturday.
That came after Bernardo Silva headed in Oscar Bobb s cross in the final minute of normal time to cancel out Alejandro Garnacho s 82nd-minute strike.
City won the season s curtain-raising fixture for a seventh time and the first time since 2019 to give themselves momentum heading into the new Premier League campaign.
And captain Dias, who has won 10 trophies as a City player, including the Community Shield, was proud of the way his team-mates dug in at Wembley.
We re h…
Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.
The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.
Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.
“I m really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.
“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.
“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play hig…
Liverpool will end 2020 three points clear at the top of the Premier League but were left frustrated after a goalless draw with Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Jurgen Klopp s side monopolised possession and carved out the best opportunities at St James Park, but against a spirited Newcastle side a winner eluded them.
Liverpool s front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane all had chances, only to find Karl Darlow in inspired form in the Newcastle goal.
It was the first 0-0 between the sides since 1974 and left Liverpool three points ahead of second-placed Manchester United having played a game more.
It ends level at St James Park.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
Newcastle began brightly as Callum Wilson glanced an early header w…
It is only a matter of time until Manchester City win the Champions League under Pep Guardiola, according to their former defender Kolo Toure.
As part of their treble bid, City face record 14-time European champions Real Madrid in the first leg of a mouth-watering semi-final tie that begins at Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
No manager has lost more Champions League semi-final ties than Guardiola, who has suffered six defeats in nine appearances at this stage.
But Toure is convinced a City success in Europe s elite club competition will come sooner rather than later and believes this could be the year for Guardiola to win his third Champions League crown, and first with City.
It is a matter of time, we all know that and you can see that, Toure, who played …
France manager Didier Deschamps named Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud as a strike partnership in their 5-2 win over Iceland, and saw the two attackers play a part in every goal on the night, to form what is the most potent pairing in the tournament.
Target man/poacher combo resurrected
Olivier Giroud is the physical target man for France, while Antoine Griezmann is the pacey poach feeding off his knock-downs and flick-ons. The two players complement each other brilliantly on the pitch and have a fantastic working relationship. Giroud looks for his partner at every available opportunity as Griezmann is often making runs off the ball to get in behind the opposition backline. The former is always occupying central areas to give France an out ball, while bring…
Mario Balotelli has assured Italy coach Cesare Prandelli that he will be on his best behaviour for the duration of their Euro 2012 campaign.
The Manchester City forward s antics have dominated the headlines in Britain throughout the season, leading to speculation that he would not be trusted to lead the line at Euro 2012.
However, Balotelli has stated that he is ready to curtail his erratic behaviour in order for the chance to represent his country at a major tournament.
Don t worry, there will be no problems at the Euros, he told Il Corriere Dello Sport.
I will keep myself under control.
Prandelli and (Manchester City boss) Roberto Mancini are the greatest coaches I ve worked with in my career, and they are also great people. I have to than…
Diego Costa s solitary strike in Spain s win over Iran on Wednesday ensured the 2018 World Cup has not seen a 0-0 draw during the first 20 games.
The last time this happened was the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, which did not see a goalless draw during the 26-game tournament.
Russia 2018 got off to a fast start with the host nation crushing Saudi Arabia 5-0 on June 14, with Spain and Portugal then playing out a pulsating 3-3 draw the following day.
While there has not been a glut of goals in the games since, fans can at least enjoy the fact they are yet to experience a scoreless stalemate.
0 There have been no 0-0 draws in any of the 20 games at the 2018 World Cup so far the last time that this happened was in 1954 (no 0-0 s in the 26-game tournamen…
The Czech Republic s injured captain Tomas Rosicky announced Friday that he will not be taking part in next month s European Championships due to a recurring knee injury.
I m not capable of starting the European Championships. My injury requires an operation. I will go (for it) at the start of next week, Rosicky told a special news conference.
The announcement comes a month after local football chiefs raised the alarm over the Arsenal midfield star s Euro chances because of a painful knee injury which has stopped him playing since the end of January.
Speculation has mounted locally that manger Karel Bruckner would be forced to try and tempt Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved to return to the national team after his international retirement declared soon after t…
Napoli must have realistic expectations for the 2024-25 Serie A season during a period of reconstruction, so says Antonio Conte.
Conte took over in June, after Napoli went through three different coaches last season when, after winning the Scudetto under Luciano Spalletti in 2023, they followed that up by failing to qualify for European competition.
Former Italy boss Conte, who won four Serie A titles with Juventus and Inter, along with a Premier League title at Chelsea, wants patience from the club and the fans going into the new season.
Our mantra is to give 200%, we have to go beyond our limits, all of us, because it is a critical moment for Napoli, the president spoke of reconstruction, Conte told reporters ahead of Napoli s opening game against Verona on Su…
Spain will contest their first major tournament semi-final since 2012 despite failing to beat 10-man Switzerland after extra-time, with La Roja finally getting the job done on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Luis Enrique s men were dominant throughout and even had a man advantage throughout extra-time, and although their finishing left a lot to be desired, they proved more clinical from 12 yards than the Swiss.
It was a Switzerland player who provided the decisive touch to put Spain one up as Denis Zakaria scored an early own goal, but they capitalised on a defensive error to level through Xherdan Shaqiri in the second period.
Spain could not take advantage of Remo Freuler s contentious sending off, with Yann Sommer starring between the posts for Switzerland, but eve…