Quick Report: Villa saves the day for Spain

FIFA has committed to using biological profiling at both the 2014 World Cup and this year s Confederations Cup to combat doping in football.

FIFA has committed to using biological profiling at both the 2014 World Cup and this year s Confederations Cup to combat doping in football.

President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) John Fahey claimed earlier this week that the game was not doing enough to test for the blood-boosting agent EPO, after it was revealed that only one in four players would be given a blood test during World Cup qualifiers.
After meeting with FIFA president Sepp Blatter earlier this week to discuss the problem, Fahey revealed the commitment made by the sport s governing body, and praised their willingness to take action against the problem.
He t…

Barcelona and Real Madrid face a new threat of disruption at the season s first Clasico after pro-Catalan independence activists targeted the Camp Nou for protests.

The Tsunami Democratic protest group, which is run by anonymous leaders and mobilises followers by means including social media, has called on its supporters to head to four meeting points close to Barcelona s stadium at 4pm local time on December 18.

That is four hours before kick-off in the biggest match of the LaLiga season so far, which was moved from October 26 to its December date following civil unrest in Catalonia.

Tsunami Democratic says more than 18,000 supporters have already committed to joining its protest, including many who have tickets to the Clasico and members known as socios of h…

Everton have the signing of Jonas Lossl on a free transfer from Huddersfield Town. The goalkeeper will officially move to Goodison Park on July 1st and is set to serve as a worthy backup option for England international Jordan Pickford.

The 30-year-old spent the last two seasons with the Terriers at the end of which the club got relegated to the Championship. He made 31 appearances in the Premier League in 2018/19. Before signing for Huddersfield, he played for FC Midtjylland and Mainz 05. He moved to the John Smith Stadium initially on loan from the Bundesliga side, and the deal was made permanent last summer.

The arrival of Lossl to Merseyside will likely spell the end of the road for Everton s current backup shot-stopper, 36-year-old Marten Stekelenburg, who still …

Republic of Ireland begin their Euro 2016 preparations with a friendly against Netherlands at Aviva Stadium on Friday, and Martin O Neill wants his team to come away with confidence intact .

Ireland will entertain the Dutch in Dublin before hosting Belarus in Cork next week ahead of their Group E opener against Sweden in Paris on June 13.

O Neill s team secured a place in the European Championship by overcoming
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Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs, but Netherlands missed out after finishing fourth in their qualifying group.

Nevertheless, the Ireland boss expects a tough match and wants to see his team come through it strongly.

I have a fair idea about the Dutch. I think it ll be a really good test for us, said O Neill.

I think we…

Juventus face Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League s first knockout round, with Claudio Marchisio eyeing a run to the final.

Claudio Marchisio believes Juventus can overcome Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League last 16 and return to Germany for the final in June.

Dortmund have struggled domestically this season, though Jurgen Klopp s side have enjoyed a good campaign among Europe s elite, topping Group D ahead of Arsenal, Anderlecht and Galatasaray.

But Marchisio is confident that Italian champions Juve who host Dortmund in the first leg of their tie next Tuesday  have what it takes to beat the 2013 finalists and can go all the way to this season s Berlin showpiece.

We always aim to win. Our goal is to reach the final, he told Sky I…

Real Madrid Monday expressed its confidence in German coach Bernd Schuster despite a string of recent defeats for the Spanish champions.

We have full confidence in this coach, who is doing a great job despite some bad luck in recent matches, sporting director Pedja Mijatovic told a news conference.

Double champions Real have suffered several recent defeats in all competitions, and are currently fourth in the Primera Liga, five points behind leaders Barcelona.

On Saturday, it lost 1-0 at Valladolid, days after the club s humiliating ouster from the Spanish Cup by third division Real Union.

In the Champions League, it has suffered two defeats against Juventus, and must beat Zenit St Petersburg next month to be sure of qualifying for the last eight.

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Gareth Southgate has suggested Jack Wilshere can nail down a regular starting berth due to his technical quality, but warned Joe Hart faces a fight for his England place.

Arsenal midfielder Wilshere has not played for the national team since England were humiliated by Iceland at Euro 2016, but has earned a recall after fighting his way back into the Gunners starting XI.

Wilshere is joined in the team by Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook, who is one of four uncapped players alongside Burnley duo Nick Pope and James Tarkowski and Swansea City s Alfie Mawson.

And Southgate earmarked Wilshere as a player that can be crucial to the kind of football he wants the Three Lions to play.

Jack s a player that has unquestionable talent. The key for me is that he is p…

Juventus midfielder Rolando Mandragora is hoping to be fit for selection before the end of the year after undergoing successful surgery on a fractured metatarsal.

The 19-year-old midfielder has yet to feature for the Bianconeri following his move from Genoa in January, and the club sent him for surgery on the fifth metatarsal of his right foot after it was judged not to be healing properly.

The club paid €6 million to bring Mandragora to Juventus Stadium, but allowed him to complete a loan spell with Pescara in Serie B that had begun in July 2015 while he was still a Genoa player.

The talented youngster is highly rated by Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, and club doctor Claudio Riga was present as he was operated on successfully by a specialist in Porto.

Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes feels Arjen Robben could be vital in the UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

Robben suffered several disappointments at the end of the 2011-12 season, including missing in Bayern s penalty shoot-out loss to Chelsea in the Champions League final and a poor Euro 2012 with the Netherlands.

An injury at the start of the season hampered the winger but the Dutchman has bounced back in impressive fashion, contributing two goals in his side s 7-0 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.
It is not a surprise. Arjen was very motivated after the European Championships last summer, Heynckes said.
But he got injured and lost time. He is still driven by ambition. He has a professional approach…

Stuart Pearce slammed his side s efforts in their 1-0 loss to Italy, as England made a poor start to the European Under-21 Championships.

Despite having a Craig Dawson header ruled out in the first half, which would have given them a lead, Pearce was angered by his players failure to fire on the big stage in Tel Aviv.

Lorenzo Insigne scored from a set-piece in the 79th minute to give Italy all three points and see them to the top of Group A a result that left the English coach frustrated.

The performance was very poor. The players know that it wasn t good enough, the better team won, he said.

The positive is we played that badly and only lost 1-0. We were awful.

The result ended England s nine-game unbeaten run that dated back to 2011, although…