Ibrahim Afellay has signed a new contract with Stoke City that will keep him at the club until at least 2019.
The Netherlands international joined Premier League side Stoke from Barcelona in 2015 and has developed into an important first-team member under manager Mark Hughes.
Afellay has worked his way back into the team after making his comeback from a serious knee ligament injury that sidelined him for almost eight months late last year, and he is desperate to show what he can do in the months to come.
I am very happy, the 30-year-old told the official Stoke website.
EXCLUSIVE: Ibrahim Afellay has signed a new contract, committing him to until at least the summer of 2019
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity)
From the first day I came to t…
Luciano Spalletti said Italy had shown a new level of intensity in their Nations League opener after they stunned France with a 3-1 comeback win at the Parc des Princes.
Italy found themselves a goal down inside 12 seconds on Friday as Bradley Barcola dispossessed Giovanni Di Lorenzo before finishing coolly, but Federico Dimarco s brilliant volleyed equaliser precipitated a stirring fightback.
Davide Frattesi put the Azzurri ahead early in the second half, then Giacomo Raspadori completed the scoring as Italy claimed their first-ever win at the Parc des Princes.
The Azzurri had previously drawn three and lost one of their four matches at the venue, only scoring two goals, while they had not beaten France since doing so in the group stage at Euro 2008.
Ita…
Roma have announced the appointment of Ivan Juric as the club s new manager on a deal until the end of the season.
The former Torino boss succeeds Daniele De Rossi, who was dismissed after just seven months in charge following a winless start to the Serie A campaign.
Juric s contract will reportedly be extended should the Giallorssi qualify for next season s Champions League.
The 49-year-old, who took training for the first time on Wednesday, becomes the first Croatian to manage Roma, having departed Torino at the end of last season after three years in charge of Il Toro.
Juric led Crotone to Serie A promotion in the 2015-16 campaign, while he has also overseen the fortunes of Genoa and Verona in the Italian top flight.
He will take charge of Roma…
The plot to a stunning World Cup has thickened over the past week with the group stages coming to a dramtic denouement.
Although Moscow wasn t at the heart of some of the crunch encounters, it witnessed Brazil s progression and, less noteworthy, the tournament s only goalless draw between France and Denmark.
It also saw the first penalty shoot-out as Russia edged out Spain in the last 16 thanks to two Igor Akinfeev saves.
Take in the colour of the past seven days in Moscow in our Twitter moment below:
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Carlos Bocanegra dove low to nod home the winning goal in the 68th minute, giving the United States a 2-1 victory over Honduras in a North American 2010 World Cup qualifying match.
Landon Donovan sent a corner kick from right side of Honduran goalkeeper Noel Valladares to the far post, where Clint Dempsey nudged the ball down to the center of the goal area.
A diving Bocanegra nodded the ball into the back of the net for the decider, although the US captain was removed in the 72nd minute after straining a hamstring.
Honduras opened the scoring in the fifth minute after a turnover at midfield by Dempsey led to Carlos Costly s left-footed blast past diving US goalkeeper Tim Howard.
The Americans equalized in the 43rd minute on a Landon Donovan penalty kick …
Roberto Martinez has confirmed he will continue as Belgium boss despite overseeing the disappointment of a quarter-final exit at Euro 2020.
The world s number one ranked side breezed through the group stages and defeated Portugal in the round of 16 before seeing their progress halted by Italy.
It had been suggested Martinez could step down after overseeing another major tournament failure for what has often been described as a golden generation of players.
However, the Spaniard has reaffirmed his commitment to the jobs of head coach and technical director for the Royal Belgian Football Association.
The disappointment after the lost game against Italy was great, but the focus is already on the World Cup qualifiers in September and the final four of the Na…
Manchester City and Liverpool arguably both deserve to be Premier League champions, but only one team can claim the title.
City are strong favourites to defend their crown, needing a win at Brighton and Hove Albion to guarantee top spot, while anything less will open the door for the Reds to clinch glory with victory at home to Wolves.
The Seagulls will not be a walkover, but with City having won 13 Premier League games in a row they will surely not stumble at the final hurdle.
So how have Liverpool and City been so far clear of the competition this season? Omnisport takes a look.
Jurgen Klopp crossing his fingers for , who he has nice words about
— Premier League (@premierleague)
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Liverpool and City are bo…
Women s Professional Soccer will return for a third season in 2011 with at least six teams, fighting off financial woes that had jeopardized the US league, officials announced Tuesday.
One day after a deadline to produce secure funding for a 2011 campaign, the league announced that returning teams in Washington, Boston, Atlanta, New Jersey and Philadelphia will be joined by a new club in the Buffalo area.
Reigning WPS champion FC Gold Pride, based in northern California, will not return while the Chicago Red Stars were given until December 15 to secure funding for possible inclusion as a seventh team for next season.
The league began last year with eight teams but lost St. Louis in mid-season.
Brazilian star Marta, who played for Gold Pride, saw her seco…
France coach Didier Deschamps claimed it s not as bad as 2021 after Les Bleus discovered their Euro 2024 group-stage opponents.
Deschamps team were drawn into Group D during Saturday s draw in Hamburg.
France will face Austria, the Netherlands – who they beat twice in qualifying – and one of Poland, Wales, Finland or Estonia.
Les Bleus disappointed at the delayed Euro 2020 in 2021, going out to Switzerland on penalties in the last 16.
That was after they edged through a challenging group which included Hungary, Germany and Portugal.
It s going to be difficult, Deschamps told TMC.
The pot three team we ll be facing is the Netherlands. We won both our games against them [in qualifying] but it makes our group harder.
We also fa…
Baby we can talk all night, but that ain’t getting us nowhere. I told you everything I possibly can. There’s nothing left inside of here.
Blah, blah, blah… TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BADDDDDDD!
That was the tune for my NFL survivor pick strategy last week, which was spot on with Tampa Bay as my safe survivor pick and New Orleans as my team to avoid. But my featured pick on Pittsburgh came out looking like two-day-old meatloaf and not the improbable rock god who gave us the above poetry.
Here are my Week 3 survivor pool picks – take ’em or leave ’em.
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