Mario Mandzukic has retired at the age of 35, and the former Juventus and Bayern Munich striker signed off with a reminder of his World Cup winner against England.
A mainstay of the Croatia national team, Mandzukic hit an extra-time winner in the 2018 World Cup semi-final against Gareth Southgate s team, before scoring at both ends in the 4-2 final defeat to France.
He became the first player to score an own goal in a World Cup final to give France an early lead, before capitalising on a Hugo Lloris mistake to give Croatia late hope.
His retirement announcement, issued on Instagram, was in the form of a letter to his younger self, with Mandzukic saying he should just be ready around [the] 109th minute should he ever face England at the World Cup.
That wa…
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed Marco Asensio following his hat-trick performance in the 6-1 LaLiga rout of Real Mallorca.
Asensio scored three goals in his first start of the season against former club Mallorca as Madrid returned to the league summit at the Santiago Bernabeau on Wednesday.
After Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the third minute, Asensio took centre stage – the Spaniard scored on either side of Lee Kang-in s goal to give Madrid a 3-1 half-time lead.
Asensio completed his treble 10 minutes into the second half as he became the sixth Spanish player to score a hat-trick for Madrid in LaLiga this century and the first since Alvaro Morata in April 2017.
3 Marco Asensio is the sixth Spanish player to score a hat-trick for …
Romelu Lukaku is heeding the advice of Chelsea great Didier Drogba after sealing his dream return to Stamford Bridge.
Lukaku re-signed for Chelsea last week, joining the European Champions from Inter in a reported £97.5million (€115m) deal.
He initially joined Chelsea in 2011, but left for Everton in 2014 after having successive loan spells away from west London. Lukaku went on to play for Manchester United before spending two years in Italy with Inter, helped them clinch the Serie A title last season.
The Belgium star has made no secret of his admiration for Drogba, putting the former Ivory Coast forward down as one of his footballing heroes.
Lukaku, who confirmed he will be wearing the number nine shirt this season, enjoys a strong bond with his one…
Musa Barrow s last-minute penalty rescued a point for Gambia in their 1-1 draw with Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations.
There was late VAR drama at Stade Municipal de Limbe with referee Samir Guezzaz awarding of two spot-kicks in the final 11 minutes of the Group F encounter.
First, Ibrahima Kone slotted home from 12 yards for the second game running after Yves Bissouma was dragged down by Ebrima Adams in the box.
That was the 22nd goal that Mali have scored after half-time in the Africa Cup of Nations since 2010, with only Ivory Coast (25) doing so more often during that span.
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The Eagles were on course to win their opening two games in the compet…
Competition: Euro 2016 qualifier
Market: Denmark to win or draw against Portugal
Odds:
Denmark are confident of getting all three points against Portugal in tonight’s Euro 2016 qualifier, with the Red and Whites in much better form than that of their opponents.
With four points from their first two games, Denmark have started strongly in their qualifiers. Portugal, coming off the back of an atrocious World Cup campaign this summer, lost their opening qualifier against Albania, which resulted in the departure of former manager Paulo Bento.
Denmark are being backed by Betfair with odds of 3/10 to win or draw against Portugal tonight, with Morten Olsen’s side hoping to top their group after a bright start. Portugal are desperate to get off the mark,…
Michel Platini remains focused on Euro 2016 amid reports Swiss authorities seized data from FIFA s Zurich headquarters on Wednesday.
Swiss police are looking into the bidding processes that saw the 2018 and 2022 World Cups awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively, with president Sepp Blatter s office said to be among those searched.
At a news conference marking a year to the start of the European Championship in France, UEFA president Platini shunned questions about the ongoing corruption scandal at FIFA.
Lots of you have come here with the intentions of asking about those events, about the future of FIFA and my future, he said.
Of course, I will talk about this someday but I will do that at the right time.
Today is not the right time and i…
Former World Cup winner Philipp Lahm says Germany need to reinvent themselves after a dismal World Cup campaign where they were dumped out in the group stage.
Despite a 4-2 victory in their final Group E match against Costa Rica, Hansi Flick s side exited Qatar 2022 after Japan beat Spain, ensuring both qualified instead for the last 16.
It marks the second successive World Cup since Lahm guided them to victory at Brazil 2014 where Germany have failed to reach the knockout stage.
Reflecting on their exit, the former Bayern Munich man did not doubt his nation s spirit, but pinned a lack of game management and intelligence upon them as key to their downfall.
In all three group matches Germany showed passion, commitment and aggression, he wrote in The Guard…
Thomas Tuchel insisted everybody at Chelsea wants Antonio Rudiger to stay after his side cruised past Leicester City 3-0 on Saturday.
Rudiger opened the scoring for the Blues, the centre-back s fourth goal against the Foxes in the Premier League – against no other side has he netted more than once in the competition.
N Golo Kante struck 14 minutes later against his former club before substitute Christian Pulisic added a third as Chelsea collected their fourth successive away league win without conceding for the first time since December 2008.
Delighted with his side s defensive work and overall performance, Tuchel praised his backline while providing an update on Rudiger s future.
[Rudiger] has been outstanding from the first game and the defensive per…
Manchester United will benefit from integrating security, confidence, courage and responsibility rather than splashing out on a blockbuster signing during the January transfer window, according to former striker Louis Saha.
The Red Devils have endured an inconsistent first half of the Premier League season and find themselves in seventh place – four points off the top four and 22 behind leaders Manchester City.
A difficult start to the campaign culminated in the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Ralf Rangnick appointed his successor on an interim basis for the remainder of 2021-22.
Following the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane during the previous window, more big names have been linked with a move to Old Trafford in a bid …
Deniz Undav netted twice in the space of six first-half minutes as Germany held on for a 2-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Nations League match at the Stadion Bilino Polje.
The Stuttgart striker found the back of the net in the 30th and 36th minutes to pull Julian Nagelsmann’s side into a two-goal lead, but captain Edin Dzeko’s goal for the hosts after restart set up a tense ending to the game which the Germans navigated.
Florian Wirtz ran onto a lofted ball from Robert Andrich before laying it back for Undav to open the scoring at the half-hour mark in the League A Group 3 fixture, but Bosnia-Herzegovina were unfortunate not to equalise in an instant.
Ermedin Demirovic broke free on a counter just four minutes later and beat German goalkeeper Ale…