England s triumph at Euro 2022 was inspirational and the tournament showcased the significant improvement of women s football, according to Finland great Laura Kalmari.

Sarina Wiegman s Lionesses ended 56 years of major tournament hurt for England with a 2-1 victory over Germany last month, with Chloe Kelly s close-range finish in extra time proving decisive in front of 87,192 people at Wembley Stadium, setting a new attendance record for any European Championship match (men or women).

England scored 22 goals throughout the tournament – also a record for a men s or women s European Championship – as they sparkled on home soil, while Wiegman became the first coach to lift the trophy with two different sides after triumphing with the Netherlands in 2017.  

Sp…

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Julian Draxler has joined Benfica on a season-long loan deal.

The Germany international will spend the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign at Estadio da Luz, where he will wear the number 93 shirt.

Draxler is Roger Schmidt s eighth signing of the window as he seeks regular playing time ahead of the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The 28-year-old is yet to appear this season for PSG, for whom he has scored 26 goals in 198 appearances across all competitions since arriving from Wolfsburg in 2017.

Bem-vindo, Draxler!

Welcome! ||

— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica)

However, a series of injuries have prevented Draxler securing a regular place in the starting line-up in recent seasons.

Indeed, a knee p…

Market: Bournemouth win

Odds: 1/1 @

Looking to make an immediate return to winning ways on Saturday afternoon, Bournemouth will welcome Brentford to the Vitality.

Starting with the hosts, eventually falling to a 3-0 loss away at title contenders Arsenal last weekend, Bournemouth will be seeking an immediate response here. While the Cherries might have opened up the 2023/24 campaign in the midst of a public struggle, Andoni Iraola’s men have come roaring back in an eye-catching fashion. Continuing to receive a string of plaudits from across the Premier League this season, they are still sat in pole position to claim a top-half finish over the next fortnight. Signing off April with a thumping performance as they cruised their way to a 3-0 romp against Brighton, …

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.

Sing your national anthem wholeheartedly! | | |

— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 (@CAF_Online)

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…