Sports

Phil Foden is confident his combination play with Jude Bellingham will improve after the Manchester City star s performance in England s Euro 2024 opener came in for criticism.

While Real Madrid talisman Bellingham scored the winning goal against Serbia with a powerful early header and produced an inspirational display, the impact of Foden was more limited.

Foden scored 27 goals and added 13 assists in a stunning club season for Premier League winners Man City, but he created just one chance in Sunday s 1-0 victory.

The 24-year-old moved out to the left flank, making way to accommodate Bellingham playing centrally behind captain Harry Kane, with Bukayo Saka out on the right.

As well as not making a creative impact, Foden also failed to register a single s…

AC Milan moved to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at Genoa that saw Christian Pulisic score late on before both sides had their goalkeepers sent off in stoppage time.

After substitute Pulisic broke the deadlock by firing home in the 87th minute, the Rossoneri were then reduced to 10 men in the eighth minute of time added on when Mike Maignan was dismissed.

Pulisic’s fellow substitute Olivier Giroud took over from Maignan in goal, and saw the Milan bar rattled moments later – before the drama continued with Genoa keeper Josep Martinez being shown a second yellow card.

CAPTAIN AMERICA gives Milan the lead late against Genoa

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN)

With Giroud then making a save in the final few moments, Milan saw out the victory as t…

Spain battled their way to a 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Belarus on Sunday, enabling head coach Vicente del Bosque to celebrate his 100th game in charge.

During his reign, Del Bosque has guided the nation to World Cup glory in 2010, which was followed by a triumph in stunning style at the European Championship two years later.

Spain are bidding to win their third successive Euros after lifting the trophy under Luis Aragones in 2008 and they moved a step closer to qualification for the finals in France next year as David Silva s goal settled a scrappy affair in Borisov.

The win leaves Spain second in Group C, three points behind Slovakia and three clear of Ukraine, looking well-placed to claim one of the two automatic berths on offer.

If we are posi…

Arsenal have held talks with representatives of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen about a potential transfer this summer, according to .

The Gunners are in desperate need of a high-quality player to spearhead their attacking line from next season, with Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang gone since January, and Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah set to leave at the end of the season as free agents. In fact, they might go for more than one name in the market, and while Manchester City s Gabriel Jesus remains high on their list, Osimhen s representatives have been to England to discuss a move to the Emirates too.

On the other hand, the fee required to prize the 23-year-old Nigerian from Napoli might be a problem. Known as a tough man to deal with, Napoli president Aurelio Di Laurent…

Reported Leeds United target Carlos Corberan has signed a contract extension as West Brom head coach after links to the Premier League club.

Spaniard Corberan was part of Leeds fan favourite Marcelo Bielsa s backroom staff amid the Argentine s spell at Elland Road.

Corberan subsequently took a head coach role at rivals Huddersfield Town, guiding them to the Championship play-off final in 2022 before resigning amid reported disagreements with the club s board.

Jesse Marsch s dismissal by Leeds on Monday created speculation the Whites would move to bring in Corberan, who has taken West Brom from second-bottom in the Championship to the play-off positions since his appointment in October.

Leeds majority owner Andrea Radrizzani told supporters on Tuesday a de…

England s bid to gain a measure of revenge for their Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy fell flat as the Three Lions were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw by an experimental Azzurri outfit at Molineux on Saturday.

Exactly 11 months on from Italy beating England on penalties at Wembley, Gareth Southgate s men failed to kick-start their Nations League campaign against a side who have not qualified for Qatar 2022 and were battered by Argentina in the Finalissima.

England had chances but were arguably second-best in the first half, as they were cheered on by a massively reduced crowd made up mostly by children as a consequence of the crowd trouble at last July s final.

The hosts had the better of the second period but nonetheless slumped to three successive games wit…

Former Netherlands international John Heitinga has announced his retirement from football effective immediately.

Heitinga was on the books of Ajax this season but only managed to see 40 minutes of Eredivisie action.

The 32-year-old decided to bring an end to his career after talks with his agent Rob Jansen and Ajax coach Frank de Boer.

I realised in December that the time to put an end to my active career came closer, he told the official Ajax website. 

I conducted good talks with my agent Rob Jansen, Ajax coach Frank de Boer and Edwin van der Sar among others. And now I have made it known that I stop playing football immediately.

The farewell is slightly ahead of schedule, but I keep Ajax in my heart and I look forward to this new chapt…

Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff is hoping the solution to his team s lack of firepower can be found when they host New York City FC in MLS.

The Verde and Black sit 10th in the Western Conference with a place in the playoffs within touching distance.

However, a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Sporting Kansas City stopped them from leapfrogging the Seattle Sounders into ninth.

While Wolff is confident being back at home will provide a boost to the team, he admitted there are still worries over the lack of goals.

I don t know [why the team are struggling to score], he said. When we re at home, we seem to generate a lot more chances and more goals, and there s proof of that in our games.

We look a lot better at home, and I m not happy with the performan…

Harry Kane s England team-mates have backed their captain to regain his top form in their semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Kane has scored twice at the tournament so far, with one of those a vital winner in the first minute of extra time against Slovakia, but has otherwise failed to show a clinical edge.

He managed just two shots against Switzerland in the quarter-finals before being forced off in extra time, managing an expected goals of just 0.12.

Kane s performances have drawn criticism, with some calling for him to be dropped for their game against the Netherlands.

However, Trent Alexander-Arnold brushed off the idea, claiming that would play into their opponents hands.

Anyone who is facing England would like to see Harry Kane…

Srdjan Vasiljevic has not ruled out Angola s progression to the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations but insists qualification for the tournament was the main goal.

Angola missed out in 2015 and 2017 but made the cut with the extended format this time around.

Vasiljevic s men have drawn their two Group E games so far – against Tunisia and Mauritania – but head into Tuesday s clash with Mali within a win of putting themselves through.

However, Vasiljevic believes his side must be proud of simply making it to the finals, as they look to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

I reiterate that our initial goal has already been achieved from the time we qualified for this championship, he told a news conference.

Let s play our game with dedica…