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As Zinedine Zidane prepares to set up his side without the crocked Gareth Bale, he admitted he had no answer as to why the Welshman has been so unlucky with injury. Following an impressive performance recently in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund, his progress has been halted after sustaining another knock. Zidane insisted that the forward will not be rushed back from injury and isn't too worried yet about the persistent fitness problems the player is suffering from, while also brushing off suggestions that he should have been sold in the summer. "He is okay and is doing better every day," he said to reporters at his pre-match press conference. "He was very good in Dortmund but felt some pain in his calf and that worsened after he met up with Wales for international duty. "I can't say if he will be back in a week or 10 days, we just have to wait and see, but he is determined to return as soon as possible and that's good. &qu

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has stated that the 2018 world cup in Russia could be his last event in international football. The Spanish midfielder revealed that he could retire from international football after the 2018 world cup in Russia. The 33 year-old believes its time to draw the curtain on a glittering international career with the Spanish national team. "I am realistic. There is a great chance that this World cup will be my last event with the national team," Iniesta told Barcelona-based daily, as reported by AS. "I am aware of the moment, my age and everything it entails, but we will see how things develop. "There are many months to go until the World cup hopefully everything will go well so that i can be in Russia." The Fuenteabilla born central midfielder, who made his international debut in 2006, has represented La Roja on 121 occasions, scoring 12 times. He was part of the victorious Spain side that won the 2010 World cu

Egypt veteran goalkeeper, Essam El-Hadary, is set to become the oldest player to ever featured in World cup history. The Al-Taawoun custodian, who led the pharaohs to their first World cup appearance for the first time in twenty-seven years,  might become the oldest player at next summer's world cup in Russia at the ripe age of 45. El-Hadary is also the oldest player to appear in an Afrcan cup of Nations, he made his international debut in 1996 and has since represented the Pharaohs of Egypt on 156 occasions, winning the African cup of nations four times. The previous record older was Faryd Mondragon who was 43 year-old when he featured for Colombia at the 2014 world cup in Brazil. Other veterans to have graced the world cup are Cameroon legend Roger Milla (42), Pat Jennings (41), former England goalkeeper, Peter Shilton (41) and former Italy goalkeeper, Dino Zoff (40).

Brazil legend Romario has claimed that he was better than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of scoring goals. The 1994 world cup winner said he was better than the Argentine and his Portuguese nemesis in the penalty area. The former Barcelona forward said neither Messi nor Cristiano can break his goal record. "It's true that Messi and Ronaldo have different characteristics to mine and that they are the best players in the world today," Romario said at a lunch of his new book, as reported by Marca. "They are the best in the world along with Neymar. They have both won titles and the ballon d'or, but modesty speaking, I was better than them in the Penalty area. "They will never reach the number of goals that I scored, and I'll beat them by twice the amount." The Brazilian, who also played for Valencia, PSV Eindhoven, Vasco Da Gama, Al-sadd and Adelaide united, scored 929 official goals, according to FIFA .

The thirty-two teams that will represent their countries at next summer's World cup in Russia will be paid a whooping sum of $12 million, according to study. The study revealed that qualified nations to the mundial next year will takes home the sum of $12 million each, which may increase in the knockout stage. The preparation fee for the qualified teams is also set at $2 million. While the 16 eliminated teams in the group stage would pocket a minimum of $10 million each.

Tottenham Hotspur attacker, Bamidele Alli has included Real madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi in his dream team. The England international chose his first XI in FIFA 18, the team includes his current Tottenham team-mate Harry Kane and some big names. The 21 year-old called the team 'Delstroyers' and went for 4-2-2-2 formation with Bayern Munich shot-stopper Manuel Neuer starting in goal and he is protected by Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Jerome Boateng and Alli former Tottenham team-mate Kyle Walker. In Midfield, he chose former Tottenham player, Luca Modric, and Bayern Munic's Arturo Vidal while Lionel Messi plays behind his rival Cristiano Ronaldo on the left with Ali supporting his team-mate Harry Kane on the other side of the pitch. The former MK Dons player received the special 99-rated version of his player card, which make him the most rated player in the squad.

The organisers of the Ballon d'or, France Football, has announced the first five nominees for the coveted award via their official Twitter account. Real Madrid pair, Marcelo and Luca Modric alongside Juventus playmaker Paulo Dybala are among the first five players nominated for the individual accolade. https://twitter.com/francefootball Chelsea's N'Golo Kante, who won the PFA award in England and Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar Junior are also on the list. During the day, France football will announce the other 25 players that will fight for the coveted award. Only selected international journalists will be able to vote. Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the league and the champions league last season, is the favorite to win the award for the fifth time in his career. The Portuguese won the award in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016. If the Portuguese captain wins he will equal Lionel Messi's record of five ballon d'or, which was won in 2009, 2010

Arsenal youngster Alex Iwobi came off the bench to score only goal as Nigeria secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over a resilient Zambian side at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Saturday. Iwobi, who missed the doubleheader between the Eagles and the indomitable lions of Cameroon last month came off the bench in the final 25 minutes for Moses Simon and it took him eight minutes of football to ease the nerves in the stands with a calmly taken effort from Shehu Abdulahi's right-wing delivery to hand Nigeria its 6th FIFA World Cup ticket. With the victory, Nigeria became the first Africa country to qualify for the World cup in Russia next summer. The Eagles sit top of group B with 13 points and in second place is Zambia with seven points while Cameroon who defeated bottom-placed Algeria 2-0 on Saturday are placed third.

Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has revealed why he no longer show much of his skills on the pitch, but rather focuses more on scoring goals. The forward said that at a certain point in his career, he decided to focus less on showing off his skills because goals are needed to win games and not skills. The Portuguese captain scored 118 in 291 appearances for Manchester United between 2003 and 2009, but drew criticism early on for often attempting fancy step-overs and other skills But since he joined the Real Madrid, Ronaldo has upped his rate considerably and is on 411 goals in 401 outings for the club, while in recent times the winger has often played as a centre-forward. Ronaldo told YouTube freestyler Soufiane Touzani, that goals had to come ahead of entertaining supporters. “In a game the most important thing is to win. And goals helps to win. You can mix — first goals, and after tricks and assists after. What the people want is goals, so I try to score goals.”

Due to the size of the local airport, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese squad traveled to Andorra in a military plane ahead of their World Cup qualifiers this weekend. The European Champions landed in Andorra in a military C-295 plane, which can carry 69 passengers. The Portuguese teams, who qualified to the 2014 World Cup via playoff, will hope to qualify automatically this time around. They are currently three points behind Switzerland, who currently occupy the automatic spot, with two games to go.

Former Arsenal and Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has been appointed as the new assistant coach of Ivory Coast. Toure, who is also a technical assistant with Scottish champion, Celtic, will combine the two coaching roles as he hope to help Ivory Coast qualify for the World Cup. The 36 year-old will work alongside the head coach, Mark Wilmonts, who was the former Coach of Belgium, for the forthcoming Ivory Coast's World Cup qualifiers. The former Liverpool defender joined the coaching staff of his most recent club, Celtic, after he officially retired from the beautiful game last month. "Any club I have been the managers all spoke to me about the next step and wanted me to be involved in coaching " Toure told Press Association Sport. "I love to speak to the players and when I play I like to advice that is what I learned from Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira, Sol Campbell, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. "I can still call them and ask for their a

Following the high political tension that is currently going on in Catalonia, there has been speculations about where Barcelona and other Catalan clubs could end up playing their football if they were to depart the Spanish LaLiga. After his side defeated Brighton and Hove Albions 2-0 at the Emirate stadium on Sunday, the Frenchman was asked about the prospect of his team playing against Barcelona in England and what he would do if that was the case. "I'd try to learn Catalan," he told reporters. "If Barcelona want to join the Premier League, it makes things even more difficult for everybody. "But I don't think they have gotten as far as that. "It is interesting and there will be incidents on the sporting side as Barcelona are a highly political club." When he was asked whether or not he would welcome Barcelona to the Premier League, the Frenchman said the Blaugrana should look closer to home for new teams if they are planning an ex

Chelsea and Italy legend Gianfranco Zola told sky sport that Alvaro Morata is not on the same level as Diego Costa. The former West Ham manager said he prefer the Brazil-born forward to the former Juventus and Real Madrid striker. Zola, who scored 80 goals in over 300 appearances for the Blues, also commended Costa's decision to leave the Chelsea after he received a text from Antonio Conte, informing him that he is not in his plan for the following season. "I have no doubt that Costa did the right thing," Zola explained, "he obviously had problems, the team is not formed by one players,  and I think it was best he left. " Chelsea brought in Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid to spearhead their attack after it was clear Diego Costa will leave the club but yet Zola does not believe Morata is as good as the man he is replacing. "As of today, Morata is not on the same level as Diego Costa. Technically, he is great player. Obviously he has many qualitie

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo could set an unwanted record against Espanyol in the spanish league on Sunsay.  Since his arrival at the capital club from Manchester United in 2009, Cristiano has never failed to score in his first three LaLiga matches. The Portuguese skipper mixed the first four games in the Spanish league after he picked up a red card against Barcelona in the Spanish super cup final in August.  He played his first Laliga game this season against Real Betis where he failed to score despite shooting twelve times. His second match was against Alaves, he also fire blank. The former Manchester United player experienced the same situation to what he is going through right now in La liga in four out of his nine seasons with the Spanish giant. In the 2010/11 campaign he scored against Real Sociedad after failing to score against Mallorca and Osasuna.  In the 2012/13 season he scored his first league goal in the third match against Getafe and the followi

Photo credit: AS Four Malawian Referees has been banned for life after they were found guilty of match fixing, according to AS report. The four referees were banned after the team they collected bribe from lost and the team reported them to the Malawian referees association. The incident happened in July 13, 2017 in a Malawian Carlsberg cup round of 16 match between Nchalo united and chitipa united. The home team, Nchalo united reportedly gave the officials $20 to make sure they win the tie but to their Surprise they lost the match. In a bid to help the bribers, the referee awarded a penalty to them but the match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, and Chitipa won the penalty shoot-out. The outcome of the result infuriated Nchalo united, they demanded the return of their $20 but the officials only repaid $15 and in retaliation, Nchalo united reported. This week, the Malawian Referees Association general secretary, Chris Kalicher confirmed the life ban punishment for the four r

With his first hat-rick in the UEFA Champions League, Harry Kane's goals tally in 2017 raised to 34 and only Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi has scored more since January. The Tottenham forward continued his hot streak against Apoel Nicossia in Cyprus on Tuesday night and has now scored more goals than any other number 9 in Europe's top teams since the beginning of the year.  The England international lead the scoring chart in this season's UEFA Champions League with five goals. He has also scored four goals in the premier league, totalling nine goals in all competitions this season.  The 24 year old has more goals in 2017 than seven premier league teams: Swansea (33), Southampton (33), Burnley (32), Watford (31), Stokes (28) and West Bromwich Albion (26). Since he made his first-team debut in 2011, the Spurs youth team graduate has scored 108 goals in 173 official matches for Tottenham.

Real Madrid and Brazil left back Marcelo Vieira has revealed his favorite players he had shared the dressing room with, his favorite coach and his toughest rival. Marcelo, who recently signed a contract extension with Los Blanco named Brazil legends Ronaldinho, De Lima Ronaldo, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo as the four best players he had ever played with.  When asked to pick his favorite, the 29 year-old defender picked his current Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. "I played with greats like Ronaldo (De Lima), Ronaldinho and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, he said, as reported by Marca. "But because i'ave been training with him for a long time ago, giving him passes and celebrating goals. I will say Cristiano Ronaldo (is the best). " On his favorite manager, the Brazilian international picked his current Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. On the toughest player he had ever faced, Marcelo went for Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar jun

Paris Saint-Germain sit at the summit of Ligue 1, having scored 21 goals in their opening seven matches. Yet beneath the veneer of goal-gluttony and a star-studded team, there are significant divisions in the squad. The owner of PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaifa, instructed an intermediary to offer Edinson Cavani an improved contract in exchange for allowing Neymar to take penalties. According to El País, Al-Khelaifa had offered the Uruguayan forward one million euros if he finishes the season as the PSG’s leading goal-scorer in Ligue 1. Now, he offered to pay that amount regardless of Cavani finishing as the top scorer if he let Neymar take the penalties. Cavani, who has scored seven goals in seven league matches so far this season, rejected the offer. The remarkable offer stems from an on-pitch spat between Cavani and Neymar, who joined the Parisian club for a world-record fee in the summer, during a 2-0 victory over Lyon. The pair bickered in the 79th minute over who would take a

La liga president Javier Tebas has revealed the date of the first El clasico of the 2017/18 season. The match has been rescheduled to December 23rd. The match was originally scheduled for December 20 but due to Real Madrid involvement in the Club World Cup in United Arab Emirates (UAE) the previous week, they will be given an extra rest. "The first Barcelona Vs Real Madrid match in LA liga will be played on Saturday, December 23 at 13:00." Tebas said. There have been rumors that Barcelona will leave the Spanish league if the Catalonia succeed in their quest for independence but Tebas says he really want Barcelona to stay in La liga. His words: "La liga would be hurt if Barcelona didn't play in it. But the law of sports is clear. "In the case of independence. Barcelona couldn't choose because only Spanish teams will be allow to play in La liga." Whatsap

Besiktas FC defender Kepler Lima Ferriera popularly known as Pepe has rate the Turkish giant supporters ahead of his former club fans. The former Real Madrid player revealed that the Spanish capital fans are not as emotional as their Turkish counterparts. The Portuguese center-back ended his ten years stay with Real Madrid during the summer after he made the move to the Turkish Super league. The former FC Porto defender has been impressed with his new side supporters and compared them with his former employer's fans. "At Real Madrid, the players had to self-motivate ourselves in order to play because the fans weren't as emotional as they are here, " he disclosed to Jugones of La Sexy. "Besiktas fans are fantastic. Here,  with the fans we have, a player is very motivated to do things well. "