I have a theory as to one reason (of many) the England National Team tends to underperform in major tournaments: the players all play in the same league. Every England international plays in the Premier League. One might argue this breeds familiarity and is therefore good for the national team, but I think it leads to a lack of stylistic variety in the team and makes the payer pool stagnant. It's basically like inbreeding, is what I'm saying.
MILAN — AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic said he wants to stay at the Serie A club for the rest of his career, admitting he is "scared to stop" playing due to uncertainty as to what comes next after retirement.
The 40-year-old Swede's current contract expires at the end of the season, but Ibrahimovic has no plans to hang up his boots just yet.
"I want to play as long as possible. As long as I have that adrenaline, I will continue," Ibrahimovic told Italian talk show Che Tempo Che Fa on Sunday.
MANCHESTER, England - Manchester United's new interim manager Ralf Rangnick said he was impressed with how well his team responded to his input during Sunday's 1-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace.
A 77th-minute goal from Fred earned Rangnick a victory in his first game in charge at Old Trafford.
Manchester United get their goal!
After numerous COVID-19 delays, the 2020-21 Women’s FA Cup Final was contested Sunday (the 2021-22 competition is now in the Second Round) in front of a massive crowd of 41,000 at Wembley. Chelsea stormed to a 3-0 victory over Arsenal, completing a domestic treble after also capturing last season’s Women’s Super League and League Cup titles.
It’s Arsenal (first) and Chelsea (second) that look set to battle for this campaign's WSL crown after eight matches, but the early story of the season has been the form of Blues’ attacking duo Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby.
RB Leipzig, last season's Bundesliga runners-up, have mutually agreed to part company with head coach Jesse Marsch after a poor start to the season, the German club said on Sunday.
Leipzig suffered a 2-1 defeat at Union Berlin on Friday, a third consecutive league loss that left them 11th in the standings and piled pressure on American Marsch who was not at the game due to being in COVID-19 quarantine.
Marsch, who joined this season to replace Bayern Munich-bound Julian Nagelsmann, has led his team to only five wins in 14 league games.
I’ll make this a brief as possible, but the author of this story is in the foulest of moods. His favorite Premier League side lost in wild fashion, his college football team missed out on the playoffs by two inches and on top of that he has a hamstring that doesn’t work after an incident during a video.
DORTMUND — Top scorer Robert Lewandowski scored twice, including a second-half penalty, to guide the German champions to a crucial 3-2 victory at title rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and a four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
The Pole opened his account in the ninth minute to level after Dortmund had taken an early lead through Julian Brandt, and then converted a 77th-minute spot kick to seal victory with his 16th goal of the campaign.
En su cuarto partido como técnico del Barcelona, Xavi conoció la derrota. Después de triunfos sobre el Espanyol y el Villarreal, además de un empate en Champions League ante el Benfica, los catalanes no pudieron defender su casa y terminaron perdiendo por la cuenta mínima ante el Betis de Andrés Guardado y Diego Lainez.
Lainez se quedó todo el partido en la banca de suplentes, pero Guardado jugó los 90 minutos, llevó la jineta de capitán e incluso inició la jugada que significaría el gol de la victoria para el conjunto verdiblanco.
BARCELONA — Barcelona were stunned by Juanmi's late goal for Real Betis that secured a 1-0 win in LaLiga on Saturday and ended home coach Xavi Hernandez's honeymoon at the club as he suffered his first defeat since coming back to the Camp Nou three weeks ago.
Juanmi gives Real Betis a 1-0 lead over Barcelona! pic.twitter.com/NeSyDS53ch
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 4, 2021
LONDON — West Ham United stunned Premier League leaders Chelsea with a 3-2 win on Saturday after coming from behind twice and then claiming all three points with a bizarre late goal from substitute defender Arthur Masuaku.
The Hammers clinched the win in the 87th minute when Masuaku caught out Edouard Mendy with what looked like a cross but the ball flew into the near corner for the Congolese full-back's first goal in his 96th Premier League appearance.