South Korea may have already booked their spot in the next round of Asia World Cup qualifying, but head coach Uli Stielike will allow no complacency against Lebanon on Thursday.
With six wins from as many Group G matches, South Korea welcome Lebanon to the Ansan Wa Stadium with little to play for aside from maintaining their 100 per cent record in the pool.
The qualifier against Lebanon, ranked 88 places below South Korea in the official FIFA World Ranking, comes just three days before a friendly encounter against Thailand which replaced their final qualifier against Kuwait, who remain suspended from FIFA due to government interference with the nation s Football Association.
While the outcome of both matches may be immaterial on paper, Stielike urged South Korea …
Former Brazil international Cafu feels Neymar has already surpassed both his Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi as well as Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to his technical ability.
Neymar had to settle for third at the 2015 FIFA Ballon d Or behind Messi and Ronaldo, but Cafu nonetheless feels his compatriot is already on a higher level than the illustrious duo in one area of his game.
Looking at his technical skills, I would say Neymar is stronger than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo right now, Cafu told reporters.
Neymar has been a key figure for Brazil since making his debut in August 2010, but he was unable to lead his country to glory at the 2014 World Cup or last year s Copa America.
Cafu is adamant Neymar is the Selecao s undisputed s…
Dries Mertens believes star-studded Belgium are among the favourites to win the World Cup as Roberto Martinez s men prepare to get underway in Russia.
Boasting the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Mertens, Belgium will open their Group G campaign against debutants Panama in Sochi on Monday.
This is seen as the last chance for Belgium s golden generation to taste success, having reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2014 and the same stage at Euro 2016.
Reigning world champions Germany, Brazil, Spain and France are favourites to take out the showpiece tournament, but Napoli forward Mertens said Belgium s experience has them in good stead to challenge.
The whole team wants to do better after the Euros. There is a lot of desire, Me…
Reportedly Austrian winger Marko Arnautovic is set for a £24m move to West Ham
According to , West Ham have agreed on a fee of around £24million with Stoke for Austrian winger Marko Arnautovic.
The Potters had reportedly rejected two previous offers from the Hammers. However, it seems now an agreement has been reached between the two clubs.
Arnautovic was linked with a big money move to Everton last summer. Instead, he decided to sign a new lucrative four-year deal with the Potters. It now seems the winger will now be plying his trade in pastures new in the 2017/18 season.
Mr Mercurial
In his younger years, Arnautovic was a bright young talent. Expectations were high for the winger, especially during his time at Italian club Inter. However, at …
In a recent interview, Filipe Luis has confirmed that he asked to leave Atletico Madrid this past summer. The 33-year-old, who re-joined Atletico from Chelsea back in 2015, was the subject of much speculation with Paris Saint-Germain being very interested in acquiring his services. According to Luis, Atletico made it sound as if he was insisting on leaving which wasn t the case, and that upset the Brazilian as he felt like they were trying to ruin his image in the public eye.
PSG worked hard to try and get the deal done before the summer transfer window officially shut, but Atletico refused to give consent to the move which clearly upset Luis.
Given his age, it would seem as if time is running out for him to make a big move like this, and if he s going to succeed in pus…
Per Mertesacker has said he paid no attention to Troy Deeney’s comment that Arsenal lack cojones following their 2-1 defeat to Watford, but admits his side must be mentally tougher.
Deeney accused Arsenal of a lack of fight after Watford came from a goal down to beat the Gunners 2-1 at Vicarage Road on Saturday in the Premier League.
Mertesacker had earlier opened the scoring for the Gunners and says his team need to learn from a defeat that leaves them nine points behind leaders Manchester City.
I don t know what he [Deeney] said, Mertesacker told Sky Sports. I don t pay attention. Anyway it was after the game I think, so I didn t watch it.
We should concentrate on ourselves first of all, there are so many guys involved and so many opinions, which…
Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has emphatically hit back at criticism levelled at him by Hans-Joachim Watzke – branding the Borussia Dortmund chief executive a clown .
Aubameyang left Dortmund after four-and-a-half years at Signal Iduna Park to join the Gunners in January 2018 for a fee in the region of £56million (€63m).
The 30-year-old Gabon international has enhanced his reputation as one of the most prolific goalscorers in Europe – netting 39 times in the Premier League, including seven in seven appearances this term.
However, Arsenal have been restricted to a diet of Europa League football since Aubameyang joined, leading Watzke to suggest he left Champions League mainstays Dortmund for financial reasons.
Aubameyang, who plays gre…
Oliver Bierhoff described Germany s management team as part of the problem as he admitted his shared responsibility with head coach Joachim Low to address the national team s shortcomings.
In the aftermath of Germany being knocked out in the first round of a World Cup for the first time for 80 years, Low re-stated his commitment to remaining in charge and general manager Bierhoff backed the 58-year-old as the man to turn their fortunes around.
To do that, Bierhoff says the duo must begin their analysis of a hugely disappointing campaign in Russia with themselves.
We are also part of the problem, we have to first start with us, Bierhoff told Welt.de.
We have the responsibility, must accept criticism, we are convinced that we can do it.
I sti…
Alvaro Morata moved Atletico Madrid a step closer to the Champions League knockout phase by securing a 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.
Diego Simeone s side had gone four home matches in all competitions without a win and had only scored once in their past three games at Wanda Metropolitano.
They rarely looked like ending that particular run against a Leverkusen side who lost their first two Group D matches and were beaten 3-0 by Eintracht Frankfurt last Friday, until Morata s powerful 78th-minute header proved too much for Lukas Hradecky.
Atletico lost Jose Gimenez to injury after only 15 minutes but Jan Oblak s goal was relatively untroubled, despite the visitors enjoying most of the first-half possession.
Hradecky made a routine stop from …
England are to face Netherlands and Italy in March as part of their preparations for the 2018 World Cup, the Football Association has announced.
The fixtures will provide Gareth Southgate s side with an opportunity to face top-class opposition ahead of the showpiece tournament in Russia.
The Three Lions will travel to Amsterdam to face Netherlands on March 23 before welcoming Italy to Wembley Stadium four days later.
England have lost their last two meetings with the Dutch, who failed to even reach the World Cup qualifying play-offs after finishing third in Group A, including a 2-1 loss on home soil in March 2016.
Italy, meanwhile, missed out on a World Cup berth for the first time since 1958 after losing a two-legged play-off against Sweden. The Azzurri …