David Moyes saluted his “maverick” forward Lucas Paqueta after the 2-1 Europa League win at Freiburg, even though he drives him mad.
Freiburg’s nickname is the Breisgau Brazilians due to their flamboyant style of play, but it was West Ham’s Samba star Paqueta who stole the show.
He put them ahead after only nine minutes with a towering header from a cross by Jarrod Bowen, celebrating his return to the England squad.
Our Brazilian Magnifico
— West Ham United (@WestHam)
Paqueta then spent the rest of the evening tormenting the hosts with his array of flicks, tricks and occasional theatrics.
“It was a bit of an old-fashioned goal, down the side with a good cross, and then a great header like an old-fashioned centre forward. I re…
Market: Manchester United win
Odds: 1/2 @
In an all-Premier League showdown on Friday night, Manchester United will look to extend on their FA Cup adventure when they welcome Everton to Old Trafford.
Starting with the hosts, putting in another rampant display earlier in the week as they cruised their way to a 3-0 romp against Bournemouth on home soil, Manchester United are enjoying quite the purple patch. With Erik ten Hag s side continuing to gain a string of plaudits, the former Ajax boss has his sights set on clinching a Champions League return in 2023. Breaking into the top-four and now winning each of their three Premier League matchups since returning from the World Cup break, the English heavyweights should find the mood in their camp at a real high. With…
Christian Pulisic felt the United States made a flying start to the Copa America with their impressive victory over Bolivia in Texas.
Milan star Pulisic stole the show with an eye-catching strike into the top corner, and he added an assist for Folarin Balogun as the USA opened their campaign with a 2-0 win on home soil on Sunday.
Pulisic became only the second USA player after Clint Dempsey to register a goal and an assist in a Copa America match, while he is also now the country s quickest player to reach 30 goals, doing so in his 69th game.
An inspired performance from the captain also ended a woeful run for the USA against CONMEBOL sides at this tournament, given Gregg Berhalter s side had previously lost eight of 10 such games.
Pulisic felt that USA c…
Barcelona expect to complete the signing of Raphinha from Leeds United in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Raphinha’s agent, Deco, a former Barcelona legend, has already agreed personal terms with the Brazil international winger, who is expected to leave Leeds in the coming weeks.
Raphinha joined Leeds from Rennes in the summer of 2020. The 25-year-old winger hit the ground running in the Premier League and has been superb for the Whites over the past two seasons. The Leeds no. 10 scored 11 goals and gave three assists in 34 Premier League starts this season, and scored six goals and provided nine assists in the league in 2020-21.
Leeds survived in the Premier League on the final day of the season, while Barcelona failed to chal…
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Ben Foster as emergency cover after first-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was ruled out of action for up to eight weeks, according to . Lloris suffered knee ligament damage in Tottenham’s 1-0 victory over defending champions Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League this past weekend and could be on the sidelines for up to eight week.
Fraser Forster, who joined Tottenham in the summer of 2022, is now expected to step up and replace Lloris in the first team, but the North London club need back-up options. Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman have yet to make a senior appearance for Tottenham.
Foster retired from professional football last summer, but Tottenham could offer him a short-term contract to the …
Erling Haaland believes he has joined the right club to fulfil his ambitions after Manchester City officially confirmed the striker s arrival on Monday.
City announced on May 10 that an agreement was in place to sign Haaland from Borussia Dortmund after triggering his reported €75million (£64.2m) release clause.
The Norway international has now officially put pen to paper on a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium, with that deal to go through on July 1.
Haaland had been one of Europe s most sought-after players and follows in the footsteps of his father Alf-Inge, who played for City between 2000 and 2003.
He scored 86 goals in 89 games for Dortmund upon joining from Salzburg in January 2020, averaging a goal every 84 minutes across all competitions…
German Denis has returned to Independiente after terminating his contact with Atalanta.
The 34-year-old forward played his final game for Atalanta on Saturday, bidding farewell by equalising in a 1-1 draw at home to Sassuolo in Serie A, and will now return to his native Argentina.
Independiente confirmed Denis return in an official statement on Wednesday.
The statement read: Independiente announces that German Denis will sign a contract this Wednesday at 1pm.
The striker will be joined by club president Hugo Moyano to formalise his relationship [with the club].
Denis, who spent two years at Independiente between 2006 and 2008, said his goodbyes to Atalanta over the weekend, having arrived at the club, initially on loan from Napoli, in 2011-12.
Unai Simon acknowledged Spain would have to recover their focus amid celebrations of a quarter-final win over Germany that felt like a Euros final .
La Roja are still two victories from the Euro 2024 title, but they have cleared their greatest hurdle yet after beating the hosts 2-1 late in extra time on Friday.
Subsitute Mikel Merino headed a 119th-minute winner, with Spain earlier frustrated by a Florian Wirtz equaliser at the end of normal time.
Goalkeeper Simon was in no mood to talk down his side s achievement, even if attention must soon turn to Tuesday s semi-final.
What we have achieved is historic, winning this game is like a Euros final, he said.
We have already celebrated, but we have to recover because in four days we have a semi-fina…
Jesse Marsch is very proud of what his Canada players achieved in the 2024 Copa America as their tournament ended with defeat to Argentina.
The competition debutants finished second to Argentina in Group A before defeating Venezuela on penalties in the quarter-finals.
After defying the odds to reach the last four, Canada s dream run was ended on Tuesday as they lost 2-0 to Argentina in New Jersey.
Canada will co-host the next World Cup along with the United States and Mexico, with that tournament now very much in Marsch s sight.
What I said to the team afterwards is I know that they re very disappointed, but I m very proud of them, Marsch told reporters.
We ve put together some incredible performances and we re just starting our process. We nee…
Sevilla have made Lucas Ocampos their seventh permanent arrival of the close season, the winger joining for a reported €15million fee from Marseille.
Ocampos signed for Marseille in 2015 and, after a difficult first few years – including loans to Genoa and AC Milan – he settled to become a key player.
Offering a mix of craft, work-rate and pace, the 24-year-old was one of few Marseille players to come away from the 2018-19 campaign with his reputation intact and he has signed a five-year contract at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
He joins Sevilla in a state of flux, with Luuk de Jong, Joan Jordan, Diego Carlos, Munas Dabbur and Jules Kounde all recent arrivals, while Maximilian Wober s loan from Ajax became permanent.
Sevilla have also been busy arrangi…