Sports

Red Bull Salzburg star Jonatan Soriano admits he would be open to a return to Barcelona in January.

The 30-year-old impressed during his time with the Barcelona B squad between 2009 and 2012, but failed to break through to the first team under Pep Guardiola and left for Austria in January three years ago.

Soriano has been a revelation during his time in the Bundesliga, winning the domestic double three times and scoring a total of 144 goals in 160 appearances in all competitions for Salzburg.

Barca have been linked with a number of attacking players ahead of the January transfer window, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robin van Persie, and Soriano has confirmed he would listen to any offer.

It s not easy, knowing that you come to Barca to be a …

Twelve months ago, Dani Alves was in training with Sao Paulo in between a disappointing draw with Athletico Paranaense and 1-0 home defeat in the San-Sao derby to Santos.

At the same time, Vinicius was in the midst of a Real Madrid goal drought that began in late October and didn t end until March 1.

Now, they are preparing to face each other in the Supercopa de Espana semi-final, with Alves astonishingly back at Barca and – perhaps even more surprising – Vinicius probably one of the two best players in LaLiga.

It s fair to say that, at this point last year, there were growing concerns Vinicius simply wasn t going to be the player many had hoped or predicted.

While he was still only 20, he didn t seem to have developed a great deal since joining fro…

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink admitted he is still frustrated at his sacking as Netherlands manager as he defended his recent coaching record.

The 69-year-old has replaced the sacked Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge and will take charge until the end of the season having previously had a spell at the helm in 2009.

At his first media conference, Hiddink was asked whether Chelsea fans should be concerned by his recent failures at international level, prompting him to defend his spells with Russia and Turkey, while speaking about his disappointment at being sacked by Netherlands who ultimately failed to qualify for Euro 2016 in June.

Regarding the last job with Holland of course they had a very good result in the last World Cup in Brazil [finishing third] and then …

Gareth Bale s agent Jonathan Barnett has described the leaked details of the Welshman s transfer to Real Madrid as disgraceful and demanded an investigation.

Website Football Leaks published documents detailing the star s transfer in 2013 which state the world-record figure paid by Madrid to Tottenham.

It is claimed the Santiago Bernabeu club parted with €100,759,418 for Bale – more than the €94m fee paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 – despite their previous insistence that Bale s deal cost closer to €91.59m.

Reports in Spain also suggest Tottenham were forbidden from disclosing details of the transfer fee, which is understood to have been paid in four installments.

Barnett is furious at the leak and has called for apologies from the Foo…

Verdict: Sao Paulo win

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Looking to extend their excellent run that returned five wins in the last six rounds, Sao Paulo will travel to Juventude. The game will be played at Estadio Alfredo Jaconi where the local fans enjoyed watching their favourites s invincible Serie A status.

Juventude

Starting their 2024 campaign with an extended invincibility run that saw the locals dropping a single game in the first seven rounds, Juventude proved capable of competing against Brazil s best. Despite facing top teams in the early stages of the Serie A season, the hosts faltered a single time against Botafogo. Although the Rio Grande shores side was expected to put up a fight, following the previous 2-0 home win against Corinthians, Botafogo i…

Petr Cech saved a penalty for the first time since 2011 on his way to reaching 200 Premier League clean sheets in Arsenal s 3-0 win against Watford on Sunday.

The Czech goalkeeper had not kept out a spot-kick in the top flight since denying Clint Dempsey in the final minute of a goalless draw between Chelsea and Fulham at Craven Cottage seven years ago.

However, the 35-year-old got a strong arm to Troy Deeney s effort from 12 yards a save that will have felt all the sweeter following the striker s comments regarding Arsenal s perceived lack of cojones earlier in the season.

The stop also helped Cech finally reach 200 clean sheets, having conceded at least one goal in each of his last 11 matches, becoming the first Premier League goalkeeper to reach the marker.

Verdict: Serbia

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Costa Rica locks horns with Serbia in an opening match of the Group E with both the Ticos and Eagles hoping to get off a flying start to their respective World Cup campaign.

Costa Rica

The 2014 World Cup quarter finalists head into the World Cup on the back of a string of poor performances. The Ticos lost their final two friendly internationals ahead of the final shopiece in Russia by a desperately humiliating 6-1 scoreline.

Furthermore, Costa Rica lost six of their final eight matches which all contributed to a poor sentiment heading into the World Cup. Lack of goals has been the biggest problem for Costa Rica knowing the Central Americans scored just two in their last seven matches. The opening match a…

Aston Villa s Moussa Diaby has completed a reported £50million move to Al-Ittihad, the Premier League club confirmed on Wednesday.

Diaby, who became Villa s record signing following his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, helped Unai Emery s side secure Champions League football last season.

The 25-year-old made 54 appearances in all competitions, scoring 10 goals, three of which came during their semi-final run in the Europa Conference League.

Diaby joins fellow compatriots Karim Benzema and N Golo Kante at the club, although the latter has been linked with a return to the Premier League.

Al-Ittihad finished fifth in the Saudi Pro League last season, losing four of their last six games to miss out on qualification for the AFC Champions League Two group sta…

Argentina and Lionel Messi have their place at the 2018 World Cup on the line when they face familiar foes Nigeria in St Petersburg on Tuesday.

A 1-1 draw against Iceland after Messi was thwarted from the penalty spot, followed by a chastening 3-0 reverse to Croatia, means only a win will do for La Albiceleste and their under-fire head coach Jorge Sampaoli.

Thankfully for Messi and his team-mates, that is precisely what tends to happen when Argentina face Nigeria.

Remarkably, this is the fifth time the sides have been placed together at the group stage since 1994.

Although Nigeria can draw confidence from dispatching Iceland 2-0 last time out and a 4-2 friendly victory over a Messi-less Argentina last November, their World Cup history in this fixture do…

Prediction: Los Angeles FC to win 3-0

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Los Angeles FC and Vancouver Whitecaps will lock horns with each there in Major League Soccer this coming weekend. The match between Steve Cherundolo’s side and Vanni Sartini’s team will be held at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California and is scheduled to kick off at 3:30am UK time on Sunday.

Los Angeles FC

Los Angeles FC have been superb in Major League Soccer so far this season and have been arguably the best team in the division. Under head coach Steve Cherundolo, the Falcons have been flying high, and the signs are that they could do even betterthan last season. In the 2022 MLS campaign, Los Angeles FC won the Western Conference and eventually beat the Philadelphia Union in the …