Spain head coach Vicente del Bosque has told Alvaro Morata he must produce more consistent performances if he is to become his country s main man in attack.
The European champions continue preparations for the defence of their title in France at Euro 2016 with a match against Italy – who they beat in the 2012 final – in Udine on Thursday.
Morata plays in Italy with Juventus and has the opportunity to stake his claim to be Spain s number nine against Antonio Conte s men, with Chelsea striker Diego Costa not in the squad due to injury.
Valencia star Paco Alcacer, Spain s top goalscorer in qualifying, and Athletic Bilbao veteran Aritz Aduriz are also in contention, but Del Bosque thinks Morata has everything required to make the spot his own – other than …
Adrian Ramos came off the bench to score a priceless late winner for Borussia Dortmund as Thomas Tuchel s side edged a thrilling 3-2 victory against struggling Werder Bremen.
The substitute s intervention proved a crucial one for Dortmund, who remain five points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, after Pep Guardiola s side defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 earlier on Saturday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Dortmund the lead shortly after half-time with his 23rd league goal of the season, the Gabon international chipping Felix Wiedwald after Henrikh Mkhitaryan played him through.
The lead did not last long as Bremen hit back swiftly, Gonzalo Castro diverting Alejandro Galvez s strike into his own net after Dortmund failed to deal with a corner.
Zla…
Nicolas Gaitan has signed for Chicago Fire, the MLS club have announced.
Gaitan s move from the Chinese Super League to MLS was revealed by Dalian Yifang last month, the former Argentina international joining on a free transfer.
The 31-year-old, formerly of Benfica and Atletico Madrid, has signed a single-season deal with Chicago but the club hold an option to add a further year.
Nicolas is a player that can destabilise any defense in this league, said head coach Veljko Paunovic.
He has an enormous amount of talent and is still in his prime. We re eager to get the most out of his attacking creativity.
Coming to
— Chicago Fire (@ChicagoFire)
Gaitan has been capped 19 times by Argentina, helping them to qualify for the 2…
Verdict: Portugal win and under 3.5 goals
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Defending European champions Portugal will look to get their qualifying campaign off to a winning start when they host Ukraine at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on Friday night.
Portugal
Starting with the hosts, after beating France and lifting the European title back in 2016, the mood in Portugal s camp will be on a high. While they may have failed to make it to the quarter-finals out in Russia last summer, Fernando Santos side did impress during the inaugural UEFA Nations League. Marching through the whole campaign unbeaten, the Reds also booked their spot in the semi-finals of this year s tournament. Unsurprisingly, one man to watch for the hosts will be their all-time leadin…
According to , Brentford and Watford in the Championship in England are interested in signing William Saliba from Arsenal before the summer transfer window closes on October 16. The 19-year-old defender is back at the Gunners after spending the 2019-20 campaign on loan at Saint-Etienne as part of the deal the French club made to sell him to the North London club for £27 million last summer.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta does not think that Saliba is ready for the Premier League and is open to sending the teenager out on loan for the 2020-21 campaign. Watford and Brentford are reportedly looking into the possibility of securing the services of the youngster on a loan deal.
Watford are aiming to bounce back into the Premier League after getting relegated from the Champion…
Wolverhampton Wanderers have completed and the signing of Francisco Trincao on loan from Barcelona.
Our second summer arrival
— Wolves (@Wolves)
The young Portuguese winger is the Premier League side s second arrival this summer, following the acquisition of defender Yerson Mosquera.
Trincao made a total of 42 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona in 2020-21, scoring three goals and assisting his teammates twice, but he started only three La Liga matches and at the Catalan club, they obviously feel he needs a regular starting XI role to further his development.
Nonetheless, Wolves will hold all the cards in their hands when the loan comes to its end, having the option of turning the move permanent if they want.
Bundesliga and Champions League hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen have clinched the signing of Philipp Wollscheid from Nuremberg.
The 22-year-old centre-back was tied to Nuremberg until 2014, but Leverkusen made an undisclosed offer that the Bavarian club accepted and agreed a five-year contract with the player. He will join his new club in the January transfer window. We are firmly convinced Bayer 04 have signed one of the most talented and best central defenders in Germany in Philipp Wollscheid, Leverkusen chief executive officer Wolfgang Holzhauser told Leverkusen s official website. He s got great potential and will make a decisive contribution to strengthening our defence. Wollscheid joined Nuremberg from Saarbrucken in 2009 and made his club debut in November 2010. He became a re…
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag dubbed his side s defeat to Aston Villa as not acceptable , following a woeful performance at Villa Park.
The hosts raced into a two-goal lead inside 11 minutes, with Leon Bailey firing home and Lucas Digne converting a free-kick, but a fortuitous own goal when Luke Shaw s effort deflected off Jacob Ramsey pulled one back just before the break.
United s start to the second period was just as poor as the first half, however, with Ramsey firing home at the right end this time to restore his side s two-goal advantage, and the visitors were unable to muster anything in return.
That left Ten Hag disappointed with the performance of his players, highlighting they had been off the mark.
We lost the game at the start of the…
Antonio Di Natale will start alongside Mario Balotelli in Italy s international friendly against the USA in Genoa on February 29.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has previously overlooked the Udinese striker despite his scoring feats in Serie A, which have seen him collect back-to-back scoring crowns in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
But now Prandelli has told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he wants to see what Di Natale can offer alongside the Manchester City star.
I have decided that for the friendly with the USA in February I will call him, the trainer said of the 34-year-old.
I want to see him with Balotelli, as they are both strikers of great movement.
They could move together like Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano. I am curious to see them together, …
Marseille striker Brandao says he is happy to be back in France after completing a year-long loan in his native Brazil.
The 31-year-old enjoyed stints at Cruzeiro and Gremio during his spell away from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille, but the Marseille has now elected to recall the striker.
The absence of striker Jordan Ayew due to 2012 Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ghana leaves the Marseille short up front, contributing to Didier Deschamps decision to summon Brandao back to the club.
And Brandao who faces rape charges in France from an incident in Aix-en-Provence, near Marseille, last March revealed he was pleased to be back in Marseille s plans.
Everything is agreed, I am returning to Marseille. I am delighted to be back, he told L Equipe on Monday.