Rob Page and Gareth Bale insisted Wales should not be disappointed with World Cup elimination as the pair hailed the Dragons efforts despite a comfortable defeat to England.
Wales kept England at bay for large parts of the first half at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday but came unstuck after the interval as Marcus Rashford scored a brace and Phil Foden tapped home.
A 3-0 defeat ensured Wales end a major tournament without a win for the first time in their history, while England have defeated their rivals in seven straight games, scoring 14 and conceding just one in that run.
United States progressed as runners-up to England in Group B at the expense of Iran, though Page was not disheartened by Wales finishing bottom of the pool in Qatar.
The effort we pu…
Best Odds: 8/11
Bookmaker:
Looking to make it back-to-back Serie A victories on Wednesday afternoon, Lazio will make the trip to the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo when they meet Venezia.
Venezia
Starting with the hosts, coming from behind on their travels over the weekend and snatching a late point against Sampdoria, Venezia find themselves sitting in pole position to maintain their Serie A status this season. Shocking many across Italy as Paolo Zanetti s side made their top-flight debut via the play-offs earlier in the year, the Winged Lions are now hoping to find some stability. Although the Venice-based outfit might have also landed an impressive 1-1 draw against former champions Juventus on December 11th, the Blacks have managed to win just one of their previous …
The seven candidates to replace Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA in February s elections were confirmed on Wednesday. Here, we look at the men vying for the top job in world football.
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein
Prince Ali has been FIFA vice-president for Asia for the past four years, and ran against Blatter during last May s elections.
Having taken the ballot to a second round of voting, Prince Ali withdrew his candidacy which handed victory to Blatter – although the Swiss resigned four days later.
Prince Ali is the current president of the Jordan Football Association, and has vowed to lead the reforms within FIFA and restore the governing body s reputation.
Musa Bility
Bility – the current president of the Lib…
Galatasaray midfielder Wesley Sneijder is eagerly anticipating the Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid.
The Netherlands international wore the Real jersey from 2007 to 2009 before leaving the club for Inter Milan, and he still has fond memories of his time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
This is a tough draw, but it s a great one on an emotional level, Sneijder told De Telegraaf.
I was fortunate enough to win the Liga title in my first season with Real Madrid, and I still have warm feelings for Jose Mourinho, with whom I m still in regular touch.
Mourinho is very important to me, because I won the Champions League thanks to him.
Real Madrid are obviously the favourites, but we will try to make life as difficult as possible for th…
West Ham took a major step towards securing their Premier League status for another season on Saturday, thanks to an impressive 2-0 win away at Leicester City.
Joao Mario s 34th-minute opener put David Moyes side on course for their first win in five games, the Portuguese s tap-in giving the visitors a deserved half-time lead at the King Power Stadium.
Captain Mark Noble doubled their advantage with a sensational strike just after the hour, capitalising on a dropping ball and unleashing a long-range volley that found the net via the post.
With relegation rivals Swansea City beaten away at Bournemouth, West Ham will now be certain to remain a top-flight club if Southampton fail to win at Everton later on Saturday.
While it is a case of mission acco…
Ivan Rakitic admitted it was difficult to find the words to describe Andres Iniesta s final match for Barcelona on Sunday.
The 34-year-old played 80 minutes of the 1-0 LaLiga win over Real Sociedad before being substituted to a standing ovation from a packed Camp Nou crowd.
Rakitic has won every major trophy available since joining Barca in 2014, including three league titles and the Champions League, all while playing alongside Iniesta at the heart of the midfield.
And the former Sevilla star says the squad have found it tough to accept Iniesta is leaving after 16 years in the senior team.
¡Gracias hermano! Cuánto te voy a echar de menos
Thanks bro! How I will miss you
— Ivan Rakitic (@ivanrakitic)
The news about Iniesta s e…
World Cup winner Steven N Zonzi will not be leaving Sevilla for less than the €40million stated in his buyout clause, according to the club s director of football Joaquin Caparros.
N Zonzi, who played the last 35 minutes of France s 4-2 victory over Croatia in the World Cup final on Sunday, has been linked with a transfer to Arsenal or Barcelona but Caparros claimed no offers were on the table for the 29-year-old.
The former Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City midfielder joined Sevilla in 2015 and has made 90 LaLiga appearances in three seasons at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and Caparros said he hoped N Zonzi would remain at the club for at least two more years.
Caparros told Cadena Ser that clubs with an interest in N Zonzi would be told to meet the player s buy…
Matthijs de Ligt has put to bed suggestions he could have joined Manchester United in 2019, insisting they were never an option when he signed for Juventus in order to learn from the world s best defenders.
Despite only being 21, De Ligt is already something of a household name in European football, having come through the ranks at Ajax and earned himself a reputation as arguably the best young defender in the world.
His rise was rapid and impressive at Ajax, at the time becoming the youngest player to play a major European final, the club s youngest ever captain and the first recipient of the Golden Boy award – given to the best under-21 player in Europe – to be a defender.
Much of the praise De Ligt was afforded during his early days at Ajax related to his …
Inter head coach Antonio Conte claims speculation over Mauro Icardi’s future has not been disruptive to his squad and he does not expect any incomings or outgoings before Monday s transfer deadline.
Argentina striker Icardi has been linked with a move away from San Siro all through the window, with Napoli and Juventus reportedly leading the chase for the 26-year-old.
Inter bolstered their attacking options with the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United and a season-long loan deal for Red Devils playmaker Alexis Sanchez.
Lukaku took Icardi’s number nine shirt after arriving at Inter, with the latter switching to number seven.
Nerazzurri chief executive Giuseppe Marotta suggested the club were still hopeful of selling Icardi, who scored 11 …
Market: Inter Miami win
Odds: 6/5 @
Looking to extend on their recent remarkable purple patch, Inter Miami will welcome Sporting Kansas City to the DRV PNK Stadium in the early hours of Sunday.
Starting with the hosts, last seen putting in another stellar display as they cruised their way to a 3-1 romp away at Los Angeles, Inter Miami find themselves in the midst of a history-making flurry. While the Herons might still be facing an uphill battle in their bid to claim a play-off ticket in 2023, Gerardo Martino’s men are riding a famous wave of momentum. In fact, along with edging past Cincinnati last month as they punched their spot in the final of this season’s US Open Cup, the one-time Barcelona boss has not seen his side suffer a single defeat from any of …