Deportivo great Valeron announces retirement

Deportivo La Coruna great Juan Carlos Valeron has announced he will hang up his boots at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season.

Valeron moved to Las Palmas in 2013 where he started his professional career in 1995 after making over 400 appearances for Deportivo between 2000 and 2013. 

The 40-year-old won the Copa del Rey in 2002 with the Galician club, along with the Segunda Division title, UEFA Intertoto Cup and two Supercopa de Espanas. 

The attacking midfielder was capped almost 50 times for Spain, representing his country at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2000 and 2004. 

I want to communicate that at the end of the season I will end my time as a professional footballer, Valeron announced on Saturday.

Valerón: Cuelgo las botas en mi casa y en…

Manchester United chasing fourth place is undignifying – Solskjaer

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United have been a major disappointment since the retirement of legendary manager Alex Ferguson and described their battle for fourth place as undignifying .

Ferguson oversaw a period of unrivalled success in English football during 26 years at Old Trafford, but United have failed to build on his legacy since he stepped aside at the end of the 2012-13 Premier League campaign.

Immediate successor David Moyes lasted less than 12 months in the role and United failed to qualify for the Champions League in their first season without Ferguson at the helm.

Louis van Gaal orchestrated a return to Europe s top table by overseeing a fourth-placed finish last term, but the Dutchman has faced severe criticism over a perceived negative sty…

Spurs drubbing gives Silva unwanted Premier League record on ´really bad´ day

Everton s 6-2 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday saw Marco Silva become the first manager in Premier League history to concede six goals or more at home in a single match with three different clubs.

Although the Toffees took the lead through Theo Walcott in the 21st minute, Spurs soon turned things around and ultimately ran out comprehensive winners.

Son Heung-min and Harry Kane were the stars of the show with two goals each, with the result highlighting an alarming trend in Silva s Premier League career.

Spurs had previously inflicted a 7-1 home defeat on Silva s Hull City in May 2017.

Silva s Watford then lost 6-0 at home to Manchester City four months later, and the Portuguese accepted there were few positive to take from his latest humiliation.

 …

Werner´s originals give Germany striking solution

A much-improved second-half showing, aided by another VAR farce, booked Germany s place in the Confederations Cup semi-finals as Group B winners with a 3-1 victory over Cameroon.

But it is a much older feature of the beautiful game, the art of goal-poaching as opposed to any haphazard forays into technology, and its demonstration in Sochi that may prove more significant for the world champions.

Miroslav Klose bowed out on top in 2014 as the top goalscorer in World Cup history, but the redoubtable target man was a bit-part player by that stage and Die Mannschaft have struggled for a reliable centre-forward ever since.

The enviably deep pool of talent available to Joachim Low has been on full display in Russia over the past week, as a youthful line-up have played w…

Liverpool on ´right path´ again following Chelsea win – Alisson

Alisson believes Liverpool are  on the right path again after admitting the reigning Premier League champions had let their lofty standards slip.

Jurgen Klopp s Reds were crowned with a record seven games to spare in the 2019-20 season but, perhaps unsurprisingly, their form dipped in the closing weeks, winning just five of their nine league fixtures upon the restart in June.

The new campaign began with a shaky 4-3 victory over newly promoted Leeds United, yet Liverpool looked more like the team who ran away with the title when seeing off Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge last weekend.

Sadio Mane scored twice and, playing against 10 men, there was a welcome clean sheet for goalkeeper Alisson, who saved a second-half penalty from Jorginho.

The Brazil in…

Solskjaer expects Sanchez to return to Man Utd and ´prove us all wrong´

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has backed the much-maligned Alexis Sanchez to return to Manchester United at the end of the season after his loan at Inter and prove us all wrong .

Sanchez was sent to Inter at the start of the season after a woeful first 18 months at Old Trafford, as he scored just three Premier League goals in 32 matches.

The Chile international had arrived to much fanfare from Arsenal in a swap deal involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January 2018, but he failed to meet expectations.

He is yet to make much of an impact at Inter either, making just five Serie A appearances – though injuries have played a part.

Reports had suggested Inter players were keen on Sanchez staying regardless, but Solskjaer is seemingly expecting the forward to return to Ol…

Odin Thiago Holm eager to leave Valerenga ‘as soon as possible’ after Celtic bid

Odin Thiago Holm could not wait to get away from Valerenga when the chance to join Celtic came along.

The 20-year-old midfielder became the Parkhead club’s first recruit of the 2023/24 season and the new Brendan Rodgers era last month when he signed a five-year deal.

The Norwegian had no hesitation when the opportunity to move to the Hoops arose.

He told CelticTV: “I didn’t really think, I just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“It’s Champions League, you play to win every game, it’s a big club.

“It feels really nice, it’s a really big club.

“I don’t think people in Norway understand how big the club is, because Valerenga is a club from the capital with 10,000 for each game and here we have 60,000 so it’s a really …

James Maddison wants opportunity to show what he can do for England

James Maddison is eager to have an opportunity to show Gareth Southgate what he can do in an England shirt – but insists he is old enough now to not sulk when he does not start.

The Tottenham playmaker will be hopeful of a place in Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad when it is announced in May, having made an eye-catching cameo appearance in the 2-2 draw with Belgium on Tuesday.

After sitting out the loss to Brazil, Maddison came on to tee up Jude Bellingham for the last-gasp equaliser against the Red Devils.

It was Maddison’s sixth England cap, but he has never completed a full 90 minutes for the senior side.

2 exciting games at Wembley! Looking forward to seeing the boys again

FIFA World Cup Final Preview: Germany´s route to the final

Germany face Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday and here we take a look at how Joachim Low s men got there.

Group G: Germany 4 Portugal 0

Germany sounded an early warning to the rest of the world with a dominant victory over Portugal. Thomas Muller, the 2010 golden boot winner, netted a hat-trick and Mats Hummels also scored. Portugal had defender Pepe sent off in the first half after a clash with Muller.

Group G: Germany 2 Ghana 2

Miroslav Klose equalled Ronaldo s record of 15 World Cup goals with a 71st-minute leveller in a hard-fought draw against Ghana. Mario Gotze had given Germany the lead before Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan put Kwesi Appiah s men on track for an unlikely win, only for Klose to climb off the bench and secure a point.

Tiago re-signs with Atletico

Tiago has put an end to speculation surrounding his future by signing a two-year deal with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.

The 33-year-old midfielder had been tipped to reunite with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after his contract expired following Atletico s triumphant 2013-14 campaign.

However, Tiago has decided to remain in Madrid a big boost for Diego Simeone, who has already lost leading scorer Diego Costa (Chelsea), David Villa (New York City), Filipe Luis (Chelsea) and loanee Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) among others.

Speaking to Atletico s official website, the Portuguese veteran admitted he was close to ending his stay at the Vicente Calderon but opted to renew as the club prepare to defend their league title.

I felt proud because we d had an i…