Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso has talked down his team s chances of defending their title at Euro 2012.
Vicente del Bosque s men, the reigning world and European champions, will enter the tournament in Poland and Ukraine as hot favourites.
But Alonso said it would be difficult for his side, and played down their favouritism.
I think it s going to be more difficult. I think that the European Championship is going to be very hard and I don t see things as clearly as the betting where we are strong favourites, the Real Madrid playmaker said.
We need to be as cautious and humble as possible as we ll be watched closely. It s going to be hard for us. I don t see us as favourites at all.
Spain, drawn in Group C, will take on Italy on June 10 before cl…
Russia 2018 has arguably given us the most thrilling group stage to any World Cup in recent memory.
From Spain and Portugal s Sochi epic to the in-form hosts and Germany s shock exit, there has so much to enjoy and that is even before we consider VAR controversies, late, late drama and fair play criteria.
Our reporters are stationed across seven Russian cities and, ahead of the knockout stages, they have the chance to gather their thoughts and pick out some personal highlights.
So, here are the magnificent seven s pick of the best goals, games and fans, as well as the moments that have stood out the most during their time covering the action.
St Petersburg – Dom Farrell
Best goal: Lionel Messi – Nigeria v Argentina. Sublime per…
Kylian Mbappe s second-half brace powered Real Madrid to a hard-fought 2-0 win over Real Betis in Sunday s LaLiga clash.
Madrid controlled possession but struggled against a well-organised Betis defence until they finally managed to break the deadlock in the 67th minute.
Mbappe struck his first goal in LaLiga with a close-range effort from a brilliant back-heel pass by midfielder Federico Valverde, and the forward would soon add to his account shortly after.
The France captain secured all three points eight minutes later from the penalty spot after Vinicius Junior was fouled inside the box by goalkeeper Rui Silva.
Madrid moved to second in the standings with eight points, four behind leaders Barcelona, while Betis are 17th on two.
MAGNIFIQUE, .
Nuno Espirito Santo has committed his future to Wolves by extending his contract to 2023.
The Portuguese was appointed at Molineux in May 2017 and steered the club back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, with Wolves racking up an impressive 99 points as Championship winners.
Nuno has since steered Wolves to back-to-back seventh-place finishes in the top flight, while he also oversaw a run to the quarter-finals of the Europa League last term.
I feel good. Ready for it. Looking forward to it. Working really hard for it, because it s a new cycle, no matter what you did before, it s about what s in front of us and this is what we think we should do, the head coach told Wolves official website.
Let s prepare well, let s challenge, do …
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has hailed his side s 2014 points haul and called for more of the same in the new year.
Despite back-to-back defeats to Chelsea and Arsenal in their last two matches of the year, the Upton Park outfit have made a promising start to the 2014-15 season, currently sitting sixth in the Premier League.
West Ham end 2014 with 56 points for the calendar year and Allardyce wants to see the club register a similar total at the end of the season.
Fifty-six points in one year is a pretty good record and that would probably finish us in the top eight at least, he said.
We just need to carry that on and make sure we get 56 this season, or more, because if we can do it one year, let s try and do it in one season and see where it gets …
Football agents’ fees linked to international transfers in the men’s game reached an all-time high in 2023, according to new data published by FIFA.
Agents earned 888.1million US dollars (£701.6m) from such deals, the sport’s global governing body found.
The figure represents a 42.5 per cent increase on last year and is up by more than one third on the previous record set in 2019, FIFA said.
English clubs were the single biggest contributors to this year’s record total, spending 280m US dollars (£221.2m) on agents’ service fees, with Saudi Arabian clubs the second-highest spenders as buyers on 86m US dollars (£68m).
FIFA’s report excludes domestic transfer deals such as those involving Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz, so the tru…
The Philadelphia Eagles head to face the Washington Football Team with both teams still having ambitions of reaching the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys may have won the NFC East but there’s still hope, admittedly a small one, with the Eagle the most likely of the two to make the playoffs.
Don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Football Team on Sunday, January 2.
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The look-ahead lines for Week 16 odds are out, with the majority of the slate (11/16 games) happening on Saturday, December 24… and just three games on Sunday, December 25.
Looking through the early lines, there’s one game that stands out now as a holiday betting gift, just waiting to be unwrapped on Christmas Eve.
Trust me, it’s not that weird: When my sister and I were kids, our family used to let us open one (and one only) present on the night before Christmas. If that’s a tradition you never had… well, consider this your chance to experience the joy of getting a gift before Christmas Day.
In this case, Santa and his reindeer (or are they the elves?) take the form of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs laying single digits at home against …
Flacco-mania returns home tonight as Joe Flacco and the 10-5 SU Cleveland Browns look to stay near the top of the AFC standings as they welcome the New York Jets as a touchdown favorite to kick off the Week 17 slate in TNF odds.
After the Jets’ 30-point outburst last week was aided by Sam Howell’s errors, is Thursday night the time to get back to fading the Jets’ offense in the NFL odds with Trevor Siemian likely under center?
I break down the Week 17 NFL odds and offer my free NFL picks for the Jets vs. Browns on December 28.
Be sure to also check out our three favorite Jets vs Browns prop picks and our Amari Cooper spotlight!
Jets vs Browns odds
Jets vs Browns pr…
The Cleveland Browns are slight home favorites against the Dallas Cowboys to open the season on Sunday afternoon.
With a tight line, let’s look at my favorite NFL player props for Sunday’s matchup.
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