Hansi Flick praised Germany s mentality and remains upbeat despite their World Cup destiny no longer being in their hands after Sunday s 1-1 draw with Spain.

Niclas Fullkrug cancelled out Alvaro Morata s earlier effort to earn a point but, following the 2-1 defeat by Japan, the four-time champions have failed to win their opening two matches at the finals for the first time.

Die Nationalmannschaft must beat Costa Rica in their final Group E match to stand any chance of progressing to the last 16, while hoping the Samurai Blue fail to beat La Roja in the other showdown.

Addressing the media during his post-match conference: Flick said: The team maintained a great level. I am very satisfied with the mentality and the team s work today. This was a match on a high le…

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti prefers the day-to-day running of club management amid questions about whether he would take up an international role.

Ancelotti has guided Madrid to the summit of LaLiga, 12 points clear of a resurgent Barcelona, who do have a game in hand.

Madrid are also in contention to go all the way in the Champions League. Los Blancos are 3-1 up in their quarter-final against reigning European champions Chelsea heading into Tuesday s second leg.

While Ancelotti has Madrid on course for success this season, speculation swirls as to whether president Florentino Perez will stick with the 62-year-old for next season.

The failure of Italy to qualify for two straight World Cups has also brought Roberto Mancini s position into …

France have filed a complaint to FIFA over the decision to disallow Antoine Griezmann s late goal in Wednesday s shock 1-0 World Cup loss to Tunisia.

Griezmann thought he had cancelled out Wahbi Khazri s strike when he volleyed home in the eighth minute of stoppage time at Education City Stadium.

However, after the celebrations had died down, referee Michael Conger ruled out Griezmann s goal for an offside infringement.

The Atletico Madrid forward was adjudged to have been offside when firing in from Aurelien Tchouameni s pass, which took a deflection off a Tunisian defender.

Half the teams are set for the Round of 16! |

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup)

However, the French Football Federation (FFF) believe the officials were wrong to d…

Gareth Bale has confirmed his expected departure from Real Madrid in a letter to team-mates, staff and fans at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Bale, who was the world s most expensive player when he joined Madrid from Tottenham in 2013, is out of contract at the end of this month.

The Wales forward has played a key role in winning 16 major honours while in Spain, including a remarkable five Champions League triumphs.

Bale has scored three Champions League final goals, including a memorable overhead kick against Liverpool in 2018. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (four) has netted more.

But the 32-year-old was an unused substitute for Madrid s most recent triumph on Saturday – again versus Liverpool – and featured in only seven minutes during an epic European campaign.<…

Strasbourg have appointed former Hull City boss Liam Rosenior as their new head coach following the departure of Patrick Vieira.

Vieira left the club by mutual consent last week after overseeing a 13th-place Ligue 1 finish in his only season in charge.

Strasbourg, who are owned by the BlueCo consortium led by Todd Boehly, formed as the investment vehicle for the takeover of Chelsea in 2022, have now turned to Rosenior.

Rosenior was surprisingly sacked by Hull in May after the Tigers missed out on a Championship play-off place by just three points, finishing seventh.

Rosenior, who won seven caps for England s under-21s during his playing career, previously served as Brighton and Hove Albion s assistant manager before enjoying a three-month spell as Derby C…

Former Russia captain Igor Denisov labelled the ongoing Ukraine invasion a complete horror , but fears he may be jailed or killed for speaking out.

Russia, with the help of nearby Belarus, invaded neighbouring Ukraine in late February after weeks of heightening political tensions between the two countries.

The actions of Russia have led to widespread condemnation, with financial, sporting and political sanctions imposed on the nation in an attempt to deter the attacks.

Football stars such as Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Shevchenko have repeatedly called for the invasion to stop, but Denisov is one of the most prominent Russian athletes to condemn the attacks.

Former Zenit midfielder Denisov, speaking to sports journalist Nobel Arustamyan in an intervie…

Manchester City dropped points for the second time this season in the Premier League as Leon Bailey cancelled out Erling Haaland s opener to earn a 1-1 draw for Aston Villa.

Pep Guardiola s side failed to have a shot on target in the first half, yet they went ahead five minutes after the interval when Haaland prodded home from close range for his 10th goal of the season.

City were made to pay for a host of missed chances after that as Bailey rifled in with 16 minutes remaining to send Villa Park wild, delighting under-pressure home boss Steven Gerrard.

The second-placed champions moved to a point adrift of leaders Arsenal, who face a test against improving Manchester United on Sunday, while Villa climbed to 17th spot.

10 Erling Haaland has scored 10 g…

French president Francois Hollande has stressed the notion of postponing or cancelling Euro 2016 has never been raised, saying the tournament is a way to respond to recent terror attacks in Europe.

Tuesday will see France play at the Stade de France for the first time since the area around the venue was targeted as part of a series of coordinated attacks on the city of Paris in November in which 130 people were killed.

Belgium s friendly with Portugal has been moved from Brussels to Leiria following last Tuesday s attacks in the Belgian capital that claimed the lives of 35 people.

However, France s prime minister Manuel Valls has previously insisted Euro 2016 will go ahead and Hollande said of the tournament: It s a major event as it s a sports competition, b…

Tottenham have triggered their option to extend defender Jan Vertonghen s contract until at least 2020, the club have confirmed.

The Belgium international s deal was due to expire at the end of this season, but Spurs have moved to tie him down for a further 12 months.

The development comes as no surprise with the 31-year-old last week revealing an announcement was imminent.

Vertonghen said talks over a longer-term agreement were yet to commence, but the temporary extension allows the Premier League side to minimise the risk of losing him on a free transfer as they weigh up their options.

The way I feel now, I ve got at least four to five good years left in the tank, he told the Evening Standard at the time.

There are no talks [with the club], bu…

Market: Goal to be score in both halves

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Two sides who will be looking to make an opening weekend statement on Saturday lunchtime, QPR will welcome West Brom to west London.

Starting with the hosts, while QPR might have opened up 2024 facing a real battle to keep hold of their Championship status, the Hoops embarked on what was a sensational end to proceedings. Storming their way to second-tier safety and gaining plenty of plaudits, Marti Cifuentes’ men will simply be looking to carry on from where they left off back in May. Signing off the 2023/24 campaign with a 2-1 victory against Coventry, the former Hammarby boss saw his squad win all of their final three Championship appearances. Making an almighty statement on April 26th as they claimed a 4-0…