With the exception of Portugal, Group F features teams that virtually nobody thought they would qualify for the tournament finals, with each of Austria, Hungary and Iceland now having a decent shot at securing their place in the next phase.

The Selecao are by far the strongest side in the group even if they have experienced some problems in recent years, with Paulo Bento eventually paying the price for the poor start of the qualifying campaign.

However, the team seriously raised their game under Fernando Santos and they not only qualified for the tournament finals, but also emerged as serious contenders for a place in the closing stages.

With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani establishing a good attacking partnership and a number of hot Primeira Liga talen…

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Vincent Kompany is set to make a return to his former home ground as he leads his Burnley side to the Etihad Stadium for a challenging encounter against the reigning Premier League champions, Manchester City, on Wednesday night.

This match marks the first meeting between the two teams since the opening weekend of the campaign in August last year, where Manchester City secured a comfortable 3-0 victory at Turf Moor.

Manchester City

Ending a five-game winless streak without scoring at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Manchester City finally broke their hoodoo on the North London side with a narrow 1-0 victory over Ange Postecoglou s team in the FA Cup fourth round last Friday.

Despite dominating possession, City seemed …

Joachim Low does not believe Germany can be considered the favourites to win Euro 2020, claiming England, Spain, France, Italy and Belgium are all ahead of his side.

Germany booked their place at next year s finals with a 4-0 win over Belarus on Saturday.

Their qualification follows a disappointing 2018 World Cup, when the defending champions slumped out in the group stage, and only avoiding relegation in the Nations League due to the competition being restructured.

Germany s squad has undergone a reshuffle over the past year, with Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Muller no longer considered for selection, while Mesut Ozil retired from international football, alleging discrimination and disrespect by the German Football Association.

Low s side …

Aston Villa signed Colombia international Juan Pablo Angel from River Plate for a then club-record £9.5million transfer fee on this day in 2000.

The striker arrived at Villa Park from Argentinian outfit River Plate, eclipsing the £7m paid for Stan Collymore in 1997.

Angel was signed having scored 17 goals in 17 games for River Plate, but he initially struggled to adapt to life in England and only scored once before the end of the 2000-01 season.

Writing on The Coaches’ Voice website, Angel said: “Things weren’t easy. There is always a normal adaptation process that every player must face, but I went through a difficult personal situation away from the game.

“My wife became ill when we came to England and she spent almost six months in hospital w…

Chelsea have announced the signing of Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid on a permanent deal.

The winger, who played for Chelsea on loan for the second half of the 2022-23 season, has signed a six-year contract, with the option for a further year, for a fee in the region of £45million.

In his six-month spell with Chelsea in 2023, Joao Felix played 16 Premier League games, scoring four goals, finishing the season as the club s third-highest scorer in the competition.

The 24-year-old joined Atletico in 2019 from Benfica, scoring 34 goals in 131 matches in all competitions, but spent last season on loan at Barcelona.

He netted seven times for the Blaugrana in LaLiga, slightly underperforming his expected goals of 8.76, and provided three assists in the competi…

Mauricio Pochettino has warned his Chelsea players they face their most dangerous game when West Ham visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Blues picked up one of their best Premier League results of the season on Thursday in beating Tottenham 2-0 on home soil.

Another London derby now awaits, but Pochettino believes the quick turnaround in matches could work against his side.

It is the most dangerous game because now we have to keep the same mentality for Sunday, he said.

We are playing a team who are so strong, have physicality and West Ham are having a fantastic season and have been competing in Europe.

We need to recover players. We don t have too many options to add fresh people to the squad and they have had the whole week to prepare.

…

Lionel Messi became the first player to score 20 LaLiga goals in 13 successive campaigns as he found the breakthrough superbly against Huesca on Monday.

It was already a historic outing for Messi, who equalled Xavi s all-time record of 767 Barcelona appearances.

And the 33-year-old moved on to 20 goals in 25 top-flight appearances this season by clipping home a superb strike from the edge of the box, via the underside of the crossbar after 13 minutes at Camp Nou

No other player has scored 20 or more times in the competition in 13 seasons in a row.

Indeed, Messi was the only player to have hit 20 goals in 12 consecutive LaLiga campaigns – a feat he achieved that by netting in a 4-0 win over Mallorca in June 2020.

20 s Lionel Messi  has scor…

Luton will never forget how far they have come and will stay grounded as they look to secure promotion to the Premier League, according to club great Mick Harford.

The Hatters will meet Coventry in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday with each aiming to cap a remarkable upturn in fortunes by earning a place back among England’s elite.

For Luton, it would be the culmination of a journey which saw them drop out of the Football League in 2009 in the wake of a 30-point deduction for financial irregularities under previous ownership.

It’s getting closer.

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown)

Following a five-year exile, the Bedfordshire club slowly worked their way back up the pyramid.

Last season’s promotion hopes …

Thomas Christiansen is challenging Panama to keep springing surprises at the Copa America when they face off against Colombia in the quarter-finals.

After losing their opening game of the tournament 3-1 to free-scoring Uruguay, Panama dug in to cause an upset for host nation United States, coming from behind to win 2-1.

A comfortable 3-1 victory over Bolivia followed secured second place in Group C as Panama booked their place in the knockout round of the Copa America for the very first time.

Former Leeds United boss Christiansen challenged his team to be the surprise package, but says this result is years in the making.

When we were going to leave for the United States, I said I would like to be the surprise [of the tournament], like Morocco in the [202…

Jurgen Klopp may be out for a slight revenge on Sunday when Liverpool meet Tottenham at Anfield, having fallen foul of VAR controversy in the reverse Premier League clash.

Spurs won 2-1 at home in the previous meeting in September thanks to Joel Matip s last-gasp own goal as a nine-man Liverpool were unable to hold on at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Reds also had a first-half goal from Luis Diaz ruled out for offside by the VAR after a miscommunication between the video officials and the assistant referee.

With third-placed Liverpool winless in two league games after their 2-2 draw with West Ham last time out, Klopp has that controversy on his mind ahead of the second clash at Anfield.

It s always a challenge [against Spurs], the Liverpool manager said…