Lukas Podolski believes coach Joachim Low deserves great credit for Germany s progression over the past decade.
Low has been in charge of Germany since 2006, having served as assistant coach to predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann for two years prior to his appointment.
The 54-year-old has taken Germany to the latter stages of three major competitions reaching two semi-finals and the final of Euro 2008.
Arsenal man Podolski claims Low has filled the national team with optimism, giving them genuine hope of securing FIFA World Cup glory in Brazil.
The atmosphere is great (in the camp) but it is clear everything depends on the results, Podolski said on Saturday.
The 10 years (since Low was appointed Germany s assistant) have flown by in no time. In 2004 we had a d…
I was studying players and I wrote down some names like Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, when he was still playing in Norway, Braida told Marca.
But at the club they told me no, that he didn t have the Barcelona profile. I also suggested other players from Italy, like [Nicolo] Barella, who is now at Inter, or [Nicolo] Zaniolo, who plays at Roma.
But if you don t have the responsibility to do this because it has been given to others, you can t do anything. I was isolated.
Haaland is set to make his 10th Champions League appearance against Zenit on Wednesday.
The Norway international is already guaranteed to have scored more goals than any other player in their first 10 in the competition, with Haaland having netted 11 goals in nine games so far, averagi…
Verdict: Tottenham Hotspur -3
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Newport County will play at Wembley on Wednesday night as they attempt to knock Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup fourth round. We make our prediction on the replay after the shock 1-1 draw two weeks ago.
Tottenham Hotspur
It took a late Harry Kane equaliser to prevent an embarrassing exit for Tottenham Hotspur against League Two side Newport County. However, manager Mauricio Pochettino is still likely to make changes with his team set to face Arsenal on Saturday. In the league, Spurs have struggled to find any real consistency of late, with a win against Manchester United sandwiched between two draws with Southampton and Liverpool. Nonetheless, they are still unbeaten in 10 matches in all competit…
Having made a couple of shrewd business moves over the last two couple of transfer markets, Arsene Wenger looks set to complete another important piece of business next summer.
has reported that Arsenal manager has made a personal approach toward former Gunners academy graduate Oguzhan Ozyakup over a possible summer return to London.
Ozyakup left Arsenal in 2012 for Besiktas where he achieved full professional recognition and earned a captain’s armband in the process.
Turkey international midfielder is now set for a new challenge in his career and will be allowed to leave the club on a free transfer once his current deal with Besiktas expires at the end of the season.
The 25-year-old is generating plenty of interest but Wenger wants to make sure he ge…
Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina scored in extra time as Italy beat Austria 2-1 to move into the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.
The win set a new national record as they extended their unbeaten run to 31 games, surpassing the 30-game streak posted under Vittorio Pozzo between 1935 and 1939.
Marko Arnautovic saw an effort ruled out by VAR in the second half as Austria threatened to cause an upset at Wembley Stadium, but substitutes Chiesa and Pessina booked the Azzurri s last-eight spot with clinical finishes in the first half of extra time, although Sasa Kalajdzic did set up a frantic finish with his 114th-minute effort.
Roberto Mancini s side will face the winner of Sunday s clash between Portugal and Belgium in Munich on Friday.
Quarter-finals, her…
Palestine s Asian Cup hopes were rescued by Australia as a 0-0 draw with Jordan eventually proved enough for them to finish third in Group B.
The stalemate appeared to have been in vain for Palestine as the contest finished with Syria on course to take third as they were level 2-2 with Australia in injury time, only for a late Socceroos winner to dash their hopes and spark jubilant scenes among the Palestinian fans in Abu Dhabi.
Jordan s wins over Australia and Syria had already assured them of a place in the knock-out rounds and they played like a team with little on the line as Palestine had largely the better of Tuesday s contest.
Palestine were thumped 5-1 by Jordan in their only other appearance at the Asian Cup in 2015 but such a rout was never on the cards…
There will be no Bayern Munich celebrations should they secure the Bundesliga title with victory over Augsburg on Saturday, according to coach Jupp Heynckes.
Bayern make the short trip to the WWK Arena knowing a 23rd top-flight win of the season would see them become champions for a sixth campaign in a row.
Heynckes is focused on securing those three points, but he will not allow too many champagne corks to be popped, with matters such as the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sevilla also at hand.
Bayern – who are also in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals – hold a 2-1 lead after the first game in Spain and Heynckes does not want his squad s focus to slip by rejoicing in a title triumph.
In 2013 we won the Champions League and people wanted…
Football fans took to the streets of Sao Paulo with fireworks and flags as the hearse carrying Brazil legend Pele s body made its way to the sight of the 24-hour public wake that begins on Monday.
Pele, a three-time World Cup winner, had been moved to palliative care early in December after his body stopped responding to cancer treatment.
His death was announced on Thursday. He was 82.
Tributes have flooded in for the footballing icon after he left a lasting legacy on Brazil and Santos, for whom he scored 643 goals in 659 matches over an 18-year period.
Obrigado, Rei Pelé.
— Santos FC (@SantosFC)
His body left the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital – where he died – during the early hours of Monday ahead of the wake, with fans com…
Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Chelsea will be unable to keep hold of Antonio Rudiger, who has asked to leave the club.
Reports in the media this week claimed that Rudiger – whose contract expires at the end of the season – had turned down the offer of a new deal and had decided to leave for pastures new.
Tuchel has now revealed those reports were correct. Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are among the clubs said to have an interest in the centre-back.
And, due to the sanctions imposed on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich by the United Kingdom government in the wake of Russia s invasion of Ukraine, Tuchel explained that the club have been unable to up their offer.
Rudiger sat out Chelsea s 1-0 win over West Ham on Sunday due to injury an…
Liverpool beat Burnley at Anfield on Saturday to make it two out of two in the Premier League this season, with Diogo Jota heading a Kostas Tsimikas cross past Nick Pope in the Burnley goal in the 18th minute and Sadio Mane latching onto a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass to slam home in the 69th.
Burnley were the team that broke Liverpool s run of 68 home games in the league without defeat last season, marking the start of a woeful one which saw the Merseysiders title defence efforts fall apart, but Liverpool made sure something like that wouldn t happen this time.
Fullbacks create
Ever since Liverpool sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January 2018, manager Jurgen Klopp and his staff have been working on devising and perfecting a system in which the two fullbacks, Ale…