Brazilian forward Marta, who won her third FIFA Women s World Player of the Year award for her 2008 heroics, will join the Los Angeles Sol of Women s Professional Soccer for the upcoming season.
Marta, who turns 23 next month, led the Brazilians to the 2007 Women s World Cup final in China, where they lost to Germany, and silver-medal finishes at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She most recently played for Umea IK of Sweden.
Of course I am sad I am leaving, but I am happy because a new project is beginning. It is time to start something new, Marta said.
Trying to light a football spark in America similar to what England s David Beckham attempted with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Marta will try to revive US pro women s soccer six years after the Women s United Soccer Ass…
Market: Tottenham to beat Chelsea
Odds:
With players and coaches returning to the Premier League this weekend following the international break, Chelsea will know anything less than a win over Tottenham on Sunday will leave qualification for next season s Champions League a very tall order.
For Antonio Conte s Chelsea side, after relinquishing any chance of defending their Premier League crown months ago, it appears that the Italians position at Stamford Bridge is growing more untenable by the week. Suffering a 3-0 defeat away to Barcelona, the Blues came crashing out of the Champions League and securing a top-four finish in England s top-tier is starting to look increasingly unlikely. With the defending champions now sat fifth in the table, Conte s misfir…
Arsenal have postponed a Thursday news conference amid reports Mikel Arteta is set to be appointed as the club s new boss.
The Gunners were due to hold a media briefing to preview Saturday s Premier League clash at Everton, who themselves are reportedly close to having a new man in the dugout in the form of Carlo Ancelotti.
However, Arsenal confirmed the conference would be put back a day to Friday with a time to be announced later on Thursday.
It comes at a time where Arsenal look certain to install former midfielder Arteta as the successor to Unai Emery, who was sacked as head coach last month.
North London. And proud of it.
Our players visited a range of programmes in the local area this afternoon
Thanks for having us,
— Ars…
In the hunt to replace sacked Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insisted Sunday experience and personality would be key attributes for potential candidates.
When one looks at the current trend in Europe, it s notable that many of the successful coaches are personalities with a huge amount of experience and of advancing age, Rummenigge told Sunday s edition of Die Welt.
Klinsmann was sacked last Monday as Bayern head coach after just ten months in charge following a string of poor results with Jupp Heynckes appointed as caretaker coach for the rest of the season.
Dutch coaches Louis van Gaal, Frank Rijkaard and Martin Jol have all been linked to the vacant job at the defending Bundesliga champions, as well as German Footba…
Barcelona star Neymar has revealed he feared his career could be over after he sustained a serious back injury at the 2014 World Cup that ended his dream of being crowned world champion on home soil.
The attacker suffered the injury in Brazil s quarter-final win over Colombia following a reckless challenge from Camilo Zuniga and consequently missed the remainder of the tournament.
Neymar has not forgotten the incident and admits it was one of the worst moments of his career.
I have had a number of difficult moments in my career, but what happened during the World Cup in Brazil is the most painful memory, the 24-year-old was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
It was my childhood dream to become world champion on home soil, but it all went wro…
New Juventus recruit Carlos Tevez insists that he has put his troubled past behind him as he begins his career in Serie A.
The Argentina international was officially unveiled by the Italian champions on Wednesday after they agreed a £10 million deal with Premier League outfit Manchester City.
Confirmation of the move brings an end to a controversial seven-year spell in England for Tevez, with the 29-year-old s refusal to leave the bench during a UEFA Champions League loss to Bayern Munich in the 2011-12 campaign widely considered the nadir.
However, the former Corinthians and Boca Juniors forward is adamant that he has put such episodes firmly behind him.
I am simply honest, he told Tuttosport. At the start of my career in England I used to be a hot-head. If the…
German daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt has suggested that Bayer Leverkusen are hot on the trail of Hamburg defender Jonathan Tah.
The 19-year-old centre-back made 16 Bundesliga appearances for the club in the 2013/2014 season before he enjoyed a season-long loan spell with Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Tah is already regarded one of country s hottest prospects and Hamburg could decide to cash in on his services in case of a good offer seeing as the financial situation is far from impressive.
According to Hamburger Abendblatt, Bayer Leverkusen have expressed interest in the youngster s services and could soon submit an official offer for the talented defender.
And even if Tah has a €25 million release clause in his contract, it is believed he would be availa…
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has praised FIFA for their decision to introduce goal-line technology during the Club World Cup.
GoalRef, which uses a microchip in the ball, and Hawk-Eye, which is used in tennis and cricket, are the two types of technology being trialled during the competition.
FIFA will assess the success of the new systems with a view to using them during the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and Cech believes the move is a positive one.
He told reporters: I m delighted at FIFA s decision. In 2010 it became clear that football needs this sort of technology.
With goal-line technology there are plenty of results that could be changed. As a player, it s better to wait a moment for the correct call than be let down by an incorrect call.
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Italy coach Cesare Prandelli says Italian clubs have developed a bad habit of sacking coaches before they can show their worth.
On Monday, Siena replaced Serse Cosmi with Giuseppe Iachini, while Sampdoria parted ways with Ciro Ferrara, much to the dismay of the national team coach.
I feel very sorry for Ciro, the 55-year-old told reporters.
He left the national team set-up receiving many compliments. And now he s been replaced, he added, referring to Ferrara s previous roles with Italy s senior and Under-21 teams.
I thought that these bad habits (of sacking coaches) might have gone, but no, it s now the law of football. We need to see patience in this game.
Prandelli coached seven different teams before taking the Italy job in 2010.
…
Erik ten Hag is happy with the progress Manchester United are making but still wants greater ruthlessness after only beating Leicester City 1-0.
United made it three Premier League wins in a row on Thursday with their slender victory at the King Power Stadium, a streak they had not managed since December.
Jadon Sancho got the only goal of the game in a first half that United generally controlled, but they were unable to increase their lead and that offered Leicester encouragement.
Still, Leicester struggled to take advantage of their own second-half improvement, with United s defence impressing once again with a solid collective effort as the hosts chances only amounted to 0.6 expected goals.
United might have finished Leicester off towards the end during…