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.
<…
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…
Previous winners Sevilla will face Slask Wroclaw in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League as they bid for their third title.
Unai Emery s team won the competition under its previous guise as the UEFA Cup back in 2006 and 2007, and they were given a boost in their attempts to repeat that feat on Friday after being paired with the Polish outfit.
They will have to travel for the first leg in Wroclaw, but were still one of a handful of big-name teams who bypassed a potentially difficult tie, with Tottenham and Udinese both being handed winnable games in pot six.
They will play Dinamo Tbilisi and Slovan Liberec respectively, with the Serie A side given home advantage in the first leg against their Czech opponents.
Elsewhere in the draw, Premier League Swansea…
Kieran Trippier praised Atletico Madrid s unbelievable mentality after making his second appearance for the club following his transfer from Tottenham.
The right-back featured in Diego Simeone s starting line-up as Atletico beat Chivas on penalties after a goalless draw in the International Champions Cup in Texas on Tuesday.
Trippier spent four seasons at Tottenham and helped the club reach the 2018-19 Champions League final before making a reported €22million switch to the Wanda Metropolitano.
Atletico s task against Chivas was made tougher by Marcos Llorente s 24th-minute dismissal, but Trippier was proud of their response.
I thought we reacted well, said Trippier. The mentality of the team was unbelievable, we continued to press and try to win the b…
Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker were left dumbfounded after their Manchester City team-mate Leroy Sane was left out of Germany s World Cup squad.
Sane was a surprise omission from Joachim Low s final 23-man selection, the 22-year-old dropping out of Germany s party along with Bernd Leno, Jonathan Tah and Nils Petersen.
The winger who won the PFA Young Player of the Year award and was involved in 33 goals in competitive matches in the 2017-18 season spoke of his disappointment in a Twitter post on Tuesday and vowed to bounce back stronger .
De Bruyne believes Sane has established himself as one of the hottest prospects in world football under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, and is therefore surprised to see him miss out.
I didn t talk with him yet, it …
Crystal Palace have completed the signing of goalkeeper Vicente Guaita from LaLiga outfit Getafe on a three-year deal.
The 31-year-old will officially become an Eagles player on July 1 when his contract with the Spanish side expires and is Roy Hodgson s first signing ahead of the new Premier League season.
Guaita kept 12 clean sheets for Getafe last season, helping the side finish in eighth place in their first campaign back in the top flight, and started his career at Valencia making over 100 appearances for Los Che.
Palace have been eyeing a new goalkeeper due to uncertainties surrounding the future of veteran shot-stopper Julian Speroni and first-choice number one Wayne Hennessey. The pair are both out of contract at the end of this month.
Wales intern…