Stephan El Shaarawy feels the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano have helped his development at AC Milan this season.
The 20-year-old forward has been one of the revelations of the 2012/13 campaign so far, and has become one of the undisputed stars of Serie A following his fine performances for Milan.
With the departures of Ibrahimovic and Cassano, two great strikers left and I ve more space now. I started the season in the best way possible personally; I grew a lot, El Shaarawy told the official UEFA website.
The Italy international thanked coach Massimiliano Allegri for the faith shown in him since his arrival at the club in 2011.
I felt a lot of faith from his side, especially last season when I made 28 appearances, he said.
Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink has urged his players to move on from the injury suffered by playmaker Rafael van der Vaart.
The Netherlands international injured his hamstring against Fortuna Dusseldorf at the end of November and looks likely to be missing until the New Year, but Fink wants his team to realise that they can win without their talisman.
It is important that the players see that sometimes we will have to be without Rafael, though we need him back desperately, he told Bild.
We have a chance of qualifying for Europe. If other teams falter, we are there. If we are consistent, we could play internationally.
Hamburg are just three points off the Champions League places in the Bundesliga and Fink is confident his side can end 2012 with a victory …
Raymond Domenech has survived the sack with the French Football Federation announcing Thursday that he had kept his job as manager despite France s poor showing at Euro 2008.
The 2006 World Cup runners-up were knocked out in the first round at the European championships, returning home with two defeats, one draw, six goals conceded and only one scored.
The decision to stick with Domenech by 18 votes for and one abstention was announced by FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes.
He said: The Executive Committee has maintained the manager in his post to prepare for the 2010 World Cup and redefined the terms of his mission and the conditions of management of the national team.
Domenech took over from Jacques Santini as France manager after Euro 2004 and …
Zamora have taken a giant step towards retaining their Venezuelan Primera Division crown after routing Mineros de Guayana on Sunday.
Noel Sanvicente s Zamora were 4-1 winners over Mineros in the opening leg of the Serie Final at the Estadio Rafael Agustin Tovar.
Pedro Ramirez, Julian Falcon and John Murillo were all on the scoresheet, while Rafael Acosta netted an own goal as Zamora put one hand on the trophy yet again, having defeated Deportivo Anzoategui in last season s decider.
The victory also extended their home winning streak in the league to 30 games.
Zamora have not tasted defeat on home soil in domestic competition since October 2012, when they lost 2-0 to Llaneros de Guanare.
The defending champions went into the first leg in the midst of a seven…
Tottenham Hotspur will tell Harry Winks that he can leave the club in the January transfer window, according to . The report has added that the England international midfielder would fancy a move abroad if he is not in the plans of Spurs head coach Jose Mourinho going forward.
Winks has been on the books of Tottenham since 2002 and has come through the North London club’s academy. The 24-year-old has been a regular in the Spurs first-team squad for a number of years now, but he is struggling for playing time under Mourinho this season.
According to , the midfielder has played 257 minutes in the Premier League and 71 minutes in the Europa League for Tottenham so far this season. Spurs are at the top of the league table at the moment and have also progressed to the knoc…