Japan coach Akira Nishino believes it will take a team effort to stop Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez in their World Cup Group H opener on Tuesday.

James won the Golden Boot as Colombia reached the quarter-finals four years ago, scoring six goals to help them to the last eight, where they were beaten by hosts Brazil.

He matched that total in qualifying and also contributed four assists as Colombia booked a place at the finals in Russia by finishing fourth in the CONMEBOL group.

Japan are looking to significantly improve on a 2014 tournament in which they claimed just one point and a positive result against Colombia in Saransk will go a long way to helping them do that in an open group that also contains Poland and Senegal.

And Nishino identified stop…

Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Barzagli have agreed new contracts to keep them at Juventus until 2018, the club have confirmed.

The goalkeeper s deal was due to expire at the end of the 2016-17 season, while his team-mate s contract was set to run out at the and the end of this campaign.

Buffon is now tied to the club beyond his 40th birthday and he expressed his gratitude for the trust shown in him by the club.

I m really proud of this further act of trust from the club and the whole Juventus world towards me, said Buffon.

I d like to underline that the direction we ve taken together consists of many factors. We all converge our energies to reach the goals we all have.

I think, together with my fellow players, we will be able to obtain that be…

Sami Khedira has signed a new deal with Juventus that will keep him with the Italian champions until 2021.

The Germany international has become a key member of Massimiliano Allegri s squad since joining from Real Madrid in 2015.

Khedira has won three successive domestic doubles and was also part of the side reached the Champions League final in 2017, though they lost 4-1 to former club Madrid in Cardiff.

Juve have handed the 31-year-old, whose previous contract was due to expire at the end of the campaign, a two-year extension which includes an option for a third season.

I just extended my contract at until 2021. Since my first day I’ve had a special feeling and it quickly felt like home here. I m very proud to be a part of the great history of the …

Mauro Icardi scored twice and Milan Skriniar was also on target as they came back to haunt former club Sampdoria and send Inter to the top of Serie A, for 24 hours at least, with a 3-2 win on Tuesday.

Having claimed a thrilling 3-2 derby win over AC Milan and then held Napoli to a 0-0 draw in their last two games, Luciano Spalletti s men continued their unbeaten start to the season with a dominant display at San Siro.

It represented a second defeat of the season for sixth-placed Samp while Inter moved a point clear of Napoli, who visit Samp s arch-rivals Genoa on Wednesday, and four ahead of champions Juventus and Lazio ahead of their respective games with SPAL and Bologna.

Skriniar left Samp for Inter in the close season and his scruffy 18th-minute opener wa…

Newcastle United will compete the signing of Rob Holding from Arsenal this week, according to . It has been reported that Arsenal have made a decision to send the central defender to Premier League rivals Newcastle on loan for the 2020-21 campaign.

Holding joined Arsenal from Bolton Wanderers in 2016 amid much expectations, but the 24-year-old has failed to establish himself as a regular in the first team at the Emirates Stadium. The English centre-back has also been impeded by injury problems, and it seems that he will get a fresh chance to get his career back on track at Newcastle.

Newcastle are an ambitious club who are well established in the Premier League. Steve Bruce is a very good manager, and under him, Holding could flourish. What is important is that Holding …

Riyad Mahrez has thanked Leicester City after completing his move to Premier League champions Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola s side announced the signing of the winger, who had looked set to join City in January, on Tuesday, paying a reported club record fee of £60million.

Mahrez arrived at Leicester in 2014, going on to play a crucial role in the club s remarkable Premier League title win in 2015/16, scoring 17 goals.

And the Algeria international took to his official Twitter feed on Wednesday to pay tribute to his former club.

Enjoy some of ’s best moments for

— Leicester City (@LCFC)

To all Leicester fans, we have made some amazing memories and history together, Mahrez tweeted.

Winning the premiership against all…

Kevin De Bruyne s latest injury setback has dealt a blow to Manchester City s Premier League title defence.

The Belgium midfielder only recently returned to first-team action from damaging the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee in August.

During the closing stages of City s 2-0 EFL Cup win over Fulham on Thursday, De Bruyne suffered damage to his left knee in a challenge with Timothy Fosu-Mensah and must now return to the sidelines for five to six weeks

Pep Guardiola s side have coped impressively without their talisman so far this term, going unbeaten over the course of the first 10 Premier League games to sit above Liverpool at the summit on goal difference.

They also lead the way in their Champions League group, but will they be able to main…

Kevin De Bruyne sees no reason why Manchester City cannot complete a clean sweep of trophies this season as Pep Guardiola s side continue to swat aside any and all opposition.

City head into Sunday s visit to Huddersfield Town on the back of 16 wins from 17 across all competitions – a sequence interrupted only by an EFL Cup draw and subsequent penalty shoot-out triumph over Wolves.

De Bruyne has been in sensational form and already looks a strong bet to scoop various individual honours at the end of the campaign.

But it is collective glory that interests the Belgium international, whose four goals and nine assists have inspired City to an eight-point lead atop the Premier League, five wins from five in the Champions League to secure qualification to the kno…

Arsenal are looking for a player to take them to the next level in the January transfer window after losing Gabriel Jesus to injury, says manager Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners entered the World Cup break five points clear of champions Manchester City at the Premier League summit, leading some to tip them as contenders for a first top-flight title since 2004.

Striker Jesus has played a key role for Arsenal this season, but he underwent surgery earlier this month after suffering a knee injury during Brazil s World Cup campaign.

With reports suggesting Jesus could be absent for three months, Arteta is targeting reinforcements – though he will only move for the ideal player.

I never gave a date on Jesus – it will take some time, for sure. He s gone through …

It was hard to think of a way to top the spine-tingling gravitas of Andrea Bocelli performing Nessun Dorma on a balmy Rome evening.

The organisers of Euro 2020 clearly felt it best not to try not to compete, so sent the matchball for Italy s 3-0 win over Turkey out to the Stadio Olimpico pitch via a remote-control car.

The restricted 16,000-crowd cheered the presence of UEFA s questionable accessory – the sort of thing a fun uncle might stick under the tree at Christmas – but then they gave full-throated appreciation to everything. After a 12-month delay and unimaginable heartache in the wider world, Euro 2020 was here.

Especially during those dark early months of the coronavirus pandemic when sport stopped, we all took solace in nostalgia and re-runs o…