Sports

Lionel Messi will end his career with an international trophy, Argentina team-mate Ezequiel Lavezzi insisted after Saturday s Copa America loss.

Messi, who has only won titles with Argentina at under-age levels, lost the third major final of his international career in Santiago, with Chile triumphing 4-1 on penalties after the visitors had dominated the goalscoring opportunities through 120 goalless minutes.

Argentina s failure at the Estadio Nacional will only serve to strengthen arguments by critics that Messi will not be truly great until he earns silverware for his country, but Lavezzi reckons it is only a matter of time before he dismisses those doubters.

Messi was also on the losing side in the 2007 Copa America final and last year s World Cup decider in Br…

Erling Haaland is arguably the best number nine in the world , according to Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who says the acquisition of the phenomenal Norwegian is a testament to the Premier League champions work.

City announced they had reached a deal in principle to sign the striker from Borussia Dortmund earlier this month, with Haaland since completing his medical after ending his BVB career with a final-day goal against Hertha Berlin.

Haaland scored 29 goals in 30 appearances across all competitions in his final season with Dortmund, averaging one every 82.3 minutes as they finished second in the Bundesliga. 

Since joining the German club from Salzburg in January 2020, Haaland scored an incredible 86 goals in 89 games to earn his reported £51…

Competition: Capital One Cup
Market: Chelsea to win the cup
Odds:

Chelsea recently beat Liverpool 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final, to reach their first cup final in manager Jose Mourinho’s second stint at the club. The Londoners are now hoping to win their first trophy in two years, and will face either Tottenham or Sheffield United in the final.

Mourinho and Chelsea have a real affinity with domestic cup competitions, so few would bet against the Premier League leaders winning the final regardless of the opposition. The best team won in the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, and they will fancy their chances at Wembley in a month’s time.

Manchester City are the current holders of the competition,…

Sven-Goran Eriksson has suggested England manager Roy Hodgson is being judged against a different set of criteria than he was during his time at the helm.

Eriksson led England between 2001 and 2006 as the country s first foreign manager, reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2002 and 2006 as well as the last eight at Euro 2004.

His successor Steve McClaren failed to reach Euro 2008 while Fabio Capello presided over a dismal 2010 World Cup campaign that saw England limp through the group stage before exiting in the second round.

Following a run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 under Hodgson, England were dumped out in the group stages at the World Cup last year, an outcome Eriksson feels he would not have survived.

England had some years where…

Jurgen Klopp does not think UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin should resign over the shambolic staging of last season s Champions League final.

However, the Liverpool manager suggested the damning review of the Stade de France showpiece might be a resigning matter for someone senior involved in planning the event.

UEFA was found primarily responsible for the near-miss at the Paris final, where the parallels between Hillsborough 1989 and Paris 2022 were described in an independent review as palpable .

The review, commissioned by UEFA, was released on Monday after an investigation into events surrounding the May 28 fixture in the French capital. It concluded UEFA and French authorities were wrong to blame thousands of Liverpool supporters with fake tickets for the …

The Mail Online understand that Arsenal are set to open contract talks with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as they look to resolve his future.

Premier League champions Chelsea have been linked with a move for the England international and have already seen a £25m bid rejected by the Gunners though remain interested in securing his services.

The North London side are desperate to not lose the twenty-four year old on a free transfer next summer with his contract set to expire at the end of this season.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is closing in on two hundred appearances in all competitions for Arsene Wenger’s side having signed from Southampton in the summer of 2011.

The last of his twenty goals for the club so far came in a 5-1 win over West Ham United back in D…

Julen Lopetegui feels coaches should be given more international breaks to develop their teams ahead of the World Cup, as Spain prepare for friendlies against Costa Rica and Russia.

The 2010 winners eased to qualification for Russia 2018 by topping a group that included Italy after winning nine of their last 10 matches, but Lopetegui is frustrated by the international calendar.

Spain will not get together again until March, when a prestigious friendly against world champions Germany has been scheduled to be played in Dusseldorf.

FIFA is considering a change in the schedule to have longer, less frequent breaks, but Lopetegui indicated he would prefer a switch that gives him more opportunities to work with his players.

We re focused on our football right n…

Manchester City have not made an offer to bring David Alaba to the Premier League, Bayern Munich insist.

Pep Guardiola will depart his role as Bayern head coach to take the reins at the Etihad Stadium next season and speculation has been rife that he is keen to take Alaba with him.

However, reports in the German press say Bayern have no plans to let the Austria full-back move to England next season.

And Bayern s press director, Markus Horwick, told the assembled media before Bayern s Champions League second-leg tie against Juventus that the Bundesliga champions have not been approached.

Horwick said: There was no offer from Manchester City for David Alaba.

Forward Franck Ribery spoke of his desire for Alaba to remain at Bayern, adding: I think ev…

Real Madrid are considering a move for Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero, according to Talksport.

The La Liga champions have started the new campaign slowly and are already eight points behind rivals Barcelona in Spain’s top division.

They are considering potential targets for when the transfer window reopens and have Aguero, who scored his tenth goal of the season in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Arsenal, at the top of their list.

The Argentina international became the Citizens’ all-time top scorer last month after netting his one hundred and seventy-eighth goal since signing from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011.

He could now be set for a return to the Spanish capital though it is highly unlikely that Pep Guardiola would be willing to do bus…

Khephren Thuram has joined Italian giants Juventus from Nice in a move reportedly worth €20million (£16.9m).

Thuram, a 23-year-old midfielder, has signed a five-year deal with Juve.

He follows in the footsteps of his father, the former France international Lilian Thuram, who also played for the Bianconeri.

Indeed, he also joins his brother Marcus Thuram in Serie A, which the attacker won with Inter last season.

While Marcus was part of France s squad for Euro 2024, Khephren did not make the cut, though he was named in Thierry Henry s Olympic squad, only to withdraw.

Thuram is the third signing of the summer window for Juve, who have also brought in Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa and goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio from Monza.

Join Khephre…