Vanni Sartini has no problem with Vancouver Whitecaps fans who wish to cheer Lionel Messi when Inter Miami visit BC Place on Saturday, but he wants his players to ignore the Argentine s presence and focus on themselves.
Miami are currently leading the way in the Eastern Conference and the Supporters Shield race, with last week s 1-0 win over D.C. United lifting them to 31 points from 15 games.
Messi has contributed 10 goals and nine assists in MLS play this year, and he is expected to feature in Canada despite sustaining a knock in a training session earlier this week.
Supporters desire to see the eight-time Ballon d Or winner play has led to some bizarre atmospheres since he arrived in MLS, but Sartini will not tell Vancouver s fans who to applaud.
It …
Barcelona are set to re-sign Ansu Fati until 2024, while Real Madrid are eyeing the new Raphael Varane .
Fati, 17, has been linked with a stunning move to Manchester United after a breakthrough season at Barca.
But the teenage forward seems to be going nowhere.
TOP STORY – BARCA TO EXTEND FATI STAY UNTIL 2024
Barcelona are set to renew Fati s contract until 2024, according to the cover of Sport.
Out of contract in 2022, Fati has scored eight goals in 32 games this season, leading to links to Manchester United.
Sport also reports Barcelona are prepared to listen to offers for attacker Ousmane Dembele.
Cumbre por Ansu
Escucharán ofertas por Dembélé
— Diario SPORT (@sport)
ROU…
Qatar 2022 is a World Cup like no other, and the host nation performed like no other.
Theirs was the worst group-stage record of any home side at a World Cup, becoming the first to lose all three matches and conceding a landmark seven goals. Only South Africa, in 2010, had previously failed to make it out of the first round.
Controversially awarded the tournament months after Spain s Barcelona-inspired success at South Africa 2010, Qatar had plenty of time to prepare and soon put its faith in Catalan coach Felix Sanchez.
He worked first with the nation s youth teams before taking the top job five years out from the World Cup.
Although Sanchez led Qatar to Asian Cup success in 2019, he never considered a World Cup run a serious possibility – or so he sai…
Joshua King scored a 94th-minute penalty to earn Norway a 1-1 Euro 2020 qualifier draw at home to Spain, who would have sealed their place at the finals with victory.
Saul Niguez s goal 62 seconds into the second half looked to have extended Spain s perfect record to seven wins from seven in Group F at Ullevaal Stadion on Saturday.
But Kepa Arrizabalaga s foul on Omar Elabdellaoui in stoppage time handed Norway a golden chance to deny Robert Moreno s men the points they needed.
King stepped up to beat the Chelsea goalkeeper from the spot on the day Spain captain Sergio Ramos broke Iker Casillas appearance record for La Roja.
Sergio Ramos becomes Spain s most-capped player ever
168 games
EURO 2008
World Cup 2010
EURO 2012
— UE…
Rodri has no chance of featuring for Manchester City in their opening Premier League fixture against Chelsea.
The midfielder was integral to City winning an unprecedented fourth Premier League title last season, playing a team-high 2,937 minutes in the top flight.
He scored eight goals and set up a further nine before then playing a key role in Spain s success at Euro 2024.
However, Rodri who returned to training late following an extended break after his exploits with La Roja in Germany will not be ready to play for City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
No chance, replied Pep Guardiola when asked if Rodri would feature, with City s manager having also said: He is in training. He feels good.
While Rodri s absence has not prevented City from loaning…
Barcelona have announced Deco as their new sporting director on a three-year contract.The appointment of the former Barca and Portugal playmaker comes after director of football Mateu Alemany agreed to be released from his role once the summer transfer window closes on September 2.
Alemany’s scheduled departure from Barcelona was announced in May and he will now work alongside Deco until early next month.
Deco, new FC Barcelona sporting director
The first team player between 2004 and 2008 signs a contract as sporting director at the Club for the next three seasons
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
Deco, who played for the Catalan club between 2004 and 2008, will work closely with the coaches in heading the footballing department at the Nou Camp…
England have responded to criticism of their bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals by announcing a reduced management team.
Bid chiefs held a crisis meeting Thursday and announced a new executive board which included Geoff Thompson, a vice-president of world football governing body FIFA, who was omitted from the original line-up.
After starting the bidding process as favourites ahead of Russia, Australia and the joint-venture by Spain and Portugal, England s 2018 campaign has come under fire in recent weeks.
The bid has been severely criticised by Jack Warner, one of FIFA s executive committee members, and Football Association chairman Lord David Triesman, also England s 2018 chairman, has come under pressure over his inability to devote more than two days a wee…
The teams that have qualified for the upcoming European Championship this summer are already in the process of preparing for the tournament.
England have a rising star in their ranks in Real Madrid sensation Jude Bellingham, and the 20-year-old midfielder says he s benefited a lot from the experience of former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, now wearing the armband at Ajax.
…
I am not one of those delusional England fans that think the Three Lions are an outstanding side in world football.
England a decent team who should really do better in major tournaments. We do have some good players and a few world-class players in the squad.
Qualification
Although England aren’t the greatest team in the world we should qualify for the European Championships in Ukraine and Poland next year. Fabio Capello’s team had a relatively straight forward group to qualify from.
The likes of Montenegro and Switzerland shouldn’t have caused England problems but both came to Wembley and claimed a point. The Swiss even held at two goal lead at the English national stadium. However if England gain a point against Montenegro in Podgorica on Friday…
Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni is looking forward to seeing how his new players settle in, with Houston Dynamo next up in MLS.
RSL brought in five new faces in the transfer window, with some of those introduced during their 2-0 win over New England Revolution last time out.
They currently sit third in the Western Conference, five points behind leaders LA Galaxy, and with teams below them starting to close in.
And with only seven games left of the regular season, Mastroeni is eager to get the new players integrated as soon as possible.
A lot of problems to solve, but it allows us to collaborate as a team and figure out on the fly quickly how these new players can bring their skill sets to make our team better, he told KSL Sports Zone.
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