Alexander Zverev has been mocked by friend Marcelo Melo over Germany s exit from the 2018 World Cup, and he insists the tournament is over as far as he is concerned.

World champions Germany crashed out in the opening stage of the tournament for the first time in 80 years after a 2-0 defeat to South Korea in Group F.

And Zverev, the country s top-ranked tennis star, has been the object of Brazilian player Melo s fun.

World number three Zverev is turning his attention to Wimbledon, claiming there is no interest in the World Cup now until the next tournament in Qatar in 2022.

[Melo] sent me a stupid Minions video of a Brazilian Minion dancing in front of a German Minion, Zverev smiled in his pre-tournament news conference. I didn t talk to him for three da…

Didier Deschamps expects Kylian Mbappe to continue breaking France records but knows a Republic of Ireland generation inspired by teenage talisman Evan Ferguson pose a threat.

Les Bleus thrashed the Netherlands 4-0 in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier and will be confident of claiming another three points in Dublin on Monday.

New captain Mbappe hit a double against the Dutch, taking him to 38 international goals and fifth on France s all-time scoring charts – just three shy of the great Michel Platini (41).

Mbappe has scored half of those in his last 16 outings, as many as in his first 51 games, Deschamps suggests there is no limit for the 24-year-old.

It s Kylian, he s full of ambitions. When he reaches one, he has another to reach, Deschamps said at …

Zlatan Ibrahimovic broke down in tears at a media conference on Monday after revealing his return to the Sweden squad has not been easy for his family.

The Milan striker was recalled by Janne Andersson for this month s World Cup qualifiers against Kosovo and Georgia, plus the friendly with Estonia, paving the way for him to potentially play at Euro 2020.

He celebrated his first call-up in nearly five years by posting a picture on Twitter of himself in a Sweden shirt with the caption: The return of the God.

Ibrahimovic, who turns 40 in October, is Sweden s all-time leading scorer with 62 international goals, the last of those coming against Denmark in November 2015. 

Speaking at a media conference on Monday, an emotional Ibrahimovic revealed the difficu…

Cristiano Ronaldo will aim to extend his strong record of scoring against former clubs as Juventus take on Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Champions League on matchday three.

The Italian champions will hope their Portuguese star shows his old employers that he has not lost his eye for goal, while in-form Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero could have the chance to claim two goal-scoring records should he feature against Shakhtar Donetsk.

There is huge pressure on Real Madrid to claim all three points against Viktoria Plzen following another disappointing LaLiga defeat at the weekend, and Julen Lopetegui s position as head coach may depend on it.

Here, with the help of Opta data, we take a look at some of the key numbers ahead of Tuesday s Champions Lea…

Brendan Rodgers has returned to Celtic four years and four months since his first spell in charge of the Glasgow giants came to an end.

The 50-year-old originally left Celtic Park to manage Leicester and returns as manager on a three-year contract to replace Ange Postecoglou.

Rodgers won all seven major Scottish trophies he competed for during his first spell as Celtic boss and completed an unbeaten campaign in his debut season of 2016-17.

Here, we look at how two other managers fared when they returned to Celtic for a second time.

Billy McNeill

Billy McNeill

…

Gareth Bale wants to translate the winning mentality he developed at Real Madrid to Tottenham and help the club end their wait for silverware.

Tottenham announced on Saturday that Bale had returned to the club on a season-long loan from Madrid, whom he joined from Spurs in 2013 for what was at the time a world-record fee of £85million (€100m).

During his seven seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu, the 31-year-old winger won the Champions League four times and LaLiga on two occasions.

Spurs have only lifted one trophy since the turn of the millennium – the 2007-08 EFL Cup – and Bale, who is not expected to be fit to play until after the October international break, hopes he can end their drought under Jose Mourinho.

It s nice to be back. It s such a …

Cristiano Ronaldo will get reacquainted with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday for the first time since leaving their bitter rivals Real Madrid for Juventus, having boasted a fine record in derby clashes.

Atletico host Juve in the first leg of the Champions League s round of 16 and they are braced to face a familiar foe in the Portugal great.

Ronaldo was a regular rival of Atletico s after moving to LaLiga from Manchester United in 2009, and he went on to consistently be a nuisance.

He was on the winning side in his first eight Madrid derbies, before Atletico began to enjoy something of a resurgence and assert themselves in both LaLiga and the Champions League.

However, Madrid still generally got the better of them when it mattered and Ronaldo often played a s…

The Netherlands are looking to win their opening four games of a European Championship for just the second time when they take on the Czech Republic in the last 16 of Euro 2020 on Sunday. 

Head coach Frank de Boer played every minute when they last achieved that feat in 2000, the Oranje ultimately losing on penalties to Italy in the semi-finals. 

The Netherlands, who will be without Luuk de Jong after he was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury, do not have a successful record in the knockout stages of this competition, progressing from just two of their seven standalone games since they won the tournament in 1988. They beat Yugoslavia 6-1 in the 2000 quarter-final and overcame Sweden on penalties at the same stage in 2004. 

Standing in their way of …

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel insisted Edinson Cavani has nothing to prove as the Manchester United forward prepares for a Champions League reunion against the French giants.

PSG travel to Old Trafford to face Group H leaders United in Manchester on Wednesday, with all eyes on star Cavani.

Cavani joined United on a free transfer on deadline day in October, having left PSG as the Ligue 1 champions all-time leading scorer with 200.

The 33-year-old Uruguay international won six league titles during his time at PSG, where he arrived from Serie A outfit Napoli in 2013.

Cavani has scored three Premier League goals for United after coming off the bench and netting twice against Southampton, including the 92nd-minute winner on Sunday, but his decis…

Papa Bouba Diop, a star of Senegal s famous World Cup campaign in 2002, has died. 

Diop, 42, had reportedly been battling a long-term illness. 

The former midfielder played for four different clubs in England, enjoying spells at Fulham, Portsmouth, West Ham and Birmingham City after impressing in France for Lens. 

In a Twitter statement on Sunday, Lens said: It is with great sadness that Racing Club de Lens have just learned of the passing of their former player Papa Bouba Diop, at the age of 42. 

We offer our deepest condolences to his loved ones.

C est avec une grande tristesse que le Racing Club de Lens vient d apprendre la disparition de son ancien joueur Papa Bouba , à l âge de 42 ans. Nous présentons nos plus sincères condoléance…