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Hoping to get their European qualifiers off to a flying start on Thursday night, England will make the trip to Naples when they meet Italy.

Italy

Starting with the hosts, while Italy might have stunned England at Wembley two years ago as they were crowned European champions, Roberto Mancini s men have somewhat come crashing back down to earth over recent times. Shockingly failing to punch their World Cup ticket after getting hit with an infamous 1-0 loss at home against North Macedonia 12 months ago, the one-time Manchester City boss has found himself under an increasing level of scrutiny. However, although the Azzurri might have claimed a crucial boost last year as they snatched three consecutive victories, Italy could only sign off …

Moresche was influential as Central Coast Mariners raced into an early 2-0 lead against struggling Sydney FC on Sunday and protected that advantage to return to winning ways.

The Mariners had lost their previous two A-League matches – last losing more in succession in a miserable 11-game stretch in 2020 – but Moresche made sure that short run came to an end.

The Brazilian did not get on the scoresheet himself but laid on the opener for Marco Urena after 13 minutes.

No player in the league has aimed more shots on target this season than Urena s nine, with his latest steered past Andrew Redmayne from Moresche s measured pass.

Three minutes later, it was two. Fine work from Lewis Miller on the right was followed by a low cross that sought out Moresche, o…

France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has set his sights on UEFA Euro 2016 on home soil after his FIFA World Cup experience.

The 24-year-old made his international debut in a pre-finals friendly against Jamaica on June 8, and played the entire 90 minutes of France s 0-0 draw with Ecuador in their final Group E fixture in Brazil.

Schneiderlin was an unused substitute for both France s last 16 and quarter-final matches which saw them beat Nigeria before losing to Germany but his experience with the national team has left him hungry for more.

France are due to host the European Championships in two years time, and Schneiderlin is already looking ahead to what he believes will be a special finals.

It was a great pleasure to belong to this group, he told L Eq…

Antoine Griezmann was the headline inclusion in Atletico Madrid s starting XI for the derby with Real Madrid on Sunday.

Griezmann has scored three goals for Atleti this term, but all of his seven appearances had come from the substitutes bench.

Diego Simeone suggested this has in part been a financial decision, with Atleti set to owe Barcelona a fee for the on-loan forward should he play over half of the available minutes.

Yet he got the nod ahead of Alvaro Morata for the match at the Civitas Metropolitano, starting alongside Joao Felix.

Your Atleti XI for the Madrid Derby

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish)

Griezmann s introduction was one of five changes made by Simeone, whose team lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions Le…

Mixu Paatelainen has paid for a run of four consecutive Euro 2016 qualifying defeats with his job as Finland coach.

Victory over the Faroe Islands and a draw at home to Greece left the Finns with four points from their opening two Group F fixtures.

However, a subsequent collapse in form has heavily dented their chances of reaching France and Saturday s 1-0 defeat on home soil to Hungary  which left them seven points off the group s play-off place was the last straw for the Finland Football Association (SPL).

An SPL statement wished Paatelainen well and confirmed a follow-up meeting will be held on Tuesday as they plot their next appointment.

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Jose Mourinho said he realises why is it tough to work at Roma, but the Portuguese boss is having fun in the Italian capital.

Mourinho returned to Serie A as Roma head coach at the start of the season after he was sacked by Tottenham last term.

The Giallorossi have not won the Scudetto since 2001, while not since 2008 have they claimed silverware.

Mourinho has found himself under some pressure in the wake of Roma s shock 6-1 humbling at Bodo-Glimt in the Europa Conference League last week, with the former treble-winning Inter coach scathing of his players in the aftermath.

As Roma prepare to welcome high-flying Milan to the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday, Mourinho was in a combative mood during his pre-game news conference.

You always find the negativ…

When Steven Gerrard was appointed Aston Villa boss at the start of November, there was one fixture fans, pundits and, possibly even Gerrard himself, will have immediately looked for.

Villa visit Liverpool on Saturday, as Gerrard makes his first managerial return to the club where he became a legend.

Gerrard won the Champions League, two FA Cups, three EFL Cups, the UEFA Cup and a European Super Cup across his Liverpool career. The Premier League title, of course, evaded him. His tally of 710 games in all competitions is the third-most in the club s history.

A first league title of his career did arrive last season, as manager of Rangers, who ended Celtic s quest for a 10th successive Scottish Premiership title.

Now, Gerrard heads back to his former stomp…

With the EURO 24 Round of 16 stage officially getting underway this weekend, all of Friday’s attention will fall on Ireland’s elite throughout Friday night.

With five Premier Division showdowns on the cards, there are some heavyweight battles at both ends of the table.

For those of you looking to stick on a Friday flutter, we have taken a look at some of the most intriguing Premier Division betting markets that are available.

19:45 Shelbourne vs Galway

Only continuing on what has been an astonishing Premier Division adventure this season, Shelbourne are in the midst of what has been a record-breaking romp. With the mood around Tolka Park at a famous high, Damien Duff’s men are now sat in the driving seat to get their hands on a first domestic cro…

Karim Benzema became Real Madrid’s second-highest LaLiga scorer of all time as Los Blancos eased past bottom side Elche in a 4-0 victory.

The Madrid captain was on target twice from the penalty spot at Santiago Bernabeu, where Marco Asensio had broken the deadlock, while Luka Modric completed the rout later on.

Benzema surpassed legendary striker Raul by taking his Spanish top-flight tally for the club to 230 goals, with only Cristiano Ronaldo (311) netting more.

With Barcelona in Europa League action on Thursday, Carlo Ancelotti’s side capitalised by closing the gap on the league leaders to eight points.

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden)

Fresh from claiming a record-extending fifth Club World Cup crown, Madrid took the lead in the e…

Vicente del Bosque expects to leave his position as Spain coach after Euro 2016.

The 64-year-old has led the Iberian nation to glory in consecutive European Championships, with a World Cup triumph in 2010 sandwiched in between.

The former Real Madrid coach has suggested next year s competition in France could be his final bow, and he hopes to depart on a high.

If everything goes as expected, after Euro 2016 I ll leave the national team and the RFEF, Del Bosque wrote in his book Winning and Losing: Emotional Strength , an extract of which was released to Spanish media.

I will have been the national team coach for eight years and I do not intend to cling on to the post.

My greatest desire is for us to go out on a high. I could have retired a lon…