Ronaldo returns to Portugal squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers

The final member of Brazil s last World Cup-winning squad hung up his boots on Sunday.

Former Sao Paulo, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Orlando City playmaker Kaka enjoyed a decorated career, winning Serie A, LaLiga and the Champions League.

Kaka also won the World Cup, the 35-year-old a member of the Brazil squad who reigned supreme at the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.

After dazzling in his homeland in 2001, Kaka earned a ticket to the World Cup the following year with Luiz Felipe Scolari and the Selecao – the attacking midfielder going on to win 92 caps and score 29 international goals.

He only made one appearance off the bench at the 2002 showpiece, however, the superstar trio of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo sidelining Kaka as Brazil celeb…

Manchester United midfielder Casemiro has been ruled out for a “several weeks” with a hamstring injury.

After missing three matches, the 31-year-old captained Erik ten Hag’s side on his return against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

Casemiro was replaced at half-time of the 3-0 defeat and United have now confirmed he will miss a key run of fixtures.

has been ruled out for several weeks.

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

The club said in a statement: “Casemiro will be out for several weeks due to a hamstring injury suffered during our Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday.

“The Brazilian midfielder was withdrawn at half-time due to the issue, and subsequent assessment has revealed a strain that will keep …

Phil Neville admitted his England players have destroyed him at the Women s World Cup as he opened up about his new-found sensitivity and the importance of creating a positive environment for the Lionesses to thrive in.

The former Manchester United and Everton midfielder said England s journey to the semi-finals, where they lost 2-1 to the United States, had left him more prone to teary moments and with a tendency to smile and relax, while describing his squad as an unbelievable set of girls .

England lost 2-1 to Sweden in Saturday s third-place play-off – a game Neville wrote off as a nonsense but he spoke about his pride in his players and his determination to reflect deeply on their performance.

They destroyed me, Neville told 90min.com.

They turn…

Uruguay have nailed the third place in this year s edition of the Copa America, beating Canada on penalties after a lively affair in the consolation prize showdown.

Uruguay were ahead less than eight minutes in through Rodrigo Bentacur. Ismael Kone equalized in the 22nd and Jonathan David turned the game around with around 10 minutes left to go, but a late goal from Luis Suarez took the match into a penalty shootout, where misses from Canada s Kone and Alphonso Davies helped Marcelo Bielsa s team land the bronze.

The teams

Unlike in the semifinal loss to Argentina, Canada manager Jesse Marsch went with a 4-2-3-1 setup for this historic clash. With Dayne St. Clair in goal, the back-four line comprised of Alistair Johnson, Luc de Fougerolles, Moise Bombito and Richie Lar…

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Hoping to make an immediate return to winning ways on Friday night, Genoa will welcome Verona to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Genoa

Starting with the hosts, missing out on what they had billed as a potential opportunity last weekend as they eventually slumped to a 2-1 loss at the hands of Cagliari, Genoa are seeking an immediate response here. Currently holding a three-point buffer over the drop zone heading into Friday’s showdown, Alberto Gilardino’s side should be smelling a golden chance here. Simply looking to avoid getting dragged into a relegation scrap after making their Serie A return this season, the Griffins will be excited by the prospect of making a return to home soil. Last seen at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris extending on …

With matchday six just around the corner, fresh off the first midweek Premier League fixtures of the season, now is when things can start to get tricky.

Some regular starters will likely be rested, and some new faces could emerge and force their way into the calculations going forward.

In a sink-or-swim week, it will be important to focus on players considered too important to their respective side to leave out – but who are those players?

Using Opta data, Stats Perform is here to help, with four suggestions of players that are in form that is impossible to ignore.

David Raya (Brentford v Leeds United)

Brentford s David Raya produced one of the more unlikely goalkeeping performances of the season in his side s 4-0 win over Manchester United –…

Louis Saha believes fellow Frenchman Anthony Martial has all the characteristics required to go on and emulate Cristiano Ronaldo s achievements at Manchester United.

Martial arrived at Old Trafford from Monaco for a reported fee of £36million in 2015 and, despite such a hefty price tag for a teenager, has settled in well to life in the Premier League.

The France international has scored 10 goals in his debut campaign in England, even though he has often been stationed out wide by manager Louis van Gaal.

Saha sees signs that Martial can have a similar impact to his former team-mate Ronaldo, who was signed at the age of 18 by former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

I hope Martial can emulate what Ronaldo did at United, Saha told the Internat…

Real Madrid were denied a place in the history books on Wednesday after Villarreal left the Santiago Bernabeu with a well-deserved 1-1 draw.

Madrid went into the clash needing a victory to set a new record of 17 consecutive wins in Spain s top flight. But Bruno Soriano s first-half penalty put Zinedine ZIdane s men on the back foot and the only response they could muster was a towering Sergio Ramos header three minutes after the restart.

Failure to find a winner, despite a late onslaught, and establish a new LaLiga mark was a rare hiccup in Zidane s coaching career at Madrid. The Frenchman took over in January from Rafael Benitez and led the team to 12 straight wins to finish just a point behind Barcelona in last season s title race before going on to claim the Cham…

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier is not surprised by some strong comments made by former colleague Julien Fournier regarding their time together at Nice.

Galtier joined Nice ahead of the 2021-22 campaign after winning the Ligue 1 title with Lille, but he stayed at the Allianz Riviera for just one year before making the move to PSG.

Speaking on RMC show After Foot on Wednesday, ex-Nice director of football Fournier suggested Galtier s exit came down to more than just football reasons.

It s common knowledge that the relationship I had with Christophe was quite chaotic from the start of the season, said Fournier, who himself left for Parma in July

Quite honestly, if I explain the real reasons we argued, Christophe would no longer be allow…

Antonio Candreva starred as Inter won away from home for the first time in almost three months with a 1-0 victory at Sassuolo in Serie A, playing out the final few minutes with 10 men.

Since beating Empoli on September 21, the Nerazzurri had lost seven of eight away games in all competitions, drawing once against arch-rivals AC Milan at San Siro.

However, while Sassuolo had come out on top in each of the previous three meetings between these two sides, they have struggled in recent weeks and went into the match with one win in their last 12 competitive matches.

And Candreva was in inspired form for Inter on Sunday, terrorising the hosts in the first half before opening the scoring after the break.

The Italy international had already struck the post and l…