Cubarsi headlines Spain squad for Paris Olympics

Spain-based defender Nasief Morris was the major omission as South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira named a provisional 29-man World Cup squad Friday.

The Brazilian coach picked 10 Europe-based stars, including record scorer Benni McCarthy of West Ham and Steven Pienaar of Everton, but there was no place for Morris or former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Elrio van Heerden.

Omitting Morris of Racing Santander, the only South African playing in La Liga, caused most debate and fellow defender Matthew Booth believes his fall-out with former coach Joel Santana before the 2009 Confederations Cup cost the 29-year-old his place.

I am a bit surprised, but considering what went on with Nasief and if there haven t been any talks before now, then you could see he wasn t …

(GSM) Bayern München have confirmed they will release goalkeeper Michael Rensing and right-back Andreas Gorlitz with their contracts due to expire at the end of next month.

Rensing, who joined Bayern as a 16-year-old, has found himself second choice to veteran Hans-Jorg Butt this season.

The 26-year-old had been tipped as the long-term successor to former Bayern number one Oliver Kahn who retired in 2008, but has so far failed to live up to his reputation.

And the 28-year-old Gorlitz has been at Bayern since 2004 but spent two seasons on loan at Karlsruhe between 2007 and 2009.

He returned to the Allianz Arena for the 2009/10 season but did not make a single Bundesliga appearance.

It is yet to be confirmed where the pair will play next season.

Massimiliano Allegri has thanked Patrice Evra for his off-field influence after the Frenchman s move to Marseille saw Juventus suffer an important loss .

The 35-year-old left-back enjoyed two-and-a-half years in Turin after joining from Manchester United in July 2014 and played a role in successive Serie A titles triumphs.

But Evra s appearances got significantly more sporadic this season, with just three starts and three more outings from the bench to his name in league action.

Juve and Allegri ultimately allowed Evra to depart and, although he was strongly linked with a return to Old Trafford, he headed back to France and joined Marseille towards the end of the January transfer window.

Speaking to reporters, Allegri said: I thank Patrice for all he bro…

Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says he has had offers from around the world to return to management but insists he will not rush a decision on his next club.

The ex-Swansea City and Watford boss left Anfield in October following a mixed start to the Premier League season and has since been linked with jobs in Qatar, as well as a return to the Liberty Stadium.

Rodgers who led Liverpool to the brink of the title in 2013-14 says he would consider a job either at home or abroad provided the opportunity is right.

I ve been spending time with the family, travelling. It s so intense as a manager but I wanted to make sure I take a bit of time then look to the next challenge, he told Sky s Goals on Sunday.

Hopefully, come the summer, I can get back…

Juventus are perfect for Serie A but their surprise exit to Lyon highlighted their issues in the Champions League, according to Alessandro Del Piero.

The Italian champions recorded a 2-1 win in the last-16 second leg on Friday but were still knocked out of the tournament on away goals after conceding in Turin.

Memphis Depay converted a first-half penalty to double Lyon s advantage in the tie, the French side having triumphed 1-0 on home soil before the European season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to turn the game around on the night but despite the Portuguese s best efforts, Juve slipped out to raise questions over the future of their coach, Maurizio Sarri.

Club legend Del Piero praised Ronaldo for showing …

Juventus are prepared to let Emre Can leave in the January transfer window, according to Tuttosport.

The midfielder arrived to Turin from Liverpool as a free agent in the summer of 2018, and while he was an important part of the team under Massimiliano Allegri, the arrival of Maurizio Sarri to the dugout has turned the situation up-side down. Can found himself left out of the 25-man squad registered to play in the group stages of the Champions League, and he has only played 150 minutes of Serie A football this season, spread over four games.

The 25-year-old is reportedly considering his future and has been linked with a number of clubs. For example, Mirror believe that Tuttosport s claim means Manchester United have been given the green light to make their move as Ole G…

Pep Guardiola praised the “generosity” of Kevin De Bruyne after he set up four of Erling Haaland’s five goals as Manchester City thrashed Luton at Kenilworth Road to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Haaland, who returned at the end of January from nearly two months out, grabbed the headlines with his finishing but this 6-2 win owed every bit as much to De Bruyne, the architect of four of his team-mate’s haul and a devastating creative presence throughout.

The pair combined for City’s opener inside three minutes. Matheus Nunes fed the Belgian with a clever reverse pass, releasing him into a channel down the left, and the cutback came to the left foot of Haaland who wrapped his boot around it for 1-0.

Name a better duo. We ll wait.

— Manchester…

There has been plenty of speculation regarding the future of Dani Olmo recently. The attacking midfielder himself said only a couple of days ago that he wasn t thinking about leaving RB Leipzig this summer, but he also refused to rule it out completely, pointing out that everything was possible in football.

However, Olmo has now put all rumours to bed by signing a new contract with the Bundesliga side, valid until the summer of 2027.

— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN)

The deal reportedly contains a release clause set at €60 million, but it doesn t kick in before the summer of 2024, which makes it quite clear that the parties have agreed to continue their cooperation in 2023/24 no matter what. It will have come as a disappointing bit of …

Inter Milan have reached an agreement with Torino for the purchase of defender Danilo D Ambrosio, .

Under the terms of the deal, I Granata will be due around €1.75 million, plus the co-ownerships of midfielder Marco Benassi and attacker Matteo Colombi.

D Ambrosio is expected to arrive in Milan for a medical later today and if all goes well he will put pen to paper on a long-term deal.

The 25-year-old is, therefore, set to become club s first signing of the January transfer window, although the Nerazzurri are hoping to complete more deals before the Friday s deadline.

D Ambrosio joined Torino from Juve Stabia in 2010 and has since amassed 119 league appearances, scoring 10 goals in the process.

Bar any surprises, the full-back will be available …

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said Friday he would like to see former Spain manager Luis Aragones replace the recently sacked Carlos Queiroz as Portugal?s national team coach.

I would like Aragones to be the new national coach because he is very experienced, but my conviction is that national teams should be coached by men from the country itself, the Portuguese manager told a news conference.

I don t like to see Portugal lose or draw games. I hope things change. They have good enough players to turn the situation around, he added.

Aragones, 72, coached Spain between 2004 and 2008. He is credited with laying the foundations for Spain s World Cup win this year by guiding the team to the Euro 2008 title with the introduction of a short-passing style.

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