Quick Report: Italy 0-3 Brazil

Wolfsburg launched the defence of their German league title with an impressive 2-0 win over Stuttgart on Friday, striking an early blow against a team tipped as potential successors to the crown.

The departure of title-winning coach Felix Magath to Schalke 04 showed no signs of eating into Wolfsburg s confidence as late goals from Bosnian playmaker Zvjezdan Misimovic and Brazilian striker Grafite secured the points.

Grafite and Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, who grabbed 54 goals between them last season, were quickly out of the blocks on Friday against Stuttgart.

In the 19th minute, Dzeko pounced on a defensive error by Frenchman Matthieu Delpierre, but former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann turned the Bosninan s shot around the post.

Grafite was then thwar…

Italian media outlet Il Messaggero claims that Premier League outfit Middlesbrough are weighing up January bid for Lazio striker Filip Djordjevic.

The newly promoted side have largely struggled in the opening exchanges and manager Aitor Karanka is determined to recruit a high-quality centre forward in January.

Il Messaggero has learned that Boro have rekindled their interest in long-term target Filip Djordjevic, who could be made available for sale in the winter.

The Serbia international was expected to nail down a regular starting berth after Miroslav Klose had left the club, but he has failed to score a single goal in six league appearances this season.

As a result, Djordjevic has fallen behind Ciro Immobile and Balde Diao Keita in the pecking order an…

Croatia s run to their second World Cup semi-final has largely been inspired by the form of captain Luka Modric.

The Real Madrid star excelled for his club as they won a third Champions League in a row in 2017-18 and has continued to impress in Russia, helping his side to reach the last four for the first time since 1998.

The 32-year-old has been hailed by many onlookers as the best midfielder at the tournament and, consequently, the finest player in his position in the world. But is that a fair suggestion?

Using Opta data, we have compared Modric from last season and at the World Cup with four of the other leading central midfielders on the planet, all of whom play in the same multi-faceted role as the Croatia skipper: Kevin De Bruyne, Toni Kroos, Paul Pogba and…

Dundee have completed the cinch Premiership’s first signing of transfer deadline day by taking Norwich goalkeeper Jon McCracken back to Dens Park on loan.

McCracken made four appearances for Dundee at the start of the season but lost his place when Trevor Carson joined from St Mirren and both parties agreed to terminate the loan deal in August.

The 23-year-old went on to join Accrington on an emergency loan and played 13 times and now cannot play for anyone else this season other than Dundee.

With Carson missing some recent games through injury, manager Tony Docherty told his club’s website: “It is important for me to have strong competition in every position for the last part of the season and I want that with our goalkeepers and bringing Jon in gives us a…

(GSM) Guus Hiddink has been named as the new manager of Turkey.

The Dutch coach will start his new job on August 1 of this year. This was confirmed by his agent Cees van Nieuwenhuizen today.

Hiddink will sign a two-year contract with the Turkish Football Association on Friday.

This month it became clear that the former Chelsea coach will leave the Russia team which he coached since 2006. The 63-year-old tactician reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008 with the Russians but he failed to qualify for the World Cup finals of 2010.

Hiddink will succeed Fatih Terim at the Turkish team. Turkey failed to quailify for South Africa 2010 and qualifying for the European Championships of 2012 will be Hiddink s main target.

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Talented winger Mitchell Weiser will be leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season, .

The 20-year-old footballer will be out of contract at the end of the season and the latest reports suggest he will not be offered a new deal at Alianz Arena.

Despite scoring one goal in six Bundesliga appearances this term, Weiser has failed to impress coach Pep Guardiola and his staff, and it appears his short career with the Bavarians is drawing to a close.

Weiser joined Bayern from FC Koln as one of Germany s hottest prospects in the summer of 2012, but he has since amassed mere nine league appearances.

The winger has mostly played for the reserves, while scoring his only goal so far in the 6-0 hammering of Paderborn.

Chances are that clubs from German Bu…

Jose Pekerman will hope the return of star man James Rodriguez can get Colombia back to winning ways in their CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying campaign against Chile.

After an opening victory over Peru last month, Colombia slipped to a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Uruguay last time out a game that also saw Juan Cuadrado sent off.

James missed both of those qualifiers due to a thigh injury but returns for back-to-back fixtures this month, starting in Santiago on Thursday before they host a repeat of their Copa America quarter-final against Argentina.

The Real Madrid playmaker made his return in his club s match at Sevilla on Sunday, coming off the bench to score their second goal in a 3-2 defeat.

But while Pekerman is boosted by James comeback, he will …

Lautaro Martinez has been tipped to leave Inter at the end of the coronavirus-interrupted 2019-20 season.

His exploits in Italy have reportedly alerted Barcelona, who are determined to sign a long-term replacement for Luis Suarez.

And Martinez is apparently ready to swap the San Siro for Camp Nou.

TOP STORY – MARTINEZ WANTS BARCA MOVE

Inter star Lautaro Martinez has chosen to join Barcelona and will press for a move if necessary, according to Marca.

While Barcelona remain interested in re-signing Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar, Martinez is the club s primary transfer objective.

Real Madrid and Manchester City have also been linked to Martinez, but the former have turned their attention to Borussia Dortmund s Erling Haa…

Mohamed Salah scored his 100th Premier League goal as Liverpool cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at Leeds United on Sunday, but the victory was marred by a horrific injury suffered by Reds talent Harvey Elliott.

Leeds were already trailing by two goals when Pascal Struijk was dismissed for his – seemingly accidental – role in Elliott s second-half injury, which required several minutes of medical attention and for a stretcher to carry him away.

The 18-year-old, who has slotted seamlessly into the Liverpool team this season following a bright loan spell at Blackburn Rovers, was left clutching his left shin after what initially appeared an innocuous collision and Struijk was sent off.

It put a dampener on an otherwise fine day for Liverpool, who had opened the …

Wigan have signed Scotland defender Gary Caldwell from Celtic on a four-and-a-half year deal, the Premier League club announced.

Caldwell, 27, had been expected to be reunited with former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan at Championship (second division) club Middlesbrough after falling out with the Glasgow club over the terms of a new contract.

But he has opted instead for Wigan s offer of Premier League football and a long-term contract that will reportedly double the salary he was on at the Scottish giants.

Caldwell, who can also operate as a defensive midfielder, is Wigan manager Roberto Martinez s third signing this month, following the capture of former Ivory Coast international Steven Gohouri and Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.

Gary is a lea…