Franz Beckenbauer was described as a “role model for many generations” as Bayern Munich paid an emotional final farewell to their club great in a memorial service at the Allianz Arena on Friday.
Former West Germany captain and manager Beckenbauer died on January 7 at the age of 78, prompting tributes throughout the world of football for the man known as ‘Der Kaiser’ – The Emperor.
Munich-born Beckenbauer captained Bayern to three successive European Cup triumphs from 1974, and is one of only three men to have won the World Cup as both player and manager, lifting the trophy in 1974 and 1990.
Comfortable as an attacking sweeper or dominant midfielder, Beckenbauer was widely recognised as one of the best players in the history of the game and won the Ballo…
Aston Villa are interested in signing Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the former Bayern Munich striker has a release clause of €40 million in his contract.
Premier League club Villa are looking for a new striker in the middle of the season because they want someone to complement Ollie Watkins. The striker has scored nine goals and given eight assists in 21 Premier League matches this season.
Zirkzee has made 18 starts and one substitute appearance in Serie A for Bologna this season. He has scored seven goals and given two assists in those games. Bologna are seventh in the Serie A table at the moment with 32 points from 20 matches, two points behind fourth-placed Fiorentina. Villa are fourth in the …
Rhyl from the Welsh league face an uphill battle against Serbian big-hitters, Partizan Belgrade when the teams meet in the early stages of next season s Champions League, the sport s European governing body UEFA announced here on Monday.
The Belgrade-based Serbian champions will travel to the Principality to play the semi-amateur side next month, on a date to be finalized.
Should the 2004 Welsh league champions manage to beat the Serbs, they would be guaranteed a place in the Europa League play-offs regardless of their Champions League survival prospects.
The Partizan squad will almost certainly include 17-year-old attacking midfielder Adem Ljajic who is to join Manchester United in January next year.
Meanwhile Northern Irish side Glentoran will be flyin…
Defending champions AZ Alkmaar collected their first points of the 2009-10 season with a 2-0 win over Sparta, while SC Heerenveen crashed to a painful 4-1 defeat at NEC.
After last week s defeat to Heracles, AZ once again failed to convince. Ronald Koeman s men did take an early lead through Moussa Dembele, who scored after six minutes, but then seemed to lack concentration throughout the remainder of the match.
Sparta didn t take advantage however and instead conceded a second goal from Mounir El Hamdaoui in the 64th minute.
NEC cruised to a 4-1 win in Nijmegen. Belgian Bjorn Vleminckx scored twice, and the other home goals came from Erton Fejzullahu and Youssef El-Akchaoui. The only away goal came from Michal Papadopoulos in the 85th minute.
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Inter s ultras have denounced Mauro Icardi as club captain, driving home a further wedge in the shattered relationship between the player and the team s fans.
Icardi infuriated sections of the Curva Nord ultras after a passage in his new autobiography suggested he had made himself a hero by standing up to one of the group s leaders.
The 23-year-old claimed he had argued with the fan following Inter s 3-1 loss to Sassuolo in 2014-15, after his shirt which he attempted to give to a member of the crowd was thrown back at him.
Banners were displayed during Inter s 2-1 loss to Cagliari on Sunday claiming Icardi s career with the club was finished , while sections of the supporters cheered when he missed a penalty.
A club statement released on Monday confirmed …
Roy O Donovan will serve a 10-match ban at the start of the 2018-19 season after having his appeal against his red card in the A-League Grand Final dismissed.
The Newcastle Jets striker was sent off late in his side s 1-0 defeat to Melbourne Victory in May after a studs-up challenge to the face of goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.
O Donovan launched an appeal against the severity of the suspension – which includes league and FFA Cup matches – handed out by the Football Federation Australia.
However, that appeal has been rejected and O Donovan will miss a large chunk of the new campaign.
A statement from the governing body read: The [Football Federation Australia] Independent Appeal Committee dismissed the appeal.
The player must therefore serve the…
Kevin De Bruyne is pleased Manchester City are close to full strength as the business end of the season approaches.
Erling Haaland returned to action after almost two months out as the champions eased to a 3-1 win over struggling Burnley in the Premier League on Wednesday.
With De Bruyne having made his first start since August and John Stones also featuring after a knock, City are in a healthy position as the pressure ramps up.
Defender Manuel Akanji is now the only absentee as City, five points off the top with a game in hand, battle with Liverpool and Arsenal for the title and prepare for the resumption of the Champions League.
“I think it’s really good,” said De Bruyne, who set up one of Julian Alvarez’s two goals in a comfortable victory over…
Much-travelled Guus Hiddink is on the move again taking over as head coach of Turkey as they gear up for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
The Turkish Football Federation on its website Wednesday announced that that the Dutchman had agreed on a two-year contract, with an option for a further two years.
He will take over in August a month after the end of his current contract as head coach of Russia.
Hiddink has previously been in charge of the national teams of his native Netherlands, South Korea and Australia before taking over as manager of Russia.
He took Russia to the semi-finals of Euro 2008, but failed to qualify them for the 2010 World Cup losing oput to Slovenia in the play-offs. Hiddink doubled up then as coach at Chelsea.
He has previo…
Swansea City manager Garry Monk says he will hold talks with Michu about his future at the end of the season.
The forward, currently on loan at Serie A side Napoli, made a huge impact after arriving in south Wales for a bargain £2million in 2012, scoring 18 goals in 35 Premier League matches i
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n his debut season.
However, the Spain international s second campaign at the Liberty Stadium was dogged by ankle injuries and he was offloaded to Italy for 2014-15.
Further injuries hindered Michu s ability to settle in at Napoli, limiting him to just three league outings.
I ll assess it in the summer with him. I ll speak to him, said Monk. I ve kept an eye on how he s doing and, as a club, it s our duty to make sure we understand exactly what s g…
Blackburn Rovers have sacked manager Gary Bowyer after a poor start to the Championship season.
Bowyer, who was appointed as boss at Ewood Park on a permanent basis in May 2013, guided Rovers to just three wins in 16 league games this term, leaving them in 16th place.
Assistant Terry McPhillips and coaches Craig Short, Tony Grant and John Keeley have also been dismissed.
A Blackburn club statement read: The owners felt that, following a disappointing start to the season, they have to act in order to give the club the best chance of success in the remainder of the campaign.
The owners wish to place on record their sincere gratitude for the hard work and determination Gary has given the club, both in his capacity as manager and previously as Under-21 co…