Former Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanovic is set to retire from playing football professionally, according to multiple sources.
Handanovic rose through the youth ranks at NK Domzale in his homeland of Slovenia. He signed for Udinese in 2004 and had loan spells with Treviso, Lazio and Rimini, before joining Inter in 2012. Over the 11 years gone since, he stood between the posts for the Nerazzurri on 455 occasions, conceding 471 goals and keeping a clean sheet in 166 games. Apart from being awarded Slovenia s Footballer of the Year award three times, he helped Inter win the 2020/21 Scudetto, two Coppa Italia trophies, and two Italian Super Cups, all as the club captain. He represented his country 81 times, including the 2010 World Cup.
As things stand at the moment, …
Jurgen Klopp was left to reflect on “a low point” for Liverpool after Atalanta inflicted one of the heaviest defeats of his reign in Thursday’s Europa League clash.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how the Serie A side’s 3-0 romp compares to Klopp’s worst games with the club.
Low point
Gianluca Scamacca’s double and Mario Pasalic’s late strike gave Atalanta a 3-0 win in the first leg of their quarter-final, denting Klopp’s bid to add an eighth different trophy to his Anfield honours roll and end his reign with a showpiece final in Dublin.
Only Manchester City and Aston Villa have ever enjoyed bigger winning margins against Klopp’s Liverpool, across his 483 games since taking charge in October 2015.
City beat their perennial title rival…
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Manchester City s quest to defend their Champions League title continues on Tuesday evening as they embark on a trip to Scandinavia to face Copenhagen in the first leg of the last-16.
Under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, Manchester City comfortably topped Group G, showcasing their dominance in the competition. Meanwhile, Copenhagen managed to secure the second spot in a relatively difficult Group A, narrowly trailing behind Bayern Munich.
FC Copenhagen
Capitalizing on Manchester United s ongoing struggles, Danish underdogs Copenhagen faced a challenging start to their 2023/24 Champions League campaign, managing only one point from their first three group stage matches. However, an unexpected three-match unbeaten run in November…
Competition: Euro 2016
Market: Germany to win against Slovakia
Odds:
World champions Germany lock horns with Slovakia at the Grand Stade Lille Métropole for their last-16 clash in the European Championships.
The Eagles are favourites to progress, but Slovakia’s defensive style and threat on the break is sure to make for an entertaining outing.
Germany reached the last-16 after topping Group C with seven points from a possible nine. They remain unbeaten and are yet to concede a goal, so they go into their knockout clash with Slovakia in great form. Victory for Germany will see them into the quarter-finals against either Italy or Spain, but they still have a job to do.
As for Slovakia, the underdogs finished fourth in Group B with four point…
Etienne Capoue has extended his Watford contract until 2022, the Premier League club have announced.
The France international joined Watford in 2015 having struggled to hold down a regular spot at Tottenham and has seen significantly more playing time at Vicarage Roa
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Capoue only missed six Premier League matches in his first two seasons at the club and, despite being more of a peripheral figure this term with just six top-flight starts, Watford have given him a new deal.
Abdoulaye Doucoure has provided increased competition but Capoue has started each of the club s last four games under new coach Javi Gracia, including February s 4-1 win over Chelsea.
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Etienne Capoue has signed a new contract with the Ho…
Manuel Lanzini has dismissed reports in England that suggested he will miss the entire 2018-19 Premier League campaign as he recovers from knee surgery.
The West Ham attacking midfielder impressed in the Premier League last season and earned a place in Jorge Sampaoli s 23-man Argentina squad for the World Cup.
However, he ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee ahead of the tournament in Russia, ending his hopes of participating.
Lanzini – who was replaced by Enzo Perez – underwent surgery on the injury, but some media speculation suggested he could be set for a lengthy absence.
The 25-year-old refutes that, though, and is targeting a return in early 2019.
Some English media have said that my injury will make me miss next season…
England Under-19 international Jack Hinshelwood claimed his first Premier League goal to earn Brighton a 2-1 comeback win over Brentford at the Amex Stadium.
The 18-year-old full-back, making only his fifth top-flight appearance, headed home Pascal Gross’ cross early in the second half, having cleared Yoane Wissa’s effort off his own goal-line just a minute earlier.
Stand-in Albion skipper Gross levelled for the hosts in the opening period after they fell behind against the run of play to a Bryan Mbeumo penalty.
Bees forward Mbeumo was later forced off by a nasty-looking ankle injury on a disappointing evening for the visitors, while his replacement Wissa was perhaps fortunate to avoid a second-half red card for swinging a hand into the face of Billy Gilmour.…
A pay dispute saw construction workers block the main route to the Arena Gdansk prior to the Euro 2012 match between Spain and Croatia.
Sub-contractors claim general contractor Hydrobudowa has withheld payment for building a road which links the stadium to Gdansk airport.
Protestors held aloft banners asking Euro 2012, but at what cost? , with up to 100 different contractors demanding payment of approximately 12 million euros between them.
The workers did allow fan buses access to the stadium, where Spain defeated Croatia 1-0 to secure top spot in Group C on Tuesday.
Tournament organisers will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the disruption when the Arena Gdansk plays host to the quarter-final between Germany and Greece on Saturday.
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Watching Alvaro Morata toil at Euro 2020 has been almost tragic, with every miss seemingly guaranteed to invite some form of pile-on, whether on social media or from fans inside the stadium.
Rarely do footballers inspire feelings of sympathy, with fans perhaps generally forgetting that these entertainers performing for our satisfaction are humans too, carrying out a job like any other member of society.
Maybe it is the money they re paid that prevents certain individuals from feeling empathy for footballers, but surely even the most vociferous cheerleaders of footballers wages for soldiers and other comparable arguments must have felt some kind of compassion for Morata at one time or another during this tournament.
Even before a ball was kicked, Morata was alread…
Guangzhou Evergrande coach Marcello Lippi has labelled Germany as favourites to win Euro 2012.
Joachim Loew s side were the only team in the tournament to win all their group matches as they managed to top the so-called Group of Death and set up a quarter-final meeting with Greece on Friday.
When asked who he thought was the strongest team in the tournament so far, Lippi told La Gazzetta dello Sport: Germany. (They have) class and personality.
The 2006 World Cup-winning coach also praised striker Mario Gomez, who is joint-top scorer at the tournament with three goals along with Russia s Alan Dzagoev and Mario Mandzukic of Croatia.
Gomez is in a state of grace, if he has the ball, he scores goals. But there is not only Gomez, Die Mannschaft have many ot…