Javi Martinez said Spain will not be losing sleep if they are beaten by the Netherlands in their FIFA World Cup opener on Friday.
Spain kick off their title defence against the Netherlands in Group B action in Salvador a rematch of the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa.
The Spanish are known to make slow starts at international tournaments, having lost their opening game to Switzerland (1-0) at the 2010 World Cup and drawn with Croatia (1-1) in game one at Euro 2012.
Both results were minor blemishes as Spain went on to win the World Cup in South Africa and the European Championships in Ukraine/Russia two years later.
And while Spain will be out to get the better of the Dutch, Martinez knows there is plenty of points up for grabs in Brazil as they attempt to w…
Aston Villa are close to finalising Charles N Zogbia s transfer from Wigan, with Alex McLeish backing the winger to star at Villa Park.
The two English Premier League clubs are believed to have agreed a fee of 9.5 million pounds for N Zogbia.
The Frenchman, who joined Wigan from Newcastle in January 2009, played a key role in keeping Wigan in the top flight last season.
And McLeish believes the 25-year-old is the ideal replacement for Stewart Downing and Ashley Young, who were sold to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively in the off season.
We believe everything else is just about there (on the N Zogbia deal), McLeish said.
Charles will be a great addition to the squad. He s an explosive player and he gives us an extra bit of quality th…
Jurors at the Hillsborough inquests have been sent out to begin deliberations after two years of evidence over the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters at the stadium in 1989.
The jury of seven women and three men have been asked to answer 14 questions by coroner John Golding, including whether fans who died during the disaster were killed unlawfully.
Other questions touch upon issues such as the policing operation, stadium safety and the response of the emergency services on April 15, 1989.
At an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday s home ground, Liverpool fans in the Leppings Lane End died as a result of a crush in the overcrowded central pens. The game was stopped after six minutes.
Proceedings in the Hillsborough inquests b…
Peru will be without the experience of Claudio Pizarro when they visit Paraguay for the first match in a double header on Friday.
The sides are due to meet twice in the space of four days, with the second fixture scheduled for Monday, but Bayern Munich striker Pizarro will be absent for both.
It was confirmed last week that the 75-cap forward would be sidelined for several weeks after suffering a tear in his right thigh.
The news will have come as a blow to national team coach Pablo Bengoechea, who is looking to build on a promising run of form of late.
Peru have won four of their last five fixtures, with the only defeat coming away at World Cup surprise package Chile last month.
The 54th-ranked nation followed up that defeat with a 1-0 win over G…
Manchester United star Paul Pogba is apparently serious about wanting to play for Real Madrid next season. That is according to , who also say that Mino Raiola, the France international s agent, is looking into the possibility of a Santiago Bernabeu move and that Pogba s days at United could be numbered .
The World Cup winner recently expressed his view that playing for Real Madrid under current head coach Zinedine Zidane would be a dream for any player, sparking numerous reports speculating on his future.
Real Madrid are, however, in two minds about him. They are firstly concerned about the potential fee the Premier League side would be demanding. The arrival of Pogba to Old Trafford in 2016 was a world record transfer at the time, and seeing his influence on the pitch…
England Under-17 international Jadon Sancho has signed for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City.
The 17-year-old winger was heavily linked with Arsenal and Tottenham over the past month and reportedly stayed away from training at City after not being named in Pep Guardiola s squad for the club s pre-season tour to the United States.
Sancho s colleagues from City s FA Youth Cup final side of last season Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz both played and starred in City s outings against Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham stateside with Sancho, who signed from Watford as a 14-year-old in 2015, understood to be concerned over his prospects of first-team opportunities under Guardiola.
He could get more game-time at Dortmund, with Sancho taking…
Tottenham Hotspur are currently considering both Bayer Leverkusen s Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven of Wolfsburg as they plan to reinforce their back line ahead of the new season, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Negotiations with the respective clubs currently employing the two centre-backs are ongoing at the moment, but no official bid for the services have been made as of yet. The final decision on the final target for the North Londoners will be made based on the way the talks progress, and obviously the asking prices for the two players.
Tapsoba, 24, is two years older than Van de Ven, and the Burkina Faso international has been playing in the Bundesliga a year longer than the young Dutchman. Experience is obviously on Tapsoba s side, if only slightly, but youth h…
Denmark striker Martin Braithwaite declared himself incredibly disappointed with the penalty decision that condemned his country to defeat in their Euro 2020 semi-final clash with England.
Extra time was required to separate the sides after both failed to add to a brilliant Mikkel Damsgaard free-kick and an own goal from Simon Kjaer in the first half.
And the breakthrough came in controversial circumstances, Raheem Sterling going down under what appeared to be minimal contact to win a penalty that Harry Kane subsequently converted at the second attempt.
The Video Assistant Referee did take a close look at the incident but elected not to overturn Danny Makkelie s on-field decision.
However, Braithwaite was not convinced, and said: We have had to swallow …
Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister scored the crucial goal which helped return Liverpool to the top of the Premier League and ease any nerves about an early wobble in the title run-in.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were by far the better team against Sheffield United but had to sweat for their 3-1 victory, with a top-class strike from the Argentinian with 14 minutes to go giving them control.
The World Cup winner has become a hugely-influential player in the last few weeks playing in a more advanced position – although he started this game as the holding midfielder before moving forward – and his goal had echoes of Steven Gerrard against Olympiacos in 2005.
They had to work hard for it. But, get the win and return to the top of the Premier League
— Premier L…
Richarlison could make his Tottenham return in Wednesday s EFL Cup trip to Nottingham Forest after recovering from a calf injury, Spurs assistant coach Cristian Stellini has confirmed.
Richarlison suffered the injury in Tottenham s 2-0 win over his former club Everton last month and subsequently said he was worried about missing Brazil s World Cup campaign.
However, the forward was included in Tite s 26-man squad for the Selecao s campaign in Qatar on Monday, and he could feature at the City Ground after returning to training this week.
Richarlison started training with the team yesterday, Stellini said on Tuesday. For us, it s great news.
We ve missed Richarlison, like we ve missed [Dejan] Kulusevski and everyone we ve missed in this last month.
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