Klaus Gjasula went from villain to hero for Albania after cancelling out his own goal with an equaliser in stoppage time to salvage a point in a 2-2 draw with Croatia.
It looked like Ante Budimir had inspired Croatia to a comeback win, playing a part in two goals in two minutes after Qazim Laci s early strike, but they could not hold on.
Albania led after just 11 minutes as Jasir Asani curled a delightful cross into the near post for Laci, who glanced his header past Dominik Livakovic at his near post.
They should have been 3-0 up at the break; Croatia were cut open by Asani s throughball, but Kristjan Asllani s drilled effort was straight at the goalkeeper, who later held onto Rey Manaj s flicked header.
Zlatko Dalic s side came out determined for the se…
Brendan Rodgers believes Luis Palma is gradually becoming more accustomed to the demands of playing for Celtic.
The Honduran scored his team’s second goal in the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock in what was his first Premiership start since arriving from Aris Thessaloniki in August.
Rodgers felt it was unrealistic to expect new signings to be “perfect right away” and revealed he was looking only for incremental improvement.
A win for Brendan Rodgers in his 700th match as a manager | |
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC)
The Celtic manager said: “The players at the top end of the pitch have to create and score goals, that’s their contribution.
“But Luis is settling in very well. These guys are coming from different climates and cu…
Christian Pulisic stole the show with an eye-catching strike and another assist as the United States opened their Copa America campaign with a 2-0 triumph over Bolivia on Sunday.
Gregg Berhalter s side never appeared troubled in a routine victory at AT T Stadium in Texas, thanks to the solo endeavours of captain Pulisic in their Group C opener.
The Milan forward needed just three minutes to curl in a sublime opener before teeing up Folarin Balogun – who another strike ruled out after the interval – just moments before the break in a one-sided first half.
Bolivia rarely seemed likely to forge a comeback as the USA managed a winning start to a Copa campaign for the first time since the 1995 edition when they defeated Chile 2-1 in Uruguay.
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Gareth Southgate believes it is an embarrassment England is playing next month s Nations League match at home to Italy behind closed doors.
June s Euro 2020 final rematch at the Molineux Stadium will be held without fans in attendance, after UEFA sanctioned the English Football Association for crowd trouble that marred that Wembley loss for Southgate s side.
Fans burst into the stadium without tickets and fought with stewards as England lost in that dramatic penalty shootout, and were given a two-game attendance ban by European football s governing body as a result.
Asked if the FA were given a lenient ruling upon announcing his squad for the upcoming international window, Southgate was blunt on England and English football s reputation.
Well, we re on a…
AC Milan are interested in signing Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita on a free transfer in the summer of 2023, according to . The Guinea international midfielder is out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the season, and defending Serie A champions Milan are keen on bringing him to San Siro.
Keita reportedly told Liverpool in the summer of 2022 that he was considering leaving the former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners. The Reds have yet to offer the midfielder a new contract, but manager Jurgen Klopp is a fan and has told FSG to get a deal done.
However, Keita himself wants to leave Liverpool at the end of the season because he wants to play regularly in the first team. The midfielder has had injury problems during his time at the Reds so far this seas…
Benfica have confirmed they have reached an agreement with Liverpool over the sale of Darwin Nunez.
Releasing a statement on their website early on Monday, Benfica confirmed the Uruguay striker will head to Anfield for a fee of £64million (€75m), with a further £21.4m (€25m) in potential add-ons.
Nunez signed for Benfica in 2020 from Spanish second tier side Almeria for around €24m and scored 45 goals in 85 games, 61 of those starts, for the Primeira Liga club in all competitions.
The club also notified that finalising the deal will now depend on the agreement of personal terms between Nunez, his representatives and Liverpool.
It is further informed that the aforementioned agreement is dependent on the signing of the player s employment con…
Former Manchester City winger Trevor Sinclair believes fans favourite Pablo Zabaleta will be a candidate for the exit door alongside Yaya Toure when Pep Guardiola takes charge of the Premier League side.
Current City boss Manuel Pellegrini announced he would leave at the end of the season on Monday, with the club quickly confirming outgoing Bayern Munich coach Guardiola would begin a three-year contract from 2016-17.
Toure played under Guardiola at Barcelona, during which time he lost his regular starting place to Sergio Busquets before signing for City in 2010.
The midfielder s outspoken agent Dimitri Seluk responded to Guardiola s appointment by predicting Toure will seek pastures new, but ex-England international Sinclair does not think he will be the only vi…
England manager Gareth Southgate is satisfied with UEFA s common sense decision to hand Jude Bellingham a suspended ban.
Bellingham was fined €30,000 on Friday, while being hit with a one-match ban, which is suspended for a year dependent on good behaviour.
That was Bellingham s punishment for an overzealous celebration after he scored a stunning overhead kick to restore parity in England s Euro 2024 last-16 tie with Slovakia.
The Three Lions went on to win 2-1 after extra time, with Bellingham insisting on social media that the celebration had not been meant to cause any offence.
And while UEFA has punished the 21-year-old, Southgate believes the governing body has handled the situation well, with Bellingham available for England s clash with Switzerla…
Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente labelled Lamine Yamal s goal as a touch of genius following their 2-1 triumph over France in the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
De la Fuente s side came from a goal behind to book their place in Sunday s final in Berlin, with Yamal starting the comeback with a fine effort from outside the area.
The 16-year-old became the youngest player to score a goal at a major tournament, a record previously held by Brazil’s Pele against Wales at the 1958 World Cup.
We all know who he is. We need to take care of him, de la Fuente said.
I want him to work with the same humility, keep his feet on the ground in order to keep improving, learning with the same kind of attitude and that professionalism, that maturity that he shows on the…
Arturo Vidal is adamant Peru s pre-tournament punishment of Chile will have no psychological impact on their Copa America semi-final encounter on Wednesday.
Emboldened by a recent World Cup appearance, Peru stormed to a rare and impressive 3-0 victory over La Roja in a friendly in Florida in October.
Enzo Roco s own goal and two late strikes from Pedro Aquino made for a surprise result that ended Vidal s run of six successive victories in the fixture.
Experienced utility player Mauricio Isla and centre-backs Gary Medel and Guillermo Maripan also took to the pitch that day and are set to form three quarters of Chile s defence under decidedly more pressure in Porto Alegre.
But with a third successive Copa America crown firmly in view, Barcelona midfielder…