Sports

Roberto Firmino lavished high praise on Brazil team-mate Philippe Coutinho, claiming he has magical powers that help him see passes and moves that other players could not imagine.

Coutinho and Firmino have been team-mates since 2014 when the latter broke into the Brazil setup, four years after the Barcelona attacker.

But in 2015 they became Liverpool colleagues as well when Firmino joined from Hoffenheim, as the foundations for Jurgen Klopp s all-conquering Reds began to take shape.

Coutinho ultimately left for Barcelona in 2018 before Liverpool realised their full potential, and ever since little has gone right for the Vasco da Gama youth product, who struggled at Camp Nou before failing to earn a permanent move to Bayern Munich.

But Firmino remains conv…

Former Manchester City and England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is among the applicants for the vacant Newcastle Jets job, according to the club s CEO Lawrie McKinna.

A-League side Newcastle are searching for a new head coach after sacking Ernie Merrick on Monday, with the Jets languishing at the foot of the table.

Swedish veteran Eriksson, who has been out of work since stepping down as Philippines coach following their Asian Cup debut in 2019, is in the frame to replace Merrick.

After the third goal on Sunday night [in a 4-0 loss to Melbourne Victory] we had six CVs actually come through during the game, which I think is quite rude, but some agents were sending through CVs, McKinna told reporters on Tuesday.

Ten have come in this morning. Some of the n…

Antonio Conte knows there is a huge gap between Inter and Juventus but reminded his former club he has overcome similar odds before.

Conte was speaking at his first media conference as Inter head coach, as the ex-Italy boss prepares to return to football next season having taken a sabbatical following his exit from Chelsea last year.

Inter secured a return to the Champions League under Luciano Spalletti in 2018-19 – a feat for which Conte thanked his predecessor – but were 21 points shy of title-winning Juve.

It was the Bianconeri s eighth consecutive top-flight crown, a run that started under Conte in 2011-12 after a seventh-place finish the season before.

The 49-year-old pointed out he completed an even more impressive ascent with Chelsea to clai…

Manchester United start life without Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a huge Champions League showdown at Villarreal, while Chelsea and Juventus face a blockbuster battle.

A 4-1 Premier League hammering at Watford was the final straw for the United board as Solskjaer was sacked on Sunday.

Michael Carrick has stepped in to take charge on an interim basis and must rally the troops for the clash between the top two in Group F at Estadio de la Ceramica.

Juventus are already assured of a place in the round of 16 and Chelsea will join them in qualifying from Group H if they avoid defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona take on Benfica in their first Champions League match with Xavi as boss knowing a win will see them through. 

Here, Stats Perform takes a look a…

Jose Mourinho revealed Tottenham have managed to carefully hide their COVID-19 problems as he insisted Premier League chiefs must not let the season descend into chaos.

The Spurs manager is relishing the distraction of an FA Cup tie at Marine on Sunday, describing the competition as absolutely beautiful and promising to take a star-studded squad to face the minnows.

But Tottenham would be left in an impossible situation , according to Mourinho, if next Wednesday s Premier League clash with Aston Villa is called off.

Villa have experienced a major outbreak of coronavirus cases and their first-team training facilities were closed ahead of Friday s cup clash with Liverpool.

Tottenham have already had a London derby with Fulham called off under similar ci…

According to a recent report from Sport, Real Madrid star Gareth Bale boycotted a potential move to Tottenham Hotspur in order to spite the Spanish club in their attempt to sell him. The Welshman has been in a ‘feud’ of sorts with Madrid for longer than most of us can remember, to the point where many wondered whether or not he’d even stick around beyond last summer. Bale has continued to hint at the idea that he isn’t overwhelmingly happy with his current position within the club, and yet, he’s stayed there for what feels like an eternity. 

Prior to his spell in Spain he was playing for Tottenham, where he enjoyed many successful years. While the belief is that he’d move back to North London if he was going to jump back into Premier League life, it seems as if he�…

Josh Ginnelly admitted it was “one of the toughest decisions” he has ever had to make after ending his three-year stint at Hearts.

The 26-year-old Englishman joined the Tynecastle club initially on loan from Preston in 2020 and then made the move permanent a year later.

After finishing as Hearts’ second-top scorer last season, however, he has decided, following several weeks of deliberation since the campaign ended, that he will not be renewing his contract.

Hearts said in a statement on Thursday morning: “We can confirm that Josh Ginnelly will not be returning to the club.

“His contract expired last month and despite the club making the best possible offers to retain his services, he has decided his future lies elsewhere. We wish him all the be…

Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic produced another Croatian penalty shoot-out masterclass, and was delighted to have followed in the footsteps of his predecessors.

Livakovic saved three penalties as Croatia triumphed 3-1 on spot-kicks after a 1-1 draw against Japan at Al Janoub Stadium to progress to a quarter-final against either Brazil or South Korea.

His efforts mirrored that of Danijel Subasic, who also made three saves when Croatia edged past Denmark at the same stage four years ago in Russia.

It s what we do in Croatia, Livakovic said. You could see that four years ago. I continue the tradition of my predecessors and I put it down to the analysis we do of the penalty takers.

Croatia were second best in the first half and trailed at the break to Daizen …

Barcelona could make history if they win Wednesday s Clasico at Camp Nou.

Spain s grandest clubs have met 178 times in LaLiga since 1929, with each side winning on 72 occasions.

If Ernesto Valverde s side claim all three points, they will be celebrating more than just a three-point gap at the top of the league table and bragging rights over their fiercest rivals: they will also overtake Madrid for league wins in El Clasico for the first time in history.

Such a moment would smart for Madrid, who trail 96-95 in the overall Clasico standings in all competitions their defeat at home in March saw them fall behind Barca in the all-time stakes for the first time since 1931.

Given Madrid are enduring their worst run in terms of Clasico wins since Pep Guardiola wa…

Theo Hernandez defiantly stated Lionel Messi does not scare France, while Olivier Giroud is intent on denying the Argentina legend a dream World Cup swansong in Sunday s final.

Les Bleus are on the cusp of defending the title they won in Russia four years ago after a workmanlike 2-0 victory over Morocco in Wednesday s second semi-final.

The showpiece fixture will be Messi s final World Cup game and, at least for the football romantics, would be seen as a fitting send-off for one of the all-time greats.

But France will have little time for sentiment as they aim to be crowned world champions for the third time and Milan full-back Hernandez said Les Bleus are not fearful of Argentina s talisman – who was star of the show in La Albiceleste s own last-four triumph o…