Ronaldo, Casillas and Torres top FIFA award nominees

France coach Laurent Blanc has told defender Laurent Koscielny he will need to fight for a spot in the starting line-up.

Blanc, who has revitalised the French national side following a disastrous World Cup campaign in 2010, has declared Philippe Mexes and Adil Rami as his preferred starters in the centre of defence.

However, the 46-year-old coach insists Koscielny can carve out a place in the team with good performances in training.

We ve got two big players in central defence and I hope they play very well tomorrow, Blanc said ahead of his team s clash with England on Monday.

Laurent needs to make sure these two players are worried about their place and are kept on their toes.

Koscielny has had a very good season with Arsenal but, as you know…

It looks like Bayern Munich are serious about their interest in Leroy Sane. Manchester City s winger had a somewhat tough spring at the Etihad, as Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva were the ones who were starting in front of him in Pep Guardiola s team and there were reports that the player was not happy about it. But now we know what are people from Bayern thinking about Sane.

Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic did not want to comment too much on it when he spoke to Sport Bild, but he did not deny the interest either. But Hoeness has since clarified that the Bundesliga champions are already advancing on their interest.

We are dealing with this player, Hoeness told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. I’ve already seen many times how good he is, he said.  That’s a pl…

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is confident he can keep going for years to come at the elite level of football.

The Portugal captain, who turned 33 on Monday, has shown signs of a decline in his form this season for the first time in his glittering career.

The forward has only scored eight goals in 17 LaLiga matches in 2017-18, four of which have come in Madrid s last two matches, although he has nine in six games in the Champions League.

But Ronaldo has dismissed any concerns about his ability to maintain his extraordinary standards in the future.

On a personal level, this is a fantastic time for me, he told GQ magazine. I have a growing family and I am very happy with my life.

On a professional level, I have had two very good years in whic…

Isco and Karim Benzema were on target as Real Madrid beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 to go four points clear in La Liga.

Real Madrid suffered no hangover from their derby drubbing at Atletico Madrid as they beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 to go four points clear at the top of La Liga.

Carlo Ancelotti s side had a week to lick their wounds after suffering a humiliating 4-0 hammering at the Vicente Calderon and they got back on track at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday courtesy of a goal in each half from Isco and Karim Benzema.

Cristiano Ronaldo and some of his team-mates came in for criticism after being pictured at the Portugal captain s 30th birthday party just hours after the loss against Atleti and they responded by securing a ninth successive home win the …

Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins revealed the club have had contact with Tottenham regarding Ben Davies and Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Left-back Davies has impressed since breaking into Swansea s side early in the 2012-13 season.

Initially promoted to the first team after Neil Taylor suffered a serious ankle injury, Davies has since held off his fellow Welshman to retain a starting berth, while also representing his country on 10 occasions.

That has prompted interest from elsewhere, with Tottenham and Liverpool among the clubs linked, although Jenkins said the London club have yet to follow up an initial enquiry.

There s a lot of speculation about Ben at the moment, as there is with a lot of players at this time of year, Jenkins told the South Wales Evening Post…

Manchester United have been charged by the Football Association (FA) for their players behaviour towards the referee during Sunday s 3-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Fulham.

Wolves have also been charged for a similar incident in their 4-2 home defeat to Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.

United s game against Fulham at Old Trafford took a spectacular turn in the second half when Willian was sent off for the visitors for blocking Jadon Sancho s goalbound shot with his arm, which led to furious reactions from Aleksandar Mitrovic and head coach Marco Silva, who also received red cards.

Mitrovic put his hands on referee Chris Kavanagh, and the FA confirmed that both had been charged, but added that that standard punishment which would otherwise apply t…

Kasper Schmeichel insists Leicester City are just as hungry as ever to win as they look to defend their Premier League crown.

Schmeichel and his team-mates stunned the footballing world after claiming the title in 2015-16, having started the season as favourites to be relegated. 

Leicester lost just three times in the league all season twice to Arsenal and once away to Liverpool with Schmeichel keeping an equal second-best 15 clean sheets.  

And now, as the side prepare to defend their title as well as begin their first Champions League campaign, Schmeichel says Leicester want to win all they can. 

When you win a Premier League title it still feels a bit surreal after a couple of weeks,  said Schmeichel, who penned a new five-year deal at the K…

Verdict: Denmark/Denmark

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Denmark begin their preparations for the 2018 World Cup finals with a friendly game against CONCACAF side Panama, who have also booked a ticket to Russia, where they will face European powerhouses England and Belgium as well as Tunisia.

Denmark

Denmark haven’t enjoyed too much success since the shock triumph at Euro 1992, and they have yet to make it to the last four at World Cup finals. Having crashed out in the group stage in South Africa and then failed to reach Brazil, the Nordic side will have extra motivation to prove their worth at the 2018 finals. In spite of the slow starts, Denmark eventually managed to secure a play-off berth in Group E of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and they then battled R…

Harry Redknapp has moved to secure the services of QPR goalkeeper Brian Murphy on a new two-year deal.

Murphy joined the club in August 2011, but has featured only once for the first team in a League Cup tie against Rochdale as he has played back-up for Julio Cesar and Rob Green.

QPR s Premier League relegation and the subsequent speculation that Cesar may leave the club means Murphy will prove a valuable component to their Championship campaign.

The 30-year-old s existing contract was due to expire at the end of June and he will now remain at the club until 2015.

I m really pleased to have finally got it all sorted, he told the club s official website.

We ve been in talks for a couple of months now, so it s nice to have the deal signed and I ca…

Athletic Bilbao have confirmed manager Marcelo Bielsa is to leave the club at the end of his current contract.

It means Bielsa will depart the San Mames Stadium at the end of June with club president Josu Urruti confirming that the decision not to renew his deal was unanimous among the board.
Bielsa took Bilbao to the final of both the UEFA Europa League and the Copa del Rey in the 2011-12 season, but saw his side finish in 12th place in the campaign just gone after the departure of Spain midfielder Javi Martinez to Bayern Munich and the dropping of Juventus-bound striker Fernando Llorente, as he ran his own deal down.
Bilbao also exited both the Europa League and Copa early on last term with an inability to replace their key players cited as a big part of their failures.
Yeste…