Werder, Pizarro to stay beyond the end of the season

Vicente del Bosque faces his first test in charge of the Euro 2008 winners when Spain take on Denmark in Copenhagen Wednesday, with continuity uppermost in his mind.

Del Bosque replaced 69-year-old Luis Aragones after the nation s 1-0 defeat of Germany in the final of Euro 2008 in June.

He wants to work and to keep things as they are, said captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who played under del Bosque at Real.

Guys, I m not going to change anything, del Bosque told the squad s first training session in Madrid on Monday.

Having won two Champions League trophies and two Spanish league titles when he was in charge of Real Madrid, he has the credentials to gain the respect of the players.

The match against Denmark will launch Spain s preparat…

Manchester United are set to have two new attacking weapons at their disposal, with deals to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan likely to be completed by the end of the week.

Free agent striker Ibrahimovic, 34, has long been linked with United after opting to leave Paris Saint-Germain following a prolific four-year spell in France.

Attacking midfielder Mkhitaryan, meanwhile, has been swiftly targeted by new manager Jose Mourinho as United pounce for the attacking midfielder who only has one year left on his Borussia Dortmund contract in a reported £33million deal.

Here, with the help of Opta data, we analyse the performances of Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan during 2015-16 compared to United s current crop of attacking talent.

GOALS: I…

Marcelo Bielsa has agreed to take over as the new head coach of Lazio, the Serie A club have confirmed.

Bielsa has been without a club since resigning from Marseille one game into the 2015-16 Ligue 1 season.

The Argentinian joins as a permanent replacement for Stefano Pioli, who was sacked on April 3 following a 4-1 defeat to arch-rivals Roma.

As revealed in the media, SS Lazio announces that is has registered the contract of Mr Marcelo Bielsa and his co-workers, a club statement released on Wednesday read.

The coach and his staff will be in Rome on Saturday July 9.

Youth team coach and former striker Simone Inzaghi took temporary charge of first-team matters, steering the club to an eighth-place finish in Serie A.

However, Inzaghi has…

Sao Paulo s Denilson has scored a howler own goal as his Sao Paulo side went down 2-1 to Sao Bernardo.

The former Arsenal midfielder got his feet mixed up at the back post and deflected a corner straight into this own net.

Denilson, who struggled to establish himself in the English Premier League with the Gunners, has been on loan at Sao Paulo from Arsene Wenger s side since 2011.

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Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has dismissed talk of a possible swoop for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Wenger, 63, has been linked with a return to France at the end of the season, with PSG touted as a potential destination.

But Al-Khelaifi has backed incumbent Carlo Ancelotti to stay after the Italian guided the team seven points clear in Ligue 1, as they prepare for a Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona on Tuesday.

Arsene Wenger is a great manager, Al-Khelaifi told Sky Sports News.

He is doing a great job with Arsenal and he has got a contract for another year I believe, which is what I hear from the media.

I cannot talk on his behalf and I do not know what he will decide, but for us we have Carlo and we are v…

Brazil finished their Copa America Group B campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Ecuador on Sunday. 

With their place in the knockout stages already secured before the clash at the Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico, Tite opted to make 10 changes to the side that beat Colombia three days ago, with only captain Marquinhos keeping his place.

Eder Militao put the Selecao ahead shortly before half-time, but Ecuador improved after the break and deservedly sealed a point through Angel Mena.

Brazil will play the fourth-placed team in Group A in the quarter-finals on Friday, while Ecuador will play the winner of that group a day later. 

The much-changed Brazil starting XI struggled in the early stages, only testing Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez throu…

Barcelona recovered from 1-0 down to defeat Real Sociedad 2-1 on Wednesday and close to within six points of the LaLiga summit.

Willian Jose put the visitors in front at Camp Nou against the run of play to give them hope of ending an eight-match run without a league win over the Catalans.

A fine strike from Jordi Alba restored parity before Frenkie De Jong prodded in what proved to be the winner before half-time as Barca secured a result that will go some way towards easing pressure on head coach Ronald Koeman.

The loss was only Sociedad s second in the league this season and ensured they missed out on leapfrogging Atletico Madrid at the top of the table.

Barca were in control of the opening 25 minutes but failed to test Alex Remiro in the visiting goal…

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O Neill says the pressure is on his side ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifying clash with Poland in Dublin on Sunday.

Poland sit top of Group D after picking up three wins and a draw from their opening four fixtures, while Ireland are part of a three-team chasing pack on seven points.

In their last home qualifier, Ireland thumped Gibraltar 7-0, but O Neill knows the visit of the group leaders presents an altogether different challenge.

Naturally, we are at home and the onus is on us to try to get forward and try to win the game, and that s what we are going to try to do, he said.

But there are a number of games left in the competition. You mentioned the top two places [qualify] automatically it s a tough old group we are…

Competition: Portuguese Super Liga
Market: Benfica to win the title
Odds:

After spending so long being the nearly-team of the Portuguese Liga, Benfica finally went all the way and won the title last season.

Jorge Jesus’ men ironically amassed three points less than their runners-up up campaign of 2012/13 to finish seven points clear of second-placed Sporting Lisbon. FC Porto were third.

Benfica also made back-to-back Europa League finals, unfortunately losing both. Despite the bittersweet season, their performance in the league gives reason to believe they can do it all over again in 2014/15.

Conceding just 18 league goals from 30 games, the Reds have a watertight defence that could be attributed to the influence of Ezequiel Garay at the h…

Ian Watmore, a senior civil servant in the British government, was announced Wednesday as the new chief executive of England s Football Association.

Watmore, currently the permanent secretary of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills where FA chairman Lord David Triesman was once a minister, will take up his role in June.

I am delighted to be joining The Football Association as chief executive, said Watmore. It is a great challenge and one I am really looking forward to.

With Lord Triesman and the (FA) Board, Fabio Capello and the FA s staff, I want to ensure we are achieving success on and off the pitch across all levels of the game.

Former Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman was also reported to be in contention for the post.

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