FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been among those to hail Clermont s historic appointment of Helena Costa as their first-team coach.
The French Ligue 2 club appointed the 36-year-old on Wednesday, making her the first female boss of a French men s team.
Costa has previously coached Benfica s youth teams and has also spent time in charge of the women s sides for both Qatar and Iran.
The Portuguese, who served as a scout for Celtic between 2008 and 2011, will take over at the Stade Gabriel Montpied at the end of the season, and Blatter was quick to hail the decision as a positive step for the game.
Blatter posted on his Twitter account: Congratulations and good luck to Helena Costa @ClermontFoot. Great news for women in football today.
Those sentiments have b…
Competition: Championship
Market: Derby to win against QPR
Odds:
Derby County are within touching distance of returning to the Premier League for the first time since 2008 if they can see past Queens Park Rangers in the Championship playoff final.
The Rams have enjoyed an impressive league campaign, finishing the season in third place with 85 points.
They’ve been in fine form of late too, winning five and drawing one of their last six league games, while winning both games in their playoff semi-final against Brighton Hove Albion.
As a result, Bet 365 are giving them odds of 11/8 to win in the playoff final next weekend, but Queens Park Rangers will be stiff competition.
Rangers’ form has picked up at the right time, with the Londo…
Best Odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
Marking their return to action with an EFL Cup showdown on Wednesday night, Manchester United will welcome Burnley to Old Trafford.
Manchester United
Starting with the hosts, while Manchester United might have been disappointed by a pair of friendly defeats against Cadiz and Real Betis over the past week, Erik ten Hag s men were enjoying an eye-catching run prior to the World Cup s enforced break. Last seen on Premier League duties claiming a last-gasp 2-1 victory away at Fulham, the former Ajax boss has a Champions League return at the top of his agenda this season. Despite opening the 2022/23 campaign in the midst of what was a public struggle, the English heavyweights have largely put those issues behind them. In fact, the Red Dev…
Ryan Giggs has been appointed as the new Wales manager, the Football Association of Wales has confirmed on social media.
The former Manchester United winger made 64 appearances for the country between 1991 and 2007, but never managed to reach a major international tournament.
Giggs succeeds Chris Coleman, who resigned in November and subsequently took over at Sunderland, having guided Wales to the last four of Euro 2016 their first major finals appearance since 1958.
Coleman s last competitive game ended in a 1-0 home defeat to the Republic of Ireland, which saw Wales fail to secure a play-off place in qualifying for the World Cup in Russia later this year.
Having taken interim charge of United at the end of 2013-14 following David Moyes sacking, Giggs …
Theo Walcott felt Arsenal s experience was key to a dominant 3-0 win over Chelsea but he was unwilling to herald it as a watershed moment for Arsene Wenger s side.
Walcott marked his 350th Arsenal appearance with a goal, crowning a sumptuous team move after Alexis Sanchez capitalised on an error from Gary Cahill to break the deadlock.
Mesut Ozil concluded the scoring five minutes before half-time and Walcott, a veteran of numerous false dawns in his club s bid for a first Premier League crown since 2003-04, wants his team-mates to build on this impressive showing.
We ve been here before, I ve had so much experience down the years, but we re not doing ourselves any harm, he told BT Sport after Arsenal s first league win against Chelsea since October 2011.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez has ruled out selling right-back Seamus Coleman this summer, .
The Republic of Ireland international has been in superb form for the Toffees this season, scoring seven goals in thirty-one appearances in all competitions.
Manchester United have been linked with a move for the 25 year old, who cost the Merseyside club just £65,000 in 2009.
The Premier League champions, who sealed qualification for the Champions League quarter finals with a 3-0 victory over Olympiakos yesterday evening, would expect to pay around 200 times that figure if a deal were to be on the cards, though Martinez has insisted that there is no chance they will sell.
Everton go in to Saturday afternoon’s match with Swansea City looking for a third …
Manchester United s Paul Pogba has been promised a move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona, according to the .
Mino Raiola, Pogba s controversial agent, has promised his client he would arrange a transfer to one of the two biggest clubs in Spain at the end of the season.
Barcelona are in the process of rebuilding their midfield as now only Sergio Busquets remains of the fantastic trio he once formed with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. Ivan Rakitić has been a worthy addition since his arrival from Sevilla in 2014, while Paulinho went back to Guangzhou Evergrande after only one season at the Camp Nou. Pogba would certainly be a good signing for the Catalans at this moment.
Meanwhile, Real certainly need to start thinking about replacing Luka Modrić. Even tho…
Could Francesco Totti be saying arrivederci to the Derby della Capitale after this season?Foto Alfredo Falcone LaPresse
Much of the focus this weekend will be on Saturday s El Clasico tie. That s perfectly understandable, but there is also another huge derby in store as well. The Derby della Capitale ( Capital Derby ) may not gather as much buzz as Barcelona vs. Real Madrid as there is no Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, but games between Lazio and Roma are just as highly anticipated.
Clashes between the Giallorossi and the Biancocelesti are always a passionate affair and the 165th official edition will take place this Sunday. And if history is any precedent, viewers should be in for a spicy treat at the Stadio Olimpico. Although the historic venue is not likely to be…
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is confident hosts Gabon have learned from the mistakes of their disappointing 1-1 Africa Cup of Nations draw with Guinea-Bissau as they get set to face Burkina Faso on Wednesday.
It is all to play for in Group A after the opening matches between Gabon and Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso and Cameroon ended in 1-1 draws.
Aubameyang scored the opener in the first game of the competition, only for Gabon to be denied maximum points by Juary Soares injury-time equaliser.
We have learnt from our mistakes, captain and striker Aubameyang said. I remain positive that we can reach our first goal, which is qualifying for the knockout phase.
We have lofty ambitions in this tournament and playing at home in front of our wonderful supporters…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp likes Norwich City attacking midfielder Todd Cantwell, according to . It has been reported that the former Premier League and Champions League winner want to sign a forward player before the summer transfer window closes, and Cantwell is among those of interest
Cantwell scored six goals and provided two assists in the Premier League in 2019-20. The 23-year-old Englishman six goals and gave six assists in the Championship for Norwich last season.
Norwich have just come up from the Championship to the Premier League. The Canaries will know that selling Cantwell will get them a decent amount of money in transfer fee, but they will be in a race against time to find a suitable replacement. However, if Liverpool make a big offer for Cantwell,…