Hickersberger takes over at Al Wahda

Carlo Ancelotti has the desire of a child  to keep winning trophies, according to Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro.

Los Blancos followed up last season s Champions League triumph by beating Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in the Super Cup on Wednesday.

David Alaba put Madrid ahead before Karim Benzema moved to outright second in the club s all-time goalscoring charts with a second-half finish past Kevin Trapp.

Benzema s effort took him to 324 goals in all competitions for Madrid, putting him one ahead of legendary Spain forward Raul and trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo (450).

The triumph in Helsinki makes Ancelotti the first coach to win the Super Cup four times, and Casemiro does not think the Italian is planning to stop collecting the s…

Forget Paul Pogba. The future is bright with Miralem Pjanic at Juventus.

Pogba is an integral piece to the Juventus jigsaw, but an in-demand 23-year-old whose future could be away from Turin.

As Juventus prepare for a tilt at an unprecedented sixth successive Serie A title and an elusive Champions League crown, questions continue to surround star midfielder Pogba, much to the annoyance of championship-winning coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has virtually banned talk of transfers during Juve s International Champions Cup campaign in Melbourne.

Absent from the touring party in Australia following France s run to the Euro 2016 final, Pogba is reportedly on the verge of a return to Manchester United in a record-breaking deal.

It is never easy when fac…

Manchester City have signed Gabriel Jesus from Palmeiras on a five-year contract, with the attacker to join up with them from January 2017.

The Premier League club announced they had sealed the 19-year-old s transfer on Wednesday, although the player will remain with the Brazilian side until December.

Jesus, who is in Brazil s squad for their home Olympic Games in Rio, has signed a deal which will tie him to City until the end of the 2020-21 season.

Here we go! Let’s all to City!

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

Jesus – who had also been heavily linked with Barcelona and Inter – told the club s official website: Manchester City is one of the best clubs in the world so I m really pleased to sign.

We have many great talents in t…

Former Swiss and Ivory Coast manager Uli Stielike has been appointed coach of Qatari club side Al Arabi it was revealed on Tuesday despite admitting he knew nothing about Qatar football or any of his players.The 53-year-old a member of the then West German side that lost to Italy in the 1982 World Cup final was first approached at the end of December and has agreed an 18-month contract with the Qatari side. I have been to Doha on several occasions, but I can t honestly say that I know much about Qatari football, admitted Stielike. For example, I do not know any of my new club s players. Stielike, who guided the Ivory Coast to the 2008 African Nations Cup finals but was unable to take them to Ghana after his son died, has not worked since being sacked by Swiss team Sion after just 13 ma…

Leicester City have underlined their faith in Harvey Barnes by tying him down to a five-year contract.

The Premier League club have secured the 21-year-old s services until 2024 after the midfielder enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2018-19.

Barnes, who joined the Foxes at the age of nine, started the campaign on loan at West Brom but was recalled in January having impressed at the Championship side and went on to make 16 top-flight appearances.

He now looks set to continue his growth at the King Power Stadium under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers after his new deal was announced on Friday.

— Leicester City (@LCFC)

Barnes told LCFC TV: I m delighted. For me, the progression that I ve had at the club, from joining at such an early age…

Interim manager Duncan Ferguson was devastated by Everton s penalty shootout defeat to Leicester City in the EFL Cup, but he believes there is potential to build on at Goodison Park.

Amid reports former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti is set to take charge, Everton fought back from two goals down against high-flying Leicester on Wednesday, only to lose 4-2 on spot-kicks.

James Maddison and Jonny Evans put Brendan Rodgers side in control by half-time, but Tom Davies volley paved the way for Leighton Baines to force penalties with a stunning stoppage-time equaliser.

Jamie Vardy scored the decisive spot-kick, however, sending Leicester through to their first EFL Cup semi-final since 1999-2000.

Ferguson was left to rue a slack first half…

Swansea City have agreed an undisclosed fee for Barnsley defender Alfie Mawson.

The Welsh club have been on the lookout for a centre-back since captain Ashley Williams left for Everton this month.

Mawson, 22, joined Barnsley from Brentford in June 2015 and scored six goals in 48 league appearances as the Tykes won promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.

Swansea are yet to agree personal terms with Mawson and it is unclear whether Francesco Guidolin is still on the lookout for another defender with top-flight experience.

Mawson has already netted twice in four matches this season and will not be part of the Barnsley squad for Saturday s clash with Rotherham United, the Championship club confirmed.

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Former Bayern Munich defender Dante has distanced himself from apparent criticism of Pep Guardiola – describing the Manchester City boss as an exceptional coach .

Dante played under Guardiola for two seasons at Bayern before joining Wolfsburg in 2015.

The Brazilian centre-back completed a switch to Nice in Ligue 1 last week and followed a number of his ex-colleagues by passing judgement on Guardiola following the latter s impressive start in the Premier League.

In an interview with Sport Bild, Dante seemingly criticised the Spaniard for having a distant relationship with his squads, but later posted a statement on Twitter to clarify his comments.

I was misunderstood a bit, he said. What I meant was that Pep is a tactically exceptional coach, but he …

PSG stumbled to a 1-1 draw with Rennes in Ligue 1 on Saturday as Saint-Etienne s decent start to the season saw them win again.

Paul-Georges Ntep s bizarre goal denied Laurent Blanc s champions, who have drawn three of their first five games this term.

PSG thought they were on course for three points at the Stade de Route de Lorient as Zoumana Camara made the most a rare start to open the scoring shortly before half-time.

However, Rennes clinched a share of the spoils when Ntep, who had only just come on as a substitute, was credited with the equaliser when it was deemed that his low cross had not touched Abdoulaye Doucoure on its way into the back of the net.

Unbeaten PSG failed to reach the heights of their 5-0 victory against Saint-Etienne before the i…

Shakes Mashaba has called for more attacking intent from South Africa as they look to bounce back from their goalless draw with Gambia when they face Angola in Cape Town.

Bafana Bafana were left frustrated on Saturday as they made a slow start to Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, failing to find a way past the Gambian defence.

Plenty of chances fell the way of Mashaba s side at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Thuso Phala and Siphelele Ntshangase wasting the best openings.

While the point could be useful towards the end of the qualifying campaign, Mashaba expects to see more from his forward players when they host Angola in a friendly on Tuesday.

The boys gave their best, it was just unfortunate they could not score, the coach said after the stalemate. 

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