The text you’re about to read is a mistimed appreciation post for the England defender Harry Maguire who went on to impress the author here with his fantastic World Cup exploits.

England are coming off from a highly successful World Cup.

Gareth Southgate led his Three Lions to the semifinal in Russia and returned home a hero despite losing to Croatia 2-1 and subsequently Belgium 2-0 in the third place play-off.

England have, by all accounts, had a superb tournament as a young and talented squad which is expected to reach its full potential over the next couple of years. Gareth Southgate has been given unanimous backing by both fans and pundits alike to continue with his project and the future looks bright for the Three Lions.

The likes of Marcus Rashford, Del…

According to Tuttosport, Simone Zaza has moved a step closer to finalising a deal to Torino, with talks between the Italian club and Valencia reportedly going well. The 27-year-old has bounced around a series of different clubs around Europe already throughout his short career, with arguably his most notable moment coming at Euro 2016 when he missed a crucial penalty for Italy against Germany.

Alas, it now seems like a move back to his homeland is imminent, despite some initial suggestions that he d remain in Spain after a somewhat successful tenure with Valencia.

Torino are attempting to bolster their squad following a 9th place finish in Serie A last season, whereas Valencia had a very successful year by finishing 4th in La Liga. Zaza will likely view this move as a c…

Manchester United produced a thrilling triumph against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux on Thursday.

Until the 71st minute, United were two goals up, courtesy of Marcus Rashford (5 ) and Rasmus Hojlund (22 ), but Wolves decided they weren t going to be beaten that easily. Pablo Sarabia reduced the score, and even though Scott McTominay restored United s two-goal lead in the 75th minute, Max Kilman cut it in half again with five minutes to go, and Pedro Neto scored what appeared to be a last-gasp equalizer.

However, almost seven minutes into the stoppage time, Kobbie Mainoo turned hero for his team with an extremely late winner.

Speaking to the press after the game, United boss Erik ten Hag was understandably full of praise for the 18-year-old midfielder.<…

The French national football side is going through a difficult period in terms of replacing the older generation with younger players, admitted under-fire coach Raymond Domenech on Monday.

The 58-year-old whose popularity has plummeted since guiding the French to the 2006 World Cup final insisted, though, that he was getting a firmer idea of the makeup of his 23 man squad for the World Cup finals in South Africa, which runs from June 11 to July 11.

There is a changing of the generations taking place, said Domenech, who was capped eight times as fullback from 1973-79.

Apart from Brazil, who have an immense reservoir of talent, which assures them of a natural renewal without the team suffering the consequences, all the other teams function cyclically.

W…

Lionel Messi lived up to the pre-game billing given to him by Pep Guardiola to spoil his former coach s Camp Nou return as Barcelona beat Bayern Munich 3-0 in their UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.

Wednesday s encounter in Catalonia marked the first time since his departure from Barca in 2012 that Guardiola had met the team he led to 14 major trophies in four years.

Guardiola had branded Messi unstoppable  in the build-up to the game and his words proved prophetic as Messi dismantled Bayern with two spectacular late goals.

Having seen Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer frustrate Barca for much of the encounter, the two sides looked set to head back to the Allianz Arena next week with the tie finely poised at 0-0.

But Messi, playing in his 100…

Zenit secured their first Russian Premier League title since 2012 on Sunday with a 1-1 draw against Ufa.

Andre Villas-Boas sides better head-to-head record with Krasnodar means the point at the Stadion Petrovskij is enough to end their three-year wait to be crowned champions.

Hulk put Zenit ahead with his 15th league goal of the season just after the half hour, but Zenit were denied all three points as Haris Handzic grabbed an equaliser with three minutes to play.

Sunday s achievement is Villas-Boas first Russian Premier League title as Zenit head coach.

…

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos said Spain needs football to boost the economy and to distract fans as LaLiga eyes a June return following the coronavirus outbreak.

LaLiga has been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has wreaked havoc globally – killing more than 283,500 people and bringing sport to a standstill.

A mid-June resumption has been touted for the 2019-20 campaign in Spain, where Barca topped the table ahead of Madrid through 27 matches.

Ramos is raring to go, telling Movistar: Getting going needs time, the country needs football as an economic support and the people need it as a distraction.

I m dying to compete again, for LaLiga Santander to be normal again, we have to be disciplined so that we can eliminate this vir…

Real Betis are interested in signing Rodrigo from Leeds United in the summer of 2021, according to . It has been reported by the Spanish news outlet that Rodrigo wants to leave Premier League club Leeds at the end of the season, and that La Liga outfit Betis are keen on securing the services of the Spain international, who can operate as a striker or as a winger.

Rodrigo joined Leeds from Valencia in the summer of 2020. The 30-year-old is not having the best of seasons, although he has been used out wide or as a creative midfielder instead of as a striker. According to , the former Benfica striker has made 12 starts and eight substitute appearances in the Premier League for Marcelo Bielsa’s side so far this campaign, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the process…

Juventus boss Antonio Conte has refuted suggestions he could leave his post in order to replace Cesare Prandelli as Italy coach.

Reports in the Italian media have claimed that Prandelli, who has led his country since leaving Fiorentina in 2010, is set to announce his intention to retire after the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

But former Italy international Conte, capped 20 times for his country, has quickly moved to quash speculation that he could be lined up as a replacement.

I think someone wants to get me out of Juventus, he joked at a UEFA-organised forum for coaches in Switzerland.

For me, the national team is guided by the right man but I do not know what will happen after the World Cup in Brazil.

Conte has overseen two Serie A title victories in his two seas…

Spain forward David Villa is convinced England have the perfect players to win the World Cup.

Villa, who signed for Barcelona from Valencia at the end of the season for 40million euros, has earmarked Fabio Capello s squad as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in South Africa and drew a parallel between England and his own country before they won Euro 2008.

Going into the European Championships two years ago, Spain were regarded as perennial underachievers.

But they finally fulfilled their potential with a series of fine performances to win their first international trophy for 44 years.

Vicente del Bosque s side are now widely hailed as the best in the world and Villa believes England, who last won the World Cup 44 years ago, have enough talent in t…