Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp on Thursday signed a two-year contract extension with the Bundesliga leaders which will keep him in the Ruhr valley until at least 2014.
The 43-year-old is enjoying a stellar season at the helm of Dortmund who are seven points clear of second-placed Mainz in the German league and have a 14-point lead over defending champions Bayern Munich, who are eighth.
I want to develop what I have started here, said Klopp.
I m incredibly happy to have this confidence shown in me.
When I told my family about the extension, there was a lot of celebrating at home.
I am really excited about the next three and a half years.
Dortmund s managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke said the contract extension had been signed…
There were 32 teams, now there are just four.
The World Cup semi-finals are upon us, with either France, Belgium, England or Croatia set to lift the trophy at the end of Sunday s final in Moscow.
Both semi-finals look too close to call, with no clear favourite for the title after five-time winners Brazil were beaten by Belgium in the last round.
Without further ado, here is our guide to the World Cup semi-finals
France v Belgium
Date, time and venue: Tuesday, July 10 (21:00 local time) Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
Belgium s golden generation are on the brink of greatness, Roberto Martinez having seen his reputation rocket over the course of the tournament. Belgium were 2-0 down against Japan in the last 16 and looking like they would c…
Roberto Mancini hopes to complete a redemption tale with Italy s national team when they face England in the final of Euro 2020.
Mancini was a lavishly skilled forward and a talismanic leader for Sampdoria during his playing days, but the presence of the likes of Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola in the Azzurri ranks, along with some tempestuous fallouts with coaches meant his was an international career that remained frustratingly unfulfilled.
He amassed 36 caps and scored just four times between 1984 and 1994, yet the 56-year-old s appointment as Azzurri boss in the aftermath of their failure to reach the 2018 World Cup has proved restorative for him and his country.
Playing in an adventurous, attacking style that Mancini pledged to stick with at Wembley, Ita…
Either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo will be awarded the Ballon d Or on Thursday and, when comparing the two in 2017, the numbers mostly favour the Barcelona superstar.
For his club, Messi has scored more goals than Ronaldo (48 to 37), contributed more assists (14 to eight) and created more big chances (35 to 16).
But stats only count for so much. What really counts is how you perform in the biggest of moments and, in 2017, nobody has come close to touching Real Madrid s Ronaldo in that regard.
Messi did salvage a place at the World Cup for Argentina with a stunning hat-trick as they put Ecuador to the sword, but that rescue mission after a farcical qualifying campaign pales in comparison to what Ronaldo achieved in the month of May.
A hat-trick …
Brazil’s 2-1 defeat of North Korea on Tuesday wasn’t particularly impressive.
However there was one player who seemed to be really up for the game and that player was Manchester City’s Robinho.
Some might say that he wasn’t playing against world-class opponents but he looked like he would make something happen every time he had the ball.
Form
The little attacker looked back to his best form. He was full of stepovers and little fancy flicks. He does the things that you expect from Brazilian players.
He adds something different than most of his teammates. Arguably only Kaka in the Brazilian team can claim to be anywhere near as technically gifted as the 26 year-old.
Disappointment
Robinho arrived in England as major star. H…
Alisson says Liverpool must rediscover their consistency to turn around their poor season, calling on the Reds to draw on the experience of recovering from a disappointing 2020-21 campaign.
Having won both domestic cups and finished as runners-up in the Premier League and Champions League last term, Jurgen Klopp s team have endured a dire start to this season.
Liverpool sit eight points adrift of the Premier League s top four ahead of Sunday s trip to Tottenham, and Alisson says Klopp s men must bounce back in the same manner they did two seasons ago – when they finished an injury-disrupted campaign in third.
We always have belief, Alisson told Sky Sports. We have the understanding that things are not going so well for us so far.
We have to be realis…
The Jacksonville Jaguars are in disarray and now face a dangerous Arizona Cardinals team as they look for their first win of the season.
Urban Meyer and the Jags have the near-impossible task of stopping star Kyler Murray, who is off to an MVP-type start while leading Arizona, 7.5-point road chalk Sunday, to a 2-0 mark going into Week 3.
Check our best free NFL picks and predictions for Cardinals vs. Jaguars on September 26.
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The final matchup of the NFL Divisional Round is the de facto AFC Championship game, as the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs are regarded by many to be the top two teams in the conference.
It’s a star-studded matchup with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, and Travis Kelce, just to name a few. But in a game with so many big names and everything on the line, where is the NFL betting value in the player prop market?
Find out in our free player props and predictions for the Bills vs. Chiefs.
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A triple-header of Wild Card action on Sunday will conclude with an SNF showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Ravens will be without Lamar Jackson once again, but the Bengals have no such worries on offense. Not only is Joe Burrow calling the shots under center, but he has a dynamic teammate in the backfield in Joe Mixon to turn to.
I’m expecting Mixon to make some major contributions in the passing game, which I’ll dive into below, as well as break down a three-leg Same-Game Parlay built around my best NFL pick of the evening.
Also, be sure to check out Josh Inglis’ full Ravens vs. Bengals betting preview, as well as our favorite player prop picks.
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Deion Sanders is a lot of things. He’s charismatic, well-spoken, a great recruiter, and a great motivator. He’s also the current head coach at the University of Colorado, where he’s had a transformative impact on the football program.
Some like his coaching/recruiting tactics but most thought overhauling a college football program was a recipe for disaster.
Through seven weeks of action, Sanders, aka “Coach Prime” has coached his Buffaloes team to a 4-3 record. There have been plenty of wow moments, but there have also been plenty of wtf moments… including last week’s 46-43 loss to Stanford where the team blew a 29-0 halftime lead as 13.5-point college football odds favorites.
Some would point out it’s the roster that’s the issue, wh…