Bacuna pens five-year extension with Villa

Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez has extended his contract by two years, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has confirmed.

Martinez, who was appointed after Euro 2016, successfully guided the team to the World Cup finals with nine wins and one draw from 10 qualifying matches.

RBFA bosses have been sufficiently impressed to hand him a contract extension, which will keep him in charge throughout the qualifying phase of Euro 2020.

The board of the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) and Roberto Martinez have extended their collaboration for another two years. Roberto Martinez, will therefore continue to coach the Red Devils after the Russian World Cup and will prepare them for Euro 2020, it said in a statement.

Since his appointment in …

Chelsea full-back Filipe Luis is convinced former team-mate Radamel Falcao is better at Manchester United than he was at Atletico Madrid.

Falcao has only managed one goal since joining United at the start of September but Filipe Luis insisted the Colombian striker who he played alongside at Atletico is stronger than when he scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup.

Filipe Luis considers Falcao to be the best in the world with his head , while he said the 28-year-old has an insatiable hunger for goals ahead of Sunday s clash between United and Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Falcao is a better striker now than he was at Atletico for sure. He was injured and changed clubs so he wants more. He is not resting right now. He is a tiger and wants to score…

Arsenal should sell polarising playmaker Mesut Ozil and sign Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, according to former Gunners star Marc Overmars.

Ozil has long been a contentious figure at Arsenal, with many supporters underwhelmed by his performances in recent years despite being one of the Premier League s highest-paid players.

The German seemingly failed to endear him to head coach Unai Emery, who afforded Ozil only 20 league starts in 2018-19.

In contrast, Ziyech, a hard-working attacking midfielder, was inspirational in Ajax s run to the Champions League semi-finals and is reportedly available for the relatively low figure of €35million.

Dutchman Overmars  who is technical director at Ajax  claims he told Arsenal to replace Ozil with Morocco international Z…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford to be ready to rotate roles in Manchester United s frontline next season.

The forward duo were each on target in Wednesday s 4-0 friendly victory over Leeds United as part of the Red Devils pre-season tour.

Manager Solskjaer has deployed both at the focal point of his three-man attack across two matches in Australia, but says he is ready to use them in wider positions too in the forthcoming campaign.

With Marcus, he can play along the frontline, Solskjaer said.

Sometimes he likes to drift to the left, same with Anthony, both of them can play at nine and 11, also together as a pair as a nine and a 10, also sometimes on the right-hand side.

Elite mentality has hit the ground runnin…

Brazilian midfielder Geovanni has signed a new two-year contract with Hull committing him to the club until 2011, the English Premier League side confirmed on Friday.

The 29-year-old former Barcelona and Benfica player arrived on a free transfer in July 2008 after being released by Manchester City.

He was one of the stars of Hull s first season in the Premier League scoring 10 goals in 44 appearances, including their first in the top flight against Fulham 13 months ago.

Manager Phil Brown said: It s fantastic, great news for me and great news for the club. He has committed for another two years and, who knows, maybe further.

Maybe that could be a catalyst. He was a big player for us last year. I m not just happy with his form, I m happy with his work-ra…

English football icon David Beckham is set to make his much anticipated debut for AC Milan in a friendly against German side Hamburg on Tuesday, club coach Carlo Ancelotti said Monday.

Speaking on Monday from Dubai, where the squad is at a training camp, Ancelotti said: there has been a lot of curiosity surrounding David Beckham.

And I can calmly say that he is available and that he can therefore play.

Ancelotti added: The past few days he (Beckham) has been working hard and I ve noticed his commitment to showing that he wants to play for the team.

Former Manchester United and Real Madrid star Beckham plays for Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States but has joined AC Milan on a short-term loan as he bids to extend his England career.

LA G…

Galatasaray forward Didier Drogba believes he and his team-mates can shock Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League clash on Tuesday.

The teams have been drawn together in Group B of Europe s premier cup competition and will kick off their 2013-14 campaign with a meeting at the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul.

The pair also met in last year s tournament at the quarter-final stage, with Galatasaray winning the second leg 3-2 but suffering a 5-3 aggregate defeat which halted their progress.

And Drogba believes the Turkish club can earn a repeat result with the vociferous backing of their supporters.

With our game we can get the fans to cheer, he told the club s official website.

Last season, Madrid’s players were in shock. After the game they said it wa…

New Real Madrid signings Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic are in the running to be crowned 2018-19 Europa League Player of the Season.

Hazard and Jovic were named on the final three-man shortlist for the annual award alongside Chelsea s Olivier Giroud.

The Belgium international scored twice on his farewell appearance for Chelsea in May s 4-1 final win over Arsenal in Baku before completing a reported €100million (£88m) switch to Madrid.

His new team-mate Jovic starred for Eintracht Frankfurt during their run to the semi-finals, notching 10 goals in 14 appearances.

NOMINEES: 2018/19 Player of the Season

 
 Luka Jović
 

  winners announced at the , 30 August 

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague)

But neither player co…

Wayne Rooney believes this could be the year  that England end a 52-year wait to win the World Cup again.

The former England captain  who is his country s all-time leading scorer  last played for the Three Lions in November 2016.

Since then, England s fortunes have been transformed under the guidance of Gareth Southgate, who leads his side into a last-16 tie against Colombia on Tuesday.

Rooney  who has just joined MLS side DC United on a three-and-a-half-year deal has seen enough from Southgate s young squad to suggest they could match the achievements of the class of 1966, who won the World Cup on home turf.

There s some big teams gone out of the World Cup and this could be the year England can go far and hopefully win it, he told Fox.

Eng…

Real Madrid are considering a move for Kalidou Koulibaly, while Manchester United are targeting Jadon Sancho in a cut-price deal.

Amid uncertainty over Sergio Ramos future at Madrid, the LaLiga giants continue to be linked with centre-backs.

They seemingly have plenty of options – and Napoli star Koulibaly is among them.

TOP STORY – REAL MADRID LIKE KOULIBALY

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane likes Napoli defender Koulibaly, according to AS.

The report says Bayern Munich star David Alaba, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is still Madrid s first option.

With Ramos potentially leaving when his contract expires at campaign s end, AS also says Villarreal defender Pau Torres and Sevilla s Jules Kounde will be expe…