Portugal boss Fernando Santos has defended Cristiano Ronaldo after he missed a penalty in Friday s 1-0 friendly defeat to Bulgaria.
The Real Madrid star, who has twice missed from the spot for his club this season, saw his second-half effort saved by Vladislav Stoyanov as the visitors held on for a surprise win.
Portugal were unable to make their dominance of the match count against the inspired Stoyanov, but Santos insists he has no concerns that Ronaldo s form will desert him at Euro 2016.
In the national team, and the clubs where he s been, Cristiano has always been a reference always worth 40, 50 goals per season, Santos told a media conference.
He didn t score [against Bulgaria] but he s reserving his goals for the Euros.
We created many c…
Even if not quite the force they once were, Manchester United still like to show their fans their ambitions match up, especially in the transfer market.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has the job of ensuring the Red Devils qualify for next season s Champions League and is currently on course, with them sitting fourth in the Premier League.
However, the club supposedly remain confident of adding big names at the end of the season regardless of a top-four finish.
TOP STORY – MAN UTD WANT MORE ENGLAND STARS
Manchester United believe they can attract big names to Old Trafford at the end of the season, even if they may not have Champions League football to offer.
According to ESPN, the Premier League club have an ambitious list of targ…
Wendie Renard says it is France s time to strike as they prepare for their Olympic Games opener against Colombia on Thursday.
France are competing in the Olympics for the third time after qualifying as hosts, though they failed to win a medal in either of the previous appearances.
Their best-ever finish came at London 2012, when they finished fourth after conceding a stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 defeat to Canada.
Despite never reaching a major tournament final, Les Bleues are among the favourites to win the gold medal in Paris.
And after regularly reaching the knockout stages of tournaments during Renard s time as captain, she is confident now is the right time for her team to finally get the glory.
Winning the Olympic gold is the dream, she told …
The new Premier League season kicked off with plenty of talking points.
Mohamed Salah got stroppy, Pep Guardiola became angry, Tottenham began life without Harry Kane and Newcastle topped the embryonic table with a five-star show.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the key issues on the opening weekend.
Salah strop
After the battle for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia came the scrap for points between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
Honours were shared in a 1-1 draw that saw Liverpool forward Salah show his frustration after being substituted 13 minutes from time.
Salah ripped off his tapes bit by bit and threw them to the ground and did not even acknowledge boss Jurgen Klopp before making his way to his seat in the Liverpool dug ou…
Napoli sealed their first Serie A title in 33 years as Victor Osimhen s strike earned a 1-1 draw against Udinese.
Having missed the chance to win the title in front of their own fans on Sunday, Napoli went into Thursday s clash at Dacia Arena knowing a point would be enough to claim their first Scudetto since the Diego Maradona era.
Fittingly, it was talisman Osimhen – with his 22nd league strike of the season – who scored the goal to claim Napoli s third Serie A crown, cancelling out Sandi Lovric s opener.
Unlike Napoli s local rivals Salernitana, Udinese did not quite have the same commitment to postponing Napoli s party, which is sure to be one for the ages.
Absolute MADNESS at the Maradona
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN)
Napoli s c…
Prediction: Draw
It s time to dive into the chaos of another international break and today, we ll be taking a look at the qualification phase for the Africa Cup of Nations. We re less than a year away from the 2023 (technically 2024) edition of the event, which is set to go down in Côte d Ivoire. On Thursday, Group E s two frontrunners to qualify will collide when Ghana go head to head with Angola for the first time in over a decade.
Ghana
Once upon a time, Ghana were looked at as one of the rising forces in African football and potentially even worldwide. Their near-miss in the 2010 World Cup certainly helped, but since then, they haven t quite been able to live up to their potential. They couldn t get out of their group in Qatar and in the AFCON, they haven t reache…
Liverpool can challenge for Premier League titles again but only if they back Jurgen Klopp in the transfer market, says former Reds defender Kolo Toure.
Since arriving at Anfield in 2015, Klopp s Liverpool have been hugely competitive both domestically and in Europe, winning the Premier League and Champions League while finishing runners-up in those competitions a combined four times.
But this season has been a far cry from those past successes, with Liverpool fighting to finish in the European places rather than competing for the Premier League title and crashing out of the Champions League at the round-of-16 stage.
The Reds splashed out over £100million on forwards Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo this season, but Toure believes Klopp must be provided with further …
Aaron Ramsey has been included in Wales’ Euro 2024 play-off squad, despite not starting a match for six months.
The 84-times capped Wales skipper suffered a knee injury in September and was out until February, making two substitute appearances for Cardiff before picking up a calf complaint.
Despite Ramsey playing only 72 minutes since September 16, manager Rob Page has named the 33-year-old midfielder in a 28-man squad as Wales seek to qualify for a third successive European Championship and fourth major tournament in five.
CARFAN CYMRU
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Germany all but secured qualification for Euro 2012 after beating Azerbaijan 3-1 on Tuesday, while Sweden and the Faroe Islands also won.
Goals from Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Oezil, Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez and Mainz forward Andre Schurrle sealed victory for Germany away at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium.
Russian-born centre-forward Murad Huseynov struck a consolation for the hosts in the 88th minute.
The wins sees Joachim Loew s side move 10 points clear on top of Group A ahead of Belgium and Turkey.
In other matches, Sweden moved to within three points of Group E leaders the Netherlands after thrashing Finland 5-0.
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted a hat-trick in the match at the Rasunda Stadium, with Lyon s Kim Kallstrom and …
Emil Forsberg has praised the New York Red Bulls confident attacking threat ahead of their game against Orlando City on Saturday.
The Red Bulls currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, only behind city rivals New York City FC due to having one less win than them this season.
They bounced back in style from their derby defeat to NYCFC in midweek, beating Charlotte FC 3-1 with an impressive second-half performance.
Forsberg was full of praise for the way his team play, particularly in the final third.
When we play with tempo, it s hard to get us, he said. And I think that s the most important thing to play with confidence.
When we are straightforward, that s key for us. When we win the ball, we put those hard passes forward and go with ever…