Netherlands captain Mark van Bommel believes his side have a great chance of winning Euro 2012, but must see off Germany and holders Spain.

Bert van Marwijk s Netherlands team lost just once in qualifying for the UEFA showcase in Ukraine and Poland.

Despite mixed performances during their friendly warm-up games, PSV-bound midfielder Van Bommel feels the Dutch national team can make up for their defeat to Spain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final.

I strongly believe that we can win the European Championship, Van Bommel told Dutch publication Metro.

Germany belongs with the favourites, like Spain and us. And below you have countries like Italy, France and England.

I think it is a great tournament with hopefully a good end for us.

At 35 yea…

Roberto Mancini praised Carlos Tevez after Manchester City s 4-0 FA Cup victory over Leeds but called on his strikers to be more prevalent.

Roberto Mancini praised Carlos Tevez after Manchester City s 4-0 FA Cup victory over Leeds but called on his strikers to be more prevalent.

City cruised past the Championship side to progress to the quarter-finals, with Sergio Aguero scoring goals either side of Tevez s strike after Yaya Toure had opened the scoring with a brilliant snaking run through the Leeds defence.
Mancini s side have slipped behind in the Premier League title race but was glad to take the positives from the FA Cup win and believes it could help the likes of Tevez return to top form.
Carlos is an important player for us, also (when he) is not in good form, h…

Raphael Varane has ended speculation over his future after insisting he will still be at Real Madrid next season.

Varane, 26, had been linked to the likes of Manchester United and Juventus after eight seasons with the LaLiga giants.

Like many of his team-mates, the France international has endured a difficult 2018-19, which resulted in Los Blancos finishing third in the table – a whopping 19 points behind champions Barcelona.

Varane, though, is adamant that he will remain at the Santiago Bernabeu as Zinedine Zidane looks to reverse the club s faltering fortunes.

I m going to stay here next year; I m sure we re going to relive strong emotions,” Varane told Marca.

We have fought, we have tried hard and we cannot blame anything in particular bu…

Kylian Mbappe s unexpected comments about potentially leaving Paris Saint-Germain have not been explained to his team-mates, according to a confused Marquinhos.

France forward Mbappe caught many off guard last week when he hinted at the possibility of pursuing a new project amid rumours of interest from Real Madrid.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel insisted he was not alarmed by the statement despite conceding there are no guarantees over the former Monaco star s future or that of Neymar.

Mbappe started and scored in PSG s final outing for the campaign, a 3-1 defeat to Reims on Friday, but Marquinhos admitted to being unsure of the attacker s intentions for the off-season.

I didn t really understand the message he wanted to get across, the Brazil international t…

Stoke City were humiliated on their last visit to St James Park, but boss Mark Hughes believes they can get revenge on Newcastle United.

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is confident his side are in a good position to avenge last season s humiliating 5-1 loss at Newcastle United when they visit St James Park on Sunday.

Hughes was sent from the sidelines in the humbling back in December 2013 in which his side finished the game with nine men.

The Welshman was still able lead Stoke to their best Premier League finish in the last campaign as they edged out Newcastle by a point to claim ninth place.

With 32 points enough to take them to 10th after 23 games of this season, Hughes is backing his side to raise the benchmark this time around.

I think we a…

Leicester City s promotion-winning captain Wes Morgan has signed a new three-year contract.

Morgan, who joined from Nottingham Forest in 2012, was instrumental as his side secured a return to the Premier League by finishing top of the Championship last season.

And the 30-year-old has now put pen to paper on a deal that will run until June 2017, much to the delight of Leicester manager Nigel Pearson.

Pearson told the club s official website: Wes has been every bit the captain we hoped he would be when we signed him two and a half years ago.

He s a leader on and off the pitch, sets a terrific example for young players and is an extremely positive influence on the squad.

He is one of number of players that has worked incredibly hard to reach the …

The Los Angeles Galaxy players were disappointed after the defeat to Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

Houston Dynamo won the match 3-0 and the Galaxy is now out of the running for the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs.

It s disappointing, Galaxy midfielder Eddie Lewis said. We put a lot into the season and wanted to give ourselves a chance going into the last game.

At least since I ve been here, it seems like in every game within 15 minutes, the other team has two or three or four chances. Whether the other team scores or not is different every game, but the amount of chances that we allow early on in games, is almost suicidal.

It s tough, said star striker Landon Donovan. We were hopeful that we would have been more competitive tonight, under the circumstances, but …

Under-fire Wales boss Rob Page says he is determined to see out the three remaining years of his contract.

Page signed a four-year deal exactly 12 months ago as Wales prepared to make their first appearance at a World Cup for 64 years.

But their fortunes have plummeted since and Page faces a potentially make-or-break Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia on Monday.

Wales must beat bottom side Latvia – who are yet to register a point in Group D – to keep alive hopes of a top-two place and automatic qualification for next summer’s finals in Germany.

Asked at his pre-match press conference whether he was under pressure from the Football Association of Wales executive to qualify, Page said: “I can’t let that affect me. I can’t think about that.

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Paris Saint-Germain boss Unai Emery could use Hatem Ben Arfa as a central striker in the absence of Edinson Cavani when his team take on Lyon in the Trophee des Champions.

Cavani is set to lead PSG s attack this season following Zlatan Ibrahimovic s move to Manchester United, but he will miss Saturday s game in Austria with a hamstring problem.

That leaves Emery with a selection dilemma for his first competitive match in charge, but he is calm about the prospect of handing Ben Arfa a centre-forward role on his debut, or deploying promising teenager Jean-Kevin Augustin.

Edinson Cavani has a little muscle strain and it was better that he remain in Paris to receive treatment, so as not to miss the start of the season, the former Sevilla boss said at his pre-match …

Spain midfielder Sergio Busquets has pinpointed Barcelona team-mate Arda Turan as the man to watch when the European champions take on Turkey on Friday.

A late goal from Gerard Pique enabled Spain to see off Czech Republic in their opener and they know a second win will put them into the last 16.

But Busquets is wary of the threat posed by Arda, who came in for strong criticism in his homeland for his performance in the 1-0 defeat to Croatia.

He said: I have not spoken to Arda, but I saw a different game [to the critics]. He was Turkey’s best player, not with goals but with his play.

I am sure the national team know what he can bring. After the first game, he got a lot of criticism and that’s difficult for a footballer.

We know every…