Former Manchester United defender John O’Shea will take charge of the Republic of Ireland’s March friendlies after being named interim head coach by the Football Association of Ireland.
O’Shea, who had a spell as assistant to former manager Stephen Kenny, will be supported by Crystal Palace coach Paddy McCarthy and will take charge of games against Belgium and Switzerland next month.
The FAI said in a statement it plans to name a permanent successor to Kenny in early April.
FAI appoint John O’Shea as Interim Head Coach of the Men’s National Team
O Shea, who has 118 caps for Ireland, will take charge of the two international friendlies in March against Belgium and Switzerland at the Aviva Stadium, assisted by Paddy McCarthy
— Ireland …
The Champions League group stage draw held here Thursday pitted titleholders Inter Milan against Tottenham with Real Madrid, now coached by Inter s former boss Jose Mourinho, facing AC Milan.
Inter, now in the care of former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, also have German side Werder Bremen and Dutch champions FC Twente for company in Group A along with Spurs, making their debut in the world s most lucrative club competition.
Group B features last season s semi-finalists Lyon, Schalke, Benfica and Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Three-time European champions Manchester United have a trip across the border to play Scottish giants Rangers, with Spanish outfit Valencia and Bursaspor of Turkey completing Group C.
United and Rangers were drawn together at the same stage …
United States striker Chris Wondolowski is hoping to grasp his FIFA World Cup opportunity after making a late break into the national set-up.
The San Jose Earthquakes man did not make his international debut until 2011 and will be appearing in his first World Cup in Brazil at the age of 31.
But, after a promising CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign last year, Wondolowski is keen to make an impression on the biggest stage of all.
You get older and older and you start to wonder if your chance will ever come, he told FIFA.com. I was a late bloomer and there were times when I thought my opportunity had passed.
I ve grown as a player since the Gold Cup. I’ve had to step up my game and push myself.
I m not the fastest, I m not the strongest, and I m not the most technic…
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FA Cup winners Arsenal are set to face Premier League champions Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday afternoon at Wembley, in a contest which will decide the owner of the first trophy of the season and possibly give us some insight into what the two managers have been cooking up during the summer.
Arsenal
Having had a rather disappointing league campaign in 2019/20, Arsenal finished in eighth place with 56 points. The result had them set to miss out on European football in 2020/21, but then they pulled a rather big surprise by winning the FA Cup. Their performances against Manchester City in the semifinal and Chelsea in the final made a big impression, with nobody questioning them being worthy of the trophy at the end of the a…
Manchester United drew with Arsenal 2-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
The pulsating stalemate produced plenty of interesting moments but one of the biggest talking points was definitely when Marouane Fellaini pulled Matteo Guendouzi’s hair.
The Belgian midfielder, who recently cut off his own afro, grabbed the locks of Arsenal youngster but avoided any repercussions.
Andre Marriner failed to even book Fellaini for his offence and the fans are now reminding that Belgian himself was involved in a similar incident in 2016 when Robert Huth pulled Fellaini’s hair.
Fellaini then struck Huth with his elbow and both the Manchester United and Leicester players were punished by a three-game ban.
Will FA react to this latest incident as well? The …
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists he is excited about a special opportunity rather than feeling the pressure ahead of the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.
The Gunners face Pep Guardiola s men at Wembley on Sunday as they bid to take the penultimate step towards winning a third cup crown in four years.
Wenger is under intense pressure from supporters with his contract due to expire at the end of the season and Arsenal sitting down in sixth in the Premier League.
But Wenger says he felt under more strain in 2014, when Arsenal were hoping to end a nine-year trophy drought, and stresses league form will count for nothing against City.
In 2014 it was special pressure, Wenger told reporters.
We had not won a trophy for a long time. Peop…
Lionel Messi looks set to depart Barcelona this summer, bringing to an end one of the most profitable and trophy-laden unifications in the footballing world.
The Argentine superstar has been an inspirational figure at the Camp Nou for the past 16 years, representing the Blaugrana with immense quality or humility. Not only is Messi a brilliant footballer but also a Barca great and that looks set to remain even if he does leave.
Goals, goals, goals
His goal record indeed speaks for itself having plundered a frankly astounding 634 goals in 731 games. Throughout that time, Messi has become one of the best players to ever take to a football pitch and that can be vouched for with the six Ballon d’Ors that he has won – no player having won more.
The sheer fact tha…
The Jadon Sancho saga continues.
A move to Manchester United has long been mooted for England international Sancho.
While United and Borussia Dortmund negotiate, could Sancho s future be set to become clearer?
TOP STORY – UNITED HAVE OFFER REBUFFED
Manchester United have had their first offer for Jadon Sancho rejected by Borussia Dortmund, according to the BBC.
United have long been interested in Sancho, with the Premier League giants unable to prise Sancho from Dortmund before the 2020-21 season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s United are back again for England international Sancho, though their initial £67million (€77.9m) bid will not suffice as Dortmund hold out for at least £77.5m (€90.1m).
They were always going to…
Claudio Ranieri is adamant he will not resign from Roma despite protests calling for the coach s removal on Saturday.
About 200 fans had to be dispersed by police after they hurled fireworks and flares into Roma s training ground on Saturday morning, angered by the Serie A club s run of poor form.
Roma were defeated 3-2 at home by Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League on Wednesday, and sit a lowly eighth in the Italian league following back-to-back losses.
But Ranieri is determined to ride out Roma s latest slump and remain at the club he supported as a child.
Relax, I m not going anywhere. I will not abandon the ship, Ranieri said ahead of Roma s trip to Genoa on Sunday.
I won t leave mid-season. It is a difficult situation, s…
Alberto Aquilani s agent expects the Liverpool midfielder to make his loan move to Juventus permanent when the transfer window opens.
The 26-year-old made just 26 appearances for Liverpool in a disastrous debut season after signing for 20 million pounds from Roma in 2009.But Aquilani has since enjoyed a productive season with Serie A outfit Juventus after being loaned out by the English Premier League club in July 2010.And despite Liverpool reportedly expecting a fee of around 14 million pounds for the Italian international, his agent Franco Zavaglia believes a deal can be done with Juve. On June 30, Juventus will be able to buy Aquilani and they should act now, Zavaglia told Radio Mana Mana. They could sign him by making three to four delayed payments, a system which was estab…