Liverpool in ambitious bid for Cech; Porto complete Quintero signing

Former Bayern Munich defender Breno will spend time on day-release from prison coaching players in the club s youth academy.

Breno was convicted of aggravated arson in 2011 and handed a sentence of three years and nine months.

However, the Bundesliga club, for whom Breno made 21 appearances, have offered him a way back into football.

The 23-year-old will be allowed to work with Bayern s young prospects, initially for five hours a day, under the supervision of the club s head of youth, Wolfgang Dremmler.

The Brazilian admitted that he had struggled in prison but was looking forward to getting involved with the club again.

The time in prison was very hard for me, he said. I have changed as a person and I have learned a lot in there. I am happy to be given thi…

Barcelona star Neymar will be the world s best player in the near future thanks to Lionel Messi s help, according to former Brazil international Mazinho.

Neymar finished third to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d Or in 2015, while he is also on the shortlist this year.

The 24-year-old guided Brazil to Olympic gold, and his four goals and as many assists in nine LaLiga games this season help Barca sit second.

Mazinho, a 1994 World Cup winner, believes it is only a matter of time before Neymar is considered the best in the world.

Neymar will be the best in the world in the near future, he told Globo Esporte.

Every great player helps another great player. Messi helps Neymar a lot and Neymar is already one of the best.

Messi will …

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is not concerned by the fortunes of his side s title rivals, insisting Leicester City s triumph last season shows it is too early to identify favourites.

While the 2014-15 Premier League champions travel to Swansea on Sunday, Manchester United and Manchester City face off in their first derby of the season on Saturday.

But Conte refused to discuss whether the two Manchester sides are favourites for the title, referring to Leicester s success as proof that little can be ascertained at this stage.

I don t like to speak about favourites, he told a news conference. Last season showed us that a team that is not the favourite can win the title.

We all know United and City are two great teams, they have both done a lot in the tra…

Inter reacted with dismay and great sorrow on Friday as the Italian FA refused to overturn the red card shown to Romelu Lukaku when he stood up to racist abuse against Juventus.

The Belgian striker converted a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn Inter a 1-1 draw in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg on April 4 at the Allianz Stadium.

He then used his finger to shush the home fans vitriol and that reaction was deemed a bookable offence by referee Davide Massa.

Lukaku had already been booked for a foul in the 80th minute, so the second yellow card saw him dismissed.

The Inter frontman called for action from Serie A officials after being targeted for abuse, while team-mate Edin Dzeko described the treatment from the Juventus fans as somet…

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka was one of the three players that missed from the spot as England lost the shootout in the Euro final to Italy. The 19-year-old received a large amount of social media abuse in the aftermath, both racial and otherwise, but many people showed support in that difficult time for him.

For that, he is thankful.

I just want to say a big thank you to all the fans who went out of their way to show their love for me.

Arsenal s Bukayo Saka has a message to all the fans who sent him support this summer.

— Football Daily (@footballdaily)

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(GSM) The Deutscher Fußball-Bund (German FA) extended the contract of national team coach Joachim Löw on Wednesday, locking up the coach through the 2012 European championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Löw, 49, has been the manager of Die Mannschaft since 2006, succeeding Jürgen Klinsmann as the man in charge following the Germans third-place finish in a World Cup they hosted.

DFB President Theo Zwanziger said of the deal, I am glad that we were able to shake on a contract extension and now can go calmly into the World Cup year.

Löw has managed 45 games for Germany since taking over, and has won 33 of those games against just six defeats. He also guided Germany to the final of Euro 2008, where his side were beaten 1-0 by Spain.

Zwanziger al…

Barcelona lost the first of the three titles they won in an extraordinary 2008/09 season on Wednesday as despite beating Sevilla 1-0 they went out of the Kings Cup on the away goal rule when the last 16 tie finished 2-2 on aggregate.

Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola who guided Barca to the Cup, league title and Champions League trophy in an amazing debut season as coach did not take the match lightly playing essentially his first choice team against a side whose league form has fallen away alarmingly having lost their last three matches.

However, it was the hosts who turned on the early pressure with first midfielder Koffi Romaric who was controversially left out of the Ivory Coast African Cup of Nations squad powering a header which was punched away by Barcelona goalkee…

Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic claims he did not feel wanted by coach Roberto Mancini at Inter.

Croatia international Kovacic moved from Inter to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in August, having only joined Inter in January 2013.

Mancini returned for his second spell as Inter coach in November last year but, despite being one of the star performers at the San Siro, Kovacic told Sportske Novosti that his relationship with the former Manchester City boss was distant.

I am not sure, did Mancini want me in Inter or not? he said.

We had no relationship; not good, not bad. I don t know what he thought and in the end I was glad to leave because I don t know what would have happened to me.

Mancini never told me anything. In fact, he did, when I was le…

Joe Hart has acknowledged he may need to leave Manchester City permanently to resurrect his career.

Hart has recently had loan spells at Torino and West Ham, but was unable to force his way into Gareth Southgate s 23-man-squad for the World Cup in Russia.

The 31-year-old made his first appearance for City since 2016 in a pre-season friendly defeat to Borussia Dortmund, but says he wants to go to a club where he is the number one goalkeeper.

I need to go somewhere permanent, I think that’s obvious, he said.

“I did what I did in the previous two seasons because I needed to play to be involved in the World Cup and look where that got me.

I’m experienced. I ve played at the highest level for a long time and done a lot of things in the game. I…

Sporting Kansas City treated their home fans to an impressive 4-1 upset win against Minnesota United on Saturday, with William Agada netting a brace on his birthday.

Against the Western Conference s fourth-placed side in Minnesota, 12th-placed Sporting closed the first half in style, with three goals in the space of 15 minutes.

The first was courtesy of a friendly bounce, with a hard, low cross in the 31st minute being deflected by the Minnesota goalkeeper straight off the legs of centre-back Michael Boxall and into the back of the net for an own goal.

Johnny Russell then hit the post in the 41st minute, but was able to track down the rebound and dish one off for Erik Thommy in the box, who sidestepped a challenge before firing home Sporting s second goal.

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