West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan was delighted with West Brom’s aggression in the Baggies’ 3-1 victory over fellow play-off contenders Hull.
Corberan’s side have now lost only one of their last 10 championship fixtures and the victory over Hull also carried on their excellent home record over Hull, with Albion now unbeaten in nine against the Tigers.
Captain Jed Wallace gave Albion the lead on 14 minutes before they were pegged back just before half-time by a Lewie Coyle strike.
Matt Phillips and substitute Semi Ajayi netted in the second half to give the hosts all three points.
Corberan believed his side played well against one of the Championship’s most competitive teams.
“I’m pleased because we were playing a very competitive ga…
Netherlands attacker Robin van Persie believes the Dutch need to prove how good they are and win the European Championships next year.
Bert van Marwijk s team will be looking to break a drought and win the competition for the first time since 1988 when it begins in Poland and Ukraine in June 2012.
Van Persie said on Wednesday the Netherlands were more than capable of matching it with world champions Spain.
I think, with Spain, we are one of the favourites for that tournament, he said. It s up to us to prove that we are that good.
The Arsenal man said it was a matter of keeping the squad healthy and hitting form at the right time, similar to what they did at last year s World Cup when they lost 1-0 to Spain in the final.
Being fit is really imp…
Competition: Euro 2016
Market: Russia and Slovakia to draw
Odds:
Russia lock horns with Slovakia in their Euro 2016 Group B clash at the Grand Stade Lille Métropole this afternoon, in a game that could be close to call given both sides have struggled for consistency of recent internationals.
Russia are currently third in Group B with one point from their first game. Currently two points adrift of leaders Wales going into their clash with Slovakia, victory today would see them temporarily going top of the pack before Wales’ clash with England.
As for their opponents Slovakia, the underdogs lost their opening game to Wales and are currently bottom of Group B without a single point after their first game. However, they will have felt they were good …
Northern Ireland s Euro 2012 hopes may be over, but Nigel Worthington s men are not taking Tuesday s match against Italy in Pescara lightly.
Italy have already secured their passage to next year s finals in Poland and Ukraine, comfortably sitting on top of Group C, seven points clear of second-placed Estonia.
In contrast, Worthington s side are in fifth place, out of contention for a play-off spot and coming off a 2-1 loss to Estonia in Belfast last week.
Despite the match having little bearing on the group standings, both sides will be keen to end their qualifying campaigns on a high, with Italy coach Cesare Prandelli saying it was too early for his side to get ahead of themselves.
There s too many compliments, too much enthusiasm, Prandelli said. Crit…
Andre Villas-Boas will take on a surprise new challenge in 2018 when he turns his attention to motorsport and the Dakar Rally.
The former Chelsea and Tottenham manager will swap his football kit for racing overalls when he takes to the wheel of a Toyota Hilux in Lima on January 6, the start of the 15-day race.
Avid motorbike rider Villas-Boas will follow in the footsteps of his uncle Pedro, who took part in the Dakar in 1982, though he was discouraged from his initial plan to tackle the event solo.
I spoke with my friend Alex Doringer, the manager of the KTM team, who told me that I would still need a full year s preparation to get there [with a motorbike] and that it was better to consider doing it with a car, he said in a statement.
So I got in touch …
Turkiye will show even more passion after the unfair suspension handed to Mehdi Demiral, so says coach Vincenzo Montella.
Demiral scored both of Turkiye s goals in their 2-1 last-16 win over Austria at Euro 2024 on Tuesday.
That victory teed up a quarter-final with the Netherlands, but Turkiye will have to go up against the Dutch without their key defender Demiral.
The centre-back was handed a two-game ban by UEFA on Friday, due to having celebrated with a wolf salute , which is associated with a far-right extremist group Grey Wolves.
Montella hit out at that decision in his pre-match press conference.
He said: We consider it unfair, this ban because it was not a political gesture. It was interpreted as such, but it was just something that was not…
Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez heaped praise on teenager Jeremy Doku after impressing in Thursday s 1-1 international friendly draw with Greece.
Martinez s Belgium were without several key players including star Kevin De Bruyne, Axel Witsel, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois for the pre-Euro 2020 warm-up fixture in Brussels.
Thorgan Hazard – brother of Real Madrid s Eden – opened the scoring off his shin in the 20th minute from a Yannick Carrasco assist.
Greece equalised in the 66th minute after Kyriakos Papadopoulos header hit the post, with Georgios Tzavellas reacting first for the visitors.
Despite failing to win, Martinez was content with the result as they fine-tune ahead of the rescheduled European Championship, where top-ranked Belgium are …
Marc Wilmots has been fired by the Royal Belgian Football Association (KBVB) following the country s underwhelming performance at Euro 2016.
Belgium were one of the pre-tournament favourites but failed to live up to expectations in France.
Wilmots men were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Wales after qualifying second from Group E behind Italy.
The KBVB stressed immediately after the tournament that it would not make any hasty decisions, but has now opted to part company with Wilmots.
The Royal Belgian Football Association has reached an agreement with Wilmots to end his contract, that lasted until 2018, an official statement read.
We would like to thank Wilmots for his work during the last four years.
With Wilmots as head …
Zlatan Ibrahimovic s 2019 salary of $7.2million is a new MLS record, usurping the $7.1m paid to Sebastian Giovinco in 2017 and 2018.
The Swedish star, 37, joined LA Galaxy from Manchester United last year and has made a remarkable impact, scoring 33 MLS goals in 39 appearances.
His 2019 salary is a huge increase on the $1.5m he was paid during his first year and sees him move to the top of the pile in terms of wages in the division, according to the MLS Players Association s (MLSPA) salary guide.
Giovani dos Santos, a team-mate of Ibrahimovic s until his March release, is second on the list with a salary of $6.5m, narrowly beating Michael Bradley of Toronto.
Just another bicycle day
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official)
Ibrahimovic s…
Houston Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen has urged his team to find their clinical edge in a tough test against Los Angeles FC on Saturday.
The Dynamo had lost just one of their last 10 MLS matches before the Leagues Cup break, winning four and drawing five of the other games in that streak.
However, they returned to league action with a 1-0 defeat to Toronto FC last time out and sit eighth in the Western Conference.
And Olsen has challenged his team to improve their end product against the Leagues Cup finalists.
The last game was not the result we wanted, that s for sure, he said.
I m starting to sound like a broken record: we play well, we have a lot of chances. We can do all that stuff, but we don t make the play.
If we re going to be the…