Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo admits it is vital his team take points from Saturday’s crucial clash with Luton.
Forest, who have lost their last three in the Premier League and won just once in 2024, are anxiously looking over their shoulders in the relegation battle.
Their trip to Kenilworth Road to face fellow strugglers Luton, who are without a win in seven games, carries huge significance for both clubs.
Nuno said at a press conference: “We are in a bad moment but we stick together and react, bounce back, find solutions to get out of there.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re playing for. Football is always like that. You have to react from the bad moments. Don’t ignore it. It’s never done in football.
“Every week we ha…
FIFA must make sure equal conditions are in place for all players involved in qualification for the next Women’s World Cup, world players’ union FIFPRO has said.
A FIFPRO report published on Tuesday found huge variance in conditions across the qualification events run by each of the six global confederations, with some found to be “not up to the standards of elite international football”.
World Cup qualification should also be a standalone event across all confederations, rather than being achieved via performance in other tournaments such as the Copa America, FIFPRO said.
New payment model guarantees support for every team and player
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— FIFA Media (@fifamedia)
FIFPRO has praised FIFA for “listening to the voice of playe…
Boosting team morale is the key behind Spain s chances of back-to-back FIFA World Cup titles, according to coach Vicente del Bosque.
Defending champions Spain are amongst the favourites to win the World Cup, though they must navigate their way through a tricky group after being drawn alongside the Netherlands, Chile and Australia.
While Del Bosque is able to call upon the likes of Andres Iniesta, Xavi, David Silva, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique and Diego Costa, the 63-year-old told Spanish newspaper El Pais that team happiness outweighs time spent out on the training pitch.
A happy team is worth more than 100 hours of tactics, Del Bosque said.
It s good for any business that the employees are content. In football, if the kids are happy, we ve won.
Del Bosque …
David James has tipped Manchester City to make legends of themselves by winning the FA Cup final against Stoke on Saturday.
The four-time FA Cup winners last won the trophy in 1969 and have not won any silverware since gaining promotion to the Premier League in 2002.
Former City goalkeeper James has played in four FA Cup finals, winning the competition with Portsmouth in 2008.
And James believes the current crop of City players will do themselves and their fans proud at Wembley on Saturday.
I think Stoke will give Manchester City a very good game but I think Manchester City will be better than Stoke on the day, James said.
I was told today that it is Stoke s first FA Cup final so whoever wins, there will be some sort of history created for eit…
Indian Super League outfit Goa have secured the services of former Brazil international Andre Santos.
The 31-year-old becomes the latest name to join the league, which is due to begin its inaugural season later this year.
The likes of Nicolas Anelka, David Trezeguet and Robert Pires have also signed deals with clubs in the ISL as league organisers attempt to increase the profile of the game in the country.
@FCGoaOfficial have signed former Brazil and @Arsenal player, Andre Santos! Goa posted on their official Twitter account. Welcome, @Andre_Santos27! #HeroISL.
Santos, who has 24 caps for Brazil, signs for Goa as a free agent following his release from Flamengo earlier this year.
The defender joined Arsenal from Fenerbahce in 2011, but failed to…
France begin the quest to exorcise the demons of four years ago in their FIFA World Cup opener against Honduras on Sunday.
The 1998 world champions had been considered among the favourites in South Africa in 2010, but France endured a dismal campaign, claiming just one point and finishing bottom of their group in a tournament that was marred by off-field tensions in the camp.
France s squad is much-changed from the one that failed so spectacularly and are largely expected to progress as Group E winners under Didier Deschamps.
The abysmal 2010 campaign featured slip-ups against Mexico and hosts South Africa, meaning that France will be wary of avoiding another shock against a Honduras side viewed as outsiders in the group.
And, with Franck Ribery – star of a rel…
Former Manchester City and Arsenal full-back Gael Clichy has agreed to join Turkish Super Lig club Istanbul Basaksehir.
Clichy was released by City when his contract expired following the 2016-17 campaign, ending a six-year stay at the Etihad Stadium, during which time he won both the Premier League and EFL Cup on two occasions.
Basaksehir announced via their Twitter page that Clichy will undergo a medical and sign his contract on Friday.
Details of the deal have not been disclosed, but reports in Turkey suggest the 31-year-old will pen a three-year deal worth €3million per season.
— İstanbul Başakşehir (@ibfk2014)
Clichy joins another ex-City and Arsenal man, Emmanuel Adebayor, in the Basaksehir squad, while former Turkey and In…
Adam Nawalka has signed a new contract to keep him in charge of Poland until the end of their World Cup 2018 campaign.
Nawalka guided Poland to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, earning seven points in the group stage before defeating Switzerland on penalties in the first knockout round.
Poland, captained by Robert Lewandowski, then lost out in heart-breaking fashion in another shootout against Portugal in the last eight.
The new deal ties Nawalka down until the end of World Cup 2018 qualification and will be automatically extended to cover the tournament itself should his side make it to Russia.
The 58-year-old took charge of Poland in October 2013 and will now attempt to negotiate a World Cup qualifying group that also contains Romania, Denmark, Mont…
Real Madrid have reportedly expressed an interest in Erling Haaland, who joined Borussia Dortmund from RB Salzburg this winter.
report, quoting Radio Marca as the source, that Real are still thoroughly unhappy with the attacking options at Zinedine Zidane s disposal. They don t feel that they ve succeeded in replacing Cristiano Ronaldo since the Portuguese superstar left to join Juventus in 2018. They spent a lot of money on the likes of Luka Jovic and Eden Hazard last summer, but Zidane still relies mostly on Karim Benzema for goals, believing that Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes still need time to adapt. It s long since they had any hope that Gareth Bale would make a notable contribution.
On the other hand, Haaland has so far netted 40 goals in 30 games in all compe…
Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane is apparently very keen on bringing Eduardo Camavinga from Rennes to the Spanish capital. According to AS, Zidane s main objective for the next transfer window remains Paul Pogba of Manchester United, but if that move proves too expensive, he will go in for the 17-year-old midfielder instead.
Given his young age, Camavinga cannot exactly be considered an alternative to the 2018 World Cup winner Pogba, but it seems Zidane has been monitoring his progress closely and will continue to do so whatever happens when the window opens. The Real boss sees him as a Makelele-type player, and having played with the actual Makelele back his day, he would certainly know the importance of such a player.
It is believed, as the report claims, that t…