Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has made his first serious move into coaching after being named head coach of A-League strugglers Brisbane Roar.

Former Liverpool player Robbie Fowler has been named the new manager of Brisbane Roar. PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

Fowler, who scored 183 goals in 369 matches for the English Premier League giants, was confirmed as the Roar’s new coach on Tuesday.

It’s the first significant foray into coaching for the 44-year-old, who retired from playing in 2012.

“I’m really looking forward to the challenge and am determined to bring success to a club that has such a proud history in the Hyundai A-League,” Fowler said in a club statement.

“I’m really keen to get started and make a difference.”

Fowler was briefly player-coach of Thai club Muangthong United before hanging up his boots. Apart from that he has no other senior coaching experience.

It’s understood Fowler was selected from a field of about 100 candidates for the full-time position, which was vacated by ex-Socceroos striker John Aloisi when he resigned in late December.

Fowler’s first challenge will be rebuilding a squad which has endured an awful 2018-19 season.

With just one match remaining, the Roar are second last having won just four of 26 matches this season and were humiliated 6-1 by Newcastle last weekend.

Veteran captain Matt McKay has announced he will retire after Thursday’s Anzac Day clash with Adelaide at Suncorp Stadium, while Brazilian veteran Henrique will not be part of the playing group next season.

French marquee Eric Bautheac is among several Roar players off-contract and has been linked to Melbourne Victory before an expected shake-up of the Brisbane squad.

Interim coach Darren Davies will be at the helm for the Adelaide game, although Fowler is expected to be presented to the Roar fans at the match.

Davies will remain at the club as an assistant to Fowler, with a second assistant to be appointed by the ex-England international striker.

It will be Fowler’s third stint in the A-League after playing with the defunct North Queensland Fury in 2009-10 and then Perth Glory in 2010-11.

Source – ESPN

A man who formed part of the only Three Lions squad to have tasted global glory believes another crown can be captured at the next showpiece event.

Photo by: Getty

England will be serious challengers at the 2022 World Cup due to the timing of the event in Qatar, says 1966 hero Geoff Hurst.

The Three Lions enjoyed a memorable run through the last global showpiece in 2018.

Gareth Southgate’s side reached the semi-finals in Russia, with that finish equaling their best run since lifting the trophy for the only time in the nation’s history.

An exciting young squad will look to build on that success, with a spot already secured in the Nations League finals, and Hurst believes a winter tournament could work in England’s favour.

He told FIFA’s official website when asked if he believes games in November and December could aid the Three Lions’ cause: “Yes, I do – November is the peak of the season for us.

“After starting in August, the players will be at their peak – they should not be tired – so I can only see a benefit to our country.

“Also, the resurgence of our national team in the last 18 months, at the World Cup and qualifying for the Nations League, beating Croatia and Spain and scoring five goals a game, it’s a really opportune time for us coming into this tournament.

“If we continue to improve and our young players get more experience, the signs are very good.

“It’s a very exciting time for our national team and coincides with the World Cup in three years’ time.

“I’m always very confident England are going to do well and I’m even more confident now with the timing of the tournament.”

Southgate has done a remarkable job since stepping up from the U21 ranks to become coach of the senior side, and there is a positivity around the England camp that has not been seen for some time.

Hurst added on the man at the helm: “It’s quite evident looking at the way the players play, the way they talk in the media and the way they celebrate goals that his management style is proving very effective. It’s something we haven’t seen for some time.

“One of the most important aspects of a sport doing well is the people at the top – the leaders.

“We were very fortunate in our time to have a great leader in Sir Alf Ramsey – he was instrumental in picking the right players and playing the right way. And Gareth Southgate seems to have a knack of doing that.

“What is amazingly different – and I often state I played in medieval times – is that what we’re seeing now is players playing for England who have hardly kicked a ball for their Premier League clubs, [Callum] Hudson-Odoi for example.

“I look back now and say retrospectively I should have been playing for England three years earlier, when I was scoring goals regularly for West Ham and winning the FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup.

“So it’s changed dramatically, but overall, Southgate’s managerial style and what he’s doing, and the way they’re playing, is just fantastic.”

England will be back in action on June 6 when taking on the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the Nations League, with Portugal taking on Switzerland in the other last-four encounter.

Source – Goal.com

Karim Benzema was once again Real Madrid’s matchwinner with a hat trick in Sunday afternoon’s straightforward 3-0 La Liga victory against Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Now with 30 goals this campaign, Karim Benzema is just two shy of his career high for a season, set back in 2011-12. Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Positives

Benzema continued his amazing run of form — the Frenchman has now scored each of Madrid’s past eight goals (across their past five game). Jesus Vallejolooked assured and confident in a rare start at centre-back.

Negatives

Absolutely nothing happened in the first half, as Benzema’s opener in the 47th minute was Madrid’s first attempt on target, and their reliance on one player to score all their goals is even more obvious than in past seasons. A certain nastiness in the Bernabeu atmosphere with substitute Gareth Bale paying for the general unhappiness at how the season has gone.

Manager rating out of 10

7 — Zinedine Zidane keeps saying Madrid “must play better” but the message is not really getting across with everyone at the club (Benzema aside). The coach’s half-time talks do seem to be working though, as this was third successive game in which they have scored almost immediately after the break.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Keylor Navas, 7 — Very little to do until an excellent late save with his feet on Athletic’s Inaki Williams.

DF Dani Carvajal, 7 — Among the more vigorous of Madrid’s players during the very lethargic first half, he looks back towards full sharpness now after a recent injury absence.

DF Raphael Varane, 7 — A more focused performance than of late from Varane as Madrid kept their first clean sheet since Zidane’s return as coach six games ago.

DF Jesus Vallejo, 8 — Easter Sunday rebirth for Vallejo, who confidently handled Athletic’s in-form Williams on his first La Liga start in almost a year, especially when racing back to deny the Basque centre-forward a tap-in just moments before Benzema opened the scoring.

DF Marcelo, 7 — Madrid captain in Sergio Ramos‘ absence, Marcelo spent much of the game around the Athletic box, with the visitors’ limited attacking intentions meaning they never exposed the space left behind.

MF Luka Modric, 7 — Unable to get any rhythm going against Athletic’s high energy pressing, although his ability shone at times with some excellent long-range passing. Took the corner which Athletic goalkeeper Iago Herrerin missed as Benzema nodded in Madrid’s second.

MF Casemiro, 7 — Up for the physical battle with ex-Atletico Madrid midfielder Raul Garcia, and has rediscovered his very useful knack of getting away with numerous tactical fouls without being booked.

MF Toni Kroos, 6 — Did get a yellow for pulling over Iker Muniain to stop one dangerous Athletic counter — his last act before being withdrawn early after another underwhelming performance.

FW Lucas Vazquez, 6 — Drew jeers from the fans for a multitude of misplaced passes as the winger lost his personal battle with Athletic’s left-back Yuri Berchiche.

FW Karim Benzema, 8 — Up to 30 goals in all competitions for the season — 11 of them headers — and head and shoulders above everyone else at Bernabeu this year. Among the very few players sure of a central place in Zidane’s plans going forward.

FW Marco Asensio, 7 — Began the game looking low on confidence and was often unsure of what option to take. His belief grew after he provided an excellent cross for Benzema’s headed opener.

Substitutes

MF Isco, 6 — Unable to get the ball out of his feet quick enough when presented with a late chance by fellow replacement Brahim Diaz.

FW Gareth Bale, 7 — The unpopular Welsh Galactico was continuously whistled even as he won the corner for Madrid’s second goal, and unselfishly teed up Benzema to chip into empty net to complete his hat trick.

FW Brahim Diaz, 7 — Livened things up considerably in a late showing off the bench, with one lovely piece

Source – ESPN

Borussia Dortmund eased past Freiburg 4-0 on Sunday, with goals from Jadon Sancho, Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Paco Alcacer, to stay a point behind leaders Bayern Munich with four games left in the Bundesliga season.

Borussia Dortmund duo Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus celebrate. Patrick Seeger/picture alliance via Getty Images

England international Sancho tapped in from close range for the visitors in the 12th minute and Reus completed another fine move in the 54th to score his 16th goal of the season.

The pair then combined to set up Gotze for their third in the 79th and Dortmund’s top scorer Alcacer made it 4-0 with an 87th minute penalty, his 17th league goal.

The result kept Dortmund, on 69 points, within striking distance of Bayern, who are top on 70 after their 1-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Saturday.

“It is important that we stick together in the tough moments and continue believing that we can become champions,” captain Reus said. “We want to keep up the pressure on Bayern until the end and we managed to do that with today’s win.

“Now we need to recover in the next days and start preparing for the derby against Schalke.”

RB Leipzig are in third place on 61, nine points clear of fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.

Source – ESPN

The Gunners saw their Champions League hopes hit following a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates on Sunday.

Photo by: Getty Images

It had been 251 days since Arsenal had last tasted defeat in the Premier League at the Emirates.

Manchester City were the victors, way back on the opening weekend of the season. Since then 16 had tried and failed to beat Unai Emery’s side in north London.

Wolves had gone close in November, but other than that it had been relatively smooth sailing – until today.

Arsenal went into their Easter Sunday clash with Crystal Palace on the back of 10 straight league wins at the Emirates, something they last achieved 20 years ago in 1999.

Unsurprisingly, no-one really gave Palace a chance of ending that run, but they did just that – thanks largely to the calamitous Shkodran Mustafi.

The German centre-back was not the only one at fault during what was a lacklustre display from the hosts, with Emery having to shoulder some of the blame for his team selection – but the error Mustafi made which allowed Wilfried Zaha to restore Palace’s lead in the second half was simply unforgivable.

With the race for the top four so tight, any dropped points at this stage of the season are costly. But when they come at home they are even more painful.

Arsenal were poor in the first half and Palace deservedly led at the break thanks to a goal from Christian Benteke.

But when Mesut Ozil equalised within two minutes of the restart, expertly finishing off Alexandre Lacazette’s pass, it looked like the hosts would go on and get the win they needed to move above Spurs into third.

But then, just after the hour mark, Mustafi struck.

Quite what was going through his head when he decided to leave Benteke’s flick-on for Bernd Leno only he will know, but his monumental lapse of concentration let Zaha in and the Palace winger made no mistake.

It was an incredible error from a player who Arsenal must look to move on and replace in the summer.

If Emery is going to build a team that is capable of competing with the best once again, then he has to get a better option at centre-back.

The momentum that Arsenal had built up at the start of the second half totally evaporated following Mustafi’s mistake.

For about 10 minutes they were all over the place and the visitors took full advantage, adding a third through James McArthur’s header to all but seal the win.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did give Arsenal some hope when he pulled one back with a fine finish 10 minutes from time, but by then the damage had been done.

Arsenal remain in the top four despite this defeat, but with three of their remaining four games away from home – they now have it all to do to guarantee themselves Champions League football next season.

Sokratis will be back at Wolves on Wednesday night, surely in place of the hapless Mustafi, and his return from suspension can’t come soon enough.

Source – Goal.com

The PSG star said he’d only be watching Zinedine Zidane’s progress at the Bernabeu as an observer.

Photy by: Getty

Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe refuted talk he could join Real Madridafter he scored a hat-trick against former club Monaco on Sunday.

The 20-year-old was in sparkling form at Parc des Princes, scoring three times in a 3-1 win. 

The victory came on the day PSG clinched their second straight Ligue 1 title, with Lille‘s draw at Toulouse earlier in the day securing the championship.

Mbappe continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid, and those talks intensified after France legend Zinedine Zidane returned as the Liga side’s manager last month.

Though Mbappe is happy to see his countryman back on the sidelines, he insisted he’d only be following his progress as a fan.

“I am here, I am in the project,” Mbappe said of PSG on Canal Plus.

“It’s good for Real Madrid if there is Zizou, but I will watch merely as an admirer.”

With his hat-trick Mbappe became the first Ligue 1 player to score 30 goals in a league season since Jean-Pierre Papin did so in the 1989-90 campaign.

The France star was happy to reach the milestone, and now has his sights set on going even further.

“The last player to have scored 30 goals is Papin? I knew, I knew. I’m happy, but the season is not over so I can score others,” the youngster added.

PSG may have clinched the league title, but they fell short of their ultimate goal again by falling to Manchester United in the Champions League last 16.

They will at least have a shot to complete a domestic double against Rennes in the Coupe de France final next weekend, and Mbappe has said he would still be satisfied with that achievement.

“We really wanted to take the title… so we are happy and it’s good preparation for next week,” Mbappe said.

“We are disappointed for Manchester but football continues, it’s easy to say we have to move on but I will say it anyway. I will be happy if we win the Coupe de France and the championship.”

Source – Goal.com

Paris Saint-Germain have pledged to support the reconstruction of Notre Dame, saying the club shares “the immense emotion of all Parisians” following the fire which ravaged part of the building.

PSG have vowed to support firefighters who worked to save Notre Dame

The 12th century building caught fire on Monday evening, damaging the roof and spire and sending plumes of smoke into the sky.

French President Emmanuel Macron declared a national emergency and vowed to launch an international fundraising campaign, and PSG have added their backing.

The Ligue 1 club are already bringing together “all key stakeholders, main partners and huge community of fans both in Paris and abroad” to start or participate in fundraising events to rebuild the cathedral in the coming years.

It was reported one firefighter has been seriously injured and the Qatar-owned club also expressed “its admiration and solidarity towards the Paris Fire Brigade” and vowed to support the firefighters who worked to save the building.

Source – Sky Sports

Ajax Amsterdam followed up their elimination of Real Madrid by producing a spell-binding display of inventive, passing football to win 2-1 away to Juventus on Tuesday and end the Serie A team’s dreams of winning the Champions League.

Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt, 19, headed in the winner for the Dutch side against Juventus on Tuesday night. Michael Steele/Getty Images

Ajax’s 19-year-old captain Matthijs de Ligt headed the winner from the corner in the 67th minute of the quarterfinal second leg as the Dutch side came from behind to clinch a 3-2 aggregate win and reach the last four for the first time since 1996-97.

Cristiano Ronaldo, aiming for a fourth successive Champions League title after winning the last three with Real Madrid, put Juventus ahead in the 28th minute with a typically emphatic header, his sixth goal of the competition.

But Donny van de Beek levelled six minutes later before the visitors swept Juventus aside in the second half with wave after wave of attacks as they earned a semifinal against Manchester City or Tottenham Hotspur.

“Can we can go on to win the competition? Well, we are in the semifinals now. And we have eliminated two of the favourites in the last two rounds. The next games will be very difficult, but so were these ones. So who knows?,” said De Ligt.

Frenkie de Jong added: “We dominated after the break and were well worth our victory. In fact, we probably should have won by more.”

Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana gave his team an early scare when his clearance was charged down by Emre Can but the rebound flew wide.

Ajax settled well after that but, despite not playing well, Juventus went ahead when Ronaldo got away from the defenders to score the 126th Champions League goal of his career.

There was a long delay for the VAR review, the referee eventually going to the pitchside monitor with the ball back on the centre circle ready for the re-start, before the goal was confirmed.

Ajax kept their cool and took six minutes to level, helped by a somewhat lucky break.

Hakim Ziyech‘s long-range shot hit a defender and fell perfectly for Van de Beek who, unmarked and onside, slotted the ball calmly past Wojciech Szczesny, and then had to wait for another long VAR check before the goal was confirmed.

Ajax took complete control in the second half and their geometric passing repeatedly opened up the Juventus defence, which sorely missed injured veteran Giorgio Chiellini.

Szczesny made one-handed save from Ziyech after Juventus were opened up again and then turned Van de Beek’s curling shot over for a corner.

Juventus were rocking but, ironically, Ajax’s winner came from an old-fashioned header as De Ligt out-jumped two defenders to score.

Ajax had chances for further goals and Ronaldo’s frustration boiled over in stoppage time when he was booked for a lunging tackle from behind near the centre circle.

Source – ESPN