Sydney FC show faith in Farina

Sydney FC are hopeful the full-time appointment of Frank Farina will spark a period of stability for the club.

Sydney FC are hopeful the full-time appointment of Frank Farina will spark a period of stability for the club.

After helping save the Sky Blues season from oblivion, Farina was rewarded with a new two-year deal on Thursday that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2014/15 campaign.

Farina becomes Sydney s seventh head coach in eight years of the A-League, following on from Pierre Littbarski, Terry Butcher, Branko Culina, John Kosmina, Vitezslav Lavicka and Ian Crook.

Since taking over from Crook in late November, Farina has taken Sydney from the bottom of the ladder into the top six with just four losses from 12 games in charge.

Stoke appoint Hughes as manager

Mark Hughes has been named new manager of Stoke City.

Hughes has signed a three-year deal to replace Tony Pulis, whose seven-year stay with the English Premier League club ended on May 21.

Pulis reign was ended by mutual consent after Stoke finished 13th in the English Premier League this season, six points clear of the relegation zone.

The 55-year-old took the Staffordshire outfit to the Premier League in 2008 and has kept them in the top-flight comfortably, even embarking on a UEFA Europa League campaign in the 2011-12 season.

Former Fulham, Blackburn and Manchester City manager Hughes has been out of a job since being sacked by QPR in November 2012.

Having replaced Neil Warnock in January of that year, the London club snatched unlikely Premier League…

Modric hopes he has to console Rakitic after El Clasico

Luka Modric hopes he has to console Croatia team-mate Ivan Rakitic once El Clasico is over on Sunday.

Real Madrid meet Barcelona in world football s biggest match at Santiago Bernabeu, with Zinedine Zidane s side sitting three points clear of their rivals at the top of LaLiga with a game in hand.

Modric is yet to win the league with Madrid since signing in 2012 and thinks this is the season to end that run.

The midfielder revealed he has not been in conversation with his friend Rakitic in the build-up to the game, but plans to chat after the match, by which point he hopes Madrid have taken a huge step towards title glory.

I have not spoken to Rakitic, we are all preparing for the game in peace, Modric told Sportske novosti.

We will hug and ta…

Felipe Melo reveals Man City, PSG offers

Inter Milan midfielder Felipe Melo has revealed that he had an opportunity to join Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain in the past.

Following a successful spell at Juventus, the Brazilian was on the radar of top European clubs and he was among the players requested by the then PSG sporting director Leonardo.

Javier Pastore, Salvatore Sirigu and Jeremy Menez all arrived at Parc des Princes in the summer of 2011 as the new project was just getting started, but Felipe Melo eventually decided to move to Galatasaray.

The Brazilian reveals that he was also in contact with Manchester City, but the offer from Turkey was too good to refuse.

“Honestly, it was not easy to agree to join Galatasaray,” Melo confessed to Sport Mediaset. “There was Manchester …

International Champions Cup: Guardiola meets Mourinho again as Barcelona take on Ronaldo-less Real M

El Clasico, the Manchester derby and the meeting of Serie A s top two are among the highlights of the International Champions Cup calendar in North America.

Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham join Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Manchester City, Juventus and Roma in the United States for the glamourous pre-season tournament.

Roma and holders PSG kick off the event in Detroit on Wednesday, with neither side having enjoyed an encouraging few weeks in the transfer window.

For all the talk of spectacular swoops for Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Alexis Sanchez, the arrivals of full-backs Dani Alves and Yuri Berchiche have been the extent of PSG s signings.

Southpaw!! Angel Di Maria threw out the first pitch at tonight s game at !   

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Athletic Club sign Dani Garcia

Spanish giants Athletic Club have completed the deal for Eibar midfielder Dani Garcia, it has been revealed.

Los Leones announced the news via their official website, revealing the player had signed a contract until June 2022 that contains a €70 million release clause.

Dani Garcia arrives at Estadio San Mames on a free transfer with his contract at Eibar set to expire at the end of the month.

The 28-year-old had helped Eibar achieve back to back promotions to reach the elite division in 2014 and went on to make 137 La Liga appearances.

Dani Garcia now has a chance to prove his worth at Athletic Club and get a taste of European football at San Mames.

Real Madrid lose James to calf injury

Real Madrid have confirmed James Rodriguez has suffered a calf injury.

The Colombia international had tests on Monday, which confirmed muscle damage in his right leg.

It is unclear how long James will be out, but he is likely to miss the trip to Villarreal on September 1 and could sit out the international break, with Colombia playing Brazil and Venezuela in friendly matches next month.

The playmaker started for Madrid for the first time since May 2017 on Saturday, when Zinedine Zidane s side were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Valladolid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

833 James Rodriguez will make his first start for Real Madrid in all competitions in 833 days, last starting on May 14th 2017 against Sevilla in LaLiga. Return.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose)

Sagna joins Montreal Impact

Former France and Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna has joined Montreal Impact in MLS, where he will play until at least the end of 2018.

The 35-year-old has opted to leave Benevento after just five months with the Italian club, with whom he suffered relegation from Serie A at the end of 2017-18.

Sagna was without a club after leaving Manchester City in June 2017 following a three-season spell in which he helped club to a League Cup win in 2015-16.

Montreal have the option of signing Sagna for a further year and the right-sided defender, who earned 65 caps with France between 2007 and 2016, joins a team currently fifth in the Eastern Conference.

LIRE | . . . . Et maintenant .

Bienvenue à Montréal Bacary Sagna!  

Welcome to Sagna! …

´All is well´ – Mane taken to hospital after head injury blow at AFCON

Sadio Mane says all is well after he was taken to hospital following a nasty clash of heads during Senegal s Africa Cup of Nations victory over Cape Verde.

Mane s brilliant strike broke the deadlock as Aliou Cisse s side overcame stubborn opponents 2-0 to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.

However, Senegal forward Mane was substituted soon afterwards, appearing to still be feeling the effects of an earlier collision with Vozinha.

As he chased a bouncing ball on the edge of the penalty area, Mane collided with the Cape Verde goalkeeper, who was dismissed following the intervention of VAR.

A photograph – posted on the official Africa Cup of Nations Twitter account – revealed that Vozinha visited the Liverpool forward in hospital after th…

Barcelona will do what they can to sign Neymar – Bordas

Barcelona director Javier Bordas said the LaLiga champions will do what they can to bring Neymar back to Camp Nou.

Neymar wanted to leave Paris Saint-Germain prior to the transfer deadline and was reportedly desperate for a Barca return, though a move did not materialise.

It came just two years after Neymar left Barca for Ligue 1 giants PSG in a world-record €222million deal.

Neymar s father and agent has already claimed negotiations between Barca and PSG are not over amid ongoing speculation.

Bordas kept the door open, telling EFE: While he wants to come, we will do what we can to bring him back.

 

— Neymar Jr (@neymarjr)

What happens will happen, everything is constantly changing in football, but Neymar is Neymar.