Missed calls and proud mums – England stars react to World Cup call-ups

Julian Nagelsmann praised Matthijs de Ligt and Sadio Mane after they marked their Bayern Munich debuts by scoring in a 6-2 rout of DC United.

De Ligt scored with a sweet volley less than two minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute at Audi Field on Wednesday after Mane had opened the scoring from the penalty spot early on.

Netherlands defender De Ligt was only on the field for 25 minutes before he was withdrawn by Nagelsmann, but the Bayern head coach allayed concerns that his new recruit from Juventus may have sustained an injury.

Mane, signed from Liverpool last month, also set up a goal for Serge Gnabry before Nagelsmann sent out a totally different side for the second half.

Nagelsmann was pleased the impact his new signings made and alla…

Former Barcelona full-back Dani Alves is to continue his playing career in Mexico, with the 39-year-old set to join Pumas UNAM.

Alves re-joined Barca last year and, after registering in January, went on to make 14 LaLiga appearances for Xavi s team.

The defender made 13 starts in Spain s top flight and scored one goal, as he returned to Camp Nou after spells with Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Sao Paulo in his native Brazil.

Alves is now heading back across the Atlantic to join Liga MX side Pumas, who teased the signing on their official Twitter account on Thursday.

A video showing the club s mascot arriving at Pumas stadium concluded with the caption Dani, we wait for you. Alves is expected to arrive in Mexico this weekend to finalise his move.

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Substitute Harvey Barnes scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser as Leicester City claimed a 2-2 draw away to West Ham on Saturday.

Barnes first Premier League goal came two minutes into added time, just after it looked like a late strike from West Ham s Lucas Perez, who had also come off the bench, had given the hosts victory.

A frantic finish to the contest came after a relatively quiet opening hour, in which Michail Antonio headed in his fifth top-flight goal of the season as the hosts attempted to bounce back from a three-match losing streak.

The drama began when in-form Jamie Vardy scored his ninth goal in 10 Leicester games to equalise after the break, Barnes ultimately having the last word after Perez had struck eight minutes from time.

The rever…

Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has targeted a swift return to action after receiving good news  regarding his hamstring injury. 

The Norway international was left out of Dortmund s squad for Wednesday s 1-1 Champions League draw with Lazio as a result of the injury he sustained in training, with boss Lucien Favre suggesting it was caused by playing too many games.

He has featured 14 times for Dortmund in all competitions this term, starting 13 of those games and scoring 17 times.

Haaland s absence on Wednesday denied him the opportunity to add to his stunning record in the Champions League. He has scored 16 goals in the competition at a rate of one every 56 minutes, which is the best average of any player with at least 10 goals in the competition.

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Mexico and Colombia are Argentina s biggest threat for Copa America Centenario glory, according to defender Nicolas Otamendi. 

Colombia are already through to the quarter-finals of the special-edition centenary tournament, following wins over the United States and Paraguay. 

Mexico, meanwhile, kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 win over 15-time champions Uruguay, and a win against Jamaica on Thursday will seal their spot in the last eight. 

Otamendi, fresh from a 2-1 win over Chile in a rematch of the 2015 final, has pin-pointed those two nations as Argentina s biggest challengers. 

The Copa has only just started, but Colombia are doing things well. They ve already had two wins, the Manchester City centre-back said. 

Mexico have also got …

Former Colombia international Carlos Valderrama claims countryman James Rodriguez is not liked by Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. 

James has found game time hard to come by in 2015-16 after suffering a muscle injury early in the season. 

The attacking midfielder has started just one of Madrid s last five games, sitting out of their Champions League quarter-final return leg against Wolfsburg and the semi-final first leg at Manchester City. 

Valderrama, the most-capped Colombia player of all-time, believes Zidane is not a fan of James. 

Even if he scores three, four or five goals, Zidane won t put him on [to play], the 54-year-old said via Periscope. 

James is a player that he does not like. 

[Carlo] Ancelotti put him on and he p…

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has advised his team-mates not to underestimate Portugal in the first match of their Euro 2012 campaign.

Despite Joachim Loew s side being labelled favourites for the Group B encounter on Saturday, Neuer remains wary of Portugal, and warned his side they will have to be at their best to secure all three points.

I hope we get off to a good start, so the pressure that we impose on ourselves gets less. We want to win, but have to be modest in preparing for the game, he said at a press conference.

A lot has changed for Germany since 2010. Back then it was not certain that I would be the number one. Now I m glad about the responsibility I take for the team.

Cristiano Ronaldo? I d say the Champions League semi-final (between …

Former Portugal star Joao Pinto believes a draw against Germany would be a good start to their Euro 2012 campaign.

Paulo Bento s men face a tough task getting out of Group B, which also includes the 2010 runners up the Netherlands and Germany, who made the semi-finals of that competition.

Therefore Pinto suggested that although winning Saturday s game would be ideal, a draw would still leave the side with a good chance of advancing to the quarter-finals.

The best result is always the victory, but a draw would leave everything open, he told Abola.

You can only say that a draw was a good result after the game, but a draw with Germany is never a bad thing.

The 40-year-old said players would be feeling the nerves now that the action in Poland and …

Aymeric Laporte s club-record move to Manchester City ensures the former Athletic Bilbao defender will enjoy a much higher profile, boosting his World Cup chances.

Paying his Athletic release clause may have cost City £57million, but Laporte remains uncapped by France, although he was called up for the first time by coach Didier Deschamps last year.

France have perhaps the strongest group of young players in the world right now, with 23-year-old Laporte battling for international selection alongside the likes of Barcelona duo Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembele.

Kylian Mbappe and Laporte s new Manchester City team-mate Benjamin Mendy are also likely to be involved at Russia 2018.

Here we profile eight of Deschamps future stars.

Looking in, !

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Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal will miss the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain after UEFA upheld his two-game suspension.

In December, European football s governing body suspended the Spain international for two matches – one for collecting a second booking of the Champions League group stages and a second after ruling Carvajal collected that caution against APOEL deliberately to serve his suspension in a dead rubber against Borussia Dortmund.

A statement issued by UEFA read: The UEFA Appeals Body met on 1 February following an appeal lodged by Real Madrid CF against the decision announced by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) on December 7, which ordered

Real Madrid player Dani Carvajal to be sus…