Borussia Monchengladbach attacking midfielder Raffael labelled coach Lucien Favre as the most important person in his career.

Raffael has thrived at Gladbach since being signed by Favre before the 2013-14 season, scoring 24 goals in 60 Bundesliga appearances for the club.

Favre and Raffael have previously worked together at Zurich and Hertha Berlin, with the Swiss coach signing the Brazilian playmaker at the German capital club too.

He [Favre] has been and still is the most important person in my career in football I can certainly say that, Raffael told the Bundesliga s website.

Having the opportunity of working with him here and now is enough for me to be happy. I like working for him as a coach but I also like him as a person as well and playing for h…

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has joked that he rejected an approach from the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to discuss the possibility of Diego Simeone becoming the new national team coach.

Argentina are still reeling from their Copa America Centenario final defeat to Chile and the subsequent retirement of Lionel Messi.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that current coach Gerardo Martino would remain in his position for the Olympics, despite suffering penalty heartache at the hands of Chile for the second time in as many years.

But questions remain over the former Barcelona boss s long-term future and Simeone has been mentioned as a potential target.

Cerezo took a light-hearted approach to the speculation, quipping: The AFA called me regarding…

Flamengo have announced the appointment of Mano Menezes as the club’s new manager.

The 51-year-old spoke via Twitter of his pride at taking charge at the Rio de Janeiro club, who parted company with Jorginho last week.

Jorginho’s tenure lasted just 14 games before he was sacked following a 1-0 defeat to struggling Náutico.

His dismissal had an instant impact as Flamengo secured their first win of the current Campeonato Serie A campaign with a 3-0 victory over Criciuma last weekend.

Menezes returns to club management following a two-year spell in charge of the Brazil national team that ended last November following a failure to win silverware at the 2011 Copa America and the 2012 London Olympics.

Spells with the likes of Gremio and Corinth…

Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane is hoping to recover from his knee injury by July.

The 20-year-old, who became a mainstay in the starting line-up at the Bernabeu under ex-manager Jose Mourinho, suffered a knee injury against Espanyol on May 11 and was forced to undergo surgery.

The France international is now recovering at former club Lens and is looking to be fit in time to rejoin the Real squad next month.

The objective is to be ready for the games at the start of pre-season between July 10 and 15, Varane told Lens official website.

I played nearly the whole of last season and I hope to be able to join up with the group as normal. An injury is never welcome, but it is part of a footballer s life.

I did not do anything dramatic with the knee, but the …

Harry Kane insisted England should be proud of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign despite a flat end to the year with a 1-1 draw in North Macedonia.

England topped their group, finishing six points ahead of Italy, to book their place in Germany with two games to spare.

Kane told Channel 4: “Difficult game, we knew it would be and it was tough against a decent side playing on a pitch that is difficult to play our style of football on.

“We went 1-0 behind against the run of play with a soft penalty. It was good to get on the pitch. It was important for us to get a goal back and a shame we couldn’t get a second.”

Not the win we wanted but an unbeaten qualifying campaign and top of the group. Bring on the Euros in the summer! Thanks for all the suppo…

Former Croatian captain Niko Kovac has signed on for another two years with his club Red Bull Salzburg, but in a new capacity as coach of the youth team, the club announced Tuesday.

The 37-year-old former midfielder was to begin training the youth team of the Austrian league champions immediately, Red Bull Salzburg said on its website.

Kovac announced his retirement as a player on May 29 after already quitting the national side in January, having won 83 caps and scoring 15 goals between 1996 and 2008.

He will play his last game in a friendly match against his former team Bayern Munich on July 10 in Salzburg.

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Son Heung-min hopes his historic 100th Premier League goal will inspire players across Asia, having reached his century in Tottenham s 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.

Son gave Spurs the lead with a terrific strike into the top-right corner on Saturday, with Harry Kane later hitting the winner after Lewis Dunk equalised for the Seagulls.

The South Korea international became the first Asian player to reach 100 Premier League goals with his strike, as well as the first player to hit 100 goals and register 50 assists for Spurs in the competition.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the crucial victory over Spurs top-six rivals, Son dedicated his landmark goal to his late grandfather and outlined his hope that more Asian players will follow in his footsteps.

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Sporting KC scored three first-half goals on their way to a 4-1 win at LAFC to claim top spot in the Western Conference in the MLS on Wednesday.

Alan Pulido, Luis Martins and Daniel Salloi all scored within 16 minutes as KC raced to a 3-0 lead. Salloi s classy volley took his tally to nine goals this MLS season.

Israeli midfielder Gadi Kinda added a fourth in the 58th minute with Graham Zusi getting his second assist, before LAFC got a consolation from Danny Musovski.

The win lifted Sporting KC past Seattle Sounders who conceded in the 90th minute to draw 1-1 at home with Dallas.

Fredy Montero had put the Sounders ahead in the 72nd minute with a set-piece header but Dallas equalised from Franco Jara s 90th-minute close-range strike.

Sporting KC a…

Verdict: Napoli to Win to Nil

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Crotone travel to Serie A runners up Napoli hoping to claim vital three points in their survival fight and perform a great escape at the eleventh hour.

Napoli

They have been applauded and lauded all season long for their high-tempo style of play and exhilarating football which earned them so many fans around the world but in the end, Napoli have little to be happy about as the 2017-18 season draws to a close.

Partenopei have once again failed to mount a Serie A challenge and turned their Scudetto marathon into a sprint, which left them without a breath in a crucial stage of the competition. Maurizio Sarri claimed his team lost the Serie A title in a hotel watching Juventus score two goals in …

Market: Under 2.5 goals

Odds: 5/6 @

Looking to extend on their Premiership purple patch on Friday night, Aberdeen will make the trip to Victoria Park when they meet Ross County.

Starting with the hosts, managing to make what was a much-needed return to winning ways last weekend, Ross County will now be hoping to find some Premiership stability over the final few weeks. Eventually picking up a deserved 2-0 victory away at St. Johnstone, Malky Mackay’s side also drew a line under their three-match losing run. Marking their return from the international break with a 2-0 loss at home against Celtic, the Stages have failed to collect back-to-back domestic victories since opening 2023. Likewise, losing consecutive top-flight appearances at Victoria Park, the one-tim…