Luis Enrique was looking on the bright side after Spain were handed a good draw for the group stage at Euro 2020.
Spain will face Sweden, Poland and a play-off winner in Group E, with all their games to be played at San Mames in Bilbao.
The three-time European champions avoided the group of death – featuring France, Germany and Portugal – and Luis Enrique was satisfied.
It s about always looking on the bright side, the Spain coach told reporters.
If we had to face France or Portugal, finishing first or second we would have avoided them until the end, which is not bad either way. Now future planning doesn t make much sense.
I m happy for the draw and to come back to represent the Spanish national team. Now let s wait for the months to pass t…
FA Cup holders Manchester City have been handed a fourth-round trip to Tottenham, while sixth-tier Maidstone will head to Sky Bet Championship promotion-chasers Ipswich.
Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning City side, who cruised past Huddersfield 5-0 on Sunday in round three, have lost all five of their previous visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in all competitions.
Spurs have not won the FA Cup since 1991 and are without a trophy since lifting the 2008 League Cup. Ange Postecoglou’s men progressed to round four thanks to Pedro Porro’s stunning strike in a 1-0 triumph over Burnley on Friday night.
Vanarama National League South side Maidstone, who beat Stevenage 1-0 in the third round on Saturday, are the lowest-ranked side left in the competition.
Lady Cathy Ferguson, the wife of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has died at the age of 84.
The Ferguson family confirmed the news in a statement released to the PA news agency on Friday afternoon.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing yesterday of Lady Cathy Ferguson, survived by her husband, three sons, two sisters, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild,” the statement read.
“The family asks for privacy at this time.”
Cathy had been married to Sir Alex since 1966, with the couple having met while they were both working at a typewriter factory.
When he announced his retirement as United manager in 2013 after an unprecedented period of success for the Red Devils, Ferguson said: “My wife Cathy has been the…
Charlotte FC head coach Dean Smith says his team will continue to work on their lack of goal threat as they prepare to travel to New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.
Charlotte sit seventh in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind the Red Bulls after going unbeaten in their last five matches.
However, their last two outings have finished 0-0 against LA Galaxy and Philadelphia Union as they managed just six shots on target combined in those games.
Asked how he approaches a situation like that, Smith said: We talk openly, review all the games and the fact is that we probably haven t worked the goalkeeper enough.
We ve spoke about that and what we feel we can do to improve that. We ve had chances, and we probably haven t done as well as we could do with t…
Manchester United’s comprehensive defeat by Bournemouth means they have lost more home league games in the 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement than they did in his 21 Premier League seasons at Old Trafford.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the declining status of the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.
Home invasion
While Ferguson took charge of United in 1986, United’s dominant era began after the top flight’s breakaway and rebranding in 1992.
From that point until his retirement in 2013, United lost only 34 home Premier League games at an average of 1.6 per season.
Bournemouth on Saturday inflicted the 35th in less than 10 and a half seasons since with a 3-0 rout of Erik ten Hag’s side that could have been even more emphatic.
It was t…
Trent Alexander-Arnold received praise to go with his recall from Gareth Southgate as the England boss hedged his bets for Euro 2020 by naming a 33-man provisional squad.
The Liverpool right-back could yet face exclusion agony when Southgate trims his list to 26 next week, but for now Alexander-Arnold is back in the England picture.
Once seen as a player who would hold down the right full-back berth for England for years to come, the 22-year-old was dramatically dropped from Southgate s squad in March, with the head coach questioning his recent level of performance at club level.
Atletico Madrid s Kieran Trippier and Manchester City s Kyle Walker – both title winners with their clubs this season – look to be ahead of Alexander-Arnold, who may be battling Ch…
CALM DOWN OLIVIER, IT S JUST A SEMI-FINAL
Olivier Giroud notched his second and third goals of Euro 2016 as France beat Iceland 5-2 to move into the semi-finals but we think someone should keep an eye on the Arsenal striker, who is starting to sound like a child on Christmas Eve ahead of Thursday s clash with Germany.
It is more and more difficult to sleep before and after these matches, a surprisingly sprightly Giroud told a news conference on Monday morning. We are more and more conscious of what we are doing. I want to stay awake to take in these experiences.
Hopefully, Giroud doesn t bring a literal feel to the criticism of forwards falling asleep when defending set-pieces in Marseille later this week.
He also spoke of his mouth being a little les…
Kirk Cousins has agreed a two-year contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings, committing to the team through the 2022 season.
The former Washington Redskins quarterback was entering the final season of the fully guaranteed three-year, $84million deal he signed ahead of the 2018 campaign.
But his agent Mike McCartney confirmed the 31-year-old has added another two seasons to his deal for an additional $66m on Monday, meaning he is under contract for the next three years for $96m.
Minnesota clear $10m of cap space in 2020 with the deal, which will boost their flexibility in free agency as the legal tampering period begins.
Summing up the deal for Kirk Cousins: 2 new years worth $66M. So 3 years in all for $96M. He has $61M guaranteed at signing. An add…
Italy center-back Giorgio Chiellini believes that his side have what it takes to defeat Spain in their Euro 2012 opener on Sunday, 10 June.
The Azzurri s Euro 2012 preparations have been overshadowed by a domestic match-fixing scandal, which forced Italy boss Cesare Prandelli to omit first-choice left back Domenico Criscito.
To make matters worse for the Italians, defender Andrea Barzagli may be ruled out of Euro 2012, with Cagliari defender Davide Astori on stand-by to replace the Juventus center back.
However, the bad news does not end there for the Azzurri, who suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Russia in an international friendly on 1 June.
The Italians conceded three goals in the final 30 minutes of the match to Zenit St Pete…
This is our third and final pre-Euro 2008 interview, and we are proud to present to you a very exclusive interview with Valencia Spain super striker David Villa. The Spanish striker will together with Liverpool s Fernando Torres form probably the most lethal attack duo in the upcoming European Championships.
Villa discusses his own expectactions with the Euro 2008, Spain s expectations of finally winning a big tournament, the strong and weak sides of the Spanish team, and their opponents in the group stages (Sweden, Russia and Greece). Enjoy this rare interview!
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David Villa (Spain/España) Interview:
Dime tus expectativas de cara a la Euro que se viene?
Tell me your expectations about Euro that is about…