Choupo-Moting swaps Mainz for Schalke

Walter Smith, the Rangers boss who had been regarded as one of the favourites to become Scotland s next manager, on Friday ruled himself out of a return to the helm of the national squad.

Smith was in charge of Scotland between 2004 and 2007 and was credited with engineering a turnaround in the fortunes of a squad that had fallen to its lowest ever point in the world rankings under his predecessor Berti Vogts.

Smith left during the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign to return to Rangers on a three-year contract which is due to expire in January.

That has created uncertainty over his future but speculation that he might be tempted by a return to international football was quashed on Friday.

When I left Scotland, we were in the middle of a qualifying campaign,…

Fabio Capello s first reaction to England s World Cup draw spoke volumes about how he really regards the prospect of facing the United States, Algeria and Slovenia in Group C next year.

It s not bad, he acknowledged with a smile after a first-round draw that could scarcely have been better for his squad.

It was not long, however, before the Italian was back in the steely, professional mode that has helped to transform England from Euro 2008 absentees to World Cup wannabees in a little less than two years.

Banishing complacency is an art in which Capello excels and he was applying himself to that task within hours of the draw being completed, reminding his players that World Cup history is littered with examples of highly-rated squads coming unstuck at the first…

South Africa have won their second game at the 2009 Confederations Cup, beating New Zealand 2-0. The All-whites no longer have a chance of qualifying for the semi finals.

The hosts got their first goal of the tournament after 21 minutes, as Bernard Parker s strike left keeper Moss stranded.

And seven minutes after the break, Parker went on to add a second following a precise cross from Masilela. New Zealand couldn t compete with the South African dominance and had to accept the defeat.

With Spain awaiting in the last group game, South Africa are currently in third place. Only if Iraq beat New Zealand and South Africa lose their match, the Bafana Bafana may still miss out on the semi finals.

…

Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov may be out for a while after the player dislocated his shoulder during a match against Atlante at the 2009 Peace Cup.

Villa boss Martin O Neill said that it was too early to properly assess the extend of the injury.

Stiliyan dislocated his shoulder. Roddy, the doctor, put it back immediately. He is feeling a little better but we don t know just at this moment how much damage he has done.

It is obviously the low point of the night. But we don t know the extent of the problem. We will find out over the next couple of days to see how it settles down. We just don t know. But it is a concern to us.

Villa won the match against Atlante 3-1, which allows the Premiership side to finish first in a group that also included …

New Swansea City head coach Paul Clement has insisted that Alan Curtis has a job for life at the club amid fears he was to be let go following their reshuffle.

Curtis has spent the majority of his football career with Swansea, having come through the ranks as a trainee in 1972 and spending 11 years at the club split across three spells, before also joining them as a coach.

The 62-year-old has also been appointed caretaker manager three times by the club, taking the reins on a temporary basis in 2004, December 2015 and most recently for Tuesday s 2-1 win at Crystal Palace, with Clement – Bob Bradley s successor – taking a watching brief.

Clement confirmed on Thursday that he will not employ Curtis among his first-team coaching staff, but remains adamant that a…

The 2019-20 La Liga season began one week ago for FC Barcelona, but it didn t started as they would have expected it. Los Blaugranas lost to Athletic Club in their season opener, but they will aim to bounce back in their home opener this Sunday against Real Betis. Los Verdiblancos also lost their first game of the season. Kick-off for this match will be at 20:00 hrs BST.

FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona won t have their star player, Lionel Messi, for the second consecutive week but that shouldn t be an excuse for their lackluster effort in the season opener. Ernesto Valverde s men looked quite poor against Athletic Bilbao last week and, aside from a few isolated plays from Antoine Griezmann, Los Blaugranas lacked intensity and quality in the final meters. However, Barcelona felt quite…

Italy coach Marcello Lippi said he was most wary of Serbia and Slovenia, both of whom have qualified for the World Cup finals, after the draw for the Euro 2012 qualifiers here on Sunday.

Current World Cup holders Italy, who reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, were drawn with Serbia and Slovenia, as well as Estonia, the Faroe Islands and Northern Ireland in Group C here.

Italy s group is very even with Serbia and Slovenia, two teams who will compete at the World Cup, said Lippi with Euro 2012 qualifiers set to begin this September with the finals set to be held in Poland and the Ukraine.

We have the advantage of being in a six-team group. Of the other groups, England s is the most difficult.

The Italians reached the final of Euro 2000 and claimed …

Chelsea s Czech international goalkeeper Petr Cech cannot wait for next week s perfect Champions League tie against Inter Milan.

The last 16 clash pits Premier League leaders Chelsea, who ve yet to win the European Cup, against an Italian side managed by the Londoners former boss Jose Mourinho.

Always the Champions League is our aim and you can see that we ve been playing for it every season and we ve gone far, but the aim is the same, Cech told Chelsea Magazine.

The Champions League is the only trophy this club is missing so I think that is what everyone would like to win, added the Czech international, a member of the Blues side that lost the 2008 Champions League final to English rivals Manchester United in a penalty shoot-out in Moscow.

For the fa…

Joel Campbell made the most of Arsenal s injury problems with a goal on his first Premier League start as Arsene Wenger s men beat Swansea City 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Without Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gabriel due to injuries sustained in a midweek League Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, Arsene Wenger s men were sluggish in the first half but clicked after the break as Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Campbell claimed maximum points.

A Bafetimbi Gomis one-on-one and Per Mertesacker s apparent handball gave Arsenal scares, but Giroud glanced home a corner to register the 2,000th goal of Wenger s reign shortly after the interval.

And the visitors doubled their lead through Koscielny midway through the second half when f…

Chelsea have offered Willian a lucrative new deal in order to fend of interest from Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich.

The Brazil international has been a stand-out performer in an abject Blues side so far this season, scoring five goals for his side in sixteen appearances across all competitions so far.

The twenty-seven year old moved to Stamford Bridge for £30m from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in the summer of 2013 and has since racked up over a hundred games for the club.

He also has been capped thirty times for his country, scoring six goals and was part of the Brazil squad for last summer’s World Cup finals.

Chelsea lost for the seventh time in just twelve league games at the weekend with Marco Arnautovic’s second half strike enough…