Ben Davies believes Wales reaching Euro 2024 would be “better in some ways” than previous successful qualifying campaigns.

Davies is among a handful of survivors from the Chris Coleman squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 in France.

The 30-year-old Tottenham defender was also part of Wales teams that qualified for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.

Wales are now hoping to reach a fourth major tournament out of five this summer but must do so without former talismanic captain Gareth Bale, who retired just before Euro 2024 qualification began.

“It would be just as good as (reaching) the others, better in some ways,” said Davies ahead of Thursday’s play-off semi-final against Finland in Cardiff.

“It’s different times. We don�…

Laurent Blanc has called on Samir Nasri to reproduce his club form for France in their Euro 2012 qualifier against Albania.

Nasri, 24, was among the standouts for Manchester City in their 5-1 English Premier League victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

The attacking midfielder also impressed during his three seasons with Arsenal, but is yet to fully convince on the international stage.

France top Group D of Euro 2012 qualifying by one point from Belarus and will be on the hunt for more points when they take on Albania in Tirana.

According to Blanc, Nasri can become a major force for France as they continue to recover from a disappointing 2010 World Cup.

It would be good for some players to become important, just as they are for their club. W…

Bradley Carnell is taking last week s 3-3 draw with Inter Miami as a sign of St. Louis City making huge strides in attack, as they prepare to host the Portland Timbers on Saturday.

St. Louis sit 11th in the Western Conference, three points behind the improving Timbers, after playing out a thrilling draw with Lionel Messi and company.

That result ended a three-match losing run for Carnell s team, and he hopes it will represent something of a turning point in their season.

When you score three goals and create the amount of chances we did, I saw a lot of good things against a counter-pressing Miami team with a full roster, Carnell said.

To go away from home and score three goals, it gives me a lot of hope. We ve been working hard on exploiting space in tr…

Joachim Loew considers his Germany side to be better equipped for Euro 2012 than before their impressive run to the World Cup semi-finals.

Germany were one of the most entertaining teams at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where they dispatched England and Argentina in style before a 1-0 loss to eventual winners Spain in the last four.

Already among the favourites to challenge at next year s European Championship finals in Poland and the Ukraine, coach Loew intends to continue his team s evolution in search of the winning formula.

We need to keep experimenting because I feel that we are good enough to do that, having qualified so well for the tournament, and because I feel we need to, Loew said.

Overall, I think that our preparations are further ad…

Juventus are likely to be without the services of Germany international Benedikt Howedes until the new year, the club has confirmed.

The defender has torn a muscle in his right thigh in a continuation of his frustrating start to life in Turin.

On loan from Schalke, the 29-year-old has appeared only once in Serie A as he battles persistent injuries.

Howedes missed Friday s crucial 1-0 win at leaders Napoli, which saw Juve close the gap at the top to a single point.

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The Bianconeri now turn their attention to sealing a place in the Champions League knockout stages, which they can do with a win away to Olympiacos on Tuesday.

Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic is…

Dusan Vlahovic believes Serbia can take confidence from England s 1-0 defeat to Iceland ahead of their Euro 2024 opener in Gelsenkirchen.

England concluded their preparations for the tournament with a disappointing display at Wembley, with Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson s early goal proving to be the difference.

Vlahovic, who scored 16 goals for Juventus in Serie A, is hopeful of carrying his goal-scoring exploits to Germany for Serbia s first European Championship as an independent nation.

The 24-year-old is set to feature in his second major tournament for his country, having been part of the side who suffered an early exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

And Vlahovic believes the Eagles can upset Gareth Southgate s side, who are among the favourites to wi…

Leonardo Campana scored the winner in stoppage time to keep Inter Miami on course to beat the regular-season points record in MLS as they defeated Toronto 1-0.

With Miami having secured the Supporters Shield by beating the Columbus Crew in midweek, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were benched for Saturday s trip north of the border.

But the duo came on to help Gerardo Martino s team to a victory that moved them up to 71 points with one game remaining.

The points record of 73 was set by the New England Revolution in 2021, and it is the Revs who visit Miami in the final regular-season game later in October.

Toronto got off to the better start as Kobe Franklin latched onto the end of Jonathan Osario s cross to shoot from a tight angle but saw his effort saved.…

United States legend Alex Morgan has announced her retirement from professional football, also confirming she is pregnant with her second child.

Morgan is one of the most recognisable and decorated players in the history of the USWNT, helping them win back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019 as well as capturing an Olympic gold medal at London 2012.

Her tally of 224 caps puts her ninth in the team s all-time appearance charts, while only Abby Wambach (184), Mia Hamm (158), Carli Lloyd (134) and Kristine Lilly (130) have bettered her total of 123 goals for the team.

Since she made her international debut in March 2010, no player has been involved in more goals for the USWNT than Morgan (175, 123 goals, 52 assists).

Her 88 goal involvements (60 goals, 28 as…

After Monday saw a shock exit for world champions France and 14 goals across two games, Tuesday s last-16 ties at Euro 2020 had plenty to live up to.

But, while there was not quite as much goalmouth action this time around, there were plenty of intriguing talking points as two more sides booked their place in the quarter-finals.

First up, England claimed their first ever knockout-stage victory inside 90 minutes at a European Championship, vanquishing old rivals Germany at Wembley.

And then Ukraine needed the second-latest goal in the tournament s history to edge out Sweden in a tense battle for a last-eight berth.

Here, Stats Perform looks at the key Opta stats from another thrilling day of Euros action.

England 2-0 Germany: Three Lion…

Despite Barcelona maintaining their perfect start to the LaLiga season with a 1-0 win over Getafe on Wednesday, head coach Hansi Flick insisted they can still improve.

Robert Lewandowski s 19th-minute strike was enough to secure the victory for the Blaugrana, but the hosts should have won by a more comfortable scoreline.

At the end of the contest, Barca accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.92 from their 15 shots, but only four of those were on target.

But Flick, who became the third Barca coach to win his first seven LaLiga games after Gerardo Martino in 2013 and Ernesto Valverde in 2017, insisted his side were still very much a work in progress.

To get seven wins is perfect, but we have to do some things better, Flick said.

Today w…