Mascherano wanted to emulate Makelele

​Jackson Martinez has praised the new additions to Colombia s squad ahead of their friendly with Canada in New Jersey on Tuesday.

Head coach Jose Pekerman handed first caps to four players in the 3-0 victory over El Salvador on Saturday, and Martinez has been impressed with the way they have settled into life on the international scene.

Jeison Murillo, Edwin Cardona, Yimmi Chara and Pedro Franco all featured during the victory, which saw two goals from Carlos Bacca add gloss after Radamel Falcao had opened the scoring with his first international strike in 11 months.

Canada provide the second game in quick succession for Pekerman s side and Martinez expects the newcomers to be involved again after impressing against El Salvador.

The new players have ea…

Atletico in new bid for Capoue

Spanish daily that Atletico Madrid have submitted a new proposal for Toulouse midfielder Etienne Capoue.

Los Colchoneros have increased their bid to €9 million, having previously had a €7 million offer rejected by the Ligue 1 side.

Some ten days ago it looked as though the midfielder was set for a Premier League move, as Cardiff had a €12 million bid accepted for the highly rated footballer.

However, Capoue himself rejected a proposal from the Bluebirds, hoping to make a switch to Vicente Calderon instead.

As a result, Atletico have reignited their interest in the player and they certainly hope their latest proposal will prove sufficient.

Etienne Capoue, 25, has spent his entire career at Toulouse and…

Bayern Munich midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg admits that he plans to leave Alianz Arena in search of first team football.

The 19-year-old midfielder has shown a great deal of promise of late and he already amassed 14 Bundesliga appearances for the German giants.

Hojbjerg has also nailed down a regular starting berth in Denmark national team, but it appears he is growing frustrated by the fierce competition for places at Alianz Arena.

The youngster admits he is grateful to the club for his development, but the Dane aims to leave the Bavarians in order to secure regular playing time.

I think the time has come for me to go, Hojbjerg told Kicker. I have learnt everything here, Bayern are the best school around, but I feel ready now to take the leap.

…

Pep Guardiola has usurped Jose Mourinho as the quickest Premier League boss to reach 100 victories in the competition.

Goals from Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne secured a 2-0 win for City over Sheffield United on Sunday, though it was not without controversy.

VAR harshly disallowed a would-be opener from Lys Mousset, while referee Chris Kavanagh seemed to inadvertently block John Fleck in the lead up to Aguero s 52nd-minute strike.

The triumph brought up a century of Premier League wins for Guardiola in his 134th top-flight match in charge of City.

wins for Pep!

The quickest manager to reach the landmark! 

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

When asked about the accomplishment in his post-match news conference, Guardi…

Atletico Madrid have demanded LaLiga prevent Antoine Griezmann from playing for Barcelona next season, according to the Spanish top flight s president Javier Tebas.

Griezmann confirmed he would be leaving Atleti at the end of last season, despite having only signed a five-year contract at Wanda Metropolitano in June 2018 after turning down a move to Barca.

After much speculation, Barca confirmed Griezmann s signing on July 12 after paying the France forward s €120million buy-out clause.

However, Atleti have reported Barca to The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), who have subsequently opened an investigation into the transfer.

is having fun

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

Atleti claim they are owed a further €80million, …

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola will hope history does not repeat itself when his side take on Rubin Kazan in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Guardiola was in the only Barca team to suffer a home defeat to Russian opposition when CSKA Moscow triumphed in the Nou Camp in the 1992/93 season.

Barcelona were the defending champions but lost 3-2 at home in the second round to miss out on the group stages.

A repeat result looks highly unlikely with Barcelona top of Group F after beating Dynamo Kiev 2-0 at home and drawing 0-0 at Inter Milan.

Rubin also recorded a creditable draw against Inter but have plenty of work to do after losing 3-1 in Kiev.

In fact, Rubin have played just two away ties in European competition proper and lost them both, agai…

Christophe Galtier is confident he will remain as head coach of Paris Saint-Germain beyond this season and is already working on strengthening the squad.

Former Nice boss Galtier is on course to win the Ligue 1 title in his first campaign at PSG, but his side exited the Champions League and Coupe de France at the last-16 stage.

The 56-year-old is reportedly living on borrowed time at the Parc des Princes, with the Parisians said to be eyeing up a number of alternatives ahead of the 2023-24 season.

But Galtier remains focused on getting PSG over the line in the league and has already discussed possible transfer targets with technical advisor Luis Campos.

We are working with Luis Campos on the architecture of the squad for next season, he said at Thursday …

Stephen Dobbie has re-joined Blackpool on loan from Crystal Palace until the end of the year, .

The Scottish midfielder has made two appearances for the Eagles, but was allowed to find a new club having not been included in their 25-man Premier League squad.

It is the third time that the 30 year old has moved to Bloomfield Road having been part of both of their Championship campaigns that ended with appearances at Wembley in the Play-Off final.

Incidentally, Dobbie also played in Swansea City’s 2011 Championship Play Off final victory over Reading, while he had returned to Brighton and Hove Albion before Palace’s Play Off campaign last season.

He had put pen to paper in time to be involved in this evening’s match against Millwall, whi…

Arsene Wenger has expressed pride in his youthful side as Arsenal disposed of West Bromwich Albion on penalties in the League Cup.

The young Arsenal side won the shootout 4-3 after 20-year-old Thomas Eisfield had his second-half opener cancelled out by West Brom s Saido Berahino to see the match finish 1-1 after 120 minutes.

Wenger was delighted with how his side played, with youngsters such as Eisfield, Serge Gnabry (18 years old), Isaac Hayden (18) and Chuba Akpom (17) looking capable of playing Arsenal s style.

I am (proud) because we played with many young players and they have shown that not only are they good football players but they can fight as well, Wenger said after Wednesday s tie.

The penalties were a bit of a lottery but overall I think the most imp…

Mario Balotelli has no qualms about being left out of Italy s latest squad by head coach Giampiero Ventura, but he is targeting an Azzurri return in the near future.

The controversial striker has not featured for the national team since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when he was taken off at half-time in their 1-0 defeat to Uruguay in Natal.

Since then Balotelli has struggled to find his best form in difficult spells with AC Milan and Liverpool the 26-year-old having scored only four times in all competitions across the 2014-15 and 2015-16 campaigns.

His struggles saw Liverpool allow the Italy international to leave for Nice on a free transfer during the last transfer window and he has flourished in Ligue 1 with five goals in three starts.

That form had see…