Valencia striker Jonas says that he hopes 2012 will prove to be a successful year for his side.
Speaking on the eve of his team s Copa del Rey encounter with Sevilla on Thursday, the 27-year-old said he is looking forward to the second part of the season with great optimism, on both a personal and collective level.
It s a different year, I hope it s a year of achievements and we win a title. I want to continue doing things right, said Jonas.
I m very happy here and I want to finish the season with the goals accomplished. I want to add more goals and assists and collaborate more with my team-mates.
Jonas said Valencia would leave no stone unturned in their quest to win La Liga and the Europa League this campaign.
We know that it will be diffic…
Stephy Mavididi’s equaliser means Leicester City and Everton are still waiting for their first win of the campaign after a 1-1 draw in torrential rain at the King Power Stadium.
After losing their opening four matches in the Premier League, Sean Dyche’s side are off the mark for the season but will have to wait for their first three points.
Iliman Ndiaye gave Everton the lead in the 11th minute as he turned to create space in the box before slotting the ball into the net with such precision it ricocheted in off the left post.
Leicester’s response came with 17 minutes left on the clock as Mavididi reacted first to sweep home from Harry Winks corner off the right.
Everton are up to 19th in the table on goal difference, while the Foxes sit in 15th.
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Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu says the club s goal is to be the leaders in world football in the next six years.
The Spanish giants have won five of six available trophies in 2015 and are joint top of La Liga with a game in hand over Atletico Madrid.
Barca won a third Club World Cup in six years on Sunday after a 3-0 win over Copa Libertadores winners River Plate.
Bartomeu, speaking at the club s annual lunch for the media, reflected on the year that was and reiterated their goals in the near future.
It has been a historic year, he said. We have won five of six possible titles. This is a loved Barca, admired globally.
We are the club in the world with the most international titles.
2014 was a difficult year and we hoped…
Honduras coach Jorge Luis Pinto is confident his team can control Neymar in their Rio Olympics semi-final against Brazil.
Neymar is under pressure to deliver the host nation football gold, an achievement that has eluded them in their history.
The Barcelona star and his men meet Honduras in the last four on Wednesday, with Nigeria and Germany in the other semi-final.
Pinto, also the senior team boss, said he is considering how to deal with Neymar.
I am thinking a lot about Neymar and how I can control him. I m looking for that player to mark him, he said.
I have played against him with Deportivo Tachira and we managed to control him, also with Honduras and we controlled him too.
Pinto knows the challenge awaiting his side, who were for…
Marco van Basten believes Holland have earned the right to dream of glory at Euro 2008 after their 3-0 demolition of world champions Italy kicked the tournament into life.
Holland s first win over the Italians in three decades and Italy s heaviest defeat in 25 years has left the Dutch in control of a group of death that also includes France and Romania, whose turgid goalless draw could not have been further removed from the exhilarating encounter served up here on Monday evening.
For the Dutch coach, the manner of the victory was every bit as important as its unlikely scale.
To beat the world champions playing football to the last minute it was for us a very nice game and also a historical game, he said. We have never beaten Italy by three goals.
If …
Paris Saint-Germain have their Ligue 1 crown back after Sunday s stunning 7-1 victory wrested the championship from Monaco, but the inevitability of this triumph coupled with their inability to meet expectations in Europe makes it something of a damp squib.
Club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi famously said in 2013, following a quarter-final elimination at the hands of Barcelona, that PSG s aim was to win the Champions League in the next five years .
While detractors can say such a bold and ambitious statement cause unwanted pressure for players and coaches, the fact it came from Al-Khelaifi meant it was on him as well.
PSG s transfer business at the start of the season gave every indication Al-Khelaifi was not going to accept failure on his pledge, as Neymar arriv…
The 2008-09 season has come to an end and it is time to look at who has been hot and who hasn’t in this season’s EPL.
Hot club
The trophy winners were Manchester United in the Premier League and Carling Cup and Chelsea in the FA Cup. Other notable performances came from Everton, reaching the FA Cup final and finishing fifth in the league again, Liverpool, making a real challenge for the Premier League title for the first time in a long while, Aston Villa making good progress and Hull and Stoke staying in the Premier League.
Also worthy of a mention are Fulham for qualifying for the Europa league after only escaping relegation on the last day on goal difference just one season before. That was a remarkable performance.
The winne…
NFL action continues for a fourth straight day Tuesday, as the Seattle Seahawks travel to SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams have gotten healthier with the extra rest and now sit as 7-point favorites ahead of the contest.
We’re betting on this Rams defense to win battles against a Seattle team that hasn’t posted more than 330 yards of offense (outside of the Houston game) and will be without Tyler Lockett. We’re also putting some money down on L.A.’s passing attack in our NFL prop picks for Seahawks vs. Rams.
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The Dallas Cowboys will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking overtime loss in Week 10 as they face the 8-1 Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Vikings are riding-high from a huge comeback win in Buffalo and look to carry that momentum into Sunday.
Which players hold the best betting value ahead of America’s Game of the Week? Find out in my free NFL player props for Cowboys vs. Vikings.
Also, be sure to check out Ed Scimia’s full Cowboys vs. Vikings betting preview.
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Christmas is nearly here, and so are the NFL playoffs. You’ll often find juiced prices on teams that “want it more” at this time of year, but I think there are some postseason hopefuls being dangled at playable odds.
I’m mixing a fairly low-risk moneyline parlay with a more aggressive same-game parlay as I look to secure a winning holiday weekend in Week 16, so please join me as I discuss the NFL odds and share my free NFL picks for Sunday, December 24.
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