From Rishi Sunak to Harry Kane: England Under-21s earn plaudits after Euros win

The Armenian football federation announced on Tuesday their decision to sack national manager Jan Poulsen after a 2-2 home draw with Estonia in the 2010 World Cup qualifying match.

The 63-year-old Poulsen took over Armenia s national side in January 2009, but in the qualifiers to date, his side have suffered four defeats and just the one draw against Estonia.

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Nearly 400,000 tickets, representing about 63 percent of the seats available, have been sold for the Confederations Cup in South Africa next month, the world football body FIFA said Thursday.

With just 25 days to the kick-off of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, a total of 383,506 tickets have now been sold this corresponds to 63 percent of the total number of tickets available, FIFA said in a statement.

The Confed Cup runs June 14-28 with champions from each continent, as well as host South Africa and world champs Italy.

For the last Confed Cup in Germany in 2005, about 85 percent of the tickets were sold.

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Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke believes Barcelona and Real Madrid remain favourities for the Liga title.

Diego Simeone s side boast a 100 per cent domestic record this season, as do holders Barca.

However, Koke believes last season s top two in La Liga are favourites to clinch the title.

We have to be realistic. Real Madrid and Barcelona are favourites to win the League, but Cholo (Simeone) has very clear ideas, Koke told Canal Movistar.

We don’t just think about winning La Liga. We are also thinking of the Champions League and in taking things game-by-game, but the boss has prepared us very well mentally.

Koke also revealed the impact that Diego Simeone has had on the club, since arriving in 2011.

The former Argentina international guided the c…

Motherwell have revealed that they have received an approach for manager Stuart McCall from Sheffield United.

The 48-year-old, who joined the Fir Park outfit in January 2010, led his side to a second-place finish in the SPL this season, which represents the club s best final position since 1995.

That achievement has sparked the interest of League One side Sheffield United, who have opted against appointing caretaker coach Chris Morgan on a permanent basis following their play-off semi-final defeat to Yeovil Town.

Motherwell chief executive Leeann Dempster told STV: I can confirm we had an approach from Sheffield United regarding Stuart McCall last night.

McCall, who was born in Leeds, England but represented Scotland at international level, brought his playing career t…

World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane is already turning his attention to club football as he looks to rectify another unwanted record.

England s captain was the top scorer in Russia, netting six times after a quick-fire start, which put to bed any doubts of being able to cut it at the top level after drawing a blank at Euro 2016.

But Kane is yet to score a Premier League goal for Tottenham in August, despite four prolific seasons, and is looking to hit the ground running in 2018-19.

I ll hopefully be back for the first game and hopefully I can try and score in August this year, he said.

Not many people get to say they ve won a Golden Boot in a World Cup, it s a big achievement.

I said before coming into the tournament I wanted to prov…

Market: Brentford to score over 1.5 goals

Odds: 

Knowing that three points on Saturday could see them break into the top-two, Brentford will welcome Middlesbrough to West London on Saturday afternoon.

Starting with the hosts, making a return to winning ways and putting five past Hull last weekend, Brentford have certainly bounced back from their shock 1-0 defeat against fellow play-off contenders Nottingham Forest. Sat just three points adrift of the automatic spots and continuing to gain a reputation for their performances in the final third, Thomas Frank s men have bagged at least a pair of goals in four of their last six matches at Griffin Park and fans around West London should be boosted by the on-going success of leading marksman, Ollie Watkins. Once again…

Again, Hamburger SV received bad news from its medical staff. Winger Romeo Castelen has picked up yet another knee injury, adding to the club`s chronic injuries worries.

Castelen suffered his knee injury during last week`s (friendly) match against Halle. HSV`s medical staff expected the Dutch attacker to be sidelined for a couple of days but latest reports suggest yet another lengthy spell on the sidelines due to his ongoing knee worries. The 26-year-old could be out for three months.

Castelen has been plagued by injuries for his whole career. A knee injury kept him out of the entire 2008/2009 season.

In August, the quick attacker made his return on the pitch in a European match against Danish side Randers. Castelen made two Bundesliga appearances this season.…

The capital city of top flight derbies is not London, Madrid or Milan. The international capital of the derby match is the birthplace of one of the greatest footballers ever, Buenos Aires. Current Argentina manager Diego Maradona was born in Buenos Aires and the city is close to his heart.

The Argentine capital currently contains 13 clubs in the Argentinian top flight. Considering the league has 20 teams that s amazing. There can be up to three derbies a weekend, which in most cases are fiercely contested affair.

The most fierecest rivalry

The most fiercest of rivalries is that of working class Boca Juniors and Millionarios of River Plate. Both clubs got their names from the dock area of Boca, where they started out in the early 1900 s

River got their na…

Neymar scored a milestone goal as Brazil piled the pressure on Argentina in World Cup qualifying with a 3-0 win on Thursday.

The Barcelona star netted his 50th international goal, to go with efforts from Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho, in the comfortable win.

The result heaps the pressure on Argentina, whose winless run in qualifying extended to four matches.

Edgardo Bauza s men rarely threatened despite the return of Lionel Messi, who was well contained by Tite s Brazil.

It means under Tite, Brazil – who are top of CONMEBOL qualifying – have won five out of five.

Coutinho struck with a stunner and Neymar scored just before the break to have Brazil in control, with Paulinho putting the Superclasico to bed just prior to the hour-mark.

T…

With a little over four hours to go before the window closes, major moves remain few and far between on transfer deadline day.

One big piece of business has, almost inevitably, come from the Chinese Super League, with Changchun Yatai having completed the signing of striker Odion Ighalo from Watford for a reported £20million.

Real Madrid have finally become active, allowing Lucas Silva to return to Cruzeiro on a 17-month loan deal that they hope might just revitalise his career.

Moritz Leitner s Lazio nightmare has come to an end, with Augsburg offering him a route back to the Bundesliga, while Salvatore Sirigu has left the Sevilla bench to try his luck with struggling Osasuna.

Don t rain on his Paredes

Watford fans will have fond me…