Phil Neville has praised Portland Timbers resilience and has urged them to keep fighting when they face Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS on Saturday.

The Timbers came from behind twice to salvage a 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake last weekend, meaning they have lost just one of their last five matches.

However, they have struggled on the road, failing to win any of their four such matches in the league.

Portland sit eighth in the Western Conference, but Neville has much higher ambitions than just making the playoffs.

We don t give up in any game and that s a really special quality, and it s a quality that not many teams have, Neville said.

They ve contributed throughout the season and attitude is so important. The character of this team is unbreakable, b…

Ange Postecoglou has swapped Celtic for Tottenham as the north London club’s permanent successor to former head coach Antonio Conte.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the most recent managers to move from the Scottish to the English top flight, and how they fared.

Steven Gerrard

The former Liverpool and England captain took over at Rangers in 2018, finishing second behind Celtic in his first two seasons – and also losing the 2020 League Cup final to them – before breaking through to win the 2020-21 Premiership in an unbeaten season to deny Celtic a 10th title in a row.

He was appointed at Aston Villa early the following season, with a reported £4million compensation payment to Rangers, but was unable to improve Villa’s results.

They finished 14t…

Andoni Iraola believes it is critical that Bournemouth win points in all games against non-European opposition if they are to improve on last season s 12th-place finish.

Iraola guided Bournemouth to their highest-ever Premier League points total (48) last campaign but has overseen an underwhelming start to this season.

Bournemouth lost 3-0 to Liverpool last weekend, to add to defeats against Chelsea and West Ham. Their only win so far came away at Everton, with a spectacular 3-2 comeback, after trailing 2-0 as late as the 87th minute.

Though Iraola will be watching on from the stands as he serves a touchline ban, he stressed the importance of beating sides like Southampton if the Cherries are to go better than last season.

It is a derby – a game that e…

Rodri predicted Phil Foden could go on to become England s greatest-ever player after he was crowned PFA Players Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season on Tuesday.

Foden added the top men s PFA prize to the Premier League Player of the Season award he won in May, having inspired Manchester City to their fourth straight league title last term.

He scored 19 league goals and added eight assists in 2023-24, including vital hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and a stunning final-day strike versus West Ham.

Rodri was also considered among the contenders for the PFA prize after going unbeaten through all 34 of his Premier League appearances last season (27 wins, seven draws), but the Spaniard believes his team-mate was a worthy victor.

I …

To say that every transfer window is busy in Serie A, is truly an understatement. It’s in fact one of the most busiest leagues when it comes to incoming and outgoing transfer dealings recorded by its clubs. This is mainly due to a co-ownership feature that is predominantly used and often exercised by Serie A clubs. This option allows a club to sell 50% of the player’s rights to another club while sending him on loan to the potential buyer, giving the seller a chance to buy back the player if he proves his potential elsewhere.

The summer transfer window in Italy starts on 1 July and closes on 23:00 on 31 August, some hour ahead of the deadline in England and Spain, whilst the January window lasts from 1 January to 31 January. The needs the extra hour to check whether all the …

Kylian Mbappe has long been linked with a blockbuster move to Real Madrid.

Mbappe is out of contract at the end of next season and is yet to re-sign in Paris.

Madrid are reportedly preparing their next steps in an attempt to recruit the France international.

TOP STORY – MADRID STEPPING UP MBAPPE INTEREST

Real Madrid are hoping to sign Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe after Euro 2020, according to the front page of Friday s Marca.

Marca detail Madrid s timetable to prise Mbappe from PSG in the report, with Los Blancos focusing on a post-European Championship transfer.

Mbappe – also linked with Liverpool – is out of contract at the end of the 2021-22 season.

 La hoja de ruta de Mbappé

— MARCA (@m…

Oranje boss Bert van Marwijk has revealed that he will change his starting XI for Sunday s deciding group match against Portugal.

Normally we have a lot of creativity and we are fast at the front, but against Denmark and Germany it was not there, he told KNVB s official website.

But this happens in football. We lost two games, so I have to change my squad for match against Portugal.

Perhaps Van Marwijk himself is to blame for this lack of creativity . How creative and ambitious can you be if you deploy two defensive-minded midfielders, Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong.

Thus, Van Marwijk will surely sacrifice either the Manchester City man or the veteran skipper.

Of the two, I fancy Van Bommel to keep his place, while De Jong will…

Only making more Bundesliga history last season as Bayern Munich claimed a 10th straight domestic crown, there is no doubt that the Bavarians have underlined their status as the pinnacle of German football.

Once again wrapping up another Bundesliga title with plenty of time to spare, many from across Europe are hoping that someone will be able to break the mold and give Bayern a real run for their money.

With the 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign getting underway in just a matter of weeks, teams from across Germany will be putting together their final preparations.

While Julian Nagelsmann s heavyweights might stand as a landslide pick to reclaim their Bundesliga crown once again next season, we have taken a look at a handful of teams who could be looking to upset the …

Week 3 of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League will take place between Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Here are the three top matches to watch during this week’s slate.

Galatasaray vs Real Madrid (Tuesday, 20:00 BST)

On paper, Los Merengues look like massive favourites to win this match given their depth, quality and experience. However, it is not going to be an easy fixture for Los Merengues. Especially playing on the road since teams have always struggled when playing on Turkish soil. And the fact that Galatasaray are in dire need of a win shouldn’t make things easier for Zinedine Zidane’s men.

After the first two matches, both Real Madrid and Galatasaray sit out of the qualification zone with just one point, after posting identical D1, L1 marks. The main differe…

The ninth FIFA Confederations Cup begins on June 15. Here we highlight our players to watch in Brazil.

Neymar (Brazil) – Following his big-money move to Barcelona, highly-rated attacker Neymar will be out to silence any potential doubters. The 21-year-old has scored 20 goals in 33 international appearances, and manager Luiz Felipe Scolari will hope he can continue to be prolific for the World Cup hosts.

Paulinho (Brazil) – The midfielder scored the equaliser with a terrific volley against England earlier in the month. The Corinthians player has been linked with Inter, and he will be looking to justify his growing reputation and help Brazil retain their crown.

Javier Hernandez (Mexico) – He may not have been able to nail down a regular place for Manchester United last…