Pochettino relishing Champions League bow

France Under-17 international Odsonne Edouard, rated as one of Europe s brightest talents, signed his first professional deal with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

Edouard has impressed in the UEFA Youth League, scoring three goals and notching three assists in eight appearances, and was included in Laurent Blanc s pre-season training camp squad.

Perhaps his most impressive performances to date have come in the 2015 European Under-17 Championship in which he scored eight goals, including three in the final against Germany.

The 18-year-old joined PSG s academy in 2011 and was delighted to put pen to paper.

I m very happy with this show of faith from the club where I learnt my trade, Edouard said.

It s a great honour to become a…

Jurgen Kramny is hopeful Stuttgart can get a positive result from Saturday s Bundesliga match against Borussia Dortmund as they look to move away from the drop zone.

Stuttgart found themselves battling against relegation after a poor start to the season, but climbed up the table following Kramny s appointment in November.

The 44-year-old started his spell in charge of Stuttgart with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Dortmund, but then went on an eight-game unbeaten run.

A string of disappointing performances resulted in them dropping to 15th place, though, just two points clear of 16th-placed Werder Bremen, and Kramny s men will need a result against BVB to move closer to safety.

Dortmund were very dominant in their DFB-Pokal win over Hertha [Berlin] on W…

Lyon striker Mariano Diaz says he does not know if his contract contains a clause allowing Real Madrid to re-sign him.

The 24-year-old left for Ligue 1 in a reported €8million deal in August and has enjoyed a promising start to his career in France, scoring six times in eight league appearances.

Mariano s form has led to speculation Madrid could attempt to bring him back to the Santiago Bernabeu in January, with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo struggling for goals and Alvaro Morata having left for Chelsea.

However, he insists he is unaware of any buy-back option, telling Onda Cero and Radio Marca: I signed for five years with Lyon but I don t know if Madrid have any purchase option.

Mariano is also delighted with how he has settled in Lyon after ad…

While Brazil gear up for the Copa America Centenario in the United States, captain Neymar has been practicing his touch with Justin Bieber.

Neymar was left out of Dunga s squad for the competition with the skipper opting for the Olympic Games as the one post-season event Barcelona would permit him to participate in during the close-season.

And the 24-year-old took part in a spot of ball juggling with world famous pop star Bieber to ensure he does not go rusty ahead of the Games in Rio.

The Canadian, who trained with Barca in 2011, proved a good match for the Brazil captain as the pair showed off their skills in the singer s back garden and the results of their knock-a-round were posted on Instagram. 

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Colombia will give James Rodriguez until the last minute to prove his fitness for Tuesday s World Cup last-16 tie against England.

The attacking midfielder, on a two-season loan at Bayern Munich from Real Madrid, was substituted during Colombia s 1-0 defeat of Senegal on Thursday and there were initial fears his tournament may be over.

A subsequent statement from the Colombian FA revealed a positive update, saying the 26-year-old had suffered a minor edema [swelling caused by an accumulation of fluid] in his right leg and head coach Jose Pekerman refused to rule him out of the clash at Spartak Stadium.

He said: We had good news after his medical tests. After his MRI we knew he doesn t have a serious injury so we have one and a half days to see how he feels and as…

Albania boss Gianni De Biasi has said he is the right man to take up the vacant role with England.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce remains the favourite to succeed Roy Hodgson, who resigned after the Euro 2016 defeat to Iceland, and talks with the 61-year-old have been held this week.

Fellow candidate Steve Bruce has insisted that Hodgson s replacement should be English, even if the Hull City boss himself is unsuccessful.

But De Biasi, who took Albania to their first major tournament at Euro 2016, believes he could restore England s pre-eminence on the international stage.

I m honoured that my name could be linked with the English national team, he told The Sun.

The football players have talent and feature qualities which need to be rediscovere…

Verdict: Liverpool win

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With competition for fourth spot really beginning to heat up, Jurgen Klopp will know the importance of picking up maximum points after failing to beat Everton and West Brom. Traveling down to the south coast, Liverpool will face a Bournemouth side who are still searching for their first win in over a month.

Bournemouth

Although Bournemouth may have put up a resilient performance against Manchester United in midweek, Eddie Howe s side were unable to pick up a crucial three points and moved their new record onto five games without a win. Now in their third consecutive season among England s elite, Bournemouth can now be considered an established Premier League outfit. Currently sat 14th in the table, the…

Peru rallied from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw with Ecuador at the Copa America on Wednesday.

Ecuador were in control of the Group B contest against Peru on Wednesday – leading 2-0 at half-time in Goiania.

A Renato Tapia own goal had handed Ecuador a 1-0 lead after 23 minutes and Eduar Preciado doubled the advantage in the third minute of first-half stoppage time.

Peru – runners-up in 2019 – had entered the fixture knowing victory would see them through to the quarter-finals of CONMEBOL s showpiece tournament.

¡FINAL EN GOIÂNIA! y igualaron 2-2 por el Grupo B de la CONMEBOL

 Ecuador  Perú

— Copa América (@CopaAmerica)

Former Milan forward Gianluca Lapadula inspired Peru s comeback with a stun…

France booked their place in the Nations League Finals at the expense of holders Portugal as N Golo Kante s second international goal secured a 1-0 win in Lisbon.

The World Cup winners and the European champions came into Saturday s match tied on 10 points at the top of Group A3 through four matches, but the head-to-head primary tie-breaker made this clash pivotal after a goalless draw in France.

Kante s strike proved the difference as the Chelsea midfielder stepped up in the 53rd minute after the plethora of attacking talent at both ends had misfired.

France were without Kylian Mbappe due to a hamstring injury, but Anthony Martial might have had a first-half hat-trick and would have been relieved to see Kante come to his aid.

The first miss from the M…

Luis Suarez has indicated during a recent interview that he isn t sure whether or not he ll end his career with Barcelona. The 31-year-old has been with the Spanish giants since back in 2014 when he made the move from Liverpool, and since then, he s established himself as one of the deadliest strikers in European football. Alas, nothing lasts forever, and the Uruguayan forward sounds like he s well aware of that.

Suarez has stated that he d love to end his career at the Nou Camp, but that it depends on a variety of factors including how long his body holds out.

The striker then pointed towards examples such as Xavi and Andres Iniesta, who are both players that spent the majority of their careers becoming legendary figures at Barcelona before eventually deciding to move …