Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has targeted a return from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered in February by the end of 2016.
The French international has been out of action since the beginning of the year, after being stretchered off in Chelsea s 1-1 draw against Manchester United.
I don t know when I ll be back out on the pitch but everything is going well, Zouma told The Sun.
I m kicking the ball around a bit – I m not in any pain and I feel good.
Zouma was initially expected to be a part of the France squad for Euro 2016 this summer; however the injury means the 21-year-old s next action will come back in a Chelsea shirt.
When asked about the possibility of him playing again this year, Zouma replied:
I hope so; I think I ve…
Jonathan David s first-half penalty saw Lille stun Champions League holders Real Madrid on Wednesday, handing Los Blancos their first loss in any competition since January.
Fifteen-time European champions Madrid had not tasted defeat since going down to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey 36 games ago, while they were also unbeaten in their last 14 Champions League outings.
But Los Blancos were flat from the off in France and had a couple of warnings before David converted from the spot in first-half stoppage time, after Eduardo Camavina handled from Edon Zhegrova s free-kick.
Andriy Lunin, standing in for the injured Thibaut Courtois, had earlier clawed David s attempt onto the post, while Endrick called Lucas Chevalier into action at the other end after becomin…
It was another exciting weekend in Scottish football which was split between Viaplay Cup semi-final action and the battle for cinch Premiership points.
Aberdeen and Rangers will play in the final of the Viaplay Cup after winning their respective last-four games, while Celtic extended their lead over the Light Blues to eight points at the top of the cinch Premiership with a 3-0 win at Ross County on Saturday. Motherwell lost again at Kilmarnock and Dundee beat Livingston.
Here, the PA news agency looks at five things from the weekend’s action.
James Tavernier continues to lead the way for Rangers
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC)
The free-scoring Rangers right-back once again proved his worth with a double in a 3-1 Viaplay Cup semi-final…
England will withdraw its candidature to host the 2022 World Cup if, as expected, the United States drops its bid for the 2018 event, a top official said on Tuesday.
England, Russia, and the United States, plus joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands are all still in the running for both 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
Australia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar have already declared their intention to concentrate only on 2022.
If the United States pulled out from the 2018 race, they would face no European opposition for the next World Cup as no one continent can stage successive finals.
We are sure it won t be long before the United States will withdraw from 2018 leaving themselves a run on 2022, said David Dein, the international president of En…
Rangers favourite Steven Davis admitted a “strange sensation” after announcing his retirement from football.
The 39-year-old, who played 140 times for Northern Ireland – the UK male international caps record – enjoyed two separate spells at Ibrox, playing a central role in four title triumphs, as well as lifting both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup on three occasions.
Davis also had a spell as caretaker manager at Ibrox earlier in the season following the departure of Michael Beale as he rehabilitated from a long-term knee injury sustained in December 2022.
– A Legend
Steven Davis spoke to as he announced his retirement from professional football.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC)
The midfielder had spells at …
The 2018 Cheltenham Festival has entered the final stage, with seven races on Day 4 set to conclude yet another impressive event. A 70,000 sell-out crowd is expected to witness the Gold Cup Chase, likely to be the highlight of the final day.
A total of 18 contenders will be hoping to claim the bragging rights and a sizeable prize, but it is Nicky Henderson’s Might Bite that has been made 4/1 ahead of Native River and Our Duke.
The highly rated trained has a chance to make history with three major wins in a single Cheltenham event having already won the Champion Hurdle and the Champion Chase.
Chances are there will be plenty of wagers placed on the 2018 Gold Cup Chase and we can highly recommend placing your bets with bet365.
The UK firm is …
Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone s side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.
Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.
But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute …
Cristiano Ronaldo vowed to return to the Portugal setup in 2019 after skipping his nation s matches following the World Cup.
Ronaldo, 33, opted against adding to his 154 caps after Russia 2018, instead preferring to settle at Juventus.
But the superstar forward, who has scored 15 goals in 24 games for Juve, said he would be back in Portugal colours in 2019.
In 2019 I intend to be back at the disposal of the coaching staff, Ronaldo told Record.
Ronaldo said he had come to an agreement to skip Portugal s matches in the second half of 2018 to give him the best chance of making a good start to life at Juventus, the club he joined from Real Madrid.
It was agreed that I would not be in the games of the first half of the season, he said.
I am …
South African organisers of the 2010 World Cup said on Thursday they were upbeat about FIFA president Sepp Blatter s visit next week to showcase the progress made in preparing for the event.
Blatter will on September 14 begin a four-day visit to South Africa, during which he would visit World Cup facilities in the major cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) chief Danny Jordaan said.
We have made tremendous progress and we hope to showcase this progress to him during his September 14 to 17 visit. We also hope he will be very impressed with the lot of progess we have made, Jordaan told journalists.
South Africa was jolted in July after a Spanish newpaper reported that the football governing body was in talks with autho…
Steven Bergwijn has signed a new contract with PSV until 2023, the Eredivisie club have confirmed.
The Netherlands international had been heavily linked with a switch to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, while Manchester United were also reportedly interested during the Premier League transfer window.
But Bergwijn, 21, will instead continue his career-long association with PSV, where the forward has won three Eredivisie titles.
Explaining his decision, Bergwijn told PSV s official website: This is the right decision.
There were other options, but ultimately everything has to fit. For me, but also for PSV, and the result is that I stay here with great pleasure and with great confidence.
Sooo fans.
How happy are you?
— PSV (@PSV)
…