Morocco coach Herve Renard is excited for Friday s Africa Cup of Nations clash with his former team Ivory Coast, who Ibrahim Kamara insists will not be focusing on revenge.

Renard became the first coach to ever win the Africa Cup of Nations with two different countries in 2015, ending Ivory s Coast s 23-year wait for the title.

He left for a short spell at Lille later that year, before returning to international football in 2016 with Morocco.

Under Renard, the Atlas Lions qualified for the 2018 World Cup, their first appearance in the competition since 1998.

A 2-0 win away to Ivory Coast in November 2017 secured Morocco s place in Russia and, although this will be their first meeting since, Kamara insists vengeance is not on the mind of his players.

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Jose Mourinho was sacled as Chelsea boss on Thursday

Thursday afternoon brought about a piece of news that everybody in and around football expected for weeks, the departure from Chelsea of controversial boss Jose Mourinho.

The move had been mooted for the past few weeks, so the news was no real surprise.

Chelsea have gone from champs to chumps this season and slumped from poor result to poor result. Mourinho left the Blues in 16th position in the Premier League table, just a point clear of the relegation zone.

Talented but temperamental

The above title could describe both Mourinho himself and his Chelsea squad. Despite the Blues poor performance this season, the Portuguese boss cannot be written-off. One bad season does not make a bad manager.

Dan Ashworth has resigned as Brighton and Hove Albion technical director to join another Premier League club – widely thought to be Newcastle United.

Ashworth held talks with Newcastle previously as the club s new owners seek to appoint a director of football, with a chief executive set to follow.

In line with his contractual terms, Ashworth will now begin an extended period of gardening leave, after which he will be able to take up a new position elsewhere, a Brighton statement detailing his departure read.

David Weir, Ashworth s assistant, has replaced him as acting technical director, with Brighton saying the handover would be completed later this week .

Ashworth was the FA s director of elite development for six years up until 2018, playing a key r…

Pep Guardiola has warned Sergio Aguero cannot solve Manchester City s goalscoring problems on his own as the Argentina striker prepares to make his latest return from injury. 

Aguero missed the start of this season as he continued to recover after undergoing meniscus surgery in June. 

He featured in October s 1-0 win over Arsenal and scored a penalty in City s opening 3-1 Champions League victory against Porto, only to pull up with a hamstring injury at the halfway point of the club s next Premier League outing at West Ham. 

City s all-time record goalscorer remained an unused substitute as Guardiola s side went down to a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday a result that leaves them languishing in the bottom half of the table with 12 points and 10 goals fr…

Manchester United have offered a new deal to Juan Mata as Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia head the list of players leaving the club.

Mata, who joined from Chelsea in January 2014, has been linked with a free transfer abroad.

But the former Valencia and Chelsea midfielder has been handed the chance to sign fresh terms by United, meaning he could yet extend his time at Old Trafford.

James Wilson and Regan Poole, who have both previously played first-team football, are among those to be departing United after spending the 2018-19 campaign out on loan.

And United have officially said goodbye to Herrera and club captain Valencia following the expiration of their contracts.

Also leaving are DJ Buffonge, Tyrell Warren, Matty Willock, Callum Whelan…

Fulham have confirmed the signing of former Chelsea playmaker Willian on a free transfer, as well as completing a loan move for Paris Saint-Germain s Layvin Kurzawa.

Willian, who left Corinthians in August after receiving death threats, had re-joined the Brazilian side last year when he had his contract with Arsenal terminated. 

The 34-year-old only spent a year at Emirates Stadium, having failed to come close to replicating the success he enjoyed in a seven-season stint at Chelsea.

Willian, who has penned a one-year deal, has now made the return to London with Fulham, who have enjoyed a bright start to the Premier League season under Marco Silva.

Olá, Willian!  |

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC)

I m happy to be here, I m …

Tite says Brazil were dealt with neither the group of death nor of life after they were drawn to face Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon in the 2022 World Cup.

The Selecao faced Switzerland and Serbia in the last World Cup in Russia four years ago, so there was a sense of deja vu when the draw was made in Doha on Friday.

As the top-ranked side in the world, Brazil will be expected to win Group G, which also includes Cameroon.

But Brazil boss Title says there will be no room for complacency.

He told reporters: It is neither [the group] of death nor of life. Everything is the same [as Brazil’s group at Russia 2018] – all that was missing was Costa Rica!

We re talking about Switzerland and Serbia, the teams who stopped Italy and Portugal, and…

Women s World Cup winners the United States will soon have a new head coach after Jill Ellis confirmed she is stepping down.

Ellis is quitting just weeks after leading the USA to a successful defence of the World Cup title, U.S. Soccer announced on Tuesday.

She plans to stay with the national team for their five-game victory tour, which starts on Saturday against the Republic of Ireland at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and will end in early October.

The opportunity to coach this team and work with these amazing women has been the honour of a lifetime, Ellis said in a statement.

I want to thank and praise them for their commitment and passion to not only win championships but also raise the profile of this sport globally while being an inspirat…

Demarai Gray s stoppage-time wonder goal saw Everton snatch a dramatic 2-1 victory over Arsenal and relieve the pressure on boss Rafael Benitez.

Martin Odegaard put the Gunners in front just before half-time at Goodison Park with a neat volley from Kieran Tierney s cross.

But despite twice being denied by VAR, Richarlison equalised with 10 minutes remaining, before Gray completed the turnaround with a stunning 25-yard effort in the second minute of stoppage time.

Now without a win in four Premier League visits to Goodison, Mikel Arteta’s side missed the chance to return to fifth place in the table.

Everton were unbeaten in their three previous home games against Arsenal in the Premier League and made a bright start to proceedings.

Top scorer Gra…

Liverpool are set to sign Adrian San Miguel del Castillo as a backup to their first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker, according to The Times journalist .

Simon Mignolet, who has been fulfilling that role for a while now, is the brink of completing a move to Club Brugge for a fee of €7 million, rising to €9 million in what Joyce calls achievable bonuses. Young Kamil Grabara has joined Huddersfield Town on a season-long loan, while Caoimhin Kelleher is recovering from a broken wrist. Loris Karius is still on loan at Besiktas, and it seems highly unlikely he ll be returning to Anfield at all following last year s Champions League final disaster.

Adrian started his career at Real Betis, making his first-team debut back in September 2012 and joined West Ham the following…