Newly appointed Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli described Lionel Messi as very excited as he prepares to build around the Barcelona star.

Sampaoli was finally unveiled as head coach on Thursday, signing a deal through to the 2022 World Cup.

His first test is far more pressing, with Argentina sitting fifth – the play-off spot – in qualifying for Russia 2018.

Sampaoli has the benefit of having arguably the world s best player at his disposal and the former Chile and Sevilla coach said Messi was ready to shine.

I had to face Messi. We want the world s best player to feel happy being here, he told a news conference.

The important thing is that Messi has compatible players. I spoke to him and he is very excited.

Jorge Sampaoli será prese…

Perth Glory have signed striker Adam Taggart from Fulham, although he will not be able to play this season due to FIFA rules.

The 22-year-old returns to his home-town club, where he made his senior debut in 2011, following an unsuccessful 18-month stint at Fulham in the Championship.

Under FIFA rules, Taggart will not be eligible to play for Perth for the remainder of this campaign because he has already played for two clubs in one season Fulham and Dundee United, where he was on loan earlier this term.

But the Socceroos forward can be registered with up to three clubs in the same timeframe and has signed a contract until the end of 2017-18.

Taggart won the A-League Golden Boot in 2013-14 while he was at Newcastle Jets and was also named the A-League s Yo…

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Crystal Palace and West Ham United will face each other in the Premier League this week. The London derby will kick off at 6pm UK time on Tuesday and promises to be an exciting game of football.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace will head into the match against West Ham on the back of a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City away from home at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League. That followed a goalless draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and a 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup.

Roy Hodgson’s side are 13th in the Premier League table at the moment with 23 points from 19 matches. The Eagles are 11 points above the bottom three and are unlikely to get dragged into a…

Egypt head coach Hector Cuper is not sure what the future holds as he refused to confirm whether he will remain in charge after the World Cup.

Cuper s Egypt will meet Saudi Arabia in Monday s Group A dead rubber, with both nations having already been eliminated from the showpiece tournament. 

There had been high hopes for Egypt until back-to-back defeats to Uruguay and Russia ended their chances of progressing amid fitness concerns over star forward Mohamed Salah.

Ahead of Egypt s final fixture, Cuper was asked about his future and the Argentine tactician – who has been at the helm since 2015 – told reporters on Sunday: I would never go through life excluding anything.

It will depend on a number of factors. There are certain decisions to make to mak…

Roberto Mancini is sure European champions Italy will qualify for the 2022 World Cup following their 1-1 draw against Switzerland.

Top spot in Group C will be decided in the final round of games after Jorginho missed a late penalty for Euro 2020 winners Italy in Rome on Friday.

Italy fell behind to a powerful Silvan Widmer strike after 11 minutes but hit back through fellow right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo s header before half-time. 

The Azzurri – who failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia three years ago – had a glorious chance to seize control on the road to Qatar 2022, however, Jorginho skied his 90th-minute spot-kick over the crossbar.

Automatic qualification is in the balance, though Italy have a slightly better goal difference, so they…

Real Betis attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir wants to join Barcelona in the summer of 2021, according to o. It has been reported that both Arsenal and Barcelona are interested in signing the 27-year-old, but it is Camp Nou where the France international wants to move to.

New Barcelona president Joan Laporta is an admirer of Fekir and wants to sign him should Lionel Messi leave at the end of the season. The Argentina international forward is out of contract in the summer of 2021, and he has yet to sign a new deal with the Spanish and European giants.

Fekir has scored three goals and provided five assists in 26 La Liga matches for Betis so far this season, according to . During the 2019-20 campaign, the attacking midfielder made 31 starts and one substitute appearance in t…

Pep Guardiola believes that other clubs do have the chance to win the Premier League while he is the Manchester City manager.

Guardiola has led the Citizens to five top-flight titles in his seven seasons in charge, including each of the last three in a row.

They have the opportunity to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League campaign – they must match or better Arsenal’s result on the final day against West Ham to finish top of the table.

Asked what he thought about the narrative that suggested other teams struggle to win the title while he is at City, Guardiola immediately brushed the idea aside.

He said: It is wrong, look at the margin. If every season I won by 20 points, then I would say yes I am a genius, I m so good, but it s not.…

Virgil van Dijk was left very hurt after the Netherlands were knocked out of the World Cup on penalties by Argentina on Friday.

Goals from Nahuel Molina and Lionel Messi looked to have Argentina coasting to the semi-finals, but substitute Wout Weghorst scored twice late on to force the game into extra time.

Neither team could find a winner in the additional 30 minutes, but Emiliano Martinez saved from Van Dijk and then Steven Berghuis before Lautaro Martinez fired home the deciding spot-kick to knock the Netherlands out.

Van Dijk spoke of his frustration at his team pulling themselves back into the contest, only to lose on penalties.

I m very disappointed that we re out of the tournament, after a very eventful game, the Liverpool star told reporters.

…

Carlisle United have signed Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Amos on a one month loan deal, .

The 23 year old, who began his career with the Premier League champions, has made just seven appearances for the club since turning professional in 2008.

He has previously enjoyed loan spells with Peterborough United, Molde, Oldham Athletic and, most recently, Hull City for whom he made seventeen Championship appearances for last season.

Amos, a former England U21 international, joins a Carlisle side who currently sit in sixteenth place in League One, just three points above the relegation zone having lost seven of their opening sixteen league games.

He goes straight into the Blues squad to face thirteenth place Crawley Town tomorrow afternoon, and can be b…

Former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte was sent off for punching Mohammed Al-Aqel on the arm as Al-Nassr played out a 2-2 draw with Al-Riyadh in the Saudi Pro League.

Meshari Al-Nemer s 97th-minute strike salvaged a point for Al-Nassr, who had trailed for over half the game and played with a one-man disadvantage for over half an hour.

Otavio had put Al-Nassr ahead only for Andre Gray to drag the hosts level, before Al-Aqel gave David Ospina no chance with a terrific overhead kick to make it 2-1.

Al-Nassr s position was put in further jeopardy when Laporte was sent off following a bizarre off-the-ball incident which saw him grab and punch Al-Aqel on the elbow, while Cristiano Ronaldo came up with a glaring miss from Sadio Mane s pass across the six-yard b…