Peru captain Paolo Guerrero has been cleared to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia after a Swiss tribunal ruled on his drug ban. The court agreed on Thursday to temporarily lift a 14-month suspension, imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), while it considered the 34-year-old striker’s appeal.
Frank Lampard has been named as Derby County’s manager after signing a three-year deal at Pride Park.
The former Chelsea and England midfielder has been looking to take his first step into management and confirmed over the weekend that he had been talking with officials at Derby. The East Midlands club, who lost to Fulham in the Championship play-off semi-finals, have been without a manager since Gary Rowett left to take over at Stoke City last week but have now confirmed the 39-year-old’s appointment.
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has confirmed that Chelsea wing-back Victor Moses, Tianjin Teda midfielder John Obi Mikel and ex-Watford star Odion Ighalo are in line to feature against England in a pre-World Cup friendly at Wembley on Saturday, June 2.
Whilst Moses was excused from the friendly against Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, Chinese-based duo Mikel and Ighalo were non-playing substitutes following their long trip from Asia.
Rohr added that Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has a slim chance of playing against the Three Lions.
Zinedine Zidane has surprisingly stepped down as Real Madrid head coach after leading them to three Champions League titles.
Zidane announced his decision in Madrid on Thursday morning, after calling a news conference just an hour-and-a-half earlier.
The Frenchman was appointed as head coach of the Real first team in January 2016 after the dismissal of Rafa Benítez, and guided the club to the Champions League title by beating Atlético Madrid on penalties in the final.
Ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Nigeria’s captain, Mikel Obi has recounnted what he decribed as a disastrous outing for the Super Eagles in the Brazil 2014 world cup.
From the outside looking in, there was a depressingly familiar undercurrent in the form of a pay dispute between the Nigeria Football Federation and the players. It led to a boycott of training from the latter days before the last-16 tie against France, which the Super Eagles lost 2-0. From the inside looking out, it was simply toxic.
Mikel who spoke to Guardian UK’s David Hytner, recalled “there were a lot of problems in the camp which a lot of people didn’t see, the media didn’t see – we kind of hid it under the table,” Mikel said.
Real Madrid have signed 18-year-old forward Rodrigo Rodrigues, who will join up with the Castilla youth side ahead of the 2018-19 season, ESPN reports. It was reported last September that a deal had been agreed with Brazilian club Gremio Novorizontino for the teenager to join Madrid once he turned 18, and the youngster was at the club's Valdebebas training round this week to complete a medical and finalise the move.
