Football

Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane may have finally buried speculation about a possible move for Chelsea's Eden Hazard and shot stopper Thibaut Courtois as the Los Blanco aim to strengthen the squad following abysmal performance so far. Real Madrid currently trail La Liga table toppers Barcelona with 16 points. The club's poor performance remains a source of concern to the manager and club executive. In a bid to strengthen the squad, several names have been mentioned including Hazard and Courtois.

Falconets will on Saturday take on their South African counterparts in the first leg of the final round of African qualifying race for this year’s France 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in August. Falconets coach Chris Danjuma said that his charges, who are scheduled to travel to South Africa on Wednesday, were prepared to take the game to the South Africans in Polokwane.

England have arranged to host Nigeria and Costa Rica in warm-up friendlies ahead of the 2018 World Cup in June. Gareth Southgate’s side will take on Nigeria at Wembley on June 2 and then Costa Rica at Elland Road five days later, before heading off for the tournament in Russia. Taking home games on the road is something England did in the build-up to Euro 2016, playing friendlies at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

Chelsea Manager, Antonio Conte appears not to have gotten over the recent spat with Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho as the Italian has vowed never to forget. Both managers were ensued in war of words after Mourinho claimed he is still passionate despite not acting like a ‘clown’ on the touchline, which was taken as a dig at Conte.

FA Cup giant killers Nottingham Forest, who knocked out FA Champions Arsenal in the third round, have appointed Spanish coach Aitor Karanka as their new manager. Championship club Forest beat Arsenal 4-2 on Sunday with caretaker manager Gary Brazil in charge following the departure of Mark Warburton last month.