Venezuela Under-20 captain Josef Martinez impressed at the Campeonato Sudamericano despite his side failing to reach the final stages.
The Young Boys striker scored two of their three goals as they finished fourth in Group B, behind Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador.
Martinez netted the winner in Venezuela s 1-0 win over Ecuador before they suffered losses to Peru and Brazil, who surprisingly failed to progress.
The 19-year-old was on the scoresheet again against Uruguay in their final group match, but a 2-2 draw was not enough to get them through.
Martinez has won five senior international caps after making his debut against Honduras on August 10, 2011.
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Barcelona coach Xavi is confident Robert Lewandowski will soon find his rhythm at the club, having failed to find the net in pre-season.
The Poland international is one of Barcelona s marquee additions for the 2022-23 season, joining from Bayern Munich, and arrives with an established reputation as one of Europe s deadliest finishers.
Goals have not come in preparation for the new season, but Xavi is not concerned and believes there have been some encouraging signs already.
The positive is that he has had all those opportunities, I am sure he will mark them, he said following Barcelona s win against the New York Red Bulls.
In training, they go in; today, they have not gone in. I am convinced that they will go in, I trust him.
It happened wit…
Expansion team St Louis City made it three wins from three games to open their debut MLS campaign triumphing 2-1 away to Portland Timbers on Saturday.
The Missouri outfit became only the second expansion team in MLS history to start 3-0-0, with goals from Jared Stroud and Kyle Hiebert completing another comeback win.
Towering centre-back Zac McGraw had put Portland ahead in the third minute with a header from Eryk Williamson s set piece.
Stroud netted his second goal of the season on the stroke of half-time for 1-1, lashing in after Rasmum Alm s cross from the right side.
Canadian defender Hiebert came up with the winner in the 75th minute with his header finding its way into the back of the net from Eduard Lowen s free-kick.
St Louis have come fr…
Prince Oniangue fired Congo to a 1-0 victory that sent them top of Africa Cup of Nations Group A, leapfrogging opponents Gabon.
Gabon missed a chance to book their place in the Africa Cup of Nations knockout stages as Group A winners, losing 1-0 to Congo on Wednesday.
Jorge Costa s men beat 2013 finalists Burkina Faso 2-0 in their tournament opener and would have moved into an unassailable lead at the summit with another three points in Bata.
However, Prince Oniangue capitalised on some questionable Gabon defending to score the winner three minutes after half-time.
Neither side was able to take control in a tight first half, but Frederic Bulot was unlucky not to break the deadlock with a spectacular strike after five minutes.
Oniangue s goal gav…
Daniel Sturridge marked his return from injury with a goal in Liverpool s 2-0 win over West Ham at Anfield on Saturday.
Daniel Sturridge was on target in his first Premier League appearance since August as he rounded off the scoring in Saturday s 2-0 win over West Ham at Anfield.
Sturridge has been plagued with groin and thigh injuries so far this term, but came off the bench to add to Raheem Sterling s opener after the forward had given Liverpool the lead shortly after the break.
The mood was positive around Anfield prior to the fixture due to Sturridge being named on the bench and Sterling added to the feel-good factor by helping maintain Liverpool s mid-season revival with a smart finish following a clever pass from Philippe Coutinho.
Chances co…
Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon has stressed the Serie A outfit will not sell star striker Edinson Cavani.
The prolific forward has caught the attention of Juventus and Manchester City with his excellent performances for Napoli, but Bigon has made it clear the Uruguayan is not for sale under any circumstances.
I can confirm that Cavani is not for sale at any price. The president has made it clear to everybody how he feels about a transfer, Bigon told Corriere dello Sport.
And Edi, too, has been very clear about his intention to stay at Napoli.
We don t have any meetings scheduled (to discuss his future). There s no need to talk about it. We have a very close relation with Edinson.
The 25-year-old joined Napoli from Palermo in 2010 and…
Fenerbahce s Spanish international striker Daniel Guiza said Monday he believes his compatriot Luis Aragones will stay put as coach of the Turkish side despite its poor start to the season.
After six matches without a win it is normal that a coach is affected but Luis motto is to continue working day by day and seeing if we can move things forward, the 28-year-old told Spanish media.
I believe and hope that his days are not numbered. We can win our next match and lift our heads, he added.
Aragones, who led Spain to the 2008 European Championship title, has come under fire from Fenerbahce supporters after the club suffered a 4-1 defeat to Kayserispor over the weekend.
The Istanbul-based club are now in 12th place in the Turkish Super League.
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Jorginho feels it would be sad were Maurizio Sarri to leave Chelsea after a single season in charge.
Sarri led the Blues to a third-place finish in the Premier League and his side thumped Arsenal 4-1 in the Europa League final in 2018-19.
Chelsea also reached the final of the EFL Cup, losing to Manchester City on penalties, but the club s fans regularly aired their disapproval over Sarri s tactics.
Jorginho followed Sarri to Stamford Bridge from Napoli last year but the midfielder could be about to see his boss return to Italy, with Serie A champions Juventus said to be ready to appoint him as Massimiliano Allegri s successor.
Italy international Jorginho, though, hopes Sarri remains in charge of Chelsea for 2019-20 and warns the Napoli fan base could fee…
Yann Sommer seemed to sum up the giddy excitement around Joao Felix being handed a full international debut when the sight of the Portugal youngster scampering towards him, inside the first 30 seconds at Estadio do Dragao, caused the Switzerland goalkeeper to fall over.
Danger was averted on that occasion in the first semi-final of the inaugural Nations League Finals, but this was a match that never fully seemed to regain its balance until the mercurial Cristiano Ronaldo stood the whole thing on its head, inspired a 3-1 win and walked off with the match ball.
Of course, all eyes were on him once more – that s just the 88 international goals and 53 career hat-tricks – even if that was not entirely the case at kick-off.
Joao Felix moves with a lightness across …
Italian newspaper that Inter are set to launch an assault on Anzhi striker Samuel Eto o.
Following what has been a pretty disappointing season, club owner Massimo Moratti is looking to sign a world-class player who would provide a huge boost to the squad.
He has been looking at a number of players, but it appears that Inter will make a move on former player Samuel Eto o.
The Cameroon international left the Nerazzurri to sign a lucrative deal with the Russian club in the summer of 2011, but it appears as though he is not too keen on staying at Anzhi.
Eto o plans to live in Milan in the future, and a return to his former club in the summer is definitely an option.
The 32-year-old has just over a year left on his deal with Anzhi, meaning the Nerazz…