Brazil great Marta has become the first footballer in history to score in five consecutive Olympic Games.
Marta scored the opener from close range after nine minutes and later added a second-half strike as Brazil thrashed China 5-0 to open their campaign in Japan.
The 35-year-old made her Olympics debut back in 2004 when the Games were held in Athens.
Marta went on to score in the Beijing, London and Rio tournaments before also netting in Tokyo on Wednesday.
She is yet to win the Olympics, though, earning silver medals in 2004 and 2008.
— Feminina de Futebol (@SelecaoFeminina)
Marta s team-mate Formiga, who is impressively still playing at 43, also broke records by playing against China.
An astonishing 25 years on f…
Sadio Mane scored a goal in either half, helping Al-Nassr cruise to a 3-0 win over Al-Orubah and close in on the top two in the Saudi Pro League.
Cristiano Ronaldo had given the hosts the lead from the spot, setting them on their way to a dominant victory.
After a slow start, Jean Seri was penalised for a handball, and Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot. After a stuttering run-up, he coolly slotted his strike into the bottom-left corner.
Mane got his first on the stroke of half-time, latching onto Ronaldo s pull-back before firing his low shot into the far side of the net.
He could have had a hat-trick, having also hit the woodwork and squandered a first-time shot by slicing it wide, but he did get his second in the 71st minute, guiding Nawaf Bu Washi …
Liverpool favourite Steve Heighway has called time on his Reds career at the age of 75, with Jamie Carragher hailing him as a huge influence .
Former winger Heighway has spent 25 years working at the club s academy, across two spells, and Liverpool announced he has decided to retire.
Heighway played for Liverpool from 1970 to 1981, winning a string of league titles and two European Cups with the Reds, while scoring 76 goals in 475 games.
His youth coaching role proved hugely significant too, with Heighway helping to nurture talents such as Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Carragher.
What a contribution from Steve Heighway as a player who won Leagues European cups. Then heading up an academy that produced McManaman, Fowler, Owen, Gerrard……
Kalidou Koulibaly implored Chelsea players to look each other in the eye with the Blues players the only culprits for the increasing pressure on Graham Potter.
Head coach Potter became the first Blues manager since Jose Mourinho in 2015 to lose three consecutive Premier League matches following a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United.
The tepid nature of the Chelsea showing offered more reason for concern after the Blues managed just seven touches in the opposition box, their lowest since January against Manchester City.
With Potter s side eight points adrift of the Premier League s top four, albeit with a game in hand over fourth-placed Tottenham, Koulibaly urged his team-mates to take responsibility for their recent form.
It hurts, we came here to take three …
There have been plenty of names, previously not considered too important, which managed to attract attention at the World Cup in Qatar. The likes of Argentina striker Julian Alvarez, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Buonuo and midfielder Sofyan Ambrabat, Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol, they ve all succeeded in raising the world-wide opinions on their quality and to the joy of their current clubs, their market values too. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic certainly has his place on that list as well.
At the age of 27, Livakovic is not exactly a young prospect in the world of football, but in that aspect, there should at least be a decade more of ability to perform at the highest level combined with significant experience.
Having gone through the youth ranks at NK Zadar, Li…
Netherlands and PSV forward Cody Gakpo will think about a move to Manchester United should the Premier League side come calling again.
Gakpo has been one of the stars of the 2022 World Cup so far and is reportedly a January transfer target for United, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich among others.
The 23-year-old became only the second player in the competition s history, after Italy s Alessandro Altobelli in 1986, to open the scoring three times in the same group stage.
He fired a blank in the 3-1 win over the United States in the last 16, but the in-form attacker still boasts a return of 17 goals and eight assists in 30 games this season.
United are reputed to be the frontrunners to sign Gakpo, having already reached out in the past window, and …
Ronald Koeman is intrigued how his Netherlands side will cope without captain Virgil van Dijk when they visit Germany on Monday.
Koeman s Oranje travel to Allianz Arena to round off their October internationals with a mouthwatering clash against another European heavyweight.
The Netherlands will do so without star centre-back Van Dijk after the Liverpool defender was dismissed in their last 1-1 draw with Hungary in their Group A3 meeting.
Koeman acknowledged their towering captain will be a sore miss against Julian Nagelsmann s side, with Stefan de Vrij or Denzel Dumfries expected as his replacement.
Virgil is someone who coaches a lot from the back. Now others have to do that. Some people are more capable of that than others and it also has to do with e…
Making the trip to Carrow Road knowing that they needed just a single point to book their Champions League return, Tottenham signed off the 2021/22 campaign with a real flurry.
Eventually breezing their way to a 5-0 romp against an already-relegated Norwich on Sunday afternoon, Antonio Conte s men will also be celebrating the fact that they managed to clinch a top-four finish at the expense of Arsenal.
Watching their free-scoring attacking trio all get themselves on the scoresheet at Carrow Road, Tottenham also underlined what has been another nightmare Premier League run for the Canaries.
Running rampant in east Anglia and with an exciting summer ahead in north London, we have taken a look at the main talking points from Sunday s showdown.
Spurs find top g…
December 23 marks the 10th anniversary of Diego Simeone s appointment as the head coach of Atletico Madrid.
The Argentine s return to his old club altered the modern history of LaLiga, as Atleti firmly established a big three in Spain alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona while making waves in Europe.
While their style of play has not always courted admirers, Simeone s Atletico have won eight trophies – including two LaLiga titles and two Europa Leagues – and twice reached the Champions League final, all on a budget that has never matched that of their two biggest rivals.
In his decade in the capital, Simeone has also worked through a sizeable turnover of players, some of whom have established themselves as modern greats at the club.
Here, Stats Perf…
Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich makes him the latest Englishman to ply his trade in the Bundesliga.
Only a handful of the small group which has gone to Germany have been truly successful but the England captain will be looking to add his name to that list.
Here the PA news agency looks at those who impressed for Bundesliga sides.
Kevin Keegan, Hamburg 1977-80
Keegan set the gold standard. Having made his intention to leave Liverpool clear the forward’s £500,000 transfer set a new British record and almost doubled the German mark.
His choice of a club which had not finished higher than sixth in two decades was something of a surprise but Hamburg paid him more than five times his salary.
There were rewarded though as Keegan helped them win …