Mauricio Pochettino is eager to build a bond between his United States team and their supporters after he made a winning start to his tenure as head coach.

Pochettino s USA ran out 2-0 winners over Panama in Austin on Saturday.

Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi got the goals as the USA claimed a morale-boosting victory in front of a 20,000-strong crowd at Q2 Stadium.

And Pochettino stressed the importance of a strong connection between fans and team as he looks to build toward the 2026 World Cup.

It was a massive shock for me to see my face behind the goal, like you say and a different picture, said the Argentine, referring to a banner held up by some fans.

I think I am so happy; very good connection with the fans.

That s really important to…

After 15 years without success on the international stage, Italy could win a second title in three months this week as the 2021 Nations League concludes.

That may come as a surprise to some – after all, given how recent Euro 2020 was and the fact the Nations League Finals are taking place amid a busy World Cup qualification period, it wouldn t be unsurprising if most people had completely forgotten about UEFA s secondary competition.

But here we are, it s Finals week and hosts Italy have themselves a wonderful opportunity to clinch another trophy, with Portugal winning the inaugural competition – also in front of home crowds – two years ago.

France and Belgium will contest the second semi-final, with Italy going up against Spain first on Wednesday in a repe…

The Premier League provided its usual drama on Saturday with decisive penalties awarded in all but one of the fixtures.

Chelsea left it late against Leeds United in a game that saw referee Chris Kavanagh award three penalties, while Manchester United earned a narrow win thanks to another Cristiano Ronaldo spot-kick.

Liverpool also profited from the penalty spot as Steven Gerrard made his return to Anfield with Aston Villa, and another conversion from 12 yards aided Manchester City at home to Wolves.

Elsewhere, Arsenal cruised past Southampton, who are yet to win at Emirates Stadium in 23 Premier League attempts – the longest winless run for one club away to another in the competition s history.

With tons of action to unpack, Stats Perform takes an i…

Jude Bellingham hailed unbelievable human being Gareth Southgate, while Kieran Trippier and Eberechi Eze also paid tribute to the outgoing England boss.

Southgate announced on Tuesday he would step down as the Three Lions head coach following their heartbreaking Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain.

The 53-year-old was overseeing his second successive European Championship final since replacing Sam Allardyce in September 2016, while also guiding England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.

Southgate departs having won 61 of his 102 matches at the helm, with only Walter Winterbottom and Bobby Robson managing England on more occasions.

And Bellingham saluted the man under whom he made his Three Lions debut in 2020 before becoming a key member of the side.

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Emile Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi grabbed the goals to secure a 2-1 win for Fulham over Leicester City at Craven Cottage.

Iwobi’s goal 20 minutes from time on Saturday saw Marco Silva’s team clinch their first victory of the 2024-25 Premier League season.

Another former Arsenal player – Smith Rowe, a summer signing from the Gunners – opened his Fulham account when he broke the deadlock in the 18th minute.

Wout Faes headed home an equaliser before half-time, but the hosts’ dominance ultimately paid off when Iwobi raced through to finish underneath Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Adama Traore and Iwobi had already been thwarted by the time the former set up Smith Rowe to fire firmly beyond Hermansen.

Faes scored the leveller against the…

Many onlookers might have anticipated Newcastle United would soon be contending for honours with the backing of Saudi Arabia s Public Investment Fund, but few could have imagined the rapid rate of their improvement.

Just months removed from a Premier League relegation battle, Newcastle are through to the EFL Cup final and in position for Champions League qualification.

Yet this Newcastle team have not enjoyed their relative success to this point by playing in the same manner as Kevin Keegan s open, entertaining and erratic side of the 1990s.

Eddie Howe this week described Newcastle s class of 2022-23 as working within the Kevin framework , but their best attributes go back further to their roots.

Fortiter defendit triumphans – triumphing by brave defen…

Celtic survived a stoppage-time scare as they came from behind to beat St Johnstone 3-1 in Perth.

Celtic trailed to Diallang Jaiyesimi’s first goal for St Johnstone at half-time after failing to deal with an inswinging corner for the second weekend running – Motherwell netted a late equaliser at Parkhead from the same source.

Craig Levein again threatened to mastermind Brendan Rodgers’ first league defeat as Celtic manager as the Hoops took their time to get back in the game. Levein was manager of Hearts when the Jambos ended Rodgers’ 69-match unbeaten domestic start to his first Celtic reign in December 2017.

But Callum McGregor netted with a powerful strike in the 67th minute and Matt O’Riley hit his seventh cinch Premiership goal of the season 11 min…

Angel Correa, Leonardo Balerdi and Valentin Barco have all been cut from Lionel Scaloni s Argentina squad for the Copa America.

Scaloni named a 29-man provisional squad last month, as Argentina aim to retain their title, with Lionel Messi leading the team once more.

Correa, who has 25 caps for La Albiceleste and scored three goals, came on as a substitute in their first friendly against Ecuador but remained on the bench when they faced Guatemala on Friday.

Marseille defender Balerdi has not featured for his national side since 2019, while Barco only has one international appearance to his name.

19-year-old Valentin Carboni, who was handed his first start in the 4-1 win over Guatemala, gets the nod in the squad after being receiving high praise from Messi …

Ilkay Gundogan has completed a return to Manchester City from Barcelona, the Premier League champions confirmed on Friday.

Gundogan, who made 304 appearances across seven seasons at the Etihad Stadium from 2016 to 2023, has signed a one-year deal with Pep Guardiola s side.

The 33-year-old won 14 honours during his initial stint at City, including their maiden success in the Champions League last year, when he became the first German to captain a non-German side in a major European final.

His most prolific season in England came in the 2020-21 campaign, netting 17 goals and adding four assists in 46 appearances in all competitions.

Gundogan becomes City s second signing of the transfer window following the arrival of Savinho from Troyes, and will serve…

Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham will do their January transfer business earlier than usual after the club were hit by another injury blow.

Spurs travel to Brighton on Thursday night and will be without centre-back Cristian Romero, who has been ruled out for four to five weeks with a hamstring strain.

Romero joins a growing injury list that includes Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison, while next month Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and captain Son Heung-min will also be unavailable due to international commitments at the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup.

A trip to Brighton awaits!

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)

Tottenham have notoriously been active on transfer deadline-day in the winter window, signing Pedro Porro ea…