Hosts South Africa gained a morale-lifting win on Saturday ahead of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as an early Terror Fanteni goal gave them a 1-0 victory over Poland in a friendly international at Orlando Stadium.

Fanteni slotted into an open goal after just six minutes after Bernard Parker s scuffed shot had found a way past onrushing Polish goalkeeper Lukas Zaluska.

The scorer looked suspiciously offside as he tapped the ball into the net, but the goal stood, much to the disgust of Poland coach Leo Beenhakker.

It was a rare highlight in a mediocre encounter with few clearcut chances for either side.

Bafana coach Joel Santana went into the game without star midfielder Teko Modise, sidelined with a leg muscle injury.

And the Brazilian received…

(GSM) Hugo Sanchez has claimed that a freak rainstorm during Almeria s 4-1 home defeat by Athletic Bilbao helped seal his fate as he was relieved of his coaching duties from the Spanish strugglers.

The Mexican goalscoring legend was sacked as Almeria coach after Sunday s 2-0 loss at Espanyol in La Liga.

I had bad luck, Sanchez told sports newspaper Marca.

For example, it never rains here and the day of the Athletic match it was bucketing down.

They put three past us from set-pieces and we lost badly.

Former Mexico manager Sanchez may have a point as the average rainfall in the Andalucian city is only 184mm (seven inches).

The province of Almeria is so dry that it has served as the location for numerous spaghetti westerns.

The…

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots has risked a showdown with Manchester City by stating his desire to select Vincent Kompany for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Israel.

Kompany, captain with his club and national team, has been sidelined since sustaining a calf injury during City s 2-1 Champions League defeat to Juventus last month.

The 29-year-old will sit out his Saturday s Premier League match against Newcastle United and was therefore a surprise inclusion in Belgium s squad for the final two matches of their qualification campaign.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, City manager Manuel Pellegrini said Kompany cannot  play for Belgium but that he was happy for him to join up with his team-mates under a watching brief for the games against Andorra next Saturda…

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola denied suggestions his team s 4-0 loss to Barcelona was the worst of his career.

A Lionel Messi hat-trick and Neymar strike saw Barca to a resounding win in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Claudio Bravo s red card early in the second half, with City trailing 1-0, proved particularly costly, while Jeremy Mathieu was sent off late for Barca.

Guardiola, however, denied it was his worst loss, pointing to a 4-0 defeat suffered against Real Madrid while he was at Bayern Munich in 2014.

The worst defeat of my career was with Bayern against Madrid, he said, via AS.

It was the whole situation and the mistakes I made with the starting line-up.

Guardiola felt his team created enough opportunities to get on …

Arsenal are interested in signing Jamie Bynoe-Gittens from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that although German club Dortmund do not want to sell Bynoe-Gittens, Premier League outfit Arsenal could make an offer €30 million and that could sway the Bundesliga outfit.

Bynoe-Gittens has made four starts and 11 substitute appearances in the Bundesliga this season, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the process. The 18-year-old English forward has also made two substitute appearances in the UEFA Champions League and has made one start and one substitute appearance in the DFB-Pokal this campaign.

Arsenal are at the top of the Premier League table at the moment with 78 points from 34 matches, two points ahead…

Market: Seattle Sounders win

Odds: 7/11 @

Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the Western Conference table, Seattle will welcome Sporting Kansas to Lumen Field on Sunday night.

Starting with the hosts, while Seattle might have been disappointed after only grabbing a single point away at Real Salt Lake last weekend, the Sounders are enjoying what has been a largely impressive start to the new campaign. Currently sat at the top of the Western Conference table and already putting 20 points on the board from their opening 10 appearances, Brian Schmetzer’s side have lost just one of their previous eight domestic appearances across all competitions. Glad to make a return to Lumen Field on Sunday night, the Greens have continued on a rea…

that Tottenham Hotspur are readying a move for Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata, according to the Metro.

The Spain international, who was linked with a move to White Hart during his time with Valencia in La Liga, has had a mixed time since moving to Old Trafford in January 2014.

He has scored fourteen goals in forty-two appearances in all competitions for United though he is not guaranteed a starting spot under Louis van Gaal, and could be set to move to pastures new in the summer.

Before moving to Manchester, the 26 year old spent two-and-a-half years with Chelsea, where he was part of the squads that won the FA Cup and Champions League in 2012 and the Europa League in 2013 and was named the clubs player of the season both years.

Atletico Mad…

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel is excited about the physical battle with Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Benteke s form has helped Villa climb six points clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League, with the Belgium international recapturing his goalscoring touch.

The 24-year-old has scored in six of his past eight matches, netting nine times.

But Skrtel is welcoming the challenge of taking on Benteke, saying he preferred to face physical strikers more than speedsters.

To be honest, I prefer to play against the type of striker like him, like [Diego] Costa, the Slovakian, who is returning from suspension, said.

That is better because for me I don’t want to chase the little guys.

Obviou…

Despite strong interest from the likes of Sevilla, AS Roma, AS Monaco and Schalke 04, Mariano Diaz was adamant about his wish to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu, according to .

The striker doesn t seem to fit in with the plans of Zinedine Zidane for this season, with the likes of Karim Benzema and newcomer Luka Jovic both ahead of him in the pecking order at the moment. Nonetheless, his wage demands, apparently set at €4 million per year, apparently put off all suitors except Schalke. The Bundesliga side were the only club willing to pay that kind of money, but Mariano wasn t interested in moving to Gelsenkirchen simply because Schalke won t be competing in Europe this season at all.

Zidane made his stance on the 26-year-old public, but the player also made it very cl…

Gary Neville has suggested the Premier League should consider playing games in European hotspots  without coronavirus concerns, if the plan remains to finish the season.

The 2019-20 top-flight campaign has been halted since March 13 due to the global health pandemic, though the Premier League has continued to make clear its determination to complete the backlog of fixtures.

Friday will see further talks held between stakeholders over how to proceed, with reports suggesting there is hope for action to resume on the weekend commencing June 13.

Neville, however, is concerned over games going ahead in Britain safely even behind closed doors considering the logistical issues involved.

Instead, the former Manchester United and England defender has raised…