A Gareth Bale brace and further goals from Sam Vokes and Joe Allen helped Wales ease to a comfortable 4-0 win over Moldova in their opening World Cup 2018 qualifier at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Vokes headed the hosts in front from a fine Bale cross after 38 minutes before Allen capitalised on a goalkeeping error to make it 2-0 six minutes later.

Ivan Jardan s ill-advised backpass then gifted Bale his first of the night after 50 minutes and the Real Madrid star added another from the penalty spot his 24th international goal deep into stoppage time.

Moldova, who came into the game 154 places below Wales in the FIFA rankings, never looked capable of avoiding defeat and barely mustered a meaningful attack over the course of the 90 minutes.

Chris Coleman s m…

Real Madrid are plotting a £50m bid for Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea,.

The European Champions have been regularly linked with a move for the Spain international in recent months, and are set to table a lucrative offer in an attempt to persuade United to do business.

Should the Premier League giants not bite, Real are likely to wait until the end of next season when the 24 year old’s current deal expires while such is their desire to secure his services, they will again offer big money should he sign a new contract with Louis van Gaal’s side.

De Gea moved to Old Trafford from Real’s city rivals Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011, and has since racked up one hundred and sixty-five appearances in all competitions for the club, while he was…

According to a recent report from Marca, James Rodriguez isn’t interested in staying with Bayern Munich – despite the fact that he’s been able to lock down a place in the starting XI as of late. Bayern are interested in making his loan deal more permanent, which contradicts reports from just a few weeks ago that suggested they weren’t all that bothered one way or another. The Colombian first joined the German giants back in 2017, when he made the jump over to Bundesliga from La Liga with Real Madrid. Alas, after struggling to break into the first team for so long, James now wants to go elsewhere.

The primary club believed to be interested in securing his services is Juventus, who are set to have a really big summer in the transfer market.

Either way, though, reg…

Jose Mourinho insists he has immense respect for Rafael Benitez and does not feel any extra incentive to beat him when Manchester United host Newcastle United on Saturday.

The Premier League match at Old Trafford will be the pair s first meeting in the English top flight since August 2007, when Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea and Benitez was at Liverpool.

The two experienced managers had a simmering feud following Mourinho s arrival in England in 2004, fuelled by a number of high-profile encounters between the teams, including a Champions League semi-final tie in 2005 that was decided by a controversial Luis Garcia goal.

The animosity reared its head again in 2015 when Benitez s wife commented on her husband s role in tidying up the messes of Mourinho, the Span…

Wojciech Szczesny said Juventus performance in a 4-0 Champions League thrashing at the hands of titleholders Chelsea was unacceptable .

Chelsea cruised into the round of 16 and replaced Juve, who had already qualified, at the top of Group H by hammering Massimiliano Allegri s side at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Trevoh Chalobah opened the scoring in the first half with a controversial goal after Antonio Rudiger appeared to handle the ball in the penalty area.

The Premier League leaders ran riot after the break, the outstanding Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner consigning the Bianconeri to their heaviest Champions League defeat.

Juve had not lost by a four-goal margin in any competition since they were subjected to a 4-0 drubbing by Serie A…

Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal has backed fans who have decided to boycott the World Cup in Qatar.

After a 12-year wait loaded with controversy, the first World Cup to be played in the Middle East begins on Sunday when Qatar face Ecuador.

There has been scrutiny on the hosts surrounding human rights issues, the treatment of migrant workers and the illegality of homosexuality, with FIFA having written to all participating nations and urging them to focus on the football .

That seems unlikely to happen, however, with a number of nations already speaking out, and Van Gaal has issued his support to any fans boycotting the tournament.

I think that they are right to do that because they believe in that and they have to do that, so no problem with that, …

North Korea have included Swiss Super League based pair Pak Kwang-ryong and Cha Jong-hyok in their 22-man squad for the upcoming Asian Cup.

Pak, currently playing on loan at Vaduz from Swiss champions Basel, is one of only four players in Jo Tong-sop s party to play outside of North Korea.

Defender Cha also plies his trade in Switzerland s top flight and he is one of just two players in the squad that played in the 2010 World Cup with goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk having also represented North Korea in South Africa.

Head coach Jo has also named eight players from Rimyongsu, who finished runners-up at the AFC President s Cup in May.

North Korea are participating in the tournament for the second time running and will hope to better their group-stage exit in Qatar…

Stoke boss Tony Pulis admits this season s Europa League adventure has taken its toll on his players.

The Potters enjoyed a strong run in the group stage before being knocked out by current semi-finalists Valencia in February.

Although Pulis found the experience in the competition highly rewarding, he conceded that playing upwards of 50 matches in the campaign has left his players drained.

He told Absolute Radio: We ve had a great season this year in respect of the European experience.

It s been a wonderful opportunity to watch and be involved in European football for the first time for a long time at this football club.

The supporters and everybody connected to the club, (the) chairman, the family, have really, really enjoyed that experience.…

Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona if he does not accept a pay cut, according to presential candidate Emili Rousaud.

Messi s future remains an important topic at embattled LaLiga giants Barca after the superstar captain handed in a transfer request following a tumultuous 2019-20 campaign.

The six-time Ballon d Or winner was tipped to join Premier League powerhouse Manchester City before opting to remain in Spain, though he has since been linked to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain and Inter.

Rousaud, who is in the running for the presidential election which takes place on January 24 following Josep Maria Bartomeu s resignation in October, discussed Messi s future amid the coronavirus pandemic

We ll have to sit down with Messi and ask him to make a sal…

New Barcelona signing Antoine Griezmann has credited Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone for his form in recent seasons, saying he felt lucky to have played under the Argentinian.

Griezmann completed his €120million move to Barca last week after spending five years at Atleti playing under Simeone.

His exit left a sour taste in Madrid, with Atletico adamant they should have been paid €200m because they say Griezmann and his new club agreed terms before July 1, when his release clause dropped by €80m.

Barcelona are confident there is no evidence of such an agreement taking place and, despite the bad blood between the two clubs, Griezmann has spoken glowingly about Simeone.

I am lucky to have learned from Cholo Simeone. Thanks to him, I ve been p…