Ben Waine s late goal earned New Zealand a 1-1 draw with the United States, who ended the night on a low after the confirmation of Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach.

Christian Pulisic looked to have earned victory in Tuesday s friendly with his 69th-minute finish, only for Waine to fortunately capitalise on some poor defending by the hosts a minute from the end.

A lacklustre first half saw just one shot on target from either side as the USA failed to make their dominance count, entering the interval with 66.4% possession.

But Milan s Pulisic emerged from the bench to spark the contest into life, rounding off a free-flowing move with a left-footed finish low into Max Crocombe s goal.

However, USA s dismal run, which has seen them win one of thei…

Gareth Southgate wants England’s players to be mentally “spot on” and grab their opportunity to impress as he experiments against old sporting rivals Australia.

The Euro 2020 runners-up can seal their place at next summer’s edition in Germany when they host holders Italy at Wembley in Tuesday’s Group C encounter.

But first comes just England’s second friendly since March 2022 after a run of 16 consecutive competitive matches came to an end with last month’s 3-1 victory at Scotland.

High energy levels on MD-1!

— England (@England)

Southgate avoided over-experimenting in Glasgow but still managed to try new things, just as he will in Friday’s sold-out encounter under the arch against the Socceroos.

“It’s one of the gr…

Claudio Ranieri has been named the new head coach of Roma until the end of the season.

The 67-year-old finalised a deal after arriving in the Italian capital on Friday.

Ranieri succeeds Eusebio Di Francesco, who was sacked in the wake of Roma s Champions League exit at the hands of Porto this week.

We are delighted to welcome Claudio Ranieri back to the club, Roma president James Pallotta told the club s website.

We have one objective remaining this season and that is to finish in the highest possible league position and secure qualification for the Champions League.

At this stage of the campaign, it was important to bring in a coach who knows the club, understands the environment, can speak the language and is able to motivate the players. Cla…

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice late on to secure Al-Hilal a 3-0 win over Al-Riyadh, sending them top of the Saudi Pro League on Saturday.

Salem Al-Dawsari orchestrated the victory though, scoring one and assisting both of Mitrovic s goals, while Marcos Leonardo was denied a strike of his own.

Al-Hilal dominated the first half, managing 10 shots as they smothered the hosts, but they could not find a breakthrough, only testing Milan Borjan twice.

Both sides moved through the gears in the second half though, with Ibrahim Bayesh rifling a powerful effort against the woodwork minutes after the break for the hosts.

Al-Dawsari found a way through shortly after – he made a sensational run down the left before cutting inside and dinking a lovely shot over Borj…

Fulham are interested in signing Davinson Sanchez from London and Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Fulham have enquired to Spurs about a potential deal for Sanchez.

Sanchez has made 142 appearances in the Premier League so far in his career. The defender has scored three goals, given one assist and kept 39 clean sheets in those matches. The Colombia international made eight starts and 10 substitute appearances in the Premier League for Spurs last season. Back in 2021-22, the defender made 17 starts in the Premier League, while in 2020-21, he made 17 starts as well in the league.

The defender is a squad player at Tottenham, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. While Sanchez has shown…

Serie A strugglers Genoa have sacked head coach Rolando Maran and replaced him with Davide Ballardini.

Maran, 57, was dismissed on Monday following the 2-0 defeat to Benevento.

He had only signed a two-year contract to take charge at the Luigi Ferraris in August.

Ballardini was later confirmed as Maran s replacement, marking the fourth time the 56-year-old has been in charge at Genoa.

He was previously appointed head coach in 2010, 2013 and 2017.

Genoa are 19th in Serie A, with just seven points from their first 13 matches of the season. They have not won in Serie A since beating bottom-club Crotone 4-1 at home on September 20.

They have scored 12 league goals this season and created 85 chances, the lowest of any side except Crotone and Pa…

Tired of your mates recycling the same old football trivia questions from years gone by?

Bring them bang up to date and get them guessing with our Opta-powered Premier League quiz.

All the answers are at the bottom of the page, so you can claim the high ground when it comes to statistical knowledge!

1. Arsenal have won all seven of their previous meetings against Burnley at Emirates Stadium. Who are the only side the Gunners have faced more often at home and won against on each occasion since 2006-07?

Home 

Bring on Saturday

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

2. Newcastle United s last four managers have all lost their first away Premier League match in charge. Can you name each of them?

Few days to reflect on the game…

Italy boss Roberto Mancini insists he is not interested in returning to club football before his work with the Azzurri is complete.

Reports in Italy had claimed a number of Premier League clubs had contacted former Manchester City boss Mancini.

Mancini has also coached teams including Lazio, Inter, Galatasaray and Zenit, and he took on the Italy job in 2018 with the national team at a low ebb.

The team s failure to qualify for that year s World Cup left Mancini with a rebuilding job, and 10 out of 10 wins in qualifying for Euro 2020 suggested they were moving in the right direction.

Asked about reported interest in him, Mancini said on Sunday: My goal is to do well in the European Championships and do well in the World Cup. It would be a regret to leave…

Atletico Madrid recovered from a goal behind to beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1 at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday and move six points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Diego Simeone s men had won just one of their last four league matches, most recently drawing 1-1 with Real Madrid, but made their game in hand count to put some distance between themselves and Barcelona.

Marcos Llorente equalised for Atletico late in the first half after Iker Munian had opened the scoring and Luis Suarez converted a penalty he won early in the second period to put the hosts in front.

Atleti were far from their best but saw things through from that point to pick up a landmark 309th victory under Simeone in all competitions, seeing him surpass Luis Aragones with the most wins for the club…

Andrea Pirlo feels sorry for friend and former team-mate Gennaro Gattuso, whose job is hanging by a thread ahead of Napoli hosting Juventus.

Sixth-placed Napoli welcome the Serie A champions on Saturday with reports suggesting Gattuso s spell as head coach could be over if they suffer an eighth top-flight defeat.

Gattuso came out in bullish fashion when asked about his future after his team were defeated 3-1 by Atalanta in their Coppa Italia semi-final on Wednesday.

He insisted it was the club s hierarchy who must answer any questions over his future.

Juve, meanwhile, reached the final by beating Inter 2-1 on aggregate, with Pirlo joking he was now Allegriano after deploying a defensive style in the 0-0 second-leg draw and their last league victory over…