Japan s national team manager Alberto Zaccheroni has agreed to a contract extension, according to reports.

According to sources from within the Japan Football Association (JFA), the Italian s term at the helm of the Samurai Blue will be extended by one year, with another one-year extension depending on the team reaching the 2014 World Cup.

Zaccheroni s previous contract was due to expire in August, but his extension means he will lead the team throughout Cup qualifying as well as the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.

The Italian took over Japan following the 2010 World Cup, beginning his tenure with a 1-0 win against a Lionel Messi-led Argentina that October. Just five months later, Japan captured the 2011 Asian Cup after defeating Australia in extra-time.

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West Brom missed the chance to return to the top of the Championship as their six-match winning run was halted in a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic.

Slaven Bilic s side had to recover from a goal down to snatch a point that lifts them level with Leeds United, who beat Hull City on Tuesday to climb into top spot.

Brentford got their play-off charge back on track with a 2-1 win over Cardiff City, inflicting a first defeat of Neil Harris reign on the Welsh side.

Elsewhere, QPR moved into the top half of the division with a 2-0 away win at Birmingham City, while the other three games that took place on Wednesday finished 1-1.

WEST BROM DROP POINTS

West Brom had won four successive away league matches without conceding, but they came unstuck against a det…

Mason Greenwood starred with a superb brace as Manchester United thumped AZ 4-0 to seal top spot in Europa League Group L.

The first half was in keeping with the fact both teams had already qualified but United sprung into life with a flurry of four goals inside 11 second-half minutes.

Teenage forward Greenwood was to the fore after Ashley Young opened the scoring, dispatching a pair of fabulous finishes either side of winning a penalty that Juan Mata converted.

AZ were left to rue a pair of missed chances from Calvin Stengs as United romped clear to be assured of a seeded spot in Monday s draw for the knockout stages.

Andreas Pereira forced AZ goalkeeper Marco Bizot into an early near-post save but the lack of jeopardy in the game was initially reflecte…

Image Credit: Sportsgooglly.com

Colombia earned a in the opening match of the Copa America 2016 Centenario at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Friday.

AC Milan defender Cristian Zapata opened the scoring for Los Cafeteros within 8 minutes of the match, while Real Madrid superstar James Rodriguez doubled the lead for the visitors before half-time.

Here are five major talking points from the match:

USA lacklustre, completely outplayed 

The hosts enjoyed loads of possession but didn t do enough to trouble the Colombian defence. In fact, Colombia were more than happy to sit back and hit them on the counter. USA enjoyed a lion share 53% ball possession but how many clear cut goal chances had they created? Hardly one or two. They were restricted t…

Lille centre-back Simon Kjaer has emerged as the latest target for Premier League high-flyers Liverpool, Sportmediaset can reveal.

The Danish defender caught the eye of the Reds scouts who were watching Divock Origi in action and the Premiership side may come forward with an official bid in the summer.

Kjaer has kick-started his career in France following somewhat disappointing spells with Roma and Wolfsburg, and he recently hinted he would consider any serious proposal for his services.

The Reds need to recruit at least another centre-back if Brendan Rodgers continues playing a three-man defence and the Denmark international will certainly come into consideration.

Simon Kjaer made a name for himself in Italian Serie A, enjoying two very successful seaso…

Christian Pulisic believes the United States can take confidence from setting a record for away goals as they thumped Grenada.

In winning 7-1 on Friday in the CONCACAF Nations League, it was the first time they had scored seven goals in a match taking place outside the US.

It was USA s first competitive match since the World Cup, with Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie each scoring twice.

Chelsea star Pulisic also got on the scoresheet, and had a hand in four other goals too.

We came out really strong with a lot of energy and just kind of put with them right away, Pulisic said, per ESPN.

So I think they were kind of surprised by that. Took our goals well and just a great all-around performance. Definitely gives us confidence.

Pulisic adde…

The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has confirmed an interest in appointing Carlo Ancelotti as the next head coach of the national side.

Brazil are yet to name a permanent successor to Tite, who left following a quarter-final exit at the World Cup in Qatar, with the role likely to be filled at the end of the season.

Ancelotti remains contracted with Real Madrid until the completion of the 2023-24 season, but the Italian has been heavily touted to take the reins of the South American giants, with players among those talking up the possibility.

Ednaldo Rodrigues admitted he was the favourite among supporters and players, while acknowledging he was the confederation s main target.

Ancelotti is unanimously respected among players. Not…

Alvaro Morata will benefit from the trials of his recent goal drought, according to Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte.

Morata arrived at Stamford Bridge as a club-record signing last July and racked up 10 Premier League goals by the end of 2017.

But the Spain international has not added to that tally since the turn of the year, with his effort in the 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win at Leicester City ending a 13-game fallow spell.

This period for Morata was very important, Conte said ahead of Sunday s crunch Premier League clash against Tottenham.

I think that, in the last week and this week, he has worked very well. I think that he needed to work hard because, don t forget, Alvaro was out for one and a half months with his back problem.

Now Alvaro …

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best Odds:

Bookmaker:

With both sides craving Champions League success, the quarter-final clash between Liverpool and Manchester City should deliver premium excitement. Seeing also that both sides have been bagging goals for fun of late, we wouldn’t be surprised to see goals galore when the Premier League rivals square off at Anfield.

Liverpool

Even though at one point in the season it looked as though frequent defensive mistakes would turn the current campaign into a major disappointment, the Reds did well to return to the right track and they have been quite impressive for several months now. The back line looks much better now, but even when they commit occasional error, team’s ruthless attack usually comes to the rescu…

Germany boss Joachim Low has a problem to solve after striker Mario Gomez was ruled out of the rest of euro 2016

World champions Germany are in the semi-finals of Euro 2016 as we all know, but their quarter-final victory over Italy on penalties came at a cost.

The cost was the fact that Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira and Fiorentina striker Mario Gomez were both substituted with injuries.

Central midfielder Khedira is a doubt with a groin injury for Die Mannschaft’s semi-final clash with hosts France on Thursday night, but the bigger problem is that Gomez has been ruled out of the rest of the competition.

The only out-and-out striker in the squad

For all the quality in Joachim Low’s squad, Gomez is their only centre-forward. Germany have had…