Tiago has called on his Atletico Madrid team-mates to help drag Antoine Griezmann up to the level of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Griezmann has scored 50 goals in 81 LaLiga appearances for Atletico since moving to the Vicente Calderon from Real Sociedad in 2014 and is widely regarded as their key player as they continue to challenge for major honours alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The France international was the top scorer at Euro 2016 and also named best player as the tournament hosts reached the final before going down to Portugal.
And Tiago believes Griezmann is close to joining Messi and Ronaldo in the top bracket of world stars, and will achieve that status with a little help from his club mates.
He told Marca: He will get there I m…
Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has dismissed the idea of Erling Haaland joining Paris Saint-Germain before the end of the transfer window.
There are reports that the Ligue 1 giants are preparing an enormous bid for the Norway star with a view to forcing BVB into a sale.
With Kylian Mbappe said to be nearing a move to Real Madrid in a €180million deal, PSG are rumoured to be willing to go close to the world-record €222m fee they paid for Neymar four years ago in an effort to sign Haaland as a replacement.
Dortmund, who sold Jadon Sancho to Manchester United for £72.9m (€85m) in July, have always been determined to keep Haaland until at least next year when a rumoured release clause of €75m will come into effect.
Zorc certainly …
Ghana are into the Africa Cup of Nations final for the first time in 18 years after a 1-0 defeat of Nigeria at the 11 November stadium here on Thursday.
In form striker Asamoah Gyan got the priceless first half goal to claim the honours as Ghana moved to within one win of a fifth continental crown.
The Black Stars opponents in Sunday s 2010 climax will emerge from Thursday s second semi-final in Benguela between holders Egypt and Algeria.
It s unbelievable, said Gyan. We are a young team and not many people gave us a chance of making the final.
Ghana coach Milovan Rajevic added: I told my boys we were not going to play beautiful football today, we were going to play for a result.
Nigeria had a few good chances but my team are very young and so…
Championship strugglers Wigan Athletic have signed Liverpool forward Jerome Sinclair on loan until the end of the season, .
The teenager became the youngest player to represent the Merseyside club when he came on as a late substitute in a League Cup third round victory over West Bromwich Albion in September 2012, a record he still holds, and joins up with fellow Reds-loanee Sheyi Ojo at the DW Stadium.
The Latics’ current selection of forwards have weighed in with just four league goals between them so far this season, two less than top scorer James McClean.
Malky Mackay’s side are the fourth lowest scorers in the division and currently sit third from bottom, six points from safety despite winning at Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon.
They a…
Swansea City manager Garry Monk has rubbished reports linking him with a move away from the club.
A run of six matches without a win has led some to speculate the former defender could soon be on his way out of the Liberty Stadium, while others believe he is wanted by Aston Villa to replace Tim Sherwood.
But Monk, who saw his side lose 1-0 at home to Stoke City on Monday, insists he is unmoved by the rumours.
The only thing [to say] is that I m here, he said. Stories come out, I m not sure if they are trying to unsettle us.
We are a group who don t listen. Our strength is our unity.
Commenting on the link to Villa, who Swansea face in the Premier League this weekend, Monk continued: It s comical. These things don t help managers.
Ti…
LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have agreed to extend the suspension of the 2019-20 season indefinitely.
Spain s top flight, along with the vast majority of sporting competitions and events across the world, has been put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic.
LaLiga made the decision to suspend the season until at least the start of April on March 12, after Real Madrid s squad were forced into quarantine when one of the club s basketball players tested positive for the respiratory illness.
League president Javier Tebas previously said he was convinced the season would be completed, while he was also hopeful all European leagues would finish by June 30, with both Euro 2020 and the 2020 Copa America pushed back to next year.
Howev…
Hansi Flick is the ideal candidate to succeed Joachim Low as Germany s next head coach, according to Lothar Matthaus.
Low announced on Tuesday he will step down from his role with the national team after the Euro 2020 finals, having been in charge for the past 15 years.
Bayern Munich s Flick was installed as one of the early favourites to take over from Low, whom he previously worked alongside as assistant head coach for eight years.
Flick masterminded a magnificent Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble last season, which Bayern have added to with the Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and DFL-Supercup this season.
The 56-year-old appeared to rule himself out of the running earlier this week as he remains under contract at the Allianz Arena unt…
Argentine international defender Fernando Gago wants to leave Real Madrid because he has been little used this season but the Spanish giants do not want to let him go, sports daily Marca reported Friday.
The 23-year-old, who joined Real at the end of 2006 from Argentine side Boca Juniors, needs more time on the pitch to be be considered for Argentina s 2010 World Cup squad and has asked his agent to negotiate his move to another club in the winter transfer window, it said.
But Real is counting on the player to make up for the absence of its midfielder and Mali captain Mahamadou Diarra who is scheduled to play for his national team during the 2010 African Cup of Nations between January 10-31.
Gago started for Real during all but two of the club s 26 Spanish leagu…
Middlesbrough have made a bid for Leeds United striker Ross McCormack, .
The 26 year old scored the first goal of the season for Brian McDermott’s men when he netted the equaliser against Brighton and Hove Albion at the weekend – taking him beyond the fifty goals mark in the Championship.
Leeds brought in forwards Matt Smith and Noel Hunt in the summer, meaning that McDermott may be willing to part company with the Scotland international.
Boro’s top scorer last season was Scott McDonald, who hit twelve in the league though he has since left to join Millwall.
McCormack began his career in the top flight in Scotland, where he made a handful of appearances for Rangers including two in the Champions League, before moving to Motherwell via a loan s…
Sam Allardyce says Crystal Palace pulled him out of a depression after he was sacked from the England manager s job in 2016.
Allardyce was speaking after the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) instructed the Daily Telegraph to publish a correction over three significant inaccuracies in its coverage of an undercover investigation that led to his dismissal as manager of the Three Lions, although it did deem that the story was in the public interest.
Palace appointed Allardyce just three months after his England sacking following allegations of malpractice, and the 63-year-old said taking over at Selhurst Park moved him on from a period of turmoil in his life.
Allardyce told talkSPORT: Crystal Palace saved me and pulled me out of a depression…