Conte can´t wait to leave Chelsea, claims Vialli

Paulo Wanchope will attempt to mark his first game in charge of Costa Rica on a permanent basis by ensuring Ramon Diaz s Paraguay reign starts with a friendly defeat at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica on Thursday.

Former Derby County striker Wanchope was rewarded for a successful spell as caretaker coach when the Costa Rican Soccer Federation last month announced that he will stay on in the role.

Costa Rica are unbeaten in six games under Wanchope, who guided his country to victory in last year s Copa Centroamericana.

The Central American nation exceeded expectations to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup last year, suffering the heartbreak of a penalty shootout exit at the hands of the Netherlands.

Wanchope, who was assistant to Jorge Luis…

Folarin Balogun faces uncertain future, which isn t likely to be resolved until the summer, as he told journalist Matt Spiro.

The 21-year-old striker left Arsenal to join Stade Reims on loan for the season, and he has done very well in France, scoring 18 goals in 29 games in all competitions so far. The loan is obviously doing what it was intended to do help him develop through regular game time, but given the way things have been going in his absence in North London, he isn t likely to find the situation much different when he returns to the parent club. With Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah both doing their part in the Gunners charge towards the Premier League title, Balogun is likely to remain behind them in the pecking order under Mikel Arteta.

Jesus arrived last su…

A new name will be engraved on the African Footballer of the Year trophy next month after three stars were shortlisted on Wednesday for the 2008 award.

Arsenal and Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor is favoured to top a poll among Africa-based national coaches with midfielders Michael Essien of Chelsea and Ghana and Mohamed Aboutraika of Al-Ahly and Egypt the other contenders.

Long-term injury casualty Essien finished second and third in the previous two editions of the African Football Confederation-organised competition while Adebayor and Aboutraika have never featured among the top three.

The omission from the original list of struggling Chelsea striker Didier Drogba came as no surprise and saved the organisers potential embarrassment as the Ivorian said he had n…

Everton have confirmed Duncan Ferguson will remain in charge for Saturday s Premier League clash with Arsenal at Goodison Park, as Carlo Ancelotti s appointment reportedly draws closer.

Ferguson has been in interim control since Marco Silva was dismissed on December 5 in the wake of a 5-2 hammering at the hands of Merseyside rivals Liverpool.

Fan favourite Ferguson led the Toffees to a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in his first match, before claiming a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford, though his winning run came to an end on Wednesday as Everton exited the EFL Cup with a 4-2 penalty shootout defeat to in-form Leicester City.

Ancelotti, who was sacked by Napoli on December 10, seems set to take over, with the ex-Real Madrid and Bayern Munich coach…

The Asian Football Confederation said its flagship club competition, the AFC Champions League, attracted more than one million spectators during the group stages a new record.

A total of 1,037,702 fans packed stadiums across Asia to watch 94 group phase encounters as 32 teams slugged it out to make the round of 16.

This year?s milestone overhauled the numbers achieved in the five previous editions of the competition.

The numbers show that Asian teams are popular in the continent and their game has attained the professionalism required in this modern era, said AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam.

I hope that the knockout stages of the competition will throw up interesting battles and the spectators will keep going to the stadiums to cheer their favourite t…

Bournemouth have agreed the season-long loan signing of Chelsea s Ghanaian winger Christian Atsu.

The Championship winners have been busy in the transfer market since their promotion to the top flight, signing goalkeepers Adam Federici and Artur Boruc as well as forward Josh King from Blackburn Rovers.

Atsu becomes the latest to arrive at Goldsands, with the 23-year-old having struggled to break into the first-team picture at Stamford Bridge.

Loans at Vitesse and Everton followed his move from Porto in 2013, with Atsu having featured in the UEFA Europa League for Roberto Martinez s side.

Atsu also represented Ghana for a second Africa Cup of Nations campaign this year and will move to the English south coast pending Premier League approval.

Th…

Former El Salvador head coach Ramon Maradiaga has been handed a two-year ban from all football activities by FIFA for allegedly failing to report a match-fixing attempt.

The suspension relates to events before a World Cup qualifier between El Salvador and Canada in September 2016.

El Salvador were already unable to reach Russia 2018 and lost the match 3-1, although Canada failed to progress to the next phase of CONCACAF qualification after Honduras drew 0-0 away to Mexico.

A statement released by FIFA announced that Maradiaga had violated regulations relating to bribery and corruption, along with those concerning duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting.

World football s governing body also confirmed its investigations concluded players rejected and…

West Ham s Ravel Morrison looks set to join Cardiff City on loan after the midfielder announced the deal on his Twitter account.

Morrison started his career at Manchester United and was tipped as a future star at Old Trafford.

However, after failing to break into United s first team, he joined West Ham in January 2012.

The 21-year-old s time at Upton Park has been beset by off-field troubles, though, and earlier this year he was remanded in custody after being charged with assaulting two women.

On the Cardiff move, Morrison wrote: Happy to get a three month loan at Cardiff City time to start playing football again.

Cardiff, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, are still on the hunt for a new manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer p…

A capacity crowd of close to 80,000 people welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid on Monday, setting a new record for turnout at the presentation of a footballer, club officials said.

I am very happy to be here, the 24-year-old Portuguese winger told cheering fans at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital after completing his much-desired move to the club from Manchester United.

For me it is the realization of a childhood dream, which was to play for Real Madrid. I never expected the the stadium would be full just to see me. It is impressive, he added.

The previous record for attendance at the unveiling of a footballer was set in July 1984 when Argentina s Diego Maradona was presented at Naples after he joined the Italian side from FC Barcelo…

Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano is thoroughly enjoying life at the club and says playing there is the equivalent of winning a prize .

The 28-year-old joined the Camp Nou club from Liverpool in 2010 and has since become a valued first team member after a difficult start.

Playing at Barcelona is like winning a prize, it s a blessing. Joining Barca in 2010 was a great decision, Mascherano said.

In the two years that I have been at Barca, the Champions League final at Wembley was my best moment.

With Liverpool I got to a final, but we lost to AC Milan and I never thought at that moment that I would have another chance.

The Argentine said he feels changing positions and focusing on playing at centre-back has been the right decision.

…