Edin Dzeko has weighed in on the racist abuse faced by Inter team-mate Romelu Lukaku, calling it something that should never happen on the football pitch .

Belgium forward Lukaku was abused by Juventus supporters during an ill-tempered Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg last week.

It came against the backdrop of a particularly violent 1-1 encounter, with both Samir Handanovic and Juan Cuadrado also shown red cards for their part in a brawl.

Ahead of the return leg later this month, Dzeko acknowledged the events were things that should not have been allowed to take place, while outlining Inter s wider cup ambitions.

During the match, some things happened that never should on the football pitch, he told N1. They have already been spoken and written about.

Portugal winger Ricardo Quaresma is on the verge of becomming new Inter boss Jose Mourinho s second summer signing, according to the Gazetta dello Sport on Monday.

Following the arrival of Brazilian winger Alessandro Mancini from AS Roma earlier this month for around 13 million euros, Inter are set to meet FC Porto manager Jorge Mendes to discuss the transfer of Quaresma.

Gazzetta reported that Mendes would be in Milan on Monday in an attempt to set a price for the player, with the two sides still some way apart in their valuation of the former Barcelona man.

Porto allegedly want 40 million euros with Inter reluctant to pay more than half that sum.

Mourinho admitted to Portuguese television station TVI on Sunday that he was hoping to sign the attacki…

Watford have confirmed the sale of Matej Vydra to Derby County following a 3-1 loss at home to Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.

Czech international Vydra was a key member of the team that saw Watford earn promotion to the top flight in 2014-15. 

But he spent last season on loan in the Championship with Reading and will now return to the second tier with Derby, signing a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Santi Cazorla s penalty, together with goals from Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, saw the Gunners record a simple win, Roberto Pereyra netting a consolation for Watford in the second half.

OFFICIAL: Matej Vydra signs a permanent deal with . Thanks for your efforts at , .

— Watford FC (@WatfordFC)

The second half we p…

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Southampton and Aston Villa will face each other in the Premier League this weekend. The match between the Saints and the Villans at St. Mary’s Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 8pm UK time on Saturday.

Southampton

Southampton will head into the match against Villa on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at St. Mary’s Stadium in the Premier League. That followed a 1-0 win against the Gunners at home in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are 11th in the Premier League table at the moment with 29 points from 19 matches. Southampton are only six points behind fourth-placed West Ham United, who have played 20 games. It is unlikely that the Saints will end up in …

World football s governing body FIFA will earn 25 billion rands (2.7 billion dollars, 2.1 billion euros) on television rights to broadcast the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the organisation said on Monday.

The announcement was made by FIFA TV director Niclas Ericson (EDS: correct) during a press conference in Johannesburg, according to the SAPA news agency.

FIFA will also broadcast the games to hundreds of millions of cell phones worldwide, and has entered special agreements with African TV networks across the continent, he added.

We have entered an agreement with the African Union of Broadcasters to place the TV rights in 41 sub-Saharan countries before the end of 2009, Ericson said.

The dream would be for an African team to reach the final, which w…

Bordeaux secured their place in the Coupe de France final as they came from behind to battle to a 2-1 win at Troyes on Tuesday.

After securing victory in a tie which was rescheduled due to flooding in the areas surrounding the Stade de L Aube last week, Francis Gillot s side will now face Evian in the final at the Stade de France on May 31 thanks to a strike from Cheick Diabate and an own-goal from home defender Jeremie Brechet.

Troyes, who are embroiled in a relegation fight at the bottom of Ligue 1, took the lead seven minutes into the game, Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, latching on to a through ball following a mistake from Lamine Sane to slot the ball past Cedric Carrasso.
Bordeaux responded well, with Diabate heading over from six yards a…

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has proposed staging the Supercopa de Espana as a one-off match at a neutral venue ahead of the 2018-19 season.

The move described as exceptional by the governing body represents a break with tradition, marking the first time the fixture will not have been played over two legs in the competition s current guise.

The RFEF made the proposal on Thursday as president Luis Rubiales, who sacked national team coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup, met with representatives from Barcelona and Sevilla the two participants.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has already spoken of his support for such a change, with Sevilla facing a hectic August schedule thanks to their Europa League qualifiers.

No venue has yet be…

All the talk in La Liga this season has been of the rivalry between the millions of Real Madrid and the fantastic football of Barcelona.

This is nothing new in La Liga but other clubs such as Sevilla and Valencia have had superb starts to the season. It is Valencia who has impressed me in recent weeks.

Good start

Unai Emery’s side have started the season in good form and have only suffered one defeat in La Liga. The style of play has been typically Spanish with quick passing and movement. The players in his side are ideally suited to this style of play with the likes of David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata all capable of one touch passing.

Financial mess

Despite the good start to the season Valencia are playing under the cloud of financ…

AC Milan winger Suso believes former head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic did not like him, having struggled for game time during the Torino boss  spell at San Siro.

Suso arrived in Milan in 2015, signed from Liverpool during Filippo Inzaghi s spell in charge, but he quickly lost his place in the team after Mihajlovic s arrival and was loaned to Genoa.

The 23-year-old could not understand the ex-Lazio star s decision, insisting Mihajlovic simply must not have liked him.

[Mihajlovic] played me against Empoli at home I was dead, I wasn t fit, Suso told Gazzetta dello Sport.

My legs were not working, I felt rusty. After an hour, he took me off and I didn t play anymore from that moment. I trained well, maybe better than I am now, but I didn t play and I didn t un…

Kylian Mbappe has a lot more freedom playing for France alongside a traditional striker compared to at Paris Saint-Germain, where he is flanked by Lionel Messi and Neymar.

The 23-year-old opened the scoring in Thursday s 2-0 win over Austria as France picked up their first Nations League win of the campaign at the fifth attempt.

Mbappe, who had an early strike ruled out for offside, was played in by a perfect Olivier Giroud pass and blasted in his 28th international goal in 58 appearances.

He led the way for shots (seven), shots on target (three) and touches in the opposition box (10), while no player created more chances than the PSG forward s three.

After producing an all-action display alongside Giroud, who became France s oldest goalscorer with his se…