Munich, July 11 (IANS) Bayern Munich have signed Portuguese midfielder Joao Palhinha from Premier League club Fulham on a four-year deal.

The 29-year-old, who joined Fulham in 2022, has appeared in 79 Premier League games in all competitions, as well as 31 for Portugal’s senior side.

“This is one of the happiest days of my life. I’m now playing for one of the top clubs in Europe. It’s a dream come true for me, and I’m very proud of that. I’m looking forward to the atmosphere and the fans at the Allianz Arena. I want to enjoy success with FC Bayern and win titles – I’ll give it my all,” Palhinha said in a statement.

After Bayer Leverkusen interrupted Bayern’s 11-year stint as Bundesliga champions, the club appointed Vincent Kompany as coach.

Palhinha is Bayern’s second significant Premier League signing of the close season, following the acquisition of Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise.

“Joao Palhinha was highly sought after by FC Bayern even last summer – and rightly so. It was important that we never lost touch. Joao really wanted to come to Bayern, and we need players like that,” Max Eberl, FC Bayern board member for sport.

“He’s an important building block for our future. He’s once again demonstrated his strengths on the big stage at the Euros and brings a lot of experience, having previously played at a Euros and World Cup, and making around 300 appearances in the Portuguese and English leagues. He will give us greater stability in the centre,” he added.

–IANS

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Charlotte, July 11 (IANS) James Rodriguez heaped praise on his teammates after 10-man Colombia clinched a 1-0 victory over Uruguay to book a place in the Copa America final.

Rodriguez provided his sixth assist of the tournament – a Copa America record – when his in-swinging cross was headed in by Jefferson Lerma in the 39th minute. But the Cafeteros were forced to play the entire second half with 10 men after Daniel Munoz was sent off in first-half stoppage time for a second yellow-card offense, reports Xinhua.

“The game got very difficult, but we defended well when we needed to,” Rodriguez told reporters after the match at Bank of America Stadium.

Colombia, who are undefeated in 28 matches, will meet Argentina in the final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

“Credit should go to all of our players,” the former Real Madrid midfielder said. “It wasn’t easy after we went down to 10 men, but we did a phenomenal job to hold on. When you are driven and happy things are a lot easier.”

The Cafeteros will be vying for just their second Copa America title – and their first since 2001 – while Argentina aims to win the continental trophy for a 16th time.

“The final will be difficult but we are hungry, and that is the most important thing,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been here [with the national team] for 13 years wanting to achieve this. Now, it is our chance to create history.”

–IANS

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Dortmund, July 11 (IANS) England manager Gareth Southgate heaped praise on his players and remained committed to their goal of winning the Euro 2024 after his side sealed their first major final spot on foreign soil after beating Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Spain.

England came from behind to turn the tide in their favour after conceding the early goal in the seventh minute of the game. Xavi Simons stunned the English defence as he struck the ball from outside the box on the top left of Jordan Pickford’s post. His goal gave the upper hand to the Dutch team in the clash before Harry Kane scored an equaliser on the penalty. In the 90th minute of the clash, substitute Ollie Watkins’ goal kept England’s hopes alive to win their first European title.

“I took the job to try to improve English football and we’re now in a second final. The last one was the first in over 50 years. We’re now in a first one overseas. We’re giving people amazing nights. We’ve given our supporters some of the best nights in the last 50 years. I’m hugely proud of that,” Southgate said after the match.

“I’m delighted if everyone at home is feeling the way we are and the way those in the stadium were. But we’re not finished. We’ve got the greatest possible test to prepare for. We came here to try to win the tournament and that’s still our aim,” he added.

England have had a difficult journey to the final, being the first team in Euros history to do so after trailing in both their quarter-final and semi-final matches.

Jude Bellingham’s bicycle kick in the 95th minute put them ahead of Slovakia in the last 16, and they needed a penalty shootout to beat Switzerland. In fury, fans threw plastic cups aimed at Southgate after their 0-0 draw with Slovenia in the group stages.

“We all want to be loved, right? When you’re doing something for your country, you’re a proud Englishman – you don’t feel that back and all you read is criticism, it’s hard,” said Southgate.

“To be able to celebrate a second final is very special. If I had not been on the grass, I would have been watching and celebrating like (the fans) were.

“I’m the one that has to pick a team so to be able to give them a night like tonight was very special. We have come here to win and play the team who have been the best in the tournament [in the final]. But we’re still here and fighting,” he concluded.

England will face spirited Spain in the summit clash of the tournament at Olympiastadion Berlin on Monday, July 15.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Australia’s left-arm fast-bowler Mitchell Starc said he was unhappy over being dropped for the Men’s T20 World Cup Super Eights match against Afghanistan last month, adding that fielding eventually led to the side’s surprise 21-run defeat at St Vincent.

Australia had replaced Starc with left-arm spin all-rounder Ashton Agar for the crucial game against Afghanistan to tie down their batters on a slow spin-aiding pitch. But that move didn’t yield desired results as Agar didn’t pick any wickets, with openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran having an opening stand of 118 runs, their third century stand of the competition.

“No – two World Cups in a row. Just the match-up, they saw previous games on that ground in St Vincent with spin playing a part and obviously Ash and the left-armer enticing them to make a change I think Ash bowled pretty well in the power play.

“They probably played the spin quite well and batting first probably assessed the conditions a little bit better than we did, and had a couple of stumbles that in the end cost us the game. It was probably the fielding that cost us again that game. That meant we had to win against India and we fell short there as well,” said Starc to the Willow Talk podcast.

After a sloppy fielding show, Australia’s batting crumbled in face of captain Rashid Khan and seam bowling all-rounder Gulbadin Naib to lose the game, which jeopardised their semi-finals hopes. After that, Australia suffered a defeat to eventual champions India in their last Super Eight game at St Lucia, which confirmed their exit from the competition.

Starc, who won IPL 2024 with the Kolkata Knight Riders, was also displeased with the scheduling and pre-seeding arrangements in the tournament that saw Australia advance to the hectic Super Eights stage in the Group 1, a pre-determined move despite topping Group B.

“We finished ahead of England and end up where we were pre-seeded as the second side. All of a sudden, you’re in a different group. The argument was it was because it was so hard to get around the West Indies, so fans knew where your team was playing. So then why don’t you have the chock-a-block tournament at the front and then spread it out at the back end?

“We had the two night games and the third was a day game, so it wasn’t the best preparation. We had a delayed flight out of St Vincent, it was a 90-minute drive from the airport to the hotel in St Lucia, and then we had a 10 o’clock toss.

“I think that was probably maybe a misread (by organisers), the fact that the front half of the tournament was more spread out, and then you hit the super eights and travel around the West Indies is probably not the easiest thing to do, certainly not to travel home from,” concluded Starc.

–IANS

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Charlotte, July 11 (IANS) Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa bemoaned his team’s wastefulness after the Celeste were eliminated from the Copa America following a 1-0 semifinal defeat to Colombia.

Jefferson Lerma put Colombia ahead in the 39th minute but the Cafeteros were reduced to 10 men when Daniel Munoz was shown a red card on the stroke of halftime, reports Xinhua.

“We should have obtained an advantage but, with one more man, the game was distorted,” Bielsa said. “There were many interruptions, which made it difficult to maintain a fluid rhythm of play.”

Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez squandered two early scoring chances and it appeared only a matter of time before Bielsa’s men would find a way past Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.

Despite dominating possession, the Celeste managed only two shots on target from 11 attempts in total.

“We should have been able to swing the balance in our favor, both in the first half – due to our movement in attack – and in the second due to our numerical advantage,” Bielsa said. “In the last few minutes, Colombia could have extended the lead because their scoring chances were very clear.”

–IANS

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