Football news

Former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has been appointed head coach of Dutch side Heerenveen, the BBC reports.

The 40-year-old signed a two-year deal and will take up his first managerial position in the summer. After retiring as a player in 2019, he worked as an assistant coach at Feyenoord and led the club's U18 and U19 teams.

- "I would like to continue my development and the role of head coach is ideal for this purpose," said Van Persie. "Heerenveen is a very good club with a rich tradition and loyal fans. It is a fantastic challenge to contribute to the sporting ambitions and development of the club as head coach.

The current head coach of Heerenveen, Kees van Vonderen, announced in March that he would be stepping down at the end of his contract.

Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih goalkeeper Volodymyr Makhankov commented on his team's entry into the European competitions.

- Kryvyi Rih deserves such a team. I would also like to thank all the fans who were with us at the stadium during these two days. "Kryvbas hasn't won any Ukrainian league awards for a long time, and the club's true fans are really happy to be with us. This is only our second year in the elite, and it is a real success for all of us. We will work hard to bring success to Kryvbas in the future. There are European Cups ahead, it will be interesting," Makhankov was quoted as saying by Kryvbas' official website.

The Control and Disciplinary Committee of the Ukrainian Football Association made a number of important decisions at its meeting.

In particular, the UAF CDC began considering cases of violations during the match of the 28th round of the U-19 Championship Shakhtar Donetsk vs Dynamo Kyiv, which took place on 10 May 2024, and violations during the match of the 28th round of the VBET League Shakhtar Donetsk vs Dynamo Kyiv, which took place on 11 May 2024, namely the removal of FC Shakhtar Donetsk player De Souza Lemos Eginaldo.

Given the need to clarify additional circumstances, a full and comprehensive examination of the evidence, the decision will be made at the next meetings of the UAF SCC, which will be announced later.

Ukrainian coach Serhiy Nagornyak told us what chances Oleksandr Usyk would have had to play football at a high level if he had not chosen boxing.

- Usyk would 100% have been a footballer if not for boxing. Would he have played in England? Anything is possible. Now no one will know. But he would have been a central striker for sure. I think Manchester City would have suited him. He reminds me of Holland in some ways - both are textured and left-footed. Perhaps if Sasha had chosen football instead of boxing at the time, we would now see him in the Citizens' team instead of Holland.

We have played football with Usyk on many occasions for veterans. He has excellent physical characteristics. Sani has a great concept of football and vision of the field. He always played in the attack for us and scored a lot of goals. A typical nine! Believe me, Usyk kicks with his left foot as well as with his left hand. If Sanya puts his foot to the ball, the round goes flying - like a catapult! It is better not to be in his way.

Usyk will definitely win the Fury. The whole of Ukraine is waiting for his victory, and it can't be otherwise. I want Sanya to win by knockout, but I won't be upset if he wins on points. Victory, as they say, doesn't smell," Nagornyak said.

Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri commented on the Turin team's 1-0 victory over Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final.

"Juventus won, and the rest doesn't matter. I'm very happy for the boys, they made the club, the fans and me happy. Winning is never easy, but it's in Juventus' DNA, so if I don't coach the Turin team next season, I will leave a strong team behind. The club will soon make a decision on my future.

Winning the Italian Cup is a team success. It wasn't easy, you are constantly being criticised in a big club. These three months are important for the development of the boys and for what they will do at Juventus in the future," Sport Mediaset quoted Alegri as saying.

The information that Dynamo's midfielder Vladislav Naumets is interested in Polish side Krakow turned out to be a duck, according to journalist Piotr Śląka.

"Yesterday there was information that Vladyslav Naumets was interested in Krakow. I asked one of the club's directors, and it's not true," the source writes.

Vadym Deonas, a former goalkeeper of Chornomorets, Prykarpattia, Mykolaiv SC, Borysfen, Tavria and Kyiv Arsenal, spoke about the events at the end of this season's Ukrainian league.

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Real Madrid's management is doing everything possible to officially present Kylian Mbappe before the start of Euro 2024 in Germany.

The European Championship starts on 14 June, and the ceremony at the Bernabeu is already underway, according to Marca newspaper.

The Spanish champions are trying to get permission from the French player's current club, Paris Saint-Germain, for an earlier transfer, as the 25-year-old Mbappe's current contract expires on 30 June. The 14-time European club champion plans to hold a contract signing ceremony with the Frenchman from 3 to 9 June.

Ticket sales for the Moldova-Ukraine friendly to be held on 11 June in Chisinau at the Zimbru Stadium, starting at 19:00 local time, have started.

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Famous Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic addressed boxer Tyson Fury on the eve of his fight with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.

"Tyson, I hope you've prepared well in the camp before the fight. You look good, enjoy the fight. I'm sure you know what you need to do. And I'm pretty sure you're going to do what you've always done - make history. Be yourself, go out there, dance, give us pleasure. Most importantly, win. Make history," Ibragimovic said in a video message to Fury.

Slovan midfielder Juraj Kutska spoke about the behaviour of Dynamo's controversial midfielder Jerson Rodriguez, who until recently played for the Slovak club on loan.

"We all tried together to make sure that Rodriguez did well here, but we failed. I think we just wasted time and effort. We saw that he wanted problems every day - to argue, to provoke someone. On the first day, the man came to the stadium and sent a doctor somewhere who wanted the player to go for a check-up... This is how it grew. He didn't follow the rules, I don't know if he ever came to training on time.

He also had some good things in terms of football, but sometimes he did absolutely ridiculous things. We talked to him and the team captain. Everyone at the club agreed that it was better that Rodriguez was not in the team because he was ruining it. He just didn't want to change," Sport.sk quoted Kutska as saying.

The majority of Premier League clubs are ready to leave the VAR system in place for the next season of the English Championship, Sky Sports reports.

It is reported that after Wolverhampton's proposal to put to a vote the feasibility of using the VAR system next season, most clubs are of the opinion that the video replay system should be retained.

However, it has also been noted that clubs are demanding significant improvements to VAR to prevent future mistakes like those made this season. One of the teams that has suffered from incorrect VAR decisions is Wolverhampton.

The vote on the abolition of VAR is due to take place on 6 June, but it is already known that most clubs will vote against it.