Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has become a co-owner of American side Rochester Rhinos.

The New York-based club were formed in 1996 but have not played a competitive game in four years due to a lack of funding.

However, with former England international Vardy on board, Rochester plan to compete again next year in USL League One, the third tier of the American football pyramid.

Vardy announced on social media on Wednesday that he has bought a minority stake in the club, but stressed he has no plans to retire from playing.

Rochester have won the national championships four times and are the only side from outside the MLS to have won the US Open Cup, doing so in 1999.

I m really excited to be part of the Rhinos, Vardy posted on his Instagram ac…

Prediction: Slovan Bratislava to win 2-1

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Slovan Bratislava and Ferencvaros will face each other in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round at Národný futbalový štadión in Bratislava this week. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30pm UK time on Wednesday.

Slovan Bratislava

Slovan Bratislava are one of the biggest clubs in Slovakia and have played in the UEFA Champions League before on a number of occasions. The Sky Blues have won the Czechoslovak First League as many as eight times, the Czechoslovak Cup on five occasions, the Slovak Super Lig as many as 16 times, and the Slovak Cup 10 times.

The Bratislava-based club have a rich history in European competitions as well. They won the …

Louis van Gaal recently criticized the way Barcelona have been adapting their team to Lionel Messi. He feels that it should have been done the other way around, emphasizing the importance of team spirit . Further more, he names this particular thing as the reason why the Catalan club haven t won the Champions League since 2015, as well as the reason why they were so comprehensively beaten by Liverpool at Anfield in this season s semifinal.

It s fair to say the ESPN staff 100% disagree with the 67-year-old Dutchman.

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Lionel Messi has called on Barcelona to crown an unforgettable year with Club World Cup glory in Japan.

In their first season under Luis Enrique, Barca repeated the famous treble achieved by Pep Guardiola s 2008-09 vintage of the Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles.

The glut of silverware was embellished by a 2-1 extra time win over Estudiantes in the 2009 Club World Cup final and Messi, who netted the decisive goal on that occasion, does not believe his team-mates will lack for motivation to emulate this success.

There s no need [to search for motivation], he told FIFA.com. We know just how much the Club World Cup means and for us it’s about winning another title, these championship wins are an indelible legacy in the history of the club. It’s …

Verdict: Algeria win and under 3.5 goals

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Two nations looking to secure their spot in the semi-finals of this year s African Cup of Nations, a high-flying Algeria will face off against the Ivory Coast at the New Suez Stadium on Thursday evening.

Ivory Coast

Starting with the Ivory Coast, while Les Éléphants may have managed to pick up an incredibly hard-fought 1-0 win over Mali last week to secure them a quarter-final spot, Head Coach Ibrahim Kamara will know that his side had luck on their side. Despite Crystal Palace Wilfried Zaha bagging the winner at the New Suez Stadium last weekend, the Oranges once again flattered to deceive. With the likes of Moussa Marega and Moussa Djenepo missing a string of golden opportunities for…

Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel have quelled reports that Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain will be rivalling Barcelona for Antoine Griezmann s signature.

Griezmann and Atletico Madrid confirmed on Tuesday that the 28-year-old s stay in the Spanish capital would be coming to an end after five years at the club.

Last June, the France forward signed a new contract to keep him at the Wanda Metropolitano until 2023, with a documentary titled The Decision  having been made to publicise Griezmann s choice not to move to Camp Nou.

However, following his change of heart, reports have suggested Premier League champions City were considering challenging any renewed interest from Barca by activating the forward s release clause, reportedly set at €120million.

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Scotland have appointed Alex McLeish as their new head coach for the second time, the 59-year-old reportedly signing a deal until 2020.

McLeish returns to a role that he previously held for 10 months in 2007, overseeing nine matches and claiming six wins.

He left his role with the national team to join Birmingham City, where he went on to lift the EFL Cup with victory over Arsenal in 2011.

Following a 168-game spell at St Andrew s, McLeish s career has been rather nomadic, enduring difficult tenures with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Genk and Zamalek.

McLeish has been out of work since May 2016 but will now be charged with leading Scotland s quest to reach Euro 2020 – having failed to qualify for their last 10 major tournaments.

The former Ab…

Bayern Munich made light work of Union Berlin as Robert Lewandowski s double helped the Bundesliga champions to a 4-0 victory on Saturday.

Kingsley Coman and Tanguy Nianzou put Bayern in control before Lewandowski netted either side of the break, taking his tally of league goals for the season to 31.

Union created chances on the break, notably through the lively Taiwo Awoniyi, but have now shipped nine goals in two games against Bayern this season.

The result moves Julian Nagelsmann s side closer to a 10th consecutive title on the day Bayern surpassed Werder Bremen as the team to have played the most Bundesliga games, with 1,935 outings.

1935 FC Bayern will play their 1935th game against Union Berlin, the most of any side in the competition s history,…

Liverpool have held initial talks with the representatives of James Milner over a new contract, according to James Pearce, formerly of Liverpool Echo.

The midfielder arrived on a free transfer from Manchester City back in 2015 and signed a five-year deal, which therefore expires next summer. By then, he will have turned 34.

Milner has so far played for Liverpool 181 times and scored 22 goals in all competitions, and his versatility has been invaluable to manager Jurgen Klopp since the German took over from Brendan Rodgers in October 2015. Though primarily a central midfielder, he has been deployed in a number of other roles, especially in 2016/17 when he spent the entire season on the left defensive flank.

Apparently, the player s representatives have approached…

According to , Italian giants and champions Juventus are interested in re-signing Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba this summer. The report claims that the Frenchman’s agent Mino Raiola has made contact with the Turin club over a possible return to Italy.

Pogba made his name in four glittering campaigns with the Bianconeri after joining the Italian champions from Manchester United as a free agent in 2012. However, he returned to Manchester in the summer of 2016 for a then world-record fee of £89million.

Has not been an overwhelming success at United

It would be wrong to claim that Paul Pogba has been an overwhelming success at United. In fact, he has produced three highly inconsistent campaigns. The midfielder has enjoyed purple spells where he has looked like…