Jordi Alba labelled Luis Enrique as "the best coach in the world" as Spain aim for World Cup glory in Qatar.

Alba worked with Luis Enrique at Barcelona when he was in charge between 2014 and 2017 before the latter left and went on to become La Roja coach.

The former Real Madrid and Barca midfielder initially left his role in 2019 due to family reasons before returning in the same year, subsequently guiding Spain to the semi-finals of Euro 2020.

A second-place finish in the 2020-21 Nations League further added to the resume of Luis Enrique, who Alba feels is the right man to lead Spain in the Middle East at the World Cup, which starts next Sunday.

"I already know him from Barcelona. He is a direct person, who trusts the players a lot," the Barca left-back told Mundo Deportivo.

"For me, I have always said, he is the best coach in the world. Not only in the football field, but also in the human field. 

"He is very close and helps all his team-mates and that is important for all the players and for me. He has a lot of personality. He captures his idea and that all the players go in the same direction. 

"It is something very difficult and he has achieved it in all the teams he has been in. We all go to what he tells us. At that he is the best."

Alba, Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets all reportedly took a significant drop in wages to allay Barca's financial difficulties after Lionel Messi left in August 2021.

The Spain left-back reiterated his commitment to Barca as he outlined his plans to stay at Camp Nou amid reports he could leave at the end of his contract in 2024.

"As far as I am concerned, I feel qualified to continue here for many years," he added. "I think that when I'm playing I'm doing well and when I'm not playing I'll support my team-mates and try to help the younger ones as much as I can. 

"I want to continue performing well. I've been here at Barcelona for many years and my intention is to stay here. Honestly, I didn't get any offer from that club, or from any other. 

"I knew the opinion of the coach, who was counting on me. There has been talk for many years that I could go on loan or sign to another club. But my intention has always been to stay here. 

"During these years I have worked hard for this club, then things will turn out for better or worse, but that will continue to be my intention until the end of the season and everything that remains on my contract."

Barca brought in the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde ahead of the 2022-23 term but were eliminated at the Champions League group stage for the second time in as many campaigns.

Xavi's side head into the World Cup break two points clear of Real Madrid at the LaLiga summit and Alba hopes to repay the faith of the Blaugrana faithful.

"This year we have not qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League and we are in the Europa League, but the people have continued with the players and that has been very important," he said.

"Now we have to try to return it in the form of titles. The deal with the fans has always been phenomenal."

Roma director Tiago Pinto says the club "cannot accept" Gareth Southgate's reasons to leave Tammy Abraham and Chris Smalling out of England's World Cup squad.

The Giallorossi pair had hoped to push for inclusion in the Three Lions' 26-man party for Qatar 2022.

Abraham was mooted as a possible understudy for Harry Kane, having scored 27 goals for Roma last season, but after only managing four in 20 appearances in 2022-23 so far, Southgate instead turned to in-form Newcastle United frontman Callum Wilson.

The presence of England regular Harry Maguire too in defence over Smalling, despite limited minutes for Manchester United, has left Pinto fuming.

"I cannot accept, both Roma and the representatives of other clubs, that people try to justify international call-ups with what is happening at club level," Pinto told DAZN.

"If Tammy is not part of the England squad because he didn't score over the last month, for example, but they called up a player benched for his club yesterday, then Smalling ought to be a starter for England."

Abraham ultimately paid the price for a drought of form at the wrong time, as Southgate suggested in his squad selection press conference.

Pinto admits there is further growing room for the attacker too, adding: "I want to say we are satisfied with Tammy, but always with the perspective that he can still improve, and I am sure he will do.

"We're pleased to see our players go to the World Cup, because it is important for them, but I cannot accept that after a call-up there is talk about the way these players work at Roma as justification for a personal choice."

Jose Mourinho says he was "humble enough to apologise" to referee Antonio Rapuano after accepting he deserved his latest red card in Roma's late 1-1 draw with Torino.

Roma head coach Mourinho was sent to the stands in the 88th minute with his side a goal down for repeatedly protesting decisions made by the official in Sunday's fiery contest.

Mourinho watched on from the Stadio Olimpico stands as Nemanja Matic rescued a point with a 94th-minute goal – Roma's latest at home in the league in 12 years.

The 59-year-old is no stranger to being given his marching orders and did not react kindly to being banished from the sidelines, but he later held his hands up for his actions.

"It was the right decision – my words to the referee deserved a red card," he told DAZN. "I spoke to him after and apologised, but I don’t want to talk about his performance. 

"I was humble enough to apologise, but I will leave his performance and the hypothetical influence on the match to you. 

"I don't want to talk about what we said, that was private. My words deserved a red card, but I will not judge the referee's performance."

Matic's dramatic late leveller came immediately after substitute Paulo Dybala had hit the frame of the goal, while former Torino striker Andrea Belotti missed an injury-time penalty just moments earlier in an exciting end to the contest.

Mourinho's side enter the World Cup break seventh in Serie A after winning just one of their past five matches.

The 10 points the Giallorossi have collected from their opening seven home league games this term is their lowest return since the 2005-06 season, when accruing eight.

Roma's disappointing form has coincided with Dybala's month-long absence from the side, with the Argentina international making a difference on his return against Torino.

"There are two games tonight – one until the 70th minute and one after," Mourinho said. "Until the 70th, Roma fans wanted to just go home.

"But in the final 20 minutes we created more, perhaps more than we have done in the last four or five games. Why? Easy, because Dybala came on.

"When you have a player like Paulo and he doesn't play, it's different. How many extra points would we have now if Dybala hadn't been injured? 

"The break is coming up, it will be the right moment for certain players to look at themselves and try a little self-criticism.

"Despite all these problems, we are a united group. A team that misses a penalty at the 92nd minute is usually dead, but not us, we kept going."

Roma host Bologna on their return to action on January 4, before travelling to reigning champions Milan four days later.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers strengthened their grip on first place in the NFC South as they survived a fourth-quarter fightback from the Seattle Seahawks to prevail 21-16 in Munich.

Tampa Bay went into the NFL's first regular-season game in Germany having got back on track with a last-gasp 16-13 win over the Los Angeles Rams and on top in their division despite an underwhelming 4-5 record.

For three-and-a-half quarters, there was little sub-par about the Buccaneers' performance at the Allianz Arena, where they led 21-3 with under nine minutes remaining.

Geno Smith threw touchdowns to Tyler Lockett and Marquise Goodwin to cut their advantage to 21-16, but Tom Brady delivered a clock-killing final drive to seal the game for the Bucs, who improve to 5-5, a game ahead of the 4-6 Atlanta Falcons with a tie-breaking head-to-head win in the NFC South. The Seahawks drop to 6-4.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Bucs took the lead at the end of a 13-play drive, Brady connecting over the middle with Julio Jones, who galloped into the endzone for a 31-yard touchdown.

While Smith and the Seahawks' offense continued to struggle, Brady looked increasingly comfortable and led another 13-play drive that was capped by a Leonard Fournette rushing touchdown to put Tampa Bay up 14-0.

Seattle responded in the third quarter with a 55-yard field goal but did not look like stopping the Bucs' offense until a remarkable trick play saw Fournette intercepted by Tariq Woolen while trying to throw to Brady.

But Smith fumbled in the red zone on the subsequent drive and Brady's four-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin seemingly put the game beyond doubt.

Smith connected with Lockett to give Seattle hope that was furthered by Goodwin's diving touchdown grab after a Cody Barton interception.

However, the Bucs gained three first downs on the final drive to end any prospect of a turnaround in Bavaria.

Mauricio Pochettino believes he offered Paris Saint-Germain stability but the challenge proved a step too far after having to appease "too much greatness" within his squad.

PSG brought in Lionel Messi in August 2021, along with Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Sergio Ramos, to join forces with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the French capital.

A plethora of world-class talent was expected to help Pochettino's side to European glory, though they instead crashed out of the 2021-22 Champions League after a dramatic last-16 clash with eventual winners Real Madrid.

Pochettino and PSG subsequently parted ways in July 2022, with Christophe Galtier his replacement, and the Argentine has said balancing an abundance of superstar footballers was the greatest difficulty.

"You need to adapt constantly because there was too much greatness," Pochettino told Spanish outlet Relevo.

"For Barcelona to have Messi or for Madrid to count on Cristiano [Ronaldo] is a blessing. But when you put too many players on the pitch who all need their place and to be number one, there can be confusion.

"In the end, when you play, it's 11 players with only one ball. There was a penalty and who takes it? It's not even the manager's decision.

"Our ability [Pochettino and his coaching staff's] was that of being people who kept the consensus, who were flexible to give each person what they needed.

"The thing is each one needed something different with their circumstances, depending on how they were doing in sporting terms, in family terms, and so on.

"We gave cause for there to be certain stability at PSG this year and for the same pieces to be maintained."

PSG's recruitment has come under scrutiny in recent years, with their desire to assemble world football's biggest names coming at the detriment of both player happiness and defensive stability.

Mbappe's time at PSG with Pochettino was filled with transfer speculation, the forward signing a bumper three-year extension after it appeared increasingly likely he would wait for a move to Madrid.

Former Tottenham boss Pochettino suggested he did not even know Mbappe was going to sign fresh terms just hours before PSG announced the news.

"They asked me in a news conference if I saw myself with Mbappe at PSG and I said yes because he had a year left on his contract," he added.

"[Carlo] Ancelotti [once] said that thing about how managers can't say the truth.

"Kylian was always calm, he always told me that he hadn't taken a decision. I knew what everyone [else] knew. He told me: 'Mister, I haven't taken the decision.' I insisted: 'But tell me if you've signed, it can stay a secret.' 'Mister, I haven't signed anything,' he replied. 'Are you going to stay?' 'I don't know.' 'Are you going to leave?' 'I don't know.'

"And like that until the end. I don't know what happened afterwards, I only found out a few hours before the announcement was made at the final match [of the season]."

Bruno Guimaraes is raring to go ahead of the Qatar World Cup, describing making Brazil's squad as "tremendously emotional".

The Newcastle United midfielder, one of 12 Premier League players called up by the Selecao, will make his major tournament debut at Qatar 2022 under Tite.

Having switched from Lyon last season to the Magpies, Guimaraes has been sensational in his first nine months as a Premier League player.

However, he was not sure of his inclusion and revealed he was in the dark – as is traditional for Brazil's prospective players – until he saw his name announced by Tite in a press conference.

"We didn't know if I would be in the squad," he told Newcastle's club media. "Everyone asks this but in Brazil we don't know, we only find out on the day, watching television like everybody else.

"It was tremendously emotional. I think everyone's seen the video. It's traditional in Brazil for all the players to watch the squad announcement before the World Cup. I genuinely didn't know beforehand."

While there is plenty of Premier League representation in Brazil's squad, there was no room for Guimaraes' Newcastle team-mate Joelinton, who is yet to win a senior cap for his country.

Guimaraes was disappointed to see his fellow midfielder miss out, adding: "I hoped Joelinton would be in the squad with me. He's a great player, playing really well here at Newcastle.

"He's a player who has helped me a lot since I arrived. We have a great friendship. I see him as my brother. I'm sad for him, but he's still young and he'll have other opportunities to play in other World Cups.

"I don't think it will affect his career – he knows how to handle it. Of course I'm sad for him, but he can think about the next World Cup and continue doing what he's been doing as he contributes so much here at Newcastle."

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend says his side missed "the best opportunity in our history" to defeat New Zealand for the first time on Sunday.

A Stuart Hogg penalty try and Darcy Graham crossing over, coupled with a trio of penalties for Finn Russell, helped Scotland into a 23-14 second-half lead at Murrayfield.

But points from the boot of Jordie Barrett and a Jack Dempsey sin-bin allowed the All Blacks to fight back before Scott Barrett and Mark Telea bundled over to maintain New Zealand's streak in Scotland.

The All Blacks have not lost in 32 Tests against Scotland, stretching back 117 years, and Townsend acknowledged his team squandered a glorious opportunity after a 31-23 defeat.

"We're disappointed. There was so much to be proud of but we didn't see it through," he told Amazon Prime.

"It was a show of resilience after going 14-0 down to one of the best teams in the world, but we didn't get the win.

"You don't get to play New Zealand very often and that's the best opportunity in our history we've had to beat them."

The manner of defeat added greater frustration for Scotland, given they led 17-14 against New Zealand at half-time for just a third time in history, with the other two occurrences coming in 1905 and 1990.

Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie acknowledged the missed opportunity after the match, though he dedicated the performance to Doddie Weir, who was in attendance to mark five years since the launch of his charity that raises awareness of motor neurone disease.

"It's tough to be on the wrong side of the result. We were there or thereabouts for 70 minutes," Ritchie said. "It's some of the best rugby we've played over the last three weeks and I'm so proud of the players.

"We're glad we could put on a decent show for Doddie [Weir], just a shame we couldn't get the win. We spoke about being brave today and nothing defines brave more than Doddie."

Ian Foster had come under scrutiny for an underwhelming 2022 for the All Blacks, though praised New Zealand's fightback after they collected their sixth straight Test win.

"It was a tough game. I thought Scotland were tremendous, they put us under a lot of pressure," the All Blacks coach said. "Our bench was strong and that strength and composure was important.

"It was a high penalty count game and that allowed Scotland to get into our half too often, so we need to work on that.

"It would have been easy for us to panic in the last 15 minutes and [captain] Sam Whitelock deserves a lot of credit for keeping the boys calm."

Casper Ruud opened his ATP Finals campaign with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 triumph over Felix Auger-Aliassime in Turin.

The victory put Ruud top of the Green Group, with the pool's two other players, Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz, set to face off later on Sunday.

A tight first set saw each game go to serve as it went all the way to a tie-break, with Ruud – this year's beaten US Open finalist – finding a crucial break at 3-2 up, giving him the momentum to nose ahead.

They continued to be closely matched in the second set too, though Ruud again managed to break Auger-Aliassime at a critical juncture in the match.

With the set tied at three apiece, ATP Finals debutant Auger-Aliassime double-faulted at 40-15 down on his own serve to put Ruud within two games of victory.

The world number four took full advantage, who is making his second appearance in the season-ending tournament, kicking on to secure a straight-sets success without offering a single break point to begin his tournament in impressive fashion.

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Ruud - 5/1

Auger-Aliassime - 14/3

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Ruud - 19/5

Auger-Aliassime - 30/9

BREAK POINTS WON

Ruud - 1/1

Auger-Aliassime - 0/0

Tommy Fleetwood edged out Ryan Fox in a dramatic finish to defend his Nedbank Golf Challenge crown and end a three-year winless run on the DP World Tour.

Fleetwood and Fox went into the final round three shots behind Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, where play was suspended on Sunday due to thunderstorms.

The leaders had only managed five holes before the delays, though Fleetwood raced into the ascendancy after the restart as he carded a five-under 66, including an eagle and four birdies to triumph.

"It has been a great week," Fleetwood said. "I already had so many amazing memories with this place and felt like I had such a great connection to it, so this [win] just added to that."

Victory for Fleetwood was never a certainty until the 18th hole, though, as a wayward tee shot saw Fox bogey the last hole to finish on 10-under, one shot behind the Englishman.

An erroneous drive meant Fox relinquished the chance to not only win the event but also to jump above Rory McIlroy at the top of the season-long DP World Tour rankings.

"I played great and didn't miss a shot until the 18th," Fox said. "I certainly would've like to have played the 18th a little bit better and made Tommy work a little bit harder, but it's an incredibly tough golf course to play down the stretch.

"All of us were there or thereabouts with three holes to play, but Tommy was the one who held it together. Fair play to him. If you had given me second at the start of the week, I definitely would've taken it."

Shubhankar Sharma finished on nine-under to claim third, with Richie Ramsay a further shot behind in fourth as Fleetwood secured his sixth DP World Tour title.

It was also his first triumph since winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 2019, with the past two editions cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Fleetwood climbed to fourth in the rankings ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

Alphonso Davies has been named in Canada's squad for the World Cup despite suffering an injury scare in Bayern Munich's recent Bundesliga win over Hertha Berlin.

Davies sparked fears regarding his condition when he limped out of Bayern's 3-2 victory at the Olympiastadion last week, with the Bavarian giants subsequently confirming he sustained a hamstring strain.

However, Bayern then said Davies' hopes of participating at the World Cup were "not at risk", and the 22-year-old features in John Herdman's 26-man squad for the tournament in Qatar.

Lille's Jonathan David is another notable name in Herdman's party – his tally of nine Ligue 1 goals this season has only been bettered by Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe (12) and Neymar (11).

Canada begin their first World Cup campaign since 1986 by facing Belgium on November 23, before taking on fellow Group F rivals Croatia and Morocco.

Atiba Hutchinson, born in 1983, is the only member of the Canada squad who was alive the last time the nation competed at the World Cup.

Canada lost all three of their matches on their only previous World Cup appearance, failing to score a goal. They are one of just four nations to play at least three World Cup games without hitting the net (also Trinidad and Tobago, Zaire and China).

Mark Telea scored two tries on debut as New Zealand mounted a second-half comeback to maintain their unbeaten streak over Scotland after a 31-23 victory at Murrayfield.

Late tries for Scott Barrett and Telea saw the All Blacks defend their perfect record against Scotland, who squandered a 23-14 lead as they failed to defeat the All Blacks for a 32nd straight Test.

The All Blacks raced into a two-try advantage as debutant Telea's driving run teed up Samisoni Taukei'aho before the winger crossed over himself four minutes later on Sunday.

But Scotland fought back amid a frenetic start as Anton Lienert-Brown was sin-binned for a Stuart Hogg penalty try, with Darcy Graham capitalising on the one-man advantage to dive over in the 14th minute.

Finn Russell's penalty ensured Scotland led New Zealand at half-time in a Test for just a third time in history, before the fly-half added another six points with his boot from range after the interval.

However, a Jordie Barrett penalty and Jack Dempsey sin-bin saw the All Blacks battle back before Scott Barrett and Telea bundled over to keep their 117-year unbeaten run against Scotland going.

Cristiano Ronaldo was left out of Manchester United's matchday squad for Sunday's Premier League trip to Fulham after struggling with illness. 

Ronaldo captained United in a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa last week but was absent for Thursday's EFL Cup victory over the same opponents due to feeling unwell.

Erik ten Hag said it was "possible" Ronaldo would be involved in United's final pre-World Cup game at Craven Cottage, insisting the Portugal forward's absence was not influenced by the upcoming tournament in Qatar.

However, the 37-year-old was left out of United's squad, with Anthony Elanga joining Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial – who both scored in Thursday's 4-2 win over Villa – in their attack.

Ten Hag also opted to start left-back Tyrell Malacia in place of suspended right-back Diogo Dalot, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka not included in the squad, while Bruno Fernandes was named captain as Harry Maguire, selected for the World Cup by England manager Gareth Southgate, dropped to the bench after starting on Thursday.

Fulham, meanwhile, were without talismanic striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is facing a battle to be fit for Serbia's World Cup campaign after sustaining a foot injury.

Kalidou Koulibaly implored Chelsea players "to look each other in the eye" with the Blues players the only "culprits" for the increasing pressure on Graham Potter.

Head coach Potter became the first Blues manager since Jose Mourinho in 2015 to lose three consecutive Premier League matches following a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United.

The tepid nature of the Chelsea showing offered more reason for concern after the Blues managed just seven touches in the opposition box, their lowest since January against Manchester City.

With Potter's side eight points adrift of the Premier League's top four, albeit with a game in hand over fourth-placed Tottenham, Koulibaly urged his team-mates to take responsibility for their recent form.

"It hurts, we came here to take three points,'' the Senegal international told Canal Plus.

''We knew that they were in a good moment, that they are putting on the intensity and that especially at home they have their audience behind them. 

"Today, Chelsea are not in their place and the only culprits are us. So we must look each other in the eye and continue to work to put Chelsea in their place.''

The World Cup break could come at a good time for Chelsea as the Premier League pauses, with the Blues not in action again until a home clash with Bournemouth on December 27.

Koulibaly will head to the Middle East with Senegal, who are in Group A alongside hosts Qatar, Ecuador and the Netherlands, though he hopes Chelsea can atone for their mistakes after the break.

He added: ''The break comes at a good time for us, we need to recharge the batteries, think about something else and come back after the World Cup with a different mentality."