Jesse Marsch feels Canada have been "treated like second-class citizens" as he took aim at Copa America officials, claiming "this tournament has not been professional".

The Canucks will bring their maiden campaign to a close when they face Uruguay in the third-place playoff on Saturday.

Their opponents' players were involved in a post-match brawl with Colombia supporters following their semi-final defeat, after violence erupted near to where family members were located.

After the CONMEBOL announced they had opened an investigation into the incident, Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa insisted his players should receive an apology rather than be sanctioned.

Marsch believes the incident highlighted severe problems within the tournament, after a Canada player was subjected to racial abuse online following their Group A defeat by Argentina.

And while the Canada head coach empathised with his Uruguay counterpart, he feels there would have been a stronger punishment incurred had it involved his side. 

"For me, this tournament has not been professional," Marsch told reporters at his pre-match press conference. "There are too many gaps in the way.

"I watched what happened after the match, and certainly I don't know all the details, but certainly we wouldn't want anyone's families or any player's families to be put in harm's way.

"But I know if our team responded like this, that there would be heavy sanctions because of the treatment that we received in this tournament. We've been treated like second-class citizens."

Marsch also criticised the officiating after Alphonso Davies was forced off injured in their semi-final defeat by Argentina following a heavy challenge by Gonzalo Montiel, with the referee not even awarding a foul.

"You give me another opportunity to talk about how poor the refereeing was for the tackle on Alphonso," he added.

"If you were to turn it over and put that against the biggest player from the other team, specifically from South America in this tournament, the behaviour and the treatment for such a tackle in such a situation would be very different.

"So, we were lucky that we avoided any big injury with Alphonso, but we're not totally certain if he'll be available tomorrow. And one of the main jobs of a referee in any match is to protect the safety of players, and that was not doing his job."

Sarina Wiegman hailed England's start in their 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland, but wanted to see more goals as her side closed in on qualification for Euro 2025.

Alessio Russo rounded off a fine team move while Georgia Stanway scored from the penalty spot as the Lionesses took all three points in the Group A3 clash at Carrow Road.

After France beat Sweden by the same scoreline, Wiegman's side require just a point against the Swedes in Gothenburg on Tuesday to secure their place at the finals.

Although, the Lionesses' margin of victory could have been greater as they enjoyed just under two-thirds of the possession, but converted just two of the 16 chances they created, while Julie Russell struck a stoppage-time consolation for the visitors.

"[I am] happy with the result," Wiegman told ITV. "I thought we started really well, and scored an incredible goal. The best goals are those that involve many players, so that was pleasing.

"After that, we created a lot of chances, but should have played more in the pockets and in behind. We hoped to score more goals, and of course, I was very frustrated with their goal in the last minute.

"Sweden on Tuesday will be a completely different game; they play a different system. What we want to do is, of course, be at the finals. Sweden have to win, and we'll be ready for that."

"Job's done. We got three points," forward Jess Park added. "We are disappointed to have conceded that goal, but we had lots of opportunities to put the ball in the net, and we're happy with the three points.

"We're so focused [on Tuesday's game]. We've been working really hard and just want to get those three points."

Interim San Jose Earthquakes boss Ian Russell is keen to carry the momentum from last week's crucial victory over the Chicago Fire into Saturday, when Sporting Kansas City visit PayPal Park.

The Earthquakes halted a nine-match winless run and recorded their first victory in three games under Russell last time out, Hernan Lopez's goal proving enough to beat Chicago. 

San Jose remain six points adrift of their nearest rivals – Saturday's opponents Sporting – at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, but Russell hopes last week's win can be a turning point.

"We needed a win. The Clasico was disappointing and against St. Louis we were flat. I thought we were on the front foot and deserved to win," Russell said. 

"We're happy with how the players responded and got after it. We've had some close ones go the other way.

"Depending on the opponent, the main objective for us was to stop conceding goals. We needed to grind out a game like that and it gives us confidence moving forward.

"We just need to build momentum from that last game and carry it on to Sporting."

Sporting were also victorious last week, beating FC Dallas 3-2 in a game that saw William Agada score twice and Zorhan Bassong sent off late on.

Having then needed extra time to overcome the same opponents in the U.S. Open Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, coach Peter Vermes will leave it until the last minute to pick Saturday's starting lineup. 

"We go back to 20 guys now and I can't bury a bunch of guys. One issue is Bassong being out for the next game, that hurts a bit," Vermes said after their Dallas double-header.

"We'll have some challenges that we'll have to deal with and it'll be Saturday morning when we see how some of the players are."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

San Jose Earthquakes – Cristian Espinoza

Espinoza provided the assist on the lone goal in San Jose's win over Chicago last Sunday, his 10th assist of the season. 

This is Espinoza's fourth career double-digit assist season, something no other Earthquakes player has done more than twice.

Sporting Kansas City – William Adaga

After scoring twice against Dallas last weekend, Agada has netted in 12 different matches in MLS, and half of those contests have seen him score a brace. 

Of players that have scored in 10 or more MLS matches, only Miguel Almiron (53.8%, 7/13) has had multiple goals in a higher percentage of them.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Sporting KC have only lost two of their last 18 matches against the 'Quakes in all competitions, winning 10 and drawing six in a run dating back to September 2016.

One of San Jose's two victories in that span, however, did come when the teams last faced off at PayPal Park last April, a 3-0 win.

With Sporting losing eight straight regular-season road matches, their longest losing streak away from home in the post-shootout era (since 2000), this fixture may come at a good time for San Jose. Whether they have the quality to take three points, though, is a big question.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

San Jose Earthquakes – 35.9%

Sporting Kansas City – 38%

Draw – 26.1%

Marcelo Bielsa vehemently defended Uruguay's players after they clashed with Colombia fans following their Copa America semi-final defeat.

La Celeste's hopes of landing a record-breaking 16th title were ended by a 1-0 loss in Charlotte on Wednesday, and they will subsequently face Canada in Saturday's third-place playoff.

After the match, footage shared on social media showed La Celeste players climbing into the stands at the Bank of America Stadium when family members were caught up in violence involving Colombia supporters.

CONMEBOL has opened an investigation into the incident but, when asked whether he feared facing sanctions, Bielsa insisted his players should receive an apology rather than punishment.

"How can you not defend your mother, your sister, a baby?!" he angrily told reporters at his pre-match press conference. "If they did not do it, they would have been condemned by all of us. 

"The sanction does not have to be for the footballers, but for those who forced them to act like that. This is a witch hunt. It is a shame.

"You should have asked me if we have received an apology, not if I fear sanctions. Here, the message was we cannot defend your family, and we cannot allow them to flee. What sanction are they talking to me about?!"

Defender Sebastian Caceres concurred with Bielsa that he and his team-mates responded in an instinctive manner.

"What happened after the game is something that anyone would have done," he said. "I went up to check that my family was OK, and I tried to take a team-mate with me so that it wouldn't continue."

St. Louis City interim head coach John Hackworth is aiming to learn from mistakes made in their last meeting with the Vancouver Whitecaps now they are back on home soil.

St. Louis have won just one of their last 11 matches in MLS – 2-0 at home in Hackworth's first game in charge, with their 4-3 defeat to Vancouver prior to that, leading to Bradley Carnell's departure.

They currently sit 12th in the Western Conference on 22 points, eight behind the playoffs, and Hackworth is focusing on making sure the team do not lose their concentration in the closing stages.

"If we can finish stronger than we start, that's the focus," said Hackworth. "At home, we want to put a complete performance together.

"It's easy for me to say that if we'd finished stronger [last time out against Vancouver], we could've got something.

"So, that's our goal for our performance. Specifically, be better in the last 20 minutes, and we have a chance to be successful."

Meanwhile, Vancouver are now unbeaten in three matches, a run that started in the reverse fixture.

Sitting sixth in the table, head coach Vanni Sartini is looking to go into the upcoming break with the team in an even stronger position.

"St. Louis will be really important," he said. "We have three games before the break for the Leagues Cup and getting a positive record in these three games, five or more points, is important.

"Starting in St. Louis would be great. For sure, they'll want to avenge the fact that we beat them.

"They have a new coach, so it'll be hard, but from what I've seen from our team in the last couple of weeks, we have what it takes to win."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

St. Louis City – John Klein

John Klein scored his first MLS goal in St. Louis City's defeat in Colorado on Sunday, becoming the 15th different goalscorer for the club this season, tied for the most different scorers in MLS this year (Sporting Kansas City).

Vancouver Whitecaps – Brian White

Brian White has scored five goals in three matches against St. Louis City, his most against any MLS opponent in regular-season play.

The only players to score more goals against a single opponent since St. Louis joined MLS last season are Facundo Torres (six) against the Chicago Fire and Teemu Pukki (six) vs LA Galaxy.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

The home side has won all three meetings between these sides, with Vancouver winning the last two meetings at BC Place after St. Louis won the first match at home in May 2023. The winning side has scored at least three times in all the games.

St. Louis won their last home match, 2-0, over San Jose Earthquakes on July 3, the club's fourth home win of the regular season. St. Louis' only back-to-back home wins this year came against Austin and Chicago in April-May.

Meanwhile, the Whitecaps are unbeaten in three straight regular-season matches (won two, drawn one), a run that began with a 4-3 win over St. Louis on June 29. This equals Vancouver's longest unbeaten run in league play this season (three straight in April-May).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

St. Louis City – 36.9%

Draw – 26.3%

Vancouver Whitecaps – 36.8%

Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer has praised his side’s resilience in coming back from a poor run of results to go five games unbeaten in the MLS.

The Sounders travel to the Q2 Stadium this weekend to face Austin FC, hoping to continue their winning streak and move further up the Western Conference table.

Schmetzer’s side currently sit in seventh place in the standings and booked their place in the semi-finals of the US Open Cup following a 2-1 victory over Sacramento Republic last time out.

The head coach was able to detail the reasoning behind his side’s upturn in fortunes in recent weeks, going on to say the players within the group have changed their mindset as part of their new-found success.

Schmetzer said: "I have seen goal production; I have seen a little bit of a rebound just in the mindset of the entire group.

“It has always been a pretty resilient group, but I think they are also a proud group, and I don’t think they were happy in the place that they were a month ago.

“They started to dig, so it’s a combination of things.”

Austin also come into the encounter following an impressive victory against New York City FC last time out, coming from a goal down to claim their eighth win of the season.

Josh Wolff’s side sit right on the play-off line in the Western Conference table, currently occupying ninth place on 30 points but have Minnesota United breathing down their necks.

The Verde and Black head coach acknowledged the challenges that await his side as the season reached its conclusion, but lauded his players and staffs efforts for coming through a difficult period having suffered several injuries within their squad.

“Obviously, the pressure will build with each game whether you take points, or you don’t, but if I am being honest, I am very pleased with our group’s efforts to get to this position and be inside the play-off line,” Wolff said.

“We are four points from being higher and four or five points from being in a much lower spot, but that is what the Western Conference is.

“The ability from our high performance and technical staff to keep these guys healthy and in a good space, in some games we had four subs, and we knew we were going to have tough times.

“But the guys, to be able to get results home and away to put us in a position now after the Leagues Cup, the season will go quickly. We have a big week ahead of us and it starts with Seattle.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Austin FC – Gyasi Zardes

Gyasi Zardes was the man of the moment for Austin in their comeback victory against NYCFC, ending his streak of 28 MLS games without a goal.

His previous longest goal drought came between 2016 and 2017 when he was playing for LA Galaxy, going 18 games without finding the back of the net. His brace will surely give him confidence heading into the encounter.

Seattle Sounders – Albert Rusnak

Albert Rusnak’s growing influence within the Seattle Sounders side continues to grow, notching a goal and an assist in their 2-1 triumph over New England in their last MLS fixture.

Rusnak has either scored or assisted in seven of Seattle’s last eight goals (four goals, three assists). Prior to this rich run of form, the Slovakian had managed just seven goal contributions in the MLS prior to June 19 (one goal, six assists).

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Both sides come into the contest off the back of impressive MLS victories, but it is the Sounders who hold the edge when looking at their record at the Q2 Stadium.

Seattle are unbeaten in three all-time visits to Austin (W2 D1), one of two teams (Colorado Rapids) to visit Austin three times without ever losing.

But Austin showed their powers of recovery once again in their victory over NYCFC. Having fallen behind in the fifth minute. However, it was the 14th time they have conceded the first goal in a game this season, tied with Inter Miami and Chicago Fire.  

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Austin FC – 39.4%

Draw – 26.6%

Seattle Sounders – 34.1%

Manchester City defender Sergio Gomez has completed a move to Real Sociedad in a deal reportedly worth €10million (£8.4m). 

Gomez ends a two-year stay at the Etihad Stadium having made 38 appearances for Pep Guardiola's side, winning five major honours that included their maiden triumph in the Champions League and two Premier League titles. 

The 23-year-old struggled to cement a place in the Citizens first-team having arrived from Anderlecht in 2022 in a deal worth £18million. 

Gomez made just 18 appearances in the Premier League, with Guardiola preferring summer arrival Josko Gvardiol in the left-back position. 

City have a 30% sell-on clause in the transfer, with the Spaniard joining the La Liga side on a six-year deal. 

Gomez returns to his homeland where he started his senior career with Barcelona B, followed by spells at Borussia Dortmund and Huesca. 

“It’s time to leave Manchester City but I’d like to thank everyone at the CFA for their support and guidance during my time at the club,” Gomez said.

“Being part of such a talented, ambitious and successful squad was a true honour and winning a host of major trophies, including the treble, is something I will never forget and will always look back fondly on.

“I am excited for this new adventure but I wish Pep Guardiola and the players every success in the future.”

Manchester City defender Sergio Gomez has completed a move to Real Sociedad in a deal reportedly worth €10million (£8.4m). 

Gomez ends a two-year stay at the Etihad Stadium having made 38 appearances for Pep Guardiola's side, winning five major honours that included their maiden triumph in the Champions League and two Premier League titles. 

The 23-year-old struggled to cement a place in the Citizens first-team having arrived from Anderlecht in 2022 in a deal worth £18million. 

Gomez made just 18 appearances in the Premier League, with Guardiola preferring summer arrival Josko Gvardiol in the left-back position. 

City have a 30% sell-on clause in the transfer, with the Spaniard joining the La Liga side on a six-year deal. 

Gomez returns to his homeland where he started his senior career with Barcelona B, followed by spells at Borussia Dortmund and Huesca. 

“It’s time to leave Manchester City but I’d like to thank everyone at the CFA for their support and guidance during my time at the club,” Gomez said.

“Being part of such a talented, ambitious and successful squad was a true honour and winning a host of major trophies, including the treble, is something I will never forget and will always look back fondly on.

“I am excited for this new adventure but I wish Pep Guardiola and the players every success in the future.”

Ollie Watkins labelled Spain's Lamine Yamal as a "generational talent" ahead of England's clash with La Roja in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday. 

Yamal played a key role in Spain reaching their first major tournament final since 2012, scoring a stunner to cancel out Randal Kolo Muani's opener before Dani Olmo's winner four minutes later. 

The teenager has had 13 shot involvements following a ball carry at Euro 2024 (six shots, seven chances created), at least three more than any other player.

Having beaten Pele's record in becoming the youngest player to score at a major tournament, more history beckons for Yamal in Berlin. 

A day after his 17th birthday, the Barcelona forward could be the youngest player to feature in a World Cup or European Championship final, again, beating Pele's record from the 1958 World Cup (17y 249d).

“Everyone's seen what he can do. It's not often that you are scoring a goal against France in the top corner in the semi-final of the Euros when you're 16," Watkins said.

"He’s got the world at his feet and is miles ahead of me when I was 16 or 17.”

England left it late to secure their place in their first major tournament final on foreign soil, with Watkins striking the deciding blow against the Netherlands. 

The Three Lions' hopes of reaching back-to-back European Championship finals were dented early on when Xavi Simons fired beyond Jordan Pickford from distance. 

However, Harry Kane levelled from the spot, before Watkins emerged from the bench to fire Gareth Southgate's side into the tournament's showpiece game. 

Watkins was under no illusions about the difficulty awaiting his side in Berlin, acknowledging Spain's run to the final where they have beaten Italy, Germany and France.

“They’ve had to come through a harder journey than us playing against Italy, Germany and France - the so-called bigger teams - and I feel like they have been probably the best team of the competition so far," he said.

“The wingers for Spain are very dynamic, young, full of confidence and direct but also across our team, we have goals from everywhere and world class talent, so it's going to be a very exciting match.

"I can't wait to watch it and be a part of it. And hopefully we can get the get the job done."

Like many England fans, Watkins has had his fourth international goal from their semi-final win over the Netherlands on repeat. 

"I watched it quite a few times, when I got back to camp," said Watkins. "I was manifesting it, a lot has led up to it.

"A good friend said he felt like I would score in the Euros final, I did it a match before, but you never know, I might be saving another one for the final."

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Renato Veiga from FC Basel on a seven-year contract.

The Blues have paid a reported €14million (£11.8m) for the youngster, with the option to extend his deal for an extra year, which could keep him at the club until 2031.

Veiga joined Basel in August 2023 on a four-year deal, and cemented his place in the first team after making his debut in September.

He went on to make 26 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice in the Swiss Super League.

"I'm absolutely buzzing to be here," Veiga told Chelsea's media channels. "This is one of the biggest clubs in England – the biggest for me – and I'm just really excited to get started."

Veiga is the fifth player signed by Chelsea in this transfer window, following Tosin Adarabioyo, Omari Kellyman, Marc Guiu and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall into the club.

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy has praised his side's "humble" attitude ahead of their trip to Los Angeles FC in MLS on Saturday.

The Crew are on a four-match winning streak, scoring 15 goals and keeping three clean sheets during that run.

They sit third in the Eastern Conference, and after a 4-0 victory over Toronto FC last time out, Nancy showed his admiration for their impressive run.

"The fact that we are humble enough to accept that we have to improve all the time, the consequence of that is we are able to do something new and to improve all the time," Nancy said.

"Again, this desire to get better and better depends on what the opposition is going to give us.

"[I'm proudest of] the fact that we don't take anything for granted. That's why we were able to attack well and to defend well. This is the spirit that I really like."

LAFC, meanwhile, sit joint-top of the Western Conference, with Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy also on 43 points.

Their high-flying season has drawn attention, with head coach Steve Cherundolo's name one of those linked to the currently vacant USA national team job.

Cherundolo has brushed aside any concerns that he will be leaving LA though, instead using it to highlight the club's work this season.

"I am LAFC's head coach right now," he said. "That is my job, it's what I do every day. We have training tomorrow and I will be there for it.

"I think it has more to do with LAFC and all that's going on here.

"We're all moving in the same direction. When the group functions well, individuals shine, it's just a well-run organisation, and it's partly my job to make sure we keep going in that direction."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Los Angeles FC – Denis Bouanga

Denis Bouanga (one goal) and Mateusz Bogusz (one assist) were each involved in a goal in LAFC's 2-1 win against LA Galaxy last time out, the league-leading 10th time both have contributed to a goal in the same match this season.

Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

Cucho Hernandez (11 goals, seven assists) and Diego Rossi (seven goals, nine assists) are one of two MLS team-mate duos to each have 7+ goals and 7+ assists in 2024, along with Real Salt Lake's Cristian Arango and Andres Gomez.

MATCH PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES FC WIN

LAFC have won six consecutive regular-season home matches, scoring at least three goals in four of those wins. They have only one longer home-winning run in their history – a nine-match streak in 2022.

However, they lost to Columbus when the two last faced each other, as the Crew came out on top with a 2-1 victory in the 2023 MLS Cup Final last December. Prior to that match, LAFC had won all three of their meetings by a combined 7-0.

The Crew are coming off a 4-0 victory over Toronto FC, their second shutout win by at least four goals this season (4-0 over Sporting Kansas City last month). It is the first time Columbus have had multiple such wins in MLS play in a single season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Los Angeles FC – 42.4%

Draw – 26.7%

Columbus Crew – 30.9%

Nick Cushing believes his New York City FC side are in a good place as they seek to improve their form on the road against Chicago Fire this weekend.

NYCFC are winless in their last three games away from home, with their latest defeat coming against Austin FC last time out as Gyasi Zardes’ double cancelled out Andres Perea's early strike.

The result leaves them in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, a point behind rivals New York Red Bulls ahead of the upcoming Leagues Cup break.

Despite their recent loss, Cushing’s side have impressed on home turf and is happy with the moment his players find themselves at an important stage of the season.

“I think the upcoming games are important because I think everybody in the league sees the League Cup break as a natural marker in the season,” Cushing said. “You then focus on the Leagues Cup, and then you've got the run in through until the end of the season.

“I think the only way that we have to approach it is to improve the performances from the previous games. The Austin game was vastly improved compared to the Nashville and the LA Galaxy game.

“We dominate the game, we control the game, we showed a real maturity in when to have the ball and when to go out and counterattack. We created many chances, but we just fell on the wrong side of the result.

“We have to take the positives out of the performance and we have to improve in the areas where we don't get the result and ultimately that is executing in the final third. We missed chances that we created and we gave two moments that in this league you will be punished for.

“We have to fix that fast. Whether it is understanding whether it is mentality, I think this group is in a good place."

Chicago Fire, meanwhile, suffered a third defeat in four games at the hands of San Jose Earthquakes, leaving them precariously close to the bottom of the Eastern Conference table.

Just four points separate seven teams at the wrong end of the standings, with the Fire guilty of squandering several opportunities to put important points on the board.

It was the seventh time this season that Chicago have failed to score in a game. No team has failed to do so more often in the MLS this season.

Head coach Frank Klopas acknowledged his side’s wastefulness in front of goal, insisting his players need to find that clinical edge moving forwards.

“For me, the staff and the players, it felt like a missed opportunity for us to go and pick up points,” Klopas said.

“It was probably not a game that we came out with the highest intensity of energy. I think both teams had a little bit of a slow start. We did create opportunities, but again conceded one goal.

“We created enough to come away with points. It’s disappointing because it was an opportunity with the results around us for us to pick up some important momentum and gain some ground on teams.

“We missed that opportunity. We don’t always make it easy on ourselves when those chances come and we can’t let too many more of those slide away because the season is running out.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chicago Fire – Hugo Cuypers

Hugo Cuypers has scored in each of his last three MLS appearances at Soldier Field and will be brimming with confidence ahead of facing NYCFC.

No Fire player has had a longer single-season home scoring streak since Nemanja Nikolic scored in four straight home matches to end the 2017 campaign.

NYCFC – Tayvon Gray

Tayvon Gray continued his influential displays for NYCFC in the final third, notching his fifth assist of the season in their win over Philadelphia Union.

Only two MLS players have more assists this season without having a secondary assist (San Jose’s Cristian Espinoza — 10, New York Red Bulls’ Dante Vanzeir — six).

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Heading into the encounter at Soldier Field, NYCFC hold the better head-to-head record from their previous meetings with Chicago, having lost just three times in their 20 all-time fixtures (W11, D6), including going unbeaten in their last five encounters (W4, D1).

Chicago, however, will have confidence in front of their home supporters. Of the 15 points they have taken from NYCFC, 13 have come at home (W3, D4, L2).

The Fire have won back-to-back home matches after a six-match winless run at Soldier Field from mid-April to the end of May. Chicago scored six times in their two home wins after scoring only twice in their previous six games at home.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Chicago Fire – 35%

Draw – 26%

NYCFC – 39%

Simone Inzaghi has committed his future to Inter by signing a new contract extension to run through to the end of the 2025-26 season.

Inzaghi led Inter to a dominant Serie A title win last term, the Nerazzurri finishing 19 points clear of rivals Milan as they clinched the Scudetto for the first time since 2020-21.

One season earlier, Inzaghi masterminded Inter's run to a first Champions League final since they won the trophy in 2010, only for Manchester City to beat them 1-0 in Istanbul.

Inzaghi has been tentatively linked with Premier League jobs throughout his three-year spell at San Siro, but he has now signed on for another two years with the Italian giants.

Inzaghi's previous deal had been due to expire at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

Inter president Giuseppe Marotta told the club's website: "Today, we begin a new journey together, our jersey will be embellished with the tricolour and the legendary second star, which we will carry with us for years to come.

"We will still have coach Simone Inzaghi with us. It is with great pleasure that I want to inform you that our relationship with Simone will continue until 2026, with the hope of continuing it even further."

Inzaghi has won six trophies with Inter overall, also leading them to back-to-back Coppa Italia triumphs in 2021-22 and 2022-23, as well as winning the last three editions of the Supercoppa Italiana.

He has won 104 of his 158 games in charge of the Nerazzurri overall, with the team scoring 311 goals under him.

Since Serie A first adopted a league format in 1929, only three other coaches have managed 100 victories in charge of Inter – Helenio Herrera (205), Roberto Mancini (176) and Giovanni Trapattoni (124).

Jonny Evans has extended his stay at Manchester United until the end of next season, penning a new one-year contract.

Having come through United's academy and spent an initial nine-year spell in the Red Devils' first team between 2006 and 2015, Evans returned as cover for Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof last year.

With all four of those players enduring injury-hit 2023-24 seasons, Evans played a far more prominent role than expected as United finished eighth in the Premier League.

The 36-year-old made 30 appearances across all competitions, including coming off the bench in May's FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester City.

Evans has now won every domestic trophy with United, having claimed three Premier League titles and two EFL Cups during his first stint with the club.

Speaking to the club's website after penning his extension, Evans said: "I am delighted to have extended my contract at Manchester United for another season.

"To play for this great club and feel the support from our incredible fans is always a privilege.

"Returning to the club last season was an honour; representing the team on the pitch alongside fantastic team-mates under an excellent manager.

"Winning the FA Cup together was an unforgettable experience; I know we can challenge for more trophies in the season ahead."

The Colorado Rapids are seeking a fifth straight home win when they face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, but coach Chris Armas says their previous results will count for nothing if they do not execute on the day.

Colorado sit fourth in the Western Conference, six points behind leaders Los Angeles FC, after winning five of their last six games (one defeat).

At DICK'S Sporting Goods Park, they have won their last four matches against Austin FC (2-0), CF Montreal (4-1), Sporting Kansas City (2-1) and St. Louis City (4-1).

Armas, however, says all that good work could easily be undone if they do not understand how to combat the Red Bulls' high-pressing style.

"It's five out of the last six that we've won but this is the past. We have to reset and be ready against a really good team," Armas said.

"Part one is to understand the opposition and part two is to execute. This is very specific, they're very clear in the way they play.

"I've seen a lot of teams play against them but it's not easy against that philosophy. It's very intensive and you have to actually go out and execute your plan."  

The Red Bulls are also flying high, sitting fourth in the East after going five games unbeaten, though four of those have finished level.

They have lost key attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg to injury and he is expected to be sidelined for at least a month, but head coach Sandro Schwarz is confident they can cope.

"With Emil the situation is now clear, but we also played the last two games without Emil," Schwarz said. "We showed, for me, very good performances.

"He's a key player, for sure, but now we have to handle it and it's my job with the coaching staff to cope with this. Hopefully he will come back as soon as possible."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Colorado Rapids – Cole Bassett

Bassett, Kevin Cabral and Jonathan Lewis all had a goal and an assist in the Rapids' 4-1 win over St. Louis last Sunday, the first time three Rapids players had done so in the same match since 2008 – Mehdi Ballouchy, Colin Clark and Tom McManus versus the Red Bulls.

Bassett's seven goals in MLS this term have only been bettered by Rafael Navarro (11) and Djordje Mihailovic (10) among Colorado players.

New York Red Bulls – Dante Vanzier

Vanzier averages 0.42 assists per 90 minutes in MLS this year, the fifth-best figure in the competition, while he has also created 1.55 chances per game.

The Red Bulls may have to absorb plenty of pressure on Saturday, but they will be keen to get Vanzier involved whenever they manage to mount an attack.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

The Rapids have won their last two meetings with the Red Bulls, including an incredible 5-4 victory the last time the sides faced off in 2022. Colorado had only won three of their previous 12 matches against them in all competitions dating back to 2010.

Colorado have won seven of their last nine games on home soil (one draw, one loss), including their last four in a row, their longest home winning streak since a six-match run spanning the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

The Red Bulls, though, are solid opponents and played out a goalless draw on the road against the Philadelphia Union last time out – their fourth of the campaign. It would be no surprise to see them attempt to keep things tight again here.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Colorado Rapids – 36.8%

New York Red Bulls – 37%

Draw – 26.3%

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