United ‘Not Favorites’ for Top Four Spot, Says Rangnick

Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Leicester City - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - April 2, 2022 Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Leicester City - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - April 2, 2022 Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick. (Reuters)
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United ‘Not Favorites’ for Top Four Spot, Says Rangnick

Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Leicester City - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - April 2, 2022 Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Leicester City - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - April 2, 2022 Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick. (Reuters)

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick said they are "not favorites" to finish in the Premier League's top four after slipping to seventh with a 1-1 draw against Leicester City.

The Old Trafford club are three points outside the top four with eight games left.

"It doesn't help at all to look at the table every weekend and speculate and anticipate what might happen, how many points might we need," Rangnick told reporters. "Right now we are not the favorites, for sure, for number four.

"I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know where Manchester United will be next season. For us, it's my job, our job ... to finish the season on the highest and best possible note."

United play at Everton on Saturday and Rangnick said getting the three points was their only focus.

"The season is not over. We still have another eight games to play and I think then it's time to draw the right conclusions and take the right decisions for next season," he added.

"Right now, it's about how can we possibly get three points against Everton."



France Coach Didier Deschamps Says He’ll Leave after 2026 World Cup

France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)
France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)
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France Coach Didier Deschamps Says He’ll Leave after 2026 World Cup

France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)
France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)

Didier Deschamps announced Wednesday that he won’t continue as France coach after the next World Cup.

The 56-year-old Deschamps said in an interview with broadcaster TF1 that he will leave when his contract expires in the summer of 2026.

“I’ve been here since 2012, I’m scheduled to be here until 2026, the next World Cup, but that’s where it’s going to end because it has to end at some point,” Deschamps said in excerpts of the interview to be aired later Wednesday.

“I did my time, with the same desire and the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level, but 2026 is all very well.”

Deschamps started in his role as a successor to Laurent Blanc and led France to victory at the 2018 World Cup, also reaching the final in 2022 and at the 2016 European Championship.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, France reached the final and lost an epic title match to Argentina.

“I’m not here for the records,” Deschamps added. “The most important thing is that the France team remains at the top as it has been for many years.”

Europe will send 16 teams to the first 48-team World Cup, being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in the summer of 2026.

Deschamps did not elaborate on his future beyond the World Cup.

“There is a life afterwards,” he said. “I don’t know what it will be.”