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Van Dijk ‘Ready’ to Start for Liverpool at Newcastle

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Everton - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - February 13, 2023 Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Everton - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - February 13, 2023 Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
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Van Dijk ‘Ready’ to Start for Liverpool at Newcastle

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Everton - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - February 13, 2023 Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Everton - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - February 13, 2023 Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)

Liverpool center back Virgil van Dijk is on track to start at Newcastle on Saturday after sitting out for nearly six weeks with a hamstring injury.

The Netherlands captain hasn't played since early January though he was on the bench against Everton in a 2-0 win that Liverpool hopes will reboot its top-four hopes in the Premier League.

Reds manager Jurgen Klopp was asked Friday if van Dijk is ready to start against fourth-place Newcastle. He replied: “I think so, yeah.”

“Yesterday, he looked absolutely ready. I think today he will look the same and then we make a decision,” Klopp said at a press conference.

Liverpool is in ninth place but has played at least one game fewer than most of the teams above it.

Real Madrid visits Anfield on Tuesday night in the Champions League round of 16.

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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)
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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.”