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Ancelotti: Bellingham is Great, but I'll Stick with Madrid Youngsters

Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti waits for the start of a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Valladolid and Real Madrid at the Jose Zorrilla stadium in Valladolid, Spain, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti waits for the start of a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Valladolid and Real Madrid at the Jose Zorrilla stadium in Valladolid, Spain, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)
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Ancelotti: Bellingham is Great, but I'll Stick with Madrid Youngsters

Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti waits for the start of a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Valladolid and Real Madrid at the Jose Zorrilla stadium in Valladolid, Spain, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti waits for the start of a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Valladolid and Real Madrid at the Jose Zorrilla stadium in Valladolid, Spain, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Pablo Garcia)

Carlo Ancelotti hailed English midfielder Jude Bellingham, who has been linked with a move to his Real Madrid team, but said Friday he has plenty of young talent at his fingertips already.

Los Blancos have three of the most exciting midfield prospects in world football in Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde, AFP said.

Borussia Dortmund's Bellingham played well for England during the World Cup in Qatar until Gareth Southgate's side were knocked out by Tchouameni and Camavinga's France in the quarter-finals.

"Bellingham showed at the World Cup that he is a great midfielder," Ancelotti told reporters on Friday ahead of his team's La Liga clash with Villarreal.

"A lot of youngsters stood out, like Enzo (Fernandez) with Argentina, and the Spaniards Pedri and Gavi had a very nice tournament.

"There are a lot of young midfielders emerging but I'll stick with mine. We have very good ones, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Valverde. We have a lot of youngsters."

French duo Tchouameni and Camavinga finished as runners-up, defeated in the final by Argentina.

Bellingham's deal with Dortmund expires in 2025 and the 19-year-old has been linked with various teams, including Spanish champions Madrid, who sold Casemiro to Manchester United last summer.

Long-serving Madrid midfielders Toni Kroos and 37-year-old Luka Modric have contracts that expire in the summer of 2023.

Los Blancos signed Camavinga, 20, from Rennes in 2021 and then last year brought in Tchouameni, 22, from Monaco.

Valverde, 24, joined Madrid's youth ranks from Penarol in 2016, but has often been deployed on the right flank instead of in central midfield.

They are all establishing themselves at Madrid, who are level on points with league leaders Barcelona ahead of their first match of 2023, a tricky test at Quique Setien's Villarreal on Saturday.

"They have changed a bit, they have a very clear identity, different from (Unai) Emery's Villarreal," added Ancelotti.

"Setien likes attacking football, their players are well positioned on the pitch. To win there, you have to be at your best."

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Van Dijk: Salah's Benching Shows Every Player Has to Earn their Place at Liverpool

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (L) greets their supporters after the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Sunderland in Liverpool, Great Britain, 03 December 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (L) greets their supporters after the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Sunderland in Liverpool, Great Britain, 03 December 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
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Van Dijk: Salah's Benching Shows Every Player Has to Earn their Place at Liverpool

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (L) greets their supporters after the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Sunderland in Liverpool, Great Britain, 03 December 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (L) greets their supporters after the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Sunderland in Liverpool, Great Britain, 03 December 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said the decision to leave Mohamed Salah on the bench in back-to-back Premier League games shows that no player is guaranteed a spot in the side regardless of their contribution to the club's success in recent years.

Egyptian winger Salah, 33, was an unused substitute in Liverpool's 2-0 win at West Ham United on Sunday and came off the bench in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

Salah, who signed a two-year contract extension in April, has five goals in 19 matches in all competitions for Liverpool this season and has struggled to match the consistency that helped propel the club to the league title last year.

"That's always been the case. It's not like you have unlimited credit, everyone has to perform," Van Dijk told reporters after Wednesday's game against Sunderland.

"Mo has been doing that but the manager (Arne Slot) made that decision in the last two games. We all want the best for the club.

"I am pretty sure Mo will still be a big part of what we are trying to achieve because he is an amazing player and he has shown it consistently."

Liverpool are ninth in the league with 22 points from 14 matches, trailing leaders Arsenal by 11 points. Their poor form comes despite splashing out 446 million pounds ($594.52 million) in the close-season transfer window, Reuters reported.

Van Dijk said Liverpool needed Salah back at his best.

"He is still a fantastic player and we still have to remember there is a reason why he has been so successful at the club and we have to respect that," he added.

Sports

On Eve of World Cup Draw, MLS Commissioner Says US Soccer is Thriving

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 04: MLS Commissioner Don Garber speaks during the MLS Commissioner State of the League Address at Audi Field on December 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 04: MLS Commissioner Don Garber speaks during the MLS Commissioner State of the League Address at Audi Field on December 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images/AFP
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On Eve of World Cup Draw, MLS Commissioner Says US Soccer is Thriving

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 04: MLS Commissioner Don Garber speaks during the MLS Commissioner State of the League Address at Audi Field on December 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 04: MLS Commissioner Don Garber speaks during the MLS Commissioner State of the League Address at Audi Field on December 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images/AFP

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber said the arrival of elite players such as Lionel Messi has helped the sport cement its place in a crowded US market, as anticipation builds across the country for Friday's World Cup draw in Washington.

Soccer has long battled for attention in a US sporting landscape dominated by American football, baseball and basketball.

Garber said real progress had been made in recent years, fueled in part by the arrival of Argentina's World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi in 2023, the eight-times Ballon d'Or winner joining Inter Miami after leaving Paris St Germain, Reuters reported.

"On the field, our league is more global than ever before," Garber said at a press conference on Thursday.

"Our roster features players from 80 different countries. More than any other league in any sport around the world. And global superstars, as we all know, are making MLS their league of choice."

Garber highlighted Saturday's MLS Cup final in Florida, where Messi's Miami will host the Vancouver Whitecaps, a side that includes Thomas Mueller, a 2014 World Cup winner with Germany.

"The greatest player to ever play the game, Lionel Messi, will go up against another World Cup champion and one of the world's most decorated players in Thomas Mueller ... in what we hope will be an epic MLS Cup," Garber said.

Next year's World Cup will feature 48 teams in 12 groups of four, with the draw at Washington's John F. Kennedy Center finalizing a 104-game schedule across 16 host cities in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Among the teams making their World Cup bows at the June 11 to July 19 tournament are Cape Verde, Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Curacao - the smallest country ever to participate with a population of only 150,000.

Garber said it was important that soccer had made significant inroads with younger audiences.

"Now, soccer is the second favorite sport to watch here in the US among people under the age of 40, behind only American football," he said.

"This is an incredible accomplishment by the soccer community here in the country. We are in the midst of a dramatic, generational change – soccer is now an American pastime."

Sports

Flame Arrives in Italy for Milano Cortina Winter Games

Olympics - 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics - Olympic torch due to arrive at Rome airport and Italian Presidential Palace - Rome, Italy - December 4, 2025 President of the Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee, Giovanni Malago and tennis player Italy's Jasmine Paolini arrive with the Olympic torch REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Olympics - 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics - Olympic torch due to arrive at Rome airport and Italian Presidential Palace - Rome, Italy - December 4, 2025 President of the Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee, Giovanni Malago and tennis player Italy's Jasmine Paolini arrive with the Olympic torch REUTERS/Remo Casilli
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Flame Arrives in Italy for Milano Cortina Winter Games

Olympics - 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics - Olympic torch due to arrive at Rome airport and Italian Presidential Palace - Rome, Italy - December 4, 2025 President of the Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee, Giovanni Malago and tennis player Italy's Jasmine Paolini arrive with the Olympic torch REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Olympics - 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics - Olympic torch due to arrive at Rome airport and Italian Presidential Palace - Rome, Italy - December 4, 2025 President of the Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee, Giovanni Malago and tennis player Italy's Jasmine Paolini arrive with the Olympic torch REUTERS/Remo Casilli

The Olympic flame arrived in Rome on Thursday in preparation for a two-month torch relay designed to stir excitement across Italy before the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in February.

Italian Olympic tennis doubles champion Jasmine Paolini and Milano Cortina Games organizing chief Giovanni Malago carried the lantern down the steps of an ITA Airways flight from Athens, Reuters reported.

The Italian hosts had received the flame in a ceremony at Athens' Panathenaic Stadium earlier on Thursday.

In a scaled-down event due to heavy rain warnings, as was the case when the flame was lit in ancient Olympia last week, the handover took place inside the vast marble-clad stadium.

"Italy is proud of its Olympic heritage... as we get ready to write the next chapter in our Olympic story," said Malago, with only a handful of officials and spectators present in Athens.

Italy, a winter sports powerhouse, last hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006 with the Turin Games.

"It will be an incredible 63-day adventure," Malago said, speaking ahead of the torch relay which starts on Saturday from Rome's fascist-era Stadio dei Marmi.

"After two decades of waiting, the Olympic flame is returning to Italy," he added.

The 12,000-km journey will take in all 20 Italian regions plus 110 provinces and pass through 60 Italian cities and 300 towns with a total of 10,001 torchbearers.

The flame will visit famous landmarks including the Colosseum in Rome and the Grand Canal in Venice, with stops in southern cities such as Palermo and Naples to generate interest in areas where winter sports are not as prominent.

It will be in Cortina d’Ampezzo on January 26 – exactly 70 years after the opening ceremony of the 1956 Games at the same venue - and the relay will finish on February 6 at the opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium.