Greek champions Olympiakos have sacked Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira after six months in charge at the club, during which time he led them to a Greek league and cup double. Local media said the 46-year-old had angered Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis when it was reported he held talks with Scottish club Rangers last month.

Former England manager Steve McClaren has been appointed as the new head coach of Newcastle United. The 54-year-old succeeds John Carver, who was sacked on Tuesday, and has also been named on the club’s board. Mike Ashley has quit as a director but remains owner. McClaren, who has signed a three-year contract that could be extended to eight years, said: “This club has waited far too long to win a trophy. That’s one of my primary objectives.” McClaren, sacked by Derby in May, had turned down the Magpies job twice. He was approached after Alan Pardew’s departure in December  and then again with three games left of the Premier League season.

Ghana forward Andre Ayew has joined Swansea City on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract at the Premier League club. Ayew, 25, has been at Marseille since 2006 but his deal with the Ligue 1 side expired this month. The former BBC African Footballer of the Year scored 52 goals in 181 appearances for the French club and has 62 caps for his country. “I felt this was the right place for me,” Ayew said. “I felt that my desire to play in the Premier League and wanting to grow as a player meant that Swansea was the best solution for me in every way. “Seeing the honesty and desire of the club made me feel that they really wanted me to come. They have proved that in all ways.”

New Zealand 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup Round-16 Results….

Thursday 11 June 2015:

Austria 0 – 2 Uzbekistan

Germany 1 – 0 Nigeria

Portugal 2 – 1 New Zealand

Brazil 5 – 4 Uruguay Ukraine – Penalty Shoot out after 0-0 draw

Uzbekistan, Germany, Portugal and Brazil have all qualified for the quarter finals.

Despite the high rating in local media, the Flying Eagles of Nigeria has been knocked out of the U-20 World Cup by Germany. Sad!  Kelechi Iheanacho who was the most valuable player for the U-17 tournament has not been playing for Nigeria. Is it lack of form or personality clash after he reacted for being subbed in the first game? We need to know. In the coming days, we’ll share the stories of our glory days when we played in the finals of Saudi ’89 and Netherlands ’05.

West Ham United confirm the signing of Spain under-21 midfielder Pedro Obiang from Sampdoria for a fee thought to be in the region of £4.4m. Obiang tells the Hammers’ club website: “We have been talking about this for a long time and now I’ve finally got the chance to come here. “I think Slaven Bilic is a manager that can do very well here. He is a manager that likes to play good football and I really like that so I am sure that we will get along very well.”

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has moved a step closer to being tried for tax evasion after a Spanish high court rejected his latest appeal. The Argentine and his father Jorge are both accused of defrauding the authorities of more than €4m (£3.1m). The court ruled that Messi should not be granted impunity for not knowing what was happening with his finances. The pair, who deny the charges, are alleged to have withheld the money between 2007 and 2009.

Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby is among the most notable names on the Premier Leagues list of released players. The list includes out of contract players available on a free transfer, although all could still be offered new deals by their current clubs. Ron Vlaar of Aston Villa and Sunderland’s Wes Brown fall into that category, but the likes of Sylvain Distin (Everton), Paul McShane (Hull), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Artur Boruc (Southampton), Gerhard Tremmel (Swansea), Gareth McAuley (West Brom) and Guy Demel (West Ham) have been freed.

Brazil’s captain, Marta became the all-time leading goalscorer in Women’s World Cup history as she netted her 15th finals goal in a 2-0 win over South Korea. The 29-year-old forward’s second-half penalty took her clear of former Germany striker Birgit Prinz. Marta’s team-mate Formiga opened the scoring to become, at 37, the oldest goalscorer in the tournament’s history. Formiga, playing at a record-equalling sixth World Cup, took advantage of an error by Korean defender Kim Doyeon to give the 2007 runners-up the lead. And, making her 137th international appearance, she was then felled in the penalty box by Cho Soh-yun to present Marta with the chance to make history. The closest Brazil have come to winning the women’s game’s biggest prize was in 2007, when they lost to Germany in the final. Marta said it would be a “dream” to win the title and said she hoped to continue playing through to the 2016 Rio Olympics. “It is a thought that I have, to play in the Olympics,” she said. “It will depend on if I’m playing well. It would be fantastic if we won the World Cup and we would then be very motivated to get the gold medal at the Olympics. That would mean a lot to all of us.”

Germany’s U-20 captain Kevin Akpoguma is of Nigerian parentage and has declared that the Round-16 match against Nigeria is special for him. “I’m half-Nigerian as my father is Nigerian, and I’m glad to be able to say that,” the youngster told FIFA.com, a smile playing about his lips. “This match is already a special one for me; my parents are here and Thursday will be even more memorable for my Dad. Although he’ll have both his Germany and Nigeria flags at the ready for when the national anthems are played, in the end he’ll just be happy if his son gets to the next round.” Even when he was a very small child, his father took him to the football pitch every day and helped him learn to have fun with a ball at his feet. “I’m very grateful to him,” he said, “but I also know that I’ll go into this match like I do every other. I was born and grew up in Germany so I consider myself to be German.”  Nevertheless, this powerful defender – capable of playing both as a centre-back and on the right side of a four-man defence – remains well-placed to identify with his team’s upcoming opponents. He has visited Nigeria twice and his grandparents live in Benin City, where Akpoguma fondly remembers everyone going to church on Sundays and then playing football together – something he was understandably pleased to be part of. It is clear that the Hoffenheim youngster is proud of these experiences and has been shaped by them. “As a person I always want to get on well with everyone,” he said. “I can’t hate or envy anyone. I enjoy meeting everybody and I think that kind of mentality is typical for Nigeria. “I always have fun and enjoy what I’m doing and the way I feel,” Akpoguma went on, pausing for a moment before grinning and adding: “As a footballer I also would say that I have my African roots to thank for my athleticism because I’m still fast despite being tall.”

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Wednesday 10 June 2015:

Ghana 0 – 3 Mali

Serbia 2 – 1 Hungary

USA 1 – 0 Columbia

Ukraine 2 – 4 Senegal –  Penalty Shoot out after 1-1 draw

Mali, Serbia, USA and Senegal have all qualified for the quarter finals.

Tuesday 9 June 2015:

France 1 – 0 England

Spain 1 – 1 Costa Rica

Columbia 1 – 1 Mexico

Brazil 2 – 0 Korea Republic

Luis Enrique has erased any doubts over his future as Barcelona coach by renewing his contract until 2017. He led the club to the treble of La Liga, Cop del Rey and Champions League glory this season but was unsure if he was staying in his role following success in the latter. Enrique played was in the Spanish team that the Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated 3 – 2 at France’98 World Cup.

George Weah’s oldest son has been included in Liberia’s squad for Sunday’s 2017 African Nations Cup qualifier in Togo. George junior, 27, was in the youth ranks at AC Milan while his father was at the club and his last club was Paris St-Germain’s amateur team, for whom he made two substitute appearances in 2014. Liberia’s new coach, James Debbah, is a relative of Weah’s.

Newcastle manager John Carver has been relieved of his duties and will not be permitted to return to his previous role as assistant after winning only three games in his five months in charge. First-team coach Steve Stone has suffered the same fate ahead of the expected appointment of Steve McClaren as manager.

Barcelona have confirmed that Dani Alves has signed a new two-year contract at the Nou Camp. The Brazilian right-back, whose existing deal was about to expire, had been linked with a move to AC Milan or Manchester United. But the 32-year-old will stay until June 2017 with the option of extending it by another year.

Slaven Bilic has been confirmed as the new manager of West Ham. The Croat spent 18 months with the club as a player and last month left his role as Besiktas coach after they finished third in the Turkish top flight. The 46-year-old has also coached Hajduk Split, Croatia and Lokomotiv Moscow. Bilic will become the 15th full-time manager in the West Ham’s 120-year history, subject to a work permit being granted. “He becomes the second Croatian to manage in the Barclays Premier League, and has an outstanding career win percentage of 55.16%,” read a club statement. “A law graduate and multilinguist who takes a meticulous approach to management, the new boss will arrive in London later this month following a family holiday, but has already begun preparations for West Ham’s maiden UEFA Europa League campaign.” “I’m really glad to be back with West Ham United,” said Bilic, who succeeds Sam Allardyce. “It’s a big challenge and you are competing with the best and what better club to do it with than West Ham. “I remember West Ham as a special club. I love these kinds of special clubs. It’s not about the size – West Ham is big club – there is something special about them – they are a cult club.” “It is a great place to play and I felt like I was at home. It is a big privilege and a big responsibility to now be manager and I hope that I will prove it to the board, players and fans.”

Thomas Vermaelen has been asked to give back his Champions League winners’ medal, according to reports in Belgium. The Belgian defender was signed from Arsenal last summer but made just one appearance for the Catalan club this season due to injury. Voetbalkrant say Uefa rules state players can not keep the medal if they have not played during the competition. But then, former Chelsea keeper Ross Turnbull won a Champions League medal with the Blues, despite not making an appearance in the competition. What do we believe?

Germany and Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has opted to join Juventus on a free transfer. The 28-year-old has signed a four-year contract with the beaten Champions League finalists after leaving Real Madrid.

The Gambia return to competitive action this weekend with a new coach as they travel to face South Africa in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. Swiss Raoul Savoy is charged with reviving the Scorpions’ fortunes as they comeback from a ban that saw them miss the 2015 Nations Cup campaign. “We can write a new history now, we are starting from zero,” he told BBC Sport. “We have a lot of new players who are just starting out and it is also a young squad with a lot of talent.” The Gambia were initially banned in May 2014 for two years from all Confederation of African Football competitions for deliberately falsifying player’s ages in an under-20 match. The ban was lifted just 5 months later after a new Gambia Football Association executive was voted in. The 42-year-old Savoy returns to Africa after previously working in Cameroon, Morocco, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Algeria and the Central African Republic. As well as South Africa his side will play World Cup finalists Cameroon and Mauritania in Group M of the 2017 qualifiers and he is aware of the challenge ahead. “Of course, South Africa and Cameroon are more experienced and bigger teams than us but in football you never know,” he said. “If they give us a chance to challenge them and become the surprise of the group, we’ll do it of course. “We are not saying we are victims, we know we have the potential but we are new. “That’s why we must learn match after match and we’ll see – maybe we’ll create some surprises. Why not?” Savoy is confident that he has the raw materials to work with in The Gambia. “There is a lot of talent here; it’s a talented country,” he insisted. “It’s a small country but they also have a lot of talent based out of the country – in the United States, in Europe, in England, everywhere. “Some of them have already played for the national team, others are new now, they will get their first cap in the next week. “I think I will have a lot of work to do to go and watch all of them (across the world) and chose a better team in the coming months.” And he hopes that his latest post can be a stepping stone to bigger things and follow the likes of Philippe Troussier and Herve Renard. “Renard was the Troussier of Zambia, I can be the Herve Renard of Gambia!”

Nigeria captain Vincent Enyeama hopes to bow out on a high after confirming that the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon will be his last. The 32-year-old goalkeeper, who plays his club football for French side Lille, made his debut against Kenya in May 2002 and has gone on to win 100 caps. Enyeama played a major role when the Super Eagles won the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa and he wants a repeat in 2017. “It’s impossible to play football forever and the next tournament in Gabon will be my last one,” Enyeama told BBC Sport. “I’ve played in two finals, lost in 2004, won in 2013 and to win in 2017 is how I hope to be remembered. “But more significantly we must not get ahead of ourselves because we need to qualify first.” As reigning champions Nigeria could not defend their title in Equatorial Guinea early this year after failing to qualify for the tournament. The Super Eagles have been drawn in one of the toughest-looking groups for the 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers, alongside seven-time champions Egypt, Chad and Tanzania. But as the Super Eagles host Chad in Kaduna on Saturday, Enyeama insists they must prevent another troubled campaign. “You can never underestimate any opponent in African football and we must treat Chad like other top oppositions in world football,” he said. “Some of our fans are still upset and the only way to earn back their respect is to give them a reason to believe again. “We are all determined to qualify for the Nations Cup, and after the tournament I can say a proper goodbye. “It crossed my mind to leave after the World Cup in Brazil but crucially now I want to leave on a high by going all the way with my country on a successful ride.” Enyeama has played in five Nations Cup tournaments for three-time African champions Nigeria in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2013. He was part of the Nigeria squad at the 2002, 2010 and 2014 World Cup tournaments.