A confident Romelu Lukaku said he was born for this after a pair of goals in Belgium s draw with Mexico moved him level with the country s all-time leading goalscorers.

Manchester United striker Lukaku scored twice as Roberto Martinez s side were held 3-3 in Friday s friendly, his second salvaging the draw after Hirving Lozano s four-minute double put Mexico ahead.

The 24-year-old is now level with Paul Van Himst and Bernard Voorhoof on 30 goals for Belgium and can set a new benchmark by converting against Japan on Tuesday.

I was born for this, Lukaku is quoted as saying by Het Laatse Nieuws. I just want to score as many goals as possible.

I m glad I matched the record. I knew I d do it. I want to break the record before 2018.

But I really hope…

Javier Pastore is not contemplating leaving Paris Saint-Germain in January despite acknowledging that he needs to play more regularly if he is to get into Argentina s World Cup squad.

The playmaker joined PSG from Palermo ahead of the 2011-12 Ligue 1 season and was one of the first big signings of the club s Qatari revolution.

He was a success in his first four years in Paris, but injuries, inconsistency and competition for places have hampered his progress since 2015.

This term Pastore has featured in seven of PSG s 13 Ligue 1 games, earning his fourth start in Saturday s 4-1 win over Nantes, setting up Edinson Cavani for their first goal and scoring the third.

The 28-year-old knows that he probably needs to be featuring more regularly if he is to be inc…

Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in signing Folarin Balogun from Premier League rivals Arsenal in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that although the Gunners do not want to sell the striker at the end of the season, if the youngster does push for a move away from the Emirates Stadium, then Arsenal could ask for around £30 million in transfer fees for him.

Balogun is on loan at Reims at the moment. The 21-year-old striker moved to the French club on a loan deal in the summer of 2022 and is scheduled to return to his parent club Arsenal at the end of the season. The England Under-21 international striker has made 27 starts and three substitute appearances in Ligue 1 for Reims so far this season, scoring 18 goals and providing two assists in …

Guus Hiddink has told Chelsea to heed the warning of last year s FA Cup embarrassment against Bradford City when they host Scunthorpe United in the third round on Sunday.

Chelsea were heavy favourites to defeat Bradford in the fourth round last January, with the club at that time still on course for a quadruple of trophies.

The match was going according to the script as goals from Gary Cahill and Ramires put Chelsea into a 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge.

However, the underdogs upset the odds with a rousing comeback as League One club Bradford recorded a famous 4-2 victory.

And interim manager Hiddink has warned that a repeat result will not be tolerated, saying: I didn t see it [the Bradford defeat] but I know we must not stumble again.

We take all …

Newcastle United have terminated the contract of Fabricio Coloccini by mutual consent, bringing to an end his eight-year spell with the club.

The 34-year-old defender had one more year to run on his deal after signing an extension in 2015.

However, following relegation to the Championship, he has been allowed to leave early so he can join San Lorenzo in his native Argentina.

A former club captain, Coloccini who was signed from Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna in 2008 made 275 appearances for Newcastle in all competitions, scoring seven goals.

Coloccini cited family reasons for his departure in a lengthy open letter published on Newcastle s website.

He wrote: Today I m taking the decision of taking a step sideways, of leaving, for several reasons, …

Market: Poland and over 2.5 goals

Odds: 

Traveling to Russia in a group with Japan, Columbia and Senegal, Poland will have one last chance to impress on Tuesday evening when they welcome Lithuania to the Stadion Narodowy.

For Adam Nawałka s Poland side, while many have the hosts tipped as arguably the favorites to top Group H later this month, The White and Reds will be looking to bounce back after their 2-2 draw with Chile over the weekend. Despite dominating much of the play and leading by two goals, Poland were unable to hang on and Nawałka will be demanding an immediate response. Now scoring five in their last two appearances, Poland will be unsurprisingly hoping captain and talisman Robert Lewandowski carry a record that has now seen him score eight in h…

Ezequiel Garay has claimed leaving that Real Madrid for Benfica in 2011 was the best decision of his career.

Garay was tipped for big things when Madrid plucked the centre-back from Racing Santander in 2008, but under Jose Mourinho he fell out of favour and eventually left for Estadio da Luz.

At Benfica he established himself as a first-team regular to help his chances on the international stage with Argentina, before moving on to Zenit three years later.

Now at Valencia following a close-season move, Garay has been reflecting on his last spell in Spain and is adamant leaving Madrid was crucial.

I respect Real Madrid as an institution, he told El Desmarque. But I still say that the best decision of my career was getting out of the club, because a footbal…

Erik ten Hag said Manchester United must wait another 24 hours to discover the extent of the injuries suffered by Leny Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund.

The pair went off injured in the first half of United s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Hojlund opened the scoring in the 10th minute at SoFi Stadium, but Arsenal won thanks to goals from Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli.

Yoro, a £52.2million (€62m) signing from Lille, started despite having featured in only half of United s training sessions, and Ten Hag explained his staff were being cautious with the 18-year-old.

We have to wait, in 24 hours we will hopefully know more, so we were very careful, especially with Leny, Ten Hag told MUTV.

He did only 50% of the sessions, so it s d…

Thibaut Courtois suggested the Yashin Trophy had been invented to appease goalkeepers as he struggled to understand his seventh-placed Ballon d Or finish – scepticism that was shared by Iker Casillas.

Keeper Courtois Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema took the top award in Monday s Paris ceremony, named the best player in the world by France Football.

Benzema was a deserving winner, as Courtois himself acknowledged, having scored 44 goals in 46 games as Madrid won LaLiga and the Champions League in 2021-22. He netted two hat-tricks among a record-equalling 10 goals in the Champions League knockout stage.

But Courtois was also a part of those two triumphs and had an equally vital role in the European success, making nine saves in the final against Liverpool –…

Ange Postecoglou believes his Tottenham side are benefiting from the solid foundations that were set last season.

Spurs have won four of their five pre-season games, with the one loss being a narrow 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich.

Postecoglou s free-flowing, front-foot approach garnered plaudits last season, as Spurs finished fifth.

The Australian believes his side are now becoming even more receptive to his ideas now that he has been at the club for over a year.

He told The Athletic: You can see the growth. I ve been doing this for a long time, so I really feel last year we laid some really strong foundations in terms of some underlying core values that I saw from the first day we got back into pre-season.

You know, process is a pretty boring word,…