By David Cartlidge

Neymar’s To-Do List

Another day in the life of Neymar, as he ticks off things on what is becoming an extremely long to do list. Not only is the Brazilian eyeing a Ballon d’Or crown - something he is playing down - but he’s also insisting a Champions League crown with PSG is his top priority.

The Brazilian star has gone as far as to say the team prize would surpass any individual glory, but surely the two would be linked when it comes to awards season.

Neymar finished third in the voting in 2015, which was won by then team-mate Messi, but was not on the podium last time around. 

“We must first think in terms of the team and the whole team wants to achieve its Champions League ambition,” said the PSG man, who continued to toe the company line, despite reports of him having a dislike for Unai Emery’s methods.

Emotions back in Spain are mixed over Neymar however, with former club mate Jordi Alba insisting his life is better without the Brazilian around.

Over in Madrid meanwhile, there is still hope the 24-year-old might wear the hallowed white shirt one day. This time, former Real Madrid man Alvaro Morata has continued to spin the wheel that was put in motion by Sergio Ramos earlier this week.

“We have already seen that in Madrid there is no impossible,” said the Chelsea star.

The Not-So-Friendly Friendly

When it comes to history, few encounters at International level match up to an England and Germany affair.

This build-up to this one has perhaps been hampered by a Club v Country row that has engulfed Gareth Southgate’s preparations. Most notable have been the mass withdrawals of Spurs players from the squad.

Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Dele Alli all pulled out of Sputhgate’s squad, and were soon followed by Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Fabian Delph. It has left the England boss scrambling for players and means an unrecognisable XI will face the Germans, who have problems of their own.

Jerome Boateng is out of the game, while Toni Kroos missed training due to a stomach virus.

World Cup Hopes On The Line

It’s just meaningless Friendlies on the International agenda this week. There are also some very high stakes games in regards to the World Cup, with several play-offs taking place. The first group of which took place on Thursday evening, with Croatia hammering Greece 4-1 while Switzerland came away with a  narrow 0-1 win over Northern Ireland.

Tonight it’s perhaps the biggest one of the lot, as Italy face Sweden at the Friends Arena.

Gianluigi Buffon and co are bidding to avoid missing the tournament for the first time since 1958. Their preparations have been hit with somewhat of a striking crisis as Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti are not fully fit, while in-form Valencia forward Simone Zaza aggravated an existing injury in training.

Sweden will of course be without the retired Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Daniele De Rossi is quite overjoyed about that fact. 

The Roma midfielder, aiming to play at a fourth World Cup, said: "I never want to play against him again, not even if he was 40 with a broken leg.

Don't forget you can catch all the action from World Cup qualifying in Africa on beIN SPORTS this weekend. Want to know how - well here you go!

Sherman Out For The Season

It was a night of mixed emotions for Seattle Seahawks, as Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to Jimmy Graham in Arizona with a 22-16 victory over the Cardinals on Thursday.

Celebrations were limited however as it emerged cornerback Richard Sherman would miss the rest of the season after limping off in the game. 

He lay on the field clutching his right heel before limping off the field to the bench, where he signalled to teammates that he had torn the tendon. It was revealed by coach Pete Carroll that Sherman will have surgery after the swelling goes down.

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