Sports Burst - Neymar Faces Best Frenemy Cavani
Neymar faces PSG teammate Edinson Cavani on opposite side of the pitch as Brazil battle Uruguay on beIN SPORTS
Neymar's BFF - Best Frenemy Forever
The fun thing about Brazil these days - aside from having a remarkably stacked squad bursting with world class talent - is that the South American side always puts on the big trousers in friendlies.
You won't catch Tite fielding Bournemouth strikers as England did against the USA on Wednesday. Admittedly, the Three Lions still managed to win quite comfortably.
Brazil means Neymar.
Brazil playing Uruguay on Friday means Neymar taking on Edinson Cavani and also ten other players whose sole mission when on a football pitch is to break the spirit and the odd nose of all opposition. Resistance is very futile for this footballing Borg collective.
The Neymar v Cavani battle up front has a very frenenemies vibe about it. Yes, the two PSG footballers are joined in a noble cause to win every game in Ligue Un and get vaguely towards the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
But no-one is pretending that they are going to ever be doing synchronized goal celebrations because of a tension in PSG that sees the footballers as rivals, whether when taking penalties or simply passing to each other.
No such cooperation conundrum on Friday as Brazil takes on Uruguay in Arsenal's Emirates stadium live on beIN SPORTS from 2:50PM ET / 11:50AM PT.
Sergio Ramos leaves Spain camp with injury after Croatia crushing
Not a good couple of days for Spain then.
Friday's headlines are concerning hefty back-to-back defeats for Luis Enrique's men. The first came in October in a Nations League clash against England. The second was on Tuesday with a defeat to Croatia, both by the same 3-2 score-line.
View this post on Instagram Dobro jutro Hrvatska 🇭🇷 A post shared by Dejan Lovren (@dejanlovren06) on Nov 16, 2018 at 12:20am PST
The evening in Croatia was especially bad for Sergio Ramos, whose defense not only conceded three goals, was taunted through the medium of Instagram by new arch-nemesis Dejan Lovren, but has also had to leave the Spanish camp early due to a muscle injury.
That bad day vibe has therefore spread to the Real Madrid camp which is now enduring constant injuries to its back line with players such as Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Nacho and Raphael Varane all either suffering or coming back from injuries.
Real Madrid's next match-up is against Eibar on Saturday 24th November.
Germany's Nations League fate lies with Netherlands
So, what's cooking today in the UEFA Nations League kitchen?
By the way, the competition needs a rebranding away from a very the Sport-o-Crat name to something more WWE. Continental Crush! Or something.
Any-hoo, the Netherlands are looking to return to the days of being a decent football team again with a testing clash against France, a nation that is refuting the concept of a World Cup hangover in form, by being the actual World Cup winner and not experiencing a hangover.
Two wins and a draw in League A, Group 1 in actual fact. A point for France would clinch the group. A win for Netherland and Germany is relegated to League B.
You can see all the best of all the action and an interview with Landon Donovan on all things USA and Mexico on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM - your home for the beautiful game.
Liverpool to write off Fabinho already?
TRANSFER TRACKER!
Time to wrap up the week with some scurrilous rumors. Apparently, Liverpool is already up for writing off the summer purchase of Fabinho.
The Brazilian arrived from Monaco for around $50 million, has sat on the Liverpool bench a lot and then looked very much off the pace when he has played. Milan is said to be sniffing around for a loan deal – the Serie A side being the go-to club for players that slumped after leaving Monaco - Tiemoue Bakayoko being a case in point.
Elsewhere, Diego Godin to see out his career at Manchester United? It’s in the maybe category. Or just a ploy from the Uruguayan who is currently working on a new deal with the Rojiblancos.
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