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AMSTERDAM — The Netherlands will be testing their goalkeepers in a special penalty shootout training session this week with an eye on the World Cup later this year, coach Louis van Gaal said on Monday.

He has called up four goalkeepers for this week's Nations League clashes against Poland and Belgium as the Dutch look to finish top of their group and advance to the finals next June.

But Van Gaal said a priority will be putting together the final touches for the World Cup in Qatar in November, where the Dutch play in Group A against the hosts, Ecuador and Senegal.

Brentford's in-form striker Ivan Toney earned his first England call-up on Thursday as manager Gareth Southgate named his squad for the upcoming Nations League matches against Italy and Germany.

Toney's inclusion, together with the omission of Manchester United duo Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, was the most significant development as Southgate named his final squad before deciding which players will make his World Cup selection.

MUNICH - Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández laughed off the notion that playing at Bayern Munich is like visiting the "house of horrors" ahead of Tuesday's mouthwatering Champions League Group C clash.

They met in last season's group stage, with the Germans twice winning 3-0, although Barça are now a very different side and spearheaded by striker Robert Lewandowski, who moved to the Nou Camp from the Bavarians in the close season.

DOHA - "Stop! Can't you see the metro station is full? Stop!" a frazzled supervisor shouted as green-vested marshals linked arms to contain thousands of fans streaming from the stadium that will host soccer's World Cup final in Qatar.

It was after midnight on Friday and, for hours, nearly 78,000 people had been filing out of the stadium after a near-capacity match tested the small Gulf state's readiness for the tournament, which kicks off on Nov. 20.

After recent friendlies against sides ranked 47th, 25th and 46th in the world, the USWNT is now preparing for an October that'll either certify its status as the 2023 World Cup favorite or potentially shift that tag to a European rival. 

We already knew about the showdown between the United States and European champion England at Wembley on Oct. 7, but on Monday, the U.S. announced another heavyweight clash — at trip to El Sadar in Pamplona to play Spain on Oct. 11.

Scottish side Rangers' home Champions League game against Napoli on Tuesday has been postponed by a day due to a lack of adequate security personnel following the death of Queen Elizabeth, UEFA said on Sunday.

The Queen died aged 96 on Thursday, which led to a raft of postponements across different sports in Britain over the weekend, including Premier League and English Football League (EFL) games.

HONG KONG - Iran hopes history will repeat itself at this November's World Cup in Qatar, 24 years after overcoming a fractious build-up to score a memorable triumph over the United States — the country's decades-long geopolitical rival — in France.

As the teams prepare to clash again, and their governments wrangle over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear pact, the Iranian side's preparations have been thrown into turmoil by a divided squad and maneuvering over its leadership.

Just as deadline day was about to slam shut, Leeds United surprised many by signing winger, Wilfried Gnonto. Anyone familiar with the 18-year-old Italian however, will be aware of the brilliant business done by Jesse Marsch to bring him to England for as little as he did. 

✍️ #LUFC is pleased to confirm the signing of Italian international Wilfried Gnonto from FC Zurich