Rome (AFP) – Roma owner James Pallotta on Monday thanked departing coach Claudio Ranieri for riding to the rescue of his hometown club and the fans for giving an "incredible" farewell to legend Daniele De Rossi. De Rossi brought the curtain down after 18 seasons and 616 matches, which included 322 victories, after the final […]

London (AFP) – An Aston Villa side managed by lifelong fan Dean Smith ended their three-year exile from the Premier League on Monday with a 2-1 win over Derby County in the Championship playoff final at Wembley. A year after losing in the playoff final to Fulham, Villa were celebrating a return to English football's […]

Freetown (AFP) – Two former heads of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) were cleared of corruption charges on Monday after a high-profile case that led to a bustup with FIFA. Ex-SLFA president Isha Johansen, a leading women's football entrepreneur, and former general secretary Chris Kamara had faced an array of charges for misappropriation of […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has said Harry Kane is in a "very positive situation" and could be fit to face Liverpool in Saturday's Champions League final in Madrid. England forward Kane has been out of action since suffering an ankle injury during the first leg of the quarter-final against Manchester City. […]

Milan (AFP) – Former Italy coach Antonio Conte is poised to replace Luciano Spalletti as coach of Inter Milan, according to reports in Italy on Monday. Spalletti sealed Inter's Champions League berth for a second consecutive year with a 2-1 win over Empoli on the final day of the Serie A season Sunday. Inter snatched […]

Wellington (AFP) – Wellington Phoenix and Fiji striker Roy Krishna announced Monday he is leaving the A-League after a stellar season which saw him named the competition's best player and win the Golden Boot. Krishna, 31, did not name his destination but media reports in Australia said he had been snapped up by an unnamed […]

Yangon (AFP) – Myanmar U19 striker San Thaw Thaw fled from her family's paddy fields to follow her footballing dreams, inspired by her girlhood hero Wayne Rooney. One of five daughters, the 18-year-old grew up in Nyaung Tone township in Ayeyarwaddy division obsessed with football in a country that often frowns on women playing sport. […]

Baku (AFP) – The Europa League final on Wednesday in Baku is just the latest major sporting event Azerbaijan has hosted in an attempt to smooth over its atrocious human rights record. Hosting events such as the 2015 European Games and an annual Formula 1 Grand Prix, the oil-rich Caspian nation has spent its petrodollars […]

London (AFP) – Petr Cech will bring down the curtain on a glittering playing career in strange circumstances as the Arsenal goalkeeper faces his former and potentially future employers Chelsea in the Europa League final on Wednesday. Cech, 37, enjoyed the best years of his career at Stamford Bridge, winning 13 trophies including four Premier […]

Milan (AFP) – The 2018/19 Italian Serie A season finished on Sunday with Juventus once again crowned champions for the eighth straight year and 35th time in their history. AFP Sport looks at the tops and flops of the league campaign in Italy: Tops: Ronaldo keeps Juve at summit Cristiano Ronaldo's surprise arrival from Real […]

Milan (AFP) – Massimiliano Allegri oversaw his final game as Juventus coach on Sunday, after guiding the team to an eighth consecutive Serie A title but paying the price for yet another Champions League failure despite the sensational signing of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo was left out alongside a host of other starters as […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Brilliant penalties enabled Zamalek Sporting Club of Egypt to win the CAF Confederation Cup final near Alexandria Monday and end a 16-year African trophy drought. Mahmoud Alaa converted a 55th-minute VAR spot-kick to give Zamalek a 1-0 second-leg win over Renaissance Sportive Berkane of Morocco and leave the teams tied at 1-1 […]

Rome (AFP) – Atalanta won at Sassuolo on Sunday to secure their first ever Champions League spot and Inter Milan joined them while ensuring Empoli were relegated after a frantic second half in the San Siro. AC Milan ended up fifth despite winning at SPAL. Genoa and Fiorentina stayed in Serie A after a nerve-wracked […]

London (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tormented Bayern Munich once again as the Manchester United manager scored in his club's 1999 treble winners' reunion on Sunday. Twenty years after Solskjaer scored the last-gasp winner that helped Alex Ferguson's side beat Bayern in the Champions League final, the current United boss joined his old team-mates for […]

Rome (AFP) – Massimiliano Allegri ended his Juventus career in disappointing fashion on Sunday after the champions were undone by two late strikes at Sampdoria to finish the Serie A season with a five-match winless streak. A scuffed finish from Gregoire Defrel six minutes form the end and a superb stoppage-time free-kick from Gianluca Caprari […]