London (AFP) – Gareth Southgate defended the decision to honour Wayne Rooney by fielding England's top international goalscorer in a friendly against the USA at Wembley next week. The Football Association announced on Sunday that Rooney would be awarded his 120th cap as a tribute to his England career which appeared to have come to […]

Madrid (AFP) – Santiago Solari pressed his case for becoming Real Madrid's permanent coach on Wednesday after a 5-0 demolition of Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League. Since being installed on a temporary basis following the sacking of Julen Lopetegui last week, Solari has overseen three victories, over Plzen, Real Valladolid in La Liga and […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain have opened a probe into claims that young players were subject to racial profiling during their recruitment process, a source close to the club said on Thursday. "We have opened an internal investigation," the source told AFP, after the claims made by French investigative website Mediapart, who cited documents from […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele is likely to miss the rest of the year due to ankle ligament damage, Spurs confirmed on Thursday. "Unfortunately, Mousa Dembele’s scans have confirmed ligament damage to his right ankle and he is unlikely to be available until the New Year," Spurs said in a statement. The 31-year-old […]

London (AFP) – The bizarre spot-kick awarded after Raheem Sterling tripped himself up during Manchester City's 6-0 demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk has been branded the "worst penalty decision ever" but should he have owned up? Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai remarkably pointed to the spot after Sterling kicked the turf and took a tumble midway through […]

Paris (AFP) – Anthony Martial has been rewarded for his impressive recent form with Manchester United by being recalled to the France squad by coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday. Martial, who has scored five goals in United's last four Premier League games, comes in for France's Nations League match in the Netherlands on November 16 […]

Milan (AFP) – Jose Mourinho may have enraged Juventus fans by taunting them after Manchester United's dramatic 2-1 win in Turin on Wednesday but Inter Milan's Chinese president Steven Zhang was impressed by his attitude. Mourinho's side snatched a vital Champions League victory in Turin thanks to Juan Mata's free-kick and a Leonardo Bonucci own […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Incumbent Aleksander Ceferin is virtually assured re-election as UEFA president after European football's ruling body confirmed Thursday he is the sole candidate for next February's elections. Slovenian Ceferin, a lawyer, has held the post since 2016 when he replaced former France legend Michel Platini, who was forced to resign several months previously […]

London (AFP) – Evoking memories of their astonishing Champions League win in 1999, Manchester United breathed new life into a stuttering season by improbably turning around their match against Juventus in the final five minutes to win 2-1. Not since the Nou Camp final of 1999, on arguably the club's greatest-ever night, when the Red […]

London (AFP) – Gabriel Jesus insisted he had not been feeling the pressure before roaring back to form with a hat-trick in Manchester City's 6-0 Champions League demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk. Coming after a poor World Cup, the Brazil striker had made an underwhelming start to the campaign, with just two goals and only six […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho has a muscle tear and will be out for two to three weeks, the Spanish La Liga giants said Thursday. "Tests undertaken on Thursday morning have confirmed that Philippe Coutinho has a small rupture in the femoral biceps of his left leg," Barcelona said. "He will be out […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Shanghai SIPG are the new kings of Chinese football after winning the Chinese Super League (CSL) to end Guangzhou Evergrande's seven-year reign as champions. The Shanghai club of expensive Brazilian duo Oscar and Hulk were crowned champions for the first time in their history on Wednesday after a 2-1 home victory over […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Jose Mourinho hailed a "fantastic victory" after Manchester United stole the thunder of Cristiano Ronaldo and a dominant Juventus with a 2-1 win in the Champions League on Wednesday. A jubilant Mourinho made the most of the last-gasp victory, going onto the pitch at full-time and cupping his ear to jeers […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo could not hide his frustration that despite scoring his first Champions League goal for Juventus the Italian side 'gifted' a dramatic late 2-1 victory to Manchester United. Ronaldo struck with a magnificent first-time volley on 65 minutes to leave Juve on course for the knockout phase, but Juan Mata […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Al Ahly of Egypt take a 3-1 lead over Esperance of Tunisia to the CAF Champions League final second leg Friday against a backdrop of a tarnished African club football image. The first leg in Alexandria last weekend was marred by two controversial VAR (video assistant referee) penalties for Ahly, with Walid […]