Glasgow (AFP) – Hampden Park's uncertain future as the home of football in Scotland has been settled after Queen's Park agreed to sell the iconic stadium to the Scottish FA. The SFA had considered moving Scotland internationals and the Scottish Cup final and semi-finals from Glasgow's historic Hampden to Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Murrayfield, with a […]

Osaka (Japan) (AFP) – Japan gave Costa Rica the runaround in a 3-0 home victory Tuesday as Hajime Moriyasu got off to a winning start as head coach of the Blue Samurai. Sho Sasaki's header was turned into his own goal by Bryan Oviedo after 16 minutes before second-half goals from Takumi Minamino and substitute […]

London (AFP) – Everton's majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has significantly increased his control of the Premier League club after acquiring a larger stake on Tuesday. Moshiri has bought another 18.7 per cent of Everton's shares through Blue Heaven Holdings Ltd. The Iranian businessman already held 49.9 per cent of Everton after selling his stake in […]

Dublin (AFP) – Roy Keane faces calls for him to be sacked as assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland by arguably the country's two most respected former players, Johnny Giles and Liam Brady. The fiery Keane — who infamously was sent home from Ireland's pre-2002 World Cup training camp following a tirade of abuse […]

Shanghai (AFP) – China is throwing money at President Xi Jinping's ambitions to boast a top-class national football team and one day host a World Cup. But while the latter can be achieved by splashing the cash, the former appears further away than ever after a desperate four days. China's national team have long been an […]

Culiacán (Mexico) (AFP) – Argentine legend Diego Maradona described his decision to coach second-division Mexican club Dorados as a rebirth after years battling addictions, as he officially became the team's new manager Monday. Maradona has raised eyebrows with the decision to accept a job in the heart of Mexican drug cartel country — the rough-and-tumble […]

Nashville (AFP) – United States caretaker coach Dave Sarachan plans to ring the changes for his team's friendly international against old rivals Mexico on Tuesday as they look to bounce back from a chastening loss to Brazil. Sarachan's youthful side were outclassed 2-0 by the Brazilians in East Rutherford on Friday and now have to […]

Lisbon (AFP) – Andre Silva scored the only goal as European champions Portugal — without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo — got their Nations League campaign off the mark with a 1-0 win over Italy in Lisbon on Monday. Ronaldo, 33, had been left out of the squad at his own request to focus on his new […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Steven Naismith was on target as Scotland marked Alex McLeish's first competitive match since coming back for a second spell as manager by recording a 2-0 win over Albania at a sodden Hampden on Monday. The 31-year-old Hearts forward Naismith had an eventful night, forcing Berat Xhimshiti into scoring the own goal […]

London (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate expects Dele Alli to be fit for Tottenham's clash against Liverpool on Saturday after the midfielder was forced to withdraw from the squad to face Switzerland. Alli was injured in England's Nations League defeat against Spain on Saturday and has pulled out of Tuesday's friendly with the Swiss […]

Madrid (AFP) – Players will have the final say on whether a La Liga fixture between Girona and Barcelona will be staged in the United States, the Spanish players´ association (AFE) said on Monday. Moving the match to the US was formally proposed by La Liga during a meeting in Madrid with AFE, the body […]

Milan (AFP) – Romania captain Vlad Chiriches has undergone successful surgery after suffering torn anterior cruciate knee ligaments playing in the Nations League, his Italian club Napoli said on Monday. The 28-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur defender was injured playing against Montenegro last week, which ended in a goalless draw. "The surgery was successful ... the […]

Paris (AFP) – Marseille are no longer at risk of being kicked out of European competition but will have to play their next Europa League game behind closed doors, UEFA said on Monday. The French giants had appealed to European football's governing body against a threatened ban from competing in continental competition that was handed […]

London (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate expects Dele Alli to be fit for Tottenham's clash against Liverpool on Saturday after the midfielder was forced to withdraw from the squad to face Switzerland. Alli was injured in England's Nations League defeat against Spain on Saturday and has pulled out of Tuesday's friendly with the Swiss […]

Madrid (AFP) – Zinedine Zidane has paved the way for a return to management by admitting he expects to take another coaching job soon. Zidane made the surprise decision to leave Real Madrid at the end of last season, five days after leading the club to a third consecutive Champions League title. The Frenchman said […]