Paris (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah make up the three-man shortlist for the UEFA Player of the Year award for the 2017/18 season, European football's governing body announced on Monday. Ronaldo — the winner in each of the last two years — and Modric both starred for Real Madrid as the […]

Zagreb (AFP) – Luka Modric, awarded the Golden Ball for the best player at the World Cup, and his midfield partner Ivan Rakitic have both been called up to the Croatia squad for matches against Portugal and Spain in September. In his first squad announcement since Croatia lost 4-2 to France in the World Cup […]

Milan (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival in Italy has boosted the international popularity of Serie A which will return in the FIFA 19 video game to be launched next month, the Lega Serie A confirmed Monday. Lega Serie A chairman Gaetano Micciche said agreement had been reached to include the Italian league in the new […]

Milan (AFP) – Roma's French international midfielder Maxime Gonalons has completed a season-long loan move to Spanish side Sevilla, the two clubs confirmed on Monday. The 29-year-old joined Roma last year from French club Lyon and made 23 appearances for Eusebio Di Francesco's side — 16 in Serie A. Gonalons, who won the last of his […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham's first home game in the group stages of the Champions League will be played at Wembley, the club confirmed on Monday after reaching an agreement with UEFA. Spurs announced last week that the move to their new 62,000-capacity stadium had been delayed by at least a month due to safety issues. […]

Paris (AFP) – Nigeria and Arsenal winger Alex Iwobi opened his 2018/2019 English Premier League goal account at the weekend, but could not prevent a 3-2 loss at London rivals Chelsea. The Gunners might have avoided a second straight league defeat had 2015 African Footballer of the Year Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Gabon not fluffed several […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba believes the club's fans have every right to vent their anger after a first-half collapse saw the Red Devils beaten 3-2 by Brighton. Jose Mourinho's men are already three points adrift of Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham, who they face in their next Premier League fixture. "We […]

Madrid (AFP) – New Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui hailed the performance of Gareth Bale after the Welshman scored one goal and created another in his team's 2-0 win over Getafe on Sunday. Bale's cross was headed in by Dani Carvajal for Real's opening goal in their first match of the new campaign in La […]

Milan (AFP) – Italy's football federation chief on Monday slammed as a "bad joke" the call by die-hard Lazio ultra fans to ban women to the back rows of the Olympic Stadium in Rome. A leaflet being attributed to Lazio ultras was circulated before the team's opening Serie A game — a 2-1 loss to […]

Milan (AFP) – Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino called Cristiano Ronaldo a "legend" and thanked the Juventus star for wishing him a speedy recovery after being knocked out by the Portuguese player in the season opener between the two teams at the weekend. Sorrentino, 39, suffered a broken nose, whiplash and a shoulder injury following a […]

London (AFP) – Northern Ireland international Jimmy McIlroy, widely regarded as Burnley's finest ever player, has died aged 86, the club announced on Monday. An inside forward who was capped 55 times and helped the Northern Irish reach the 1958 World Cup quarter-finals, McIlroy was an integral part of the 'Clarets' team that won the […]

London (AFP) – Former Scotland international striker Kenny Miller's first foray into management ended abruptly on Monday after he refused Premiership side Livingston's demand he hang up his playing boots. The 38-year-old Rangers legend — capped 69 times — leaves after just seven matches in charge, which yielded three victories and two draws. Livingston issued […]

London (AFP) – Jose Mourinho warned of the troubles that could lie ahead for his Manchester United side, but the Portuguese must still accept much of the responsibility from a 3-2 defeat at Brighton that has the Red Devils' season off to a bad start. The concern for United is now whether Mourinho is capable […]

Shanghai (AFP) – The Chinese Super League (CSL) is in the throes of the most closely contested title race in its history with just three points separating the top four as they approach the home straight. Beijing Guoan and Shanghai SIPG share the top spot on equal points with the two sides meeting at the […]

Washington (AFP) – Josef Martinez tied Major League Soccer's single-season scoring record Sunday when he hammered in his 27th goal of the season in Atlanta's 3-1 home victory over Columbus Crew. Martinez equalled the record established by Roy Lassiter in 1996 and matched by Chris Wondolowski (2012), and Bradley Wright-Phillips (2016). With eight regular-season matches […]