Lisbon (AFP) – With talisman Cristiano Ronaldo back in the side, Portugal strolled to a 3-0 win over Algeria in a World Cup warm-up match in Lisbon on Thursday. A brace from Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncalo Guedes, who spent last season on loan at Valencia, and another strike from Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes secured […]

Leeds (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Marcus Rashford staked his claim to start England's World Cup campaign with a stunning strike in a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica in a friendly in Leeds on Thursday. Danny Welbeck also justified his inclusion in Gareth Southgate's squad by coming off the bench to seal the win. In England's […]

Accra (AFP) – Ghana on Thursday said it would dissolve the country's football association after explosive revelations of bribe-taking by referees and kickbacks to top officials that have shocked the football-mad nation. Information minister Mustapha Abdul-Hamid said the government had "decided to take immediate steps to have the GFA (Ghana Football Association) dissolved" because of […]

Milan (AFP) – Serie A champions Juventus confirmed on Thursday they have activated the 40 million euro ($47 million) purchase clause to make Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa's move to Italy permanent. The 27-year-old initially moved to Turin on loan for six million euros last summer with a 40 million euro option to buy. And […]

Milan (AFP) – Spaniard Julio Velazquez was on Tuesday appointed coach of Serie A club Udinese in place of Igor Tudor. The 36-year-old, who arrives from Spanish second division side Alcorcon, will become the first coach born in the 1980s to coach in the Italian league. The northeastern Italian outfit said in a statement that […]

London (AFP) – A British lawmaker on Thursday called for independent medical checks on footballers who have sustained head injuries, after Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius played on in the Champions League final with a concussion. "The concussion suffered by the Liverpool goalkeeper in the recent Champions League match shows absolutely that football has not yet got […]

Paris (South Korea) (AFP) – Playing football, nothing could be simpler, right? All you need is a ball, a few players and — a pitch. Around the world and whatever the landscape, football grounds abound — and are as varied and diverse as the people who play on them. Perched on top of a Japanese […]

London (AFP) – Amazon has secured the rights to show English Premier League football matches in a pioneering move for the online sector in the bidding war for sports events. The global online retailer will show 20 Premier League matches a season for three years in the UK, starting from the 2019/20 season, the league […]

London (AFP) – Amazon has secured the rights to show English Premier League football matches in a pioneering move for the online sector in the bidding war for sports events. The global online retailer will show 20 Premier League matches a season for three years in the UK, starting from the 2019/20 season, the league […]

London (AFP) – Richard Scudamore, a driving force behind the growth of the Premier League, is planning to step down as executive chairman after almost 20 years, he announced on Thursday. The 58-year-old Englishman was chief executive from 1999-2014 when he was appointed to his present role which he said he plans to quit by […]

Paris (AFP) – Brazilian superstar Neymar and his Paris-Saint Germain team-mates will raise the curtain on the 2018-19 Ligue 1 season as they ended the last, facing Caen. The champions' last match was on May 18 away to Caen where a 0-0 draw helped the hosts retain their Ligue 1 status. And the minnows' reward […]

London (AFP) – Stephane Guivarc'h serves as an example to today's World Cup stars of how a modest striker's selfless sacrifices paved the way for France's 1998 triumph, Patrick Vieira told The Times. Vieira, who set up Arsenal team-mate Emmanuel Petit for France's third goal in the 3-0 thumping of a listless Brazil in the […]

Milan (AFP) – Italian Rolando Maran has been appointed coach of Cagliari on a two-year contract, the Serie A club confirmed on Thursday. The 54-year-old was sacked by Serie A rivals Chievo last April. "The last time I was in Sardinia I took three points (Chievo beat Cagliari in September). Now I'm here to bring […]

Oslo (AFP) – At around the time that World Cup minnows Panama were playing Norway this week, thieves were busy rifling their Oslo hotel rooms, police told AFP on Thursday. The Panamanian football federation tweeted: "Three #Panamayor hotel rooms were robbed in Oslo, Norway. Norwegian police are at the scene looking for clues." Police say […]

London (AFP) – Amazon has secured the rights to show English Premier League football matches for the first time in further evidence of their financial might in the bidding wars for sports events, the league said Thursday. The giant online retailer will show 20 Premier League matches a season for three years, starting from the […]