Lisbon (AFP) – Spanish goalkeeping great Iker Casillas has extended his stay at Porto for another season after winning the Portuguese league title, he announced on Thursday. Casillas, who captained Spain to World Cup glory in 2010, joined Porto from Real Madrid in 2015 and regained his place in the team in the second half […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller is struggling to be fit for Saturday's German Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt as he is suffering from gastroenteritis. The 28-year-old German star missed training on Thursday while winger Arjen Robben, who has a groin strain, and Joshua Kimmich both underwent fitness tests. With one eye on next […]

London (AFP) – Mikel Arteta has "all of the qualities" required to become Arsenal manager, their legendary former handler Arsene Wenger told Bein Sports. The 36-year-old Spaniard — who played 150 matches under Wenger at Arsenal — is imbued with the spirt of the Gunners, added Wenger, although the Frenchman was at pains to say […]

London (AFP) – Mohamed Salah fever has swept Britain since his arrival with Liverpool's goal machine earning two players awards and now a pair of his boots are to sit alongside Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum. The 25-year-old Egyptian — who set a new Premier League scoring record last season with 32 — will […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks has signed a new five-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Thursday. Winks, 22, has made 25 appearances this season but only three since the turn of the year, all in the FA Cup. An ankle injury hampered him during the second half of the campaign, costing […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward on Thursday hailed the success of the club's recently launched YouTube channel as the Premier League giants announced their latest quarterly results. United finished second in the Premier League, 19 points behind Manchester City, and crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage. But […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Gianluigi Buffon on Thursday apologised for his referee rant after Juventus's Champions League quarter-final exit against Real Madrid last month. The 40-year-old has been charged by UEFA over his comments about referee Michael Oliver, who awarded the Spaniards a late penalty and dismissed the Juve captain. Cristiano Ronaldo slotted home the […]

London (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate insisted his 23-man squad is built to win now rather than building for the future, despite picking his country's third youngest ever squad for a World Cup. Veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere were among the big names to miss out on Southgate's squad, whilst […]

Nantes (France) (AFP) – French first-division club Nantes on Thursday confirmed that manager Claudio Ranieri would be leaving at the end of the season after one year in charge. "The club and the coach have decided to separate by mutual agreement," president Waldemar Kita said in a statement. "We thank Claudio Ranieri and his staff […]

London (AFP) – Sam Allardyce said he was disappointed at his sacking from Everton but knew it was coming after media speculation over his departure reached fever pitch. The 63-year-old was jettisoned after less than six months in charge at Goodison Park after a short meeting with majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri on Wednesday. The former […]

Lyon (AFP) – For a club like Atletico Madrid, success never comes easily, but Wednesday's Europa League final victory over Marseille served to underline just how far they have travelled in the years since Diego Simeone became coach. The fiery Argentine said the 3-0 win over the French side in Lyon, achieved thanks to Antoine […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon announced on Thursday that he will leave the Turin giants after 17 years but did not as expected declare the end of his playing career. Buffon, 40, captained Juventus to a seventh straight Serie A title and fourth consecutive Italian Cup triumph this season. "To end this […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich's out-spoken striker Sandro Wagner has reacted to his surprise omission from Germany's provisional World Cup squad by retiring from international duty. "I hereby resign immediately from the national team," Wagner told German daily Bild. "For me, it is clear that I do not seem to fit with the coaching team […]

Lima (AFP) – The president of Peru Martin Vizcarra is backing national team captain Paolo Guerrero's battle to overturn a doping ban and play at the 2018 World Cup. Guerrero was slapped with a 14-month ban on Monday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland over a positive cocaine test and will […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Zhao Lina is the face of Chinese women's football, a striking presence who towers over most people and turned down approaches to be a model. Now the 26-year-old international goalkeeper, who stands 1.88 metres (6ft 2in), hopes to use her stature to help raise the profile of the women's game in China. […]