Rome (AFP) – Roma sports director Monchi called club legend Francesco Totti "a superhero" as the former captain marked the 25th anniversary of his Serie A debut on Wednesday. Totti retired last year at the age of 40 and now has a director's role with the Italian club, who this season have reached the Champions […]

Moscow (AFP) – World Cup hosts Russia were licking their wounds after successive beatings by Brazil and France exposed dire shortcomings ahead of the June kickoff to the international football extravaganza. It was a month to forget for coach Stanislav Cherchesov and fans desperate to see their team make it past the World Cup group […]

Milan (AFP) – Lazio have reportedly fallen for an email scam and paid two million euros ($2.4m) of the final instalment for defender Stefan de Vrij's transfer from Dutch club Feyenoord to fraudsters. Italian newspaper Il Tempo reported on Wednesday that hackers with knowledge of the deal tricked the Serie A club into paying the money […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Damned as the chief plotter in the Australian ball-tampering scandal, David Warner has been sunk by sparking one controversy too many. The man who made headlines in 2009 by becoming the first player in 130 years to represent Australia without having featured in a first-class match was heading home from South Africa […]

Madrid (AFP) – Hat-trick hero Isco said it was a relief to play for Spain as he feels Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has no faith in him. Spain destroyed Argentina, who were without Lionel Messi, 6-1 in a friendly on Tuesday as Isco stole the show with his triple at the Wanda Metropolitano. The […]

Paris (AFP) – France's sports minister has condemned the "inadmissible" monkey chants aimed at French players Paul Pogba and Ousmane Dembele during the international friendly against Russia in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday. Laura Flessel, a former two-time Olympic champion in fencing, posted a message on her Twitter account on Wednesday. "Racism has no place on […]

Milan (AFP) – Walter Sabatini has resigned as technical coordinator of Suning Sports, the group that owns Italians Inter Milan and Chinese Super League (CSL) side Jiangsu, the group confirmed on Wednesday. For Suning, the split with Sabatini follows the resignation this week of fellow Italian Fabio Capello as coach of the Chinese team. Sabatini's […]

Jerusalem (AFP) – Jordi Cruyff, the Dutch boss of Maccabi Tel Aviv, is to step down at the end of the season after six years during which he steered the club to three Israeli championships. Cruyff, 44, son of the late Dutch footballing legend Johan, joined the club in 2012 after a successful first management […]

Manila (AFP) – The Philippines football team's captain said on Wednesday he hoped their historic first-ever qualification for the Asian Cup could be a catalyst for growth of the sport in the basketball-mad nation. Nicknamed the Azkals — slang for mongrel dogs — the Philippines qualified for the Asian Cup with a 2-1 come-from-behind win […]

London (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate believes a lack of clarity over the video assistant referee (VAR) system could blight the 2018 World Cup. Southgate's side were denied another impressive World Cup warm-up friendly result as Lorenzo Insigne's penalty three minutes from time salvaged a 1-1 draw for Italy at Wembley on Tuesday. However, […]

Paris (AFP) – Isco scored a hat-trick as Spain hammered an Argentina side without Lionel Messi 6-1 in a friendly on Tuesday, while Brazil defeated Germany 1-0 in their first meeting since the 2014 World Cup. Gareth Southgate's England were denied victory over Italy at Wembley after the visitors were awarded a late penalty in […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Liverpool goal machine Mohamed Salah sat on the bench as Egypt barely created a chance when losing 1-0 to Greece Tuesday on a mixed night for African World Cup hopefuls. Tunisia and Morocco won for the second time during the FIFA international window, but Senegal drew again and Nigeria lost after winning […]

Madrid (AFP) – Spain delivered a resounding message about their World Cup chances this summer as Isco scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition of Argentina in Madrid on Tuesday. Diego Costa was back in the starting line-up for the first time in eight international matches and he marked his return with the opening goal […]

London (AFP) – Lorenzo Insigne's penalty three minutes from time denied England another impressive World Cup warm-up friendly result as the video assistant referee (VAR) helped Italy salvage a 1-1 draw at Wembley on Tuesday. England were on course to back up their 1-0 win over the Netherlands on Friday and draws against World Cup […]

Berlin (AFP) – Gabriel Jesus struck the winner as Brazil put memories of their 2014 World Cup mauling by Germany behind them with a 1-0 friendly win in Berlin on Tuesday. Jesus' first-half goal at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, packed with a 72,717-strong crowd, saw Brazil end Germany's unbeaten run of 22 games dating back to […]