London (AFP) – Bert van Marwijk aims to get Australia's World Cup preparations back on track in Tuesday's friendly against Colombia in London. Australia manager Van Marwijk endured a miserable start to his reign as the Socceroos were routed 4-1 by Norway on Friday. The Dutch coach, who has taken over from Ange Postecoglou, saw […]

Berlin (AFP) – Brazil are one of the favourites for the 2018 World Cup, but injury to superstar Neymar still weakens the 'Selecao', Germany winger Leroy Sane said Sunday. "Brazil aren't as dependent on Neymar as they were in 2014," said Manchester City winger Sane. "They are better positioned and have a few new stars, […]

Tehran (AFP) – A conservative lawmaker in Iran slammed the sports federation on Sunday for allowing star footballer Masoud Shojaei to return to the international squad despite appearing against an Israeli team last year. Shojaei, the 33-year-old national team captain, and teammate Ehsan Haji Safi were criticised in Iran after they appeared for their Greek […]

Athens (AFP) – The owner of reigning Greek champions Olympiakos and English Championship club Nottingham Forest has been charged with drug trafficking. Evangelos Marinakis is being prosecuted for "possession and trafficking of drugs" and for "associating with criminals", a source in the judiciary said on Friday. Prosecutors in Piraeus, where Olympiakos are based, have also […]

Belfast (AFP) – Paul Smyth was Northern Ireland's hero after coming off the bench to mark his international debut with the winning goal against World Cup-bound South Korea in Belfast on Saturday. There were just six minutes left until the end of the friendly match when the 20-year-old Queens Park Rangers forward was sent on […]

Madrid (AFP) – Andres Iniesta may be considering international retirement and winding down his club career in China but Spain's creator-in-chief demonstrated on Friday why he might be leaving too soon. Iniesta's threaded pass in the sixth minute, disguised by a contradictory glance and weighted so precisely that Rodrigo Moreno did not meed to bother […]

Monterrey (Mexico) (AFP) – Dripping with sweat, the burly footballers sprint across the pitch seeking to score in Mexico's Heavyweight Football league, where points are awarded not just for goals but for shedding weight. Mexico is the second-most obese country in the world, after its neighbor the United States. But in the northern city of […]

Düsseldorf (Germany) (AFP) – Germany head coach Joachim Loew says he knows the areas where the defending champions must improve before the World Cup after drawing 1-1 with Spain on Friday. Rodrigo Moreno put Spain ahead after just six minutes in Duesseldorf, but hosts Germany levelled when Thomas Mueller hit a superb equaliser in his […]

Amsterdam (AFP) – Amsterdam police said on Friday they had arrested almost 100 England football supporters ahead of a friendly international against the Netherlands, with videos posted online showing crowds packing the narrow streets and bridges in the canal city, singing and cheering. "The number of arrests of England supporters has now climbed to close to […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Alex McLeish saw his second spell as Scotland manager start with a defeat as Costa Rica won 1-0 in a friendly international at Glasgow's Hampden Park on Friday. A Scotland side showing four debutants was undone by Marco Urena's 14th-minute goal in a repeat result of Costa Rica's victory over the Scots […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Chelsea winger Victor Moses won and converted a harshly awarded penalty to give Nigeria a surprise 1-0 win in Poland on Friday in a World Cup warm-up. Moses fell after the merest of touches before calmly stroking the ball into the corner of the net as Polish goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski barely moved […]

Amsterdam (AFP) – Jesse Lingard scored his first England goal as a reshaped side beat the Netherlands 1-0 in an Amsterdam friendly on Friday. This was England's last away match before they travel to Russia for this year's World Cup finals in Russia and they were rewarded with a well-deserved win against a Dutch side […]

Zurich (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo hit two goals in stoppage time as European champions Portugal defeated Egypt 2-1 in a friendly international on Friday, winning his personal duel with Mohamed Salah who had put the seven-time African champions ahead. Ronaldo, appearing in his 900th career match, made his mark to devastating effect as time ran […]

Düsseldorf (Germany) (AFP) – A superb Thomas Mueller equaliser saw world champions Germany fight back against Spain as the European powerhouses drew 1-1 in Friday's high-profile friendly. After Rodrigo Moreno put Spain ahead after just six minutes, Germany went into the break level after Mueller hit his 38th goal for the national team on his […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Ever Banega ensured Argentina weren't derailed by Lionel Messi's absence as the World Cup contenders clinched a 2-0 win over Italy in Friday's friendly at the Etihad Stadium. Messi reportedly suffered an groin strain in training on Thursday, so the Barcelona forward was an unused substitute as Argentina kicked off […]