Johannesburg (AFP) – Coach Mumamba Numba insists "nothing can stop" Zanaco of Zambia reaching the CAF Champions League quarter-finals this weekend when they tackle Wydad Casablanca in Morocco. The Lusaka-based outfit top hotly-contested Group D, two points ahead of former champions Wydad and three in front of record eight-time title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt with […]

Seoul (AFP) – South Korea's new football coach criticised his predecessor Uli Stielike on Thursday, accusing the veteran German of lacking strategies and blaming communication difficulties with the players for poor results. Stielike, 62, won the European Championship and was a World Cup runner-up with Germany as a player, and went on to manage Switzerland […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – The United States and Mexico are hoping to unearth a new crop of talent as they attempt to extend their reign of dominance when the CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off on Friday. The biennial football championship for North America, Central America and Caribbean gets under way at the Red Bull Arena […]

Madrid (AFP) – Striker Fernando Torres will stay at Atletico Madrid until the end of next season after signing a contract extension, the La Liga club announced on Wednesday. The former Spain international's contract had run out, but he will now stay at Atletico until June 30, 2018. The capital-city side are under a transfer […]

Lyon (AFP) – Arsenal signed France striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for a club-record fee that could rise to 60 million euros ($68m, £52.56m), the two clubs confirmed on Wednesday. The transfer fee is also a new record sale for the Ligue 1 outfit, worth an initial 53m euros, according to a statement on the […]

Doha (AFP) – Barcelona star Jordi Alba has become the latest Spanish footballer to enter the Gulf diplomatic crisis after he was shown signing a T-shirt of Qatar's leader on Wednesday. A video of Alba autographing the image of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, which has become the symbol of Qatari resistance during the […]

Madrid (AFP) – French left-back Theo Hernandez, 19, completed a cross-city transfer from Atletico to Real Madrid for a reported fee of 30 million euros ($34 million) on Wednesday. The announcement ends a drawn out struggle for one of Europe's up-and-coming talents, with the European and Spanish champions Real prising the youngster away from their […]

New Delhi (AFP) – India's anti-doping agency Wednesday revoked the suspension of veteran goalkeeper Subrata Paul after the footballer proved he had taken a banned drug unintentionally. Paul, dubbed the "Indian Spiderman", was provisionally suspended after testing positive to banned drug terbutaline during a random test by the National Anti-Doping Authority (NADA) in March. The […]

Istanbul (AFP) – Portuguese international defender Pepe on Wednesday signed for Turkish champions Besiktas of Istanbul from Real Madrid on a two-year deal. Pepe, 34, landed in Istanbul before dawn aboard a private plane and was given a rousing welcome by hundreds of fans who had waited overnight at the airport. He then went through […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Lionel Messi has agreed to stay at Barcelona until 2021 in a deal that all but commits the star striker to ending his top-flight career at the Spanish giants. The megastar who joined Barcelona as a teenager 17 years ago will remain at the club until he is 34 under the new […]

Zagreb (AFP) – Croatian prosecutors on Wednesday questioned Real Madrid's Luka Modric over his alleged false testimony at the trial of Dinamo Zagreb's powerful former boss, Zdravko Mamic. "I came here to present my defence and tell the truth as every time so far," Modric told reporters after the questioning in the eastern town of […]

Madrid (AFP) – Enzo Zidane insisted Wednesday that he was a "different player" from his father Zinedine, after being unveiled at La Liga club Deportivo Alaves. "I don't think much about that," the 22-year-old attacking midfielder said when asked about comparisons with Zinedine Zidane, a 1998 World Cup winner feted as one of the finest […]

London (AFP) – Newly promoted Huddersfield have signed 22-year-old Montpellier forward Steve Mounie, the club announced Wednesday. The Benin international who also has French nationality has agreed to a four-year contract with the Premier League club. Mounie scored 14 goals in Ligue 1 last season and Huddersfield boss David Wagner said the player had "a […]

Jakarta (AFP) – Indonesia is set to lead a consortium of South East Asian countries in an ambitious bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, the country's football association said Wednesday. Joko Driyono, the vice-president of the Indonesia's football association, PSSI, said the country had proposed to lead the South East Asian consortium at […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande fined captain Zheng Zhi for failing to gather all his players to shake the hands of match officials after the dramatic weekend defeat at Tianjin Quanjian. The Chinese international midfielder becomes the latest major name to hit disciplinary trouble in the Chinese Super League (CSL), with the Shanghai […]