Moscow (AFP) – England-based pair Jonathan Kodjia of Aston Villa and Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha fired Ivory Coast to a 2-0 win over Russia in a friendly at Krasnodar on Friday. It was Russia's third defeat in six matches since Stanislav Cherchesov took over as manager in August — the other two coming against Costa […]

London (AFP) – Eric Dier has called on England fans to back the team in the "right way" following the offensive behaviour of some travelling supporters during Wednesday's friendly international loss in Germany. England's 1-0 defeat in Dortmund was overshadowed by away fans booing the German national anthem and singing unsavoury songs about the Second […]

Luxembourg (AFP) – A day after Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema demanded talks with the France coach over his ongoing international exile, Didier Deschamps flatly refused to discuss the matter. "I have nothing to say about this now, simply because right now we're focussed on Saturday's game (against Luxembourg) and Tuesday's game (against Spain)," Deschamps […]

Berlin (AFP) – Former Germany international striker Kevin Kuranyi said Friday he was calling time on his career despite money-spinning offers to play overseas in Qatar and China. The 35-year-old, who scored 19 goals in 52 appearances for Germany, had been a free agent since last year after a career spent at clubs including Stuttgart […]

Estoril (Portugal) (AFP) – FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Friday the election of Ahmad Ahmad as Confederation of African Football chief was "a vote for change" after almost 30 years under Cameroonian Issa Hayatou. Ahmad, head of Madagascar's football federation, won the election in the Ethiopian capital this month by 34 votes to Hayatou's 20. […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United defender Chris Smalling is injured and will play no part in England's World Cup qualifier with Lithuania on Sunday, the Football Association said on Friday. In his place Middlesbrough's Ben Gibson got his first senior England call-up for the match at Wembley. Smalling's exit however compounds England manager Gareth Southgate's […]

Nyon (Switzerland) (AFP) – Arsenal and Bayern Munich were on Friday fined by UEFA for their fans behaviour during this month's Champions League last-16 clash at the Emirates Stadium. European football's governing body had opened disciplinary proceedings the day after the game which was held up by toilet paper thrown on the pitch and a […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Kenya stretched an unbeaten run to nine matches by drawing 1-1 at home against Uganda on Thursday. Michael Olunga gave the "Harambee Stars" a 35th-minute lead in a friendly at Kenyatta Stadium in eastern town Machakos. Kenya retained the lead against their long-time east African rivals until three minutes from time when […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli was banned for three European club matches by UEFA on Friday for his sending off against Gent last month. Alli received a straight red card in the 2-2 draw at Wembley for his horror tackle on Gent's Brecht Dejaegere, which saw the Premier League club knocked out of […]

Beijing (AFP) – Chinese fans and state-run media heaped praise on coach Marcello Lippi on Friday after a stunning win over South Korea kept their World Cup qualifying campaign alive. "Thanks Lippi," gushed state broadcaster CCTV, after China climbed off the bottom of Group A following Thursday's 1-0 victory in Changsha. Lippi, who led Italy […]

Seoul (AFP) – South Korea's top football official promised on Friday that coach Uli Stielike's job was safe despite the national team's shock 1-0 loss to China in World Cup qualifying. Chung Mong-Gyu, head of the Korea Football Association, said South Korea "didn't play such a bad match" and that talks of any coaching changes […]

Montevideo (AFP) – Brazil thrashed Uruguay to move to the brink of the World Cup finals on Thursday as Lionel Messi got Argentina's faltering qualification campaign back on track with the only goal to sink Chile. A superb hat-trick from China-based midfielder Paulinho powered Brazil to a 4-1 drubbing of the Uruguayans in Montevideo to […]

Al-Ain (United Arab Emirates) (AFP) – Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic warned his players not to get "silly" after a 2-0 win in the United Arab Emirates moved them closer to a sixth successive World Cup. Goals from Yuya Kubo and Yasuyuki Konno on Thursday kept the Blue Samurai level at the top of Group B […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Lionel Messi scored from the penalty spot as Argentina revived their World Cup qualifying campaign with a battling 1-0 win over rivals Chile on Thursday. Barcelona star Messi stroked home his penalty on 16 minutes after veteran Chile defender Jose Fuenzalida brought down Angel Di Maria with a clumsy challenge. The […]

Montevideo (AFP) – China-based midfielder Paulinho scored a hat-trick as Brazil thrashed Uruguay 4-1 to move to the brink of the World Cup finals here Thursday. Barcelona superstar Neymar scored Brazil's other goal with a cheeky lob as the five-time world champions opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the South American qualifying […]