Paris (AFP) – Lille striker Burak Yilmaz and Paris Saint-Germain pair Kylian Mbappe and Neymar have been named among the five nominees for the Ligue 1 players' player of the season award, the French league (LFP) announced Tuesday. Monaco striker Wissam Ben Yedder and Lyon forward Memphis Depay make up the list. Turkey veteran Yilmaz […]

Rome (AFP) – Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be out for at least two matches with a knee injury, just a month before the start of Euro 2020, AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli said on Tuesday. The Swede, who returned to international football in March after a five-year absence, suffered the injury during Milan's 3-0 victory over […]

Berlin (AFP) – Relegation-threatened Bundesliga club Cologne on Tuesday named Steffen Baumgart from second-tier side Paderborn as head coach for next season — whether or not his new club remains in Germany's top flight. Cologne are second-from-bottom and need two points to escape the bottom three with games to come against fellow-strugglers Hertha Berlin and […]

London (AFP) – Norwich midfielder Kenny McLean says he is "devastated"to be missing Euro 2020 due to a knee injury, in what is Scotland's first appearance at a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup. The 29-year-old midfielder played in all three of Scotland's recent 2022 World Cup qualifiers, while he also played a key […]

London (AFP) – Fulham manager Scott Parker has been linked with the managerial vacancy at Tottenham but says his priority is to try and help his current club make an immediate return to the Premier League. Fulham joined West Brom and Sheffield United in being relegated from the Premier League following a 2-0 loss to […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Spanish football legend Andres Iniesta celebrated his 37th birthday on Tuesday by signing a contract extension that will keep him at J-League side Vissel Kobe for two more years. The former Barcelona midfield maestro joined Kobe in 2018 in a deal worth a reported $30 million a year and recently recovered from […]

Paris (AFP) – Didier Deschamps captained France to a World Cup and European Championship double as a player and is now hoping to repeat the feat as coach when the delayed Euro 2020 finally goes ahead in June and July. However, in an exclusive interview with AFP, the 52-year-old warned against any complacency from the […]

London (AFP) – Fulham were relegated from the Premier League with a 2-0 loss at home to Burnley on Monday that assured the Clarets of their top-flight status. The result meant London club Fulham would join already-demoted West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United in the second-tier Championship next season. Scott Parker's side had to avoid […]

Cairo (AFP) – Ranging from the presidential such as Obama to the abstract like Kahraba (electricity) or El Winch, the tradition of Egyptian footballers taking bizarre nicknames is alive and kicking. The flamboyant and sometimes satirical naming of players was prominently employed by Badr Ragab, a youth coach at Egypt's most successful club Al-Ahly during […]

London (AFP) – Edinson Cavani will remain at Manchester United next season after the on-form Uruguayan signed a one-year contract extension on Monday. The 34-year-old Uruguayan has scored 15 goals in his first season in England, including eight in his last seven games, to help United to second place in the Premier League and to […]

Versailles (France) (AFP) – The son of Liberia's ex-footballer president, George Weah, has been handed a six-month suspended jail sentence by a French court for "Ibiza-style" parties at his home in an upmarket Paris suburb. George Weah Junior, 33, was also ordered to pay 20,000 euros (24,000 dollars) to his neighbours after more than two […]

London (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hailed "special" teenage striker Mason Greenwood as the Manchester United boss juggles his resources to meet the demands of four games in just eight days. Greenwood, 19, overtook Wayne Rooney as United's top-scoring teenager in Premier League history in Sunday's 3-1 win over Aston Villa. That match followed […]

Berlin (AFP) – Hansi Flick, who is stepping down as Bayern Munich coach at the end of this season, will take over the German national team after this summer's Euro, a German newspaper reported on Monday. Flick is expected to sign for three years, according to the Abendzeitung, a Munich newspaper, allowing him to lead […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – The delayed CAF Super Cup match between Al Ahly of Egypt and Renaissance Berkane of Morocco will be played on May 28 in Doha, the organisers confirmed Monday. Coronavirus and disagreements over the venue led to several postponements of the annual fixture between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the […]

Paris (AFP) – As Bayern Munich wrapped up yet another Bundesliga title, it was a bad weekend for some of Europe's other super clubs. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain all saw their title hopes take a hit, and Juventus may not even be in next season's Champions League. AFP Sport rounds up some of […]