Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Pepe has withdrawn from Portugal's first three upcoing World Cup qualifiers after suffering an injury in a league match for Porto, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said. Sporting defender Luis Neto will take Pepe's place in coach Fernando Santos' squad, the FPF said in a statement on Sunday evening. Pepe was […]

Seoul (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min will miss South Korea's friendly against Japan this week because of injury, the Korea Football Association said. Star striker Son's controversial international call-up after limping off against Arsenal in the Premier League eight days ago had threatened to set up a club-versus-country showdown. The hamstring injury forced Son […]

Paris (AFP) – Holders France begin their defence of the World Cup this week as European qualifying for the 2022 finals in Qatar gets underway against a backdrop of confusion and chaos over the release of players in a worrying health context across the continent. While this month's scheduled qualifiers in South America were called […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Comoros winger Said Bakari expects the people of the small African island state to go "crazy" this week if they reach the Cup of Nations finals for the first time after hosting Togo. "They went crazy after we beat Kenya last November so I expect more of the same if we […]

Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jose Mourinho has demanded his Tottenham players maintain the level of desire they showed in bouncing back from a difficult week to win 2-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday. Spurs threw away a 2-0 first-leg lead to crash out of the Europa League with a 3-0 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb […]

Paris (AFP) – Kylian Mbappe scored his 100th goal in France's top flight as Paris Saint-Germain swept aside title rivals Lyon 4-2 on Sunday to move to the top of Ligue 1 following a shock defeat for previous leaders Lille earlier. Mbappe netted twice at the Groupama Stadium with Danilo Pereira and Angel Di Maria […]

Milan (AFP) – Juventus' hopes of winning a 10th consecutive Serie A title took another blow on Sunday with a 1-0 home loss to lowly Benevento as AC Milan closed the gap on leaders Inter Milan with a hard-fought 3-2 win at Fiorentina. Adolfo Gaich scored the only goal in the 69th minute at Juve's […]

Madrid (AFP) – Lionel Messi scored twice on Sunday as Barcelona trounced Real Sociedad 6-1 to keep the pressure on Atletico Madrid, who squeezed past Alaves thanks to a late penalty save from Jan Oblak. Oblak's 86th-minute heroics denied Joselu and ensured Luis Suarez's header was enough for a 1-0 victory at the Wanda Metropolitano, […]

Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Tottenham bounced back from a shock Europa League exit to Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday to rekindle their hopes of a top-four Premier League finish. One route back into the Champions League next season for Spurs disappeared on a miserable night in the Croatian […]

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defended his decision to field a weakened team as Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup with a 3-1 quarter-final defeat at Leicester on Sunday. Solskjaer made five changes from the United side that beat AC Milan in the Europa League last-16 second leg on Thursday. […]

Milan (AFP) – Juventus' hopes of winning a 10th consecutive Serie A title took another blow on Sunday with a 1-0 home loss to lowly Benevento as second-placed AC Milan closed the gap on leaders Inter with a hard-fought win at Fiorentina. Benevento forward Adolfo Gaich scored the game's only goal in the 69th minute […]

Madrid (AFP) – Jan Oblak saved a late penalty to boost Atletico Madrid's stuttering La Liga title challenge as Luis Suarez's header proved enough for a nervy 1-0 win over Alaves on Sunday. Oblak parried away Joselu's 84th-minute spot-kick at the Wanda Metropolitano to spare Atletico another slip that would have given huge encouragement to […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayer Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz denied that his job was in danger on Sunday after a disastrous defensive performance saw his side suffer a shock 3-0 defeat away to struggling Bundesliga rivals Hertha Berlin. Deyovaisio Zeefuik's fourth-minute screamer sparked a breathtaking first-half performance which gave Hertha hope in the relegation fight and […]

London (AFP) – Leicester sent Manchester United crashing out of the FA Cup as Kelechi Iheanacho's double sealed a 3-1 win, while Chelsea will face Manchester City in the semi-finals after beating Sheffield United on Sunday. Brendan Rodgers' side can look forward to meeting Southampton in their first FA Cup semi-final since 1982 thanks to […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta criticised his side's inconsistency despite a fightback from three goals down to draw 3-3 at West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday. A slow start from the Gunners saw Arteta's men concede three times in the opening 32 minutes as Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek […]