Milan (AFP) – San Marino have hit back at Thomas Mueller and accused the German striker of arrogance and disrespect after he said playing the minnows has "nothing to do with professional football". Germany's 8-0 rout on Friday of San Marino saw Joachim Loew's men reinforce their grip at the top of their World Cup […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben is expected to be fit for Saturday's Bundesliga showdown with Borussia Dortmund after an injury suffered playing for the Netherlands turned out to be less serious than feared. Robben, 32, came off at half-time in the Netherlands' 3-1 win in Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier on […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera dismissed Monday talk of Jose Mourinho "losing" the Old Trafford dressing room and instead thanked his club manager for the prospect of a first Spain cap. Mourinho's arrival in Manchester was supposed to herald an upturn in United's fortunes after they failed, under his mentor Louis van […]

New York (AFP) – Former Chelsea star Frank Lampard will leave Major League Soccer's New York City FC once his contract expires at the end of the year, the team announced Monday. The 38-year-old English midfielder was signed by the North American league expansion squad in 2014 and scored 15 goals in 31 appearances. He […]

London (AFP) – Skipper Wayne Rooney and left-back Ryan Bertrand are injury doubts for England's year-ending friendly against Spain, interim manager Gareth Southgate said on Monday. Rooney and Bertrand were the only players absent from training at Tottenham Hotspur's north London training base on the eve of Tuesday's meeting with Spain at Wembley. Rooney returned […]

London (AFP) – Gareth Southgate says he wants to know within weeks whether he will be England's next permanent manager. The former England centre-back was given the job on a caretaker basis following the Football Association's dramatic decision to dispense with Sam Allardyce, whose one-game reign was ended by controversial comments he made to undercover […]

Paris (AFP) – Former England star Steven Gerrard has hinted his time with LA Galaxy may be up with a post to Instagram suggesting he will shortly leave California. Recent weeks have seen speculation mount that the 36-year-old former England skipper could be mulling a possible coaching role at former club Liverpool — or even […]

Beijing (AFP) – Marcello Lippi said China need to shed their "underdog" mentality as he faces a tough first game in charge — a World Cup qualifier against Qatar which neither team dare lose. While Lippi, who coached Italy to win the 2006 World Cup, admits rock-bottom China need a "miracle" if they are to […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann has called for his team to harness a sense of anger as they attempt to bounce back from a shattering World Cup defeat to Mexico against Costa Rica on Tuesday. Klinsmann's men suffered an agonizing last-gasp loss to Mexico in Columbus on Friday, when Rafa Marquez's […]

Milan (AFP) – Andrea Belotti could further underline his status as Italy's current go-to striker when the Azzurri host Germany in a San Siro clash that should produce the usual fireworks between the European giants. Having marked his full debut with the opener in a 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Macedonia last month, the […]

London (AFP) – England's caretaker manager Gareth Southgate faces a man he aspires to emulate in terms of style and status in Tuesday's friendly against Julen Lopetegui's Spain. The match at Wembley will be the fourth and final assignment of Southgate's interim stint and following Friday's 3-0 win over Scotland in World Cup qualifying he […]

Paris (AFP) – Belgium hammered Estonia 8-1 to go clear in Group H, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal survived a scare before overcoming Latvia 4-1 in World Cup qualifying on Sunday. There were braces from Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens as Belgium ran rampant with further goals from Thomas Meunier, Eden Hazard, Yannick […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – Goalkeeper Tim Howard has been officially ruled out of the United States' 2018 World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica in San Jose on Tuesday with a right adductor muscle injury. "He has returned to Colorado for further evaluation and to determine treatment plans," US Soccer said in a statement confirming the […]

Paris (AFP) – Out-of-favour Manchester United winger Memphis Depay came off the bench to score twice and save the Netherlands' blushes in Luxembourg in World Cup qualifying on Sunday. On an evening when Europe's minnows came close — but ultimately fell short — of springing some major upsets, Depay gave United manager Jose Mourinho a […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Egypt avenged a humiliating World Cup defeat by Ghana three years ago with a 2-0 victory Sunday in a 2018 African Group E qualifier before an 85,000 crowd in Alexandria. Ghana triumphed 6-1 in the first leg of a 2014 World Cup play-off to set up an aggregate victory that prolonged the […]