Reykjavik (AFP) – "I know international football", says Lars Lagerback and it is hard to disagree with such an assessment from a man who is about to lead Iceland into a major tournament for the first time. The 67-year-old took his native Sweden to five major finals and coached Nigeria at the 2010 World Cup […]

Budapest (AFP) – As managerial gambles go, it was a high stakes play by Hungary's German coach Bernd Storck. In the Euro 2016 qualifying play-off against Norway in November, he handed an international debut to 21-year-old Laszlo Kleinheisler, who had hardly played a game all season at his Hungarian club. The gambit paid off. The […]

Budapest (AFP) – Balazs Dzsudzsak roared the words that inspired Hungary to a play-off win and a place in a major tournment for the first time in three decades. "We might never have this chance again, no-one's going to stop us qualifying! Not Norway, not even the best team in the world!" Dzsudzsak (pronounced 'Joo-jak') […]

Vienna (AFP) – Appointed to little fanfare and a great deal of scepticism, Marcel Koller has transformed a struggling Austrian team remarkably during his four-plus years in charge. A former midfielder who spent his entire playing career with Swiss side Grasshoppers and turned out 55 times for Switzerland, Koller was installed as Austria coach in […]

Vienna (AFP) – Born to a Nigerian father and a Filipino mother, David Alaba is an unlikely poster boy for an Austrian national team soaring unprecedented heights. Raised in Vienna, Alaba left his hometown just after turning 16 to join Bayern Munich's youth academy. As a youngster he idolised Patrick Vieira and dreamed of playing for Arsenal, […]

Paris (AFP) – Kevin De Bruyne's rise to become one of the world's best attacking midfielders mirrors that of a Belgium team which surged to the top of the global rankings in 2015. De Bruyne struck a team-leading five goals -– along with Eden Hazard -– to fire Belgium to the country's first European Championship […]

Paris (AFP) – In a country where linguistic and political divides are the norm, managing the Belgium national team is no simple task, but Marc Wilmots is probably better prepared than most to handle the job. Wilmots travelled to four World Cups as a player and was a key figure in Belgium's midfield when the […]

Given the way that ESPN has raised the bar with its world-class coverage of FIFA World Cup 2014 and Euro 2012, it's a tough ask for the network to not only better its already critically-acclaimed coverage with Euro 2016 but to also deal with issues that it can't control such as weather, transportation strikes and terror threats. […]

Chicago (AFP) – Lionel Messi trained alongside his Argentina team-mates at the Copa America Centenario Wednesday as he targets a return from injury in his team's second Group D game against Panama. Messi, who has been nursing a sore back after sustaining an injury in a friendly against Honduras last month, has trained separately under […]

Orlando (AFP) – "The United States could host the World Cup tomorrow," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said recently. But less than one week into the Copa America Centenario, being held across the US, it is clear that putting on a successful major international football tournament requires much more than just having lots of big stadiums, […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany defender Jerome Boateng said his wife and five-year-old twins will not go to France to watch him play in the European Championship finals because of terror fears. Boateng was in the German team playing at the Stade de France in Paris on November 13 last year when a series of jihadist […]

Evian (France) (AFP) – Germany have called up defender Jonathan Tah to replace the injured Antonio Ruediger in their Euro 2016 squad, coach Joachim Loew confirmed on Wednesday. Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Tah, 20, has been recalled from a holiday in Miami to join up with the world champions, who face Ukraine in Lille in their […]

No matter what the Russian royal family tried to do to kill Rasputin, they failed almost every time. In many ways, Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as US National Team manager is similar: when he’s closest to being fired, his teams turn in their best performances. Under as much pressure as he’s ever faced as US Head Coach, […]

Chantilly (France) (AFP) – England centre-back Chris Smalling allayed concerns about his fitness on Wednesday after being pictured with strapping on his left knee. The Manchester United centre-back, 26, had a large white bandage around his knee as he alighted from the team bus following England's open training session at their Chantilly base on Tuesday. […]

Paris (AFP) – Stars to watch for at Euro 2016: SUPERSTARS Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal A three time world player of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo again rose to the occasion to fire Portugal to Euro 2016. The Real Madrid striker scored five of his country's 11 goals in qualifying, but an international title remains […]