London (AFP) – Skipper Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of England's year-ending friendly against Spain at Wembley on Tuesday because of a knee problem, the English Football Association confirmed. "The striker sat out this morning's session at Tottenham Hotspur's training ground as a precaution due to a minor knee injury," the FA said. "Rooney […]

Abidjan (AFP) – Serge Aurier has made headlines in France for his off-field antics, including an altercation with a policeman and insulting his coach on social media, but in his native Ivory Coast they love him. The 23-year-old had already been hit with a three-match ban from European competition by UEFA for comments made about […]

London (AFP) – Spain's friendly against England at Wembley on Tuesday presents an ideal opportunity to measure the team's progress under new head coach Julen Lopetegui, midfielder Sergio Busquets said on Monday. Lopetegui was appointed in July following the retirement of Vicente del Bosque, who stood down after Spain followed up a group-stage exit at […]

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 […]