Glasgow (AFP) – Celtic will be on familiar ground when they take on Hapoel Beer-Sheva for a place in the Champions League in the first leg of their play-off tie at Parkhead on Wednesday. For the past two seasons the Hoops have reached the play-off round to put themselves within touching distance of the riches […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea manager Antonio Conte defended Diego Costa after the snarling striker found himself at the centre of controversy once again in his side's 2-1 victory over West Ham United. Costa struck an 89th-minute winner in Monday's game at Stamford Bridge to give Conte victory in his first Premier League match at the […]

Do you know how teams are relegated from the Bundesliga and how they determine who gets promoted to Germany's top flight league? Do you know your Copa del Rey from your Supercopa de España? Or how about the differences between the FA Cup, League Cup and EFL Cup? No matter what your knowledge level is […]

Sunday's broadcast of the Arsenal vs. Liverpool match on NBCSN averaged 745,000 viewers, which makes it the most-watched Premier League opening weekend game ever on US cable television. The match was shown live from 11am-1pm ET, which ended in a thrilling 3-4 scoreline. In addition to the 745,000 viewers, which was helped by NBCSN's coverage […]

London (AFP) – Diego Costa thrust himself back into the headlines with an 89th-minute winner as Chelsea edged West Ham United 2-1 in Antonio Conte's first Premier League game as manager on Monday. Eden Hazard, symbol of Chelsea's slump from champions to a 10th-place finish last season, opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge with a […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Brazil's emotional journey to the semi-finals of a home Olympic Games has the potential to change the perception of women's football in the soccer-mad country for generations, according to coach Vadao. The Canarinha will face Sweden for the right to guarantee a medal in front of a capacity 75,000 crowd […]

London (AFP) – Former Premier League star Dalian Atkinson, who played for Aston Villa and Spanish club Real Sociedad, died Monday after being Tasered by British police, relatives said. Atkinson, 48, who played for Villa in the early 1990s and won the inaugural Premier League goal of the season award, had been battling kidney problems […]

Berlin (AFP) – Joachim Loew has had to part company with key players that helped build Germany's success over the last decade after multiple retirement announcements in the last couple of weeks. Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and now Lukas Podolski have all put an end to their glittering international careers in an era […]

Istanbul (AFP) – Dutch coach Dick Advocaat on Monday arrived in Istanbul to take over as manager of Turkish giants Fenerbahce and reverse the club's fortunes after it failed to win silverware last season and exited this year's Champions League. Advocaat's rapid appointment follows the sacking of Vitor Pereira in an acrimonious parting that ended […]

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta will be out for two weeks after picking up a knock in the the 2-0 first leg Super Cup win over Sevilla this weekend, the club said on Monday. The injury means the 32-year-old picked up a strained knee in the first game of the season on Sunday, […]

London (AFP) – Democratic Republic of Congo winger Yannick Bolasie has joined Everton from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace on a five-year contract, his new club announced on Monday. The fee for the 27-year-old was not disclosed, but British media reports said Everton had paid 25 million pounds ($32.2 million, 28.8 million euros), potentially rising […]

London (AFP) – It is very early days in Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Manchester United career, but the Swedish striker's initial successes have already evoked memories of Old Trafford legend Eric Cantona. Cantona made an extraordinary impact when he arrived from Leeds United in November 1992, inspiring Alex Ferguson's team to end the club's 26-year wait for […]

Berlin (AFP) – German striker Lukas Podolski announced on Monday his retirement from international duty for the Mannschaft after appearing 129 times for the World champions and scoring 48 goals. The Galatasaray forward is the second German veteran to announce his retirement in the last two weeks after Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger also announced […]

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 23 of the 2016 MLS season. History for Bradley Wright-Phillips The New York Red Bulls were back in the winner’s circle on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena, pasting the Montreal Impact by three goals to one. The Red Bulls were led, once again, by the […]

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) – Malaysia has relinquished the rights to host the 2017 FIFA Congress, a sports official said Monday after the predominantly Muslim country refused to issue visas to Israeli delegates. "We were advised by the government to withdraw from hosting the congress due to security issues," Affandi Hamzah, deputy president of the Football […]