Buenos Aires (AFP) – Star forward Lionel Messi returns to the Argentina fold for two World Cup qualifiers later this month after he was included in coach Lionel Scaloni's squad announced on Friday. But the big surprise was the inclusion of seven teenagers playing for academy teams in Europe, including Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho. […]

Paris (AFP) – Leicester City will take on former European champions PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League after being paired together in Friday's draw, with a possible semi-final against Jose Mourinho's Roma in store for the winners. The Premier League side made it through to the second European quarter-final of their […]

Paris (AFP) – Barcelona were drawn to play Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals of this season's Europa League on Friday, while West Ham United will take on Lyon. Appearing in Europe's second-tier club competition for the first time since 2004 following their exit from the Champions League in the group stage, Barcelona qualified for the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Manchester United’s David de Gea was dropped from the Spain squad on Friday, with Brentford goalkeeper David Raya a surprise inclusion by coach Luis Enrique. De Gea has not played for Spain since October 2020 but he was in the previous squad in November and has been in excellent form for United […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is hoping a quick sale of the European champions will provide clarity for employees and fans of the club. Final bids for the club must be submitted on Friday. Chelsea were put up for sale after current owner Roman Abramovich was hit by sanctions by the British government […]

Lausanne (AFP) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday refused to suspend FIFA's ban on Russia taking part in the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup finals that was imposed over the invasion of Ukraine. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is still to rule on the legal basis of the ban, […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Liverpool's quest for a clean sweep of four major trophies this season has been dealt a blow with influential right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold set to be sidelined for weeks by a hamstring injury. Alexander-Arnold will definitely miss Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final at Nottingham Forest and England's upcoming friendlies against the Ivory Coast and […]

Sydney (AFP) – Australia suffered a major setback Friday ahead of their must-win World Cup qualifier against Japan next week with coach Graham Arnold testing positive for Covid-19. Australia were already missing star playmaker Aaron Mooy after he too tested positive and was ruled out of the clash in Sydney on March 24. Arnold took […]

Paris (AFP) – A season that started with such feverish excitement is turning out to be nothing short of a fiasco in Paris for Lionel Messi, who suffered the ignominy of being booed by his own supporters last weekend. Unhappy Paris Saint-Germain fans targeted the Argentine as well as Neymar during the 3-0 win over […]

León (Mexico) (AFP) – The Seattle Sounders guaranteed that a Major League Soccer club will contest the final of the CONCACAF Champions League after a 4-1 aggregate quarter-final victory over Mexico's Club Leon on Thursday. Seattle, leading 3-0 from last week's first leg at home, advanced to a semi-final meeting with fellow MLS side New […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Everton manager Frank Lampard broke his hand amidst wild celebrations of Alex Iwobi's 99th-minute strike to beat Newcastle 1-0 and lift the 10-man Toffees three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone. A second-half interruption caused by a protestor tying himself to a goal post and a VAR review which led […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Alex Iwobi's 99th-minute winner hauled Everton three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone after a dramatic 1-0 victory over Newcastle on Thursday. A second-half interruption caused by a protestor tying himself to a goal post and a VAR review which led to Allan seeing red meant there were 14 minutes […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Everton's crucial clash in the battle for Premier League survival against Newcastle was temporarily halted on Thursday by a protestor chaining himself to one of the goalposts by the neck. Campaign group "Just Stop Oil", which is lobbying to stop the exploration of fossil fuels in the UK, took responsibility for the […]

Paris (AFP) – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the winner as Barcelona fought back from a goal down to beat Galatasaray 2-1 on Thursday to book their spot in the Europa League quarter-finals. After a goalless first leg at the Camp Nou last week, Xavi Hernandez's Barca trailed on aggregate in the last 16 when Marcao headed […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United forwards Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were left out Thursday of Gareth Southgate's England squad for next month's friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast. Southgate also omitted Manchester City defender Kyle Walker from his 25-man squad for the games at Wembley on March 26 and March 29. Ben White is […]