Milan (AFP) – A late equaliser by Atletico Madrid's Yannick Carrasco pushed the Champions League final into extra time on Saturday after Sergio Ramos opened the scoring for ten-time champions Real Madrid on 15 minutes. With the game poised at 1-1 after 90 minutes, another 30 minutes of extra-time will now be played at Milan's […]

London (AFP) – Steve Bruce saluted Wembley hero Mohamed Diame as the Senegal midfielder's sublime winner sent Hull back to the Premier League on Saturday. Bruce's side were bidding to make an immediate return to the top flight following last season's painful relegation and Diame ensured the Tigers achieved their goal with a memorable 1-0 […]

Milan (AFP) – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane and Atletico counterpart Diego Simeone kept to the script with no real surprises in their respective line-ups for the Champions League final at Milan's San Siro on Saturday. French striker Karim Benzema will spearhead the hosts' attack flanked by Cristiano Ronaldo and Welshman Gareth Bale, in front […]

Paris (AFP) – Belgium continued their build-up to Euro 2016 with a 2-1 friendly victory over hosts Switzerland in Geneva on Saturday. Blerim Dzemaili fired Switzerland into a 31st-minute lead at the Stade de Geneve, but Romelu Lukaku levelled shortly afterwards with Kevin De Bruyne scoring an 84th-minute winner for Belgium. Belgium, second to Argentina […]

London (AFP) – Hull City hit the promotion jackpot as Mohamed Diame's stunning strike sent them back to the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship play-off final on Saturday. Exactly 370 days after being relegated from the Premier League, Steve Bruce's side sealed their third promotion to the top-flight […]

Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines (France) (AFP) – Attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet played down reports of a possible move away from West Ham United on Saturday, saying that he is likely to stay in east London. "Journalists have been announcing me everywhere, but I've had no contact for now and I signed a long contract with West Ham. So […]

Paris (AFP) – France international Lassana Diarra confirmed Saturday that he has been ordered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to pay a 10 million euro ($11 million) fine to former club Lokomotiv Moscow. The 31-year-old midfielder arrived in Russia to join Anzhi Makhachkala from Real Madrid in August 2012 but moved to […]

Funchal (Portugal) (AFP) – A car park with a spectacular view of Funchal bay now stands on the site of the house where Cristiano Ronaldo grew up and became a football genius. The superstar's name now brings tourists to the island of Madeira and the main town will again fall silent each time Ronaldo plays […]

Paris (AFP) – French football chief Noel Le Graet on Saturday slammed claims by former international Eric Cantona that France coach Didier Deschamps was guilty of racial discrimination in his Euro 2016 selection as "stupid" and "pathetic". Cantona told British daily The Guardian on Thursday that Deschamps had snubbed Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa […]

Milan (AFP) – Milan's San Siro stadium is preparing for a glitzy all-Spanish final of the Champions League on Saturday as fans of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid packed the city in glorious summer sunshine. Record ten-time champions Real, who won the inaugural trophy in 1956, are gunning for their 11th title from European football's […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur will play their European fixtures at Wembley Stadium next season, the club and the Football Association announced Saturday. The 2016/17 season will be the last Spurs spend at their White Hart Lane home in London, with work on a new purpose built £400 million ($585 million, 526 million euros) home […]

San Juan (Argentina) (AFP) – Lionel Messi was taken to hospital after suffering an injury scare on Friday as Argentina defeated Honduras 1-0 in their only warm-up game before next month's Copa America Centenario in the United States. A first-half goal from in-form Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain settled a low-key encounter in San Juan, with […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United will be expecting to make it third time lucky in their attempt to replace Alex Ferguson with the appointment of Jose Mourinho as the club's new manager. Ferguson's retirement in 2013 was always going to leave an enormous void to fill at Old Trafford after the legendary Scot […]

Sunderland (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Roy Hodgson insisted Marcus Rashford's dream debut for England came as no surprise after the Manchester United sensation staked his claim for a Euro 2016 place with a record-breaking strike in a 2-1 win over Australia. England manager Hodgson had claimed the world would be watching to see if Rashford […]

Berlin (AFP) – World champions Germany are set to blood a crop of rising stars in Sunday's friendly at home to Slovakia as head coach Joachim Loew fine-tunes his Euro 2016 squad. Loew purposefully chose Slovakia, who will make their debut at a European championships in France, as they are expected to play in a […]