Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Fresh from signing a new contract Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny has demanded his team-mates ramp up their performances, beginning with the Premier League game at struggling Swansea on Saturday. Koscielny, who has committed himself to 2020 — which would mean the French defender has been at the Gunners for 10 […]

London (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino has challenged his Tottenham Hotspur players to demonstrate their growing maturity when they face West Brom on Saturday in the wake of their impressive victory over Premier League leaders Chelsea. Pochettino's side ended Chelsea's run of 13 successive league victories by extending their own winning run to six games and […]

Milan (AFP) – Juraj Kucka and Giacomo Bonaventura struck in four second-half minutes to fire AC Milan to a thrilling 2-1 Italian Cup win over Torino and a quarter-final tie with Juventus on Thursday. It means one of this season's Cup quarters will be a repeat of the 2015 Cup final, when Juventus beat Milan […]

Madrid (AFP) – Karim Benzema struck deep into stoppage time as Real Madrid set a new Spanish record by extending their unbeaten run to 40 games in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Sevilla to progress to the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on Thursday. Holding a 3-0 first leg lead, a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Real looked set […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying draw made in Libreville Thursday pitted Nigeria against South Africa in one of the 12 groups and Tunisia against Egypt in another. Nigeria and South Africa are in Group E with Libya and the Seychelles while Tunisia and Egypt are in Group J with Niger […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is set to receive the Freedom of the City after his outstanding career with the Premier League club. Gerrard, 36, captained Liverpool to Champions League and FA Cup triumphs after emerging from the youth academy to become one of the club's favourite sons. The Merseyside-born midfielder played 710 […]

London (AFP) – Swansea City have signed Dutch international winger Luciano Narsingh from PSV Eindhoven for £4 million ($4.9 million, 4.6 million euros), the Premier League strugglers announced on Thursday. The 26-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract and becomes Paul Clement's first signing since he succeeded Bob Bradley as manager earlier this month. Right-footer Narsingh […]

London (AFP) – French holding midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has joined Everton from Manchester United for an initial fee of £20 million, the Merseyside club said on Thursday. The 27-year-old signed a four-and-a-half-year contract in a deal that will rise to £24 million (27.5 million euros, $29 million) with bonuses. The move reunites Schneiderlin with Everton […]

It may have come a little too late for the liking of Everton manager Ronald Koeman, but on Thursday the Toffees boss finally got his man, as the club completed a deal for Morgan Schneiderlin from Manchester United. Although the Frenchman wasn’t at Goodison Park in time to prevent the team’s FA Cup exit to […]

Lisbon (AFP) – FIFA's expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams from 2026 will make football's showpiece tournament "more competitive", Portugal coach Fernando Santos said Thursday. "We must avoid being too dramatic," Santos said. "If this expansion meant an increase in the number of games (played during the tournament) things would be more complicated, […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany international Max Kruse admitted he was lucky to have walked away from a car crash having reported for training hours after wrecking the vehicle he was driving on Thursday. The accident happened at 0400 local time (0300 GMT) in north Germany, but Kruse still reported punctually for training at 1000 with […]

London (AFP) – Graham Taylor, who died aged 72 on Thursday, was Watford's greatest manager and overcame a turbulent period as England boss to become one of English football's most fondly regarded figures. Over 10 years, Taylor guided Watford from the Fourth Division to a second-place finish in England's top tier and an FA Cup […]

London (AFP) – Former England manager Graham Taylor died on Thursday at the age of 72 after suffering a suspected heart attack. Taylor made his name as the mastermind behind Watford's rise to the English top-flight in the 1980s and also enjoyed a successful spell as Aston Villa boss before spending three years as England […]

London (AFP) – The two investigations into the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster on Thursday passed files on 23 suspects to prosecutors who will now consider criminal charges. Fifteen of the suspects relate to the investigation into the causes of the disaster, while eight relate to an alleged police cover-up which followed the tragedy in […]

Berlin (AFP) – Thomas Mueller put a bizarre new spin on an old trick by pretending his passport was a mobile phone to avoid questions when Bayern Munich returned from their winter training camp. Bundesliga leaders Bayern arrived back into Munich on Wednesday after their eight-day camp in Doha with the German league to resume […]