London (AFP) – Relegated Aston Villa could be sold to a Chinese consortium by the end of the week, according to British media reports on Wednesday. Villa crashed out of the Premier League after a miserable season that saw the Midlands club win just three of their 38 matches. US-based owner Randy Lerner has been […]

Bangkok (AFP) – Leicester City's Italian manager Claudio Ranieri on Wednesday joked that it was time for him to boost the culinary incentives from pizza to lobster for his players to keep clean sheets. The genial Italian, 64, has said he rewarded each match without conceding a goal during the Foxes' stunning English Premier League […]

Bangkok (AFP) – Thai fans mobbed newly crowned English Premier League champions Leicester City as they arrived on Wednesday for a publicity blitz after their fairytale title triumph. They also hoped to banish the memory of a sex tape scandal that marred a visit a year ago to the homeland of their billionaire owner. Scores […]

Mexico City (AFP) – Bayer Leverkusen forward Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez headlines Mexico's 23-man squad named Tuesday to compete in next month's Copa America Centenario. PSV midfielder Andres Guardado and Porto fullback Miguel Layun are the other prominent picks, but coach Juan Carlos Osorio left former Arsenal striker Carlos Vela out of the lineup. Hernandez played […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal expressed confidence that he will still be at Old Trafford next season despite his team crawling to an underwhelming fifth-place finish in the Premier League. United beat Bournemouth 3-1 in their final fixture on Tuesday — a game held over from Sunday due to […]

Multiple sources have reported that Rafa Benitez is likely to stay at Newcastle United after club owner Mike Ashley has agreed to give the former Liverpool, Napoli and Real Madrid manager full control of transfers, scouting, the academy, and even medical staff. Why would Rafa stay? Maybe it’s because of the statue. Outside St. James’ […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Louis van Gaal was booed by his club's own fans after Manchester United ended their Premier League campaign by beating Bournemouth 3-1 in Tuesday's re-arranged Old Trafford fixture. In a game carried over from Sunday following a postponement caused by the discovery of a fake bomb accidentally left behind during […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Teenage striker Marcus Rashford celebrated his England call-up with a goal as Manchester United ended their Premier League campaign by beating Bournemouth 3-1 in Tuesday's re-arranged Old Trafford fixture. In a game carried over from Sunday following a postponement caused by the discovery of a fake bomb accidentally left behind […]

London (AFP) – Hull City survived to reach the Championship play-off final on Tuesday despite losing 2-0 at home to Derby County in their semi-final second leg. Hull's 3-0 win in the first leg at the weekend left Derby with too much to do in the return at the KC Stadium as Steve Bruce's side […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Supporters spoke of their anger and terror over Manchester United's abandoned match against Bournemouth as they reconvened at a subdued Old Trafford for Tuesday's rescheduled fixture. Sunday's game was called off at the last minute following the discovery of a suspicious package in a toilet in the stadium's northwest quadrant, […]

Lisbon (AFP) – Bayern Munich-bound starlet Renato Sanches was included in the 23-man Portugal squad for Euro 2016 named by coach Fernando Santos on Tuesday. The 18-year-old Sanches will move to Bayern this summer for an initial 35 million euros ($39.6m, £27.4m) from Benfica after an outstanding breakthrough season with the Portuguese champions and he […]

Doha (AFP) – A superb brace by Kota Mizunuma rocked Sven-Goran Eriksson's Shanghai SIPG as they lost 2-1 to FC Tokyo in the AFC Champions League round of 16 first leg on Tuesday. Mizunuma's cheeky free-kick routine put the hosts ahead just before half-time and he volleyed a stunning winner on 65 minutes, after Wu […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid and France defender Raphael Varane is confident Les Bleus have the right mixture of youth and experience to lead them to victory on home soil at Euro 2016. Varane, 23, is one of a number of talented younger players including Juventus' Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial of Manchester United and Atletico […]

Athens (AFP) – AEK Athens surprised Olympiakos 2-1 to win the Greek Cup final on Tuesday at an empty Athens Olympic Stadium. Goals by captain Petros Mantalos in the 38th minute and by Algerian forward Rafik Djebbour in the 51st minute lifted AEK to their 15th Greek Cup. Argentine midfielder Alejandro Dominguez pulled one back […]

Basel (Switzerland) (AFP) – Hawk-Eye goal-line technology (GLT) will be used by UEFA for the first time in Wednesday's Europa League final between Sevilla and Liverpool in Basel. Although already used in the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A, GLT has never been used in UEFA-affiliated matches before. It will also […]