London (AFP) – Young Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford has joined Burnley on a season-long loan, the two Premier League clubs announced on Tuesday. The 22-year-old England Under-21 international, signed from Nottingham Forest in January 2012, has never played a competitive game for Chelsea. He has previously been loaned out to Milton Keynes Dons, Derby County, […]

New Delhi (AFP) – Former Lyon and Chelsea star Florent Malouda has returned to the upcoming Indian Super League (ISL) as the marquee player for the Delhi Dynamos team. The French international, who won four consecutive Ligue 1 titles with Lyon and the 2012 UEFA Champions League with Chelsea, played for Delhi last season as […]

Dublin (AFP) – Retiring Ireland legend Robbie Keane says he would not have swapped a major club honour for his international career. The LA Galaxy striker will play for his country for the last time in Wednesday night's friendly with Oman at Lansdowne Road. With 67 goals in 145 appearances, Keane is 15th on the […]

London (AFP) – England goalkeeper Joe Hart looks set to clinch a much-needed loan move from Manchester City before the transfer deadline as he is to undergo a medical at Serie A side Torino according to the BBC. The 29-year-old — whose hopes of a move to another English club seemingly evaporated when Everton said […]

The final round of qualifiers for the the 2017 African Nations Cup will take place this weekend from September 2nd to 4th, and the good news is that many of the games will be available for viewing in the United States. The current round consists of 13 groups with all group winners qualifying for the […]

Burton-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Wayne Rooney will remain England captain going into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, manager Sam Allardyce confirmed on Monday. The 30-year-old striker, who also captains Manchester United, has been England's skipper for the past two years. He will don the armband under Allardyce for the first time on Sunday […]

Burton-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – The dwindling English talent pool in the Premier League may leave England's new manager Sam Allardyce with no option but to naturalise overseas-born players, he said on Monday. After naming his squad for England's opening 2018 World Cup qualifier in Slovakia on Sunday, Allardyce revealed he had made an unsuccessful […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Diego Maradona junior has finally been accepted by his father, Diego Maradona the Argentinian football legend, with whom he spent this last weekend in Buenos Aires. Diego Junior was born in Italy in 1986 from an extra marital affair but was never previously officially recognised by his father, even after being […]

London (AFP) – Five things about Moroccan international midfielder Sofiane Boufal who joined Southampton in the English Premier League on Monday for a reported club record £16 million ($20 million/18 million euros): Growing in stature The 22-year-old attacking midfielder will join the growing band of small players aiming to make a big impact on the […]

Lyon (AFP) – France international Alexandre Lacazette has been told to rest after a knock sustained in Lyon's 4-2 defeat to Dijon on the weekend whilst teammate Nabil Fekir has started his recovery after undergoing surgery, the Ligue 1 club announced Monday. Preliminary scans showed that Lacazette had not suffered any major damage to his […]

Lisbon (AFP) – European champions Portugal will take on Switzerland in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier without rising Bayern Munich star Renato Sanches, the Portuguese federation said on Monday. The 19-year-old midfielder who moved to Germany after a sensational season with Benfica and a thrilling showing at Euro 2016 has a torn thigh muscle. […]

Matchdays 7 and 8 of the South American qualifiers for World Cup 2018 take place Thursday, September 1 and Tuesday, September 6. The kickoff times for both matchdays are not very conducive for those who do not like spoilers as both beIN SPORTS networks and the companion streaming service (beIN SPORTS Connect) will be getting […]

Madrid (AFP) – Stand-in Spain captain Sergio Ramos has expressed his surprise at Iker Casillas's exclusion from Julien Lopetegui's first squad as Spain boss. Ramos is expected to lead the 2010 world champions in their first 2018 World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein on September 5 after the 35-year-old Casillas was dropped in favour of David […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Lionel Messi's return to international duty with Argentina could be delayed by a groin injury his club side Barcelona stated on Monday. Messi was set to return for the two-time world champions' World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela after reversing his shock decision to retire from international football in June. […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Diego Maradona was not able to leave Argentina on the weekend because his passport had been reported "stolen", preventing him from travelling to Dubai, according to his lawyer. "It's a very rare occurence," said Diego Morla, the double World Cup winner's lawyer. "They told him his passport had been reported as […]