Madrid (AFP) – Dani Alves said he has returned to Barcelona to fight for his place, not "put his feet up", after the 38-year-old was presented to almost 10,000 fans at Camp Nou on Wednesday. A grinning Alves bowed, waved and kissed the badge in front of adoring Barca supporters chanting his name, before signing […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United's wage bill rocketed by 23 percent during the period in which they re-signed Cristiano Ronaldo, the club's latest set of financial results showed on Wednesday. Figures for the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year show a rise of £16.6 million ($22 million) in "employee benefit expenses" compared with the […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich have been hit by a fresh Covid-19 scare ahead of Friday's match at Augsburg, with defender Josip Stanisic and two club employees testing positive for the virus. Stanisic, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive on his return to Munich after playing in Croatia's 1-0 victory over Russia on […]

Montevideo (AFP) – Argentina qualified for next year's World Cup in Qatar as a point in their 0-0 draw with Brazil on Tuesday proved enough after defeats for Chile and Uruguay. The reigning Copa America champions came into the match against their arch rivals knowing that a win might not be enough to secure their […]

Montevideo (AFP) – Argentina moved to the brink of qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar despite a tight and turgid 0-0 draw with Brazil on Tuesday. Results elsewhere meant Argentina need only a point from their final five qualification matches to book their ticket, although they may yet qualify sooner if Chile lose the […]

London (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate says there should be no complications with his negotiations over a new contract. Southgate's side booked their place at next year's World Cup in Qatar with a 10-0 thrashing of San Marino on Monday. Reports over recent weeks suggested Southgate is set to sign an extension to his […]

Rotterdam (Netherlands) (AFP) – Two late goals by Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay on Tuesday saw the Netherlands book a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as they held Norway at bay with a 2-0 victory in Rotterdam. Bergwijn, the standout player of the evening on the right wing, drilled the ball into […]

Paris (AFP) – The Netherlands clinched the final automatic place in European qualifying for the 2022 World Cup as late goals from Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay sealed a 2-0 win over Norway on Tuesday, with Turkey and Ukraine grabbing play-off spots. The Dutch, with injured coach Louis van Gaal watching from the stands in […]

Cardiff (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Wales secured a home semi-final in the World Cup qualifying play-offs as Kieffer Moore's equaliser earned an impressive 1-1 draw against Belgium on Tuesday. Rob Page's side were already guaranteed a World Cup play-off spot in March through their Nations League results. But finishing second in Group E would ensure […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Karl Toko Ekambi was the toast of Cameroon on Tuesday as his first-half goal delivered a 1-0 win over Ivory Coast and a place in the African play-offs for the 2022 World Cup. The 29-year-old Lyon forward struck on 21 minutes to decide a clash of giants with Cameroon having qualified for […]

Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) (AFP) – China are on the brink of suffering more World Cup heartache despite clinching an impressive 1-1 draw with Australia on Tuesday in qualifying for next year's football showpiece in Qatar. A 38th-minute strike by Mitchell Duke appeared to have condemned the global Olympic and economic powerhouse to their fourth […]

Anticipation is building for the decision on the next Premier League U.S. media rights. Final bids have to be submitted by Thursday. With this in mind, expect an announcement soon after. One of the bidders is NBCUniversal, home of both NBC Sports and Telemundo Deportes. As a result, both the English-language and Spanish-language broadcasters are […]

Berlin (AFP) – A senior German politician has called to make it mandatory for all professional footballers in Germany to be vaccinated as the country struggles to contain a ferocious fourth wave of Covid-19. "I'm in favour of compulsory vaccination for certain professional groups — that's what we need," Bavarian state leader Markus Soeder told […]

Some things in life are just meant to be. After Friday night’s 2-0 win by the US over Mexico, it certainly seems like Dos a Cero is one of them. The U.S. played home World Cup Qualifiers against Mexico in the state of Ohio a total of six times. The first five occurred in Columbus, […]

Nanterre (France) (AFP) – The Paris Saint-Germain women's footballer Kheira Hamraoui, who had her legs beaten in a mysterious street attack, appealed Tuesday to the media to respect her privacy amid speculation about her relations with former French international Eric Abidal. The assault on Hamraoui, 31, took place while she was being driven home from […]