London (AFP) – Leicester defender Danny Simpson believes Craig Shakespeare deserves to be seriously considered as the club's permanent manager. Shakespeare was in caretaker charge of Leicester as they beat Liverpool 3-1 on Monday in their first game since the shock sacking of Claudio Ranieri. The Foxes, champions less than a year ago, climbed out […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Paolo Dybala's second-half penalty double put holders Juventus in control with a 3-1 win over Napoli in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Tuesday. Spaniard Jose Callejon had given the visitors the lead after 36 minutes as the hosts looked out of sorts at home in Turin. But […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola has indicated that England goalkeeper Joe Hart's Manchester City career is over, regardless of how well he performs at Torino. Hart has impressed in Serie A since his arrival on a season's loan in August, having been frozen out by Guardiola. The City manager decided on his arrival […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Sociedad missed the chance to leapfrog Atletico Madrid into fourth in La Liga as Pedro Leon's 93rd-minute equaliser snatched a 2-2 draw for Eibar in a controversial Basque derby on Tuesday. Juanmi's header opened the scoring for Sociedad, but he was booked for showing a t-shirt honouring Pablo Raez. Raez, who […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Big-money Brazilians Hulk and Oscar were among the scorers as Australian sides were brutally put to the sword in the Asian Champions League on a night of goals on Tuesday. Heavy-spending Shanghai SIPG hammered 2014 champions Western Sydney Wanderers 5-1, while the Brisbane Roar fared even worse, crashing 6-0 to Ulsan Hyundai […]

London (AFP) – Hull's DR Congo striker Dieumerci Mbokani will be sidelined for six weeks after suffering a hamstring injury, dealing a blow to their hopes of staying in the Premier League. Mbokani will miss a significant chunk of Hull's battle for survival after being forced off in the second half of Saturday's 1-1 draw […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona boss Luis Enrique insists his side's reliance on Lionel Messi is perfectly normal when you have "the best player in the world" on your side. Messi has kept Barca's La Liga title challenge alive with late winners in 2-1 wins over Leganes and Atletico Madrid in their last two outings to […]

Berlin (AFP) – Philipp Lahm has offered Schalke tips on how to avoid being the next victims of a Bayern Munich pounding in Wednesday's German Cup quarter-final. Holders Bayern have reached the cup's last eight in each of the last 10 years, which no other German club can match. They are bidding to reach the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real boss Zinedine Zidane hopes Jese Rodriguez rediscovers the form that once made him the star of Madrid's academy — but only after his return to the Santiago Bernabeu with Las Palmas on Wednesday. Jese left Real Madrid for French champions Paris Saint Germain on a five-year deal in August for a […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has effectively admitted he no longer has a first-choice goalkeeper after declaring he will choose between Willy Caballero and Claudio Bravo on a game-by-game basis. Bravo was brought in from Barcelona in August to be the senior goalkeeper, but has lost his Premier League place […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona boss Luis Enrique insists his side's reliance on Lionel Messi is perfectly normal when you have "the best player in the world" on your side. Messi has kept Barca's La Liga title challenge alive with late winners in 2-1 wins over Leganes and Atletico Madrid in their last two outings to […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Shamed former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a 10-year ban for ethics breaches. The world body fired the Frenchman in January 2016 over black market World Cup ticket sales and suspect television deals. Valcke is also the target of a Swiss criminal […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund said Tuesday they do not expect Mario Goetze to return anytime soon as Germany's World Cup winner battles with a unspecified metabolism disorder. "This will not be a short-term issue," Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told SID, an AFP subsidiary. Dortmund announced on Monday that medical tests to see why Goetze […]

The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) will once again be competing against the national teams of Germany, France, and England as the SheBelieves Cup makes its return to American television with its second annual edition beginning March 1. The United States won all three of their 2016 SheBelieves Cup matches to win the inaugural […]

London (AFP) – Everton manager Ronald Koeman paved the way Tuesday for Wayne Rooney's return to the club of his youth by saying he would make the side "stronger". Last week Rooney said he was staying with Manchester United following persistent speculation he could make a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League. But doubts […]