Marseille (AFP) – Portugal coach Fernando Santos shrugged off suggestions Cristiano Ronaldo will be weighed down by the burden of his country's hopes in their Euro 2016 quarter-final with Poland on Thursday. At 31 Ronaldo is unlikely to have a better chance to finally land a major tournament with Portugal. The winners in Marseille would […]

Marseille (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski will be aiming to smash Cristiano Ronaldo's dreams of landing an international trophy when Poland meet Portugal in a Euro 2016 quarter-final clash on Thursday. Ronaldo is just one goal away from more European championship history by matching French legend Michel Platini's record mark of nine goals in the finals. […]

Marseille (AFP) – Misfiring Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik has turned to Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp for assistance ahead of Thursday's Euro 2016 quarter-final against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal. Milik scored Poland's opening goal when the White Eagles beat Northern Ireland in their Group C curtain-raiser on their way to an unlikely place in the quarter-finals against […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Strikers Neymar and Douglas Costa head a young Brazil Olympic football squad looking to bounce back from humiliation in the Copa America Centenario, stand-in coach Rogerio Micale announced Wednesday. On home soil in next month's Games in Rio two years after their devastating 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany, Brazil are bidding […]

Marseille (AFP) – A "top class" Portugal pose a bigger threat than just Cristiano Ronaldo, Poland coach Adam Nawalka insisted Wednesday ahead of their battle for a place in the Euro 2016 semi-finals. Ronaldo has been racking up the records in France as Portugal, who stunned Croatia to reach the last 16, go in search […]

Paris (AFP) – France coach Didier Deschamps is keeping his players out of the spotlight amid mounting expectations ahead of the Euro 2016 hosts' quarter-final against Iceland on Sunday. France have enjoyed a favourable path to the last eight and are widely expected to brush aside surprise packages Iceland, and Deschamps is trying to ensure […]

Le Haillan (France) (AFP) – Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi was prevented from speaking to reporters on Wednesday by his club Marseille amid speculation he is about to sign for Chelsea, the Belgian Football Association said. "At Marseille's request, we have decided that Michy Batshuayi will not speak to the media today," they said at Belgium's […]

Dinard (France) (AFP) – Gareth Bale has branded Wales's Euro 2016 quarter-final clash with Belgium on Friday as the nation's biggest game in decades. Having ended a 58-year wait to reach a major tournament, Chris Coleman's men have already matched the achievement of the 1958 team who reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Sweden before […]

Marseille (AFP) – Injury-hit midfielder Daniele De Rossi has been virtually ruled out of Italy's Euro 2016 quarter-final clash with world champions Germany on Saturday, according to the Azzurri's medical staff. De Rossi has been rock solid for Antonio Conte's side as they upset pre-tournament predictions to top Group E then swept defending champions Spain […]

Anticipation is building for the Euro 2016 quarterfinals, which will be televised live Thursday through Sunday (see TV listings below). Now that the Euro 2016 Round of 16 games are complete, the list of match commentators has been condensed. That means that Steve McManaman, Derek Rae, Alejandro Moreno, Kate Markgraf and Max Bretos will sit out, […]

Annecy (France) (AFP) – Iceland's co-coach Heimir Hallgrimsson says French swimmer Yannick Agnel's promise to swim around the Nordic island if the minnows win Euro 2016 would be chilly business. France's Olympic 200m freestyle champion joked on Twitter that he will swim around Iceland — a distance of 2,008km (1,247mi) — if Hallgrimsson's side win […]

Evian (France) (AFP) – Germany defender Mats Hummels said they will use painful lessons, learnt from their Euro 2012 defeat to Italy, for Saturday's quarter-final against the Azzurri. The Italians humbled Germany 2-1 in the Warsaw semi-final four years ago when Mario Balotelli's first-half goals fired them to the Euro 2012 final. Germany face Antonio […]

London (AFP) – Gareth Southgate could be in line to succeed Roy Hodgson as manager on an interim basis in the wake of England's latest embarrassing early exit from a major tournament. English football has embarked on another round of soul-searching after one of the most humiliating nights in the country's history saw them go […]

Saturday night’s broadcast of San Jose Earthquakes against LA Galaxy averaged 1 million viewers on Univision, the first time that MLS has hit that number since 2008. The broadcast of the California Clasico was the first MLS match televised live on Univision since 1999. No regular season or post-season MLS game has ever drawn those […]

Annecy (France) (AFP) – England-slayers Iceland hope to harness their underdog status to put the psychological pressure on Euro 2016 hosts France in Sunday's quarter-final. "The pressure was always so much more on England – that was a game for them to lose," said Heimir Hallgrimsson, who combines his role as joint coach alongside Lars […]