Page 5 - Football

UEFA Nations League Highlights: Germany get 2-1 win, Dutch held by Hungary

Germany's rebuilding appears to be on the right track. Denis Undav scored twice and the four-time World Cup winners extended their unbeaten record in the Nations League to three matches after a convincing 2-1 win at Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday. Reduced to 10 men, the Netherlands managed a 1-1 draw in Hungary. Following the retirements of Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos, Germany started a new cycle and their clean and fluid display against a spirited Bosnia side bodes well for the future. The Germans top their group after also thrashing Hungary 5-0 and drawing in the Netherlands 2-2. In the absence of several stalwarts, the Germans played with confidence, developed complex attacking moves and gave the impression of enjoying themselves. They had plenty of chances to score more and had a couple of goals disallowed for offside. I knew that Bosnia and Herzegovina are good defensively but you have to keep in mind that we had many chances, said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann. That's why B

UEFA Nations League 2024-25: Portugal, Spain and Croatia in action today

The defending champions Spain will be eyeing the top spot in their group when they take on Group D leaders Denmark. Spain will go to the top with seven points if they manage to beat Denmark today.

Son's father fined for violating child welfare law in South Korea

A court in South Korea has fined Son Woong-jung, the father of English Premier League star Son Heung-min, 3 million won ($2,200) for violating child welfare law at his soccer academy. The Chuncheon District Court notified prosecutors on Friday that it issued such a ruling on Son Woong-jung, director of the Son Football Academy in Chuncheon city, according to a local prosecutors' office. The academy opened in 2021, with much of the estimated cost of $15 million funded by Son Heung-min, the Tottenham and South Korea star. Two coaches at the academy also each received a 3 million won fine for the same violation, the prosecutors' office said. The parents of a young player have said their son was hit by one of the two coaches with a corner flag and also subjected to verbal abuse. Son Woong-jung denied wrongdoing but offered an apology and promised to evaluate his coaching methods.

UEFA Nations League: Bosnia vs Germany, Hungary vs Netherlands live timings

Both Germany and Netherlands are tied at 4 points currently in Group C and will be hoping to take the spot on the night to make sure they get automatic qualification into the FIFA World Cup 2026 gr

UEFA Nations League: England lose to Greece, France win without Mbappe

Lee Carsley ran into the first problems of his tenure as England's interim coach after a bold team selection backfired in a 2-1 home loss to Greece in the Nations League on Thursday. Erling Haaland became Norway's record scorer at the age of 24 with a double in his country's 3-0 win over Slovakia, while France playing without Kylian Mbapp and the retired Antoine Griezmann still had far too much for Israel in a 4-1 victory. After leading England to back-to-back victories since becoming temporary coach after the European Championship, Carsley felt emboldened enough to field a team without a recognized striker in the absence of injured captain Harry Kane. The lineup looked interesting and exciting on paper but resembled a mess on the field as Greece repeatedly picked off England and got in behind a stretched defense. Vangelis Pavlidis scored the opener for the visitors at Wembley Stadium in the 49th, Jude Bellingham equalized in the 87th, only for Pavlidis to take advantage of more

Brazil beat Chile away from home in WC qualifying, Messi's Argentina draws

An 89th-minute goal by substitute Luiz Henrique gave Brazil a 2-1 away win over Chile in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match. The win meant under-pressure Brazil coach Dorival Jnior's team will finish the ninth round of the round-robin competition in fourth place in South American qualifying. Earlier, Lionel Messi's Argentina drew Venezuela 1-1 in a match that was delayed for 30 minutes due to a wet pitch at Monumental Stadium in the Venezuelan city of Maturin. Argentina, which leads the 10-team competition, has 19 points after nine matches. Colombia, with 16 points, remains in second place after losing 1-0 at Bolivia. Uruguay is third with 15 points and has a chance to add more in a match against Peru on Friday. Brazil has 13 points. Brazil has dramatic comebackChile, one of the worst-performing teams in South American qualifying, opened the scoring seconds after the kickoff at the National Stadium in Santiago. Veteran striker Eduardo Vargas headed past goalkeeper Ederson, with the

UNL: Skipper Erling Haaland becomes Norway's all-time leading scorer

Erling Haaland marked his first game as Norway captain by becoming his country's all-time leading scorer. The Manchester City striker scored in the seventh and 62nd minutes of Norway's home match against Slovenia in the Nations League for his 33rd and 34th international goals. That moved him above the late Jorgen Juve on Norway's list of record scorers. Juve, on 33 goals, held the record since 1937. The 24-year-old Haaland has 34 goals in just 36 games. His double helped to put Norway 3-0 ahead in Oslo.

Panathinaikos defender George Baldock found dead in his Athens home

Panathinaikos defender George Baldock, a former Greece international who also played for Sheffield United for seven seasons, has been found dead in his Athens home, Greek media reported. He was 31. State-run ERT television said the body of Baldock was found late Wednesday in his swimming pool in the southern suburb of Glyfada. The cause of death was not immediately clear. Britain-born Baldock was called up for Greece in 2022 and played 12 matches, the last in March in Greece's loss on penalties to Georgia in the Euro 2024 playoffs. He was not in Greece's squad for Thursday's UEFA Nations League game against England. Baldock joined Sheffield United in 2017 and helped the club earn promotion to the Premier League twice, in 2019 and 2023. He joined Panathinaikos in May, on a three-year contract, after Sheffield United was again relegated to England's second division. Sheffield United Football Club is shocked and extremely saddened to learn of the passing of former player, George Bald

UEFA Nations League: Italy vs Belgium, England vs Greece live streaming

Football stars like England's Harry Kane and France's Kylian Mbappe, however, are set to miss their respective UEFA Nations League ties due to injury.

Odisha crash out after successive defeats in AFC Women's Champions League

Odisha FC suffered a 1-3 defeat to hosts Ho Chi Minh City FC to record a second loss on the trot and crash out of the AFC Women's Champions League here on Wednesday. The Kalinga Warriors were on the back foot right from the start, as the hosts raced to an early lead within the first minute when Nguyen Thi Kim Yenfrom struck from a corner. The home side maintained pressure, and it bore fruit in the 42nd minute when Odisha failed to clear a deep cross from Huynh Nhu, giving the hosts a comfortable two-goal lead heading into the break. Odisha stepped up their game and created chances on the counter in the second-half. Their persistence paid off in the 63rd minute when Malati Munda initiated a promising attack culminating in Jennifer Yeboah's powerful finish. Ho Chi Minh City put the game to rest in stoppage time, when Ngo Thi Hong Nhung (90+4th) struck to seal their passage into the knockout round. The win also secured the progress of Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies, with the two s

Saudi Arabia pays for naming rights to Atletico Madrid's stadium for 9 yrs

Saudi Arabia has consolidated its branding push with Atltico Madrid by paying for naming rights to the Spanish club's stadium for the next nine years. Atltico, which has been sponsored by Saudi state-owned Riyadh Air since last season, said Wednesday that its Metropolitano stadium will be known as the Riyadh Air Metropolitano henceforth until 2033. It is the third naming rights deal for the Metropolitano, which was first called the Wanda Metropolitano after a deal with the Chinese real estate group when it opened in 2017. In 2022, the venue became the Civitas Metropolitano after an agreement reached with the Spanish real estate developer. The stadium was built to replace the outdated Vicente Calderon. Atltico did not say how much it was receiving for the new agreement which makes the Saudi Arabian company the most important sponsor in the club's history. The deal for shirt sponsorship from 2023-27 was already worth a reported 40 million euros ($44 million) a season to the club. Th

Mbappe among stars missing from Nations League while teams eye WC berths

In a congested soccer season where elite players have aired the idea of going on strike, the Nations League returns this week looking less than a top priority. France captain Kylian Mbapp opted to stay away, his probable deputy Antoine Griezmann retired from the national team, and Romelu Lukaku asked to work on his fitness at new club Napoli rather than join the Belgium camp. Add a wave of injury call-offs in Germany and elsewhere some of them serious, for Spain defender Dani Carvajal and German goalkeeper Marc-Andr ter Stegen and the Nations League will open an international door for newcomers. Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco called up four potential debutants to experiment in games in what is the third-tier competition for European teams. We will not do it during the important World Cup qualification, said Tedesco, looking ahead to that important next stage in 2025. The 2026 World Cup in North America is, however, already now in play for teams targeting that tournament and each

Uncapped Lucca to replace injured Kean in Italy's squad for Nations League

Italy coach Luciano Spalletti has called up uncapped Udinese forward Lorenzo Lucca to replace the injured Moise Kean for the upcoming Nations League matches. The national soccer federation said that Kean left the Italy training camp on Monday morning and had returned to Fiorentina for treatment on lower back pain. Kean played the full 90 minutes of Fiorentina's 2-1 victory over AC Milan on Sunday, missing a penalty but setting up the winning goal. The 24-year-old Lucca was called up for friendly matches against Venezuela and Ecuador in March but didn't feature because of a minor injury. Lucca has scored five goals in nine matches this season for Udinese. Italy plays Belgium in Rome on Thursday and Israel in Udine four days later. The Azzurri have won both Nations League matches against France and Israel, and top their group.

First-half hat trick for Lewandowski as Barcelona remain on top in LaLiga

Robert Lewandowski continued his impressive start to the season, scoring a hat trick in a 25-minute span as Barcelona beat Alaves 3-0 and went into the international break top of the Spanish league. Lewandowski scored in the seventh, 22nd and 32nd minutes on Sunday to take his league tally to 10 goals in nine matches. He has a total of 12 goals in 11 games in all competitions, and has scored eight times in his last five matches. The Poland striker was coming off a brace in Barcelona's 5-0 rout of Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday. "We played a very good match from the first minute," Lewandowski said. "When you score three goals in the first half, it gives you the ability to be a lot more in control in the second." The victory moved Barcelona three points back in front of second-place Real Madrid ahead of the international break. Madrid had drawn even on points with the Catalan club with a 2-0 win over fourth-place Villarreal on Saturday. Barcelona was coming off its f

Goalkeepers save 3 penalty kicks during Fiorentina vs AC Milan match

It was a night for goalkeepers to shine as Fiorentina's David de Gea and AC Milan's Mike Maignan combined to save three penalty kicks during Fiorentina's 2-1 win. Maignan started things off on Sunday when he smothered a poor effort from Moise Kean. Then in first-half injury time, De Gea leaped to his right to push away a spot kick from Theo Hernandez. After the break, De Gea was at it again, this time denying Tammy Abraham. Yacine Adli, who is on loan from Milan, put Fiorentina ahead in the 35th. Christian Pulisic equalized for Milan in the 60th with an acrobatic volley his fourth consecutive league match with a goal and then Albert Gudmundsson won it for Fiorentina with a long-range strike to finish off a counterattack. De Gea, the longtime starter at Manchester United who didn't play anywhere last season, also played a role in Gudmundsson's goal, providing a long ball that Kean knocked down to leave for the Iceland striker. Juventus concedes its first goal of the ...

Check the 5 key takeaways from Premier League after match week 7 here

The story of this Premier League season continues to unfold, and as the teams go into the break, one thing is clear: the race for the top 4 is far from decided, and the competition is heating up.

Premier League 2024-25 points table, standings, top 5 highest goal-scorers

Manchester City and Arsenal are just one point behind the Reds, in second and third positions respectively, with 17 points each.

Premier League highlights: Man United play out 0-0 draw against Aston Villa

United remain in the bottom half of the table with the draw, as Erik ten Hag's side continue their hunt for another win in the league.

Ousmane Dembele back in PSG squad to take on Nice in French league

Ousmane Dembl is back with Paris Saint-Germain after he was left out from the squad that lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the Champions League midweek. PSG coach Luis Enrique was criticized after the loss for not selecting Dembl, one of the most creative players in the team following the departure of Kylian Mbapp to Real Madrid. Dembl was selected in a group of 21 players named by Enrique traveling to Nice on Sunday night. PSG can move back to the top of the French league standings with a win. Enrique had blamed Dembl for a perceived lack of commitment from the France forward but did not give more details. He denied he had a personal argument with him after L'Equipe reported the duo verbally clashed following PSG's 3-1 win against Rennes in the French league last weekend. Dembl had an assist in the match. There is just a problem of commitment toward the team, it's not a problem between the player and the coach, Enrique said through a translator. PSG traveled to London with 22 players but ..

Bayern Munich rivals Leverkusen and Dortmund drop points in Bundesliga

Bayern Munich won without playing on Saturday as Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund dropped points to modest opponents. Dortmund slumped at Union Berlin to a 2-1 defeat without injured forward Karim Adeyemi, who starred in the team's 7-1 rout of Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday. Defending champion Leverkusen squandered an early two-goal lead over promoted Holstein Kiel and drew 2-2. It was only Kiel's second point in its debut top-flight season. Leverkusen played in a special black jersey with red trim to commemorate the club's 120th anniversary, and for Xabi Alonso it was also a special occasion the Spanish coach took over exactly two years before. Leverkusen fans didn't have to wait long to celebrate after Victor Boniface opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Jonas Hofmann made it 2-0 four minutes after that. Leverkusen looked set for a rout. But the home team failed to make more of its dominance Boniface had another goal ruled out for offs