Page 17 - Football

Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually ahead of return after doping ban

Paul Pogba will no longer be a Juventus player from next month. Juventus announced on Friday it came to a mutual agreement with Pogba to cancel his contract despite the France World Cup winner having a ban for doping slashed last month. The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back after his four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The 31-year-old Pogba, who will be free to resume his career in March 2025, had said he was ready to give up money to play for Juventus again. Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of 30 November, 2024, the Bianconeri said in a brief statement. The club wishes Paul the very best for his professional future. Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August last year and the Juventus midfielder was handed the maximum punishment by Italy's anti-doping court. But CAS j

Ghana fails to qualify for Africa Cup for the first time since 2004

Ghana failed to reach the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2004 after drawing with Angola 1-1 in qualifying on Friday. The Black Stars needed a win in their penultimate group game to keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the tournament in Morocco next year. Ghana, a four-time Africa Cup champion, has played in 24 editions of the tournament. Only seven-time champion Egypt (26) and defending champion Ivory Coast (25) have appeared in more. Already-qualified Angola made the better start in front of the home fans in Talatona, but Ghana veteran Jordan Ayew opened the scoring for the visitors with a brilliant free kick from distance in the 18th minute. M'Bala Nzola had a chance to equalize with a penalty only for Ghana 'keeper Abdul Manaf Nurudeen to save his spot kick. The home team kept pushing however, and Felicio Milson set up Zini to equalize in the 64th. Ghana remained bottom of qualifying Group F with just three points from five games. It needed two wins fr

UEFA Nations League: Portugal vs Poland live match timings and streaming

Portugal is aiming for their second appearance in the Nations League knockout stage, which will feature quarter-finals for the first time, after their triumph in the inaugural 2018/19 edition.

UEFA Nations League: Denmark vs Spain live match timings and streaming

The midfield battle is expected to be crucial, with Denmark's Pierre-Emile Højbjerg likely to clash with Ruiz, potentially setting the pace of the match.

Europa League: Besiktas vs Maccabi Tel Aviv to be played at neutral venue

The Europa League match between Turkey's Besiktas and Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv, scheduled for Nov. 28, has been moved to a a neutral venue in Hungary, UEFA announced. The match, originally a home game for Besiktas, will now be played at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary after the Turkish government opted not to host the tie. The decision follows unrest after Maccabi's recent Europa League game in Amsterdam, where at least five fans were injured in violent street attacks, after their team's 5-0 loss to Ajax. Besiktas said on social media that Hungary was the only country willing to host the match but, due to a decision by Hungarian authorities, the game will be held behind closed doors".

Garnacho's unusual goal reaction explained by Man United captain Bruno

Alejandro Garnacho's low-key goal celebration against Leicester on Sunday was because he believes some Manchester United fans have lost faith in him, captain Bruno Fernandes said. Garnacho curled a long-range shot into the top corner to seal a 3-0 win for United at Old Trafford, but instead of celebrating with the crowd, he looked frustrated as he made his way back to the halfway line for the restart. Garnacho scored a banger but didn't celebrate like he should because he thinks he has lost faith from some fans," Fernandes told the BBC. "I told him people will always moan, but lots of people like you and enjoy what you do. I told him to celebrate, it was something special. He is a special player, we have difference-makers. They are the ones who win us games." Garnacho came on as a 57th-minute substitute and scored his seventh goal of the season. The 20-year-old Argentina international is considered one of United's brightest young players and scored in last season's FA Cup final wi

PL: Arsenal held 1-1 at Stamford Bridge; Man United beat Leicester 3-0

Arsenal's Premier League title challenge took another hit after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. It's now four games without a win in the league for Mikel Arteta's team, which is nine points behind leader Liverpool. While a point saw Arsenal climb up to fourth in the standings, its winless run has seen a gap open up at the top. Chelsea is third, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. Gabriel Martinelli had fired Arsenal in front in the 60th minute at Stamford Bridge, but Pedro Neto equalized 10 minutes later. It's about transforming these performances into victories, Arteta said afterward. Arsenal was runner-up to Manchester City in each of the last two seasons and expected to be the closest rival to the defending champion again. Instead it is Liverpool, under new manager Arne Slot, that has powered ahead at the start of the campaign and taken advantage of the faltering form of both City and Arsenal. City is five points back in second after two-straight losses in the league. It is a long

Premier League, Man City vs Brighton live match time, streaming in India

The live streaming of the match between Brighton and Man City will be available on Disney+ Hotstar. Brighton vs Man City live match to begin at 11 PM IST today

VIDEO: Israeli fans attacked in Amsterdam after football match; 10 injured

Amsterdam police detained several individuals for rioting. However, officials did not confirm whether those arrested were football fans or associated with pro-Palestinian protests

Nations League: Captain Mbappe once again left out of France squad

Struggling to make an impact at Real Madrid, Kylian Mbapp has again been left out of the France squad. The captain was not included on Thursday in coach Didier Deschamps' list of players for Nations League matches against Israel and Italy. Mbapp was also absent from the previous gathering because of a minor thigh injury. But this time Mbapp is not injured and wanted to be selected, Deschamps said. "It's my responsibility to make decisions. I think it's better that way," he said. He would not elaborate on his choice to do without the striker but said it was not related to recent reports in Swedish media that the former Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star was the subject of a rape investigation I'm not going to argue, Descamps said. What I can tell you are these two things. One, that Kylian wanted to come. "And two, it's not the extra sporting problems that come into play since the presumption of innocence exists and must exist. It's a one-off choice for this gathering. Mbapp's performa

Europa League: Manchester United ends winless run in Europe, beats PAOK

Manchester United secured its first win in Europe for more than a year by beating PAOK 2-0 in the Europa League. Two second-half goals from Amad Diallo sealed the victory at Old Trafford on Thursday and boosted United's hopes of progressing in the competition, while Tottenham's 100% start was ended by a 3-2 loss at Galatasaray. United's last win in Europe was against Copenhagen in the Champions League on Oct. 24 last year. We addressed that in the dressing room and it was time to change that, so we did, United interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy said. Diallo's looping header beat PAOK goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski in the 50th minute and he followed that up with a deflected shot from outside the area that nestled into the bottom corner in the 77th. It's two wins from three games for United under Van Nistelrooy, who has one more match against Leicester on Sunday before handing over to Ruben Amorim. It is not clear if there will be a role for the Dutchman after his temporary reig

UAE club Al-Ain fires coach Hernan Crespo months after winning Asian title

Al-Ain fired head coach Hernan Crespo less than six months after the Argentine led the United Arab Emirates club to Asia's Champions League title. The decision came after a string of disappointing results that culminated in a 5-1 loss to Cristiano Ronald's Al-Nassr in the AFC Champions League Elite on Tuesday. It means Crespo, the former Inter Milan and Chelsea striker, will not get a chance to lead Al-Ain to the expanded 32-team FIFA Club World Cup despite helping it qualify for the tournament in the United States next summer. The high point of Crespo's 12 month tenure was May's victory over Yokohama F Marinos of Japan in the two-legged Asian final but the two-time continental champion has collected just one point from the first four games in this season's tournament. The club thanked Crespo in a statement on Wednesday but said "recent results have not met expectations." It did not immediately announce a replacement for the 49-year-old Crespo.

UEFA Champions League 2024-25 points table, top 5 highest goal-scorers

Manchester City, Monaco, Brest, Bayer Leverkusen, Inter, and Sporting are all tied at 7 points, rounding up the current top 8 spots.

UEFA Champions League: Inter Milan vs Arsenal live time, streaming

Mikel Arteta will be hoping his side shrugs off the disappointing 0-1 Premier League loss to Newcastle and gets back to winning ways against a challenging Inter side away from home.

UEFA Champions League: PSG vs Atletico Madrid live time, streaming

Both sides will be facing each other for the first time in their history and will look to get a win on the night to start the head to head record in their favour.

UEFA Champions League: Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen live time, streaming

Xabi Alonso is set to return to his former club as a visiting manager. Alonso was part of the Reds' UCL-winning campaign in 2005.

UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid vs AC Milan live match time, streaming

Ancelotti has won multiple Champions League titles with Real as well but hasn't had the best start to this season, with the new format presenting unique challenges for the 15-time winners.

Match-fixing scandal in Mizoram; 24 players, 3 clubs, 3 officials banned

In a shocking development, three clubs, 24 players and three club officials have been banned by the Mizoram Football Association (MFA) for alleged match-fixing in a recently-held competition in the state. Three clubs -- Sihphir Venghlun FC, FC Bethlehem, and Ramhlun Athletic FC -- have been banned for three years along with three match officials for allegedly manipulating the outcome of matches in the Mizoram Premier League. "It has come to the notice of the Mizoram Football Association, after investigations with local law enforcement agencies that certain clubs, officials and players in the recently concluded MPL-11 had indulged in acts of corruption, for which they have been penalised after careful deliberations," the state football body said in a statement. The MFA imposed life bans on two players, five-year bans on four players, three-year bans on 10 footballers, and one-year bans on eight men involved in the alleged corruption. "These activities involving a few miscreants ...

Neymar suffers another injury in 2nd game back from ACL tear for Al Hilal

Neymar picked up another injury in just his second game since returning from a 12-month absence as Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal defeated Esteghlal of Iran 3-0 in the AFC Champions League Elite. The Brazilian has only recently recovered from a torn ACL and came off the bench in Riyadh after 58 minutes. However, the 32 year-old forward had to come off with three minutes remaining, having seemed to pull up after stretching his leg out for the ball in the penalty area. Neymar has time to recover before his next game, however, as he is not registered for the team's matches in the Saudi Pro League and the next fixture in the AFC competition is on Nov. 25. Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a hat trick for Al-Hilal, the four-time Asian champion which has now won all four games in the group stage. All three goals from the Serbian came from close range. He opened the scoring after 15 minutes, added a second just after the half-hour mark and then completed his hat trick with 16 minutes remaining. Al-Hil

Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar resigns to pursue 'new challenge'

Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar has resigned, the Premier League club said. The former midfielder returned to the club as technical director in 2019 before being promoted to sporting director in 2022, and has been seen as a key figure in Arsenal's emergence as a Premier League challenger under manager Mikel Arteta in recent seasons. Edu said he was leaving to pursue a different challenge but did not specify what that would entail. This was an incredibly hard decision to make, Edu said in a club statement. Arsenal has given me the opportunity to work with so many amazing people and the chance to be a part of something so special in the club's history. ... Now it is time to pursue a different challenge. Arsenal will always remain in my heart. I wish the club and its supporters only good things and all the very best. Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke said the club respected Edu's decision and noted his immense contribution and dedication to drive the club forward. Kroenke added: Cha