Page 21 - Football

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 The stadium was built to replace the outdated Vicente Calderon.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

Premier League preview: Chelsea vs Nottingham live time (IST) and streaming

Starting the season as one of the unbeaten sides in the Premier League after 3 matches, Forest have only lost one game in their 6 Premier League matches and that too came last week against Fulham.

Premier League preview: Aston Villa vs Man United live time, streaming

Unai Emery's men will go into the match as favourites and will have the support of the home crowd, who will raise the heat for the visitors on the night.

Guardiola says he will pay for banner appealing for him to stay at Man City

Pep Guardiola has offered to pay the cost of a banner from fans appealing for him to stay at Manchester City. Supporters plan to unfurl a giant flag at Saturday's home game against Fulham urging the City manager to sign an extension to his contract that expires at the end of the season. Fans reportedly raised 1,000 pounds ($1,300) to create the banner. They have to bring me the bill to pay for the banner, Guardiola said on Friday. I don't want them to spend money for that reason but, what can I say? Thank you so much. I fell in love from the first day I was here. Guardiola, who has been at City since 2016, has not indicated if he will sign a new deal but he reiterated his love for the club. I am part of this club, it's deep inside of my bones," he told a news conference. I love this club and it will always be that way. It cannot be different for the way they treat me. Since day one, they gave me a lot. I've said in the beginning of the press conferences, I am not going to talk a

ISL: Borja Herrera's late goal helps FC Goa rescue a point against NEUFC

Borja Herrera scored a stoppage time goal, forcing NorthEast United FC to share the spoils with FC Goa as the two sides played out a scintillating 3-3 draw in Indian Super League here on Friday. Besides Herrera, Armando Sadiku netted two goals for Goa while Nestor Albiach, who also scored a brace, and Alaeddine Ajaraei were the scorers for NorthEast United. Both teams went hammer and tongs with their respective frontline while the defenders had a tough day in office. The Highlanders started the game on the front foot courtesy of their extremely flexible attack, with Jithin MS, Alaeddine Ajaraie, and Nestor Albiach all interchanging positions. They were rewarded for the bright start as Nestor ran into the FC Goa penalty box like a hot knife through butter before nestling the ball into the back of the net in the sixth minute. In the 45th minute, the hosts earned a penalty after Mohammed Ali Bemammer brought down Drazic in the danger area. Sadiku shouldered the responsibility of taki

Manchester United owner Ratcliffe refuses to show support for Erik Ten Hag

Manchester United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe refused to say if he had faith in manager Erik ten Hag on Friday. The British billionaire, who bought a 27.7% stake in the 20-time English champion in February, has overhauled United's soccer department. He said the decision over Ten Hag's future rested in the hands of the executive he has put in place to run the club. Ten Hag is under intense scrutiny after another troubled start to the season and, asked if he had faith, Ratcliffe told the BBC, I don't want to answer that question. "I like Erik. I think he's a very good coach, but at the end of the day it's not my call, it's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects. Ratcliffe assumed control of United's soccer operations after investing $1.3 billion for his minority stake. The sporting side had previously been under the control of the majority owning American Glazer family. A new CEO, Omar Berrada, an

FIFA says no to outright suspension of Israel, will investigate claims

FIFA stopped short of suspending the Israeli soccer federation on Thursday, but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination alleged by Palestinian soccer officials. A senior FIFA panel overseeing governance will separately investigate the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine, soccer's governing body said after a meeting of its ruling Council. The Palestinian soccer federation has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli soccer body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues. The compromise decisions came more than four months after Palestinian officials had urged FIFA to suspend Israel's membership at a meeting in May. The request to FIFA's congress in May also cited international law violations" in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict and directed the soccer body to its statutory commitments on human rights and against ...

AIFF overturns NEUFC player Asheer Akhtar's red card, downgrades to yellow

The All India Football Federation's disciplinary committee on Wednesday upheld a wrongful dismissal claim by NorthEast United FC on behalf of defender Asheer Akhtar. In accordance with the decision, the committee has rescinded the red card shown to Akhtar, and downgraded it to a caution (yellow card) "for reckless play nature as suggested concerning the technical report". Akhtar was sent off in NorthEast United FC's Indian Super League match against Kerala Blasters at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. The committee, in its decision, stated, "After reviewing the documents submitted by the player and on basis of the technical report given by the chief refereeing officer (Trevor Kettle), the wrongful dismissal review panel has unanimously agreed that the player was incorrectly sent off for serious foul play. The committee expressed its view that "the player was wrongfully dismissed", and that it "upholds the claim filed by the club on behalf of the player".

ISL 2024-25: FC Goa aim first home points against NorthEast United FC

FC Goa will look to continue their winning momentum and secure their first home win of the season when they face a struggling NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) here on Friday. FC Goa have struggled in their last two home fixtures, losing to Jamshedpur FC and Mumbai City FC. But the Gaurs returned to winning ways against East Bengal last week with a narrow 3-2 victory in Kolkata, while the reigning Durand Cup champions NEUFC, who played out a 1-1 draw with Kerala Blasters FC, are still in search of their first win. FC Goa will look forward to young players stepping up in the absence of a few seniors due to injuries and head coach Manolo Marquez urged that the team needs to adapt to situations better than the previous games. "We have a lot of things to improve on. It's true that the other day, we played good in some moments, and we need to learn to manage the situations better," Marquez said. "We have players with experience, who are injured. We have played a lot

Miami's Lionel Messi wins 46th career trophy, lifts MLS Supporters Shield

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have another trophy, along with home-field advantage throughout the Major League Soccer playoffs. Messi scored twice in the final minutes of the first half, goalie Drake Callender stopped a penalty kick in the 84th minute and Inter Miami beat the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew 3-2 on Wednesday, wrapping up the Supporters Shield given annually to the team with the best regular-season record. It was Messi's 46th major trophy won for club or country, extending his record for the most by any men's soccer player in history. And it is the second he has won with Inter Miami, this Supporters Shield being added to the Leagues Cup trophy the Herons claimed shortly after Messi joined the club in 2023. We knew this was a group that could fight for this, Messi said. Luis Suarez also scored for Inter Miami, which will open a best-of-three first-round playoff series in the final weekend of October. If the team wins that series, it would have the right to hos