Latest Football News

• Adriano hat-trick helps Flamengo win Rio derby 5-3

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Brazil striker Adriano scored a hat-trick to give national champions Flamengo a 5-3 win over Fluminense in a spectacular Carioca (Rio de Janeiro) championship derby on Sunday.

• A-League: Aloisi double sets up grandstand finish

  John Aloisi scored twice as Sydney FC defeated Perth Glory 3-2 at Parramatta Stadium to keep up the pressure on A-League leaders Melbourne Victory.

• All tickets sold for World Cup semis and final - FIFA

  JOHANNESBURG, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Tickets for the World Cup semi-finals and final, as well as two of England's first round matches in South Africa, have sold out, FIFA said on Friday.

• Amateurs Colmar oust Lille in Cup shootout

  PARIS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Fourth division Colmar knocked Ligue 1 side Lille out of the French Cup 10-9 on penalties after Salim Mezriche scored the winner following a goalless draw after extra time in their round of 64 game on Saturday.

• Ancelotti: Rooney the best player in the world

  Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has hailed Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney as the best player in the world.

• Argentina: Boca woes continue with 4-2 defeat

  Boca Juniors went three goals down within 18 minutes as they lost 4-2 at Newell's Old Boys in the Argentine Clausura championship on Saturday night.

• Banfield open title defence with 1-0 win over River

  BUENOS AIRES, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Uruguay's Sebastian Fernandez scored 16 minutes from time to give champions Banfield a 1-0 away win over River Plate at the Monumental in the opening round of the Argentine Clausura championship on Sunday.

• Big guns get comfortable Euro 2010 draw

  WARSAW, Feb 7 (Reuters) - European champions Spain were handed an easy-looking path to the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine in Sunday's qualifying draw, although coach Vicente Del Bosque said afterwards he was taking nothing for granted.

• Birmingham 2-1 Wolves: Super-sub Phillips

  Birmingham 2-1 Wolves: Super-sub Phillips

• Birmingham City 2-1 Wolverhampton

  Birmingham City clinched a dramatic local derby win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

• Boca woes continue with 4-2 defeat

  BUENOS AIRES, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Boca Juniors went three goals down within 18 minutes as they lost 4-2 at Newell's Old Boys in the Argentine Clausura championship on Saturday night.

• Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Fulham

  Bolton Wanderers and Fulham shared the points after playing out a stalemate at the Reebok Stadium.

• Bulgarian crisis club Botev could be thrown out

  SOFIA, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Botev Plovdiv could be thrown out of the top division after 16 players asked the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) for free transfers over unpaid wages and bonuses. Bottom club Botev, the country's oldest team, said they had breached contracts by failing to pay players for several months. "It's very possible Botev will disappear from the footballing map," BFU president Borislav Mihaylov told Darik radio.

• Bundesliga: Dortmund lose touch after defeat

  Borussia Dortmund lost touch with the Bundesliga leaders after surrendering a 2-1 lead and suffering a 3-2 home defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

• Bundesliga: Leaders unperturbed by slip up

  Bayer Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes was refusing to panic as his side were caught at the top of the Bundesliga by Bayern Munich on Saturday.

• Buoyant boss Ancelotti praises "perfect" Terry

  Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti paid tribute to his "perfect'' captain John Terry after two goals from Didier Drogba against Arsenal put the Blues back on top of the Premier League.

• Burnley 2-1 West Ham United

  Burnley secured a vital win at Turf Moor in their battle against relegation.

• Cabanas has bullet in his head but World Cup on

  MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - All Paraguay forward Salvador Cabanas can think of nine days after being shot in the head is returning to training and getting to the World Cup, the president of his Mexican club America said on Tuesday.

• Cabanas regains consciousness after shooting

  MEXICO CITY, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Paraguay striker Salvador Cabanas regained consciousness and spoke to his family for the first time since he was shot in a Mexico City bar last week, his doctors said on Saturday.

• CAF boss should quit after 'monstrous' Togo ban -Adebayor

  LUANDA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou should resign following the "monstrous" decision to ban Togo from the next two African Nations Cups, captain Emmanuel Adebayor said on Sunday.

• Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

  Chelsea ran out victors against Arsenal to regain their place at the top of the league table.

• Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal: Drogba fires Blues to top

  John Terry's life maybe in turmoil off the pitch but the disgraced England captain remains as inspirational as ever in a Chelsea shirt as the Blues put an end to Arsenal's remaining title dreams with a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

• China FA honest despite match-fixing, says boss

  BEIJING, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is not fundamentally dishonest despite the arrest of three top officials in a match-fixing scandal, China's new soccer supremo Wei Di said on Tuesday.

• China miss penalty in Japan freeze-out

  TOKYO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - China missed a late penalty in a goalless draw with World Cup-bound Japan in the opening match of the East Asian championship on Saturday.

• Deco to quit international football after World Cup

  LISBON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Portugal midfielder Deco has decided to retire from international soccer after the World Cup finals in South Africa.

• Dos Santos joins Galatasaray on loan

  LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur's Mexican midfielder Giovani Dos Santos has joined Turkish side Galatasaray on loan until the end of the season, the Premier League club said on its website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com).

• Dunfermline Athletic 2-4 Celtic: Keane off the mark

  Robbie Keane came off the bench at the interval to help Celtic overcome Dunfermline 4-2 to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.

• Egypt favourites but must dismantle Ghana defence

  LUANDA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Holders Egypt are favourites to win Sunday's African Nations Cup final (1600 GMT) although they face a tough task breaking down Ghana's accomplished defence.

• Egypt secure third successive Nations Cup title

  LUANDA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Substitute Mohamed Nagui scored five minutes from time to hand Egypt an unprecedented third successive African Nations Cup title after a 1-0 victory over Ghana on Sunday.

• Egypt's record triumph cushions World Cup blow

  LUANDA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Egypt's record third successive African Nations Cup triumph underlined how much of a blow missing out on the 2010 World Cup finals is to the country.

• England draw Wales in Euro qualifiers

  Find out the draw for the qualifying competition.

• Estudiantes lose La Plata derby to bitter rivals Gimnasia

  BUENOS AIRES, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Striker Denis Stracqualursi scored twice as Gimnasia upset bitter city rivals Estudiantes 3-1 at home in a high-tension La Plata derby on Wednesday.

• Euro 2012 draw a backdrop to top coaches problems

  WARSAW, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The coaches of England, Russia and Germany could all be forgiven for having other things on their minds when they come to the Polish capital for the qualifying round draw of Euro 2012 on Sunday.

• European champions Spain handed easy draw for Euro 2012

  WARSAW, Feb 7 (Reuters) - European champions Spain will face Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein in the qualifying competition for the Euro 2012 championship after being the last team pulled out of the bowl at Sunday's draw.

• Feyenoord end PSV 39-match unbeaten run to reach Cup semi

  EINDHOVEN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Karim El Ahmadi struck twice as Feyenoord ended PSV Eindhoven's 39-match unbeaten run in all competitions with a 3-0 win in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Cup on Wednesday.

• Hiddink bemoans ex-Soviet states rule

  Russia coach Guus Hiddink said he was saddened that UEFA had been forced to keep apart former Soviet states in the draw for the 2012 European championship qualifiers on Sunday.

• Hiddink sad that UEFA had to part former Soviet states

  WARSAW, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Russia coach Guus Hiddink said he was saddened that UEFA had been forced to keep apart former Soviet states in the draw for the 2012 European championship qualifiers on Sunday.

• Hull City 2-1 Manchester City

  Hull City earned a precious win over Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.

• Injured Blackburn Rovers fan dies in hospital

  A football fan critically injured at a Premier League match on Saturday died in hospital, police said on Sunday.

• Inter win derby, Ronaldo in spotlight

  LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Serie A leaders Inter Milan dented AC Milan's title ambitions with a 2-0 win over their city rivals even though they finished the match with nine men.

• Italy boss Lippi dreams of World Cup final with Capello

  ROME, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Marcello Lippi says he hopes his Italy side meet England in this year's World Cup final so he can see how fellow Italian Fabio Capello would cope with the conflicting emotions.

• Italy's Lippi at odds with boss over exit strategy

  MILAN, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Italy coach Marcello Lippi contradicted his own boss over his future on Monday, saying whether he stayed in the job could depend on results at the World Cup.

• La Liga: Nine-man Barcelona edge past Getafe

  Valencia spoiled Onesimo Sanchez's debut as Real Valladolid coach on Saturday, winning 2-0 to secure third place in La Liga for another week.

• Liga: Mallorca make it a perfect 10 at home

  A late header from Nunes earned Real Mallorca a 1-0 win over Villarreal that preserved their perfect home record in La Liga on Sunday.

• Ligue 1: Rennes thrash leaders Bordeaux

  The race for the Ligue 1 title was thrown wide open on Saturday evening as Rennes recorded a surprise 4-2 victory over leaders Bordeaux.

• Ligue 1: Saint Etienne halt Monaco's winning streak

  Saint-Etienne ended Monaco's four-game winning streak with a decisive 3-0 home win on Sunday.

• Liverpool 1-0 Everton

  Liverpool completed the league double over Everton with victory at Anfield.

• Löw will not accept German FA ultimatum

  Germany coach Joachim Löw has warned that he may not even be interested in extending his contract beyond the end of the World Cup as a row over his future shows signs of escalating.

• Manchester United 5-0 Portsmouth

  Manchester United returned to the top of the Barclays Premier League after a comfortable win over Portsmouth.

• Maradona reaches century of Argentina call-ups

  BUENOS AIRES, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The number of calls-ups to the Argentina team by coach Diego Maradona reached 100 in 15 months after he drew up a squad for next week's friendly at home to Jamaica.

• Monaco fight back to beat Lyon in French Cup

  MONACO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Monaco fought back from a goal down to beat visiting Olympique Lyon 2-1 in the French Cup round of 32 on Sunday.

• My goal is to stay at Santos a long time, says Robinho

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Robinho targeted a long stay at Santos when the Manchester City forward started his six-month loan spell at his former club on Monday.

• Nations Cup referee suspended after head-butt incident

  LUANDA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Benin referee Bonaventure Coffi Codjia has been suspended indefinitely by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after failing to take action against an Algeria player who head-butted him at the African Nations Cup.

• New contract was never agreed, says Germany coach Loew

  BERLIN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Germany coach Joachim Loew has denied that there was ever a verbal agreement to extend his contract beyond the 2010 World Cup finals.

• Nigeria beat Algeria to finish third at Nations Cup

  BENGUELA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Striker Obinna Nsofor's second-half goal gave Nigeria third place at the African Nations Cup after a 1-0 win over Algeria in the playoff on Saturday.

• Nigeria sack coach with World Cup looming

  ABUJA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Nigeria have sacked coach Shaibu Amodu following their third place finish at the African Nations Cup and have begun the search to replace him with the World Cup finals just four months away.

• No more second rate foreign coaches for China - CFA boss

  BEIJING, Feb 4 (Reuters) - If China decides to hire another foreign coach for its national soccer team it must stump up the cash for the best man available, the new head of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said on Thursday.

• Platini backs Henry handball referee for World Cup

  WARSAW, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Swedish referee Martin Hansson, who was at the centre of the Thierry Henry handball controversy in France's World Cup qualification, deserved to be picked for the finals, UEFA president Michel Platini said on Saturday.

• Platini gives co-hosts thumbs-up for Euro 2012 progress

  WARSAW, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Poland and Ukraine still have minor problems to solve but are otherwise making good progress as they prepare to host Euro 2012, UEFA president Michel Platini said on Saturday.

• Platini reiterates support for five-officials concept

  VALLETTA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - UEFA president Michel Platini has repeated his belief that the addition of two match officials represents the best way to minimise refereeing mistakes.

• Porto thrash Sporting to reach Cup semi-final

  LISBON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Holders Porto thrashed Sporting 5-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup on Tuesday.

• Portugal coach Queiroz scuffles with commentator

  Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz has played down reports he assaulted sports commentator Jorge Baptista at Lisbon airport.

• Pressure mounts on Japan coach Okada after dour display

  TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The normally low-key East Asian soccer championship has taken on increasing significance for under-fire Japan coach Takeshi Okada in the build up to this year's World Cup in South Africa.

• Rampant Roma take upper hand in Italian Cup semi

  ROME, Feb 4 (Reuters) - AS Roma maintained their formidable form on Thursday with a 2-0 home win over Udinese in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final.

• Red cards and De Rossi help Roma into Italian Cup semis

  ROME, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Daniele De Rossi scored with a blistering shot to send in-form AS Roma into the Italian Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 win over a brave Catania side that finished the tie with nine men on Tuesday.

• Redknapp pushes King's World Cup claims

  Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has pressed Ledley King's claims for a World Cup squad berth as a specialist back-up for England's first choice central defensive pairing of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry.

• Robinho gets off mark with winner in new Santos debut

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Robinho marked his return to Santos with a brilliant back-heeled winner in their 2-1 away win over Sao Paulo in the Paulista championship on Sunday.

• Russian FA chief to meet Hiddink over contract

  MOSCOW, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Former Zenit St Petersburg president Sergei Fursenko was elected head of the Russian FA (RFU) on Wednesday and his first major task will be to decide whether to extend the contract of national coach Guus Hiddink.

• Saudi clubs to get cool million for Asian success

  SINGAPORE, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian soccer chiefs will dole out a $1 million bonus if any of their clubs win the Asian Champions League this year.

• Serie A: Inter juggernaut rolls on, Milan draw

  Inter Milan roared 10 points clear at the top of Serie A after the champions secured a 3-0 home win over Cagliari on Sunday and second-placed AC Milan drew.

• Serie A: Juventus labour to draw at Livorno

  Simplicio blasted in an 87th minute winner to help Palermo move closer to the Champions League places with a 2-1 Serie A victory over Parma on Saturday.

• Spurs 0-0 Aston Villa

  Tottenham could not find a way past Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel as two of this season's top-four hopefuls in the Premier League cancelled each other out in a lacklustre goalless draw.

• Stoke City 3-0 Blackburn Rovers

  Stoke City secured a convincing victory at home to 10-man Blackburn Rovers.

• Striker Zidan hails Egypt's best generation after Cup win

  LUANDA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Egypt striker Mohamed Zidan hailed his generation of Pharaohs as the best after they clinched a record third consecutive African Nations Cup on Sunday.

• Sunderland 1-1 Wigan Athletic

  Sunderland and Wigan Athletic shared the spoils from a tough encounter at the Stadium of Light.

• Sunderland 1-1 Wigan Athletic: KJ earns point

  Sunderland 1-1 Wigan Athletic: KJ earns point

• Time has come to tackle the debt, says UEFA

  LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Half of Europe's leading clubs are losing money with more than 20 percent facing huge deficits, UEFA's general secretary Gianni Infantino has told Reuters in an interview.

• Togo to appeal Nations Cups ban - minister

  LOME, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Togo, banned from competing in the next two African Nations Cups after pulling out of this year's competition over security concerns, will appeal the suspension, the country's sports minister told Reuters on Saturday.

• Top Brazil strikers head home eyeing World Cup

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Ronaldo, Adriano, Fred and now Robinho, Brazil's four strikers at the 2006 World Cup, have returned home looking to revive their careers and earn a place at this year's finals in South Africa.

• Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Aston Villa

  Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa were forced to settle for a point apiece at White Hart Lane.

• Troubled Portsmouth set for yet more upheaval

  Portsmouth could be on course for their fifth owner of a turbulent season.

• UEFA to keep ex-Soviet states apart in Euro draw

  WARSAW, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The former Soviet Union states of Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will be kept apart in Sunday's qualifying round draw for the 2012 European Championship.

• Vogts expects windfall from Germany game

  WARSAW, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts is looking forward to a windfall after his team were drawn against his native Germany in the qualifying tournament for the 2012 European championship.

• Warsaw ready to stage Euro 2012 draw

  In one sense, Sunday's draw for the Euro 2012 qualifying competition starting in September is a case of before the Lord Mayor's show.

• World Cup absentees Russia, Croatia top seeds for Euros

  WARSAW, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Russia and Croatia, who have failed to make this year's World Cup finals in South Africa, will be among the top seeds when the draw for the qualifying round of Euro 2012 is made on Sunday.

ESPNsoccernet; Reuters Football - European Football; Reuters Football - World Football; Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results News