Page 20 - Football

Euro 2020: France forward Ousmane Dembele ruled out with injury

France forward Ousmane Dembele has been ruled out of the ongoing Euro 2020 with an injury he picked up in the draw against Hungary, the French Football Federation(FFF) confirmed on Monday.The FC Barcelona forward came on as a second-half substitute at the Puskas Arena, when France was trailing against Hungary in the Group F clash, but he had to be replaced by Thomas Lemar in the 87th minute as he limped off with an apparent knee injury."Ousmane Dembele had an X-ray at the Budapest hospital on Sunday night," the French Football Federation(FFF) said in an official statement."The recovery time is incompatible with him staying in the squad. After discussing with the player and (team doctor) Franck le Gall, (coach) Didier Deschamps has acknowledged that Ousmane Dembele is ruled out for the rest of the tournament."France head coach, Didier Deschamps earlier confirmed in the press conference that it was a tendon issue in Dembele's knee. On Saturday after the game, Deschamps said, "Dembele, ..

Scotland looks to give fans something to cheer at Euro 2020

Scotland is looking to give its boisterous fans something to really cheer about at the European Championship. Not just a 0-0 draw. Euphoria set in among the Tartan Army after Scotland managed to hold England scoreless against expectations. The streets of Glasgow filled that Friday night with flag-waving supporters hanging out of car windows. Others danced in the streets as if the team had won the tournament. But the result did little to cement Scotland's chances of advancing to the round of 16 at Euro 2020 after the team lost to the Czech Republic 2-0 in its first Group D game. Now, Scotland has one last opportunity to harness the energy of its fans as the team faces Croatia at Hampden Park on Tuesday. Both teams need to win to have any chance of advancing. Scotland won't be the home team on paper, but it most certainly will have a home crowd of about 12,000 urging the players on. "It's great to see that our performance and the point against England brought a lot of confidence an

Euro 2020: Italy beat Wales 1-0 in Rome, but both sides into last 16

Italy made it three wins from their Euro 2020 three Group A matches without conceding a goal as they beat Wales 1-0 in Rome

Switzerland's 3-1 win seals Turkey's group-stage exit in Euro 2020

Switzerland snatched a 3-1 victory and will have to wait if they have done enough for their progression as Xherdan Shaqiri scored twice in the last Euro 2020 Group A game late on Sunday.

Chile players admit violation of coronavirus protocols at Copa America

Players from Chile's squad at Copa America violated the tournament's coronavirus protocols after a "barber" visited the players' hotel in the Brazilian city of Cuiaba

Copa America: Sergio Pena scores as Peru defeat Colombia

Sergio Pena got among the goal-scoring charts as Peru defeated Colombia in the ongoing Copa America here at Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico on Monday

Euro Cup 2021 format causes qualification confusion for England team

England's draw with Scotland showed just how confusing the European Championship format can be for the teams and even the organizers. UEFA's official website stated ahead of Friday's game that a draw would secure England a spot in the round of 16 with a game to spare. Once England had underwhelmingly clinched that point after being held to a 0-0 draw by Scotland, qualification seemed likely but not guaranteed. England coach Gareth Southgate certainly wasn't celebrating advancing, and his team analysts were left crunching the data. By Saturday morning, UEFA had determined that England had yet to be sure of at least going through among the four best third-place teams from the six groups. As it stands, England is in second place in Group D behind the Czech Republic on goal difference. The two teams will play each other on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium. Scotland and Croatia have one point each and will meet in Glasgow at the same time. Four points was enough for third-place teams to adv

Unfazed Billy Gilmour helps Scotland hold off England at Euro 2020

Billy Gilmour made his first international start against his team's biggest rival at a major soccer tournament.

Player banned, find $20,000 at Copa America for criticizing organizers

CONMEBOL suspended Bolivia striker Marcelo Martins for one match and fined him $20,000 for criticizing the Copa America being played in Brazil

Brazil says Copa America's Covid-19 cases increase again from 66 to 82

Brazil's government said that 82 people connected with the Copa America soccer tournament had contracted Covid-19, an increase of 16 infections from the previous day

Penalty misses at historically high rate at Uefa Euro 2020

Penalty kicks are being missed and saved at a historically high rate at this year's European Championship. North Macedonia midfielder Ezgjan Alioski and Ukraine opponent Ruslan Malinovskyi both failed to score from the spot in the second half of their game on Thursday. When Memphis Depay scored for the Netherlands later Thursday, it meant only one-third of Euro 2020 penalties have been scored so far. Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal against Hungary is the only other player to convert a penalty of the six awarded so far, though Alioski did follow up to put in the rebound after his was saved. The Euro 2020 strike rate is way down from the 74% scored from all penalties awarded at final tournament games since the first in 1960 through Euro 2016. The very first penalty awarded was missed, by Josef Vojta of Czechoslovakia against Soviet Union great Lev Yashin in the 1960 semifinals. The four penalties missed in the first 16 matches at Euro 2020 equals the total failures from 12 penalti

ISL: Kerala Blasters appoint Ivan Vukomanovic as new head coach

Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters FC has appointed Serbia's Ivan Vukomanovic as the club's new head coach for the upcoming season. Vukomanovic will be the first Serbian to manage KBFC and comes with a broad experience of coaching in the top divisions of Belgium, Slovakia, and Cyprus. The 43-year-old began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Belgian club Standard Liege in 2013-14 season before his promotion in the subsequent term. Under him, the team secured qualification in the UEFA Europa league group stages for two years consecutively. The ISL is due to start in mid-November this year. He has since managed SK Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Super Liga, with whom he won the Slovakia National Cup, and was last in charge of Apollon Limassol in the Cypriot First Division. Commenting on his appointment, Vukomanovic said: "They have a professional approach about their vision, which gave me a very good feeling. After then seeing the army of fans and support KBFC has, I

UEFA still in talks about foreign fans for Euro 2020 final

UEFA is in talks with the British government about allowing foreign soccer fans to fly into London for games in the latter stages of the European Championship to avoid moving them from Wembley Stadium

Germany looking for efficiency against Portugal at Euro 2020

Portugal has the European Championship's all-time leading scorer in Cristiano Ronaldo. Germany has a team full of players who have never even scored once at the continental tournament. They will come up against each other on Saturday. Ronaldo scored two late goals in a 3-0 victory over Hungary on Tuesday to become the tournament's record holder with 11 career goals. Germany, meanwhile, tried and tried but failed break through France's defense in a 1-0 loss. With no goals scored and no points in the standings, the pressure is on Germany to do much better before the team's final Group F match against Hungary, also in Munich. "We have zero points. But we still have to keep our heads up," Germany midfielder Toni Kroos said. "There are still six points to be won. We have to concentrate on those." Defending champion Portugal can secure a spot in the round of 16 with a win ahead of its last group game against World Cup champion France. "It will be a difficult game for us, but for Germ

Scoring becomes key as Spain and Poland meet at Euro 2020

Spain and Poland will have a common challenge when they meet on Saturday at the European Championship. Goals. Spain created chance after chance against Sweden but was still held to a 0-0 draw in its opening match at Euro 2020. Poland lost to Slovakia 2-1 as Robert Lewandowski was held scoreless in yet another lackluster performance at a major soccer tournament. The focus on Spain at La Cartuja Stadium will be on lvaro Morata, the striker singled out by fans and Spanish media for his misses against Sweden. He had also been ineffective in Spain's warm-up match against Portugal, which ended 0-0. Spain coach Luis Enrique will have to choose whether to keep the Juventus striker in the starting lineup or make a change to try to boost the attack. The initial indication is that he will keep Morata, with the coach saying his striker had a very good game despite his misses against Sweden. Luis Enrique's other choices in attack include Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres, who started alongside Morat

Karim Benzema's return speeds up France's attack at Euro 2020

Karim Benzema's return speeds up France's attack and has taken some pressure off the defense. The French team will be going for a fourth consecutive clean sheet with Benzema playing when it faces Hungary in Budapest on Saturday at the European Championship. A win will put France into the next round after it opened with a 1-0 victory over Germany. Hungary lost to Portugal 3-0. Les Bleus look sharper with Benzema, who has slotted in effortlessly since returning to the national team after nearly six years out following a fallout with coach Didier Deschamps amid a sex tape scandal. He has replaced Olivier Giroud, who plays more with his back to goal. Benzema's technique and reading of the game help him click with Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann. The trio are working for and with each other, forming a marauding front unit that stops opposing teams from passing out quickly from the back. Their efforts take strain off the midfield and, ultimately, the defense. "When you see Kylian .

Memphis Depay's Euro 2020 has been hit and miss so far

With Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman watching from the stands, Memphis Depay delivered a trademark performance for the Netherlands in a 2-0 victory over Austria at the European Championship. The striker, who is out of contract with Lyon at the end of the month and widely expected to sign with Barcelona, scored a penalty and helped set up the Netherlands' second goal. He also missed a good chance and created problems for his own team by losing the ball while attempting to beat defenders. Memphis readily admits his style of play is high risk and some of his flashy dribbles, back heels and ambitious passes don't always work. But Dutch coaches and his teammates are happy to take the good with the bad, knowing that he can turn a match in an instant of unorthodox creativity. Netherlands coach Frank de Boer conceded that Depay has not yet been at his best in the team's two Group C victories, a 3-2 win over Ukraine followed by Thursday's victory over Austria. "Let's assume that Memphis can o

Denmark wants to pay supporters back after Christian Eriksen tribute

After a stirring tribute to Christian Eriksen and a "magical" atmosphere created by their fans, Denmark's players want to pay their supporters back at the European Championship.

Isak impresses as Sweden beats Slovakia 1-0 at Euro 2020

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's successor in Sweden's national team changed the game even without scoring the goal

UEFA reminds teams of sponsorship obligations after Cristiano Ronaldo case

Ronaldo moved Coca-Cola bottles aside as he sat down to speak to the media on the eve of Tuesday's Group F opener against Hungary in Budapest, which Portugal won 3-0