Page 27 - Football

Ireland's qualifying campaign sinking, coach under pressure

Ireland's only taste of Qatar might well be in Tuesday's friendly with the World Cup hosts. A midweek 3-2 loss at Serbia stung, but Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home against Luxembourg shocked. Seamus Coleman described the latter as embarrassing. Ireland is not only at the bottom of Group A, it's also winless in 10 games since Stephen Kenny became coach last year. Despite a qualifying campaign already in tatters, the chairman of Ireland's soccer association voiced his support for Kenny as the team left Sunday for the friendly against Qatar in Hungary. It won't count in the standings, but a victory over Qatar could at least stem the bleeding, especially if it showcases the fluid, possession-based soccer that made Kenny an appealing hire. Anything else increases the already considerable pressure on the coach. A long summer awaits in any case. Ireland failed to qualify for the European Championship and will face Portugal when the qualifying campaign continues on Sept. 1. Portugal and Ser

European women's soccer vision sees place for indie clubs

Independent teams should have a place beside storied names from men's soccer even as the women's game develops rapidly, the organization of Europe's top clubs said Monday

Ibrahimovic adapts to mentor role with Sweden after comeback

Two starts. Three assists. Six points. The return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to international soccer has been a resounding success for Sweden's national team, even though the AC Milan striker failed to score in either of the wins over Georgia or Kosovo in World Cup qualifying. At 39 years old, Ibrahimovic is about more than just goals at this stage of his career. He sees himself as a mentor to an exciting crop of young attackers, led by Alexander Isak. I told them, I do not have to score goals, I will help you instead,' said Ibrahimovic, who is no longer the complete focus of Sweden's attacking game plan like he was before retiring from international duty in 2016. Fears that Ibrahimovic's return would affect the balance of the team have so far proved unfounded, with Sweden following up a 1-0 win over Georgia on Thursday with a 3-0 victory at Kosovo on Sunday. There are much sterner tests to come for the Swedes notably at home against Spain in their next qualifier in September but coa

Real Madrid's Marcelo faces fine for breaking Covid-19 travel restrictions

Marcelo faces a fine for breaking the travel restrictions currently in place to halt the spread of Covid after the Valencian regional govt confirmed it had opened an investigation into him on Monday

Luis Enrique concerned about Spain''s struggles in qualifiers

As Spain struggled against Georgia, coach Luis Enrique said he felt like he was about to have a heart attack on the sidelines. Spain was coming off a disappointing home draw against Greece a few days earlier and appeared to be on its way to another setback that would leave La Roja winless to start its World Cup qualifying campaign. Its chances of securing an automatic spot for next year's World Cup in Qatar would suddenly be in jeopardy even though it had only played against some of the easier opponents in Group B. A goal by Dani Olmo two minutes into stoppage time on Sunday salvaged a 2-1 victory that left the team two points behind Sweden at the top of the group, bringing some much-needed relief for Luis Enrique. But the coach expects more problems ahead for Spain, including on Wednesday against Kosovo, the least experienced team in the group. I'm worried going into the match against Kosovo, I'm very worried, Luis Enrique said. If we don't have our best game, or the right preci

I-League: Bidyashagar Singh 'proud' after record-breaking campaign

Bidyashagar Singh scored his 12th goal of the I-League 2020-21 in the D-Day clash against Gokulam Kerala FC, which put TRAU FC in the lead and in pole position for the title

Thierry Henry to quit social media, says racism unchecked

Thierry Henry is quitting social media to protest online racial abuse and bullying that he said goes unregulated. The former France great said Friday that social media companies haven't done enough to stop abusive behavior, which regularly targets Black athletes. "From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from social media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigor and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright," the former Arsenal striker said. "The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore," he said. "There HAS to be some accountability. It is far too easy to create an account, use it to bully and harass without consequence and still remain anonymous." Until it changes, he said he'll be disabling his accounts "across all social media platforms." He has 2.7 million followers on Instagram and 2.3 million on Twitter. The 43-year-old Frenchman resigned as coach o

Churchill face uphill task against Punjab in search for 3rd I-League title

Churchill Brothers will need more than a victory against Punjab FC to clinch the I-League title in their last match of the season at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday. As the I-League title race went down the wire, three teams -- Gokulam Kerala, Churchill Brothers and TRAU -- are in contention after 14 rounds. All three teams have 26 points each and if they end with the same tally of points, the head-to-head results will decide the title winner. At one stage, it seemed like two-time champions Churchill Brothers were running away with the title. However, inconsistent performances in the championship stage have pegged them back. The Red Machines not only need a victory but are dependent on the result of the Gokulam Kerala vs TRAU match to be played simultaneously at another venue. Churchill are at a disadvantage against Gokulam head-to-head and they trail TRAU on overall goal difference. So, the most realistic equation for Churchill lifting the trophy is to beat Punjab FC and

I-League: Chennai survive late NEROCA fightback, win 2-1

Chennai City FC survived a late fight back from NEROCA Football Club to win their final match of the I-League season 2-1 at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan on Thursday

German soccer chief slams discrimination facing female stars

German soccer federation president Fritz Keller has slammed the structural discrimination facing female players in his country

PSG shuts down youth academy amid coronavirus outbreak

Paris Saint-Germain closed its youth academy training facility on Wednesday following a COVID-19 outbreak. The French club said several new coronavirus cases were recently detected following a testing campaign at the training center. The club said the academy will be closed until Monday "as a precautionary measure" and that a new round of testing will take place Friday. Meanwhile, PSG's women's team did not travel to the Czech Republic for its Champions League match against Sparta Prague because of several positive tests within the squad. PSG won the first leg 5-0 and would qualify even if UEFA hands Sparta a 3-0 forfeit victory. UEFA said the issue will be discussed by its disciplinary body.

ISL's success should inspire other sports to start their calendar: Ganguly

BCCI president and ATK Mohun Bagan co-owner Sourav Ganguly said that the uninterrupted conduct of the Indian Super League should inspire other sports to start their calendars

Asian soccer gets 8 host hubs for World Cup qualifying games

The delayed World Cup qualifying matches in Asia will be completed in June with each of the eight groups playing in a separate host nation because of the COVID-19 pandemic

Ramos returns for Real Madrid amid doubts about his future

First it was Lionel Messi, and now it's Sergio Ramos with his future in question. Ramos is ready to return from a left knee injury that has sidelined him since mid-January, but his commitment to Real Madrid is not assured with his contract set to expire on July 1. Negotiations between the central defender and the club are apparently going nowhere. "I would like to be able, as of today, to say something, but there is nothing new to mention," Ramos said this week. In 16 seasons with Madrid, Ramos has helped the club win four Champions League titles, five Spanish leagues and two Copa del Reys, with both his hardnose defending and some timely goals. For several years, Ramos has remained one of the top central defenders in Europe and Madrid's on-field leader. Karim Benzema has carried the scoring weight since the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo, but Ramos was the player to step forward as the undisputed team whip. Although no details of his talks with Madrid have emerged, it appears that Ra

German soccer club Stuttgart fined for data breach

German soccer club Stuttgart has been fined 300,000 euros ($357,000) for misusing private data about its members, a regulator said Wednesday

Bundesliga generated $4.5 billion amid pandemic last season

Germany's top division soccer clubs generated the third highest revenue figures ever last season, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue for the 18 Bundesliga clubs for 2019-20 was 3.8 billion euros ($4.5 billion), down from 3.95 billion ($4.7 billion) the season before, according to the German soccer league's annual report released on Tuesday. The governing body, known as the DFL, said games in empty stadiums without supporters due to the hygiene measures against the virus contributed to revenue dropping by 5.7% across the top two divisions. The impact of the coronavirus will be even more pronounced in the 2020-21 season. One example of this is the international transfer market. In addition, a further decline in revenue from ticket sales is unavoidable, the DFL said. Most of last season was played with ticket-buying fans present. The first Bundesliga game in an empty stadium was the postponed derby between Borussia Mnchengladbach and Cologne on March 11, 2020. The league compl

I-League: Papa Diawara's 65th minute header helps Punjab FC beat NEROCA 1-0

Papa Diawara's 65th-minute header helped Punjab FC register a narrow 1-0 win over NEROCA to move to the second spot in the I-League table here on Monday.

57-year old father of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker drowns in Brazil

The father of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has died suddenly in Brazil with clubs past and present offering condolences

Matchday: Napoli, Arsenal under pressure in Europa League

A look at some second-leg matches in the Europa League's last 32 taking place on Thursday

A year after 'Game Zero,' Atalanta welcomes Real Madrid in Champions League

Just over a year after Game Zero, Atalanta is back in the knockout round of the Champions League. Last year's match, against Valencia in nearby Milan on Feb. 19, was the biggest in the club's history and a third of Bergamo's population made the short trip to San Siro for what turned out to be a 4-1 victory. A short time later, military trucks were driving coffins out of Bergamo because the crematorium couldn't keep up as the small city became one of the epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy. The match was dubbed Game Zero because of the spread of the disease that followed both in northern Italy and in Spain. More than 40,000 fans inside the stadium enthusiastically celebrated each of Atalanta's four goals that day the last time the team played in front of its own supporters. On Wednesday, Atalanta will host Real Madrid in the first leg of the round of 16 in an empty Gewiss Stadium, which has been newly renovated. It certainly takes a lot away from us, Atalanta forward