When Wes Edens met the lifelong Aston Villa fan who would soon become the head coach to steer Villa where it sits now — one win short of a return to the Premier League — Edens’s new acquaintance extended his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Dean Smith.” “No, you’re not,” Edens shot back. Coming from […]
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Barcelona are aiming for a record fifth successive Copa del Rey triumph on Saturday when they face Valencia, with the Catalans’ recent dominance in the competition seeing them reach the final sixth times in a row. If Ernesto Valverde’s men complete the feat, they will certainly have done it the hard way, as they have […]
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Jürgen Klopp was in his third week as Liverpool’s manager, in November 2015, when the team’s director of research, Ian Graham, arrived at his office carrying computer printouts. Graham wanted to show Klopp, whom he hadn’t yet met, what his work could do. Then he hoped to persuade Klopp to actually use it. Graham spread […]
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Getty Proposed illustrations of what a stadium in Qatar could look like during the 2022 World Cup. One of the grandest sporting events in the entire world has decided against expansion for its 2022 tournament. “FIFA and Qatar have jointly explored all possibilities to increase the number of participant teams from 32 to 48 teams […]
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FIFA has abandoned plans championed by its president to expand the 2022 World Cup to include 48 teams, concluding that it could not host the larger tournament in Qatar or come up with a solution to share the event with the tiny gulf emirate’s neighbors. The expansion proposal, proposed and pressed by FIFA’s president, Gianni […]
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BUDAPEST — Facing a floor-to-ceiling window that offered sweeping views of the Danube, the river that flows through 10 European countries, Aleksander Ceferin paused for a moment to consider his words. Ceferin, a Slovenian lawyer elected in February to a second term as the leader of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, has become accustomed to […]
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ROCHESTER, NY – AUGUST 31: Allie Long #10 of Portland Thorns FC makes contact with Abby Wambach #20 of Western New York Flash as the two head for a loose ball in the National Women’s Soccer League Championship at Sahlen’s Stadium August 31, 2013 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) There are […]
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi scored twice to hit the 50-goal mark for the sixth time in his career on Sunday while Real Madrid put a fittingly poor ending to its worst season in recent memory after losing in the final round of the Spanish league. Messi scored his 49th and 50th goals in […]
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Madrid (AFP) – Zinedine Zidane hinted on Saturday that Gareth Bale could make his last appearance for Real Madrid on Sunday after saying he would make changes this summer ahead of the final match of their miserable La Liga season. Bale fell out with Zidane towards the end of the Frenchman’s first spell in charge […]
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MADRID (AP) The Spanish soccer federation has dismissed concerns about coach Luis Enrique leaving the national team. The federation has not considered replacing him despite his long absence for personal reasons, it said on Friday. Luis Enrique missed the first round of qualifiers for the European Championship this year and will miss the next round […]
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Zinedine Zidane has endeavoured to assure fans that he will have the last call on who starts for Real Madrid, responding to reports that Keylor Navas will look for a new club in the summer after being told he will play second fiddle to Thibaut Courtois next season. Originally reported by La Sexta and confirmed […]
Read MoreGareth Southgate said it was an incredible couple of weeks for English football after Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal all got to European finals, but admits it makes it difficult to plan for the Nations League. Scroll to continue with content
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MANCHESTER, England — Strip away the jargon and the euphemisms and the disorientating forest of acronyms, tune out the noise from claim and counterclaim and strident denial, pick a way through the laborious detail and the tangled minutiae, and a simple truth emerges: At the very apex of European soccer, a moment of reckoning is […]
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An investigation into accusations that Premier League champion Manchester City misled European soccer’s financial regulators in pursuit of its success on the field is expected to recommend that the team be barred from the Champions League, European soccer’s richest competition and the trophy the club covets most. English soccer authorities and officials at UEFA, European […]
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HOUSTON, TX – OCTOBER 09: Ali Krieger #11 of the Washington Spirit falls to the pitch during the second half of their game against the Western New York Flash during the 2016 NWSL Championship at BBVA Compass Stadium on October 9, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) The fifth week of the […]
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Manchester City got a scare on Sunday when it went down a goal against Brighton in the final match of the Premier League season. But the Sky Blues roared back to win, 4-1, holding off second place Liverpool — which beat Wolverhampton in its own 2018-19 finale — to capture its second consecutive English title […]
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It will not be a cause of too much concern at Manchester City, as its players and fans and executives celebrate another Premier League title, another almost perfect season, another step on the road to its ambition of becoming the world’s foremost club, but there is one curious exception to its dominance. Manchester City’s players, […]
Read MoreGetty Mohamed Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could both share the EPL Golden Boot. It appears we are headed to a tied Golden Boot in the Premier League. Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Liverpool’s Mo Salah and Sadio Mane all lead the EPL with 22 goals. Unlike the World Cup, there is no Golden Boot tiebreaker in the […]
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Getty Liverpool and Manchester City are fighting for the 2019 Premier League championship. Manchester City and Liverpool are battling for the EPL championship on the final day of Premier League play. Man. City holds a one point edge over Liverpool as both teams head into their final match. Liverpool needs Brighton to get a win […]
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Mo Salah is one of the best soccer players in the world, but to his wife, Magi Salah, his most important titles are husband and dad. Mo and Magi have been married since 2013 and have one child together, Makka. Mo’s wife and daughter stole the show when the Liverpool striker won the 2018 Golden […]
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