Football

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil reached the Copa America final after a first-half goal from Lucas Paqueta -- his second in two games -- gave them a 1-0 win over Peru on Monday. The host nation will play the winner of Tuesday's other semi-final between Argentina and Colombia in the title decider at the Maracana stadium on Saturday. Brazil have won the Copa America every time they hosted the tournament and in the early part of Monday's match showed exactly why they are

The Qatari national football team finished its preparatory camp outside by defeating El Salvador in a friendly match this evening at the Aldo Drosina Stadium in the Croatian city of Pula as part of its preparations to participate in the Gold Cup tournament hosted by the United States of America during the period from July 10th to August 1st. The only goal of the confrontation was scored by striker Almoez Ali in the 68th minute, although the Qatari team completed the match with

Wolves have signed Portugal winger Francisco Trincao on a season-long from Barcelona. The deal includes a "a non-compulsory option to buy" the 21-year-old, who joined the Spanish club from Portuguese side Braga in the summer of 2020. Trincao made 28 league appearances for Barcelona last season, scoring three goals and providing two assists, and seven Champions League outings. His arrival follows Wolves' signing of Colombian defender Yerson Mosquera. "He's a really exciting player," said the Premier League club's technical director Scott Sellars of

Lionel Messi scored a free-kick and set up two goals to inspire Argentina to a 3-0 win over Ecuador and set up a Copa America semi-final against Colombia. The 34-year-old forward provided assists for Rodrigo de Paul after 41 minutes and Lautaro Martinez late on. He then curled in a free-kick in injury time after Piero Hincapie was sent off for a foul on Angel di Maria. Last-four opponents Colombia beat Uruguay 4-2 on penalties following a goalless draw. "I've always said that

Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane fired England into the Euro 2020 quarter-finals as they sealed a 2-0 win against Germany that ended decades of hurt at the hands of their bitter rivals on Tuesday. Sterling struck with 15 minutes left in a tense last 16 tie at Wembley before Kane clinched England's first knockout stage victory over Germany since 1966. In the 55 years since England beat the Germans in the World Cup final, the Three Lions had endured a painful litany of

England sealed a place in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Euro 2020 on Tuesday thanks to two late goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane. Happy with the win, England Prime Minister Boris Johnson took to Twitter to applaud the performance of Gareth Southgate's side against Germany. England's PM posted a picture of himself celebrating a goal by Kane, who found the back of the net for the first time in the ongoing European championship. "Well done @England! We're all behind you - bring

Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku will resume their domestic rivalry on the international stage on Sunday as holders Portugal and in-form Belgium face off in the biggest tie of Euro 2020's last 16. Ronaldo is the Euro's leading scorer after netting five times in the group stage while Lukaku, who is in the form of his life, is lurking behind the Portugal captain with three goals. Juventus forward Ronaldo is also just one goal away from breaking Ali Daei's all-time international goalscoring record of 109, which he equalled with

Saint Petersburg: Russia's Euro 2020 host Saint Petersburg on Saturday reported the country's highest daily COVID-19 death count for a city since the start of the pandemic, data showed. Official figures said the city, which has already hosted six Euro 2020 matches and is due to host a quarter final on Friday, recorded 107 virus deaths over the last 24 hours. Russian news agencies said this was the highest death count of any Russian city since the start of the pandemic. Saint Petersburg was

UEFA said on Thursday it will scrap the away goals rule for all of its club competitions from next season in favour of extra time and a penalty shootout. Introduced in 1965, the rule was used to determine the winner of a two-legged knockout tie in cases where the two teams had scored the same number of goals on aggregate over the two matches. From the 2021-2022 season, if the two teams score the same number of goals over the two legs, the

Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen has been discharged from hospital following a "successful operation" six days after suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020, the Danish Football Union (DBU) announced Friday. Doctors had said Thursday that Eriksen, 29, would have a heart defibrillator implanted to regulate his heart rhythm, casting doubt over whether he will be able to play again. "The operation went well, and I am doing well under the circumstances," Eriksen said in a statement. "Thank you for the massive number of greetings

COPENHAGEN: Kevin de Bruyne came off the bench to inspire Belgium to a 2-1 comeback win over Denmark on Thursday and a place in the Euro 2020 knockout stages on an emotional afternoon of tributes to Christian Eriksen. Denmark got off to a dream start when Yussuf Poulsen put them ahead after 99 seconds as the team rode a wave of sentiment over playmaker Eriksen's cardiac arrest in their first game. The Danes dominated the first half but Belgium turned to a bench

RIO DE JANEIRO - With Neymar in fine form and scoring a goal that took him past Ronaldo on the country's all-time goals list, Brazil scored early in the game and then got three more in a commanding second half to defeat Peru 4-0 in their Copa America clash on Thursday. The result means Brazil are the first team in the tournament to win both their first games, and immediately go to the top of Group B, two points ahead of Colombia, who

Captain Gareth Bale inspired a scintillating 2-0 victory for Wales over Turkey on Wednesday (Jun 16), giving the Dragons a big leap towards the European Championship knockout stages and reviving memories of their 2016 run to the semi-finals. Midfielder Aaron Ramsey missed two early chances, but made no mistake just before halftime when he chested down Bale's perfect ball over the defence to slot past the goalkeeper. Wales could have doubled the lead at the hour mark when Bale was tripped by Zeki

LONDON: Premier League champions Manchester City will start the defence of their title away to Tottenham after the fixtures for the 2021-22 season were unveiled on Wednesday (Jun 16). City are among the sides heavily linked with Spurs striker Harry Kane, throwing up the tantalising possibility that the England captain could line up against his boyhood club on the opening weekend. Pep Guardiola's side won the league by 12 points last season ahead of rivals Manchester United, who open their campaign against old

Trust Christiano Ronaldo to thrill the world even without a football at his disposal. He stunned all by dribbling past two Coca-Cola bottles at a press conference in a bold statement against carbonated drinks. He may have raised a few hackles in the process, Coca-Cola being one of the sponsors of Euro 2020. Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo set off a flurry of excitement even before his team could take the pitch for their Euro 2020 opener versus Hungary. The setting was an otherwise

RIO DE JANEIRO: Argentina's Lionel Messi scored one of his trademark free-kicks in the first half but Eduardo Vargas equalized for Chile to leave honors even at 1-1 in their Copa America opener in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. Messi curled a superb free-kick into the corner of Claudio Bravo's net from 25 meters after 33 minutes. Chile equalized 13 minutes into the second half when Vargas followed up to head home the rebound after Arturo Vidal's penalty was tipped onto the bar

BRASILIA: Star forward Neymar netted a penalty and created a second as hosts Brazil eased to a 3-0 victory over a coronavirus-depleted Venezuela on Sunday (Jun 13) in the opening match of the 2021 Copa America. Centre-back Marquinhos opened the scored midway through the first half and Gabriel Barbosa sealed the Group B win a minute from time. In a tournament already delayed a year and moved from its original hosts Argentina and Colombia due to the pandemic, it was fitting that the

LONDON: Raheem Sterling finally found his tournament touch when his 61st-minute goal gave England a deserved 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley on Sunday (Jun 13) as they began a European Championship with a victory for the first time in nine attempts. Sterling, something of a surprise starter after a flat end to the domestic season but a favourite of manager Gareth Southgate, slid home after great work by Kalvin Phillips to end an individual drought that had run through England’s three previous

Romelu Lukaku paid tribute to his Inter Milan team-mate Christian Eriksen after scoring against Russia to help world number one side Belgium start Euro 2020 with a win. Denmark midfielder Eriksen collapsed on the pitch earlier on Saturday in the Group B game with Finland and received emergency treatment on the field. There was some doubt as to whether Belgium's game with Russia - Denmark's group rivals - in St Petersburg would go ahead as scheduled because of events in Copenhagen before it

Former Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel says it was "absolutely ridiculous" that Saturday's Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Finland carried on after Christian Eriksen's collapse. Eriksen, 29, is stable and awake in hospital after receiving emergency treatment on the pitch in Copenhagen. "It's a ridiculous decision by Uefa," said Schmeichel. "They should have tried to work out a different scenario and shown a little bit of compassion, and they didn't." The game was suspended before half-time after the 29-year-old former Spurs playmaker fell