Football

Lionel Messi broke the club's appearance record on Sunday as the Argentine featured in his 768th game for the Catalan giants. Messi celebrated in style, working his now famous magic in Barcelona's 6-1 victory over Real Sociedad, as he superseded the landmark set by former teammate and club legend Xavi Hernandez, who appeared 767 times for the club. Barcelonaa's official Twitter account dubbed the Argentine an "otherworldly player" and called his record-breaking appearance figure a "stratospheric number." Messi's eighth assist of the season

Cristiano Ronaldo will stay at Juventus beyond this season, the club's managing director Fabio Paratici said after a 1-0 defeat to Benevento. Ronaldo, who joined the Italian side on a four-year deal for a reported $117 million transfer fee in 2018, is the top scorer in Serie A so far this season with 23 goals. He also recently scored the 770th goal of his career to move ahead of Pele's tally of goals scored in official matches. "He's the best in the world

Al Wakra’s Omar Ali scores the first goal giving a lead dominating Al Sailiya by 3-0 in the first semifinal of 2020-21 tournament of the Ooredoo Cup that was held at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday. Al Wakra’s Omar Ali, who scored the first goal in the game in 26th minute gave his side the much needed lead, followed by Mohamed Benyettou, who scored the 41st minute doubling the advantage with a spot kick in the first half and again Omar Ali

Guardiola’s players are sweeping all before them this season, having also reached the final of the English League Cup, the quarterfinals of the Champions League and forged a 14-point lead in the Premier League. With an unprecedented quadruple still a possibility for Manchester City, the pressure on Pep Guardiola is intensifying heading into the final two months of the season. So, as his superstar players head off around the world on international duty, the City manager is ready to switch off. “This week,”

LONDON - Fulham’s Premier League survival hopes suffered a damaging blow after a 2-1 home defeat by Leeds United on Friday left them mired in the relegation zone with games running out. Scott Parker’s side had the chance to escape from the bottom three with a win but goals by Patrick Bamford and Raphinha earned Leeds the points at Craven Cottage. Joachim Andersen had cancelled out Bamford’s goal before halftime but Fulham ultimately paid the price for defensive mistakes and missed opportunities. For

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named Serie A’s Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season at the Gran Gala del Calcio on Friday. Ronaldo won award, which is voted by the Italian Footballers’ Association, after helping Juventus to a ninth successive Serie A title last season “It was a strange year, a year that no one would have wanted, but on a personal and team level, it was positive, because we won the championship,” Ronaldo told Sky Sport Italia. “At the beginning,

The FIFA Council officially approved on Friday the Arab Cup Qatar 2021, during the 15th meeting of the Council held at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. The President of FIFA Gianni Infantino, confirmed that the Council's approval of the Arab Cup Qatar 2021 was among the events that the State of Qatar will organize in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Infantino said, in a press conference after the FIFA Council meeting, that the aim of the Championship, which will be held

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has called on UEFA to take action after midfielder Glen Kamara complained of being racially abused by a Slavia Prague player in Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League defeat in Glasgow. Kamara was furious after Slavia centre back Ondrej Kudela leaned into his ear and said something while covering his mouth, sparking a melee in the final stages of their last-16 tie. The Scottish champions, who were reduced to nine men after Kemar Roofe and Leon Balogun were sent off, crashed

PARIS: Guinea coach Didier Six said he has "negotiated with Liverpool" and secured the release of Naby Keita for one of two upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifiers. With two rounds left in the qualifying pools, Guinea are second in Group A, two points behind Mali. They host the leaders in Mali in Conakry on Mar 24 and then go to Namibia, who have won one game, on Mar 28. Six, a former France international, told AFP on Wednesday that Liverpool had agreed

LONDON: Arsenal endured a nervous night as they lost 1-0 to Greek side Olympiakos on Thursday (Mar 18) but progressed into the Europa League quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate. After a 3-1 victory in Athens last week and reaching halftime unscathed in the return, Arsenal looked comfortable. But when Youssef El Arabi's deflected shot left Bernd Leno wrong-footed early in the second half it gave the visitors hope and increased the tension among the home ranks. Arsenal wasted several late chances to ease the

LONDON: Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins and West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone received their first England call-ups on Thursday (Mar 18) ahead of three World Cup qualifiers. England manager Gareth Southgate has named a 26-man squad for this month's triple-header against San Marino, Albania and Poland. Leeds striker Patrick Bamford had been widely tipped for a call-up but Southgate has turned to Watkins, who has impressed since joining Villa from Brentford last year. "Bamford was very close. There's a number of positions in

MILAN: Manchester United reached the Europa League quarter-finals after a brilliantly-taken Paul Pogba goal earned them a 1-0 win at AC Milan to secure a 2-1 aggregate victory in their last-16 tie on Thursday (Mar 18). Pogba came off the bench at halftime to make his first appearance for United since Feb 6, and the France midfielder made an immediate impact as he turned the tie in his side's favour three minutes after the break with a fine goal. Former United striker Zlatan

ZAGREB: Dinamo Zagreb pulled off the season's biggest shock in the Europa League after Mislav Orsic scored a sublime hat-trick to give the Croatian champions a 3-2 aggregate win over Tottenham Hotspur in their last-16 tie on Thursday. Dinamo won 3-0 on the night after extra time to reach the quarter-finals on coach Damir Krznar's debut after he took over on Monday from Zoran Mamic, who stepped down upon learning he faces a prison sentence for fraud. The defeat was a second bitter

TOKYO: Southampton's Takumi Minamino and eight other Europe-based players were on Thursday (Mar 18) named in Japan's squad for next week's friendly against South Korea in Yokohama. Minamino, who has scored two goals in six games since joining Southampton on loan from Liverpool in January, is part of a 23-man squad to take on the Koreans on Mar 25 in Japan's first home game since the coronavirus pandemic began. South Korea have named a full-strength squad that includes Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min.

BERLIN: Plans by European football's governing body UEFA to ensure fans can attend all fixtures at this year's delayed pan-continental Euros has sparked fury in Germany, where Munich will host matches. Held over from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European championships are due to be held in 12 different countries from Jun 11 to Jul 11, with London's Wembley hosting the semis and final. Yet UEFA has warned it could change the venues if a host city insists on holding a

BARCELONA: Barcelona chief Joan Laporta gave Lionel Messi a hug and then pledged to do everything in his power to convince the club's all-time top scorer to stay after being officially sworn in as the club's new president on Wednesday (Mar 17). Laporta's pitch to Messi came two days after the Argentine equalled Xavi Hernandez as the club's highest appearance maker on 767 games, marking the occasion by scoring twice in a 4-1 rout of Huesca. "I'll do everything I can to make

PARIS- Paris St Germain forwards Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe fired them to a 3-0 win over Lille on Wednesday to reach the French Cup quarter-finals. Argentine Icardi put the holders in front by bundling the ball into the net in the ninth minute and France striker Mbappe doubled their advantage from the penalty spot shortly before halftime. Lille, who lead PSG at the top of the Ligue 1 standings by three points, were awarded a penalty in the second half which would

MUNICH: Holders Bayern Munich cruised through to the Champions League quarter-finals for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons after beating Lazio 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday to secure a 6-2 aggregate victory. Leading 4-1 from the first leg in Rome, Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Bayern from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, his 39th goal of the season in all competitions, to virtually end Lazio's hopes. The German champions took their foot off the gas before

LONDON: Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2014 as Hakim Ziyech and Emerson Palmieri were on target to give coach Thomas Tuchel's rejuvenated team a 3-0 aggregate win. Ziyech squeezed the ball under Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 34th minute of the last-16 second leg as he connected with a cross from Timo Werner who had raced down the left after being fed by fellow German Kai Havertz. The three

MUNICH, Germany: Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick said his Bundesliga leaders are determined to continue their good form when they host Lazio and will not take the Italians lightly in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 game on Wednesday. European champions Bayern moved towards the quarter-finals by thrashing Lazio 4-1 in the first leg in Rome last month. They are on a four-match winning run in all competitions and lead the German top-flight by four points after 25 games. "We've delivered