After failing to win any of their first four preseason games, Inter Miami finally registered a victory as they beat a Hong Kong XI 4-1 on Sunday, but star attraction Lionel Messi played no part in the friendly match. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, who is reportedly struggling with a hamstring injury, was not included
Month: February 2024
Feb 3, 2024, 06:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions It’s officially a new month as we kick off February with another weekend of some of Europe’s best football. While there has been some attention to the latter stages of the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup, this isn’t to take away some of
Associated Press Feb 3, 2024, 09:17 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Marouane Fellaini spent six years at Manchester United between 2013 and 2019. Getty Former Everton and Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has announced his retirement from football at the age of 36. Fellaini, who recently finished a four-year stint at Chinese side Shandong Taishan, said
ESPN News Services Feb 3, 2024, 05:29 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Canadian international Alphonso Davies suffered a strained knee ligament in Bayern Munich‘s 3-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday. The left back went off in the 85th minute of Saturday’s Bundesliga game after seeming to hurt his left knee. – Stream on ESPN+:
South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved four penalties in the post-match shootout against the Cape Verde Islands to carry his country into the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations after a 0-0 draw in their quarterfinal on Saturday. Mothobi Mvala scored the decisive kick to make it 2-1 on penalties and win South
ESPN News Services Feb 3, 2024, 04:58 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Jordan Henderson made his Ajax Amsterdam debut on Saturday, competing the full 90 minutes as they held unbeaten leaders PSV Eindhoven to a 1-1 draw in the Dutch league. England manager Gareth Southgate watched from the stands at the Johan Cruyff Arena as
Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Feb 3, 2024, 04:33 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández pleaded with LaLiga referees to “let us compete” and claimed the Catalan club are “paying for the Negreira case” after Vitor Roque‘s red card in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Alavés. Roque was sent off just 13 minutes after
Julien Laurens, CorrespondentFeb 3, 2024, 03:56 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Kylian Mbappé has decided to join Real Madrid once his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires this summer, sources confirmed to ESPN. The news was first reported by Le Parisien. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) Last month, ESPN reported that Mbappé had
Ollie Watkins grabbed a goal and two assists as Aston Villa thrashed lowly Sheffield United 5-0 at Bramall Lane on Saturday to climb to fourth in the Premier League standings. Unai Emery’s Villa, who won for only the second time in six league games, are level on 46 points with third-placed Arsenal, although the north
Barcelona won 3-1 at Alaves in LaLiga on Saturday thanks to goals by Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and substitute Vitor Roque, who was sent off after picking up a second yellow card. Barcelona opened the scoring thanks to an incisive pass from Gundogan to Lewandowski and the Pole lofted the ball over goalkeeper Antonio Sivera
Bayern Munich came from a goal down to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday and stay on the heels of leaders Bayer Leverkusen ahead of their clash next week. The visitors stunned Bayern by taking a 35th-minute lead against the run of play. Thomas Muller lost possession and Gladbach launched a quick
Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Feb 3, 2024, 08:09 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Carlo Ancelotti has said he “won’t sink to the level” of Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández and president Joan Laporta after the pair accused Real Madrid of “influencing the competition” with its criticism of LaLiga referees. Real Madrid TV has regularly broadcast videos
Feb 3, 2024, 06:28 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said his players are already giving 100% and do not need to take any further motivation from his looming departure to win the Premier League this season. Last month, the 56-year-old announced his decision to step down as Liverpool manager at
Tor-Kristian Karlsen, ESPNFeb 3, 2024, 05:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Welcome back to the ESPN FC Hot List, which each month highlights some of the most in-form talent aged 23 or under across Europe. Generally, young-but-established stars like Manchester City‘s Erling Haaland, Real Madrid‘s Jude Bellingham or Barcelona Gavi aren’t included — otherwise they’d
Alex Kirkland, ESPN FCFeb 3, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Twelve years is a long time to be in charge at any club, let alone one with the demands of Atlético Madrid: the big club cursed to forever compete with two superclubs in LaLiga, Real Madrid and Barcelona, in a relentless battle against
Open Extended Reactions Arsenal‘s Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday represents a battle for the present and the future. In an instant, Jürgen Klopp’s decision to step down as Reds boss at the end of the season changed the dynamic of this and forthcoming campaigns. Part of the reason it came as such a
Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Feb 2, 2024, 10:32 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández has said that one of the main reasons he has decided to step down at the end of the season is that he does not enjoy his job from Monday to Friday. Xavi, 44, announced after last weekend’s
ESPN News Services Feb 2, 2024, 04:14 PM ET Open Extended Reactions National Women’s Soccer League expansion team Bay FC continued to build its roster ahead of its inaugural season, announcing Friday that it had completed the signing of defender Jen Beattie from Arsenal in the Women’s Super League. Beattie is the latest in a
Kylian Mbappé missed a first-half penalty and scored one of the simplest goals of his career a few minutes later as Paris Saint-Germain unconvincingly beat Strasbourg 2-1 to remain top of Ligue 1 on Friday. Mbappé saw his seventh-minute spot kick parried for a corner by Strasbourg goalkeeper Alaa Bellarouch. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga,
Feb 2, 2024, 05:31 PM ET Open Extended Reactions After scoring an injury-time equaliser before triumphing in extra time of their Asian Cup quarterfinal against Australia, South Korea‘s play has been dubbed “zombie football” by their fans, a team that refuses to die. It’s a moniker coach Jurgen Klinsmann is happy with, even if he’d