Football

04/05/2026

30/01/2016

Football

Boca's Tevez frustrated after five red cards in River friendly
Carlos Tevez was left irate after three Boca Juniors players, and a further two from River Plate, were shown red cards in an ugly friendly on Saturday.

The Argentinian arch-rivals played out an ill-tempered encounter in Mar del Plata that River emerged from as 1-0 winners.

After Jonathan Silva had been shown a red card inside 10 minutes for a lunging tackle that resulted in Gabriel Mercado going off with injury, Tevez conceded a spot-kick that Leonardo Pisculichi converted for the game's only goal – the Boca forward receiving a yellow card as a result.

Gino Peruzzi and Daniel 'Cata' Diaz were also dismissed by the referee, while Jonathan Maidana was sent from the field for headbutting Tevez and Pisculichi followed for his involvement in the ensuing melee.

Boca had two players sent off in their previous friendly against Racing, and Tevez was annoyed their preparations for the new season are being hampered by a lack of discipline.

"We made mistakes and we paid [for them]," Tevez said. "We have to be self-critical, we cannot make these mistakes. We have to control ourselves.

"In four days, five dismissals. You cannot make a footballing analysis. It does not deserve to be looked at in footballing terms in any way."

The Buenos Aires rivals will meet in a second friendly on Saturday ahead of the new Argentinian Primera Division season which is set to begin on February 6.

30/01/2016

Pato: Chelsea is my new home
Alexandre Pato has expressed his pleasure at a potentially imminent loan move to Chelsea after arriving in London.

Pato is expected to join the defending Premier League champions on loan from Corinthians after his previous temporary spell at Sao Paulo ended in December.

Chelsea are yet to officially comment on the deal, but the former AC Milan forward called the club his "new home".

"I am so happy. Chelsea is my new home. Thanks to Chelsea for the support, thanks to my fans on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook," Pato told Sky Sports.

"I need to play. I don't know what so say because I'm so happy.

"I am very anxious [to play] and I want to know my new friends, new players, the team. I really want to play in Chelsea."

After struggling to make an impact following his transfer from AC Milan to Corinthians, Pato was sent on loan to Sao Paulo for two seasons, where he scored 19 goals in 62 Campeonato Brasileiro appearances.

Corinthians made no secret of their desire to offload the 26-year-old upon his return last year, with club president Roberto de Andrade stating he was "praying to sell" the striker.

Pato has reportedly turned down a big-money move to China in a bid to make a successful return to Europe.

The Brazilian arrives in the London on the same day Chelsea agreed the sale of Ramires to Chinese side Jiangsu Suning.

25/01/2016

Football
by: http://www.football.com/
Results & Fixtures
Time in CET

25/01/2016

Football
by: http://www.football.com/
Drogba to play on with Montreal Impact
Didier Drogba is to play on with Montreal Impact in MLS next season, the former Chelsea striker has confirmed.

There had been speculation that Drogba, who spent 2015 at the Impact, was reportedly ready to call an end to his playing career and join Guus Hiddink's coaching staff at Chelsea.

Earlier this month, Drogba revealed he was in talks with the Impact about a return, and on Sunday the ex-Ivory Coast international confirmed his decision.

"On way to Qatar to do some preparation work for pre-season ," Drogba posted on Twitter, alongside a photo of himself.

The 37-year-old, who won 12 major honours in nine years over two spells at Chelsea, scored 12 goals in 14 MLS appearances last season.

24/01/2016

Football
by: https://www.football.com
Football vs. Football: Youth Soccer League Takes Super Bowl to Court
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 12: (L-R) Chairman CBS Sports Sean McManus, Host of THE SUPER BOWL TODAY James Brown, Analyst Super Bowl 50 Phil Simms, Play-by-Play Announcer Super Bowl I Jack Whitaker and Play-by-Play Announcer Super Bowl 50 Jim Nantz speak onstage during the 'CBS Sports' panel discussion at the CBS/ShowtimeTelevision Group portion of the 2015 Winter TCA Tour at the Langham Huntington Hotel on January 12, 2016 in Pasadena, California
It’s an argument youth soccer players have been having with their parents in the United States for generations now - what is football?

American Football diehards may enjoy the game with the round ball (or they may not!) but they will still insist there’s only one football.

Similarly, soccer fans will argue that this isn’t a debate in the rest of the world where football is played.

As you have probably spotted from by our masthead, we at Football.com hedge our bets and give you the best of both.

But it’s not often when the two games go head to head in the courts.

That’s exactly what’s happening in Northern California as the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League takes on the might of Super Bowl 50.

Right now it must seem to the 1,500 or so boys and girls who play in the league and their coaches and parents that it’s pretty much them against the world.

The issue is the league’s soccer complex next to Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers and host this year for the Super Bowl, which will be played on February 7. Under a deal struck by the local authority, the NFL is taking over the fields for a media village which will serve as the hub for the hordes of press who will be reporting on the biggest TV event of the year.

The league is upset that its schedule is being wrecked, but it’s even more concerned that the media scrum will wreck the carefully tended fields and that the detrimental effects will last long after the NFL circus has left town.

Under the existing arrangement, the NFL must return the complex to the league in its original state by March 15. The league believes the repairs will take much longer.

"All that water is probably pooling underneath those plastic boards, and the cause of that is going to be either generation of bacteria that is probably going to kill the grass, or the grass will drown because it's underneath these boards," Gabe Foo, a Youth Soccer League board member, told the Associated Press.

Santa Clara’s soccer officials were thwarted in their bid for a court injunction to block the “Super Bowl Village” when judge Joseph Huber ruled the NFL can use the 11 acres of fields until March 2.

“While the Court understands and regrets the disruption that youth soccer players have already suffered, it expects that the city (of Santa Clara) and the NFL will do their utmost to minimize any further issues and ensure the prompt return of the fields in good condition," Huber wrote in his decision for the NFL.

But Tino Silva, Santa Clara Youth Soccer League President, was unbowed by the ruling.

“We will continue our lawsuit until the City of Santa Clara accepts responsibility by finding and funding fields for the kids who are still without enough soccer fields to play home games," he said in a statement.

Lawyers for the league claim the city acted wrongly by striking the 2013 deal with the NFL to use the fields without holding a public hearing.

The NFL, the Super Bowl host committee, and the 49ers responded with a joint statement saying they're "thankful the Super Bowl plans and build-out will continue on schedule.”

There was at least some good news for the Santa Clara youth players; they’ve been offered the free use of two fields at Avaya Stadium by the San Jose Earthquakes, the Bay Area’s pro soccer team.

In the meantime, the court battle will continue even as contractors begin work on building a media center over the Santa Clara pitches.

For in this argument, at least, it looks like the football with the oblong shape is going to come out the victor.