MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Japan star Keisuke Honda says he planned to retire after this year's World Cup but changed his mind when offered a contract by the Melbourne Victory in Australian football's A-League.
SAN DIEGO — In 1998, U.S. Soccer brass proudly rolled out Project 2010, a $50 million plan to win the men’s World Cup in 12 years. There were flow charts and speeches, pledges to open residential academies and hire more talent scouts, incremental goals and big dreams.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar says a Nepali worker has died while helping to build a stadium for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the Arab nation.
MADRID (AP) — Valencia says it has reached an agreement with Villarreal to get Russia forward Denis Cheryshev on loan.
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Mario Mandzukic is retiring from international soccer after 11 years with Croatia's national team, with his decision coming a month after he scored in the World Cup final.
ZURICH (AP) — FIFA has given Nigeria and Ghana final deadlines to avoid international suspensions because of outside interference in their soccer associations.
LONDON (AP) — FIFA has officially eradicated corruption. All it took was pressing the delete key.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — After making his first appearance of the Premier League season on Saturday, Tottenham forward Son Heung-min landed in Indonesia on Monday to play for South Korea at the Asian Games.
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — Of the Premier League newcomers, only Wolverhampton Wanderers collected a point in the opening round. So much is down to the man behind Cristiano Ronaldo's career.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona defender Gerard Pique confirmed Saturday he has retired from Spain's national team.
NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — Dele Alli overcame any post-World Cup rustiness to head Tottenham to a 2-1 victory over Newcastle on the first Saturday of the Premier League season.
PARIS (AP) — Marseille crushed Toulouse 4-0 on Friday as the French league season opened with a video assistant refereeing (VAR) decision leading to the first goal.
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic looks like he will be staying with the national team after leading it to the World Cup final.
PARIS (AP) — The gap between Paris Saint-Germain and its domestic rivals is so huge that any sense of suspense has been killed in the French league even before the start of the new season.
MADRID (AP) — Barcelona has signed teenager Moussa Wague after impressing with Senegal at the World Cup.
Tennis leaders are offering to lob more cash at countries to persuade them to back plans for a $3 billion revamp of the Davis Cup.
MILAN (AP) — Fiorentina has signed Croatia winger Marko Pjaca on loan from Juventus, with an option to buy.
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary is retiring from the national team after becoming the oldest man to play in a World Cup match.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Rangers has signed Croatia fullback Borna Barisic from Osijek on a four-year deal.
PARIS (AP) — Although the transfer window in the French league doesn't close until the end of August, here is the pick of the signings so far ahead of the season starting this weekend:
LONDON (AP) — The players finished their soccer matches and huddled waiting to discover who would have to undergo doping tests. The random draw completed, two men went off to provide urine samples.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil will meet El Salvador in a friendly next month in a suburb of Washington, D.C.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said Friday that critics would not bother him on his return home to work at Sao Paulo-based giants Palmeiras
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Julie Ertz, Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan scored second-half goals and the United States took control to beat Brazil 4-1 on Thursday night for the Tournament of Nations title.
CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. will play Colombia in an exhibition at Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 11, one of six friendlies planned for this fall.
CAIRO (AP) — Javier Aguirre became the new coach of Egypt on Thursday despite his involvement in a match-fixing investigation in Spain.
LONDON (AP) — England manager Gareth Southgate's employers want him to extend his contract beyond the end of the 2020 European Championship.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Ramon Jesurun, FIFA Council member and president of Colombia's football federation, is being investigated for alleged embezzlement and resale of tickets for World Cup qualifying matches, Colombian trade authorities said.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The chairman of Peru's football federation is under pressure to resign after being linked to allegations of illicit favors to a judge.
ATLANTA (AP) — The MLS All-Star Game is more than the league showing off its best players against Italian powerhouse Juventus.
ATLANTA (AP) — The MLS All-Star Game will feature one of the world's most storied clubs.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Neymar's decision to use a sponsored advert to admit he sometimes over-reacted to fouls at the World Cup has backfired, with Brazilian marketing experts saying it had made the Paris Saint-Germain striker's image even worse.
LONDON (AP) — Serbia's World Cup forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, who joined Fulham on loan from Newcastle in January, signed a permanent deal with the newly-promoted English Premier League club on Monday.
TURIN, Italy (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo has arrived for his first training session as a Juventus player.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Neymar used a sponsor's ad to admit he exaggerated some of his reactions after being fouled during the World Cup in Russia. The video, published Sunday and broadcast on several Brazilian TV networks, features the striker accepting criticism for the first time and promising t…
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Lindsey Horan scored in the 90th minute to give the United States a 1-1 draw with Australia on Sunday night in the Tournament of Nations.
MONACO (AP) — Monaco has signed Russia midfielder Alexander Golovin from CSKA Moscow on a five-year contract.
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — Wolverhampton goalkeeper Carl Ikeme retired on Friday, a month after revealing he was in complete remission from acute leukemia.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Jerome Valcke's 10-year ban from football was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari signed a contract with Palmeiras on Thursday, returning home for the first time since his humiliation at the 2014 World Cup.
TOKYO (AP) — Hajime Moriyasu has been named as the new coach of Japan.
LONDON (AP) — Newcastle signed Switzerland defender Fabian Schar on a three-year deal on Thursday.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil coach Tite has extended his contract until the end of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the national football confederation said on Wednesday.
LONDON (AP) — Germany forward Andre Schuerrle, who had a spell with Chelsea earlier in his career, joined west London neighbor Fulham from Borussia Dortmund on a two-year loan on Wednesday.
LONDON (AP) — Iran winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh has joined Brighton for a club record fee, the English Premier League club said on Wednesday.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Amy Rodriguez and Becky Sauerbrunn arrived in Kansas City this week with their focus somewhat split.
ZURICH (AP) — Benjamin Pavard has beaten Juan Quintero into second place in a fans' online vote to pick the best goal of the World Cup.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Brazilian soccer league resumed after the World Cup and remains filled with players who are the target of leading European clubs.
PARIS (AP) — France striker Kylian Mbappe has revealed he played the World Cup semifinals and final with a back injury he hid from his rivals.
State security officers "stormed" the Nigeria Football Federation headquarters on Monday and removed a group who claimed control while the FIFA-backed head of Nigerian soccer was at the World Cup, the NFF said.
Commented