Five-time European champion Liverpool is in danger of Europa League elimination after losing 1-0 at Lille on Thursday in the away leg of Round of 16 series. Eden Hazard scored from a freekick to give Lille the advantage against Liverpool, which is also struggling to qualify for any European competition next season due to its poor form in the Premier League.
Factbox on Ivory Coast captain Didier
Drogba who was named 2009 African Footballer of the Year at the
annual Confederation of African Football awards on Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Major League Soccer players have overwhelmingly voted to authorize the first strike in the league's history, which would wipe out openers scheduled to start March 25.
Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba has been selected Africa's soccer player of the year for the second time. The Chelsea forward received the 2009 award on Thursday from the African Football Confederation, beating out Ghana's Michael Essien, who also plays for Chelsea, and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, who plays for Inter Milan.
Ivory Coast captain Didier
Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year on Thursday,
beating Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and Ghana's Michael Essien for
the 2009 award.
LONDON (AP) -- Five-time European champion Liverpool is in danger of Europa League elimination after losing 1-0 at Lille on Thursday in the first leg of its last-16 match.
TURIN, Italy (AP) -- American midfielder Clint Dempsey returned from a 7 1/2-week layoff, entering as a second-half substitute Thursday night as Fulham lost to Juventus 3-1 in the first leg of the Europa League's third round.
AC Milan's foundation has been cracking for years, but with a 4-0 dismissal from the Champions League by Man U, the time has come to overhaul the team, writes Gabrielle Marcotti.
LONDON (AP) -- Boosted by an impressive 4-0 Champions League triumph over AC Milan, Manchester United now has to concentrate on staying on top of the Premier League.
ZURICH (AP) -- The introduction of goal-line technology was rejected because it was too costly and wasn't universally applicable, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Thursday.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney insists he is not thinking about breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's 42-goal record despite taking his tally for the season to 30 with a brace against AC Milan on Wednesday night.
Manchester United chief executive David Gill has insisted that the Glazer family will be at the club for some time to come after announcing a new commercial partnership.
The Spanish press have already given Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini the sack following Wednesday night's Champions League exit, despite director general Jorge Valdano issuing a vote of confidence in the Chilean.
AC Milan coach Leonardo has already forgotten his team's 4-0 humiliation at Manchester United in the Champions League and is focused on challenging for the Serie A title.
The Bundesliga leadership could change hands for the third time in as many weeks this weekend as Schalke get the chance to stake their claim for silverware this season.
AC Milan manager Leonardo hailed Wayne Rooney as a "complete player" after the Manchester United striker spearheaded the 4-0 demolition of his Serie A side in their Champions League last-16 clash at Old Trafford.
The white hankies were out at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday night but director general Jorge Valdano has given under-pressure coach Manuel Pellegrini a vote of confidence.
The battle for control of Manchester United has taken another twist following confirmation that a leading global investment bank has agreed to advise on a possible acquisition of the Old Trafford outfit by the Red Knights group.
Alberto Zaccheroni has warned his Juventus side to avoid complacency against Fulham as he looks to put one over on his old adversary Roy Hodgson in the Europa League last 16 first leg contest.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has told his players to tackle their Europa League last-16 first-leg tie against Lille as if it was their "most important game of the season''.
On-loan forward Landon Donovan believes his short-term spell with Everton has been a success as he prepares for his final match with the club this weekend.
Man Utd ruin David Beckham's return to Old Trafford by thumping AC Milan to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, while Burnley draw with Stoke in the Premier League.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praises the resolve of Nicklas Bendtner, who put recent media criticism behind him by scoring a hat-trick in the 5-0 Champions League win over Porto.
UEFA and its president Michel Platini have underlined their zero tolerance policy towards corruption in European football following the UEFA Executive Committee's latest meeting in Valletta, Malta.
UEFA and the City of Barcelona will oversee the signing of a declaration of goodwill by European cities and football clubs ahead of a seminar on 2 February about hosting international matches.
Portugal 2-4 Spain Spain secured their third European title in a row, and fifth overall, thwarting a late Portugal fightback in a top-class final in Debrecen.
Real Madrid CF custodian Iker Casillas discusses his all-time top ten goalkeeping heroes – from the "invincible" Peter Schmeichel to scary Lev Yashin via an Octopus, a Cat and an eccentric King Kahn.
Four of the most celebrated footballing names from central and eastern Europe will take part in the UEFA EURO 2012™ draw to determine the makeup of the nine qualifying competition groups.
In the latest edition of the uefa.com Magazine we drop in on the UEFA Training Ground to learn how to take a free-kick like David Beckham and look back on the star-studded Match Against Poverty.
The UEFA Executive Committee counted down to two major national team events – the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw and UEFA EURO 2016 bid handovers – at its meeting in Valletta, Malta.
Spain coach José Venancio López said "the challenge is to carry on winning" after securing a third straight European title while retiring captain Javi Rodríguez told uefa.com: "It has been like a dream for me."
Sporting Clube de Portugal have signed the former FC Porto midfielder Pedro Mendes for an undisclosed fee from Rangers FC, ending the player's five-and-a-half year stay in British football.
Azerbaijan 3-5 Czech Republic The Czech Republic claimed third place with an entertaining victory against Azerbaijan, who had beaten their opponents 6-1 in Group A last week.
High-profile reunions will dominate the headlines when the UEFA Champions League resumes as David Beckham and José Mourinho renew acquaintances with Manchester United FC and Chelsea FC.
An eye-catching meeting of two former European champions and FC Salzburg's defence of the competition's only unblemished record will be among the highlights of the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Juventus have dismissed coach Ciro Ferrara and replaced him with Alberto Zaccheroni on a contract until June following Thursday's 2-1 loss to FC Internazionale Milano in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
Spain captain Javi Rodríguez and Portugal's Joel Queirós both struck in the final to share the adidas Golden Boot award for the top scorer with Azerbaijan's Biro Jade and Saad Assis of Italy on five goals.
The expansion of the UEFA European Futsal Championship finals from eight to 12 teams has brought a thumbs-up from the coaches in Hungary. uefa.com collects the thoughts of Europe's leading technicians.
Two Iberian neighbours meet in Saturday's UEFA European Futsal Championship final and Spain player Kike and Portugal captain Arnaldo present uefa.com with their own guide to the squads.
Pedro Cary has found his debut UEFA European Futsal Championship "crazy" experience and the 25-year-old Portugal midfielder says that having made the final they are well aware of the perils of facing Spain.
Spain have swept through to Saturday's UEFA European Futsal Championship final and all that stands between them and a third successive title is a Portuguese team they beat 6-1 last Sunday.
VfL Wolfsburg have signed defender Réver from Grêmio Foot-ball Porto Alegrense, paving the way for centre-back Ricardo Costa to join fellow UEFA Europa League contenders LOSC Lille Métropole.
Russian international midfielder Igor Semshov, 31, has sealed a return to FC Dinamo Moskva from Premier-Liga rivals FC Zenit St. Petersburg for an undisclosed sum, a year after leaving the capital.
Foolad Sepahan of Iran beat Al Ettifaq of Saudi Arabia 3-0 Tuesday in the Asian Champions League.
Hossein Papi scored in the second minute of the Group D match, Hadi Asghari found the net with a close-range header in the 62nd and Hamid Azizadeh made it 3-0 in the 82nd.
Al Ettifaq has already advanced to the knockout stage, while Sepahan cannot advance.
Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor and Al Shabab of the United Arab Emirates are also in Group D.
Josip Kuze was named Albania's new national football team coach on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old Croatian replaces Dutchman Ari Haan, who quit last month after a poor start to Albania's World Cup qualifying campaign.
Albania is next-to-last in Group 1, after losing 1-0 at home to Hungary on March 28 and 3-0 in Denmark four days later.
Under Haan, Albania only won one of seven matches and has six points in its group, seven behind leaders Denmark and Hungary.
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was on Thursday named African Footballer of the Year for 2009, the second time the Ivory Coast international has won the award.
Hatem Ben Arfa's late away goal gave Marseille the advantage with a 1-1 draw against Benfica in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie in the Europa League.
A penalty by Torsten Frings gave Werder Bremen the edge in the Europa League on Thursday as the Germans earned a 1-1 draw in the Round of 16 first-leg match away to Valencia.
An flourish of first-half goals put Juventus in control of their Europa League round of 16 tie on Thursday, securing a 3-1 first-leg win over Juventus.
Juventus assumed command of their Europa League last-16 tie against Fulham with a 3-1 first-leg win on Thursday, after beleaguered English giants Liverpool were beaten at Lille.
In an article published on Eurosport, the author, Fulham star Danny Murphy, expressed his disappointment at having to watch his side take on Juventus on the Europa League.
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce took another swipe at Rafael Benitez on Thursday by claiming Liverpool have blown their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas apologised Thursday for his side´s elimination from the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the sixth consecutive season and said the players are to blame.
Manchester United chief executive David Gill insists the Glazer family will not be forced out of Old Trafford by fan discontent and a potential takeover bid from the Red Knights.
Troubled Premier League club Portsmouth received a boost in their attempt to avoid liquidation on Thursday as the British tax authority accepted the team´s move into administration.
Nice will be forced to play Paris Saint-Germain behind closed doors in their Ligue 1 encounter later this month, March, the French League of Professional Football (LFP) said Thursday.
England footballer Peter Crouch was named the funniest man in British sport, topping a poll out on Thursday of the best one-liners and comedy football moments of all time.
Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves's long-awaited comeback has been put on hold after it was decided not to play him in a reserve game on Thursday.
Japanese bank Nomura announced on Thursday it was advising the "Red Knights" about a potential acquisition of Manchester United amid growing supporter unrest over its ownership by the Glazer family.
Germany captain Michael Ballack is set to sign a one-year contract extension which will keep him at Premier League side Chelsea until 2011, German daily Bild claimed Thursday.
Hamburger SV faces Anderlecht in Thursday's Europa League clash and HSV coach Bruno Labbadia claims he's full of respect for the Belgian league leaders.
Real Madrid general manager Jorge Valdano has offered his backing to under-fire coach Manuel Pellegrini after Los Blancos were knocked out of the Champions League by Olympique Lyon.
Real Madrid's dream of lifting this season's Champions League trophy at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium was shattered on Wednesday when Olympique Lyon eliminated them at the last 16 stage.
European heavyweights Juventus and Liverpool will both seek to rescue disappointing seasons when the first legs of their respective Europa League last-16 ties kick off on Thursday.
Brazilian side Corinthians left it until late to equalise against Colombia's Independiente Medellin and defend their lead in Group 1 of the Copa Libertadores.
Argentina's Banfield remained atop Copa Libertadores Group 7 on Wednesday after James Rodr'guez's two goals gave them a 2-2 draw at Nacional of Uruguay.
After spending over 250 million euros to build a second dynasty of 'Galacticos' Real Madrid were expected to lift this season's Champions League trophy in the May 22 final at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium, but that dream was shattered on Wednesday as Lyon eliminated Real 2-1 on aggregate at the last 16 stage.
Real Madrid´s massive summer spending was all in vain as their dream of playing the Champions League final at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium was shattered Wednesday by Lyon.
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney could match the 42 goals that Cristiano Ronaldo provided for Manchester United in 2008 after the England striker reached the 30 mark with a double in the Champions League humbling of AC Milan.
A superb effort from Manchester United saw them ease into the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, defeating AC Milan 4-0 on the day and 7-2 on aggregate.
A second-half goal from Miralem Pjanic gave French side Lyon a stunning 1-1 draw with Real Madrid on Wednesaday, eliminating the Spaniards from the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate..
Ireneusz Jelen´s second-half brace earned Auxerre a 2-1 victory at Bordeaux on Wednesday to frustrate the defending champions´ bid to pull clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table.
