Former FIFA World Cup™ winning coach Marcello Lippi was on Saturday appointed as the new China PR coach, the Chinese Football Association announced on their official website. “The selection procedure of the China national team manager has been completed, with Mr Marcello Lippi appointed as the new head coach of the team from 22 October, 2016, after friendly negotiations by ... Read More »

Javier Lozano is much more than an authority on futsal. With two FIFA Futsal World Cup titles to his name during his time in charge of Spain, the former coach is now one of the sport’s gurus, a status he has attained thanks to his achievements and the legacy he left behind. Now the president of Spain’s National Futsal League ... Read More »

This year’s AFC Champions League semi-finals saw a pair of former winners make it through to set up a mouth-watering final clash. In the process, inaugural champions Al Ain dispatched El Jaish 5-3 on aggregate to book return to their third final. 2006 winners Jeonbuk Motors similarly eased through against South Korean compatriots FC Seoul by an identical scoreline ... Read More »

With two days to go until the final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016, FIFA and the tournament’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) held a joint press conference at their Amman headquarters. The tone was overwhelmingly positive, with figures shown to demonstrate the impressive online interest levels, and a video broadcast in which legacy projects were highlighted and ... Read More »

The year 2016 is shaping up to be an excellent one for Austria’s Nina Burger. In March she celebrated victory in the Cyprus Cup with the national team on her competition debut – but the biggest highlight was yet to come. Burger and her team-mates headed into the crucial final phase of UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 qualifying bristling with self-confidence ... Read More »

A surprise awaited Spain’s players as they reached their dressing room before facing Japan in the semi-final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016. In addition to their kit, laid out as normal, there was a message for them on the whiteboard. It read: “Anything you believe to be possible, is possible. Let’s unite.” It had been written ... Read More »

South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns have taken a giant step towards representing Africa at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 with a 3-0 victory against Cairo giants Zamalek in the first leg of the CAF Champions League final. Too strong at home Having won all their matches at home this season in the Champions League and having beaten Zamalek ... Read More »

Under normal circumstances, if a visitor were to unexpectedly turn up at someone’s doorstep laden with gifts, most people opening their door would tend to wonder what the catch was. Venezuelan U-17 defender Sandra Luzardo thought exactly that the day that Lady Luck came calling. Instead of a knock at the door, however, the twist of fate took the shape ... Read More »

The four remaining teams in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016 are just one game away from the final. With time of the essence and concentration levels rising, the four sides will be busy analysing their semi-final opponents and drawing up tactics and plans for the players to execute when the whistle sounds.   The quartet of title ... Read More »

Of the 336 players who arrived in Jordan for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, one stood out. Fuka Nagano was special, and what made her special was that she already had what the other 335 craved: a winner’s medal. A couple of weeks on, with the semi-finals looming and 252 of those young hopefuls having headed for home, ... Read More »