Controversial

It took all of 24 matches but Cremonese finally won a Serie A game on Tuesday, and the most remarkable thing is that they recorded it over Roma after also shocking José Mourinho's team in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals at the beginning of the month.

No club in Europe's big five leagues had remained winless this long, but Cremonese — based in the Lombardy region of northern Italy — actually moved into 19th-place with all three points (12 overall) while dropping hapless Sampdoria (11 points) to dead last.

PARIS — Noel Le Graet has resigned as president of France's soccer federation amid allegations of harassment and sexual harassment and a government ministry audit this month that concluded the 81-year-old no longer had "the necessary legitimacy" for the job.

Le Graet, head of the French Football Federation since 2011, stepped back last month amid a legal investigation into allegations against him of sexual and moral harassment and after an audit and report commissioned by the sports ministry.

France captain Wendie Renard said on Friday that she will not play at this year's Women's World Cup to preserve her mental health, with fellow internationals Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani following suit.

Renard, who is widely considered to be one of the best defenders in women's football, played for France in international games against Norway, Denmark and Uruguay earlier this month.

She has 142 caps for France and plays for French side Olympique Lyonnais.

A bizarre Fiorentina disallowed goal vs. Braga confused just about everyone on Thursday when a VAR decision overruled goal line technology.

The introduction of technology to soccer has come with its problems, but most fans can agree the sport is in a better place now. Long past are the days of “no era penal” and Frank Lampard’s ghost goal vs. Germany. Goal line technology and VAR has seen to it that mistakes like those are incredibly rare nowadays.

MADRID - Spain's most capped player Sergio Ramos announced his international retirement on Thursday after being told by new coach Luis de la Fuente that he was not part of his plans.

The 36-year-old Paris St Germain defender, who won the World Cup in 2010 as well as two European Championships, has not played for Spain since March 2021, yet said he should have been given the chance to show he could still be of service to his country.

Spain women's coach Jorge Vilda on Wednesday defended his depleted squad as the best he wants and bristled at questions about a revolt that has seen 15 players frozen out of the national setup for nearly five months.

The Spanish FA in September said the 15 had threatened to quit the team if Vilda was not fired and they would not be welcomed back until they recognized their mistake and asked for forgiveness.