Men's National Teams

LONDON - Manchester City claimed a record-equalling fourth successive League Cup triumph as Aymeric Laporte's late header sealed a deserved 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Spurs had soaked up intense City pressure for most of the game to somehow stay in contention at Wembley Stadium. But City finally made the breakthrough in the 82nd minute from an unlikely source as defender Laporte met Kevin de Bruyne's free kick and headed past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

LONDON — Former Manchester United soccer star Ryan Giggs has been charged with assault against two women, police and prosecutors said in statements on Friday.

Giggs, 47, has been charged with causing actual bodily harm to a woman in her 30s and common assault of a woman in her 20s, as well as one count of coercive and controlling behaviour between 2017 and 2020.

Seville has replaced Bilbao as a host city for Euro 2020 with St. Petersburg in Russia, already a host venue, taking the three group stage games from Dublin, UEFA said on Friday.

Wembley Stadium in London has gained the Irish capital's last-16 match, taking its total number of fixtures to eight, which include the semifinals and final.

MELBOURNE - Upbeat Australia coach Graham Arnold has urged Argentina to bring Lionel Messi to the Olympics and described their tough pool as Tokyo's "group of dreams.”

Drawn with twice champions Argentina, 1992 winners Spain and Egypt, the “Olyroos” face an uphill battle to reach the knockout rounds of the 16-team tournament, their first Games since Beijing in 2008.

While the soccer world was turned upside down early this week with the announcement of the European Super League — and its impending demise — the non-soccer world has been glued to the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who was filmed murdering George Floyd, a Black man, in broad daylight last year.

DORTMUND, Germany - Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland scored twice in four minutes on Sunday, ending his seven-game goal drought in all competitions, to help his team to a 4-1 win over Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga and revive their hopes of a top four finish.

Fifth-placed Dortmund, on 49 points, cut the gap to Eintracht Frankfurt, in fourth, to four with five games left. The top four teams qualify for next season's Champions League.

WOLFSBURG, Germany — Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick said on Saturday he had told the team and club bosses that he wanted to leave the German champions at the end of the season despite his contract running until 2023.

The former Germany assistant coach, who initially took over on an interim basis in November 2019, led the club to a spectacular winning run that earned them six domestic and international titles in the following months, including the Champions League and the club World Cup crown.

Somewhere in an alternate universe, Lionel Messi is the best player MLS has ever seen, Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani are both pushing for their third MLS Cup and the United States is the premier destination for global footballing talent. 

In the meantime, we'll have to settle for a new signing who, while not quite as well-known, is arguably more intriguing than any player to ever put on an MLS kit.