MANCHESTER — Erling Haaland pushed aside a television camera after the final whistle on Saturday, his frustration spilling over after he took nine shots but scored no goals for the first time in his Manchester City career.
Rodri netted a late equalizer to salvage a 1-1 Premier League home draw for the champions against Chelsea as they avoided their first loss at the Etihad in 15 months.
AMSTERDAM — A Dutch court on Wednesday sentenced Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes to six years in prison in absentia for drug trafficking.
Former Dutch international Promes did not attend court hearings in Amsterdam and is not expected to return to the Netherlands in the foreseeable future.
Prosecutors last month sought a nine year sentence for Promes, for his involvement in the smuggling of 1,360kg (2,998 pounds) of cocaine through the port of Antwerp, Belgium, to the Netherlands in two shipments in 2020.
Quincy Promes cocaine sentencing
TW: Death
A terrifying video is circulating the internet of an Indonesian player struck by lightning during a game.
The player struck by lightning was 35-year-old Septain Raharja. On Saturday the FBI Subang player was playing in a friendly game at Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, when he was killed by a lightning strike.
It’s official. We’ve seen one of the worst open goal misses in the history of professional soccer. The A-League miss heard round the world.
On Saturday Sydney FC’s Patrick Wood inexplicably wasted a golden opportunity in the 29th minute.
Wood robbed the opposing goalkeeper of possession and was only two yards away from a wide-open goal. He managed to fire his shot wide to the relief of the goalkeeper.
Shocking A-League miss
HOW HAS HE MISSED THAT?!
Soccer’s two biggest stars are in the media for all the wrong reasons this week. Lionel Messi is facing backlash from the entirety of China with the country canceling Argentina’s friendly next month, and Cristiano Ronaldo is in the news after a classic temper tantrum.
HONG KONG — Chinese sporting authorities have canceled next month's friendly international between Argentina and Nigeria amid a growing backlash against Lionel Messi's failure to play in an Inter Miami match in Hong Kong last week.
Argentina were scheduled to play Nigeria in the Chinese city of Hangzhou next month before facing the Ivory Coast in Beijing, but Messi's failure to take the field for Inter Miami in Hong Kong on Sunday caused widespread anger among fans.
PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain look set to leave the Parc des Princes after the City confirmed the stadium was not for sale, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Thursday.
"It's too easy to say now that the stadium is not for sale anymore. We know what we want, we wasted years to try and buy it. It's easier for us now, we know what we want. It's over for us. We want to move out of the Parc," Al-Khelaifi told reporters at a UEFA Congress.
PSG leaving Parc des Princes
BOUAKE — Three-time winners Nigeria were given a scare but reached the Africa Cup of Nations final after goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali saved two penalties in the shootout to guide his side to a 4-2 victory over South Africa following a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
William Troost-Ekong put Nigeria into the lead from the penalty spot midway through the second half, before South Africa earned a spot-kick of their own in the final minute of the 90 and it was converted by Teboho Mokoena.
Alex Morgan’s name was left off the United States women’s national team roster for a second time in a row on Wednesday as the star forward won’t compete at the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup.
Morgan also wasn’t included in the December roster that saw a litany of younger players play two friendlies against China. This time the roster has almost all the big names with Becky Sauerbrunn and Morgan being the major omissions.
Taking over Morgan’s role at the No. 9 will be either Sophia Smith or rising Chelsea star Mia Fishel.
ATHENS — Greece will allow its top league soccer matches to be played with fans from Feb. 13, two months after top clubs were ordered to play behind closed doors following the severe injuring and death of a police officer in violence during a volleyball match.
In Greece, fights between football fans and clubs are frequent on and off the pitch before or after a game and the government has been trying for years to reform soccer plagued by criminal gangs and a minority of violent fans.