Football

CARDIFF: Aaron Ramsey scored twice to lead Wales to Euro 2020 with a 2-0 victory over Hungary in Cardiff on Tuesday. The Juventus midfielder struck early in both halves to ensure Ryan Giggs’s men secured second place in Group E behind World Cup finalists Croatia. Wales reached the semi-finals of the European championships in 2016 and while matching that run ...

Denmark and Switzerland secured spots at Euro 2020 at the expense of the Republic of Ireland on Monday as Roberto Mancini’s Italy completed a perfect qualifying campaign by scoring nine. Ireland needed to beat Denmark in Dublin to clinch qualification for next year’s 24-team European Championship finals, but Matt Doherty’s late header was only enough to earn Mick McCarthy’s men ...

The revered Brazil striker Pele scored his 1,000th goal on November 19, 1969 at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium in a match between his beloved Santos and local outfit Vasco de Gama, whose vast ranks of fans gave the iconic No. 10 a standing ovation. That goal half a century ago was a beautifully converted penalty which escaped the grasp ...

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on Monday announced the 23-member squad for this month’s Asian Football Confederation Under-19 (AFC U19) championship qualifiers to be played in Oman from November 22nd. According to a PFF official, Kahuta Research Laboratories’s (KRL) Zaid Omer has been named captain while Islamabad’s Mamoon Musa Khan has been named as Zaid’s deputy for the event. The ...

PARIS: The Netherlands, Germany and World Cup finalists Croatia expanded a list of big hitters to qualify for Euro 2020 on Saturday as the trio booked their places at next summer’s finals. Austria also made it through to the multi-host tournament, which kicks off in Rome on June 12, with 16 sides now ensured of a spot at the 24-team ...

33rd National Games-Army wins 33rd National Games Quaid-e-Azam trophy, KP take fairplay trophy By Ijaz Ahmad PESHAWAR, Nov 16 : Pakistan Army clinched the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the 24th times when its secured 7909 points with 150 gold medals, 134 silver and 96 bronze medals and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa awarded fairplay trophy of the 33rd National Games which concluded after a colourful ...

HELSINKI: Finland qualified for their first major tournament finals as they beat Liechtenstein 3-0 on Friday to guarantee a place at Euro 2020. Norwich City forward Teemu Pukki scored twice in Helsinki and Jasse Tuominen also netted to bring the home crowd pouring onto the pitch at the final whistle as Finland secured second place behind Group J winners Italy. ...

RIYADH: Lionel Messi struck on his return to international duty Friday following a three-month ban as Argentina defeated fierce rivals Brazil 1-0 in a friendly in Riyadh. The Barcelona forward was suspended by CONMEBOL for accusing South American football´s ruling body of “corruption” after he was sent off in July´s third-place play-off with Chile at the Copa America. Messi netted ...

FARO: Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored another treble, moving closer to 100 international goals, as he led the European champions to a 6-0 drubbing of Lithuania in a Euro 2020 qualifier on Thursday. Ronaldo, whose hat-trick was the 55th of his career and ninth for Portugal, has 98 goals and could become only the second player to score a century ...

Star striker David Villa, Wednesday announced he will retire next month, ending a glittering career in which he won the World Cup, European Championships and Champions League. The 37-year-old Vissel Kobe striker said he will call it a day at the end of the 2019 J-League season after a 19-year career that took in Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia while ...