Croatia's love affair with coach Slaven Bilic is heading for a messy divorce. After reaching the Euro 2008 quarterfinals, it failed to make the World Cup and endured a difficult qualification campaign until an impressive 3-0 win over Turkey and Guus Hiddink in the playoffs. Bilic already confirmed he will leave after the tournament -- he signed a contract with Lokomotiv Moscow -- but he is desperate to go out on a high and prove his critics wrong.
David Villa was top goalscorer at Euro 2008 as Spain secured a first major championship in 44 years, but the world champions' all-time leading marksman will not be part of next month's title defense in Poland and Ukraine.
Samir Nasri has always known his own value, and that sense will be keener now than ever before. The midfielder, voted France's Player of the Year for 2010, has one more year left on his Arsenal contract, and is the subject of serious interest from Premier League champions Manchester United and, reportedly, Manchester City. His dilemma: should he stay or go?
Former Real Madrid and Spain midfielder Ruben de la Red officially announced his retirement from football in an emotional press conference on Thursday.
Germany coach Joachim Low has tried to lift the burden of expectation off his young team by claiming that Wednesday's semifinal opponents Spain are favorites to win the World Cup.
CNN?s Pedro Pinto discusses the French team?s World Cup woes with a panel of international sports journalists.
France's tumultuous World Cup campaign ended in dismal fashion on Tuesday as the former world champions were beaten 2-1 by hosts South Africa in their final group game in Bloemfontein.
If no news is good news, then it's tempting to conclude that good news is no news at all. Not when it's this familiar, anyway, because when it's this familiar, the extraordinary becomes ordinary.
Mark Hughes, the manager of English Premier League side Manchester City, is confident Joleon Lescott's versatility will ensure his success at the Eastlands-based side after the defender finalized his drawn out transfer to the club.
Manchester United have accepted a world-record $130 million offer for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
When CSKA Moscow lifted the UEFA Cup in 2005, becoming the first Russian team to win a European trophy, manager Valeri Gazzaev described it as "a landmark victory for Russian football."
Czech football is in turmoil after national coach Petr Rada was sacked on Wednesday and six star players given indefinite suspensions for a "breach of discipline."
Euro 2008 champions Spain took another giant step towards World Cup qualification with a 1-0 home win over Turkey in Madrid.
The biggest surprise on a busy night of international football on Wednesday came in Duesseldorf, where Euro 2008 finalists Germany were beaten by Norway for the first time in 73 years.
Wayne Rooney is set to return to the fray for Manchester United's Premier League trip to West Ham on Sunday after a missing five games with a hamstring injury.
Andrey Arshavin's protracted transfer from Zenit St. Petersburg to Arsenal for a reported £16.5 million ($23.59m) fee was finally confirmed on Tuesday by the Premier League club.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger remains hopeful of signing Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin from UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg before the January transfer window shuts.
Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned FIFA's world player of the year in Zurich on Monday as Manchester United's star winger completed a stunning trophy collection.
FIFA will announce its Player of the Year for 2008 at a ceremony in Zurich today, and here is a look at the leading contenders for the award.
It was six months ago that fans were treated to a scintillating European Championship. Here's a look at how the leading actors of Euro 2008 are now faring:
Spain's 1-0 win over Germany in the Euro 2008 final in June gave the Spaniards their first European championship since 1964 (and second major trophy in their country's history).
European champions Spain have been recognized as the top-ranked team of the year after winning every match they played in 2008.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a step closer to adding the World Player of the Year award to the European Ballon d'Or after being included on FIFA's five-man shortlist on Friday.
The Scottish Football Association have confirmed that they are holding "tentative" talks with Wales over a joint bid to host the 2016 European Championships.
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was named European Footballer of the Year on Tuesday, reward for his brilliant performances for Manchester United as they completed the Premier League and Champions League double.
New coach Fabio Capello had steered England back into the world's top 10 in the latest FIFA rankings published on Wednesday.
Our recent feature on great club derbies really got you talking, so we have decided to carry on with that theme and highlight our top 10 international rivalries -- which are in no particular order!
Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke is out of Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Russia and next Wednesday's match against Wales after breaking his hand in training.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has recalled Fernando Torres in place of Barcelona's Bojan Krkic in a 21-man squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Belgium.
Germany striker Miroslav Klose proved last week's leg injury was behind him as he scored the opener to help holders Bayern Munich beat 2007 champions Nuremberg 2-0 in the second round of the German Cup.
French international midfielder Franck Ribery's hopes of making his overdue first appearance of the season have been dashed by a thigh strain.
France made a disastrous start to their World Cup qualifying campaign as they went down 3-1 to Austria in Vienna in their Group 7 match on Saturday night.
Denmark scored three goals in the last eight minutes to upset Portugal 3-2 in Lisbon on Wednesday and hand home coach Carlos Queiroz his first defeat since taking charge.
Newly-crowned European champions Spain retained their status as world number one in the latest FIFA world rankings.
Holland gave everything to Euro 2008. The team played dazzling soccer against France and world champion Italy. Pundits swooned over an updated version of total football and praised the individual skills of Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart & Co.
England face their first big test under new manager Fabio Capello when they travel to Croatia for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against the side that snuffed out their hopes of a place in the Euro 2008 finals last November.
Manchester United won the deadline day race to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov, despite rivals Manchester City having a British record fee of £34 million ($60.56m) accepted for the Bulgarian international.
The warm glow of the 2008 European Championship continued to spread across Spain well into the summer. Even the transfer stories were set aside, for a while at least, in favor of the accolades. And when the screaming headlines and astronomical figures began once again to be splashed across the covers of the country's newspapers, there was something different about it.
No sooner have we waved goodbye to the Euro 2008 finals, then World Cup qualifiers are on our doorstep once again.
Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov earned a 1-1 draw for Russia against the Netherlands in their friendly international in Moscow on Wednesday.
John Terry has been named as England's permanent captain under new coach Fabio Capello and will lead the team in Wednesday's friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley.
New Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has named Barcelona teen sensation Bojan Krkic in his squad for next week's friendly against Denmark, the nation's first match since winning Euro 2008.
Germany coach Joachim Loew has named uncapped Stuttgart defender Serdar Tasci in his squad for next week's friendly international against Belgium in Nuremberg.
France coach Raymond Domenech has opted for youth over experience with veteran goalkeeper Gregory Coupet left out of a 20-man squad for the friendly against Sweden in Gothenburg on August 20.
CNN.com's Football Fan Zone looks ahead to the new season in Germany which kicks off on Friday August 15.
Arsenal striker Eduardo could return to first team action before the end of the year after making a quicker than expected recovery from a horror injury.
Premier League Arsenal have been handed an intriguing Champions League third qualifying round tie against FC Twente who are managed by former England coach Steve McClaren.
It's been a slow summer in the Premier League, with no England in Euro 2008 and a transfer market that has been moving slower than 92-year-old Great Uncle Limey after several hours at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Probably something to do with the tightening finances in the football world and the soccernomics issues we wrote about last time around.
Premier League West Ham have completed the £5 million ($10m) signing of Switzerland international Valon Behrami from Lazio.
European Champions Spain have appointed former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque to replace Luis Aragones as head of the national side.
Arsenal have completed the signing of French international midfielder Samir Nasri from Marseille for a reported fee of nearly $24 million.
Real Mallorca striker Daniel Guiza, the top scorer in the Spanish Primera Liga last season, has signed a four-year contract with Turkish giants Fenerbahce.
Zenit St. Petersburg says that talks with Barcelona about the Spanish team acquiring Russia international midfielder Andrei Arshavin have broken off.
Spain's Euro 2008-winning coach Luis Aragones has been introduced to the media after signing a two-year deal to become coach of Turkish champions Fenerbahce.
Liverpool have completed the signing of Swiss international right-back Philipp Degen on a free transfer from Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.
France manager Raymond Domenech was told to change his ways on Thursday after surviving to lead his nation's bid for a place at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.
A free-flowing attacking game prevailed and made European champions out of the continent's perennial underachievers
Spanish fans celebrate their first victory in the Euro Cup Championship in 44 years. CNN's Al Goodman reports.
Joyous Spanish fans partied hard into the early hours Monday morning after their side defeated Germany 1-0 to claim their first major football title in 44 years.
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres proved the difference between the two sides, as his first-half goal gave Spain a 1-0 victory over Germany in the Euro 2008 final in Vienna.
Below is a complete schedule for the Euro 2008 championship finals in Austria and Switzerland. Group in parentheses.
Germany captain Michael Ballack is a doubt for Sunday's Euro 2008 final against Spain because of a calf injury.
Germany midfielder Torsten Frings insists he is fit and raring to go for Sunday's Euro 2008 final against Spain in Vienna after recovering from a rib injury.
Spain have confirmed that striker David Villa has been ruled out of Sunday's Euro 2008 final against Germany because of a hamstring injury.
Let's count the reasons why Germany has no business beating Spain for the Euro 2008 championship on Sunday (ABC, 2:45 p.m. ET):
As Turkey and Russia's glorious run comes to an end, the world prepares for a Germany vs. Spain final
Spanish newspapers hailed a virtuoso performance by the country's footballing maestros on Friday after the national side advanced to the final of Euro 2008 with a 3-0 win over Russia in Vienna.
VIENNA, Austria -- OK, so I've tried my best. I've held my tongue throughout this tournament. But, the fact is, I've had it. I've had enough of people telling me that Miroslav Klose and Karim Benzema are overrated donkeys because they haven't had a good Euro 2008. Or that David Villa is now the best striker in Europe (heck, he's not even the best striker on his national team). Or that Andrei Arshavin is the second coming of Zinedine Zidane.
Roberto Donadoni has lost his job as coach of the Italian national team following their quarterfinal exit from Euro 2008.
Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin is a transfer target for Spanish giants Barcelona according to his club side Zenit St. Petersburg.
CNN's Pedro Pinto reports about the Euro 2008 Championships.
Thousands of football fans fled for safety and millions of TV viewers were left disappointed Wednesday night as an electrical storm in Vienna disrupted coverage of the first of the Euro 2008 semifinals.
iReporter Mohit Kumar captures the scene as German fans in Zurich celebrate their team's Euro 2008 win over Turkey.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|