FIFA president Sepp Blatter has revealed that goal-line technology will be introduced for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The 75-year-old ignored repeated calls for technology to be brought in following the controversy at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when England midfielder Frank Lampard saw an effort ruled out against Germany despite the ball having clearly crossed the line.

One of several incidents in recent years, the goal woud have seen Fabio Capello s side draw level at 2-2 in the Round of 16 match, which they eventually lost 4-1.

But Blatter, who was re-elected in June despite corruption claims and calls for a more modern approach in the game, has warmed to the idea of goal-line technology.

In an interview with El Mundo Deportivo, he has now s…

Professional football will return to Minnesota in 2017, after MLS commissioner Dan Garber announced the mooted United franchise will begin play next season.

While a privately-funded stadium is being planned, the Minnesota franchise already competing in the second-tier North American Soccer League will retain the proposed United name and logo, and will for the interim play on the University of Minnesota campus, at TCF Bank Stadium.

UM s ground also served as the temporary home for the NFL s Minnesota Vikings in 2014 and 2015, while construction continued at the nearby US Bank Stadium.

Speaking at an event in Minnesota, Garber reiterated the city s strength as a football market.

We are proud to officially announce that Minnesota United FC will join Major L…

Real Madrid striker Joselu was in dreamland after he came on in the dying moments of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday and turned the game on its head with two goals to snatch a stunning victory.

Joselu, whose journeyman career has included spells at clubs such as Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover 96, Stoke City and Newcastle United, only touched the ball a few times in their 2-1 second-leg win, but it was a night he is likely to remember for a long time.

He pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, stabbing the ball into the net to equalise for Madrid in the 88th minute, and just under three minutes later, he volleyed them into the lead from a cross by Antonio Rudiger.

I don t know anything about being a…

The field is set for the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League group stage. After several qualification rounds, the group stage of the competition has been decided and the best 32 teams in Europe will begin the race for the title in September.

In case you missed it, here are the groups for the 2019-20 edition of the Champions League.

Complete list of 2019-20 UEFA Champions League groups

Group A: PSG, Real Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray

Group B: Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Olympiacos, Red Star Belgrade

Group C: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Atalanta

Group D: Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lokomotiv Moscow

Group E: Liverpool, Napoli, Salzburg, Genk

Group F: FC Barcelona, Dortmund, Inter Milan, Slavia Pragu…

Jay Rodriguez netted a late penalty against Arsenal at the Hawthorns on New Years Eve to snatch a point for West Bromwich Albion.

The Baggies secured their fourth point under new boss Alan Pardew with the English forward s 89th minute spot-kick after Calum Chambers was adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area. The strike cancelled out Arsenal s late goal of their own as Alexis Sánchez s free kick found its way into the net via a touch from Baggies midfielder James McClean.

Arsenal hunt down top four

Arsene Wenger s men enjoyed a fast start at the Hawthorns and could have been ahead quickly but Alexandre Lacazette was unlucky to see his effort deflect just wide of goal. Alex Iwobi then found space in the West Brom penalty area but wasted the opportunity b…

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has been voted Bulgarian footballer of 2010 for a record seventh time, the Bulgarian Football Union announced on Monday.

Berbatov, 29, who last month scored an amazing five goals in Manchester United s 7-1 win over Premier League rivals Blackburn Rovers, also won in the title in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Bulgarian Litex Lovech captain Ivelin Popov, who recently transferred to Turkey s Gaziantepspor, came second followed by Bulgarian national team and Dutch Twente goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov.

…

Christian Eriksen signed for Inter Milan from Tottenham for a fee in the region of £17million on this day in 2020.

The Denmark international joined Inter on a four-and-a-half-year deal following six-and-a-half years with Spurs, where he scored 69 goals and provided 89 assists in 305 appearances.

Following his departure, Eriksen posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Dear Tottenham fans, I don’t know where to start!

“I didn’t have time to say goodbye to everyone, even though I felt like I played a lot of games where everyone said and thought I would be gone the next day.

“I have so many unbelievable memories over the last 6.5 years I was at Spurs.

“I enjoyed being at the training ground every day and playing games in the stadium so much, but …

The NFL schedule giveth and the NFL schedule taketh away.

That’s the name of the game when using situational handicapping — also known as spot bets — to find hidden value when betting on the NFL.

We dig into what the schedule is serving up with our best NFL spot bets for Week 4, pushing pause on the stats, standings, and power rankings to size up the psyche of teams and uncover hidden edges.

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Last weekend saw seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady come up short in his latest heroic postseason comeback attempt, as the Buccaneers clawed all the way back from a 27-3 deficit only to let it slip in the dying moments. 

That loss to the Rams put an end to the Bucs’ title defense, but could it have also brought an end to Brady’s career? Despite the legendary quarterback putting together an MVP-worthy season at age 44, retirement talk has circled over the last week, including from Brady himself.

The NFL betting market is never too far behind, so Tom Brady retirement odds are on the board as the NFL’s most successful player ponders his future. 

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For many football fans making NFL picks and predictions, the Divisional Round is the best part of the playoffs. 

Gone are the scrappy contenders of the Wild Card Weekend, leaving us with the NFL’s version of the Elite Eight. We don’t get the high stakes of the conference championships or the pageantry of the Super Bowl, but we have four solid NFL betting options on the board to keep us busy Saturday and Sunday.

Of course, this being a column titled NFL Underdogs (in which I can only make picks getting the points), we have to size up just how pups do at this point in the postseason. 

Long-term, Divisional Round dogs have been pretty good at 47-35-1 against the spread since 2000-01 (57%). But while those underdogs went 3-1 ATS in las…