Soccer

12/29/2025 |  From ‘lazy’ to title challengers: Aston Villa is the big surprise in the Premier League this season (Associated Press (AP)) When Aston Villa was on a five-match winless run to start the Premier League season, the team looked more like a potential relegation candidate than a title contender.
Manager Unai Emery was describing his players as “lazy.” Villa’s big names — including England internationals Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers — were showing no form at all. There were major concerns about the club’s lack of activity in the summer’s transfer window.

12/29/2025 |  onaldo wants to reach 1,000 goals before ending his soccer career. He’s up to 956 (Associated Press (AP)) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed his determination to score 1,000 goals by the end of his career.
And the 40-year-old Portugal superstar is in no doubt he’ll get there.
“I will reach that number for sure, if no injuries,” Ronaldo said late Sunday at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, where he was named as the best player in the Middle East.

12/29/2025 |  Moroccan fans cry foul amid empty seats at sold-out stadiums in Africa Cup (Associated Press (AP)) RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Empty seats in sold-out stadiums. Out-of-reach prices on the black market.
Moroccan soccer fans, in particular, are being frustrated at the Africa Cup of Nations because many can’t get tickets for their own team’s games.
Morocco and neighboring Algeria were the only teams to have their group-stage tickets sell out, but again on Friday there were empty seats for the host nation’s match against Mali in the near 70,000-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

12/29/2025 |  Mauricio Pochettino Isn’t Crazy for Thinking the U.S. Can Win the World Cup (DEADSPIN) If anyone should know what’s realistic in world soccer, it’s Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino was a teenager when Diego Maradona famously guided his native Argentina to its second World Cup title in 1986. He went on to represent Argentina at the 2002 World Cup -- one of the Albiceleste’s more embarrassing showings -- before launching a managerial career that has featured stops at Tottenham Hotspur, Paris St.-Germain and Chelsea.

12/29/2025 |  Q&A: Kieran Maguire on the year football was played in court (Insider Sport) Football finance expert Kieran Maguire reflects on a year dominated by court cases, balance sheets and regulation and what it means for the game in 2026. 
Some of the most interesting games of football this year didn’t happen on the pitch, but in courtrooms, balance sheets and regulatory filings.