Wayne Rooney found himself embroiled in a diving controversy after the England striker s tumble earned a controversial penalty in his side s 2-1 friendly victory over Slovenia.

Just days after insisting he would never dive, Rooney was accused by Slovenia players of going to ground too easily following Bostjan Cesar s tug on his shirt in the first half at Wembley on Saturday.

Cesar clearly pulled Rooney s shirt briefly, but the contact didn t seem strong enough to warrant the fall from the Manchester United star, who was also tugging on his opponent s jersey.

Slovenia also complained that Rooney had fouled Cesar in the same incident, leaving the defender with an ankle injury that will keep him out of a World Cup qualifier against Poland in midweek.

With d…

Norwich City captain Russell Martin is confident the club with fare better in the Premier League this season than their last appearance in 2013-14.

The East Anglian club were relegated to the Championship in 2014, but bounced straight back by winning the second-tier play-offs last season.

And, after the arrivals of the likes of Robbie Brady, Graham Dorrans and Andre Wisdom at Carrow Road, Martin feels Norwich are better equipped to deal with the top flight this time around. 

We have a stronger team than we had last time in the Premier League, said Martin. It s down to us to take advantage. 

We ve got to have diversity in our play. We need to have a few plans up our sleeve, and with this manager we will. 

We ve got to try and enjoy this seas…

Market: Teal Bunbury to score anytime

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Looking to jump into the top four in the Eastern Conference, New England will travel to the Avaya Stadium in the early hours of Thursday morning to face off against a drastically struggling Earthquakes side.

For Mikael Stahre s SJ Earthquakes, the hosts on Thursday could not have endured a worst start to the season and coming off the back of a 4-3 loss to Los Angles FC last weekend, The Earthquakes have now lost their last five matches on the bounce. Now just a single point from dropping into bottom spot in the Western Conference, San Jose have also now shipped 12 goals in their last five defeats and even more worrying, The Earthquakes have now failed to keep a clean sheet in any competition since August 2017.

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Cristiano Ronaldo s return to action after nearly two months of injury woes comes at the perfect time for Real Madrid, who host arch-rivals Barcelona in one of most anticipated matches of the season Sunday.

But a Malaga sorcerer, known only as Pepe, says the Portuguese winger s comeback could be short-lived.

Malaga-born Pepe said he was introduced into the occult by a Mexican sorcerer over three decades ago. He now claims he was paid 30,000 euros (45,000 dollars) by a famous former girlfriend of Ronaldo to put an injury curse on the player.

The best is yet to come, the 57-year-old told AFP at his office in the Mediterranean port which is packed with burning candles and incense as well as statues depicting the devil.

I have given myself four months to e…

Honduras are through to the semi finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2009 following a 1-0 victory over Canada in the quarters.

The only goal of the match was scored in the 36th minute. Stalteri fouled Walter Martinez in the penalty area and the forward himself struck the following spot kick right trough the middle with goalkeeper Sutton diving to the left.

In the remainder of the match Canada did push for the equaliser and came close late on when McKenna s header hit the left post.

It is the third time that Honduras manage to reach the semi finals. In 1991 the Central Americans even finished second, and the third place was achieved in 2005.

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Victor Osimhen says he rejected Arsenal in order to sign for Wolfsburg as he feels he will have more playing opportunities with the Bundesliga side.

The 18-year-old has joined Wolfsburg on a three-and-a-half-year deal from Nigerian side Ultimate Strikers Academy in a deal reportedly worth €3.5million.

Osimhen, who was named CAF s Youth Player of the Year in 2015, was targeted by Arsenal and had also been linked with moves to Serie A sides Inter and Fiorentina.

But the forward feels a first-team breakthrough is more likely at Wolfsburg than it would have been at the Emirates Stadium.

There were many clubs that were interested in me, Osimhen told Bild.

But my choice was Wolfsburg because I think that my development opportunities are highest he…

Hibernian signed centre-back Nectar Triantis on loan from Sunderland as the winter transfer window entered its final evening.

The Australia Under-23 international was a regular under Hibs head coach Nick Montgomery during Central Coast Mariners’ A-League title-winning season before making three appearances for Sunderland this term.

Montgomery said: “We have been chasing Nectar for some time, and although we thought he’d remain at Sunderland, circumstances changed and we made a move to bring him to Hibs.”

Dundee, Livingston and St Johnstone have also made additions but more business is expected at Celtic and Rangers among others.

Celtic are set to wrap up the loan signing of Norwich and Republic of Ireland striker Adam Idah, who has scored seven go…

Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is sceptical of reports a member of the squad would rather lose than win for under-fire manager Jose Mourinho.

The defending Premier League champions are a lowly 15th in the table having lost six of their 11 matches this season, the latest defeat coming in a 3-1 home reverse to Liverpool on Saturday.

Mourinho is under intense pressure as a result of their dismal form and has been handed a stadium ban for Saturday s visit to Stoke City after admitting to a Football Association charge of misconduct during a 2-1 loss to West Ham.

BBC Radio 5 Live s Garry Richardson said on Sunday a Chelsea first-team player had told him he would rather lose than win for the Portuguese.

But, appearing as a pundit on Sky Sports, Lamp…

Erling Haaland dismissed speculation over his future, insisting he has three years remaining on his Borussia Dortmund contract.

Haaland continues to take Europe by storm as the Dortmund star reportedly attracts interest from Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool.

The 20-year-old was asked about his future while on international duty with Norway, who will face Gibraltar in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

I still have three years of contract [at Dortmund], Haaland told reporters.

I am not worried about that.

Haaland, who joined Dortmund from Austrian champions Salzburg in January last year, scored twice in Saturday s 2-2 draw away to Cologne.

He took his tally t…

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has underlined his desire to help the club correct their poor record against north London rivals Arsenal.

Prior to earning a 3-2 victory at the Emirates Stadium under Harry Redknapp during the 2010-11 campaign, Spurs had gone 18 seasons without earning an away league victory against their close neighbours.

But, with his side going into next Sunday s derby having won their opening two fixtures of the new season, Villas-Boas is hoping for an important three points.

At the moment we have six points, last season we had two from three games, he said.

Obviously we go to Arsenal, it is a different type of game, a great rivalry and anything can happen. We haven t been very successful there over the last few years, and we hope to take this…