MADRID — Real Madrid and Germany player Toni Kroos has taken a swipe at FIFA and UEFA, claiming the world and European organising bodies are treating players like "puppets" by expanding tournaments and creating new competitions.

Kroos criticised the creation of the UEFA Nations League in 2018, which he competes in with Germany, as well as FIFA's expanded Club World Cup, which was set to take place in 2021 before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wales forward Gareth Bale is fit for their international games against the United States, Ireland and Finland after shaking off an ankle injury, assistant manager Robert Page said.

Bale, who missed Wales' October internationals due to a knee injury, was pictured with an icepack on his right ankle after being substituted during Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.

Paul Pogba "cannot be happy" with the situation he finds himself in at Manchester United, France head coach Didier Deschamps said on Monday.

The French midfielder has started just four of United's seven Premier League games this season, and just one of three in the Champions League. Pogba's future at United remains uncertain after he suggested last month that he "dreams" of playing for Real Madrid.

Russia's national football team said on Sunday it would not be calling up its captain Artem Dzyuba for upcoming international matches this month to shield him from negative publicity.

Its statement followed the leak of an private video online on Saturday, which TASS news agency said showed a man similar to the 32-year-old Dzyuba, who is also the striker for Zenit St. Petersburg. There was no suggestion of any controversial behavior in the video and it was not clear how it had leaked.

LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has called on Wales to be cautious with Gareth Bale while he is on international duty, saying he fears the work the forward has done to get back to full fitness could be destroyed.

Bale started for Tottenham in their 3-1 win away to Ludgogorets in the Europa League on Thursday and looked as sharp as he has done since re-joining the club on loan from Real Madrid in September.

Tottenham, third in the Premier League, travel to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, before the international break.

The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown soccer schedules into immense disarray. While this is nothing compared to the tragic loss of life (more than 235,000 dead in the U.S. alone as cases continue to soar to record numbers), it has resulted in the U.S. national teams having not played in months. The women last played in March while the men’s only game in 2020 so far was in February. It makes predicting a USMNT starting 11 more difficult than ever — but also more fascinating. 

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina soccer great Diego Maradona has been sedated by doctors to help him cope with withdrawal symptoms from alcohol dependency, his personal doctor said on Friday.

Alfredo Cahe said Maradona, who underwent emergency surgery on Tuesday for a subdural haematoma, a blood clot on the brain, had been sedated after suffering from "episodes of confusion" linked to withdrawal symptoms.

"He has to have treatment to stop drinking alcohol and all his family is in agreement that Diego as he is now is unmanageable," Cahe told TyC Sports, an Argentine TV channel.

BERN — UEFA has overseen 61,859 COVID-19 tests since August, allowing more than 500 European matches to be played and making soccer one of the safest environments in the world, it said on Thursday.

The European soccer body, which has been criticised by some media for pressing ahead with international football during the pandemic, said that only 340 of those tests had been positive — 0.55 percent of the total — and only 3 percent of matches had been canceled.

It’s been almost a full year since we saw a USMNT with European-based talent defeat Cuba 4-0 to advance to the Nations League Final Round — although a largely domestic-based squad defeated Costa Rica back in February — but the U.S. is finally able to welcome its Yanks Abroad back into the fold for a pair of November friendlies against Wales in Swansea and Panama in Austria.