MELBOURNE — Australia captain Sam Kerr will face trial in the UK accused of the racially aggravated harassment of a police officer in London over a year ago.

Chelsea forward Kerr, one of the world's most recognizable women footballers and a sporting idol in her home nation, was charged on Jan. 21, almost a year after the incident was alleged to have occurred.

"The charge relates to an incident involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare on 30 January 2023 in Twickenham," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

BERLIN — World Cup winner Andreas Brehme, whose late penalty in the 1990 final against Argentina in Italy handed Germany their third world title, has died at the age of 63, his family said.

The attacking full back and dead-ball specialist became an instant Germany football great when his spot kick earned them a 1-0 victory over Diego Maradona's Argentina in the World Cup final in Rome.

Forever a part of football history.

❤️​ Andi Brehme. pic.twitter.com/jQz5UMhrmF

AMSTERDAM — A Dutch court on Wednesday sentenced Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes to six years in prison in absentia for drug trafficking.

Former Dutch international Promes did not attend court hearings in Amsterdam and is not expected to return to the Netherlands in the foreseeable future.

Prosecutors last month sought a nine year sentence for Promes, for his involvement in the smuggling of 1,360kg (2,998 pounds) of cocaine through the port of Antwerp, Belgium, to the Netherlands in two shipments in 2020.

Quincy Promes cocaine sentencing

TW: Death

A terrifying video is circulating the internet of an Indonesian player struck by lightning during a game.

The player struck by lightning was 35-year-old Septain Raharja. On Saturday the FBI Subang player was playing in a friendly game at Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, when he was killed by a lightning strike.

Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be playing against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami on Thursday due to a calf injury said Al Nassr head coach Luis Castro. 

Castro said that Ronaldo is in the final stages of his recovery and won’t be able to play in the friendly. Many fans had dubbed the game as the “Last Dance” between two of the greatest soccer players the world has ever seen.

Why is Ronaldo not playing vs Messi’s Inter Miami

Every major downtown area in the United States needs a good soccer stadium as a gathering place for footy fans in our opinion. A new $60 million Omaha soccer stadium will now provide Nebraska with one of its own.

USL 1 club Union Omaha only came into existence five years ago and began playing in 2020. In a few short years the Owls have achieved major landmarks and have revealed plans for a state-of-the-art 7,000-seater stadium.

Omaha soccer stadium

ABIDJAN — An angry supporter attempted to strike Ghana coach Chris Hughton after their upset 2-1 loss at the Africa Cup of Nations finals on Sunday and was taken away by police, team officials confirmed on Monday.

Ghana were beaten by a stoppage time goal by the Cape Verde Islands, the smallest of the 24 teams at the tournament in the Ivory Coast in one of several shock results on Sunday.

Hughton was accosted at the team hotel as Ghana returned from the match but the angry fan was intercepted by security officials.

ABIDJAN — Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said he and his players feared for their lives after the plane taking them to the Africa Cup of Nations finals made an emergency landing, delaying their arrival at the tournament in the Ivory Coast.

Gambia’s squad set off from Banjul on Wednesday on a short trip to Yamoussoukro, where they will play their opening two group games, but minutes after take-off they turned around because of a lack of oxygen inside the plane, he said.