Africa

Angolan club Petro Atlético's goalkeeper Hugo Marques was attacked by a spectator in the final minutes of his team's 2-0 defeat by holders Wydad Casablanca in the African Champions League on Saturday.

Video footage from behind the goal showed a man running on to the pitch and up to Marques, then saying something to the keeper before pushing him.

The two exchanged a flurry of punches before security guards and Marques's teammates intervened and the supporter was overpowered and taken off the pitch. The keeper was treated by doctors and the game restarted shortly afterwards.

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain right back Achraf Hakimi is facing a criminal investigation in France after an allegation of rape was made against him, an official from the Nanterre prosecution office said on Friday.

Hakimi, a Morocco international, firmly denied the allegation, according to his lawyer. PSG did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

The Nanterre prosecution office said Hakimi has been placed under police monitoring and was banned from contact with the alleged victim.

Portugal and Chile start with a slight advantage as 10 teams battle it out for the remaining three berths at this year's Women's World Cup in the final qualifying playoffs over the next week in New Zealand.

Cameroon, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Thailand, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea are also involved in the tournament, which will complete the field for the first 32-team Women's World Cup in New Zealand and Australia later this year.

A battered and bruised Real Madrid side in a poor run of form eked out a late 4-1 victory vs. Al Ahly in the Club World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Rabat, Morocco.

The scoreline doesn’t reflect how close the game was as Madrid’s final two goals came in stoppage time.

Major League Soccer fans wished it were the Seattle Sounders playing Real Madrid instead of Al Ahly. The MLS side fell 1-0 to the Egyptian club on Saturday. 

The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has risen to at least 2,600 from two earthquakes that struck the countries within the space of 12 hours. That number is expected to increase rapidly with many people still missing and trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

One of those still unaccounted for is former Newcastle winger and Ghana international Christian Atsu after the collapse of an apartment building in Hatay, Turkey.

The Seattle Sounders made history as the first club from Major League Soccer to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday in Tangier, Morocco.. The Sounders lost 1-0 in heartbreaking fashion to Egyptian giants Al Ahly by conceding in the 88th minute.

The Sounders should keep their heads held high as they pushed Al Ahly to the very end. The Egyptian side are Club World Cup regulars as this is the eighth time Al Ahly have qualified for the competition.

Al Ahly defeated Auckland City FC 3-0 in the opening game of the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup on Wednesday in Morocco. With the way the bracket is designed, Al Ahly advance to the second round where they will face the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The winner of Saturday's game faces Real Madrid in the semifinal.

Al Ahly’s victory against the semi-professional club from Oceania was comfortable. This is the eighth time the Egyptian club have participated in the Club World Cup. They’ve advanced to the semifinals in the previous two tournaments.