Human Interest

RIO DE JANEIRO — Argentina captain Lionel Messi accused the Brazilian police of brutality as the start of their World Cup qualifier against Brazil was delayed by half an hour after clashes between police and visiting fans at Maracanã Stadium on Tuesday.

Brazilian and Argentine fans started fighting behind one of the goals during the national anthems, prompting police to charge at the travelling contingent with night sticks drawn.

BERLIN — Champions League club Union Berlin on Wednesday parted ways with coach Urs Fischer following a nine-game losing run in the Bundesliga that has left them in last place and appointed the first woman as assistant coach in Bundesliga history.

They appointed youth coach Marco Grote as the interim coach with Marie-Louise Eta as his assistant, making the 32-year-old the first female coach at a Bundesliga club.

Eta is a former professional player and Champions League winner who retired in 2018 and who played most of her career under her maiden name of Bagehorn.

FELCSUT, Hungary, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Israel scored an 88th-minute equalizer to grab a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in their European Championship qualifier in neutral Hungary on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of reaching next year’s finals in Germany.

The match was due to be played last month but was postponed because of the security situation in Israel following the conflict with the Palestinian group Hamas.

Liverpool and Colombia winger Luis Diaz has reunited with his father for the first time since the latter's kidnapping ordeal, the Colombian football federation said on Tuesday.

Luis Manuel Diaz, 58, was released on Thursday by the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) 12 days after he was taken hostage on Oct. 28 in Barrancas, a rural municipality where he lives in the northern province of La Guajira.

Luis Diaz reunites with father

The headline has been written soccer romance folks! Kristie Mewis engaged to Sam Kerr.

Two years ago, the USWNT midfielder and Australia’s superstar shared a touching moment on the field following the USA’s victory vs. Australia in the bronze medal game at the Tokyo Olympics. The pair confirmed they were dating following that moment.

LUTON — Liverpool forward Luis Díaz came off the bench on Sunday to head a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw at lowly Luton Town and dedicate the goal to his father who was kidnapped in Colombia.

On the back foot for most of the game, Luton took a shock lead when Ross Barkley drove forward in the 80th minute to release Issa Kabore who passed for Tahith Chong to slide the ball past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson.

Mainz 05 have terminated Anwar El Ghazi's contract following the forward's social media posts in connection with the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Bundesliga club said on Friday.

The Dutchman was suspended in October following an earlier comment about the conflict but had been cleared to return to training on Monday after showing remorse, the club had said.

However, El Ghazi posted a new statement on Wednesday that the German club said was 'incomprehensible' and that they would examine it from a legal perspective.

Swiss club Basel's season has gone from bad to worse since it began in July, and with no goals scored in October, they were unable to announce a goal of the month winner on Tuesday.

With four defeats from four games in October, Basel conceded 10 goals and scored none, which led to the club posting a photo of a goal net and a caption which read "No goals in October = No goal of the month" on their social media accounts.

Chaos erupted after an amateur soccer game in Irvine, California, this past weekend when players and parents got involved in a nasty brawl.

The fight was between two teams that play in the United Premier Soccer League, which is sometimes considered the fourth tier of the U.S. Soccer pyramid.

Irvine Zeta FC II was a younger team that upset the undefeated Club Garrafones 2-1. After the final whistle scuffles turned to skirmishes which devolved into an all-out brawl.

Former United States women’s national team players Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris are getting a divorce after marrying in 2019. “Krashlyn” is no more after many years together. Harris filed for a divorce from Krieger last month with fans discovering the news this week.