Every now and then there is an event in the world of soccer that seems so unbelievable it turns the game on its head.
On Saturday, one such incident, an event unforeseen and unprecedented in the annals of modern technology, occurred in the historic town of Inverness in the distant Scottish Highlands.
Rangers isn’t playing around in this edition of the Europa League. After getting bounced out last season in the Round of 16, the Scottish giants returned to the tournament on Thursday with a bang.
Rangers opened up Europa League group stage play against Belgium’s Standard Liége. After converting a penalty kick in the 19th minute of the game, one would assume that the Scottish club would hold on to the 1-0 lead. The score line seemed all but certain until Rangers’ Kemar Roofe made everyone’s jaw drop with a terrific goal to double the lead in extra time.
MANCHESTER, England — It is 62 years since all four British home nations last qualified together for the finals of a major tournament but after Wednesday's Euro 2020 penalty shoot-out playoff drama, such a prospect is now within reach.
Scotland and Northern Ireland find themselves one game away from qualification for next year's European Championship and the chance to join Wales and England in the delayed finals.
The last time all four made it to a major tournament was the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden.
The Czech Republic will go ahead with next week's UEFA Nations League match against Scotland but will field a different team than the one that beat Slovakia on Friday due to COVID-19 concerns, a team spokesman said on Saturday.
Shortly after their 3-1 victory against Slovakia, the Czech FA said in a statement that Monday's game against Scotland would not take place due to the "current situation with COVID-19."
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Scotland’s Glasgow City, the only part-time club left in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, was always going to have a tough time contending with European powerhouse Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals on Friday. The final score was neither surprising nor flattering.
But of the 10 goals scored at the Reale Arena on Friday afternoon, Glasgow City’s lone strike was the finest of the lot.
The 2019-20 UEFA Women’s Champions League continued on Friday with the quarterfinals following a suspension of play that had put the competition on hold since Halloween. Like the men’s side, the tournament was changed to a single-leg format with all the matches being played behind closed doors in Bilbao and San Sebastián, Spain.
On Friday, Aug. 21, the UEFA Women’s Champions League returns with the quarterfinals of the competition following a layoff that hasn’t seen a match played since last Halloween.
However, the tournament now returns in grand style with a knockout-style format in the Basque Country of northern Spain. Athletic Bilbao’s San Mamés and Real Sociedad’s Anoeta host the remainder of the competition, and Friday’s match in San Sebastián sees Wolfsburg — two-time winner of the competition — take on the only remaining part-time team left, Scotland’s Glasgow City.
The eight Aberdeen players who breached COVID-19 protocols and prompted three league matches to be postponed have been severely reprimanded and heavily fined, the Scottish Premiership club said on Friday.
British media reported that the players had visited a bar on Aug. 1 in breach of their own COVID-19 protocols and government guidance, following their opening 1-0 defeat by Rangers.
Our internal investigation is now complete & has confirmed a breach of AFC COVID-19 protocols and government guidance.
Celtic and Aberdeen's next two Scottish Premiership matches have been postponed after their players broke quarantine rules, the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) said on Tuesday.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon demanded the cancellation after Celtic defender Boli Bolingoli played in a 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock on Sunday without quarantining after returning from Spain — where he had travelled without informing the club.
Aberdeen's Scottish Premiership match away to St Johnstone on Saturday has been postponed after two of the club's players tested positive for COVID-19 and six more are self-isolating.
On Thursday, Aberdeen issued a statement saying the match would go ahead as planned but following a meeting on Friday between Scotland's Minister for Public Health, the Scottish FA and Scottish Professional Football League, the matter has been taken out of their hands.