MANCHESTER, England — Old Trafford, for a while, was quiet, apprehensive, a place without a voice. Manchester United’s fans watched Manchester City draw its pretty patterns on the field in truculent silence for 30 minutes or so, fretting and murmuring whenever danger seemed imminent. The only noise came from the corner reserved for City’s traveling […] More
Enjoying this newsletter every week? Send it to a friend, or six, and tell them to sign up at nytimes.com/rory. In the space of four days, Liverpool saw its dreams crumble into dust. At Watford last Saturday, defeat ensured Jürgen Klopp’s team lost an unbeaten record it had spent months carefully curating, fiercely defending. It […] More
The luxury homes on a Spanish island and the gleaming yachts moored in Mediterranean ports were all trappings of a life well-lived. They were also, according to the Spanish authorities, the fruits of a multimillion-dollar money laundering and tax-evasion operation controlled by one of world soccer’s most powerful soccer agents, which last month resulted in […] More
FRANKFURT — There is a single black flag where the heart of the Commerzbank Arena should be. All around it, in the stadium’s Kurve, the terraces that are ordinarily home to Eintracht Frankfurt’s most ardent and raucous fans are empty. Exposed, they are just concrete: desolate, silent and gray. The flag, a couple dozen rows […] More
The fate of the N.F.L.’s proposed 10-year labor deal will reach a critical juncture this week. Though the players union’s executive committee and the 32 representatives from each team did not agree last week to endorse the proposal, the entire union membership is expected to begin voting this week on the far-reaching agreement. As in […] More
Get an informed guide to the global outbreak with our daily Coronavirus newsletter. Italian soccer teams and Serie A’s governing body are squabbling with each other about when to play games, with Inter Milan’s chief executive, Giuseppe Marotta, saying the season even runs the risk of being unable to finish. Five games scheduled in the […] More
The most explosive announcement of Major League Soccer’s off-season this year came in the form of an emotional, intimate moment shared on YouTube. Through tears last month, Javier Hernández, the top scorer for Mexico’s national team, called his parents in his hometown, Guadalajara, and told them he had decided to end his decade-long career in […] More
Let it never be said that N.F.L. prospects do not support each other. As Michael Turk, a 21-year-old punter out of Arizona State, approached the bench press at the N.F.L. draft scouting combine in Indianapolis on Thursday, he was cheered on by a crowd of prospects undoubtedly baffled by the sight of the only punter […] More
