• The Canadian Press

    Real Madrid adapts to Champions League needs: Shock and awe one week, armadillo defense the next

    BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Antonio Rudiger stared down the goalkeeper, took a deep breath, and drilled home the decisive penalty, proving once again there is no tougher task in club soccer than beating Real Madrid in the Champions League. Madrid’s victory over Manchester City after a penalty shootout on Wednesday sent it to a record 17th semifinal appearance and kept it on course to add to its unequaled haul of 14 European Cups. It was fitting that Rudiger finished off City after he anchored a spir

  • CBC

    Resilience is one of Canadian women's soccer team's greatest assets as it looks to defend Olympic gold

    One of Canada's greatest accomplishments in soccer was the women's team standing atop the podium in Tokyo at the Olympics in 2021.I won't forget that entire final — not only because I woke up before dawn to watch it, but because it was one of the most gripping matches I have ever watched. Like many Canadians, I was on the sofa, my emotions oscillating between stress and hope and then jubilation. After covering the team for the last few years, from this triumph through last year's World Cup and w

  • The Canadian Press

    PSG star Tabitha Chawinga of Malawi overcomes obstacles en route to Champions League success

    Tabitha Chawinga wasn't always a prolific scorer. The Paris Saint-Germain star played goalkeeper in rural Malawi as a young girl. A collision with a defender changed all that. Her mouth was bloodied. “After that I stopped playing the goal, because I was afraid as well (of) my mom,” Chawinga says. Her mother frowned on her playing soccer and would slap Chawinga to get her to stop, she says. It's one of the many obstacles she's faced during her rise to stardom. As a teenager, she was considered so

  • The Canadian Press

    Cole Palmer, English soccer's latest revelation, looks to pile more pain on former club Man City

    The pain might not be over for Manchester City. After its agonizing Champions League elimination on Wednesday, City — tired, perhaps, in legs and mind — is facing the prospect of its FA Cup defense being ruined in the semifinal on Saturday by a player the club sold in the offseason and who has gone on to become arguably English soccer’s player of the season. In letting Cole Palmer join Chelsea for at least 40 million pounds ($50.7 million) on the final day of the summer transfer window, City man