Latest Portugal Soccer News

MILAN, Italy (AP) _ Luis Figo will play one more season for Inter Milan before ending his career and taking on an administrative role with the Serie A champion. Inter announced the winger's one-year contract extension Sunday. ``At the end of next season, Luis Figo will make his great experience and professionalism available to the club to look after international relations,'' Inter said in a statement. Figo, 34, signed a deal in December to move to Saudi ...

LISBON, Portugal (AP) _ Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari picked three under-21 players Thursday for this month's European Championship qualifiers. The Brazilian called up Werder Bremen striker Hugo Almeida and Sporting Lisbon midfielder Nani into his 22-man squad. Both have previously been called into the senior squad but have never played. PAOK goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes replaced injured second-choice Quim Silva of Benfica. Portugal has made a jittery start to its ...

FC Porto secured the lead of the Portuguese league with 28 points after a 1-0 victory over Belenenses on Sunday. Helder Postiga scored from inside the box at the 41st minute. Also on Sunday, Sporting beat Naval 1-0 with a late goal by Ronny Araujo three minutes from the end. On Saturday, Benfica beat Maritimo 2-1 with an own goal by Alex von Shwedler and another by Konstantinos Katsouranis. Marcinho ...

Manchester United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz lashed out at Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Friday after the Brazilian claimed Queiroz wanted his job. Queiroz said Scolari's claim was ``ridiculous, senseless.'' ``Scolari behaves like one of those people you lend your car to when it's got a full tank of gas and they use it all week, crash it and then leave it on a sidestreet with no gas and ...

Paris Saint-Germain and former Portugal striker Pedro Pauleta was suspended for two games by the French soccer league after being sent off and using abusive language toward a lineswoman. On Saturday, Pauleta kicked out at an opponent in the closing seconds of PSG's 1-0 home win over Rennes. The lineswoman alerted the referee to the incident, which got Pauleta a second yellow card. Pauleta turned and shouted abuse at the ...

Antonio Tonel headed in the winner in the 45th minute and earned Sporting a 1-0 win over Amadora on Sunday to give the Lisbon club a share of the Portuguese league lead with Porto. Tonel scored from a corner to move Sporting even with Porto on 15 points after six rounds. Porto beat visiting Maritimo 3-0 on Saturday. Helder Postiga scored a goal in each half and Lucho Gonzalez added ...

Helder Postiga scored goals in each half and helped FC Porto stay at the top of the Portuguese league with a 3-0 win against Maritimo on Saturday. Postiga's goals in the 35th and 86th minutes added to a penalty by Lucho Gonzalez in the 63rd gives Porto 15 points after six rounds. Sporting Lisbon, which shared the lead with the defending champion entering the weekend, played Amadora later Sunday. Braga moved into second place with 13 points with ...

Euzebiusz Smolarek scored two first-half goals Wednesday to lead Poland to a 2-1 win over Portugal in a European Championship qualifier. Smolarek gave Poland the lead in the ninth minute, knocking in a rebound off a volley from Mariusz Lewandowski. In the 18th, Smolarek scored his second. The Borussia Dortmund winger latched onto a through ball from forward Grzegorz Rasiak and sent a right-footed shot past Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira. ...

Poland has struggled in European Championship qualifying and faces Portugal on Wednesday with winger Cristiano Ronaldo in top form. With four points from three games, the Poles want at least a draw. Portugal, on four points from two games, hasn't lost on the road in international qualifying for 10 years. ``Of course we're going there looking for a win, even though we know Poland is a tough outfit,'' said Ronaldo, ...

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals Saturday to give Portugal a 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan in a European Championship qualifier. Ronaldo scored in the 24th and 63rd minutes in the Group A match, while Ricardo Carvalho added the other in the 30th. Ronaldo got the ball from FC Barcelona's Deco and sent a powerful kick which went straight past Azerbaijan goalkeeper Farhad Veliev. A minute later, a bicycle kick from the Manchester United winger appeared to have crossed the ...

UEFA will investigate allegations that Manchester United players were racially abused by spectators during a Champions League match at Benfica last month. United wrote to European soccer's governing body to complain about ``alleged racist conduct'' by fans at the match in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sept. 26. UEFA said in a statement released Saturday that it was investigating ``allegations by United players that they were subject to abuse of a racist nature.'' United won the group match 1-0.

Former Portuguese international Jorge Costa has announced his retirement from football, two years after lifting the European Champion Clubs' Cup with FC Porto, and having been without a club since leaving R. Standard de Liège in the summer. The resulting break from football has persuaded Costa that it is the right time to hang up his boots, although the 34-year-old has told the Portuguese press that he wishes ...

Paulo Jorge, Nuno Gomes, Simao Sabrosa and Giorgios Karagounis scored for Benfica to down Desportivo das Aves 4-1 in the Portuguese league on Sunday. After Jorge scored in the 19th minute, Filipe Anunciacao equalized soon after with a shot between the knees of goalkeeper Quim Silva. Gomes scored five minutes after halftime, and Sabrosa put away a penalty in the 64th because of a hand ball by William Modibo. Karagounis ...