A strong second half performance by the Football Ferns went unrewarded overnight as Japan found a late winner to claim a 2-1 victory at the Kincho Stadium in Osaka.

Says an introduction to an Australian Associated Press piece this week: "It's 500 days until the Rugby World Cup and ambitious ARU boss Bill Pulver reckons the new-age Wallabies are capable of winning all 19 test matches between now and then."

It will at least go to the last day of the season on Monday, but when the Premier League title race is this good, the only pity is that the entertainment has to end then.

Arsene Wenger played it brilliantly. The way he tells it, he has decided to stay on as Arsenal manager, almost as a kind of favour.

A new documentary tells how a football coach picked Jaiyah 'Johnny' Saelua to help failing American Samoa to their first ever victory.

Statistics prove this has been the most exciting season in Premier League history.

Declan Edge has masterminded Ryan Thomas' stunning rise into professional football - now he wants to revolutionise the approach to football development in this country.

Ryan Giggs is considering another season as a player at Manchester United after receiving no assurances over coaching role under a new manager at Old Trafford.

Arsene Wenger claims he will look back on the season as a missed opportunity even if Arsenal clinch a place in the Champions League this weekend.

The All Whites will be without their three top English-based soccer players when they take on South Africa in Auckland later this month.

The Wellington Phoenix's pre-season games against English Premier League opposition may be available to watch only on pay-per-view.

After defeat to Amicale, Auckland City must win against AS Pirae to avoid elimination from the OFC Champions League.

Liverpool soccer supporters don't walk alone here anymore, to use the title from their stirring anthem.

There is a mood of optimism around Old Trafford. The grumpy, tetchy gloom has lifted; the fug of incompetence has been cleared; the hapless and the hopeless have been expunged.

Man United's worst season since 1992 was underscored by the sacking of coach David Moyes, but as a business, the club still has few peers in soccer.

Louis van Gaal is the type of man who sends Valentine's Day cards to himself. He loves himself, admires everything he stands for and will enjoy all this talk of being linked to Man Utd.

Liverpool fans sang about their football being "poetry in motion".

It was only a year ago that David Moyes, while still Everton manager, said he feared harsh economics meant the balance shift from Merseyside to Manchester was irreversible.

Surrounded by the comparative calm last northern summer of a five-star hotel on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.