Manchester United cannot stop winning. Marcus Rashford cannot stop scoring.

Make that eight straight wins in all competitions for United after a 3-0 victory over third-tier Charlton Athletic secured a place in the English League Cup semifinals on Tuesday.

Iran has protested to Iraq over the use of the name "Arabian Gulf" for a regional football competition held in the neighboring country, state media reported Wednesday.

The Islamic republic insists the body of water should be called the "Persian Gulf" and has repeatedly raised the issue with countries and organisations that refer to it otherwise.

Wales manager Rob Page wants Gareth Bale to stay involved in the international set-up after the star forward announced he was hanging up his boots.

France captain Hugo Lloris has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 36, three weeks after his country lost the World Cup final on penalties to Argentina in Doha.

"I have decided to stop my international career, with the feeling that I have given everything," Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Lloris said in an interview with French sports daily L'Equipe published on Monday.

Lionel Messi is expected to make his first appearance for Paris Saint-Germain since his World Cup triumph in a Ligue 1 clash at home against Angers on Wednesday, as the Qatar-owned club look to tie the Argentine down to a new contract.

The 35-year-old took part in training with his teammates on Tuesday, a little over three weeks after inspiring Argentina to victory over France on penalties in an epic World Cup final in Qatar.

The Spanish Super Cup is returning to Saudi Arabia with defending champion Real Madrid and Valencia looking to get back on track and Barcelona and Real Betis hoping to maintain momentum.

The first semifinal game on Wednesday features Madrid and Valencia with both teams coming off weekend losses in the Spanish league. Madrid has dropped three points behind league leader Barcelona after a 2-1 defeat at Villarreal. Valencia lost 1-0 to Cádiz at home — its second straight league loss — and is four points from the relegation zone.

It's hard to know what would have cut deeper for the men in charge of Chelsea — the ineptitude on the field or the chants in the crowd.

Fed up with seeing their team being given a clinic in yet another loss to Manchester City, Chelsea fans started pining after the people who had delivered them some of the best moments of their lives over the last few years.

French football boss Noel Le Graet on Monday apologized for what he dubbed his "clumsy remarks" about Zinedine Zidane's potential interest in coaching the France national team.

Le Graet had quipped dismissively in an interview on French radio that he "wouldn't even have taken his call on the phone" when asked whether Zidane had rung him to express an interest in taking over as coach from Didier Deschamps.

Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain will play a friendly against a select side made up of players from Cristiano Ronaldo's new club Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal in Riyadh on January 19, the French champions announced on Monday.

Qatar-owned PSG will travel to Doha on January 17 before moving on to the Saudi capital for the match at the King Fahd Stadium which will see Messi and Ronaldo renew their rivalry.

Playing without Robert Lewandowski wasn't so bad for Barcelona after all.

Barcelona overcame the absence of its top striker to win 1-0 at Atlético Madrid and open a three-point lead over rival Real Madrid in the Spanish league on Sunday.