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Forest Great Robertson, 'Picasso of Our Game', Dies at 72

FILE PHOTO: Football - Nottingham Forest v West Ham United - Coca-Cola Football League Championship - 04/05 - The City Ground , 26/9/04 Former Nottingham Forest players Peter Shilton , John Robertson , Tony Woodcock and Frank Clark at the City Ground to pay respects to the late Brian Clough Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Michael Regan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Football - Nottingham Forest v West Ham United - Coca-Cola Football League Championship - 04/05 - The City Ground , 26/9/04 Former Nottingham Forest players Peter Shilton , John Robertson , Tony Woodcock and Frank Clark at the City Ground to pay respects to the late Brian Clough Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Michael Regan/File Photo
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Forest Great Robertson, 'Picasso of Our Game', Dies at 72

FILE PHOTO: Football - Nottingham Forest v West Ham United - Coca-Cola Football League Championship - 04/05 - The City Ground , 26/9/04 Former Nottingham Forest players Peter Shilton , John Robertson , Tony Woodcock and Frank Clark at the City Ground to pay respects to the late Brian Clough Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Michael Regan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Football - Nottingham Forest v West Ham United - Coca-Cola Football League Championship - 04/05 - The City Ground , 26/9/04 Former Nottingham Forest players Peter Shilton , John Robertson , Tony Woodcock and Frank Clark at the City Ground to pay respects to the late Brian Clough Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Michael Regan/File Photo

John Robertson, the Nottingham Forest winger described by his manager Brian Clough as "a Picasso of our game", has ​died at the age of 72, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

He was a key member of Clough's all-conquering Forest team, assisting Trevor Francis's winner in their 1979 European Cup final victory over Malmo before scoring himself ‌to sink Hamburg ‌in the 1980 final.

"We ‌are ⁠heartbroken ​to ‌announce the passing of Nottingham Forest legend and dear friend, John Robertson," Forest said in a statement, Reuters reported.

"A true great of our club and a double European Cup winner, John’s unrivalled talent, humility and unwavering devotion ⁠to Nottingham Forest will never ever be forgotten."

Robertson spent ‌most of his career ‍at the City ‍Ground, making over 500 appearances across two ‍stints at the club.

Clough once described him as a "scruffy, unfit, uninterested waste of time" who became "one of the finest deliverers of a football ​I have ever seen", usually with his cultured left foot.

Robertson was a ⁠stalwart of Forest's meteoric rise from the second division to winning the English first division title the following season in 1978 before the two European Cup triumphs.

He earned 28 caps for Scotland, scoring the winning goal against England in 1981, and served as assistant manager to former Forest teammate Martin O'Neill at several clubs, including ‌Aston Villa.

"Rest in peace, Robbo... Our greatest," Forest said.

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North Korean Team Wins Asian Women's Champions League Soccer Title

Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
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North Korean Team Wins Asian Women's Champions League Soccer Title

Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

North Korea’s Naegohyang FC defeated Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0 to win soccer's Asian Women’s Champions League on Saturday in the South Korean city of Suwon.

Kim Kyong Yong scored the only goal of the game, her fourth of the tournament, just before halftime.

The North Korean international forward, who also scored the winning goal in the semifinal win over South Korea’s Suwon FC on Wednesday, shot home from inside the area after receiving the ball from Kim Jung who broke free of the Japanese defense, The Associated Press reported.

Watched by a sparse crowd at Suwon Sports Complex, just south of Seoul, the team from Pyongyang had more chances than Tokyo in what was a tight game and deserved to win just the second edition of the 12-team continental tournament, following Wuhan Jiangda’s triumph a year earlier.

The triumph continues unprecedented success for North Korea in women’s soccer. In 2024, the national team won both the U-20 and U-17 World Cups, and successfully defended the latter in 2025.

At a continental level, North Korea won the 2024 Women’s Asian Cup and the 2024 and 2026 U-17 tournament.

“We don’t have enough time to explain the evolution of our national football programs,” Naegohyang head coach Ri Yu Il said prior to the final.

“We have a specialized player development system. Players are well-trained from a young age and as they grow older, they contribute to good performances at AFC or FIFA competitions.”

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Thauvin Inspires Lens to Maiden French Cup Title with 3-1 Win Over Nice

Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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Thauvin Inspires Lens to Maiden French Cup Title with 3-1 Win Over Nice

Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

RC Lens claimed their first French Cup with a 3-1 victory over Nice after Florian Thauvin scored one goal and set up another to help land the trophy at the Stade de France on Friday.

Thauvin, a 2018 World Cup-winner omitted from France's squad for next month's finals, opened the scoring before his perfect corner was headed in by Odsonne Edouard for Lens' second goal.

Djibril Coulibaly pulled one back for Nice on the stroke of halftime, Reuters reported.

Lens' second-half substitute Abdallah Sima sealed the ⁠victory with 12 minutes ⁠remaining, sparking wild celebrations among the 50,000 Lens fans who travelled to Paris hoping to see their club claim a first trophy since the 1999 League Cup.

The triumph capped a remarkable season for Lens, whose only top-flight title came in 1998 and who ⁠finished runners-up to Paris St Germain in Ligue 1 this season.

Nice, meanwhile, face Ligue 2 side St Etienne on May 26 and 29 in a two-legged playoff to preserve their top-flight status.

After a shaky start from both sides, Lens, who had Robin Risser to thank for two spectacular saves, took the lead in the 25th minute when Thauvin collected Matthieu Udol’s cross in the area and found the net with a clinical ⁠left-footed effort.

The ⁠Northerners doubled their lead in the 42nd with Edouard beating Maxime Dupe with a header from Thauvin’s corner.

Coulibaly, 17, reduced the arrears on the stroke of halftime, heading home a Jonathan Clauss corner.

Nice came close to levelling on the hour, but Antoine Mendy's header crashed onto the bar.

But Lens wrapped it up in the 78th minute as Sima, who had replaced Edouard 12 minutes earlier, outmuscled two Nice defenders to beat Dupe with a low shot for his fifth goal in six appearances in the competition.

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Mexico Ease Past Ghana in World Cup Warm-up in Puebla

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Mexico v Ghana - Estadio Cuauhtemoc, Puebla, Mexico - May 22, 2026 Mexico fans in the stands during the match REUTERS/Henry Romero
Soccer Football - International Friendly - Mexico v Ghana - Estadio Cuauhtemoc, Puebla, Mexico - May 22, 2026 Mexico fans in the stands during the match REUTERS/Henry Romero
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Mexico Ease Past Ghana in World Cup Warm-up in Puebla

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Mexico v Ghana - Estadio Cuauhtemoc, Puebla, Mexico - May 22, 2026 Mexico fans in the stands during the match REUTERS/Henry Romero
Soccer Football - International Friendly - Mexico v Ghana - Estadio Cuauhtemoc, Puebla, Mexico - May 22, 2026 Mexico fans in the stands during the match REUTERS/Henry Romero

Mexico beat Ghana 2-0 in Puebla on Friday in a World Cup warm-up that offered a glimpse of the excitement building less than three weeks before the country opens the tournament.

While Puebla is not among Mexico's World Cup host cities, fans in green shirts created a lively atmosphere throughout the night. Repeated Mexican waves rolled around the stadium ⁠despite visible empty ⁠sections closed under FIFA sanctions linked to discriminatory chants at previous national team matches.

Brian Gutierrez set the tone immediately, curling home from the edge of the box after two minutes at Cuauhtemoc ⁠Stadium.

Teenage Liga MX sensation Gil Mora struck the post in the first half, and Alexis Vega had a header ruled out for offside before the break.

Ghana, with recently appointed coach Carlos Queiroz absent and assistants leading from the bench, threatened an equaliser early in the second half after forcing a pair of saves from the ⁠Mexican ⁠goalkeeper and hitting the crossbar.

But substitute Guillermo Martinez ended the visitors' hopes in the 54th minute, finishing off a counterattack to double Mexico's lead.

Coach Javier Aguirre used the friendly to continue evaluating players ahead of naming Mexico's final World Cup squad on June 1, with Europe-based players Edson Alvarez, Jorge Sanchez and Luis Chávez making second-half appearances after recently joining training camp.