2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTHAFRICA

Bayern Munich Striker Mario Gomez is Closing in on Three-year Extension

2012-03-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

A Agent of Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez has revealed that his client is close to extending his stay at the Allianz Arena to a speaking with Kicker, Uli Ferber explained that it is only a matter of time before the Germany international and the club reach an agreement to we are well on our way, he said.

The Gomez previous contract was set to expire in June 2013, is expected to put pen to paper on a 3 year deal that will extend his stay until at least 2016 in ferber did not comment on the player expected earnings to a previous report claimed that Bayern would pay Gomez as much as €9 million per season in the 26-year-old is currently joint-top scorer in the Bundesliga alongside Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to found the net 18 times in all competitions and the gomez has scored 80 times since moving to Munich in 2009.

Mario Gomez Personal life for he was brought up in Unlingen, an Upper Swabian village and is of German-Spanish descent to his father is a Spaniard from Granada and his mother is German and he has both nationalities but decided to play for the German national team at the age of 17.

Inter President Massimo Moratti's Wants Chelsea Boss Andre Villas Boas Report.

2012-02-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

A Portuguese has endured a turbulent debut season at Stamford Bridge but the Nerazzurri are keen for him to replace Claudio Ranieri at the helm at appiano gentile and the Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas is reportedly Inter president Massimo Moratti's 1st choice to take over at San Siro during the summer.

The Moratti gave current coach Claudio Ranieri his vote of confidence on Tuesday after a run of five successive defeats in all competitions in gazzetta dello Sport is claiming that the Nerazzurri supremo has already decided to part company with the Roman coach at the end of campaign and now intends to do his utmost to lure Villas-Boas to the Giuseppe Meazza.

The Moratti had hoped to hire Villas-Boas last year but the Portuguese eventually ended up leaving Porto for Chelsea after the Blues agreed to meet his €15 million release clause to Gazzetta in France's Laurent Blanc, Napoli's Walter Mazzarri and Udinese's Francesco Guidolin are also on Moratti's coaching shortlist and the blanc a former Inter player, is out of contract after Euro 2012 in both Mazzarri and Guidolin have done remarkable work to the respective clubs in Serie A in recent seasons.

The Argentine Forward Lionel Messi Hoping Pep Guardiola Stays at Barcelona.

2012-02-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Argentine forward Lionel Messi has admitted that he has heard great things about the Athletic coach and has also been suitably impressed by the impact he has made since arriving in La Liga and messi has revealed to he hopes Pep Guardiola remains as Barcelona coach for years to come but hinted that should the Catalan trainer elect to move on at the end of the season, Athletic Bilbao boss Marcelo Bielsa would make a fine replacement.

A Guardiola is out of contract in the summer and has yet to decide whether he will sign an extension to remain at Camp Nou in messi like all of his team-mates, is hoping that the man who has led Barca to 13 titles over the past four seasons will eventually decide to commit his future to the club and i do not know what he is thinking to the forward told La Red played to we are awaiting the decision he will take.

They are very strong to we have no choice but to fight to the end and the messi is currently preparing for his country's friendly against Switzerland on Wednesday and is suspended for Barcelona's clash with Sporting Gijon in La Liga this weekend after picking up five yellow cards this season.

Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo is at the Top Of The European Golden Shoe Table

2012-02-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

A Portuguese scored a sumptuous goal to maintain his position as the continent's most prolific attacker this season Lionel Messi kept up the pace with a stunning free-kick and the another week of European football as he scored with a brilliant backheel against Rayo Vallecano in his team's narrow 1-0 win on Sunday.

In the strike was the Portuguese star's 29th of the season and keeps him two points clear of his closest rival, Lionel Messi in the argentine matched Ronaldo's majestic effort with a delightful free kick against Atletico Madrid to gave his barcelona side a dramatic 2-1 win and robin van Persie moved level on points trans Narva's goal-scoring behemoth Aleksandrs Cekulajevs a wonderfully curled effort in Arsenal's 5-2 victory over north London rivals Tottenham.

In 1967-68, French football magazine L'Equipe opted to hand out an award to the top goalscorer in all European leagues for his good performances during the season to the between 1968 and 1991, high profile names such as Eusebio, Gerd Muller, Ian Rush and Marco van Basten won the coveted trophy in this measure has prevented players from so-called weaker leagues from winning the European Golden Shoe, since a goal scored in for example, Armenia, Estonia or Azerbaijan, carries less weight than a goal scored in Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga or the Premier League to the players such as Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Forlan and Lionel Messi have won the European Golden Shoe in the past few seasons.

Match News: Barcelona 2-0 Valencia

2012-02-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

The Barcelona will contest the 2012 Copa del Rey final, their 3rd in four years against Athletic Bilbao after overcoming Valencia 2-0 at Camp Nou and 3-1 on aggregate.

xavi:

A Returning to the side after a two-game rest, Xavi struggled with Valencia's early intensity but grew in stature as Barca slowly took control of the game and came to close with a neat lobbed effort in the second half and scored the second with a brilliant finish after that.

Top of the Match for Lionel Messi:

Has looked below his best of late but was hugely participative on the night and did everything but score as he came up against Diego Alves in the woodwork and a heroic block from Victor Ruiz. Some excellent running with the ball to lacked the final finish in he did set up Cesc's goal with a great long pass thorugh.

Flop of the Match for Sofiane Feghouli:

Rasped the side netting with a fierce drive early on and was unlucky to should have at least hit the target when Valencia badly needed to take advantage of their early dominance to the dismissed for a second yellow on 76 minutes and he petulantly pushed Puyol and leaving his side dead and buried.

Pep Guardiola's side now have the chance to clinch their 26th Copa del Rey victory, and will meet Athletic Bilbao in May.

Barcelona Forward David Villa Could return To Action From Injury in April

2012-02-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

The Catalan giants could receive a huge boost as the Spain international may recover in time for the Clasico at Camp Nou on April 22 and he could return to action in the next two months, according to one of his representatives.

The 30-year-old David Villa sustained a fractured leg in the Club World Cup in December and has been in a race against time to regain full fitness before the Euro 2012 finals and it will depend on his recovery to think that at the end of April we will see him playing again, Victor Onate, general director of VOS Marketing and the company which represents Villa, told Canal 9.

David is great. Although people may find it strange, he is working harder than ever, even when he could play to he is very focused on returning as quickly as possible for that the Spain international may resume full training in time for the visit of Real Madrid, on April 22 and he joined Barca in 2010 after a five-year spell at Valencia to has scored 9 goals in 24 appearances this season.

Wayne Rooney Missed Training He Could Be Rested From Thursday Second Leg against Ajax

2012-02-22T06:56:00.000-08:00

The Wayne Rooney played no part in the open portion of training on the eve of Manchester United Europa League clash with Ajax and the sir alex ferguson squad to paces at Carrington ahead of Thursday's 2nd leg at Old Trafford in United will be looking to protect a 2-0 lead and set up a last-16 tie against Lokomotiv Moscow or Athletic Bilbao next month.

He was the only significant absentee from the session and could be rested for the European clash with an important Premier League trip to Norwich looming on Sunday in the remainder of United's 1st team squad were present to midfielder Anderson who has been missing recently with a knee problem and they are long-time absentee Michael Owen, who suffered a thigh injury in the UEFA Champions League match against Otelul Galati in November also did some light jogging.

Personal Life for Wayne Rooney it was annaunced in July 2011 in he jersey was the best-selling sports product that is under the auspices of the Premier League in the manchester United sales annualy between 1.2 million and a million and a half shirt, it is estimated that during last season and the he jersey was sold in several hundred thousand copies to the account is taken of the official jerseys for sale across the globe, not just in England.

I Am Still a Footballer Says Xavi

2012-02-21T07:07:00.001-08:00

A midfielder insists he is still fully focused on his playing career and says he believes his former team-mate will carry on as coach at the Catalan club beyond to this summer and the xavi says he has not considered taking over from Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola now or in the future to revealing he is concentrating solely on his playing career at the moment.

The 41-year-old prefers to operate on one-year contracts, admitting he does not know how he will feel in future in Xavi is one of the names linked with taking over when his former team-mate does depart Camp Nou in the midfielder to recently turned 32 still has two more years on his current contract to he will plays 50 per cent or more of the club's games in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Let me play he told reporters at an event organised by Adidas in Barcelona on Tuesday to i am not even thinking about it coaching to i feel like a footballer, I don't even have a coaching badge to i want to keep playing for many more years to long as my body can last and the xavi believes Guardiola will end up staying at Barca in any case.

Brazil legend Pele Says Barcelona Style is the Blueprint For The Future

2012-02-20T06:51:00.000-08:00

The Former Brazil international Pele has stated that he hopes Barcelona style of play will be emulated by future teams as he believes skill will eventually win out over strength tot the legendary attacker has compared the Catalans to clubs that dominated in the past such as Benfica, Ajax, AC Milan, Real Madrid, and feels that the key to success is to have a group of footballers playing together for a long time.

A Barcelona’s style is the football people want to see and I really hope it’s the blueprint for the future in really hope skill wins out over strength, Pele was quoted as saying on the Fifa website for the look at Germany in to play a much more technical game today, and that’s the football we want to see and we want to see the ball moving, not the players, and you only get that with teams that are really well-organised.

And i have been watching this Barca side a lot lately and they’re like Santos were in my heyday, or the great Benfica, Ajax, AC Milan and Real Madrid sides to they all set the standard in their day and, like I said in the key to their success was the fact that they had settled line-ups over a long period of time and barcelona have won three Champions League titles in the past 6 years and have also lifted the Club World Cup trophy twice in that period.

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker Has Been Ruled Out undergoes Ankle Operation

2012-02-17T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Arsenal week has gone from bad to worse after defender Per Mertesacker was ruled out for the 'long term' having undergone an ankle operation and the German centre back sustained the injury in last weekend's 2-1 victory at Sunderland when falling awkwardly under no pressure from an opponent in the build up to the hosts opening goal.

A latest gaffe from Mertesacker has yet to truly convince since moving to Arsenal last summer in an £8 million deal from Werder Bremen to his serious injury is a new setback for Arsene Wenger in the Gunners boss has seen his defence ravaged by injury problems in their battle to finish in the top 4 of the Premier League and has had to experiment with a range of players and line-ups.

He missed Wednesday UEFA Champions League humiliation against AC Milan in his absence, Laurent Koscielny also limped out of the horror show at the San Siro in the injuries are the latest crisis for Wenger to deal with ahead of a return to Sunderland in the FA Cup this weekend and on Friday he confirmed Mertesacker has gone under the knife and the unfortunately he has had surgery and we have lost him for a Gunners boss told his club's official website.

How long I don't know and he had reconstruction of his ligaments it will be long term.

England News: AC Milan's Philippe Mexes

2012-02-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

The Philippe Mexes has hailed Thierry Henry, labelling him an Arsenal 'idol', despite the striker's spell at the London club ending with the Gunners falling to their heaviest defeat in European football at the hands of AC Milan and the 34-year-old striker made a sensational return to Arsenal on loan in this years' January transfer window, scoring two goals in four appearances and to now returns to parent club New York Red Bulls after the Champions League defeat.

Philippe Mexes said that We have all paid the best compliments possible was the 1st to congratulate to he is an example for everyone. He is an idol for Arsenal and he had to have the courage to come back and make his contribution to Arsenal to he is a fabulous player.

International career for philippe mexes a he played for the Under-18 and Under-21 French national football teams, eventually winning a spot in the senior squad in August 2002 in Raymond Domenech's tenure as coach of the national team, he was rarely called up, and he failed to make the French squad for UEFA Euro 2004 and Mexès played the five first games of the Blanc era, partnering in centre back with Adil Rami On 25 March 2011, he scored his 1st goal for his country in a game against Luxembourg.

Barcelona Star Forward Lionel Messi Has Equaled The Record For Scoring Champions League Goals Scored

2012-02-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has equaled the record for scoring the most goals away from home in one Champions League season following his strike in Barcelona's 3-1 Champions League round of 16 and the 1st-leg win against Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena on Tuesday for a barcelona star Messi equals record for Champions League goals scored away from home in the Argentine attacker has once more added his name to the record books as he netted in the away game against Bayer Leverkusen in Europe's elite football competition.

The Argentina international followed in the footsteps of stars such as Jari Litmanen (1995-96), Hernan Crespo (2002-03) and Thierry Henry (2002-03) when he netted his 7th Champions League goal in an away game on Tuesday in the goal at the BayArena meant that Messi broke the competition record with his 19th strike in knockout games for the raul and Andriy Shevchenko netted 18 times in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Messi says the goal versus Leverkusen was his 98th Barcelona goal outside Camp Nou in 160 official appearances in the attacker has admitted that it will be difficult for Barcelona to retain their Liga title in barcelona have fallen 10 points behind their arch-rivals in the league table following last weekend's results.

Tonight Barcelona's Lionel Messi Needs Just One More Goal

2012-02-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

A Ballon d'Or winner scored an incredible 53 in all competitions last term and has already added an astonishing 37 in 2010-12 for Barca, playing as always with plenty of heart in the Argentine, still only 24, is level with current record holders Raul and Andriy Shevchenko, but can surpass the two European greats with a solitary strike at Leverkusen tonight in champions league love story to the barcelona lionel messi needs just one more goal tonight to break competition record for strikes in the knockout stages.

This is a perhaps fitting that on Saint Valentine's Day for the much admired Argentine can create his own celebration of love by breaking yet another record to he looks to surpass the mark set for goals scored in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Messi already has 43 goals in Europe's premier club competition and leaving him 6th on the tournament's all-time list of top goalscorers are given following:

Behind Raul (71), Ruud van Nistelrooy (56), Thierry Henry (55), Shevchenko (48) and Inzaghi (46) while Cristiano Ronaldo, incidentally, is in 10th place with 31. But almost half of his goals have come in the knockout stages and the which is a measure of Barca's success in the competition over the last few years.

Italy Team News: AC Milan director Barbara Berlusconi

2012-02-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

The Barbara Berlusconi urges AC Milan fans to support the team and the club director says that Massimiliano Allegri's side are entering a critical period of the season and the backing from the stands is required to help out the team.

AC Milan director Barbara Berlusconi has urged the club's supporters to back the team despite their poor run of form in they are italian champions have failed to win their last 3 games in all competitions are losing ground in the Scudetto race to Juventus and suffering a home defeat to the Turin club in the Coppa Italia semi-final.

She is the daughter of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, has insisted that the terraces must keep the faith in Massimiliano Allegri's men in the team need to feel the support of our fans. This should not be a time of controversy and criticism. We are in an important stage of the season," Berlusconi said according to Ansa and the coming weeks will no doubt be decisive. We are still on course to achieve all our goals.

There is no lack of good news and the stephan el shaarawy is proving to be a promising footballer and some of our players are now reaching a good level of form in general a difficult period to go for a many of our players are still unavailable and we are playing every 3 days is difficult to recover for the AC Milan's difficult run continues with a trip to fellow title-challengers Udinese, before a Champions League clash at home to Arsenal on February 15.

The Former Argentina Coach Diego Maradona Demands

2012-02-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

A former Argentina coach Diego Maradona demands Al Wasl offer him funds or he'll quit is angry with club management for affording him only a 'restricted budget' during January, while other clubs signed players like Luca Toni.

The Al Wasl coach Diego Maradona has called on club management to give him more transfer funds or else he will walk away from his contract in Dubai and the Argentine, whose side are currently 5th in the Pro-League, was vocal after Al Wasl only signed two players in January after he said he was promised 8 new additions.

A Maradona told reporters he was disappointed with Al Wasl's “restricted budget” and wanted to be able to acquire players like Al Nasr's new signing Luca Toni in we had a list of players we wanted to sign but weren't able to because of the restricted budgets we were forced to work have to try and work with what we have and perform well until the end of the season," he said according to Sport360.

Swansea Boss Brendan Rodgers Won The Manager Of The Month Award For January.

2012-02-08T07:53:00.000-08:00

The Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers has won the Manager of the Month award for January to the Swans taking seven points from 4 matches, including a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, the 39-year-old has been rewarded for his side’s impressive recent displays.

A Swans have been flying in the maiden season in the Premier League in january a particularly impressive month for the Welsh side as they recorded a victory over Arsenal and only a last-minute own goal saw them draw 1-1 with Chelsea in addition to claiming all three points away against Aston Villa at the turn to year in February began in similar style by overturning a one-goal deficit to defeat West Brom 2-1 at the Hawthorns to leave them in 10th place in the table.

The awarding of the prize serves as a testament to the stylish football Rodgers inexperienced team have played since embarking upon their 1st top-flight season since 1982 in the decision was made by the Barclays Awards Panel to includes representatives from football’s governing bodies in the media and fans is the Ulsterman’s first Manager of the Month Award.

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic Has Taken Full Responsibility for Red Card

2012-02-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic accepts responsibility for red card and the Rossoneri have already stated that they will contest the suspension to the Sweden international believes that he needs to start learning from his mistakes for a dismissal in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Napoli and admitted that he deserved to see red.

A Sweden international was sent off 19 minutes into the second half of the game at San Siro for slapping Salvatore Aronica in the face as he was dragging team mate Antonio Nocerino away from the Partenopei centre-half and he has been hit with a 3 match ban for his rush of blood to head but Milan now intend to fight the suspension.

A 30-year-old forward has no complaints about his dismissal."I did a stupid thing,” Ibrahimovic admitted during an interview with ‘Striscia la Notizia’ on Canale five on Monday night to milan fail to overturn Ibrahimovic’s suspension or at least have it reduced to player will miss the Rossoneri’s upcoming Serie A clashes with Udinese and Juventus as well as their trip to Cesena in between.

England Manager Fabio Capello May Have Breached His Contract.

2012-02-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Former FA boss claims Fabio Capello may have breached his contract by criticising decision to strip John Terry of captaincy and the Italian coach stated his disagreement with the FA over the decision to remove the armband from the defender has now been suggested he may have overstepped the mark.

A Former FA chief executive David Davies has suggested that England manager Fabio Capello may have breached his contract after he publicly disagreed with the decision to strip the captaincy from John Terry in the centre-back is awaiting trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in Chelsea’s clash with QPR in October and the incident had the prompted reports of unrest within the England camp.

The Terry denies the charge but FA chairman David Bernstein acted to remove his captaincy on Friday after his trial was scheduled for 9 July, meaning that the allegations would potentially overshadow preparations for Euro 2012, which begins on 8 June and the Davies responded on Monday, telling BBC television: "It is being taken very seriously by the FA to that Fabio Capello has breached his contract.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola Says Lionel Messi is a Quality Player

2012-02-04T03:45:00.000-08:00

When he is not as his best, he is still superior to other players and thy are 41-year-old coach is unconcerned about the Argentine star's state of mind, while stressing he is not thinking about the result of Real Madrid's game.

The Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has guaranteed that Lionel Messi is not affected by his missed penalty against Valencia in midweek and the diminutive attacker failed to convert from the spot as Barca were held to a 1-1 draw at Mestalla in the first-leg of the Copa del Rey semi finals in a leo is always fine, he is very competitive," Guardiola told reporters at a press conference. "He has experienced many things and he always plays well, you already know my opinion.

They are without being at his best, he is superior to the other players. He sometimes takes responsibilities without having to it comes to penalties, he is amazing. I hope that when he retires, he will keep up his good record in what happens is that he spoils are all here to help him, while knowing he needs little help. We all are more comfortable when Messi is on the pitch in guardiola then rejected the notion his side are in crisis despite failing to win any of their last three matches.

27 PENALTIES TAKEN

20 PENALTIES SCORED

7 PENALTIES MISSED

74% CONVERSION RATE

Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho Good Coach for Barcelona Says Former Barcelona Goalkeeper Vitor Baia

2012-02-02T08:09:00.001-08:00

A former Camp Nou goalkeeper has stated the belief that his Portuguese compatriot would have done a good job had the current Champions League holders employed to former Barcelona goalkeeper Vitor Baia has taken the time to praise Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, and feels that the Portuguese trainer would have been a good option for the Blaugranas.

The Santiago Bernabeu tactician worked at the Camp Nou from 1996 until 2000 under head coaches Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal to his countryman is confident that Mourinho would have done a good job if he'd ever taken charge of the current European champions in he is the best coach in the world in my opinion and he is a very special person," Baia said to Esports COPE.

Mourinho would have been a good coach for Barcelona. He has the ability to adapt to every culture in a mourinho we saw at Chelsea was a completely different coach than the one at Porto to the one at Inter was again another type of coach in mourinho to now seeing at Madrid is once more another type of the 42-year-old raved for the number of recent reports suggested that Mourinho could be on his way out of Madrid at the end of the season in controversial coach has so far denied that he's preparing his exit from the Spanish capital.

England Boss Fabio Capello

2012-02-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

A Tuesday it was announced the 31-year-old will not face trial until July 9, eight days after the final in Poland and the Ukraine to the announcement that England captain John Terry's trial for allegedy racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand will not take place until July 9 in the Chelsea defender will now be available to feature at Euro 2012.

The tournament kick's off in Warsaw on June 8 before reaching its climax in Kiev on July 1, meaning the outcome of the 31-year-old's race trial will not be after Poland and Ukraine in a no doubt as the competition nears and the debate over who Fabio Capello should include his squad heats up in the plenty of attention will fall on Terry's shoulders.

Carlos Tevez Talks AC Milan Re-enter

2012-01-31T06:30:00.000-08:00

AC Milan have reopened negotiations over a dramatic late swoop for Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez and the long-running saga of Tevez's future had appeared set to continue until the summer following a frustrating month for City in their attempts to part with in the striker.

A number of potential suitors have emerged only to apparently drop their interest at a later date, with Paris St Germain and Inter Milan switching their focus to the AC Milan's pursuit of the Argentine also seemed to be at an end when they completed the signing over the weekend of Maxi Lopez to had been lined up as an alternative option if Tevez did not arrive.

The vice-president Adriano Galliani left the door open for a last-minute move on Monday as he refused to rule out the possibility of a surprise switch it is now understood that Milan have re-entered talks with Tevez's representatives ahead of Tuesday's 11pm deadlineis still a lot of work for the Rossoneri to do to finalise his capture and change of heart from one of the clubs over the terms of a deal.

A Manchester City have always maintained that they want to sell the 27-year-old to Milan had previously been keen to sign him on loan with a view to making the arrangement permanent in the summer to play milan may not be the only option for Tevez at this late stage to ambitious Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala also still thought to be interested.

Barcelona's Victor Valdes Admits.

2012-01-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

Barcelona's Victor Valdes admits to we have no more room for error in La Liga for the Catalans are now seven points behind Real Madrid at the top of the table following Saturday night's disappointing 0-0 draw with Villarreal at El Madrigal.

The Victor Valdes believes Barcelona must win all 18 of their remaining fixtures if they are to have any chance of holding on to their La Liga crown in the Catalans are now seven points behind leaders Real Madrid after their dismal 0-0 draw with Villarreal at El Madrigal and the Spain goalkeeper admits that Pep Guardiola's men are now in a precarious position.

"We have no more room for error," Valdes is quoted as saying by Sport to we have dropped two important points against Villarreal have to win all the points that remain in that is what you get of a we want to fight for the league in can not fail anymore because there is a rival in front of us that is very strong."

A Trying to work out the reasons behind Barca's inconsistent form of late, particularly on the road, Valdes believes that fatigue has become an issue for a side which travelled to Japan for the Club World Cup in December and the injuries can never be used as excuses," he argued to would be small team that does that. There is enough in strength in depth to deal with all of the games.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

2012-01-28T03:09:00.000-08:00

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger not ruling out Jack Wilshere return this season The Arsenal manager admitted to his key midfielder had suffered a setback in training and they are refused to be drawn on whether the injury was season-ending.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists that it is premature to suggest that Jack Wilshere's season is over to his he confirmed reports that Wilshere had suffered a setback in training on Wednesday in Friday press conference and said that the midfielder was sent for a scan after complaining of a pain in his foot.

A 20-year-old has yet to feature for Arsenal this season after breaking down in a pre-season friendly against New York Red Bulls in the injury stemmed from over-use in the 2010-11 season, with Wenger quoted at the time as saying he was "in the red zone are Wenger and Wilshere himself were confident that the diminutive midfielder would return in February, possibly in time for the Gunner's crunch Champions League tie against AC Milan to his return date has now been pushed back.

He is adamant though that it is too early to rule out his talismanic playmaker for the rest of the season and subsequently for England in the European Championships to feel for him and of course, he wants to be in the big tournaments said Wenger. "I believe as well, he wants to play for Arsenal to he grew up here.

Spokesperson of Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho slams

2012-01-27T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Spokesperson of Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho slams Barcelona's Dani Alves says 'A donkey with small ears & glasses is still a donkey' and the Portuguese coach's spokesperson has hit out at the Brazilian defender in the comparing him to a donkey, and feels referees are always in favour of the Catalan outfit.

A Eladio Parames, the spokesman of Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, has hit out at Barcelona defender Dani Alves in the wake of last Wednesday's 2-2 Copa del Rey quarter-final draw at Camp Nou in the Catalans winning 4-3 on aggregate and the parames also voiced his dismay with the standard of refereeing in Spain stated his belief that Barcelona have the backing of the match officials if they are struggling in a game.

What's changed since he [Dani Alves] came to Spain. He's undergone surgery on his ears, they've become smaller in he's wearing glasses like an intellectual a donkey with small ears and glasses is not all of a sudden a doctor, he's still a donkey," Parames said on Twitter have already said it before to barcelona play well, they're winning in the opponents play better than them, the referee will help them to win."

The Parames than went on to reveal what Jose Mourinho said to referee Teixeira Vitienes in the parking area after Wednesday's game to you have no respect for professionals to going to smoke a cigar now and have a good laugh Mourinho said, according to his spokesman.

Carlos Tevez Rule Out For Inter Milan

2012-01-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Inter Milan have announced they are no longer interested in signing Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez having previously held negotiations to the Argentine in the AC Milan and Paris Saint Germain have also held talks 27-year-old, but no club has been able to meet City's £30 million-plus valuation.

They are less than a week remaining of the transfer window, Tevez is presently in Argentina, having returned to South America in November for the City have stopped paying his wages in the striker and his club are keen to see an end to what has become an arduous saga, which began in September after he refused to resume his warm-up in the UEFA Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich.

A Tuesday evening City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak outlined the club would not allow Tevez to leave in any undervalue deal and if any suitable arrangement cannot be found then they would expect the forward to honour the remaining two-and-half-years of his contract for the AC Milan have been Tevez's preferred destination to PSG having pulled out of a deal because they believe it is too expensive, they now also appear to be his only option after Inter ruled out a move due to the return of other players from injury.

The Inter, meanwhile, remain unsure over the future of Thiago Motta, who has been regularly linked with PSG to asked whether the midfielder will stay at the Giuseppe Meazza, Provera said: "It's a question that for now has no answer to they are choices which the club will do with the player."

Chris Smalling Believes Manchester City Will Be Under Pressure.

2012-01-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Chris Smalling believes Manchester City will "crumble" under the pressure if Man United keep up their pursuit of the league leaders and he was played in United's 2-1 win at Arsenal which kept them within striking distance of their Manchester rivals, after City defeated Spurs in Sunday early game.

A defender believes big-spending City will collapse if United keep winning to the 22-year-old told the Manchester Evening News, "Soon enough, if we keep ticking these wins then they'll crumble in the victory was the 1st of four away matches manager Sir Alex Ferguson says United must win, with Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City the others to was a massive win for us," said Smalling.

They are 1-1, we all knew that we really needed to win this game because of what happened earlier, and I think we showed real character to a another youngster to become a Man United regular this season is 21-year-old Danny Welbeck, who scored the 80th minute winner against Arsenal to he was full of praise for his international team-mate, who has scored in his last three games.

"I think that was something that he's really gained and he's scoring goals in he is had a knack of scoring good goals this year and at vital times as well to the last year, he did well (on loan) at Sunderland and this year he's getting his chance."

Wesley Sneijder Rules Out And Close Of The Current Transfer Window.

2012-01-23T07:11:00.000-08:00

Wesley Sneijder rules out leaving Inter before close of January transfer window and the Netherlands international has been linked with Manchester United again in recent weeks in the playmaker insists that there is no chance of him leaving San Siro.

Wesley Sneijder has reiterated that he will not be leaving Inter before the close of the current transfer window to the Netherlands international was reportedly close to moving to Manchester United in the summer and to link has resurfaced in recent weeks.

When asked after Sunday's 2-1 victory over Lazio if he could still join the Old Trafford outfit before the end of the month, Sneijder told Inter's official website and the "How much is left? A week? I'm staying here" and the nerazzurri president Massimo Moratti also insisted that the Dutch playmaker is staying put in claiming, "No one has ever thought otherwise."

He only featured as a substitute during the win over Lazio in coach Claudio Ranieri revealing afterwards that the player is not yet 100 per cent after only just returning from a two-month spell on the sidelines with a muscular problem.

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani

2012-01-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

We will sign Maxi Lopez if Carlos Tevez does not arrive at San Siro and the 67-year-old has admitted that they could sign the Argentine striker after all they only if Manchester City's Carlos Tevez does not move to Italy.

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani has admitted that the Rossoneri could sign Maxi Lopez from Catania after all as they have agreed terms with both club and player for added that the Argentine forward has not undergone a medical yet at San Siro and the transfer is not a done deal at this point in the Rossoneri were close to signing Maxi Lopez earlier this month in stressed that Manchester City attacker Carlos Tevez was their only option for the striker position.

They are now back in for Maxi Lopez as well and a January transfer seems to be a realistic option to the situation is very simple we have an agreement with Catania and with the player to seems he's already in Milan, but we'll see medical? Let's stay calm, we'll wait for a few more days," Galliani said on the club's official website.

If Tevez doesn't arrive, we'll sign Maxi Lopez is a player who interests us lot of a We won't sign them both though in either one or the other in the catania already revealed on Sunday that Maxi Lopez was on the verge of leaving the club and the Argentine could complete his move to the Serie A champions shortly.

David Beckham wants to captain

2012-01-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

David Beckham Clubs:

Manchester United 1992 to 2003

Preston (loan) 1995

Real Madrid 2003 to 2007

LA Galaxy 2007

AC Milan (loan) 2009 & 2010

David Beckham has revealed his desire to captain the Great Britain football team at the 2012 Olympics and he signed a new contract with LA Galaxy earlier this week and part of the deal was that the MLS side will allow him to play in the London Games in the would love to be captain, in the 36-year-old said, have led my country before and know how special it would be to lead them into the Olympics to have had conversations with coach Stuart Pearce, but not been selected.

He was a key member of the bid team that helped London secure the Games in Singapore in 2005 to he is one of 184 players contacted by the Football Association to have indicated their availability for the Olympic football team would love to be part of Team GB," he said, before thanking Tim Leiweke, president of LA Galaxy owners AEG, and Galaxy coach Bruce Arena for agreeing to give him time away from the MLS.

They are speaking to Google, Beckham also said he hopes he can keep playing professional football beyond the end of his new LA Galaxy contract in 2014 and the former England captain to turns 37 in May, signed a two-year extension with the MLS side on Wednesday to think people expected me to either move away or retire at the end of my old LA deal," admitted Beckham.

Real Madrid Director Of Football Zinedine Zidane Has Hit Out At Fan.

2012-01-20T08:26:00.000-08:00

Zinedine Zidane says to attack Jose Mourinho & the players is the same as attacking Real Madrid and the Frenchman says that the former Chelsea boss is in the process of building something great at the club and that no other manager has a system to beat Barcelona.

The Real Madrid director of football Zinedine Zidane has hit out at fans who are criticising Jose Mourinho and his players after the 2-1 Copa del Rey loss to Barcelona on Wednesday in the Portuguese coach arrived in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid have beaten their arch-rivals in only one of their meetings and the Zidane feels criticism of the 48-year-old is unfounded in attacking Jose Mourinho and the players is the same as attacking Real Madrid," Zidane told AS.

"I can't understand those who can demand that Mourinho leaves when he's in the middle of building something great, of imprinting a winning character on our team," explained the 39-year-old in the former France international also defended Mourinho's tactics, despite widespread talk of his side's negative approach to tie in i also don't understand those who criticise system Mourinho used in the cup match on Wednesday.

"I challenge any coach to tell me if they know an appropriate tactical system to beat Barcelona" in the real Madrid will look to salvage their attempt to hold their Copa del Rey title on January 25 at Camp Nou.

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov

2012-01-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

Bayer Leverkusen rule out January move for Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov in the Bulgarian is not a transfer target for his former side this month to the player's agent also states the forward will not be leaving Old Trafford for the Bundesliga.

The Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is not a transfer target for former side Bayer Leverkusen, according to one of the German club’s executives to a despite being United's top scorer last term with 20 league goals for the former Bulgarian international has struggled to hold down a regular spot in Sir Alex Ferguson's first-team this season, seemingly falling behind Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck in the attacking pecking order.

A Berbatov has been heavily linked with a move back to the club he joined Tottenham from in 2006, but there is no truth in the reports according to Wolfgang Holzhauser, a club official to have been reading that Dimitar would have flown over to Frankfurt and that we would be in for him there to negotiate a transfer was interesting news to me, Holzhauser told Express in "I am clearly out to never say never, but this is nothing we are looking forward to at this point in time.

“Usually I don't comment on speculation from the press to can say whatever they want," Danchev told Sovetski Sport to the only thing that I can say is that at this moment the eventual transfer of Berbatov to another club is not on the agenda."

Transfer Zone For Manchester City

2012-01-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

A Premier League leaders do not want to fall behind Manchester United in the race for the Argentine and sent a scout to check on the player on Wednesday and the Manchester City are keeping a close eye on Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan, according to a report from Portugal.

The Record claims that the Premier League outfit dispatched a scout to observe the Argentine in Benfica's 2-0 victory against Santa Clara on Wednesday in the League Cup in he has been strongly linked with a new challenge after an impressive start to his 2nd season at the Estadio da Luz.

Manchester United are also tracking the 23-year-old manager Sir Alex Ferguson confessing that he is a fan of the former Boca Juniors star to he agent stressed last month that he was unaware of any talks between Benfica and the Red Devils over the transfer of his client and he joined Benfica in 2010, has a €45 million release clause attached to his contract, which expires in 2016.

Lionel Messi To wear New Adidas Boots F50 For Wednesday's Clasico Fixture against Real Madrid.

2012-01-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

The three-times Fifa Ballon d'Or winner is looking to continue his excellent record against the Santiago Bernabeu outfit and will sport new 'smarter' footwear on Wednesday in barcelona attacker Lionel Messi is set to wear a new pair of adidas F50 adizero boots for Wednesday's Clasico fixture against Real Madrid.

The diminutive forward wore a golden pair of the same footwear after being awarded the Fifa Ballon d'Or award earlier this month to will sport a new blue and red version in the Copa del Rey quarter final 1st leg to the new design is exclusive to the South American superstar and will also be a testament to the fact that the game in the Spanish capital will be his 300th appearance for the Camp Nou outfit in the F50 boots are recognised as leading, innovative footwear and are lightweight at only 165 grams.

They are also fitted with miCoach technology, which can track how far a player has ran over a selected period of time, maximum speed and number of sprints per match, amongst other statistics he will not be the only player to wear the adidas model at the Santiago Bernabeu, as Karim Benzema and Fabio Coentrao are also set to wear F50's albeit in different designs and the Argentine's boots have 'Fifa Ballon d'Or Player of the Tear engraved into the lining and Messi will hope that they can lead Barcelona to another victory over their bitter rivals.

Chris Coleman Set To Land Wales Manager Job in England, Spain and Greece On Thursday.

2012-01-18T07:18:00.000-08:00

Name: Chris Coleman

Born: 10 June 1970 in Swansea

Won: 32 caps for Wales

Played for Swansea City, Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers and Fulham

Managed Fulham, Real Sociedad, Coventry City and Larissa

A Football Association of Wales has called a media conference in Cardiff at which the appointment will be confirmed in former Wales defender Coleman, 41, held talks with the FAW earlier this week after expressing his desire to be Gary Speed's successor and the "Every manager wants one day to be in charge of his country and I'm no different," said Coleman on Sunday.

The ideally for me the opportunity wouldn't be here. It's only here because of one reason, and I wish it was not to course if I do get the position I'll be a very proud Welshman and after treading carefully under difficult circumstances following Speed's death in November to the FAW has accelerated its search for a new manager over the past few days.

The Verheijen and Roberts have received the backing of many of the players, with captain Aaron Ramsey particularly strong in his belief that "as little change as possible" should take place and he joined Larissa in May 2011 as he attempted to resurrect his managerial career after a year out of the game to his last job in England was with Coventry City to he was sacked in 2010 after a difficult two and a half years in charge.

His managerial career began less than a year later when he was appointed by Fulham following Jean Tigana's dismissal and he spent four years in charge at Craven Cottage, leading the club to their then highest Premier League finish of 9th before being sacked in 2007.

Barcelona Pedro To Miss

2012-01-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

Barcelona player Pedro to miss Real Madrid Copa del Rey clash with hamstring injury to the Spain international picked up a knock on Thursday and will face 10 days on the sidelines which will keep him out of next week's cup Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu have announced that Pedro will miss the 1st-leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals against Real Madrid after picking up a hamstring injury in Thursday's 2-1 victory at Osasuna.

A versatile forward featured from the start in the second leg of the last-16 cup match at the Reyno de Navarra, but was forced to leave the pitch after 68 minutes of play due to the knock and he will be out of action for the next 10 days, which means that he will miss Barca's Liga matches against Betis and Malaga, and next week's Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 24-year-old has so far made 25 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring six goals.

International career for a Pedro On 20 May 2010, Pedro was included by Vicente del Bosque in Spain's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup On the 29th, he made his debut in a 3–2 friendly win against Saudi Arabia, and earned his 2nd cap shortly after, as a 58th minute substitute in a 1–0 win against South Korea.On 8 June 2010 in the last friendly prior to the finals in South Africa, with Poland, Pedro scored his 1st international goal, and also assisted Fernando Torres, in a 6–0 victory and the final stages, he appeared in five matches (three as a late substitute) on July 7, in the semi-final against Germany and the he started in place of Torres, who had been performing poorly in earlier matches.

Sir Alex Ferguson Boss Ready To Meet Challenge From Manchester City.

2012-01-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

A Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United can combat the threat from Manchester City by adopting the route that helped them counter Chelsea's challenge and the until Sunday's FA Cup triumph at the Etihad Stadium, it seemed City were ready to romp away with the title of a suddenly there are doubts on the blue half of Manchester united will look to exploit by overcoming Bolton at Old Trafford tomorrow to move level with their neighbours, who do not play until Monday when they travel to Wigan.

The United eventually manage to retain their crown and become the first English club to reach 20 titles, it does appear to be only a matter of time before City reach the top is not something that scares Ferguson to a after all the chelsea looked as though they would dominate for a decade when they won successful championships under Jose Mourinho it did not quite work out that way as United went on to win four of the last five.

The indications this would happen were there of course," Ferguson told MUTV in weren't buying any kids in brought a good deal of experience to that shouldn't frighten us for we have a job to do being Manchester United, as we have proved over the years in how we handled the Chelsea situation will hopefully apply itself again."

The mood around Old Trafford is a lot more optimistic than it was a week ago to a Ferguson's team still need to recover from successive defeats against Blackburn and Newcastle that have damaged their title hopes.

Gary Cahill Still Talking To Chelsea And They Remain The Only Side in The Running For His Signature.

2012-01-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

Owen Coyle says Gary Cahill's representatives remain locked in talks with Chelsea, meaning he could figure for Bolton against Manchester United on Saturday and the deal to take the England international to Stamford Bridge is edging closer in the Blues having agreed a fee with the Trotters.

A anticipated that a move would be pushed through this week in the clock is ticking on Chelsea's effort to have everything put in place by the weekend in a personal terms proving to be something of a stumbling block, there is a chance that Cahill will line up for Bolton in their meeting with North West rivals United at Old Trafford dialogue continues between Gary's agent and Chelsea, said Coyle.

We accept it has probably been long-drawn. It is over two weeks ago that we agreed a fee in some times that is the nature of football business. It can take that period of time on the gary is a Bolton player and until I hear something different in terms of negotiations being concluded between both parties and he will be in line to play against Manchester United.

It has been suggested rival suitors have made their interest in Cahill known to this is news to Coyle in insists Chelsea remain the only option for the 26-year-old at present in other clubs are linked with him it is just speculation," added the Scot and they are have agreed a fee with Chelsea. I have had no dialogue with any other club.

I Want To Play in Argentina Before Retiring Says Barcelona Lionel Messi.

2012-01-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

The former Newell's Old Boys trainee claims he is determined to appear in his homeland, while praising Ronaldo, who presented him with his third consecutive Ballon d'Or on Monday and he has affirmed to that Barcelona are the only team he will ever play for on European soil he has revealed his intention to play in his native Argentina before retiring.

A 24-year-old won his third straight Fifa Ballon d'Or accolade on Monday evening, after leading the Catalan club to five trophies during 2011 and to moved to Spain at the tender age of 13 after starring in the youth ranks at Newell's Old Boys, Leo is the only member of the current Albiceleste squad not to have started a single league game in Argentina to speaking on Tuesday to Ole, Messi was in no doubt that at some point in future this would be remedied and that he would appear in his home country.

"In Europe I want to play at Barcelona. I would stay here forever, the longer the better because I feel very comfortable and loved," the 24-year-old said and the before I retire I want to play in my country, I am absolutely certain that I want to play in Argentina. It is a dream and I am going to make it come true."

The player continued to state that he was delighted to have received the award from Brazilian legend Ronaldo, saying that it was another landmark in his career so far he played Barcelona are back in action on Thursday, when they meet Osasuna in their Copa del Rey last-16 second-leg match.

Lionel Messi Won 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or And Third Consecutive Player Of The Year Award.

2012-01-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

Name: Lionel MESSI

Club: FC Barcelona

Country: Argentina

Position: Forward

Date of Birth: 24 June 1987 (age 24)

Defining moment of 2011: Running through the Madrid defence at the Bernabeu to score a stunning second in a 2-0 Champions League semi-final win

The three-time winner stuck to players from his club and nation when voting and set his sights on winning the World Cup in 2014. Lionel Messi revealed that he stayed faithful to his Barcelona and Argentina team-mates when it came to casting his own votes for the 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or.The 24-year-old lifted his third consecutive Player of the Year award on Monday evening, equalling the record of Michel Platini.

"I am enjoying the fact that today my nation feels proud of me, prouder than they ever have before. It is something brilliant, they are showing me that [pride] and I appreciate in the prizes I have received and the recognition from both my country and my home city in more than anything is the love of the people and i noticed it in the short time I was in Buenos Aires and Rosario, walking in the street a young boy came up to me to i feel loved."

Messi's Barcelona won the Primera Division, Supercopa, Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup in 2011 to 3rd straight Ballon d'Or success for Messi, who has now won the 1st two awards and the prestigious prize was merged with Fifa's World Player of the Year gong in 2010.

Messi was the clear favourite to claim the title after helping Barca to a third straight Liga title in 2011 and a second Champions League success in three years to a Argentine reveived 47.88 per cent of the overall vote, Cristiano claiming 21.6% and Xavi in third with 9.23%.

And Cruyff, who has watched Messi emerge at Barca over the last few years, believes the Argentine can go on to claim the award six or seven times and the argentine scored 59 goals in 70 appearances for club and country in 2011, including 55 in 57 for Barcelona. He also racked up an incredible 35 assists in the calendar year.

Scottish Premier League

2012-01-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

The Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers have both been drawn against Scottish Premier League opposition in the 5th round of the Scottish Cup in holders the Hoops will go up against the winners of the 4th round replay between SPL newcomers Dunfermline Athletic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who were dumped out by Celtic at the quarter-final stage last season.

Rangers, who crashed out In the round's other all-SPL tie, Hearts go up against fellow league high-fliers St Johnstone in Hibernian will take on the winner of the replay between 1st division Dundee and Kilmarnock at the 5th round last year and they face a tough home tie against Dundee United.

A draw has been kind to last year's runners-up Motherwell, who will face Greenock Morton, Aberdeen have also drawn lower league opposition in Queen of the South and the remaining ties will see Ross County take on the victor of the replay between Hamilton Academical and St Mirren, Ayr United go up against Falkirk.

Draw for fifth round of Scottish Cup:

Hibernian v Dundee/Kilmarnock

Motherwell v Greenock Morton

St Mirren/Hamilton Academical v Ross County

Inverness Caledonian Thistle/Dunfermline v Celtic

Ayr United v Falkirk

Rangers v Dundee United

Hearts v St Johnstone

Aberdeen v Queen of the South

FINAL THREE: Who should win the 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or?

2012-01-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

Lionel Messi Won:

2007: Third

2008: Second

2009: Winner

2010: Winner

Cristiano Ronaldo Won:

2007: Second

2008: Winner

2009: Second

Xavi Won:

2009: Third

2010: Third

On Monday January 9 in Zurich, the best player in the world for 2011 will be crowned and a 3rd year in a row, the Fifa Ballon d'Or to previously just the Ballon d'Or is dominated by players who ply their craft in Spain's La Liga.

The Reigning world player of the year Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina, last year 2nd runner-up Xavi of Barcelona, Spain and 2008 winner Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Portugal are the 3 nominees for the 2011 award in the same three finalists in the 2009 edition.

Who should win the 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or?

Cristiano Ronaldo 47.71%

Lionel Messi 43.32%

Xavi 8.96%

Villa Striker Darren Bent No contact From Liverpool

2012-01-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish insists he has not had any contact with Liverpool about a possible move for Darren Bent and the rumours have suggested Liverpool are weighing up a move for Bent as they look to bring in cover in a attack with Luis Suarez currently serving an 8 game ban for theracially abusing Patrice Evra.

He Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner and McLeish had all previously said the England international was going nowhere and McLeish insists they would not consider selling the former Tottenham and Sunderland man and we have not heard a thing from Liverpool," said McLeish aware of the speculation.

There has been no contact with this club and I think you've had three parties telling you that even if there was contact, we would not entertain that (selling Bent) for we wouldn't want to entertain selling our top scorer of last season. He is a prolific marksman.

Personal life for a born in Tooting, London, Bent is of Jamaican descent to his father, Mervyn Bent, was a player in the youth systems of Wimbledon and Brentford and he moved to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire at age of 10 and played for the Godmanchester Rovers youth system.

International career for a Bent has represented England at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19, under-21 and senior levels to he made his under-16 debut against Finland on 31 July 2000, making 10 appearances and scoring three goals for the team with his last appearance coming against Finland on 27 February 2001 in he retained his place for England's Euro 2012 qualifier with Wales to make his 1st competitive international start on 26 March 2011 in scoring England's second goal he took his tally to 3 goals in his last 3 matches.

Rio Ferdinand Says Manchester City Did United a Favour Out to Create History

2012-01-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

Rio Ferdinand is confident Manchester United can overhaul Manchester City in the title race after admitting the 6-1 humiliation in October provided an important wake-up call and the Red Devils will be looking to draw level on points in the local rivals at the top of the table on Wednesday night when they travel to St James' Park to face Newcastle.

A United have been in fine form over the past couple of months and traditionally grow stronger during the second half of a campaign in they became league champions for a record-breaking 19th time last term and Ferdinand believes they will again emerge triumphant he asked what United have got in their favour, Ferdinand said in The Sun: "Loads of things. I don't like to say we've got this and you have not.

The Ferdinand has been proud of the way United have performed since bowing out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stage, especially as Ferguson's resources have been stretched to the limit in the defender added, we have got a crazy amount of injuries and illnesses, yet we're still managing to get the results and long may that continue a most important thing is the way the squad is playing now to the manager has said at the beginning of the season it's not about 11 men in since we went out of the Champions League we've shown a great resolve in our squad.

Uefa President Michel Platini

2012-01-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

A Uefa president Michel Platini salutes ownership structure of both Barcelona and Real Madrid and the Frenchman believes that clubs should belong to and be answerable to their supporters and cites the two Spanish sides as the best examples of this ethos.

The Uefa president Michel Platini has hailed the ownership model employed by both Barcelona and Real Madrid to the two Primera Division giants belong to and are effectively answerable to their fans in those who are fully enlisted members of the club.

This system, which allows supporters to have a greater say in the running of their club, is most desirable, according to Platini to i love the management structure of Real Madrid and Barcelona because the members remain responsible for the club and their decisions, the former Juventus man told L’Equipe and the both preserve their identity and the popularity of football lies precisely in the fact that there are such strong ties with the fans.

And the Football is popular because of its human values and that includes its mistakes,” he argued to “If we are to prioritise the business value, then we will lose that popularity and the ootball is great as it is even with its injustices, like that Germany-France semi-final in 1982, or with the hand of [Diego] Maradona. Or [Thierry] Henry to the despite Platini’s in Fifa president Sepp Blatter recently admitted that video technology could be introduced in time for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

City Midfielder Nigel de Jong Still in Roberto Mancini's Plans

2012-01-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Manager Roberto Mancini insists out-of-favour Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong remains an integral part of his plans and he made his first start since November at Sunderland on New Year's Day and was removed at half-time by Mancini to the Netherlands international, who had a spell out in August and September with a foot injury is out of contract at the end of next season and is yet to agree a new deal.

A Speculation has surfaced over whether the 27-year-old will remain at Ethiad Stadium but Mancini still regards him as an important player and the manager said, Nigel had too many problems when we started the season for the two months off for injury.

The After this the squad played a different system with two strikers, two offensive players like wingers and only two midfielders in this reason Nigel did not play a lot of games but he is still an important player is no change in this situation and now he can play to i think it is normal that one player, when he doesn't play, is frustrated to for him it is difficult but now we are playing 5 games in 16 days and we need our players.

Thierry Henry Here To Help

2011-12-31T04:21:00.000-08:00

Arsene Wenger believes Thierry Henry could give Arsenal the same short-term boost provided by Sol Campbell when he returned to the club for a 2nd spell in 2010 and the Arsenal manager has confirmed Henry to the club's all-time record scorer, will sign for the Gunners on a two-month loan deal if insurance agreements can be agreed with current club the New York Red Bulls.

And he hopes the deal will prove as successful as Campbell's 11-match stint two years ago when he filled a defensive void to the Wenger said: "Sol was fantastic when he came back in Sol is like Thierry and the once they are committed you know you can rely on them.

They have i remember when we went to Tottenham, Sol was absolutely amazing for a guy who, 3 weeks before, you wondered if this guy can still play in Premier League and he had such a capacity to fight and they have that pride to we have to continuity of the special link to our former players in the Wenger warned Arsenal fans not to a expect the Henry of 10 years ago and he decided after one training session to ask the 34-year-old to rejoin the club in wenger said, You do not find players on the planet of this quality who are available for two months.

A You can never take away from people what they have done, that will remain forever Nobody expects him to be what he was 10 years ago to he is here to help out, not to suddenly be the leader, the main player in the squad. He and I are conscious that he is 34 years old, but he has not lost his class or his brain in Wenger wants Henry, who is available until the MLS season restarts in March, to fill the void which will be left when Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho leave for the African Nations Cup next month.

A Spanish Attacker Is Reported To Be Close To Re-signing.

2011-12-30T08:32:00.000-08:00

A Spanish attacker is reported to be close to re-signing for his former club after enduring a disappointing start to the season at the Vicente Calderon outfit and the atletico Madrid winger Jose Antonio Reyes is on the verge of completing a move to Sevilla, AS reports.

A 28-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Vicente Calderon in recent weeks after finding himself on the fringes of the action under former boss Gregorio Manzano in the appointment of Diego Simeone as coach was expected that Reyes would stay on at the club and the former Arsenal man admitted he was still assessing his options to spanish sources claim that Simeone has given the go-ahead for Reyes transfer as he only wants players who are 100 per cent committed to Atletico.

The Reyes will reportedly sign a contract which will run until 2016 with Sevilla, who he left in 2004 to pursue his career abroad with the Gunners to a sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido has called a press conference for 14.00CET, and reports suggest he could announce the signing of Reyes at the event.

Oriol Romeu Looks They Could Re-Sign Him In The Summer Of 2012 For €10million (£8.3m) or €15million (£12.5m) in 2013.

2011-12-29T07:15:00.000-08:00

Oriol Romeu's agent has hinted the Chelsea midfielder will resist the option to return to Barcelona and stay until 2013 at the least and the Catalan giants sold the 20-year-old to the Blues during the close season, although it was believed they could re-sign him in the summer of 2012 for €10million (£8.3m) or €15million (£12.5m) in 2013.

A Andre Villas-Boas insists Barca have 1st refusal on Romeu, which only comes into play should the West Londoners wants to part company with his services to had been thought that Barcelona were mulling over re-signing Romeu at the end of the season if Seydou Keita leaves in search of a fresh challenge in Italy's Serie A.

"Will Romeu return? His dream before leaving was to be a Barcelona player and that still stands and we cannot ignore the opportunity Chelsea have provided," agent Javier Magico Diaz to Marca he has made a name for himself in the Premier League and is playing regularly to committed to the club and we cannot leave them hanging."

He added on a possible Barcelona return, We'll have to see if it's appropriate for the club and the player to we need to know if he'll keep developing at Chelsea and playing in the "Maybe it will be more convenient to stay for the another year and then return in 2013."

A Real Madrid Striker Gonzalo Higuain Has Emerged As A Target For Chelsea To The Club.

2011-12-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

A Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain has emerged as a target for Chelsea with the club seeking to get hold of the player’s representatives to see if he would be interested in a move to Stamford Bridge and according to The Times, Andre Villas-Boas will find out if the 24-year-old is available as he seeks to re-adjust his faltering forward line.

Argentine has a phenomenal scoring record with the Spanish giants and averages a goal every 53 minutes this season in netted 12 times in La Liga despite making just seven starts to the daniel Sturridge has proved to be a real bonus on the wing for Villas-Boas with 9 goals in the Premier League and Juan Mata has slotted well on the other flank in his debut season following his summer move from Valencia to the Portuguese boss has problems in the forward line with star strikers Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba both having scored just 2 goals in the league apiece.

The Londoners are expected to sign Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill next month but with problems persisting up front they could make a move for Higuain to has had to settle for a place behind Karim Benzema in the starting line-up as Jose Mourinho only plays one striker in his system to any move would rely on the former Chelsea boss being willing to sell the 24-year-old to his protege madrid are top of La Liga and targeting success in three competitions as they seek to end the dominance of rivals Barcelona.

Alex Song Has Been Trying To Persuade The Striker In Training To Rejoin Arsenal Midfielder Says Frenchman's Return Would Lift Squad.

2011-12-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

Alex Song believes Thierry Henry would bring a lot to Arsenal if he does return to the club on a short term deal in January and henry is the all the time leading goalscorer for the Gunners following a phenomenally successful 8 year stint in North London earlier in his career.

He left for Barcelona in 2007 before linking up with New York Red Bulls to he has recently been back in training Arsene Wenger squad in the MLS season came to an end of a wenger is currently mulling over whether to try and re-sign Henry to his attacking options set to be depleted in the coming weeks when Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh head off to a African Cup of Nations and the arsenal midfielder Song understands that Henry has nothing to prove but has been trying to persuade the Frenchman in training to agree to a deal.

The Song feels Henry could still perform in the Premier League and recognises what a boost it would be for the whole club if the 34-year-old did come back in the when I see him training, I am teasing him, You could still play with us, you know? he has never replied and just smiled, Song told L'Equipe in What he achieved during his career is just amazing to he has nothing more to prove in football and the "Today he has the opportunity to give us a help in "A player with such stature, such potential. He would bring us a lot."

Sir Alex Ferguson is Confident that Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs is capable of playing on for Another Season and the United Boss sees no Diminishing in Midfielder's Qualities

2011-12-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

A 38-year-old maintained his record of scoring in every Premier League campaign by netting in last week's 5-0 victory at Fulham to after the game in the Welshman revealed he is enjoying his football more than ever now that he is playing in a central midfield role and confirmed he was set to discuss his future with Ferguson.

The United boss does not believe Giggs abilities are diminishing and sees no reason why the clubs record appearance holder cannot compete at the top level for another year and a think Ryan can play another year, said Ferguson.

"I think Ryan can play another year," said Ferguson and there is no evidence at this moment in time that his energy, stamina or speed are decreasing. In fact it is a exactly the same as it was the last 2 or 3 years. It's amazing and i know it's mid-season now and it all depends on what Ryan thinks about his future, too he knows he can't go on forever, we know he can't go on forever and the evidence of what we're seeing at the moment, I think he can play for another year."

Coach Pep Guardiola To Stay At Barcelona

2011-12-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas has been astounded by just how much he has learned from playing under Pep Guardiola since his return to Camp Nou in summer and the 24-year-old midfielder has slotted seamlessly into the European champions side since his transfer back to Spain insisted that it is his coach who deserves most of the credit for his impressive form.

"My dream has been to be a Barca player since childhood, now if you want to play here it is for Pep, because he knows how to get the best out of players,” Fabregas is quoted as saying by Marca and the "What I have learned here in these months is unbelievable" for the Consequently, Fabregas conceded that he is desperate for Guardiola to sign a long-term contract with the club.

The 24-year-old also admitted that playing with Barca has proven even more enjoyable than he hoped it would be and i am enjoying the game as much as I ever have it shows that there are always things in this world of football that you never think of," he explained.

"On television you see Barca play great football, but when you're in [the team] it’s awesome it’s great to be a part of this team" and the fabregas has scored eight goals in 12 appearances in La Liga this season while at the same time contributing 5 assists.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi Given Extended Christmas Extra Four Days Off Over The Festive Period.

2011-12-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Argentine international has already returned home to Rosario to be with his family for the holidays and will not have to fly back to Catalunya until January 2 and the Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola has given Lionel Messi an extra 4 days off over the festive period.

A Catalans resume training after their short winter break on December 29 but their talismanic Argentine forward, who is spending Christmas with his family in Rosario will not have to report back until January 2 in the razilian right back in Dani Alves has also been given some extra time off to the former Sevilla ace having been told, he does not have to return to Spain until December 31.

The Barca's South American contingent and Mali international Seydou Keita were all excused from Thursday night's Copa del Rey clash with Hospitalet in order to allow them to return home early for the holidays and the European champions are not in action again until the day after Messi's return, January 3, when they take on Osasuna in the Copa del Rey and they then face rivals Espanyol in La Liga 5 days later.

Arsenal's Match With Wolves Has Been Emirates Stadium Now on 27th December.

2011-12-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

A scheduled kick-off was thrown into doubt because of a proposed strike by London Underground workers, which could have restricted access to Emirates Stadium for both supporters and the club's 1,000 match day employees to the arsenal monitored the situation and have now made the decision to push the game back 24 hours to next Tuesday.

The statement on the club's official website reads, "As a result of the proposed industrial action on London Underground on Monday, December 26, our home Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, originally planned for Boxing Day, has been postponed in the "Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers will now take place 24 hours later on Tuesday, December 27 (a public holiday), kick-off 3pm at Emirates Stadium.

This decision has had to be made now, before the result of the legal challenge to the proposed industrial action is finally known to the preparation period needed to safely operate Emirates Stadium by all the relevant agencies and the "The club has been liaising closely in order to make this decision, with all the relevant agencies, including the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, London Underground, The FA Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Islington Council.

Fernando Torres Rejects Exit Reports And Chelsea Striker Has Rejected Claims He Could Be Sold In January.

2011-12-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

Chelsea's £50million striker Fernando Torres has brushed off reports that the Blues could be looking to cut their losses and sell him in January and the Spain international has endured a torrid time at Stamford Bridge since arriving from Anfield in January for a record-breaking fee goals and confidence in short supply.

Torres' troubles have led to suggestions that the West London club were ready to off-load him in the transfer window speculation which was firmly rejected by manager Andre-Villas-Boas and now the 27-year-old has insisted that he pays no attention to recent claims as he has little faith in the media in England he told Canal+ Liga TV "When I read something in the Spanish press, I think so When I read it in the English press, I know that's a lie."

The misfiring forward has scored just 3 times in the league since arriving at Chelsea insists he will get back to his best and deserves more respect from his critics and the torres added: "It's true that Vicente Del Bosque (Spain coach) is worried about me and my form for Chelsea it's up to me to go back to being the striker I was before "If I go back to how I was a few years ago, I will again play an important role in the Spanish national team.

Barcelona Are The Best In The World Says Dani Alves.

2011-12-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

A Brazil international has hit out at the former Inter boss in the wake of his recent comments and the added Catalans are the dominant force in world football and the barcelona defender Dani Alves has hailed the Blaugrana as the best team in the world and voiced his opinion that Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is envious of the Catalan club's achievements.

The Madrid boss recently belittled Barca's Club World Cup victory, describing the tournament as 'nothing more than a few small games' Alves is not impressed with the Portuguese's disparaging comments and the "Mourinho is a person who plays his role, he devalues what other people win for the only thing that has value is what he wins. That’s his personality and we respect it," Alves was quoted as saying on the club's official website.

The Mine is different to play these small games, as he says, you have to win the Champions League to We have done that and that’s why we are happy in the envy is a bad thing and we live in the moment and we are the reigning world champions and the numbers are what they are regardless of who that bothers alves then went on to assure Barcelona are not perturbed by the comments from Madrid as they don't feel inferior to the rivals in the barcelona are currently second in La Liga on 37 points from 16 matches, 3 points leaders Madrid.

Carlos Tevez Row Shocked Roberto Mancini Feels Striker Has Been Badly Advised.

2011-12-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

The Roberto Mancini has again stated that he thinks Carlos Tevez has been badly advised after admitting that the breakdown in his relationship with the Manchester City striker came as a surprise for the city officials will meet AC Milan counterparts on Thursday in attempt to thrash out a deal that would allow Tevez to leave for Italy during next month's transfer window.

The obvious problem is that Milan want to negotiate an initial loan period, which would then turn into a permanent transfer in the summer and the city are not willing to countenance this and meanwhile in the player remains in Argentina, where he has repeatedly been pictured playing golf in mancini maintains that he used to get on well with Tevez who was City's star performer last season.

A Mancini has also questioned Wayne Bridge's motives for staying at City hinting that the defender was more interested in money than the game an the england international 2 years ago, Bridge knew last year he had no future with the Blues and spent the last half of the season on loan at West Ham.

The collecting a weekly salary believed to be around £90,000 to the former Chelsea man has found no-one willing to match those terms even though there are plenty, including Celtic according to Mancini, who would like to sign him and "I don't understand why there are some players that have a chance to go and play, maybe not in the Premier League but in the Championship, and don't," said Mancini.

Benfica's Pablo Aimar.

2011-11-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

Benfica's Pablo Aimar: Barcelona's Lionel Messi is at the same level as Diego Maradona to the 32-year-old midfielder says that the Barca attacker is as talented as the retired striker hailing the finishing attributes of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Benfica playmaker Pablo Aimar believes Barcelona star Lionel Messi is as good now as Argentina legend Diego Maradona was in his prime.Messi broke into Barca's senior ranks in 2004 has won several individual awards such as the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or honours and is now widely considered to be the best player in the world to former Argentina coach Maradona has often praised the 24-year-old, proclaiming him as his true successor and Aimar believes that comparisons between the two are justified.

A 32-year-old playmaker also praised Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, claims the Portugal international falls short of Messi and the "Cristiano Ronaldo's statistics are from a different time," Aimar noted in the "More than 50 goals in a season? That is absurd you cannot score 50 goals every year in Cristiano continues to do it to those are statistics from a different time.

The Aimar, who played in Spain for 7 years in spells at Valencia and Zaragoza, believes La Liga's big two, Madrid and Barca, are well ahead of the rest in Europe and i believe that if Chelsea, Manchester United, AC Milan, Inter or Bayern Munich, for example, played in the same league as Real Madrid and Barcelona to they would always finish below them," he explained.

Liverpool's Luis Suarez Ruled Out.

2011-11-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

Liverpool's Luis Suarez ruled out of Uruguay italy friendly and they says coach Oscar Tabarez confirmed that the in-form forward would not take the field at the Stadio Olimpico and has picked Sebastian Fernandez to partner Edison Cavani in attack.

The uruguay's four-goal hero from Friday, Luis Suarez, will miss out on the Celeste's encounter with Italy on Tuesday, despite recovering from a minor muscle strain sustained in the last World Cup qualifying clash and the Liverpool striker was in sensational form before the weekend against Chile, scoring all Uruguay's goals in a 4-0 destruction in South American rivals Oscar Tabarez's team at the top to the Conmebol standings for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

A coach confirmed on Monday evening in Rome that Suarez would not play a part in the next fixture, as the discomfort which forced him off the Centenario field early proved enough to convince the ex-Milan trainer not to risk him in this friendly to suarez's place will be occupied by Sebastian Fernandez in the Malaga forward partnering Edison Cavani up front.

The Fernandez's entrance is one of 3 changes made for the Italy match for a Benfica's Maxi Pereira starts on the right of midfield in place of Alvaro Gonzalez, Porto's Cristian Rodriguez gets the nod ahead of Gaston Ramirez.

Uruguay XI vs. Italy (4-4-2):

Muslera; Caceres, Lugano, Godin, A. Pereira; M. Pereira, Arevalo Rios, Perez, Rodriguez; Cavani, Fernandez.

A Every Player Dreams Of Barcelona Says Ajax's Christian Eriksen.

2011-11-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Denmark international has admitted that a move to Camp Nou is tempting to added that he is in no rush to leave his current club and the ajax star christian Eriksen said he would be open to a transfer to Barcelona in added that he still has plenty of things to achieve at his current club.

A report on Wednesday suggested that the Catalans consider the Denmark international to be the perfect replacement for Xavi once the midfield maestro hangs up his boots in riksen has admitted that wearing the Barcelona jersey is a dream for most players, he is not in a rush to make the move to Camp Nou i think that most footballers dream of playing for Barcelona," Eriksen was quoted as saying by sporten.dk.

I think that Barcelona's style would fit me very well and a transfer to Camp Nou would be great to i still have plenty of challenges left with Ajax We'll see what happens when the time is right to move on the 19-year-old playmaker recently revealed that he turned down an approach from Manchester City in the summer transfer window, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are also believed to be keeping tabs on Eriksen.

Gabriel Agbonlahor Out For England Squad Due To A Hamstring Injury.

2011-11-11T05:51:00.000-08:00

The Gabriel Agbonlahor has withdrawn from the England squad due to a hamstring injury and returned to Aston Villa and the agbonlahor has been in magnificent form for Villa during the early part of the Premier League season and had been rewarded with a callup by Fabio Capello for the friendly against Spain on Saturday and next Tuesday's clash with Sweden.

He had been hoping to get the opportunity to impress at the Wembley and stake his claim for a place in England's final Euro 2012 squad Capello reconsidering his attacking options following the news that Wayne Rooney would be suspended to group games next summer to the 25-year-old sat out training on Friday and England's doctors have now allowed him to head back to Villa.

He has this morning returned to Aston Villa," read a short statement on the Football Association's official website to having been assessed by the England medical staff, Agbonlahor is unable to train today at Wembley and has returned to his club Villa will be hoping the injury is not serious and that Agbonlahor will be fit to face Tottenham at White Hart Lane on 21st November.

England players and coaching staff held a two minutes silence in the Wembley centre circle in honour of Remembrance Day before undertaking their final training session ahead of Saturday's game to skipper John Terry stood alongside head coach Capello while Frank Lampard, tipped to wear the armband if Terry is not selected, was next to Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce he is fit enough to participate against Spain will not be revealed until Capello stages his pre-match media conference later on Friday.

Real Madrid VS Barcelona Players Unite To Launch New Spain Kit Ahead Of England Friendly.

2011-11-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

The several of La Roja's top players met in Madrid on Thursday to unveil their team's new strip for the European Championships next summer, while the side's centurions were honoured and the spain launched their new kit for Euro 2012 on Thursday with a clear message for the past does not count.

A slogan used by Adidas at the event in Madrid, where Spain and Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas was joined by club colleagues Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa and Raul Albiol, Barcelona stars Xavi and David Villa, as well as Malaga's Nacho Monreal and Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente and Casillas hope his side can repeat the success of 2008 to they went all the way to win the continental competition in Austria and Switzerland.

This new shirt, we want to repeat the success of Austria and Switzerland, the goalkeeper told reporters we know it won't be easy but we will try and defend our title I'm sure we are going to do it was flanked by the European and World Cup trophies, team mate Villa admitted he hoped Spain could be the first side to claim a Euro, a World Cup and another Euro title consecutively.

The zubizarreta and Xavi were also there to receive medals, but Raul remained in Germany with his club, Schalke and will pick up his award later to a javi Martinez will miss the game against England through injury after failing to shake off the knock he picked up in a 2-2 draw at Barcelona on Sunday.

Newcastle's Naming Rights Worth Up To £10m a Year Derek Llambias Says The Club Had To Move Forward And Consider Stadium Sponsorship.

2011-11-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

The Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias says the club can generate up to £10m a season by attracting a joint shirt and stadium sponsor and the Magpies have changed the name of a St James' Park stadium to the Sports Direct Arena in an effort to attract a new naming partner.

Llambias says the club need extra funds to compete in the Premier League and i would be hope to generate between £8m-10m a year, that will give us another player," Llambias told BBC Newcastle to compete we need to go further, we've had a fantastic start of a newcastle are third in the Premier League and having won seven of their opening 11 matches.

Llambias added, The fans want us to buy more players, we need a new striker in January, we'll need replacements in the summer to we need to give ourselves as much of a chance as possible to stadium sponsorship is growing in English football, with most new-build venues such as Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and Brighton's Amex Stadium utilising brands to help finance costs.

The Manchester City completed a deal worth £400m over 10 years to sponsor their existing City of Manchester Stadium with Etihad Airways in July of this year to Newcastle's plans, Chelsea are considering the option of selling the naming rights of Stamford Bridge, a venue they have been synonymous with since their formation in 1905 for "The history is always going to be there, we need to become part of the history," Llambias said.

Report Says, Atletico Madrid's Jose Antonio Reyes In Talks About Sevilla Return

2011-11-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

The Spain international has reportedly grown unsettled at the Vicente Calderon and a move back to the Seville-based club appears to be a strong possibility and the Atletico Madrid winger Jose Antonio Reyes has engaged in talks with Sevilla about a return to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Diario de Sevilla reports.

A 28-year-old has been linked with a new challenge after falling out with coach Gregorio Manzano last month for the tv footage appeared to show Reyes swearing at the coach after being substituted in the second half of his side's 3-0 La Liga defeat at Athletic Bilbao and the reyes has not been included in a match squad ever and reports suggest the player is looking for a way out of his situation.

The Spain international reportedly travelled to Seville on Monday in the company of his father and his agent to listen to learn the conditions about a potential move to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan outfit and he represented from 1994 to 2004 and the former Real Madrid and Benfica loanee has been at Atletico Madrid since 2007 when he joined the club from Arsenal.

Andrey Arshavin Drops.

2011-11-09T08:23:00.000-08:00

Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin admits he could be forced to consider his future if he does not start playing regularly soon and the russian has found himself playing a bit-part role for most of the season at the Emirates with Arshavin admitting his performances have been 'average' and he fails to play enough games.

He has dropped down the pecking order in Arsene Wenger's plans and he has been linked with a move away from the club and big spending Russians Anzhi Makhachkala have been credited with an interest in Arshavin in the diminutive attacker insists he has had no contact with Anzhi.

He admits he is not considering moving to a new club to that he could be forced to review his options if his first team chances do not improve to right now I don't think about changing clubs will be benched for a very long time, then such an issue might be relevant," Arshavin told Sport Express i still want to play for 90 minutes, but now I am glued to the bench would not like to play for a Russian club other than Zenit [St Petersburg], and there were no contacts with Anzhi Makhachkala.

David Cameron Wants FIFA

2011-11-09T07:14:00.000-08:00

The Prime Minister David Cameron will write to Fifa asking it to lift the ban on England wearing shirts embroidered with poppies in Saturday's game with Spain on Tuesday, football's governing body rejected a second Football Association (FA) request to overturn the ban it seems outrageous," said Mr Cameron and, "I hope Fifa will reconsider."

The FA said England players will wear black armbands during the game and lay a wreath on the pitch during the national anthems and the mr Cameron added, The idea that wearing a poppy to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom is a political act is absurd to the "Wearing a poppy is an act of huge respect and national pride."

Fifa decrees that shirts should not carry political, religious or commercial messages for such initiatives would open the door to similar initiatives from all over the world, jeopardising the neutrality of football, it said and the fifa has allowed a period of silence to be held prior to the game against Spain at takes place the day before Remembrance Sunday.

Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor

2011-11-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Tottenham's Emmanuel Adebayor likens Harry Redknapp to Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho and the striker who spent a short period working under the Portuguese coach last season, hailed his new manager due to his approach with players.

Emmanuel Adebayor has hailed Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp as ‘special’ and likened him to Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho to he arrived at White Hart Lane on loan from Manchester City after spending six months under Mourinho’s command at the Bernabeu for the second half of last season for the striker has compared Redknapp's man-management skills to Mourinho's and has conceded the Real Madrid boss still tracks his progress.

Speaking to Hotspur magazine, the former Arsenal man said: "Harry Redknapp is a top manager “I would put him closer to Mourinho because of the way he treats players and he gives you full confidence to he knows how to talk to players and that makes him special as well to have huge respect for Mourinho of a learned a lot at Real Madridto even after my goal at Wolves I woke up the next morning and had a message from him to that is what he is like and it is appreciated.

Fifa Boss Urges Poppy Talks & Vice President Boyce Would Welcome FA Debate.

2011-11-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce would welcome further talks between world football's governing body and The FA over their request for England players to wear poppies in friendly international with Spain and the Fifa will allow a minute's silence at Wembley to the England players will wear poppies on their training kit on Friday.

They will also stand for the traditional two minutes' silence to mark the 11th hour and the 11th day of the 11 month in an act of remembrance in the Fifa will not allow the Three Lions to wear poppies during the game because it contravenes their rules regarding shirt emblems.

The Football Association have once again written to Fifa asking them to change their minds and Boyce has sympathy with the request for the fully understand why The FA has made this request, Boyce told Sky Sports News i will understand why Fifa has this regulation because it could be abused if there was not such a regulation in place and i also feel that are individual circumstances, these should be treated separately and judged on their merits.

The International Football Association Board meet once a year to discuss the Laws of the Game, so Fifa alone cannot change its rules to the FA have made it plain they have no wish to get embroiled in a row over the matter and the chief executive Alex Horne has been in contact with the world governing body asking them to reconsider.

Goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak Accuses Man Utd Of 'Slave' Treatment & He Has Not Played A First Team Game Since May.

2011-11-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

Goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak has claimed he is being treated like a "slave" by Manchester United after a proposed loan move to Leeds was blocked and the Poland international was keen to join the Championship club to boost his chances of selection for Euro 2012 according to the 29-year-old his request was turned down by manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The comments reported by a number of national newspapers, Kuszczak said: "I've become a slave to Manchester and the Pole added: "I'm frustrated but I don't want to slander or criticise Ferguson it is not my style to i have talked to Ferguson recently. I asked him to let me leave the club now, before the January transfer window.

I told him I want to play and get back into the national team, because Euro 2012 [which Poland will co-host with Ukraine] is just around the corner it seems he doesn't care to the possibility of a two-month loan to Leeds United came up two weeks later and the club blocked it.

It was a glimmer of hope for me to it would have reminded the Poland manager about me to i did not get the club's approval in the have respect for Ferguson because, for me, he's a great manager, but I hope he will let me go in January.

Tomasz Kuszczak Manchester United Carrier: 2006-07: 13 appearances, 2007-08: 18 appearances, 2008-09: 8 appearances, 2009-10: 14 appearances, 2010-11: 10 appearances, 2011-12: 0 appearances.

Barcelona Are The Best Club In The World Says Santos Neymar.

2011-11-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

The Brazilian sensation is in awe of the Catalan giants and has conceded he is eagerly anticipating a match against them in the Fifa Club World Cup final and the santos forward Neymar has heaped praise on Barcelona, branding the Champions League holders as the strongest club in the globe.

The Copa Libertadores champions will have the chance to lock horns with Barca in December as the two sides will compete in the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan and the Camp Nou oufit have been suggested as one of the likeliest destinations for Neymar when he decides to move to Europe to despite being heavily linked with their rivals Real Madrid and the 19-year-old has conceded he is relishing the opportunity to meet the Liga champions on the pitch.

The santos are preparing for the last match of the year to will be the match of our lives, he told reporters after Santos victory against Vasco da Gama and We will improve our playing pace for the right now, Barca are the best team in the world, but if that will make them win or not, it will be seen on the field of play in the santos are ninth in the Brazilian league, 10 points shy of leaders Corinthians.

Blackburn Rovers Are Considering A Move To Sign Mexican International Jonathan Dos Santos From Barcelona Says Report.

2011-11-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

The Rovers are reportedly interested in the young Mexico international midfielder, who has so far been unable to maintain a place in the Blaugrana 1st team and the 21-year-old is the son of former Brazilian footballer Zizinho and brother of Tottenham’s Giovani dos Santos and has appeared regularly for the Barcelona B side.

It is said that Rovers scouts have been watching Dos Santos at recent B games and he made his debut for Barcelona in 2009 has featured infrequently for Guardiola’s side and may decide to leave for more 1st-team opportunities and the midfielder was controversially sent home with seven others from Mexico’s squad in the Copa America earlier this year after an alleged prostitution scandal for which he has since apologised.

Dos Santos plays in central or defensive midfield and would add to the selection of young players manager Steve Kean has signed for Blackburn over in the summer transfer window to has included the Mexican's former team-mate Ruben Rochina from Barcelona B.

Best Set To Miss Ireland Games & Best Could Be Out Of Euro 2012 Play-offs Due To Injury And Child Birth.

2011-11-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

Newcastle striker Leon Best is set to miss the Republic of Ireland's crucial Euro 2012 play-off games against Estonia and the Magpies forward was substituted during Saturday's win over Everton and has to since complained of groin and toe problems.

The 25-year-old was only named in Giovanni Trapattoni's squad last Friday after fitness doubts over West Brom striker Shane Long and he will join up with his team-mates in Ireland on Monday to be assessed by the medical team on the newcastle boss Alan Pardew feels it is the birth of his child that may be the deciding factor.

Pardew said: Leon's wife is imminent and they are in discussions to he is desperate to play don't get me wrong and we have spoken to the manager and spoken to the medical team about maybe a bit of compassion in terms of him staying about today because she's that close to we will see and the ireland face Estonia after finishing second in Group B and have a chance to reach their first major tournament since World Cup 2002 to the trapattoni has had other injury problems to contend with after Portsmouth midfielder Liam Lawrence was withdrawn from the squad with an ankle ligament injury.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi Says Bayern Munich Have A And That The Bundesliga Outfit Are Stronger Than Last Season.

2011-11-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

The Bavarian outfit have stormed to the top of the Bundesliga and a difficult Champions League Group A, and the Argentine feels Jupp Heynckes' side are a European threat and to following the summer appointment of Jupp Heynckes in the Allianz Arena outfit have impressed both domestically and in Europe, unlike in their disappointing 2010-11.

The Spanish side looking to make it three Champions League crowns in four years this term, their South American attacker has identified the Bavarians as a key contender in the continent's top club competition for the bayern have a great team, and a very dangerous team," the diminutive forward told Bild.

They are stronger than last year in the except for Bastian Schweinsteiger they are all in top form and importantly, the final of the Champions League takes place in their stadium this is also a plus for them the 24-year-old stated to when asked if he would ever consider leaving the Camp Nou for another club, Messi remained defiant in his answer.

My plan is to play my whole career for Barcelona and i would only go when I'm not good enough or the club does not want me, he concluded for the barcelona and Bayern Munich look like two of the favourites for this campaign's Champions League and are on the verge of qualification from Group A and H respectively.

Why Sir Alex Ferguson Is The Greatest Survivor And The Football's Top Names Pay Tribute To The Longevity Of Sir Alex Ferguson.

2011-11-05T05:10:00.000-07:00

Berlin were at number one with the theme to Top Gun when Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of Manchester United in November 1986 to a more appropriate cinematic reference from the autumn of that year is Highlander the story of an ageless Scottish warrior whose feats transcend time and the ferguson's kind of magic is his ability to win trophies and his haul of silverware and his longevity at Old Trafford are undoubtedly related.

And the putting to one side his repeated successes, the fact he has lasted 25 years as United manager is an unprecedented achievement at any level in the professional game in the modern era in England, let alone the very highest for there are 13 managers above him in the long-serving list in this country but all of them began their tenures more than 100 years ago and cannot be fairly compared.

Unless, like Highlander's Connor MacLeod, Ferguson really IS immortal, he is unlikely to outlast Fred Everiss to a spent 46 years as manager of West Bromwich Albion from 1902, for example for a back then, management was more of an administrative role than the delicate mix of tactical nous, mind games, media and man-management plus financial acumen that it is now.

It has become a cut-throat business to since its formation in 1992, the average time spent in situ by Premier League managers is 4.09 seasons and, in the entire Football League and the drops to 2.14 seasons in the same period to the League Managers' Association (LMA), a body Ferguson helped form almost 20 years ago, 1,052 managers in the English game have been sacked, resigned or left by mutual consent since he was appointed to replace Ron Atkinson on 6 November 1986.

David Beckham Says 'Will Know When To Quit' Football & Beckham Flattered By Interest From Premier League And PSG.

2011-11-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

David Beckham says he can still perform at the highest level and that he will know when it is time to quit football and los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Beckham, 36, also restated his aim to represent the Great Britain football team at the 2012 Olympics for the "People have been saying, i am too old for the last 10 or 15 years and I've still continued to play for my country," he told BBC Sport.

Right now, I feel fit and still love playing, so I'm not finishing yet and he said he was "flattered" by reports linking him to top European clubs but that he was focused on helping LA Galaxy attain success in Major League Soccer in paris Saint-Germain are said to be keen to sign Beckham, who told BBC sport editor David Bond that "certain clubs in the Premiership" have also shown an interest.

And the Beckham, whose five-year deal with Galaxy runs out in the next few weeks, said: "At 36-years-old, to still have that interest in me is an honour, I'm very flattered and right now I'm a Galaxy player and I will continue to be a Galaxy player until we win the league the MLS Cup and then we'll see for the i haven't even sat down and thought about what my options are yet.

Beckham also says he might be interested in buying a team in the United States when he gives the game up and he added: "I have the option and it's something I probably will do a obviously I have to wait until I finish playing and i want to be part of something that is going to grow and I believe that this sport is going to grow.

The Argentina Legend Diego Maradona Says Football Needs AC Milan's Antonio Cassano.

2011-11-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

The Argentina legend offered his solace for the Rossoneri star who is in hospital and waiting to undergo an operation that will keep him out of action for some time and the Al Wasl coach Diego Maradona has offered Antonio Cassano his full support after learning the Italian striker requires heart surgery for a AC Milan announced Cassano needs surgery to his heart after tests showed he suffered cerebal trauma following the 3-2 Serie A win over Roma on Saturday.

An extract of the note reads to these are very difficult moments where Cassano must be strong, think about himself to his family and children. I am thinking of you a lot in these days and I was struck by what has happened and i know the feelings when going through a dark period and so I am close to you and Gennaro Gattuso who is also going through a sad time.

And i know that from the time I met you in Rome that you have a strong and positive character to the affections of those who love you will help you overcome this i hope football can see your return soon because the fantasy of players like you in football is never enough and the milan said Cassano would be out for some time once surgery is completed, but they did not confirm how many months.

A Team News For The Alexis Sanchez Returns To The Bench As Isaac Cuenca Earns Starting Slot For Barcelona Versus Viktoria Plzen.

2011-11-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol partner each other at the back as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Javier Mascherano are left on the bench for the European champions and the barcelona welcome back Alexis Sanchez from injury, who is fit enough to earn a place on the bench in tonight's Group H Champions League encounter with Czech side Viktoria Plzen and the Catalan side managed to defeat 2-0 in their last European match.

Pep Guardiola also awards Isaac Cuenca another start as the young Spaniard continues to impress in barca attack and there is no place in the squad for David Villa as Adriano takes up the role on the left of the attacking trio and viktoria Plzen opt for a 5 man midfield against the European Champions and Marek Bakos is selected in the lone striker role.

Viktoria Plzen (4-5-1): Pavlik, Limbersky, Bystron, Cisovsky, Pilar, Horvath, Petrzela, Jiracek,
Kolar, Rajtoral, Bakos

Subs: Tichacek, Reznik, Sevinsky, Fillo, Darida, Duris, Hora

Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Fabregas, Thiago, Busquets, Adriano, Cuenca, Messi

Subs: Pinto, Maxwell, Xavi, Iniesta, Mascherano, Keita, Sanchez

Jordan Rhodes Has Won His First Call-up For Scotland's Friendly With Cyprus & Barry Bannan Has Been Dropped From The Squad.

2011-11-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Norwich defender Russell Martin and Queens Park Rangers striker Jamie Mackie have also won recalls from Scotland boss Craig Levein and the mackie's last appearance for the Scots was almost a year ago against the Faroe Islands for the Martin earned his only cap against Wales in the Carling Nations Cup in May.

Levein revealed over the weekend that in-form Huddersfield striker Rhodes was in line for his 1st senior cap against Cyprus and that he would link up with the Under 21 squad for the European Championship qualifier against Holland on 14th November for the aston Villa midfielder Bannan has been omitted from the squad, following his arrest on suspicion of drink-driving and the rangers forward Steven Naismith and Celtic midfielder Scott Brown are both missing through injury.

Full squad:

Allan McGregor (Rangers), David Marshall (Cardiff City), Matt Gilks (Blackpool), Phil Bardsley (Sunderland), Christophe Berra (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Gary Caldwell (Wigan Athletic), Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers), Alan Hutton (Aston Villa), Russell Martin (Norwich City), Lee Wallace (Rangers), Steven Whittaker (Rangers), Charlie Adam (Liverpool), Don Cowie (Cardiff City), Graham Dorrans (West Bromwich Albion), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), James McArthur (Wigan Athletic), James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion), Barry Robson (Middlesbrough), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United), David Goodwillie (Blackburn Rovers), Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton and Hove Albion), Jamie Mackie (Queens Park Rangers), Kenny Miller (Cardiff City), James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion), Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield Town)

Wayne Rooney Is Only British Player On Ballon d'Or World Footballer Of The Year Shortlist.

2011-11-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Barcelona have eight players on the list, including Lionel Messi, who has won the award for the past two seasons and the nani (Man Utd), Luis Suarez (Liverpool) and Sergio Aguero (Man City) are the other England-based players named.

BRITISH BALLON D'OR WINNERS for a 1956: Stanley Matthews, 1964: Denis Law, 1966: Bobby Charlton, 1968: George Best, 1978/79: Kevin Keegan and the 2001: Michael Owen.

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger joins Sir Alex Ferguson and Chelsea's Andre Villas-Boas on the managerial list for a decision will be made on 9 January and the rooney helped Manchester United lift a record 19th league title in 2011 and reach the final of the European Cup and the european champions Barcelona dominate Fifa's list, Cesc Fabregas, who spent part of 2011 with Arsenal, named alongside Messi.

Real Madrid have 5 nominees, including former Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo and ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso and the shortlist will be narrowed down to three names for each category on 5 December.

Player nominees:

Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

Coach nominees:

Vicente Del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United), Rudi Garcia (France/Lille), Pep Guardiola (Spain/Barcelona), Jurgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid), Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay/Uruguay national team), Andre Villas-Boas (Portugal/Porto, Chelsea), Arsene Wenger (France/Arsenal).

Marouane Chamakh Striker Out Of Champions League Clash With Knee Injury.

2011-10-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Marouane Chamakh has been ruled out of Arsenal's UEFA Champions League clash with Marseille on Tuesday and the 27-year-old striker is likely to be replaced on the bench for the Group F clash by Park Chu-Young after suffering a knee injury to a arsenal boss Arsene Wenger now faces an anxious wait to see how long the Morocco striker is sidelined.

The Chamakh is injured, said Wenger he has a knee problem and is not involved and joining the promising South Korean on the bench will be Thomas Vermaelen as he eases himself back to full fitness.

The Belgian defender suffered a minor calf strain on his return against Bolton and featured late on as a substitute in Arsenal's 5-3 mauling of Chelsea on Saturday and the wenger is also able to welcome back Carl Jenkinson who was named in the squad alongside his defensive partner he added, They will both be available and in the squad tomorrow and i have not picked the team yet so I don't know if they are fit enough to start are they fit enough to play? Yes, of course for a yossi Benayoun is also back in the squad.

International career for a Chamakh is a Moroccan international at the senior level in prior to representing Morocco he played for the under-19 team of France and made his debut on 12 February 2003 in a friendly match against the Czech Republic to that was his only appearance with the team in qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Chamakh scored 3 goals and One of his goals during qualification occurred on 8 October 2010 against Tunisia for he appeared in only 4 matches and scored no goals as Morocco failed to qualify for both the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.After going scoreless for 6 months at international level, on 4 June 2011, Chamakh scored the second goal in a 4–0 win over Algeria in qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Barcelona defender Dani Alves

2011-10-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

Dani Alves the Media Try To Destabilise Barcelona, Nothing Will Affect Us and the Brazilian full-back has stressed that the Catalans should not let any criticism get to them and insists that he and his team-mates have never doubted their abilities.

Barcelona defender Dani Alves has made it clear that media criticism cannot destabilise the Champions League holders as he feels nothing can affect them and the Catalans' form has been questioned in recent weeks after a goalless draw against Sevilla and a narrow 1-0 win over Granada.

The Alves insists he and his team-mates remain unperturbed as they ignore any negative comments from outside of the club to we have to avoid looking at what's being said about us in the media, because they are usually full of the Alves was quoted as saying by they are trying to destabilise us, but nothing can affect Barca.

We should not give any importance to criticism from the outside world. We have to trust in our potential to the important thing is that we never doubted our own abilities and the barcelona climbed to second place in La Liga following their impressive 5-0 home win over Mallorca on Saturday.

Striker Robert Hall Only Experienced One Defeat In His 10 Games At Oxford And He Recalled By West Ham.

2011-10-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

West Ham United have recalled striker Robert Hall from his loan spell at League Two Oxford United and he 18, has been instrumental in Oxford's success this season scoring 6 goals in 10 games for the U's and the U's had wanted to extend his loan stay but West Ham have injury concerns and have asked Hall to return.

Although we are disappointed to see Robbie go at this point, we always knew this was a possibility when taking him on loan said, chairman Kelvin Thomas added, The timing is tough as we had begun discussions on extending his loan for a longer period and there would have been no issue with this without West Ham's injury problems.

The positive is that it is great for Robbie He has come here, played well to scored goals and had that little bit of experience and west Ham are very happy with the way he has been looked after and the way he has played and have taken him back to be involved with the 1st team squad.

West Ham are very happy with the way he has been looked after and says, Kelvin Thomas

Emmanuel Adebayor Has Scored Three Goals For Tottenham This Season And My Time At Man City Was A Headache Says Emmanuel Adebayor.

2011-10-28T05:11:00.000-07:00

Emmanuel Adebayor insists he has no regrets about leaving Manchester City and described his time at the club as a "headache" and he joined Tottenham on a season-long loan in August after being frozen out of Roberto Mancini's plans since last December in e told BBC Sport, "I wish them the best of luck do I wish to be part of that team right now? No.

The Mancini's expensively-assembled side have moved to the top of the Premier League in Adebayor's absence, but the former Arsenal striker said he is not missing life at City after quickly settling into his new surroundings in north London and you want to be in a house where you feel comfortable, added the former Togo striker.

Adebayor has scored three goals in 6 games this season to help edge Tottenham closer to the top four and qualification for the Champions League in we have to do everything it takes to go beyond that line, he said, we can achieve that as a goal and the adebayor said he was impressed with the strength of Tottenham's squad and it is not only Rafael Van der Vaart, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale who have caught his eye.

Every morning when you come in you see lots of lads working hard in the gym to be fit for the weekend which is a very good sign, added Adebayor and the tottenham's next game is against Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.

World Cup 2014 qualifying Argentina squad.

2011-10-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

Fernando Gago & Ezequiel Lavezzi back in Argentina squad for World Cup 2014 qualifying and the two-time world champions have made several notable changes in the squad selection and one new inclusion as Internacional midfielder Pablo Guinazu makes the grade.

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella has picked 21 players for the upcoming World Cup 2014 Conmebol qualifying matches against Bolivia and Colombia and his list includes Napoli's Ezequiel Lavezzi and Roma's Fernando Gago who return to the squad after missing the previous qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela.

Goalkeepers: Mariano Andujar, Sergio Romero

Defenders: Nicolas Burdisso, Martin Demichelis, Federico Fernández, Luciano Monzon, Marcos Rojo, Pablo Zabaleta

Midfielders: Ever Banega, Fernando Gago, Pablo Guinazu, Javier Mascherano, Javier Pastore, Jose Sosa

Strikers: Sergio Aguero, German Denis, Angel Di Maria, Nicolas Gaitan, Gonzalo Higuain, Ezequiel Lavezz, Lionel Messi

Argentina play Bolivia on November 11, and then Colombia four days later.

Carlos Tevez Has Not Played For City Since They Beat Birmingham On 21 September.

2011-10-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

Manchester City have cut Carlos Tevez's fine to two weeks wages after the Professional Footballers Association refused to support a four-week penalty and the city found Tevez guilty of refusing to play and four other breaches of contract in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich in September.

The PFA backs Tevez's claim that he merely refused to warm up and said a two-week fine is the maximum allowed a city accused the PFA of a "conflict of interest" in its handling of the case to a city statement said, "Manchester City is disappointed by the apparent PFA conflict of interest evident in this process.

Carlos Tevez has been personally represented throughout by the PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor, on whose considerations the club has been informed that the PFA has made its decision and the manchester City has been in constant dialogue with the PFA since September 28th today's PFA decision is a departure from the club's understanding of that dialogue.

City have been further advised that manager Roberto Mancini's post-match comments in he claimed Tevez had refused to play, could amount to defamation of character and that legal action against him could be forthcoming and he had 14 days to appeal against the misconduct charge and is understood to be considering his legal options.

Brazil and Santos Legend Pele Celebrated His 71st Birthday in London.

2011-10-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Pele celebrates 71st birthday and Premier League is best in Europe, Sylvester Stallone was my toughest opponent & Lionel Messi is an incomplete player and the 'The King' was in the English capital to launch his new sports lifestyle collection, bringing out the stars and a number of eye catching quotes in the process.

Brazil and Santos legend Pele celebrated his 71st birthday in London in typical outspoken style this week hailing the Premier League as Europe's top division branding Lionel Messi an incomplete player and i would love to play with Lionel Messi is an incomplete player because he cannot use his head for also i played football for 20 years and Messi has only played for several years.

Pele was speaking at a special drinks reception held in London's Covent Garden to mark his 71st birthday to a guests including Rio Ferdinand, brother Anton ex-Bayern Munich and Barcelona stalwart Patrick Andersson and Pele's 1970 World Cup opponent Terry Cooper formerly of England and Leeds United and the brazil's leading all-time goalscorer said he was delighted to be in England and hailed the country's top-flight division to the English Premier League is the best league in Europe, better than La Liga.

The Barnes said, Alex is one of the best young players in the English Premier League to he made his debut at the 16 and if he achieves a fraction Pele did he will have a fantastic career for a everyone remembers Pele's Brazil teams from 1957-70 and the World Cup victories of '58, '62 and '70 and Only a few things are memorable from my childhood the Apollo moon landings, Muhammad Ali's boxing fights and Pele on behalf of the PFA, we are delighted to present this award as a symbol of our esteem as a birthday present Pele was presented by PFA Deputy Chief Executive Bobby Barnes and Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade Chamberlain with a special lifetime award to a 18-carat gold-plated football boot.