Real Madrid are in talks to try to sign Gareth Bale, coach Carlo Ancelotti has revealed, amid speculation that the Spaniards could be prepared to break the world transfer record for the highly rated winger. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Gareth Bale reported for training with Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, amid mounting rumours about a lucrative move to Real Madrid in a possible world record transfer deal. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Tottenham Hotspur legend Ledley King said on Wednesday that Gareth Bale is happy at the club, as speculation intensifies about fierce interest from Real Madrid. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
England international Wayne Rooney is apparently fuming with his Manchester United bosses over comments suggesting he would be back-up to Robin van Persie this season, according to reports.
Television station Sky Sports on Tuesday quoted a source claiming Rooney was “angry and confused” by quotes attributed to his manager David Moyes.
Although the former Everton boss previously said Rooney was not for sale, he was quoted Monday as suggesting the 27-year-old would be more of a replacement for van Persie than a foil.
“Overall my thought on Wayne is, if for any reason we had an injury to Robin van Persie, we’ll need him,” Moyes said during United’s pre-season tour of Asia and Australia.
However he also added: “I want to be able to play the two of them, I want to use Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez as well. I want to give myself as many options as possible.”
According to the Sky Sports source, Rooney feels he is at the peak of his career and after nine years with United has no need to prove himself any more.
While van Persie plundered 30 league goals last season to finish Premier League top scorer for the second time in succession, Rooney found the net just 12 times.
He was also left out by then manager Alex Ferguson in some crucial matches, including the Champions League second round clash with Real Madrid.
He has won the Premier League five times, the Champions League in 2008 and two FA Cups during his time at Old Trafford.
He was voted Players’ Player of the Year in 2010 and Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. He has scored 36 goals for England in 83 appearances.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Jose Mourinho has warned that he is returning to Chelsea as a much better manager as he bids to win back the Premier League trophy and secure an elusive Champions League title with the London club.
Mourinho, looking greyer and weightier than English fans will remember, said his experiences at Inter Milan and Real Madrid would put him in good stead in his second stint.
“I think some white hairs in my case is a good sign because it means that I’m better now than before,” he told journalists in Bangkok, where he will begin his new era with a pre-season friendly on Wednesday.
“I think I’m better now because my job is the kind of job where experience means a lot,” explained the Portuguese.
“Especially like in my case after my period with Chelsea I went around Europe, I had two years in Italy, three years in Spain, so I have more football culture than before.
“I have more experience than before so I think I’m in a better condition now than before. Because I think my job is about that, it’s about learning experiences.”
Mourinho, 50, is a good bet to return the Premier League trophy to Chelsea after winning back-to-back titles as well as two League Cups and the FA Cup during his first stint from 2004 to 2007.
At Inter Milan, he achieved the Italian treble of the Champions League, Serie A and the Coppa Italia in 2010 during another trophy-laden spell, and he also won La Liga during a more mixed time with Real Madrid.
Now Mourinho is hoping to build a lasting legacy at Chelsea and emulate his achievement at both Porto and Inter of winning the Champions League for the first time with the Blues.
Mourinho’s visit to Thailand nearly began in embarrassing fashion when, after performing a Thai bow for waiting media, he tripped on the steps to the press conference dais and almost crashed onto the stage.
But he quickly recovered his poise to speak about his enthusiasm for young signings Marco van Ginkel — “one of the best prospects in European football” — and Andre Schurrle, as well as veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Mourinho, who brashly announced himself as “the Special One” when he first arrived at Chelsea but now prefers “the Happy One”, admitted he would not be smiling when the team loses for the first time.
“Until the first defeat I’m very happy. When the first defeat comes I’m the same,” he said. “I’m very sad when my team doesn’t win. But it’s up to them to help me and to support me and try to get a good result every match for our club.”
The first loss is unlikely to come on Wednesday, when Chelsea take on the Singha All-Stars XI in Bangkok, a city plastered with giant images of their stars and where fans have turned out in force to greet them.
But goalkeeper Petr Cech dismissed notions that Chelsea held the edge over English champions Manchester United and Manchester City, who also have new managers, owing to their familiarity …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By Bobby McMahon, Contributor Last Sunday, I had pretty much decided to write a piece on the approaching UEFA Champions League semi-finals. I even had the first paragraph done – “Just twelve months ago the accepted wisdom was we were getting set for a Champions League el clasico final. It didn’t happen but the bookmakers believe it will happen this time. Are we getting ahead of ourselves again?” Then Luis Suarez decided that Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic looked a bit tasty and decided to nibble on his arm. Out went the Champions League and in came Suarez and his chomp. At this time last week bookmakers had Barcelona (2/1) as favorites to lift the UEFA Champions League and Real Madrid was second favorite at 2.4/1. You could get odds of 3/1 against new Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich going one step better than the runners-up spot they achieved last season and in 2010. Borussia Dortmund could be had at odds of 6.5/1. The point I thought worth making was not so much that the two Spanish clubs were somehow unworthy of their status as favorites but it had more to do with how easily the German sides’ hopes were being written off by so many. After all, Bayern Munich had beaten Real Madrid last season at semi-final stage on a penalty kicker decider. Further, Borussia Dortmund had already played Real Madrid twice this season in the initial group stage and had come within a minute or so of beating Real Madrid twice. The case against Barcelona moving on was a lot weaker with nothing but failure at this stage in 2012, 2010 and a struggle in 2009 to bolster thoughts of a surprise. There again it is one thing to counter caution but no one expected that Bayern and Dortmund would be taking 4-0 and 4-1 leads to Spain just a week later. One such result would have been a shock but two was unthinkable. Bayern’s performance was close to flawless. Barcelona never managed a shot on target while Bayern alternated between pressing Barcelona in possession and clogging the midfield and making it nigh impossible for Barcelona to establish any sort of passing rhythm. Bayern played to their strengths (size and mobility) which in turn exposed Barcelona’s weaknesses to a degree rarely seen. Any pleasure that Barcelona’s plight might have given Real Madrid supporters did not last long. Twenty-four later Real Madrid was on the receiving end of a battering from Borussia Dortmund. While Bayern’s win was a triumph of planning, tactics and execution Dortmund’s win had no such air. After conceding an undeserved equalizer right on half time Dortmund simply swarmed Real Madrid during the twenty-five minutes after half time. The drive, speed and hunger exhibited by Dortmund was something the Real Madrid defense could not cope with. Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals for Dortmund and in the process he added close to eight figures to any transfer fee should he move this summer. So a
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Haydn Shaughnessy, Contributor
I was struck by the Forbes estimate of Real Madrid‘s new valuation, making it the world’s most valuable sports club and the complex reasons behind it. Is there a simpler explanation that’s going begging?
A glance at some sporting events and teams that have been affected by attacks and threats:
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Sept. 5-6, 1972 — Palestinians going by the name of “Black September” kill 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
April 21, 1987 — A car bomb kills more than 100 people at a bus station in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The blast came during a tour of the country by the New Zealand cricket team. The three-Test tour was cut to one.
Feb. 11, 1996 — Cricket teams from australia and the West Indies refuse to play preliminary World Cup matches in Sri Lanka a week after a huge bomb blast in Colombo killed 80 people and injures 1,200.
July 27, 1996 — Centennial Park bombing at Atlanta Olympics. The attack took place during a nighttime music concert at the Centennial Olympic Park. The explosion killed one person and injured over 100 others.
April 5, 1997 — The Grand National, the most famous horse race in England, was abandoned after two coded bomb threats were reportedly received from the IRA. Sixty-thousand spectators (including Princess Anne), jockeys, race personnel and local residents were evacuated, and the course was secured by police. The race was run two days later.
May 1, 2002 — Hours before the Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Barcelona, a car bomb was detonated near Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. Seventeen people were injured. UEFA made security checks before going ahead with the match.
May 8, 2002 — A suicide bomber killed 14 people outside the hotel where the New Zealand cricket team was staying in Karachi, Pakistan. Fourteen people died in the attack and the New Zealand team returned home.
2006 — Iraqi sportsmen and women were targeted three times. On May 17, 15 athletes and officials of the Iraqi taekwondo team were kidnapped as they headed to Jordan for a training camp. None of the athletes were seen alive again. On May 26, gunmen shot and killed the Iraqi tennis coach and two of his players. The final attack on July 16 involved 50 gunmen who attacked a sports conference in Baghdad. They kidnapped 30 athletes and officials, including the head of Iraq’s Olympic Committee, Ahmed
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/SGc8jxGiuKE/
The Champions League semifinalists are set: Bayern Munich will play Barcelona and Real Madrid will go against Borussia Dortmund. Thanks to their much bigger social media presence, the Spanish teams and their players have a much greater opportunity to cash in, especially if they are able to advance to the finals.
The UEFA Champions League returns Tuesday night after a three-week break, with Bayern Munich vs. Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona kicking off the tournament’s quarterfinal round. Matches between Real Madrid vs. Galatasaray and Malaga vs. Borussia Dortmund provide a second helping of quarterfinal action on Wednesday evening. These games kick off a sprint of four matches over two rounds in the next month that will determine which two teams will face each other in the championship match in London’s Wembley Stadium at the end of May. Familiar names like Barcelona and Real Madrid must be favored as the eventual winners of the tournament, but by how much? Statistics from the Euro Club Index (ECI) provide a projection of just how favored each team is to win this year’s Champions League tournament (click here for more detail on their methodology). The table below summarizes each club’s Champions League title likelihood per the ECI’s “League Odds” view as of Monday evening. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
It has not been a good week for Manchester United. Leading 2-1 on aggregate against Real Madrid in the second half of the second leg of the Champions League at Old Trafford, United seemed well in control and positioned to move into the last eight of the competition. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By The Huffington Post News Editors
If England’s emergency line had a penalty system, one overzealous soccer fan might be dealt his own red card.
A Manchester United loyalist dialed the British version of 911 because he felt it was a crime that soccer star Nani received a red card during Man U’s 2-1 loss to Real Madrid on Tuesday in a Champions League match, the BBC reported.
The 18-year-old from Bingham, Nottinghamshire, later said he was sorry, and no charges were filed. Chief Inspector Ted Antill reminded the public that while these types of incidents are amusing, they distract from real emergencies.
Read More…
More on Stupid 911 Calls
By The Huffington Post News Editors
By Goal.com
Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes could face a lengthy ban for verbally abusing referee Miguel Angel Perez Lasa after Saturday’s Clasico clash against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It’s not as though Spain doesn’t have enough to worry about — two years of recession, harsh austerity programs, sky-high unemployment and an unstable footing on the world’s markets. Now comes a corruption scandal that has shaken the top levels of government.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has steered Spain through the economic turmoil, but some are asking whether he will survive the storm over allegations that he and others benefited from years of slush fund handouts. Here’s a look at how the scandal has developed:
THE ALLEGATIONS:
Spain‘s leading El Pais newspaper published a bombshell report on Jan. 31, laying out ledgers it said were from former Popular Party Treasurer Luis Barcenas, outlining nearly 20 years of alleged secret accounting showing cash payments to leading party members — including Rajoy before he became prime minister.
The money allegedly came from private companies, mostly construction firms doing big business during Spain‘s property boom stretching from the 1990s until the 2008 financial crisis. According to the documents published by El Pais, Rajoy received €322,231 ($436,494) from 1997 to 2008.
Rajoy and the other party members allegedly involved have denied receiving payments, and the Popular Party said the documents are false — though it has acknowledged that some notations reflect legitimate party payments and notifications to Spain‘s taxation authority.
THE FALLOUT:
Spaniards struggling under spending cuts and tax hikes are outraged. In the country’s bars, the talk about the controversy is more heated than the usual arguments over the Real Madrid and Barcelona football (soccer) teams. Angry protests have been held outside the Popular Party‘s Madrid headquarters.
The scandal has hit the markets: stocks fell and interest rates on Spanish bonds rose in the days after Rajoy denied the allegations, as investors grew concerned about the stability of the government and its economy.
“It’s tough to sell austerity when it seems like you’re being robbed,” said Jose Antonio Olmeda, a political scientist with Spain‘s National Distance Education University. “It’s a gunshot fired at (Rajoy’s) political leadership and it weakens his authority.”
THE MAN BEHIND IT:
Barcenas, 55, was the second-in-command of Popular Party‘s finances starting …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A Palestinian court has sentenced a West Bank man to a year in jail for “cursing the president” on Facebook.
The Magistrates Court of the city of Nablus sentenced Anas Awwad, 26, on Thursday.
His father says Awwad is being punished for a comment he made about a picture of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas kicking a soccer ball taken during his visit to Barcelona Football Club in 2011.
Awwad wrote “The new striker in Real Madrid.” His lawyer says he is appealing the decision.
Another Palestinian is on trial for the same charge. Nizar Banat, 33, posted: “I curse the president on every occasion for political reasons.”
Human Rights lawyer Fareed Al-Atrash said the Palestinian judiciary applied a Jordanian law that criminalizes cursing the King.
Abbas’s office declined to comment.
