Capital One Cup Fifth Round (Quarter-Final) Draw
Stoke City vs Manchester United
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Tottenham vs West Ham
Sunderland/Southampton vs Chelsea
Thursday, October 31, 2013
CAPITAL ONE CUP DRAW
EUROPEAN LEAGUE ROUND UP
Capital One Cup Results
Newcastle United 0-2 Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Hull City (Tottenham won 8-7 on penalty shoot-out)
Spanish Primera División Results
Real Valladolid 2-2 Real Sociedad
Valencia 1-2 Almeria
Osasuna 3-1 Rayo Vallecano
Real Madrid 7-3 Sevilla FC
Italian Serie A Results
AC Milan 1-1 Lazio
Cagliari 0-3 Bologna
Fiorentina 1-2 Napoli
Genoa 1-0 Parma
Hellas Verona 2-0 Sampdoria
Juventus 4-0 Catania
Livorno 3-3 Torino
Sassuolo 1-2 Udinese
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
CRISTIANO RONALDO FROWNS AT BLATTER'S COMMENT
Cristiano Ronaldo has come out to express his displeasure at the recent comment of FIFA President, Sepp Blatter. The Portuguese believes quotes by Sepp Blatter on Friday are indicative of institutional bias towards the Catalan club and their star player.
Cristiano Ronaldo believes FIFA favouritism for Barcelona and Lionel Messi is undermining his legacy at Real Madrid and fears he will not win the Ballon d'Or again while Sepp Blatter remains in charge of football's governing body.
Both the Blancos and Ronaldo responded furiously on Tuesday at quotes made by Blatter on Friday in which the Fifa chief had expressed a preference for Messi and made fun of the Portuguese and, although the Swiss moved to apologise and play down the controversy, the player feels the remarks are indicative of institutional bias.
Asked about Messi and Ronaldo by students at an Oxford University debate on Friday, Blatter said: "One spends more at the hairdresser’s than the other, but I can’t say who is better. I like them both, but I prefer Messi."
Madrid contacted Blatter to express their grieviance at the 77-year-old's stance, while coach Carlo Ancelotti also defended his player on Tuesday. "I know that our president has sent a letter to FIFA. This is a lack of respect towards a player who is very serious and very professional. I agree with the president," the Italian said.
"We inverted the triangle," Martino said. Ronaldo responded angrily to the Swiss on Twitter and Facebook, posting a video of the FIFA chief making fun of him. "This video shows the respect and consideration that FIFA has for me, my club and my country. Much is explained now. I wish Mr. Blatter health and a long life, with the certainty that he'll continue to witness the successes of his favourite teams and players."
Blatter later said sorry. "I apologise if you were upset by my light-hearted answer at a private event on Friday," he wrote to Ronaldo on Twitter. And the FIFA boss also sent an open letter to Madrid, claiming he thought that Messi and Cristiano were on the same level.
However, as far as player and club are concerned, the damage is done because the Swiss had already revealed his preferred player: Messi. "Leo's a good lad, every mother or father would like to have him at home," Blatter has said of the Argentine. And of Ronaldo, he had added: "The other one is a commander on the field of play."
Cristiano was upset last season at what he perceived as a lack of support from the Madrid hierarchy and is happy his club have leapt to his defence this time around. Nevertheless, he feels frustrated at what he sees as bias towards both Barcelona and Messi as the Argentine looks to win a fifth Ballon d'Or in succession next January.
Both players were nominated in the 23-man shortlist announced on Tuesday, along with fellow favourite Franck Ribery, but Ronaldo is already convinced he will not claim the prize and doubts he will win it again while Blatter is in charge.
"Those [Blatter] quotes explain the reasons why Cristiano doesn't have more Ballons d'Or," Portuguese great Paulo Futre said on Tuesday. "The trophy is a farce - if I had any doubts before then they are all gone now."
EUROPEAN LEAGUE ROUND UP
Capital One Cup Fixtures for today
8:45 PM - Newcastle United vs Manchester City
8:45 PM - Tottenham Hotspur vs Hull City
Spanish Primera División Fixtures for today
8:00 PM - Real Valladolid vs Real Sociedad
8:00 PM - Valencia vs Almeria
10:00 PM - Osasuna vs Rayo Vallecano
10:00 PM - Real Madrid vs Sevilla FC
Italian Serie A Fixtures for today
8:45 PM - AC Milan vs Lazio
8:45 PM - Cagliari vs Bologna
8:45 PM - Fiorentina vs Napoli
8:45 PM - Genoa vs Parma
8:45 PM - Hellas Verona vs Sampdoria
8:45 PM - Juventus vs Catania
8:45 PM - Livorno vs Torino
8:45 PM - Sassuolo vs Udinese
FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP UAE 2013
FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP UAE 2013 QUARTER-FINALS (PAIRING)
01/11 BRAZIL vs MEXICO
01/11 HONDURAS vs SWEDEN
02/11 URUGUAY vs NIGERIA
02/11 1ARGENTINA vs IVORY COAST
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL ROUND UP
Capital One Cup Results
Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea
Birmingham City 4-4 Stoke City (Stoke city won 4-2 on penalty Shoot-out)
Burnley 0-2 West Ham United
Leicester City 4-3 Fulham
Manchester United 4-0 Norwich City
Spanish Primera División results
Espanyol 0-0 Malaga
Celta Vigo 0-3 Barcelona
Italian Serie A result
Atalanta 1-1 Internationale
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
ARSENAL CRASH OUT OF CAPITAL ONE CUP
Arsenal crashed out of the fourth round of the Capital One Cup as they were gun down by Chelsea at the Emirate stadium. Hence, Chelsea booked their place in the fifth round of the Capital One Cup at Arsenal's expense as goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Juan Mata clinched a 2-0 win at Emirates Stadium.Jose Mourinho made ten changes to his Chelsea side for the trip to Arsenal but that did not hinder his team as they overcame the English Premier League leaders. Azpilicueta scored the opening goal of the game on 25 minutes as he pounced on a mistake from Carl Jenkinson, whose header back to Lukasz Fabianski was too weak.Arsenal improved in the early stages of the second half and brought on Mesut Ozil in a bid to aid their chances of a comeback, but Mata's fine strike in the 66th minute wrapped up the win for the Blues.Giroud was also introduced for arsenal after conceding the second goal but he could not change the situation for the gunners.
Elsewhere, Javier Hernandez scored a brace to ensure Manchester United secured a comfortable 4-0 victory over Norwich City at Old Trafford, while Fulham lost 4-3 at Leicester and West Ham beat Burnley 2-0.
FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP UAE 2013
U-17 FIFA WORLD CUP Results for Round of 16
Morocco1-2 Ivory Coast
Uruguay 4-2 Slovakia
Argentina 3-1 Tunisia
Nigeria 4-1 Iran
FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP UAE 2013
FIFA U-17 World Cup fixtures for today
2:00 PM - Morocco vs Ivory Coast
2:00 PM - Uruguay vs Slovakia
5:00 PM - Argentina vs Tunisia
5:00 PM - Nigeria vs Iran
EUROPEAN LEAGUE ROUND UP
Capital One Cup fixture for today
8:45 PM - Arsenal vs Chelsea
8:45 PM - Birmingham City vs Stoke City
8:45 PM - Burnley vs West Ham United
8:45 PM - Leicester City vs Fulham
8:45 PM - Manchester United vs Norwich City
Spanish Primera División fixture for today
8:00 PM - Espanyol vs Malaga
10:00 PM - Celta Vigo vs Barcelona
Italian Serie A fixture for today
8:45 PM - Atalanta vs Internazionale
FIFA BALLON D'OR AWARD
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery tops the 23-man list released by FIFA for the 2013 FIFA BALLON D' OR Award.
Also, for the coach of the year award, we have Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger included in the 10-man list.
Ballon d'Or shortlist:
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales), Edinson Cavani (Paris St Germain/Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St Germain/Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich/Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund/Poland), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich/Germany), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany), Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italy), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/France), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich/Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich/Germany), Luis Suarez (Liverpool/Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain/Brazil), Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory Coast), Robin van Persie (Manchester United/Netherlands), Xavi (Barcelona/Spain).
Coach of the year shortlist:
Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid/ex-Paris St Germain), Rafael Benitez (Napoli/ex-Chelsea), Antonio Conte (Juventus), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain), Sir Alex Ferguson (ex-Manchester United), Jupp Heynckes (ex-Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund), Jose Mourinho (Chelsea/ex-Real Madrid), Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal).
Monday, October 28, 2013
HOME-BASED EAGLES LOSE TO JORDAN
The Home-based Eagles lost by a lone goal to Jordan at the Amman International Stadium in an international friendly played on monday. The goal came from a 42nd minute strike from captain, Hatem Aqel and it was all the host needed to beat Stephen Keshi’s men as they continue preparation for their make or mar 2014 World Cup qualifying play-offs against the Uruguayan national team.The Jordan team coached by legendary Egyptian striker, Hossam Hassan started on an impressive note threatening the Nigerian defence led by Azubuike Egwuekwe but could not get the curtain raiser due to poor finishing.Nigeria tried to curtail the attacking forays of their opponent but were unable to take control of the game as Jordan proved a threat on the counterattack. The Super Eagles chance at getting the opening goal came in the 14th minute when Etebo quick burst of pace into the Al-Nashāmā defence but it was wasted by Sunday Mba as his first touch was cleared by Jordan’s defence.Few minutes later, the 22nd minute to be precise, Obiozor made a quick run then turns back towards the goal but shot waywardly at the opponents goal.Not quite long, Jordan won a free kick in front of the Nigeria area after Egwuekwe rough challenge on his opponent but the resulting freekick was blocked by the Nigeria wall as the hosts continue to dominate possession.In the 30th minute, some fine play from the Eagles could have shot them into the lead as Benjamin Francis was brought down for a free kick on the left side of the Jordanian goal area. The resulting kick was cleared off the line by the host's goalkeeper from Ugonna's close range shot.The hosts however got the curtain raiser via a cool penalty taken by skipper Hatem Aqel after Obiozor stopped Yousef in his stride.On resumption of the second half, Keshi’s side mounted pressure on the host and almost got the equaliser in the 52nd minutes when Mba's shot from inside the Jordanian box narrowly missed the goal. Seconds later, Uzoenyi dribbled past his marker but does poorly in giving the final pass inside the box.Despite the introduction of Ifeanyi Edeh, Barnabas Imenger and Christian Pyagbara, the Eagles failed to score as they look lethargic in front of goal.In the 78th minute, the host almost doubled their lead but Chadli’s header struck the cross bar from a corner kick.
NO BAYER LEVERKUSEN-HOFFENHEIM REPLAY
The news reaching our desk is that there will not be a replay of the match between Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim after a ghost goal was allowed by the referee in favour of Bayer Leverkusen.The DFB has rejected Hoffenheim's appeal against the striker's phantom goal despite admitting that the decision to award it may have been incorrect.
The DFB has decided there will be no rematch between Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim despite the "ghost goal" scored by striker Stefan Kiessling.
During the match, which ended 2-1 in die Werkself's favour, the attacker hit the side of the net via a header, but the ball went in through a hole, with referee Dr. Felix Brych deciding to award the goal to Leverkusen.
A sports court assembled by the German football governing body decided on today, Monday that the match will not be repeated after Hoffenheim appealed against the decision by the official.
"The question isn't whether this judgement satisfies us from a sporting perspective," judge Hans E. Lorenz explained.
"From a legal point of view, there is no alternative. There are no grounds for the appeal.
The incident once again raised discussion about when the Bundesliga will introduce goal-line technology, but the head of the German football league, Andreas Rettig, suggested that will not happen before the 2015-16 season.
FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP UAE 2013
U-17 World Cup Round of 16 Results
Italy 0-2 Mexico
Japan 1-2 Sweden
Brazil 3-1 Russia
Honduras 1-0 Uzbekistan
HOME-BASED SUPER EAGLES CONFRONTS JORDAN IN A FRIENDLY
Nigeria's Home-Based Super Eagles will confront Jordan in an international friendly match in Amman tonight.It is the first time both countries will go head-to-head in an international match.
The African champions made the trip to Amman with players drawn from the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).Chigozie Agbim, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Sunday Mba, Rabiu Ali, Gambo Mohammed, Solomon Kwambe, Ezekiel Mba and Oghenekaro Etebo are among players in the squad to face Jordan.Nigerian head coach, Stephen Keshi, explained that his team will draw some exposure from the warm-up game as they prepare for the African Nations Championship (Chan) in South Africa in January 2014.
The kick-off time for the match is 7pm Nigerian time.
MOURINHO APOLOGIZES
After Chelsea's victory over title contender, Manchester City, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has come out to apologise for climbing behind Manchester City's dugout and into the crowd after Fernando Torres scored a late winner at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but denied he deliberately taunted Manual Pellegrini. Mourinho stormed past Pellegrini as Torres sealed the 2-1 victory and the Chilean appeared disgruntled by the Portuguese's actions as he avoided a post-match handshake.But the Blues boss quashed suggestions he was disrespectful towards his opposition manager and explained he was simply trying to find his son in the crowd."I think Chelsea are guilty because I want to buy a season ticket for my son and they give season tickets for my son behind the opponent's dugout," he said."They have to change and give my kid tickets behind my dugout. I went for him, I went for him, I promise that I went for him and next match you will see him there again
Saturday, October 26, 2013
BARCA CLAIMS EL CLASSICO
Barcelona FC emerged victorious at the Nou Camp in the El Classico clash against arch-rivals Real Madrid.Goals from Neymar and Alexis Sanchez gave Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Clasico at the Nou Camp, sending them six points clear of their fierce rivals at the top of the Primera Division.The Brazilian opened the scoring in the 18th minute and then provided substitute Alexis with a pass which the Chilean subsequently lobbed over Diego Lopez to finish off the visitors with 12 minutes remaining.Twenty-year-old Jese got a goal back for Madrid in stoppage time, but there was not enough time left for an equaliser.
EUROPEAN LEAGUES
Barclays Premier League Results for today
Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal
Aston Villa 0-2 Everton
Liverpool 4-1 West Bromwich Albion
Manchester United 3-2 Stoke City
Norwich City 0-0 Cardiff City
Southampton 2-0 Fulham
Spanish Primera División Results for today
Malaga 0-5 Celta Vigo
Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid
Elche 0-1 Granada
Italian Serie A Results for today
Sampdoria 1-0 Atalanta
Internazionale 4-2 Hellas Verona
German Bundesliga Results for today
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 FC Augsburg
Bayern Munich 3-2 Hertha Berlin
Hannover 96 1-4 TSG Hoffenheim
Mainz 2-0 TSV Eintracht Braunschweig
Schalke 04 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 Werder Bremen
French Ligue 1 Results for today
Marseille 2-3 Stade de Reims
Bastia 1-0 Nice
Guingamp 2-1 AC Ajaccio
Lorient 2-1 Sochaux
Toulouse 0-5 Stade Rennes
Valenciennes 0-1 Evian Thonon Gaillard
ARSENAL MAINTAINS TOP SPOT IN THE EPL
Arsenal FC maintained their lead on the EPL Table as they got a 2-0 away victory against bottom placed team Crystal Palace. Arsenal took the lead in 47th minute via a penalty converted by Mikel Arteta. In the 65th minute, Mikel Arteta, scorer of the opening goal got a red card for committing a foul and so the gunners were reduced to 10 man. But despite playing with one man down, Arsenal were still in control of the game and that yielded another goal for them in the 87th minute via a nice header by Olivier Giroud.
EL CLASSICO CRUNCH
Today is the EL CLASSICO tie between Real Madrid and Barcelona. One can also call it the battle between Four time FIFA Ballon d'or winner, Lionel Messi and one time FIFA world footballer of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo because these two players are the best players we have on planet earth at the moment. It promises to be an interesting encounter today and the kick off time is 5pm Nigerian time. This is a very important match for coaches of both sides, Gerardino Martino of Barcelona and Carlo Ancelotti of Real Madrid. Barcelona still maintains their unbeaten run in the Spanish la liga this season and they hope to maintain it as they confront Real Madrid today.
EUROPEAN LEAGUES
Barclays Premier League fixtures for today
12:45 PM - Crystal Palace vs Arsenal
3:00 PM - Aston Villa vs Everton
3:00 PM - Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion
3:00 PM - Manchester United vs Stoke City
3:00 PM - Norwich City vs Cardiff City
5:30 PM - Southampton vs Fulham
Spanish Primera División fixtures for today
3:00 PM - Malaga vs Celta Vigo
5:00 PM - Barcelona vs Real Madrid
7:00 PM - Elche vs Granada
9:00 PM - Levante vs Espanyol
Italian Serie A fixtures for today
5:00 PM - Sampdoria vs Atalanta
7:45 PM - Internazionale vs Hellas Verona
German Bundesliga fixtures for today
2:30 PM - Bayer Leverkusen vs FC Augsburg
2:30 PM - Bayern Munich vs Hertha Berlin
2:30 PM - Hannover 96 vs TSG Hoffenheim
2:30 PM - Mainz vs TSV Eintracht Braunschweig
2:30 PM - Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund
5:30 PM - VfL Wolfsburg vs Werder Bremen
French Ligue fixtures for today
2:00 PM - Marseille vs Stade de Reims
7:00 PM - Bastia vs Nice
7:00 PM - Guingamp vs AC Ajaccio
7:00 PM - Lorient vs Sochaux
7:00 PM - Toulouse vs Stade Rennes
7:00 PM - Valenciennes vs Evian Thonon Gaillard
Friday, October 25, 2013
FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP
ROUND OF 16 FIXTURES
ITALY vs MEXICO
JAPAN vs SWEDEN
BRAZIL vs RUSSIA
HONDURAS vs UZBEKISTAN
URUGUAY vs SLOVAKIA
MOROCCO vs COTE D'IVOIRE
ARGENTINA vs TUNISIA
NIGERIA vs IRAN
GOLDEN EAGLETS TRASH IRAQ
The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria trashed Iraq by five unreplied goals in their last group match at the ongoing FIFA U-17 World cup UAE 2013. In the other group game, Mexico pipped Sweden by a lone goal. Nigeria, Sweden and Mexico all booked their place in the round of 16. Golden Eaglets faces Iran in the round of 16.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
UEFA Champions League results
CSKA Moscow 1-2 Manchester City
Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester United 1-0 Real Sociedad
Galatasaray 3-1 FC Copenhagen
Real Madrid 2-1 Juventus
Anderlecht 0-5 Paris Saint-Germain
Benfica 1-1 Olympiakos
Bayern Munich 5-0 Viktoria Plzen
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
UEFA Champions League results
Schalke 04 0-3 Chelsea
Steaua Bucuresti 1-1 FC Basel
Arsenal 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Marseille 1-2 Napoli
Austria Vienna 0-3 Atletico Madrid FC Porto 0-1 Zenit St Petersburg AC Milan 1-1 Barcelona
Celtic 2-1 Ajax Amsterdam
Golden Eaglets set to dismantle Sweden
The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria will file out today against Sweden in their second group game. Both sides won their first games beating their opponents. The Golden Eaglets walloped the defending champion, Mexico 6-1 while Sweden defeated Iraq 4-1. Kelechi Iheanacho will be expected to repeat his spectacular goal scoring form which he displayed against Mexico in the first game in which he scored four goals. The match will kick off by 5pm Nigerian time.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Fulham outclass Crystal Palace
Fulham came from behind to hammer Crystal Palace 4-1 at Selhurst Park and consign the Eagles to a seventh Premier League defeat of the season.Both managers were reportedly under pressure going in to the game and, with both club's respective owners in attendance, Martin Jol will no doubt be the happier of the two managers after goals from Pajtim Kasami, Steve Sidwell, Dimitar Berbatov and Philippe Senderos, the first two of which were sumptuous volleys, gave the visitors a 4-1 win and a valuable three points.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Zlatan Ibrahimovic
European Play off ties
Ukraine-France
Greece-Romania
Iceland-Croatia
two-legged play-offs are set to be played on 15 November and 19 November.
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