Men’s :

Michael Ballack (Germany)

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)

Iker Casillas (Spain)

Bhowmick sent his resignation letter to club president Pranab Dasgupta, saying the team has not played well in any of the three tournaments – IFA Shield, Durand Cup and the oingoign I-League this year.

Foot BallThe fat scoreline at the Salt Lake stadium was, however, no indicator of the standard of the fare dished out by the two city giants; in the final analysis, sloppy defending on both sides of the ground led to the deluge of goals, thoughBagan seemed tactically superior.

At issue was not only open criticism of his coaching abilities but also the injury of Pablo Zabaleta, who annoyed Maradona with his insistence on continuing to play for his club, Manchester city, at a crucial time.

“Unscrupulous individuals are taking advantage of the great appeal of this event by trying to use the internet to sell tickets they do not possess,” said FIFA in a statement Friday.

Kicking off the tour from the FIFA headquarters, FIFA president Joseph Blatter and Muhtar Kent – chairman and major of world’s largest beverage company Coca Cola – told mediapersons that it will travel around the globe before arriving in the host country South Africa May 4, 2010.

Fresh from their IFA Shield final loss to Churchill Brothers, Mohun Bagan put on a clinical performance to stake claim to their 17th Durand Cup title at the Ambedkar Stadium.

Both the teams played an attacking game but India found the back of the net in the 42nd minute through Lalnunmawia.

The 52-year-old Goan was found dead sitting on the commode of the hotel washroom around 9 am at Hyatt Regency. Police have registered a case of unnatural death and his body has been sent for post-mortem examination.

The DFB said that Germany will set up its camp in the Velmore Hotel in Centurion and travel to its matches from there, provided that the three-time champions qualify for the World Cup.

Captain Bhaichung Bhutia (25th), Gouramangi Singh (69th) and Steven Dias (85th) scored for India while WDRD Warakagoda found the net in the 61st minute for Sri Lanka.

The home team, which produced their best performance of the tournament so far in a free-flowing match on Wednesday, could have won by a bigger margin had not they wasted the chances galore that came their way.

Chile and Uruguay drew 0-0, while a day earlier Venezuela beat Colombia 2-0.

Paraguay continued to top the table with 24 points in 12 games, followed by Brazil on 21 points and Chile on 20. Argentina were on 19, while Uruguay remained fifth with 17 points.

In South America’s World Cup qualifiers, each of the 10 sides plays each of the other nine teams at home and away. The top four win a place in the event. The fifth-placed team has a chance to advance through a play-off against a team from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

Ronaldo, who recently collected the Ballon d’Or, was backed by 36% of Asian fans in the survey, which canvassed the views of over 32,000 fans from 185 countries across the globe.

The Portugal winger’s closest rival was Barcelona star and last year’s World Player award runner-up Lionel Messi of Barcelona who polled 14% of supporters’ votes.

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The Argentina coach was left rattled as disaster followed him everywhere. In fact, Sunday morning outside Indira Bhavan (Basu’s residence) was worse than the previous night’s chaos at the stadium, which forced Maradona to leave in a huff. On Saturday night, the maverick sports minister who always finds a way to get into controversy had blamed the media for the ruckus and threatened to hit them. On Sunday, his men carried out the threat.

Mediamen waiting at Indira Bhavan for Maradona’s arrival were thrashed by CPM supporters and overzealous policemen. Even private security guards drew inspiration to swing a baton or two. Two TOI photojournalists and two reporters were among dozens beaten up.

The former Argentina captain arrived to a rousing welcome at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport by thousands of frenzied fans who remained awake till past mid night waving Argentina’s national flag of white and sky blue.

Blowing kisses in the air and waving to the crowd, the 48-year-old Argentine said he had not anticipated that his two-day visit would evoke such a huge response

But he said Tuesday that it was no worse than England being awarded a dubious goal during its 1966 World Cup final win.

Catania is coached by Walter Zenga, a former goalkeper on Italy’s national team. “This is a strategy that Zenga tries continually in training,” Pietro Lo Monaco, the club’s chief executive, told RAI state radio Monday. Former referees coordinator Paolo Casarin called the move “unsportsmanlike and in bad taste.”

Catania’s forward Gianvito Plasmati, right, is seen with his shorts down as his teammate Giuseppe Mascara, not pictured, scored a goal during the Italian Serie A first division soccer match between Catania and Torino, in Catania, southern Italy, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. Three Catania players dropped their shorts down near their knees so Torino goalkeeper Matteo Sereni couldn’t see Mascara’s kick.

The news followed a meeting on Tuesday that Maradona and former national coach Carlos Bilardo held with Grondona.

“Now the real work begins,” Maradona said.

The legendary footballer will be introduced as Argentina coach Thursday on his 48th birthday.

In the other action of the night, Juventus had to fight back for a 2-2 draw at BATE Borisov in Group H.

The Bulgarian striker pounced twice in the second half after Wayne Rooney had put the holders ahead in the 22nd minute to give United their first win of the campaign.

Carlos Tevez had put United ahead after three minutes, with a Wes Brown own goal levelling before Babel struck 13 minutes from time to secure their first home win against United for seven years.

Vicente del Bosque has succeeded Luis Aragones as Spain’s coach while Italy’s World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi is back in his old job following Roberto Donadoni’s departure after their disappointing European championship performance.

An AFC delegation will fly to New Delhi on Sunday morning to inspect the ground conditions at the Ambedkar Stadium and take a decision whether the final could be held there. The delegation will decide the date of the match which the organisers said would be within a week.

British weekly newspaper News of the World said Ambani, the sixth richest man in the world, is already in negotiations with club owner Mike Ashley for a reported 260 million pounds (US $ 510 million) takeover

Houghton’s three-year contract expires in May 2009 but Baichung wants the widely respected former Fulham midfielder to be given another tenure as his continuation will only “help Indian football.”

rest on http://www.passionfootball.com/2007/11/liverpool-v-besiktas-highlights-06-11_06.html

Mourinho met Elsa Sousa when he was coaching small-town team Leiria in his native Portugal in 2001. He took her with him to FC Porto in January 2002, his first big job — where the pair lived for eight months in a flat arranged by the club. Mourinho even introduced her as his wife to players and agents. Players at top Portuguese side FC Porto thought she was coach Jose’s wife — until the real Mrs Mourinho turned up.

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was Spain’s goal hero, striking after 33 minutes when he cleverly lifted Cesc Fabregas’s pass over Jens Lehmann.

Spain dominated the final throughout, with Torres heading against the post and Marcos Senna within inches of adding a second after 80 minutes.

Michael Ballack came close for Germany, shooting narrowly wide after the break.

Liverpool’s stay might only last for 24 hours until overnight leaders Chelsea visit Aston Villa on Sunday.

Two goals from Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres and one apiece by Ryan Babel [Images] and substitute Andriy Voronin helped the Merseysiders crush bottom team Derby.

Everton went second with a 2-1 victory at Bolton Wanderers thanks to a last-minute winner from Joleon Lescott. They trail Liverpool on goal difference.

Liverpool have 10 points, the same as Everton and Chelsea with Manchester City, who play at Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, next on nine.

Michael Owen [Images] scored in the 87th minute to give Newcastle United a 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic, who had Kevin Kilbane sent off.

Fulham stormed back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to force a 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage while Middlesbrough beat Birmingham City 2-0.

West Ham United avenged last season’s 6-0 defeat at Reading by winning 3-0 at the Madejski Stadium. The home team also missed a penalty

Terry still had two years left on his existing contract but is delighted to commit his long-term future to the west London side.

With this John Terry has become the highest-paid player in Premier League history.
Terry, who had two years to run on an existing £67,000-a-week deal, will see his weekly wage packet double to £135,000. The salary eclipses those of £121,000-a-week currently enjoyed by the midfielder Michael Ballack and striker Andriy Shevchenko.

The total income from media rights (60 per cent of the total), sponsorship and merchandising (21 per cent), the booming corporate hospitality sector (11 per cent) and match tickets (7 per cent), represents an increase of more than 50 per cent on the figure of 852 million euros produced by Euro 2004 in Portugal.

A total of 184 million euros of that money goes straight to the 16 finalists with each country guaranteed 7.5 million euros with further payments linked to points and progress in the tournament.

Is it possible that Duncan Edwards was really that good? Greater, perhaps, than Pele or Alfredo di Stefano? Frustratingly, there being little film footage available of him in action, we must depend upon the evidence of eyewitnesses at the time.
“He was the best player I’ve ever seen and the best footballer I ever played with,” says Sir Bobby Charlton.
Courtesy: telegraphindia.com