Switzerland: FIFA U17 World Champions

Seferovic's second-half goal settled the match

Haris Seferovic headed home the only goal in the 63rd minute to earn Switzerland their first Fifa World Cup success at any level.

Nigeria had late chances to level score but the Swiss held their nerve to spoil the party for the Golden Eaglets and their vociferous home fans.

They proved to be worthy champions, winning every match in the tournament.

Nigeria, chasing an unprecedented fourth U-17 world crown, made a purposeful start, piling heavy pressure on the Swiss and creating a handful of scoring chances.

But Abdul Jagun, Sani Emmanuel and Aigbe Oliha had their efforts saved or punched away by Swiss goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist.

It was a different match altogether in the second half as Switzerland abandoned their defensive tactics to take the game to their wasteful opponents.

Nasim Ben Khalifa and Pajtim Kasami took control of the midfield surprisingly muscling out strapping Nigerian midfielder Ramon Azeez.

They deservedly took the lead as Seferovic leaped above Azeez in the Nigerian penalty area to head a corner-kick over Dami Paul and into the far corner for his fifth goal of the tournament.

Stanley Okoro shot agonisingly wide late in the game to sum up Nigeria’s profligacy in front of goal.

They had the ball in the back of the net a few minutes later, but the referee ruled it out for an infringement on Siegrist.

The home fans who had created an electrifying atmosphere inside the Abuja National Stadium went home dejected and disappointed.

But in the end, Switzerland who also defeated Brazil, Germany and Italy to win the trophy, celebrated with their handful of fans in red.

Halloween horror: Eight players see red in Premier League day of shame

Jamie Carragher led a Halloween horror show as eight red cards were flashed in the Premier League in one day.

Carragher was sent off in the 82nd minute of Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat at Fulham, just three minutes after his team-mate Philipp Degen had also been given his marching orders by referee Lee Mason.

And the bad behaviour wasn’t confined to England’s top flight – there were four dismissed in the Scottish Premier League in a grand total of 19 up and down the country.

Early bath: Jamie Carragher is sent-off during Liverpool's defeat to Fulham

There was no sign of the card carnage to come as half-time approached yesterday. Bolton defender JLloyd Samuel cracked first and was dismissed for hauling down Didier Drogba in a 4-0 defeat by Chelsea. Seconds later Kenwyne Jones was walking after a clash with West Ham’s Herita Ilunga in Sunderland’s 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Referee Andre Marriner later levelled it up by sending off Radislav Kovac. Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill accused official Lee Probert of doing likewise in his side’s game at Everton which finished 1-1 and 10-a-side.

Everton’s Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was sent off three minutes before being followed by Villa’s Carlos Cuellar, and O’Neill said: ‘The referee got their red card right but you don’t want to go levelling things up and that’s exactly what the referee did.’

Hull’s Geovanni was the eighth player dismissed, during the 2-0 defeat at Burnley.

Raul has night to remember, Barca held

Record-breaking Real Madrid striker Raul helped Los Blancos return to winning ways with a brace in a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Real Valladolid in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

Raul celebrates one of his two goals with team-mate Esteban Granero

Raul had been presented with a trophy by Madrid president Florentino Perez just prior to kick-off for breaking Manuel Sanchis’ club record of official appearances for the Spanish giants, and he marked the occasion with two more goals.

The veteran forward, who is also Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer, struck twice in the opening 18 minutes and Marcelo added a third before the break after Nauzet Aleman had scored a great freekick for the visitors.

Marquitos put Valladolid back in the game again early in the second half and they grew in confidence until Argentine substitute Gonzalo Higuain lobbed Valladolid goalkeeper Jacobo in a one-on-one 11 minutes from time.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side, who were without injured forward Cristiano Ronaldo, had suffered their first defeat of the campaign away to Sevilla last time out and never really impressed against their 17th-placed opponents.

Barcelona saw their Primera Liga lead cut to a solitary point by Madrid as they were held to a goalless draw by Valencia at the Mestalla – and they will be relieved to have escaped with that result.

Pablo Hernandez went close from his own half and strike partner Juan Mata missed a host of chances, while David Silva was denied by Victor Valdes from the best opportunity of the match.

“Valencia have very good players and a very good coach and caused us a lot of problems,” Barca coach Pep Guardiola told reporters. “We have to be happy with the point.”

Rodriguez Pedrito and Yaya Toure threatened for Barca, but they will be happy to take a share of the spoils and remain a point ahead of arch-rivals Madrid,

Juan Rodriguez’s spectacular strike gave Deportivo Coruna a surprise 1-0 home win over Sevilla.

Manolo Jimenez’s Sevilla had won five matches in a row since losing at Valencia on the opening day and many consider them to be a good outside bet for the title following their impressive 2-1 win over Real Madrid prior to the international break.

But Rodriguez lashed in a shot from well outside the area in the 38th minute, and Deportivo’s well-organised defence kept the visitors at bay to make it 15 points from seven games for the Galicians.

Ukraine will get burned by FIFA after England flare nightmare

Ukraine can expect a FIFA fine for the behaviour of fans who attacked England goalkeepers Robert Green and David James with a barrage of flares. The FA will lodge a complaint this week after making their anger clear to the FIFA delegate at the game in the Dnipro Arena, a venue infamous for hostile fans.

Holy smoke: Rio Ferdinand tries to look unconcerned as flares thrown on the pitch explode behind him

‘FIFA have to decide something about this,’ said England manager Fabio Capello. ‘It’s no good to keep starting the game again. It is difficult for the concentration.’ Ukraine are co-hosting Euro 2012 with Poland but are in danger of losing venues to their neighbours. The tournament was to be played at eight grounds – four cities in each country – but Kiev is the only Ukrainian venue which has so far been passed fit. Three others – Khrakiv, Lviv and Donetsk – have until the end of next month to prove they can handle the event and Saturday’s episode is unlikely to work in their favour. The game had to be stopped twice so stewards and firemen could remove the smoking missiles from the pitch. Green was forced from his goal in the first minute when 15 flares were thrown from behind his goal. When James came on after Green’s red card, his arrival triggered another cascade from Ukraine fans who had no problem smuggling the objects in due to slack security. One flare struck James, who remained remarkably calm. ‘I’ve been told I was hit,’ he said. ‘I noticed the ones in front of me. What’s the problem?’ Capello and captain John Terry stressed they were not blaming supporters for England’s defeat, which ends a 100 per cent record in the qualifying campaign.

‘The flares were offputting, probably more so for Greenie,’ said Terry. ‘But we’re not going to look at the flares as an excuse.’ Substitute Carlton Cole also claimed England’s black players were subjected to racist chanting by Ukraine fans. He said: ‘One or two players mentioned it. If it’s true, it is outrageous and should not happen.’ UEFA had said before the game that they would be monitoring the Ukraine supporters as England striker Emile Heskey had endured monkey chants in the old Eastern Bloc before, most notably, in Slovakia in 2002 and Croatia last year.

Daily Mail

Van der Sar could extend his stay at Manchester United by another year

Edwin van der Sar says he could yet be convinced to stay on at Manchester United for another season. The 38-year-old, who has yet to play this season because of a hand injury, insists he is in good enough shape to continue and will make a decision in December whether this season will be his last. Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson said last year that he did not expect his Dutch No 1 to continue beyond 2010, but may be less than impressed at Ben Foster’s performances start to the campaign.

Top stopper: Van der Sar has excelled at United

Van der Sar said: ‘I’ve said for a few years that it sometimes may be my last season. Six months before my contract with Manchester United ended in December 2006, we extended for one year and so far it has been the same every time. ‘I wait each season to see how where I stand, if everyone is happy and if I can still get motivated. But I know, because I always get older, it is increasingly likely that this will be my last season. ‘In December, it will be clear how it goes. By then, I’ll have clarity. It is a horrible dilemma. On the one hand I do not oversleep, I feel as good as a few years ago.’

Dailymail

Injury blow for Robinho

Manchester City star Robinho could be sidelined for up to a month with a stress fracture just above his ankle.
The club confirmed the injury blow following Saturday impressive 4-2 win over Premier League rivals Arsenal. The Brazilian, City’s record signing, suffered his injury on international duty.
The 25-year-old picked up the injury while playing in Brazil’s 3-1 victory over Argentina in a World Cup qualifying game a week ago and it was confirmed after scans on Friday.
City boss Mark Hughes indicated this week that he did not think there was any extensive damage to Robinho, and at one stage he was given a chance of facing Arsenal.
The Brazilian was sent for a scan to check for damage to his inflamed ankle, which produced the unwelcome result, ruling Robinho out for three to four weeks.

source ESPN soccernet

Wenger can expect apology

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger can expect an apology from referees’ chief Keith Hackett, according to League Managers’ Association chief executive Richard Bevan.

Wenger admitted he was bemused to be sent to the stands during the closing stages of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester United.

The Frenchman was told to leave the dugout by referee Mike Dean after kicking over a drinks bottle in frustration after seeing a stoppage-time equaliser from Robin van Persie ruled out for offside.

Speaking afterwards, Wenger admitted he was surprised to be sent off and LMA chief executive Bevan believes an apology will be forthcoming from Hackett from the Premier Game Match Officials Board.

“Although correct in law, it was completely out of context in the game and it was followed by the nonsense which followed over where Arsene Wenger should sit,” said Bevan.

“I’ve spoken to Keith Hackett and he fully recognises the situation was an error and an apology will follow to Arsene Wenger.

“(Fourth official) Lee Probert totally failed to manage the situation and created a needless pressure point taking the focus away from the pitch in a big event with only a minute to go.”

source football.co.uk

UEFA charge Eduardo for dive.

Eduardo faces a suspension after UEFA charged the Arsenal striker with ‘deceiving the referee’ during the Gunners’ Champions League victory against Celtic on last Wednesday.

Gordon Smith, the chief executive of the Scottish FA, had said on Thursday that the Croatia international should be banned, a stance that UEFA president Michel Platini echoed.

Smith had said: “Eduardo is a terrific player who has battled back from a serious injury to resume playing at the highest level. However, he showed disrespect to the game by his actions in winning a penalty against Celtic.

“Since I came into this post, I have raised the issue of simulation time and time again – both here in Scotland and with FIFA and UEFA.

“I don’t think that I have received enough support in my efforts to eradicate what I believe to be one of the most serious threats to the integrity of football.

“We have shown the courage to use retrospective punishment when it comes to simulation and I’d urge UEFA to do so in this instance. Everything that can be done to stamp it out must be done – starting right now.

“I see absolutely no reason at all why we cannot use technology to assist referees – particularly in live games.

“I know that some people say that TV evidence would damage the flow of a game, but I believe the proposal that I put forward to both FIFA and UEFA whereby football would adopt a similar approach to tennis in offering a set number of challenges can work.”

The Gunners won the second leg of their knockout tie 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium to wrap up a 5-1 aggregate success, but several Celtic players were unhappy when Eduardo won and converted a 28th-minute penalty to open the scoring after an incident involving Artur Boruc.

source football.co.uk

Spanish La Liga Kick-Off

A brand new season of Spanish la liga will begin 29th of this month.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona begin their long fight this season at home.

Here are the fixtures for the opening weekend of August 29-31:

• Valencia v Sevilla
• Real Madrid v Deportivo Coruna
• Malaga v Atletico Madrid
• Almeria v Real Valladolid
• Real Mallorca v Xerez
• Racing Santander v Getafe
• Osasuna v Villarreal
• Real Zaragoza v Tenerife
• Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol
• Barcelona v Sporting Gijon – Monday, August 31

The two biggest matches of the season between Barcelona and Real Madrid are scheduled for the weekend of Nov.