#Big_Time_Sport with #Byron_Wambede and #Andrew_Wamono Nigerian born ex-England 41 year old defender Ugo Ehiogu has been appointed Tottenham Hotspur U21 team coach. Former West Brom, Rangers, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough defender has been working with Spurs academy on a part-time basis and will be assisted by Matthew Wells, who steps up from coaching the U15 side. ………. South Africa will announce their new coach on Saturday, with Carlos Queiroz thought to be the frontrunner. However, the Portuguese has reportedly been offered an improved deal to stay in his current role as Iran coach. And his salary demands could force South Africa to look elsewhere. ………. AC Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari has launched a disguised attack on the Ghana Football Association in his first statement since being booted out of the World Cup by implying that the federation cannot be trusted. The Italy-based midfielder, who was speaking at the pre-season training camp of his club in New York on Thursday, suggested that he did not have ‘peace’ in the Black Stars camp in Brazil. Muntari insinuated that their needs in the Black Stars camp were not met and did not feel loved during their participation in the World Cup in Brazil. ……….. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has echoed the sentiments of new Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal in criticising the demands of their pre-season tour. Wenger said it was impossible to prepare his squad properly for the upcoming Premier League campaign, which begins on August 16, given the demands of their pre-season schedule and players returning later than normal after World Cup duty. ………. Alan Pardew has claimed that Newcastle Uniteds focus this season has to be pushing for Champions League qualification. The Magpies have strengthened their squad by signing Daryl Janmaat, Siem de Jong, Remy Cabella and Emmanuel Riviere this summer, and Pardew believes that failing to come close to securing a spot in the top four will encourage rival clubs to target their key men. Newcastle will begin their season by hosting Manchester City on August 17. ………… Wayne Rooney has admitted that he wants to be the captain of Manchester United. The 29-year-old is seen as one of the favourites to take over the armband following the departure of Nemanja Vidic. Rooney has scored 216 goals for Man Utd in his 10 years at the club. ………. Jose Mourinho insists Chelsea have finished their summer spending has promised to bring through Chelseas young guns this season. The Blues have splashed out on Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis, and infamously havent produced an academy player since long-serving captain John Terry. But boss Mourinho insists those will be the only additions to the squad that reached the Champions League semi-final last season. ……….. Jose Mourinho has spoken of the bond between himself and his new rival at Manchester United, Louis van Gaal, ahead of the upcoming season. The Chelsea boss was assistant to the then Barcelona manager between 1997 and 2000, before Mourinho took up his first managerial post at Benfica and Van Gaal left for his first stint as Holland coach. And although Mourinho admits contact between the pair has been limited since their spell at the Nou Camp, he told Sport magazine of his utmost respect for his former mentor. ……… Yossi Benayoun has branded Joey Barton stupid and embarrassing in response to a tweet he made about the Middle East crisis. Benayoun, who played with Barton at QPR, captained Maccabi Haifa in their friendly against Lille in Austria which had to be abandoned when pro-Palestinian protesters invaded the pitch. ………… Racing Santander will miss next season’s Copa Del Rey after the RFEF decided not to lift the suspension imposed for refusing to play. The Racing players declined to participate in the quarter-final second-leg against Real Sociedad in protest at going unpaid for several months. They took to the field but didn’t engage when the referee blew for kick-off and the official was forced to abandon the match. Racing was making a public stand against the then-board, who were sacked when it was announced the club was barred from the 2014-15 Copa Del Rey. ……… Claudio Ranieri has been named as the new coach of Greece, the Greek Football Federation has confirmed. The former Monaco and Chelsea boss, 62, has signed a two-year deal to take over from Fernando Santos, whose contract expired following the World Cup. Greece reached the round of 16 in Brazil, where they were beaten on penalties by Costa Rica. The Italian coach, with service at many major European clubs, is expected to lead our group to new successes with Euro 2016 on the horizon. His first match in charge will be a European Championship qualifier against Romania on Sept. 7, with Northern Ireland, Hungary, Finland and the Faroe Islands also facing his side in Group F. …………. David Sullivan, the West Ham co-chairman, has admitted that the club made a mistake in signing injury-plagued striker Andy Carroll. The Premier League club is in the hunt for a new forward after it emerged that their record £15 million signing could miss up to four months after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury. Carroll did not play for the club last season until January after injuring his left heel and he has made only 16 appearances. Now following this latest injury, sustained during the clubs pre-season tour of New Zealand, Sullivan has revealed his regrets in putting all his eggs in one basket. ………… Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana will miss the start of the season after suffering a knee injury in training. The 26-year-old, who joined the club in July, damaged his lateral collateral ligament during the clubs pre-season tour in the United States. The England international, played in this summers World Cup, does not require surgery but could be ruled out for up to six weeks. ………… Former Arsenal winger Freddie Ljungberg has revealed that he will be joining the inaugural Indian Super League (ISL) which is scheduled to kick off in September. The Swede retired from professional football after a short spell with Japanese club Shimizu S-Pulse in 2012 following a career in which he shone brightest in his nine-year stint with the Gunners. But money talks and Ljungberg, 37, has announced his decision to make a comeback two years after hanging up his boots, although there is no word yet which one of the eight teams in the new league the Swede will be playing for. ………. Barcelona played to a 4-4 draw at Porto in a testimonial for Deco, who played one half for each club. Barcas squad was made up mostly of players from their 2006 Champions League triumph, while Porto had players from their 2004 European championship. Lionel Messi played the second half and scored for Barcelona, who also had Samuel Etoo, Juliano Belletti, Gio van Bronckhorst, Ludovic Giuly, Sylvinho, Mark van Bommel, Oleguer Presas and Eidur Gudjohnsen. Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira were among the notable names for Porto. Deco scored one goal for each side, while Etoo scored twice for Barcelona. ………. Four players were sent off in the opening 29 minutes of Coventry Citys pre-season friendly with AEL Kalloni. City had Danny Pugh and Billy Daniels sent off, while Paul Keite and Manuel Dalgado were dismissed for the Greek side in Thursdays 0-0 draw in Italy. Following Pugh and Keites early red cards, the referee allowed both sides to replace the players. ………… Metalist Kharkiv midfielder Edmar Halowski de Lacerda says he regrets changing his nationality to Ukrainian after he was called up to fight in the countrys army. The Brazilian-born footballer changed his citizenship to the Eastern European country so he could represent them on the international stage. However, a consequence of this now means he must enrol in compulsory military service - something the 34-year-old admitted he never considered upon changing passport. ………… Former Argentina boss Diego Maradona has claimed that Lionel Messi played “five times better” for him than current national team coach Alejandro Sabella. Sabella guided the Albiceleste to their first World Cup final in 24 years earlier this month, where they lost 1-0 to Germany. However, Maradona, who coached Argentina between 2008 and 2010, has now criticised Sabella for not getting the most out of his players - and Messi in particular. The iconic No.10 has called for the Albiceleste boss to be sacked and replaced by Cesar Luis Menotti for failing to get the best out of the Barcelona attacker. ………… Brazil coach Dunga has named former Selecao team-mates Andrey Lopes, Claudio Taffarel and Mauro Silva amongst his backroom staff. Lopes will serve as Dungas number one assistant, with Taffarel goalkeeping coach, while Silva will also work with the first team. Taffarel was in goal as Brazil lifted the World Cup in 1994, with Dunga converting a penalty in the shoot-out and Silva playing the 120 minutes in the final. The new Brazil boss, who has replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari following their 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany in the semi-finals of the World Cup, said the wealth of international experience between the trio would be a huge boost to Brazils fortunes. ……….. The Japanese referee whose decisions in the opening match of the World Cup triggered a storm of controversy has shrugged off criticism of his performance. However, Nishimura took umbrage with claims made by Croatian players that he did not speak English and had addressed them in Japanese. Some of the criticism was quite severe, but some of the opinions raised were a help to me. Refereeing is tough. ……… Fifa has reiterated its desire to stage World Cup 2018 in Russia, claiming it will be a force for good for the under-fire nation. Russia’s status as host of football’s showpiece event has been called into question due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukraine government was given global prominence this month when a Malaysian Airlines jet was shot out of the sky, killing all 298 people on board. Moscow has vehemently denied arming the rebels but the incident was met with a wave of condemnation of Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Despite the controversy that it is supporting a nation being condemned in many quarters, Fifa insist the World Cup can be a catalyst for peace and insists it will not consider changing the 2018 host nation from Russia. ……… Boxing ……… Floyd Mayweather Jr. can now organize and market fights in Nevada all on his own. The Nevada Athletic Commission voted on Wednesday to grant the undefeated welterweight champion a promoters licence. The 37-year-old Mayweather has previously worked with fight promoters Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions in his televised matchups in Las Vegas. ……………. Done deal ………… Manchester United 24-year-old forward Bebe has signed for Benfica on a four-year deal for a fee of up to £2.4m (3m euros). ……….. Ivory Coast Striker Didier Drogba has re-signed for Chelsea on a one-year deal. The Ivorian, 36, won 10 trophies at Chelsea from 2004 to 2012 and was a free agent after leaving Galatasaray. ……….. Crystal Palace has completed the signing of Frazier Campbell from Cardiff City on a three-year deal. ………. QPR have recalled Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar from his loan spell at Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. The 34-year-old joined the Canadian club in February after just one appearance for QPR in the Championship. ………. Arsenal youngster Thomas Eisfeld has completed his move to Championship side Fulham. The 21-year-old, who made two senior appearances for the Gunners, has signed a two-year contract at Craven Cottage, with the option to extend that by a further 12 months. ……… Millwall have completed the signing of former Everton striker Magaye Gueye. The 24-year-old was released by the Toffees earlier this summer after scoring just three goals in 39 appearances during his time at Goodison Park. ……… West Brom boss Alan Irvine admits never having seen striker Brown Ideye before making him the clubs £10m record signing. He has only watched his new star signing on DVD. ……… Ugandan English born 18 year old teenage footballer Salvyn Kisitu has been picked up Welsh side Wrexham FC after being released by Swindon Town FC. …….. Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has extended his contract with Al Ain until 2018, the UAE side have announced on their official website. The former Sunderland striker had two years left on his four-year contract, but the 28-year-old sealed the improved deal on Thursday evening. He has been the leading goalscorer in the Gulf Region over the past three years. ………… Coke has signed a three-year contract extension with Sevilla until 2018, putting an end to rumours he would be sold this summer. ……… Transfer gossip ………. Arsenal is close to completing the signing of Southampton defender Calum Chambers for a fee of about £16m. The England Under-19 international underwent a medical on Friday. ……….. Barcelona has reportedly launched a £16m bid to hijack Manchester Uniteds move for Thomas Vermaelen. The Arsenal defender is rumoured to be one of Louis van Gaals main transfer targets at Old Trafford this summer, but the Catalan Giants are now said to have stepped in with a bid of their own. ……….. Atletico Madrid has made Divock Origi their next target for the summer as they search for reinforcements in attack. The champions Spanish have signed Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich but have sold Diego Costa, David Villa and Adrian Lopez. ………… Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk is keen to play for his fellow Dutchman Ronald Koeman at Southampton. The Scottish champions want at least £10m for the centre-back, but Saints are set to rake in around double that from the sale of their defender Dejan Lovren to Liverpool. ……….. Southampton has told Tottenham and Arsenal that they will need to pay in excess of £27 million for midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin. ………. Real Madrid is set to revive their interest in Radamel Falcao and could take him on loan for a year for a fee of €12 million. Monaco wants €45m for the Colombian and will include an option to buy worth €33m. ……… Chelsea and QPR are on the tail of Uruguay under-18 striker Kevin Mendez. The Penarol forward, 18, was one of the stars of the Under-17 World Cup last year. ……………. QPR are making an audacious attempt to sign Marseille and France winger Mathieu Valbuena. The 29-year-old is not seen as part of new manager Marcelo Bielsas plans and is available for £7 million. ………. Kurt Zouma is set to stay at Chelsea this season despite being linked with a loan move this summer. ……… Raphael Varane remains on Chelsea’s radar and the defender is currently in talks with Real Madrid about his future. ……….. Liverpool is on the edge of completing a £20 million deal for Southampton centre-back Dejan Lovren. The Croatia international will complete a medical in Merseyside on Saturday. ………. Liverpool and Atletico Madrid are readying bids for Benficas Nicolas Gaitan, even though the Argentine attacker is close to sealing a move to Monaco to replace James Rodriguez. Gaitan has a release clause of €45 million. ………. Edinson Cavani is keen to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer, while Manchester United remain in contention for the Uruguay international’s signature. ………. Angel Di Marias future is expected to be decided within a few days and the Argentina international will choose between Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain. Real Madrid will accept any offers between €50 million and €60m [£39.5m - £47.4m]. #Mulembe
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 07:30:06 +0000
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