Gonzalo Higuain pounced in stoppage time to give holders Napoli a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in their Coppa Italia quarterfinal on Wednesday, adding to the misery for Roberto Mancini’s team. . Mancini’s Inter have dropped to 13th in Serie A after losing their last two games and had been hoping that the Cup would bring a change of fortune. . But, with only seconds remaining, a quickly taken throw-in caught Inter defender Andrea Ranocchia off his guard and Higuain got away to side-foot the ball past fellow Argentine Juan Pablo Carrizo into the far corner. . The finish left…
Author: David F.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu insinuated that bitter enemies Real Madrid had a part to play in the Neymar transfer court case in which he has been called to give evidence. . “We have done nothing wrong and we will keep saying the truth. The signing of Neymar took place using the most prestigious lawyers,” Bartomeu told Spanish television. . “Other clubs wanted to sign Neymar paying more money but they didn’t manage it and they didn’t like that. Someone now has overstepped the line. . “I’m not saying Madrid are behind this but Neymar’s father told me that there…
Barcelona’s vice-president on Wednesday appeared to contradict the club’s boss by claiming that the Catalan giants want to retain a sponsorship deal with Qatar for “many, many more years”. . Javier Faus said the club had “zero problems” with either the shirt sponsor, Qatar Airways, or the Gulf state itself, which has come under fire for its human rights record. . He was speaking in Doha at a star-spangled launch of the latest marketing campaign involving the football club and the airline, with Brazilian superstar Neymar and Spain’s 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 winning central defender Gerard Pique in…
Germany winger Andre Schuerrle said Wednesday he is happy about his return to the Bundesliga at Wolfsburg and not intimidated by the big price tag of his move from Chelsea. . “To be honest, I haven’t thought about it much but the sums written t (in the press) are of course a lot. (But) I am here to play football,” Schuerrle said at his official presentation. . Schuerrle, 24, joined Wolfsburg on transfer deadline day Monday for an estimated 32 million euros (36.4 million dollars), a club record sum for the ambitious Volkswagen-backed 2009 Bundesliga champions. . Wolfsburg lie second,…
Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was suspended on Wednesday for the next three Bundesliga games by the German Football Association (DFB), ruling him out until the club’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid. . ‘The Hunter’ was shown a straight red for tackling Hanover’s Manuel Schmiedebach from behind last Saturday, earning him an automatic one-game ban. . Having already sat out Schalke’s 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, the DFB decided his offence, a wild hack at the back of Schmiedebach’s legs, warranted a four-game ban in total. . The Dutch striker will not now play again until Schalke host…
Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho has committed his future to Liverpool by agreeing a new long-term contract, the club said on Tuesday. . According to media reports, the deal will keep him at Anfield until 2020. . Coutinho, 22, has made 81 appearances since joining from Inter Milan in 2013 and has been one of Liverpool’s most impressive performers over the last two seasons. . “It means so much. This club has given me the opportunity to play and believed in me even though I hadn’t been playing regularly at my previous club,” he told the Anfield team’s website. . “Liverpool…
Manchester United have finally off-loaded midfielder Anderson on a free transfer to Internacional, the Brazilian club said on Tuesday. . The 26-year-old signed a four-year contract to return to his home city of Porto Alegre. . Anderson began his career at Internacional’s city rivals Gremio in 2004 and moved to Porto when he was just 18. . He joined United from Porto in 2007 in a deal reportedly worth 27 million pounds ($40.8 million) and came on as a substitute in the 2008 Champions League final to help his team beat Chelsea on penalties. . Although he also won Premier…
The fall-out from Harry Redknapp’s resignation as Queens Park Rangers manager continued on Wednesday with Glenn Hoddle leaving his post as first-team coach and former striker Les Ferdinand becoming director of football. . Joe Jordan, another member of Redknapp’s backroom staff, has also left, the Premier League club said in a statement. . Kevin Bond, once Redknapp’s assistant at Tottenham Hotspur, will be in temporary charge of the team along with Chris Ramsey for the home match against Southampton on Saturday. . Redknapp resigned on Tuesday, saying his knees had become too painful to allow him to do the job.…
Ghana assistant coach Maxwell Konadu believes his side are ready to end their African Nations Cup semifinal hoodoo against hosts Equatorial Guinea on Thursday. . The West African giants have not won the Nations Cup since 1982, despite making the final four in the last four tournaments. They were losing semifinalists in 2008, 2012 and 2013 and were defeated in the 2010 final by Egypt. . “We can’t explain why we haven’t taken the title in this time,” Konadu told a news conference on Wednesday. . “Football being what it is, sometimes you take your chances, sometimes you don’t. We’ve…
Equatorial Guinea have the ability to cope with Ghana’s attacking threat in Thursday’s African Nations Cup semifinal – and will not be fazed if Asamoah Gyan is passed fit to play, coach Esteban Becker said. . Ghana striker Gyan is a doubt having been injured by a late flying kick by Guinea goalkeeper Naby Yattara in the dying moments of their 3-0 quarterfinal victory. . “Our players may be unheralded names who play in the second and third leagues but they have played against major players before. Even some of those who play here in Equatorial Guinea have played against…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has been charged by the English FA for comments made after the FA Cup fourth-round match at Cambridge United last week. . United were held to a 0-0 draw by the fourth-tier side before winning the replay 3-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday. . “Every aspect of the match is against us – the pitch, the referee. Everything that you can think about this is against you,” Van Gaal said after the game at Cambridge. . “It is alleged that the Manchester United manager’s comments allege and/or imply bias on the part of the…
Of course, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a warm up to a rousing chant of “Shinji One, Gerrard Nil”. It’s not. I’m talking about Rooney. More specifically Rooney playing as a central midfielder. You see, all the things United fans have taken great pleasure in mocking Gerrard for, certainly in his later years, seem to apply to Rooney. . In Ander Herrera there’s a midfielder who can actually do all the magical little things that I remember a young Paul Scholes doing. Short, sharp, intelligent one touch passes that open up the pitch, which change the direction of…
Eleven days after drawing 0-0 at the Abbey Stadium, United were far more convincing against their League Two opponents at Old Trafford. . Juan Mata, Marcos Rojo and James Wilson all found the net in the fourth-round replay at Old Trafford. . With Chelsea and Manchester City out of the tournament, United are the highest-ranked team left in the competition and they will face League One side Preston in the last 16. . Van Gaal’s message to the fans after the final whistle was clear enough – he fancies his chances of going all the way in a competition United…
Manchester United defender Paddy McNair has stated that he is willing to play anywhere for his side after he played 90 minutes in an unfamiliar right-back role in the 3-0 victory over Cambridge United in the FA Cup on Tuesday evening at Old Trafford. McNair also played the right-back role for the majority of the U21’s victory over Liverpool in the Barclays U21 Premier League the week before, against looking rather composed in the position. At the time, I did think that maybe this was similar to Gary Neville, being move to the right-back position by former manager Sir Alex Ferguson…
Louis van Gaal has explained his thinking behind why he played Marouane Fellaini in attack against Cambridge United. . Fellaini, 27, has been used in a number of different positions this season. The Belgian international has played in the holding role, a wide-central midfield role, attacking midfield and now in attack. . Against League Two outfit Cambridge, playing Fellaini in attack was hugely successful, as the 27-year-old bagged two assists as Man United qualified for the next round of the FA Cup. Furthermore, the Belgian was nuisance in the air for the League Two side as he kept winning his aerial battles.…
Ivory Coast midfielder Geoffroy Serey Die has signed for German Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart from Swiss side FC Basel. . Serey Die, who is currently in Equatorial Guinea with the Elephants’ team participating in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, is expected to travel to Stuttgart at the end of the tournament after signing a two and a half year deal with the German side. . “We are delighted about the signing of Geoffroy Serey Die,” said Stuttgart Director of Sport Robin Dutt. . “He is an internationally experienced player, who will quickly come to terms with life in his…
Last season’s Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 1-0 home defeat by 10-man Augsburg on Wednesday to continue their spectacular implosion and remain firmly anchored to the foot of the standings. . The 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga champions completely lacked ideas in front of a sold-out 80 000 crowd and were easily outmuscled by European hopefuls Augsburg for whom Raul Bobadilla netted the winner in the 50th minute to seal his club’s first ever win over Dortmund. . Surprise packages Augsburg, who had Christoph Janker sent off midway through the second half, completely shut out Dortmund in the last half…
James Rodriguez headed the opener before going off injured in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Sevilla on Wednesday which extended their lead at the top of La Liga to four points. . Real warmed up for the Madrid derby against Atletico on Saturday with three points but it came at a cost with Sergio Ramos as well as Rodriguez going off injured in the first half. . “I don’t think they will make it in time,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference. . Marcelo will definitely miss the next game through suspension after picking up a yellow card…
Tunisia’s football federation are refusing to apologise to the Confederation of African Football after accusing them of cheating, a member of the federation’s executive committee was quoted as saying on Wednesday. . In the wake of the violent scenes that followed Tunisia’s controversial elimination from the tournament by Equatorial Guinea last Saturday, the north Africans were fined $50 000. . They were also ordered to say sorry for “insinuations of bias and lack of ethics against CAF and its officials, or to present irrefutable evidence to substantiate the accusations”. . African football’s governing body gave Tunisia a deadline of midnight on…
Last-gasp goals from Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho helped Liverpool reach the FA Cup fifth round and avoid the giant-killing fate of many of their Premier League rivals with a 2-1 replay victory at second tier Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday. . The hosts took the lead when former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen coolly slotted home a penalty before Bolton were reduced to 10 men when Neil Danns was sent off after receiving two yellow cards. . But Sterling volleyed in the equaliser with four minutes left and a long-range Coutinho strike in stoppage time won the fourth-round replay…