Iranian international striker Vahid Hashemian is to return to Bundesliga side VfL Bochum after signing from rivals Hanover on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old, who played for Bochum from 2001 to 2004, signed a two-year contract beginning on July 1 with the option of extending it for another season.
Manchester United head into their Barcelona showdown with Cristiano Ronaldo warning that they still have to earn the plaudits that have been showered on them this season.
United’s Ronaldo-inspired class of 2008 have been hailed by manager Sir Alex Ferguson as a better side than the one that completed the treble by lifting the European Cup here in 1999.
Flamengo coach Joel Santana is set to fly to the rescue of 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa following the departure of his Brazilian compatriot Carlos Alberto Parriera.
Parreira, appointed in February 2007, announced Monday he was quitting his post due to his wife’s ongoing illness.
It was announced in Rome yesterday by AS Roma’s Club doctor Mario Brozzi that striker and talisman Francesco Totti may need an operation on his knee.
The evergreen striker suffered a knee ligament injury in Saturday’s 1 – 1 drawn with AS Livorno.
Brozzi went on to ponder whether there was a partial or total lesion to the cruciate ligament. Only tests would determine that, he said.
Arsene Wenger insists he expects to keep Arsenal’s best players next season despite a disappointing campaign in which their English Premier League title hopes crumbled.
The Gunners have endured a nightmare two weeks which have dashed their hopes in both the title race and the Champions League but they banished a little of the gloom with a 2-0 win over visitors Reading on Saturday.
Rafael Benitez admits the loss of “the Anfield effect” will be a huge blow to his Liverpool side in the Champions League semi-final with Chelsea.
Benitez’s team have beaten the west London club at this stage of the competition twice in the last three seasons.
But on both those occasions Liverpool enjoyed the advantage of playing the second leg at home and the legendary Anfield atmosphere was acknowledged as a major factor in both victories.
Bolivian president Evo Morales said on Saturday that the country’s battle to have their World Cup qualifiers played at altitude will be taken to the United Nations.
World football governing body FIFA has banned the South American team from staging qualifiers above 3,500m in La Paz but the Bolivians claim they are being discriminated against.
Gordon Strachan admitted Celtic’s inability to kill off teams is a major concern after they returned to the top of the Scottish Premier League with a nervy 1-0 win at home to Aberdeen on Saturday.
However, the Celtic manager says at this stage in the season all that matters is winning to keep up the pressure on Rangers.
An opportunist goal from Djibril Cisse on Sunday preserved Marseille’s chances of grabbing a slice of Champions League action next season as the former Liverpool man struck to seal a 3-2 victory at Monaco.
A mob fixer who intervened to stop another gangster harassing star England footballer Steven Gerrard was sentenced Thursday to more than 14 years in prison for his role in a robbery.
John Kinsella, 43, went on the run earlier this week, however, and was not at Lincoln Crown Court in east central England for his sentencing.
