World cup weekend 1 round up

In group A, Mexico defeated Cameroon by 1-0. The CONCACAF representatives had two other goals wrongly cancelled by the centre referee.

Group B
Defending champions of the ongoing FIFA World cup were demolished by Netherlands. Spain lost the match by 5-1 despite taking the lead through a Xabi Alonso penalty. Robin Van Persie scored the equaliser for Louis Van Gaal's team shortly before the end of the first half. The flying Dutchman lived up to his name by beating Iker Casilas through a looping header.
Arjen Robben also scored a brace in that match. His second goal is one of the best goals of this tournament so far. Robben's second goal was simply fantastic. He lashed on to a pass and raced into the penalty box, he rounded the keeper and beat the challenges from Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique.


Chile defeated Australia by 3-1 in the other group match. Alexis Sanchez out the South Americans in front after 11 minutes before two other goals were scored by the rampaging Chileans.
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Group C
Colombia started their World cup campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory over Greece. The match was played in Belo Horizonte. Jackson Martinez was among the goal scorers at the Estadio Mineirao. The South Americans are appearing in the world cup for the first time in 16 years. The Greeks were torn apart in the encounter.

Japan surrendered a 1-0 lead in their match against Cote d' Ivoire in Recife. Kesuke Honda put the Asians ahead in the first half. After the introduction of Didier Drogba, Aurie delivered two beautiful crosses that were converted by Bony Wilfred and Gervinho.

Group D
At the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza, Costa Rica recorded an upset by defeating Uruguay 3-1. Edinson Cavani scored from the penalty spot in the first half, but the Central Americans scored three goals to condemn Oscar Tabarez's men to an opening group C match defeat. Luis Suarez warmed up on the sidelines, but he was an unused substitute in the match that had Pereira sent off later in the game.

England suffered a 2-1 loss against Italy in Manaus despite creating many chances and adopting an aggressive attacking style of play. The Azurris of Italy took the lead through Marchiso's 35th minute goal . Andrea Pirlo sold a dummy to Daniel Sturridge and other England defenders by allowing the ball to pass through him.

Group E
In Brasilia, Switzerland defeated Ecuador by 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. Valencia scored for the South Americans in the first half after the Swiss failed to defend a set piece. Seferovic scored a last minute goal to guarantee three points for Ottman Hitzfield's men.

In Porto Alegre, France defeated Honduras by 3-0. Karim Benzema scored a brace against the CONCACAF team.

Group F
Argentina overcame Kovac's team in Rio de Janeiro. The Maracana stadium was the venue of this group opener. Bosnia and Herzegovina lost the match by 2-1. An own goal from a Bosnian defender gave the two time World champions the lead in the 3rd minute of play. After the restart, Lionel Messi doubled the lead for 'Albaceleste' on Sunday evening. The Barcelona forward exchanged passes with Gonzalo Higuain before firing a shot into the opposition's net.
Ibisevic scored Bosnia's first ever goal in the 84th minute of play.

Netherlands dismantles Spain in Salvador

The Dutch senior national team have inflicted Spain's biggest defeat since 1963. Netherlands crushed the defending champions by 5-1 at the on going FIFA World cup in Brazil.
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The Spaniards took the lead in the 27th minute of play via a penalty kick that was taken by Xabi Alonso. Stefan de Vrji brought down Diego Costa in the penalty box. The first half seemed to be heading for a slight win for the Spanish team until Robin Van Persie levelled for the Dutch side.

In the second half, Robin Van Persie(2 goals),Arjen Robben and Stefan de Vrji were all on the scorers sheet.  RVP put the Dutch in front earlier in the second half before Stefan made it three goals to prepare at home.

Iker Casillas was a big flop in the second half while RVP and Robben was simply fantastic.

USA to host Nigeria in a pre-world cup tournament

The United States of America will host the reigning African champions and seven other nations in a pre-world cup tournament in May.

Nigeria emerged as African champions after lifting the CAF African cup of nations title in South Africa last year. The Super Eagles also became the first African team to qualify for Brazil 2014 after a 2-0 win over Ethiopia in Calabar.

Bosnia,Spain and five other nations will make up an eight team international tournament. Bosnia and Nigeria are in the same group at the forthcoming FIFA World cup in Brazil.

It is being speculated that the MLS (Major League Soccer) is the main organiser of this competition. There is also a rumoured report that the USA will play a friendly match against Nigeria before the world cup. An official of the US Soccer association stated that he couldn't confirm if Nigeria and USA will be involved an a FIFA-sanctioned friendly match.

The Brazil 2014 world cup will commence in June,2014.

The matter with Mata!

Chelsea's Juan Mata is almost a Manchester United player after reports in the media suggested that the Spanish international is on his way to linking up with the Old Trafford club. The transfer fee is between the region of around £40 million.

One wonders why Jose Mourinho and the back room staff of Chelsea have decided to offload this highly impressive midfielder. The matter that led to him been kept on the bench at Stamford Bridge is because Mata doesn't go for lose balls. Brazilian Willian is currently a member of the first team because of his work rate and not his brilliance. He joins the defence and also compete for the ball whenever his team is on under threat.

Juan Mata

Juan Mata is far better than several Chelsea players, but it is unfortunate that such a skillful midfielder is being wasted on the reserve bench with five months to the 2014 FIFA World cup in Brazil.

If Manchester United eventually confirm his arrival, he will be a major swoop by David Moyes whose team is on a free fall. Manchester United will have to conjure a formation that will accommodate Mata and Kagawa if they intend to return to winning ways.

The former Valencia player can start getting the attention of his national team manager once he becomes a regular player at the Old Trafford stadium.

Latest FIFA rankings round up

The monthly Coca Cola FIFA ranking for the month of September has been released. Spain is still on the number one spot despite playing a 2-2 draw against Chile in a friendly international.

Argentina has moved to an all-time high on the log. The 'Albaceleste' has been very impressive in their World cup qualifiers by winning 90% of their games. Their latest win was a 5-2 win over Paraguay in Asuncion.

Germany dropped to the third spot on the log despite their recent win in the Brazil 2014 qualifiers.

Uruguay are 4th,Colombia is placed 5th while Belgium now occupies the 6th spot.

Portugal are ranked 7th even though they went down 3-1 against Brazil on Tuesday.

World cup hosts,Brazil are now 8th in the world. The Confederations cup champions defeated Australia and Portugal in their recent matches.

Netherlands are ninth while Croatia are 10th.

Meanwhile,England has slipped to 17th. The three lions have now recorded their poorest rating in 12 years due to an uninspiring World cup qualifiers campaign.

In Africa, Cote d'Ivoire remains the highest ranked team. The Elephants have dropped to 19th in the World. Ghana is Africa's number 2,while Algeria is in the third position with a global rank of 28.

African champions Nigeria surprising dropped to the 36th position in the world,but 4th in Africa. The Super Eagles of Nigeria have won their last three games.
Stephen Keshi's men defeated South Africa 2-0,Malawi 2-0 and Burkina Faso 4-1.

David Villa joins Atletico Madrid

Barcelona have sold David Villa to Atletico Madrid for an accumulated fee of about £6m. The 'Blaugrana' will also have 50% of all future transfers involving the player.

Radamel Falcao joined AS Monaco of France last month and the Copa Del Rey champions are keen to find an adequate repplacement for him.

Atletico finished third in last season's Spanish primera liga.

Villa joined Barcelona from Valencia in 2010 for €40m,but a long term injury forced the Spanish international to lose his place in the starting eleven of the club.

The Spanish striker scored 48 goals in over 100 appearances for the Spanish la liga champions.

Brazil mauls Spain in confederations cup final

The samba boys of Brazil have become the first team to win the FIFA confederations cup on three successive occasions. The five time World champions demolished Spain by 3-0 at the Maracana on Sunday.

The reigning World and European champions were a goal behind as early as the second minute of action. Neymar's cross led to a goal mouth scramble in the Spanish penalty box before Fred poked the ball into the net after losing his footing.

The Fluminese striker showed a lot of desire to ensure that the vociferous Brazilian fans were given an early lift.

Brazil closed up every available space to deny the Spaniards any chance of spreading the ball around in their normal 'tiki-taka' style.

Oscar missed a chance to double the lead of the Brazilians when his tame effort went agonisingly wide off a flick by Fred.

Tottenham Hotspur-bound player, Paulinho had his looping effort carefully saved by Iker Casillas some minutes later.

The Spaniards' first real sight of goal came from Andres Iniesta. The Barcelona midfielder fired a shot that was palmed to safety by Julio Cesar.

Sergio Ramos and Alvaro Arbeloa were yellow-carded after the duo committed fouls that could have led to their dismissal.

The Brazilians dominated the first half with great tenacity. Hulk's power play on the right and Neymar's flair on the left flank unsettled the Spanish team.

Pedro was denied a lovely goal after the Barcelona player dribbled Cesar,but David Luiz cleared the ball off the line with an amazing slide.

With about two minutes to half time, the new 'Pele' of Brazil-Neymar buttressed his arrival on the big stage when he stood onside to rifle the ball into the net with his left foot.

Second Half
The samba boys continued the annihiliation of Spain in the 47th minute. A lovely assist from Hulk was guided into the net by Fred's left foot to make it 3-0.

Vincent Del Bosque responded by introducing Jesus Navas. The Manchester City signing made an instant impact by winning a penalty that was missed by Sergio Ramos.

Gerard Pique was sent off for a rough tackle on Neymar in the 68th minute. The Brazilians missed more chances through Marcelo and Neymar.

Pedro's effort was saved by Julio Cesar towards the end of the match.

Brazil will be expected to return to the top 10 when the new FIFA rankings are released in July.

Iago Aspas joins Liverpool

Liverpool have completed the signing of Iago Aspas from Celta Vigo. The Reds signed the Spanish player for a fee of £7.7m. Brendan Rodgers will be happy that his plan to bring new players ahead of the new season is gathering momentum. The Northern Irishman joined Liverpool from Swansea at the start of last season. He guided Liverpool to a 7th place in the league, but the team finished on 61 points as against 51 points they got in the 2011-2012 season.

Luis Alberto and Kolo Toure are the other new signings at Anfield.

Liverpool's first match of the season will be against Stoke City at Anfield.

Liverpool signs Luis Alberto

Spain under 21 international, Luis Alberto has signed a long term contract with Liverpool. The 2012 League cup champions paid £6.8m to Sevilla of Spain.

Luis Alberto was on loan at Barcelona B side last season and he scored a couple of goals for the Catalan giants.

The youngster can play behind strikers or as an attacking midfielder. Liverpool are short of players in that position.

The former Sevilla player is expected to be part of Liverpool's first team next season.

Champions of Euro Leagues

Most league champions of Europe have been crowned after gathering the highest number of points in their respective leagues.

Manchester United are the new English champions after Man City lost some key matches about two months ago.

In Netherlands, Ajax have won the Dutch Eredivisie. The four times European champions beat PSV to the second place.

Juventus won their 29th 'scudetto' title over the weekend. The 'Old ladies' also won the Serie A last season.

Bayern Munich have won the German Bundesliga.The Champions League finalists became the first team to win that Bundesliga with 6 games to go after opening a 20 point gap over Borussia Dortmund.

In Spain, Barcelona are 99% sure of winning the Primera Liga. The 'Catalans' are currently 11 points ahead of Real Madrid with four games left.

Celtic will return to the UEFA Champions League next sseason as Scottish league winners. The Glasgow club won the Scottish Premier League in the absence of relegated Rangers.

AC Milan drowned in Spain

AC Milan of Italy have been sent out of the UEFA Champions League for the second consecutive season by Barcelona. The Spanish club went down 2-0 at the San Siro about two weeks ago.
The 'Blaugrana bounced back with a 4-0 win at the Nou camp on Tuesday night. Lionel Messi scored a brace in the first half before David Villa and Jordi Alba added their goals in the second half.

'Massy' Allegri had no tactical answer to the superior fire power of Lionel Messi and his team-mates.

FC Barcelona has become the first club to overturn a 2-0 deficit in the knock out stage of the Champions League.

The Catalans will join Real Madrid in the quarter final of this year's competition.

Milan shot down Barcelona

AC Milan extended their current impressive Italian Serie A form to the UEFA Champions League when the Italian club defeated FC Barcelona of Spain at the San Siro stadium on Wednesday night.

Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Ali Muntari scored the two goals for the Italians.

Starting Line-ups
AC Milan:
Abbiati-Constant,Mexes,Zapata,Constant-Abate,Ambrosini,Muntari,Montolivo-Pazzini,El Shaarawy,Boateng

FC Barcelona:
Valdes-Alves,Puyol,Pique,Alba-Busquets,Fabregas,Hernandez,Rodriguez-Messi,Iniesta

El Shaarawy missed the first major chance of the match after a nice flick from Pazzini. The former had a poor touch on the ball and that allowed Carles Puyol to clear the ball. Phillipe Mexes received a booking in the 25th minute for his tackle on Lionel Messi.

UEFA Champions League trophy

The Spanish team were very dominant throughout the game, but the Italians were good enough to prevent them from causing any damage in their goal area.

Kevin Boateng gave the hosts the lead in a controversial circumstance before Sulley Muntari sealed AC Milan's victory with nine minutes to go. The second goal was scored after a successful counter attack by the Italians.

Barcelona must win the return leg by3-0 if they are to progress to the next stage of Europe's top club competition.

Porto vs Malaga preview

The 2004 UEFA Champions League winners will play host to Malaga in tonight's game. The Portuguese club a favoured to reach the quarter final of this season's edition of the champions league based on experience.

Malaga had a good campaign in the group phase. The debutants will hope that Maurico Isla will re-ignite his scintillating performance in Porto. The Spanish club conceded three goals in the six group matches they played.

On the other hand, the Portuguese club will rely on two or three key players to do the magic for them. This Iberian clash promises to be an exciting fixture.

Our prediction: FC Porto 2-2 Malaga

International football round up

The Three Lions of England defeated San Marino by 5-0 at the Wembley stadium on Friday night. Roy Hodgson's men were captained by Wayne Rooney in the absence of Steven Gerrard and Franc Lampard who missed the match due to suspension and injury respectively. Rooney and Danny Welbeck scored a brace each , while Alex Oxlade Chamberlain of Arsenal added the fifth goal. Rooney put up a spectacular show to justify the confidence of his manager who named him as the captain for the day. Meanwhile,Theo Walcott will remain in hospital for further check up. The Arsenal winger was badly injured on the chest after just 6 minutes of action.

In Dublin, it was a total nightmare for Geovanni Trapatoni's men. The Irish were beaten 6-1 at home by a rampaging German team that was led by veteran Miroslav Klose. Marco Reus and Toni Kroos scored a brace each while Mesut Ozil and Klose scored a goal each. The Irish team started very well, but they lost the midfield battle and that gave the Germans a lot of space to operate.

Reigning World champions defeated Belarus by four goals to nil in Minsk. Barcelona attacker, Pedro Rodriguez was the star player of the day. He scored a brilliant hat trick and also provided an assist for Jordi Alba in the first half of the match. The 'La Furia Roja' have now played 47 World cup qualifiers without a defeat. Their last World cup qualifier ended in a 1-0 win over Georgia.

In Amsterdam,Netherlands rolled over Andorra by 3-0. The 'Orange' men appeared to have put the disappointment of Euro 2012 behind them, as they now have six points from two games.

In Moscow, Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score a goal as Portugal went down by a lone goal. The Russia are now on top of their group.

In Bogota, Colombia defeated Paraguay by two goals to nil while Ecuador scored thrice against Chile. The Chileans managed to score a goal.
France suffered a 1-0 defeat to Japan in international friendly. The Blues were beaten by Shinji Kagawa's 89th minute strike at the Stade de France in Paris.

Blatter backs Spanish players for FIFA World player of the year.

FIFA president, Joseph Blatter has thrown his weight behind the naming of a Spaniard as the World player of the year 2012. The Swiss executive backed up his claims with the excellent performance of the reigning World and European champions at Euro 2012.


Andreas Iniesta was named as the UEFA player of the season. The Barcelona midfielder was instrumental to the success of Vincente Del Bosque's men in June.

Transfer deadline day

Here are the latest transfer news across Europe.

AC Milan have signed Nigel De Jong from Manchester City as Mancini get set to announce five new players before midnight.

Santa Cruz is on his way to Malaga while FC Porto have asked Spurs to pay more than £16.5m if they need Joao Moutinho. Jermaine Jenas is on his way out of Tottenham.
Arsenal
The Gunners have been linked with a move for Michael Essien of Chelsea. The Ghanaian international seems to be a likely replacement for Alex Song who joined Barcelona last weekend.

Liverpool
Stoke City have signed Charlie Adam of Liverpool for a £4m fee while Jay Spaearing has joined Bolton on loan. Michel Bastos has been linked with a move to Liverpool. Leandro Damiao and Daniel Sturridge have been linked with the Reds.
Clint Dempsey has rejected a £7m move to Aston Villa. He want to join LFC.

Meanwhile, Villa are about to sign Jordan Bowery.

Fulham have announced the signing of Kieran Richardson from Sunderland as Sessegnon extends his stay with the Black Cats.

Andrea Orlandi has joined Brighton from Swansea as the Welsh club await the arrival of Pablo Hernandez to replace him.

QPR are about to sign Sam Magri and Stephanie Mbia after announcing the arrival of Julio Cesar and Esteban Granero.

AEK Athens have announced the arrival of Mohammed Bangura from Celtic.

Obafemi Martins has been linked with a move to Levante of Spain

Alessandro Del Piero has joined Sydney FC of Australia.

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Iniesta is Europe's player of the season

Andres Iniesta has been named as the winner of UEFA player of the season in Nyon, Switzerland. The Spanish international midfielder was highly instrumental to the success of his national team at Euro 2012. The Barcelona man also led his club to the semi final of the champions league and helped them to capture the Kings cup. Iniesta beat Lionel Messi to the second spot, while Cristiano Ronaldo finished in third place. UEFA introduced the award just a year after the Ballon d'or was merged with the FIFA player of the year title.

Spainish side left London empty-handed.

The Spanish under 23 team played three games at the London 2012 Olympics without scoring a goal. The triumph of the Spanish senior national team in the past three major International tournaments had installed their under 23 side as the clear favorites for the Olympic gold medal. Amazingly, the Spaniards lost their first ever football match to Japan before going down against Honduras in their second match. Both games ended 1-0 in favour of their opponents. Their last group match against Morocco ended goalless. The presence of players like Juan Mata,Jordi Alba and David De Gea couldn't save the Olympic team from their poor showing in London.

Spain knocked out of Olympics football

Despite the recent victories recorded by Spain in major football tournaments, the country's men under 23 side has been knocked out of London 2012. Honduras confirmed the exit of the Iberians after securing a 1-0 victory at the Sport Direct Arena on Sunday evening. The only goal of the game was scored in the sixth minute while the Spaniards hit the woodwork on four occasions. Chelsea's Juan Mata was very outstanding for the Europeans,but his team couldn't break down the strong defence that was put up by the CONCACAF representatives. Japan also defeated Morocco 1-0 in the other group match.

Olympic football round up.

Spain lost their first match of London 2012 on Thursday. The La Roja under 23 side were beaten by a lone goal by Japan under 23 team. The Spaniards played the entire second half with just ten men after one of their players was sent off after 43 minutes. In another match, Team GB played a 1-1 draw against Senegal while Uruguay came from a goal down to beat UAE by two goals to one. The Samba Boys of Brazil defeated Egypt 3-2 in their first match. Neymar was one of the goal scorers in that game. The Sao Paulo man also scored a goal in Brazil's 3-1 win over Belarus on Sunday.