Ex-Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse took the mic in a nightclub for an emotional goodbye to the fans of Panathanaikos. The France international is expected to finalise a switch to Serie A side Lazio very shortly and, in the absence of any fixtures, seemingly decided the club was his best chance of addressing as many supporters [.

Peter Crouch is always an instantly recognisable figure on the pitch, but he was conspicuous by his absence in last night's win up at Tynecastle.

Last season, Harry often went for Crouch and VDV as his preferred partnership, but the Dutchman linked up well with Defoe last night, as the two shared the opening goals in the 5-0 win.

Reporter Phil Collin filed this update for today's newspaper.

Phil also offered up these bonus quotes

Here's LD on the quality of this year's new pickups:

"The benefit of having guys like Chad (Barrett) and Adam (Cristman) and Juan Pablo (Angel) and now Miguel (Lopez) is you have guys who can pull off plays on their own so you don't have to depend on David (Beckham) making a killer pass or me pulling off a play.

At the risk of making myself about as popular as the West Ham supporters on here last week I ask the question, ‘Would you be tempted to cash in on Gareth Bale?'

Gareth put pen to paper on a new deal in the week and that showed what we all know – that he loves it here at the Lane.

Sorry for the long absence. I've spent the past two months in Mexico and Central America and it turned out that finding free and convenient wifi in the area wasn't so convenient. Plus, I was just having way too much fun. (Feel free to read about the adventures here.)
But, we're back.

Three points behind co-group leaders Morelia and Alajuelense in CONCACAF Champions League play, the Galaxy face a must-win game at 7 o'clock tonight at Home Depot Center against the Mexicans (live on Fox Soccer and Telefutura).

Realistically, if the Galaxy don't win - a tie wouldn't help them much - their international campaign is all but over, but they may have to play Morelia without three of their key players.

No Landon Donovan or Donovan Ricketts tonight, but the LA Galaxy will look to continue their four-game winning streak against D.C. United.

United are dealing with the absence of Dejan Jakovic and an injury to Dax McCarty, but will be eager to pick up a win on the road against a very difficult Los Angeles side.

Aurelio: Once a week will do me

Fabio Aurelio hopes our absence from European football could help him stay fit and answer Liverpool's left-back conundrum this season.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-08-07 08:36:32 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Make some tea or crack a can of lager, and read the preview.

Our kids and fringe players (and Vermaelen and Santos) are in Greece, looking to get some experience against a good side that needs to win to ensure they get anything out of the group stage.

I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (not to be mistaken for Coquelin), Frimpong and Coquelin, as well as Yennaris and Miquel, who I thought played fairly well out-of-position against a strong City side in the Carling Cup.

The latest from the transfer rumour-mill has West Ham striker Freddie Sears as the next Newcastle United transfer target and potential exits for Campbell and Enrique. I'm not sure where the Sears rumour started but various reports have Pardew bemoaning the fact that the team suffered on Saturday due to the absence of Carroll and [.

Having already promoting promises of their maturity this season, Arsenal, once again left some question mark for their fans' hopes after the Gunners surprisingly suffered a 1-0 in the Carling Cup against Ipswich Town, despite fielding a pretty strong squad.

One of the cause of the defeat is being placed in the defensive department as with many injuries facing their main defenders, the substitutes' quality seemed far behind.

After a two-year absence, the MLS Supplemental Draft is back. Why not just have more rounds in the MLS SuperDraft? We don't know. However, we will list everyone right here and provide follow-up if the Chicago Fire select anyone. MLSSoccer.com has a rundown of the top players available.

Round 1 Pick Club Player's Name Position School/Previous Club 1
2
3
(from DC)
4
(from CHV)
5
6 7
8
9 10 11 12

(from DC, CLB)

13
(from NY)
14 15
(from SJ) 16 17 18
(from COL)

Rounds 2 & 3 after the break.

What do you get when you cross an eccentric, former footballer turned aspiring actor, with a footy team whose glory years have long since been relegated to the history books? The return of the New York Cosmos?

A new Frenchman has landed in the Big Apple and if past experience is anything to go by, he intends to take the New York Cosmos to the top of the football ladder.

By the time you've read this AEK will have signed 29 year old,Nabil Baha,a Morrocan who has been plying his trade with Malaga in Spain's top league.Baha is a striker,who will be coming to Athens on loan till the summer,where we"ll then have an option to buy him outright.In 107 appearances for Malaga he has scored 43 goals.

Lyon coach Claude Puel said his side would face a "better balanced" team than the Real Madrid that they beat at this stage of last season's UEFA Champions League yet, despite the absence of Lisandro, he believes they are in the mood to repeat that success. Madrid have lost in the round of 16 six years running but José Mourinho is not looking to the past.

Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand will definitely not be playing against Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday after both missed the trip to France.

Ferdinand has failed to recover from an injury picked up several weeks ago while Giggs absence is not quite clear.

United will also be missing Anderson who picked up a knee injury at the week-end against Crawley while Michael Owen, Jonny Evans Park ji Sung and Antonio Valencia who picked up an horrendous Injury against Rangers in United's opening Champions League game are also absent.

This is a drill. Do not be alarmed. Go about your normal business quietly and calmly. Repeat, this is a drill.

If you normally reach this site through Newsnow, your joy at Our Great Victory has been tempered by TOMM's absence in your life, as the latest post has not registered for some unknown reason.

Luiz Felipe Scolari has revealed that when he was Chelsea boos that he asked Roman Abramovich to sell Didier Drogba.

In an interview with TB Arena Sport TV earlier this week, Scolari admitted he had a tough time man managing Drogba.

"Drogba believed he was the star in the squad and I did have conflicts with him.

Morning to you and the Interlull is well and truly behind us now. We can feast our eyes upon the Premier League, its ups and downs (Sorry, Matthew), and all the rest.

Early team news ahead of tomorrow's game is promising. Back in the fold are Cesc, Theo, Song and Diaby while there are high hopes over van Persie, Bendtner and Aaron Ramsey.

Just as things starts to goes in the right direction for Everton with their position improvement on the league table, injury issues keeps on coming for the Toffees as latest reports suggested that they might be losing their main striker, Louis Saha, until the end of season.

Confirmed by the club's manager, David Moyes, Saha, who has just an operation recently will not be available again for the team's remaining matches because the Frenchman's recovery time would take a while.

There is some good news and some bad news for Joey Barton today. Joey Barton in action against Arsenal earlier this year The good news is that Alan Pardew will make Joey captain of the side for the next two games, in Kevin Nolan's enforced absence. Kevin picked up his 10th caution of the [...]

The past two MLS Cup champions square off in Utah in the latest edition of the Rocky Mountain Cup.

Unbeaten Real Salt Lake and the defending league champions, the Colorado Rapids, have their first meeting of the year at Rio Tinto Stadium, where an intense match between bitter rivals is anticipated (9 p.

- Wayne Rooney and Fabio are absent from press session at training today. Whilst nothing official has come from the club, reporters are claiming Rooney's absence is due to him avoiding the cameras, as was the case last time after swearing against West Ham. Fabio is on the medical table though.

- Howard Webb will be the referee for United vs Chelsea this weekend.

Darren Fletcher made a return to the first team last week against Schalke after missing the past few months with a virus. After recovering from the illness, he was still unable to play after losing so much weight.

Speaking to the official mag, Fletch has expressed some empathy for the fans, realising how frustrating it can be to watch the games.

It's maybe not surprising that some areas of the media are questioning the official explanation for Heurelho Gomes' absence from the Spurs squad last night. Tottenham have said that the Brazilian was suffering from a back injury and while we wouldn't want to question that statement, others have hinted at a smokescreen.

Jermain Defoe has spoken publicly once again about his frustration at the lack of first team action this season. After an absence due to injury, Defoe was sent off in the Boxing Day game at Aston Villa and following his subsequent suspension, Harry Redknapp only picked him sporadically.

Defoe took until March to register his first Premier League goal, but was still left on the bench in the main for the last part of the season.

David Beckham is set to miss another match. No, not with an injury, and not for another Royal Wedding.

No, Beckham looks ready to miss another MLS regular season match for the Los Angeles Galaxy to play in a testimonial match.

Manchester United is holding a Testimonial Match for Gary Neville on Tuesday and Beckham is expected to play in the match honoring his long-time teammate and closest friend.

Liverpool defender Fabio Aurelio has vowed to put in the hours this summer to ensure he spends more time on the pitch than off it next season.
While the squad is due back for pre-season training in early July, Aurelio plans to return to work much earlier to get his fitness levels up.
The 31-year-old has struggled with injuries during his five-year stay at Anfield and was released by Rafael Benitez at the end of his contract last summer before Roy Hodgson decided to bring him back at the start of the season.

Spending most of his time on the treatment room, especially during the time Liverpool were flying under Kenny Dalglish's reign, the Reds' captain, Steven Gerrard, acknowledged that in the start of the season there's a possibility he will need to fight back his place in the first team.

Gerrard understand that he might need to compete with several players that have been impressing during the skipper's absence such as the likes of Raul Meirelles and Maxi Rodriguez, not to mention with the possibilities of new arrivals next season, surely the competition might get tougher.

Union

Carlos Ruiz says anything less than three points in Toronto will be an embarrassment. THAT'S the attitude I'm looking for!

MLSsoccer.com previews Saturday's game. In Goal.com's head-to-head preview, the Philly guy predicts a 2–0 win for the Union, the Toronto guy a 1–1 draw. The Friday MLS Forecast at Goal.

There are many ‘forgotten men' in the ranks at White Hart Lane and when you compile a list of players who could be up for transfer, it's easy to omit some of our fringe squad.

Giovani dos Santos fits into that category perfectly but his performance for Mexico against New Zealand may have put him firmly in the shop window once again.

Newcastle United returned to the English Premier League after a one-year absence for the 2010/11 season. With much of the team that was relegated at the end of the 2008/09 season still in its ranks, the Magpies secured their place in the 2011/12 English Premier League with a 12th place finish in the recently concluded [.

'I miss football already'
'What am I going to do without football?'
'My life is rubbish without football'
'Can't wait to see some football'

All these are comments I've heard or read over the last few days. For any football fanatic, the summer can be a tough time.

Clint Dempsey is Fulham's player of the year. Thank goodness.

This should have been the most one-sided vote in recent memory, and by the sounds of it Dempsey did win by some way. Simply put, without Dempsey we'd have been in huge trouble last season.

Brede Hangeland might quietly feel a little miffed, having established himself as arguably our *best* player, but for whatever reason centre-backs just aren't as glorious as their team-mates, and I doubt he'd have been surprised at not winning.

- Jason Davis Here I am, writing at MFUSA for the first time in what seems like a very long time. I don't think it actually has been that long, but when you've poured so much into a space for two and a half years, even a few days can seem like an eternity. I'm very much alive, which you know if you follow me on Twitter or listen to the podcast.

SOURCE: REPUBLICA
New Road Team (NRT) beat 10-man Yeti Airlines Himalayan Sherpa 2-0 at the Halchowk ground to hand the latter its second defeat of the league in a row.
Michael Muyawa and Aaron Blackie Cole scored the goals within three minutes to Sherpa hard hit by absence of its key players -- Jagjeet Shrestha, Castory D Mumbara and Oryek Allan.

Fulham's new manager Martin Jol is happy to be back in the Premier League after a four year absence since leaving Tottenham in 2007.

"Everybody knew I would like to come back," said Jol in his first press conference as Fulham boss. "I said that when I left, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, I will be back, and now I am back.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has vowed to make amends for his absence from the club's pre-season tour of Asia.

The relationship between player and manager just wasn't what it used to beLuka Modric was signed by Spurs for a club record fee and brought all the way from the quiet Eastern European divisions to arguably the biggest league and stage in the world. To say that Spurs had taken something of a gamble, spending so much money on a talented but unproven player, is an understatement.

Some fairly encouraging signs were noted in our away victory against Cologne yesterday, Gervinho's excellent goals and performance in particular. The biggest down was the injury to Conor Henderson, fingers crossed it is not a really serious one and good luck to the lad. The absence of Armand Traore was interesting, it may signal something big or he may have picked up a minor injury, I'm sure