It started with Persiba Balikpapan. Former West Ham midfielder Peter Butler was their coach and I thought yeah, would be good to meet him and have a chat. But he went and quit the club or was sacked just ahead of their game against Persija in Jakarta. No one had the decency to consider me and my plans.

photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Real Salt Lake are looking to the future just as much as they are hoping to win an MLS Cup title in 2012.

Real Salt Lake announced four moves on Thursday, including the re-signings of Fabian Espindola and Ned Grabavoy.

Brazilian club Santos on Friday turned down an €8 million bid from Portuguese club FC Porto for their midfield wizard Paulo Henrique Ganso. However, what seems to be rubbing people the wrong way is club president Luis Alvaro Ribeiro's comments where he labelled Porto's bid as comical and that it should have at least contained an extra zero for Santos to consider it.

Real Madrid midfielder Kaka has revealed that his future with the club has been assured by club president Florento Perez and coach Jose Mourinho.

Kaka has struggled with injuries since joining Real Madrid in 2009, but has periodically displayed his old skill in recent matches and had one of his best games games in a Real Madrid shirt in Saturday's 3-1 win over Zaragoza.

Despite winning 17 of the 20 La Liga fixtures played so far this season and opening up a 7 point lead over arch rivals Barcelona, Jose Mourinho is not a happy man at Real Madrid and he could leave the Spanish giants this summer for a return to the Premier League.

According to reports emerging from Madrid, Mourinho is 'sick and tired' of the constant power struggles within the club and is seriously considering a return to the EPL.

Valencia midfielder Ever Banega has agreed to stay in La Liga by signing a contract that will keep him at the Spanish outfit till 2015.

Banega, 23, has attracted the interest of both Merseyside clubs in the past while also being linked to Arsenal and German giants Bayern Munich more recently.

First he was great and thin then fat and great and now Gaucho is back to looking like his old self. For those who thought dinho's best days were behind him, guess again.

The 31 year old has lost more than 80kgs (or so i could be wrong) to get back to his lean physique and if you don't believe me, take a look at these pictures.

It should come as no surprise but it's being reported that Liverpool will tour the USA this summer and play a match at Fenway Park which is the home of the Boston Red Socks.

New owners are looking to tap into the huge base of American sports fans which would be great for club support and reaching potential sponsors.

Keeping Neymar at Santos meant compromising all female football?

Europe's giants were getting ready to fight over the signing of the Neymar, the 18-year-old Brazilian prodigy. However, in November Santos announced that Neymar had signed a contract that lasted until 2014 and included a 50% pay increase.

As we told you earlier this week, the München Men have been biding their time at a training camp in Doha. Bastian Schweinsteiger recovered well enough from his shoulder operation (which quite honestly, left a sexy scar!) to play in their win over Al-Sailiya last night.

Out of Contract LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham will not be joining French side PSG after all. Club President Nasser Al Khelaifi revealed that the deal had been called off.

Beckham who had been linked with the Paris based club since late last year seems set to re-sign with Galaxy.

Villa removed from pitch following leg injury (Photo: AP Photo)

Horrible news out of Japan this morning where FC Barcelona defeated Al-Sadd 0-4 in the Club World Cup semi-final and will move on to play Santos in the final.

In the 36th minute of the first half David Villa was injured running down a through ball and when he tried to control the pass twisted is left leg and fell to the ground.

By CALEB SONNELAND

The loss of life in the sports world always runs deep within the game, and to lose a player like Gary Speed saw shockwaves sent throughout soccer on Sunday.

The Wales manager was discovered at his home Sunday morning with the news spreading to every corner of the Britain within the hour that he had taken his own life.

Just days after Neymar put pen to paper and signed a new improved contract that will see him stay with Brazilian club Santos until 2014, club President Luis Alvaro Ribiero has spoken out on Spanish club Real Madrid's aim to sign the teen sensation.

Ribiero who did not have any kind words for the European power house slammed the club's behaviour labeling it lamentable and arrogant.

Ryad Boudebouz on Liverpool radar

Liverpool are back on the trail of Sochaux midfielder Ryad Boudebouz. The Anfield club were keen on the 21-year-old in May and Boudebouz said: 'I was told Damien Comolli had spoken to our club president'.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-11-10 22:32:18 from: The Mail

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

Last week we covered tha ESPNsoccernet reported that Brazilian star Neymar had agreed to join Real Madrid next summer from Santos for around £53m.

Well today we learnt that the ESPN story was wrong as Neymar announced that he will stay at Santos until at least 2014.

"I'm very happy, it's another decision I'm taking in my life, a family decision," Neymar told a news conference where he was handed a Santos shirt with the number 2014 on it by club president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira.

By Shane Badger
The Rochester Lancers were in high spirits last night as they kicked off their home season with a meet the fans party. The entire team as well as management, and the entire Lancer Dancer squad made themselves available to fans for signatures and questions during the three hour party.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp insists he is not looking to bring unsettled Man City striker Carlos Tevez to White Hart Lane, because they wouldn't be able to afford his wages.

Tevez appears on the verge of leaving the Etihad Stadium after being handed a two week suspension and two week's wages fine for apparently refusing to come on as a substitute in City's 2-0 Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich.

This is not the first time Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is defending himself against claims of forcing out players he dislikes. After taking over from Frank Rijkaard in 2008, Guardiola made it very clear that Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Deco would no longer be part of his plans as coach of the Catalans.

Corinthians club President Andrés Navarro Sánchez has confirmed that outcasted Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez is close to signing for the club once again. Sanchez confirmed the news to reporters in Brazil amidst mounting speculation concerning the Argentine striker's future at Eastlands. "Tevez has one foot in Corinthians, even if a lot of people don't [.

The worst kept secret at Juventus, well at least up until this week, was that this season would be the last for the Bianconeri's legendary captain Alessandro del Piero. The 36 year old will say goodbye to a team he has served for nearly two decades and hopefully the clubs is planning a bit more pomp and circumstance then we have seen so far.

Juventus club president Andrea Agnelli has announced that striker Alessandro Del Piero is set to leave the club at the end of the season bringing the curtain down on a 19-year spell in Turin. The news was broken on Tuesday and was tentatively accepted by Juve fans the world over as club legend and Juventus' [.

Former French international and one of the games greats Zinedine Zidane is considering the option of returning to the French national team as a coach. Zidane who retired from the side after he infamously head butted Marco Materazzi during the 2006 world cup finals, made the statement when questioned by Le Parisien.

Jose Mourinho prepares his side for a home tie Ajax on Wednesday night following a debate amongst Real Madrid's general assembly about the Portuguese manager. Some of the members were unhappy with the outspoken coach, and felt he has damaged the reputation of the club since his arrival.
Despite the heated debate, club president Florentino Perez did defend the 48-year old who moved to the Bernabeu in May 2010 from Italian side Inter Milan.

Funny how football fortunes can quickly change... Not so long ago, such a game would have been eagerly expected, for this was promising an intense and entertaining game. But shortly before Laurent Blanc announced he would be leaving the Girondins to take the reigns of the French National Team, the internal dynamics of the so far successful team started to derail.

You don't need an Italian football expert to tell you Gian Piero Gasperini was off to a bad start at Inter. Even though he has lead the Nerazzurri in fewer than a half-dozen competitive matches, his team looked nothing short of horrendous in that time. It can be argued he did, in fact, deserve the pink slip handed to him this morning.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

In this week's review section, we look at stories from some of the biggest clubs in Europe: Man United, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast and can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below, or highlighted in blue.

Napoli, Juventus, Udinese and Cagliari look to continue their winning ways midweek. While manager Eddy Reja is sticking with Lazio after having his resignation refused by club president Claudio Lotito which means, start to the famed Italian managerial sack race is avoided if only temporarily. Champions Milan will be looking to avoid a back to back loss results when they welcome visitors Udinese.

We'll be back soon with an account of what we watched this past weekend, but first there are two matches later today that are worthy of your attention:

Monday, August 22

Gamper Trophy (friendly), Barcelona-Napoli (2:30pmET, ESPN3.com):

This is an annual pre-season friendly hosted by Barcelona each August, named after Joan (nee Hans) Gamper a Swiss player and businessman, and founding member of FC Zurich.

It looks like the future of Giovani dos Santos may well be settled before the start of the season with several overseas clubs being lined up as candidates for the Mexican's signature.

Sevilla were being touted as a likely destination at one point but it later emerged that the Spanish outfit were only interested in a loan deal,

"Tottenham want a sale but at the moment Sevilla are only interested in a loan with the first option to buy," said club president Jose Maria Del Nido.

SOURCE: REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, July 12: Mega Three Star Club signed a one-year co-sponsorship deal with Nepal Leon Motors, the authorized dealer of Mitsubishi Motors for Nepal, on Tuesday.
Club president Lalit Krishna Shrestha and Leon Motors Executive Chairman Ashish Shrestha signed the MoU amidst a function in Patan.

Inter Milan 2011/2012 Shirts - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Inter Milan have revealed their 2011/12 home kits. The home shirt leaks suggested the correct design of the shirt but the revealed shirt has thinner stripes.

Inter's five-year treblesome reign as the champions of Serie A came to end last season as their local rivals AC Milan took a six-point lead over them.

By Chris Wright

We wonder who's idea this was? Was it the fairly mild-mannered and unassuming Swiss midfielder? Or was it perhaps the brainchild of the gaudy, eccentric, film producer/club president?

Photos: PA

Milan Jovanovic has revealed that he has met with Anderlecht officials to discuss his transfer from Liverpool.
The former Standard Liege forward has already been told that he can leave Anfield for free after just one year, with the Premier League club reportedly prepared to pay off his £60,000-a-week wages.

Zinedine Zidane is set to become Real Madrid's new sporting director.

Zidane, who played for Real Madrid between 2001 and 2006, and has been a special advisor to club president Florentino Perez told eporters on the sidelines of a charity match in Madrid that

"I will be the first team's sporting director,"

The three-time FIFA World Player of the Year said he was still not sure what his functions would be, although Spanish media said it would involve working more closely with Real coach Jose Mourinho.

Zinedine Zidane is set to become Real Madrid's new sporting director.

Zidane, who played for Real Madrid between 2001 and 2006, and has been a special advisor to club president Florentino Perez told eporters on the sidelines of a charity match in Madrid that

"I will be the first team's sporting director,"

The three-time FIFA World Player of the Year said he was still not sure what his functions would be, although Spanish media said it would involve working more closely with Real coach Jose Mourinho.

Jovanovic Meets With Anderlecht Officials

Liverpool flop Milan Jovanovic has met with officials from Anderlecht regarding a possible move back to Belgium. The 2010 Bosman signing has failed to make an impression under three different managers at Anfield, and appears close to calling time on his torrid tenure on Merseyside.

Real Madrid SPANISH FOOTBALL SPORTS paper "Marca" run a front cover story today that basically says that the REAL MADRID Football Manager & Coach José Mourinho, who is back at work, has expressed to Club President Florentino Perez that he is satisfied & happy with the all the new signings. Marca cover In fact, according to the Sports paper, Mourinho believes that squad has been compensated,

Real Madrid One of World Football greats, ex Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus & REAL MADRID player, Frenchman ZINEDINE ZIDANE made the public announcement today that he will be the new FOOTBALL DIRECTOR of the REAL MADRID first team as off next Monday. The Frenchman was up till now personal advisor to Club President Florentino Perez & will now add to his responsibilities the Football "matters" of the

As up-and-coming Brazilian star Neymar gets set for one of the more important summers of his career, his club has come out and said he is not for sale.

Despite Santos attracting lucrative offers from some of the biggest clubs in the world for its star forward, club president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira said in a statement that "In light of continuous speculation in the national and international press about the future of our player, I feel obliged to communicate the departure of Neymar is non-negotiable.