Afro aggro A match in the Belgian league descended into a bit of a girly catfight, complete with hair pulling, last pulling. Lierse and Standard each had a player sent-off, despite red-carded Standard defender Felipe being the victim of the hair attack. Boban Grncarov Lierse's Macedonian defender conceded a free-kick in the Liege [.

Word has begun circulating that Chelsea are expected to close the signing of Gary Cahill in the next 48 hours. More, after the jump:

English Recruits

So, this one looks like it'll finally be finished. The worst-kept secret of the winter is coming to its final hours, after an apparent break-through in negotiations took place Sunday evening, during which Chelsea representatives were able to reach a consensus with Cahill's agent.

EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 32 DRAW

Porto v Manchester City

Ajax v Manchester United

Lokomotiv Moscow v Athletic Bilbao

Salzburg v Metalist Kharkiv

Stoke City v Valencia

Rubin Kazan v Olympiacos

AZ Alkmaar v Anderlecht

Lazio v Atletico Madrid

Steaua Bucharest v Twente

Viktoria Plzen v Schalke

Wisla Krakow v Standard Liege

Braga v Besiktas

Udinese v PAOK

Trabzonspor v PSV Eindhoven

Hannover v Brugge

Legia Warsaw v Sporting

* First legs to be played February 16, second legs February 23

EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 DRAW

FC Salzburg/Metalist v Rubin Kazan/Olympiacos

Legia/Sporting v Porto/Manchester City

Steaua/Twente v Viktoria Plzen/Schalke

Wisla/Standard Liege v Hannover/Brugge

Stoke/Valencia v Trabzonspor/PSV Eindhoven

Alkmaar/Anderlecht v Udinese/PAOK

Lazio/Atletico Madrid v Braga/Besiktas

Ajax/Manchester United v Lokomotiv Moscow/Athletic Bilbao

* First legs to be played March 8, second legs March 15.

By Alan Duffy

It may well be the preserve of Thursday nights and Channel Five, but the Europa League, now ready for the knock-out stages is still peppered with some of Europe's big guns. Probably the biggest in the competition, Manchester United, will face another all-time European great, Ajax, in the last 32, a tie which has more than a hint of glamour.

The UEFA Europa League group stage will wrap up today, and several Americans are hoping their respective team is still standing after the dust has settled.

Jozy Altidore is one of those players, as he and AZ Alkmaar need a win over already-qualified FC Metalist Kharkiv in Group G in order to secure qualification.

By Chris Wright

Here you go, Pies' pick of the ten best still exposures from the past two day's worth of Europa League action...

FC Vaslui supporters are silhouetted by burning flares during their game against Lazio in Piatra Neamt, Romania

FC Vaslui's Mike Temwanjera and Lazio's Modibo Diakite hit an isolated hotspot of weak gravity

Fulham's Bryan Ruiz waves to the Twente fans after receiving a hero's welcome on his return to the Dutch club

AEK Athens vs Anderlecht quickly descends into an all-out gurn-fest as a corner is swung into the Greek side's penalty area

Schalke 04′s Kyriakos Papadopoulos throws up the big twos after scoring against Steaua Bucharest in Gelsenkirchen

Ibrahim Toroman is not exactly enamoured with the view as Besiktas celebrate scoring against Maccabi Tel Aviv

Billy Conolly and Rod Stewart turn up at Parkhead to watch Celtic take on Atletico Madrid, and are seen here presumably discussing exactly why Beram Kayal felt to need to duck and let Arda Turan's shot fly in over his head

Hapoel Tel-Aviv's Abbas Mahmmoud watches on while Rapid Bucharest's Iulian Apostol endulges in a spot of light turf rotivation

Hannover 96 fans do their thing ahead of the German side's game against Standard Liege in Belgium

A lone Tottenham fan taunts the travelling PAOK Salonika supporters by holding a tenner aloft to mock Greece's debt crisis.

Steve Cherundolo got the start for Hannover 96, losing 2-0 to Standard Liege in Belgium. Both Group B teams advanced to the knockout stage of the competition. Standard Liege got their first goal in the 25th minute, doubling the lead in the 56th. Cherundolo picked up an 11th minute yellow card. Jozy Altidore went the distance for AZ in a scoreless draw with Malmo in Group G.

Everton have confirmed club record signing in 2008 Marouane Fellaini has signed a new 5 year deal at Goodion Park with his current deal set to run out in 2013. The Belgian International moved from Standard Liege for £15m in 2008, and unlike many current player's has showed gratitude in signing for the club which has made him the player he is today.

Name: Regis Genaux In his 1990s prime for: Coventry City Lowdown: When Regis Genaux joined Coventry City from Standard Liege in the summer of 1996, he became only the third Belgian to play in the Premier League (prizes for getting both Philippe Albert and Marc Degryse as the other two). Having played for Standard Liege [.

Guus Hiddink coach of Turkish National team announced the Turkish National Team squad for Cratila play-off matches...
Turkey-Croatia EURO 2012 play-off match will be played at Türk Telekom Arena on Friday, November 11 and kick off at 21.05, local Turkey Time..

By Chris Wright

Pies' pick of the stills from last night's Europa League action...

◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 10

Fulham 4-1 Wisla Krakow: Andy Johnson nips in to score the Cottager's third goal

Last night's Europa League results in full.

By CALEB SONNELAND

With the second half of the Europa League group stages kicking off today, the English Premier League quartet involved in the competition are sitting pretty in their respective groups.

Tottenham and Stoke City sit atop Groups A and E, respectively, on seven points, while Birmingham City is tied for the top spot with Club Brugge on six points — the two sides clash today.

By Chris Wright

Pies' pick of the 15 best photos from last night's Europa League action...

Lokomotiv Moscow's Felipe Caicedo celebrates his injury time goal against AEK Athens as he passes AEK keeper Giannis Arabatzis

The Britannia Stadium sits empty an hour or so before Stoke City kicked off against Maccabi Tel Aviv

Besiktas' Filip Holosko and Dynamo Kiev's Betao gurn away while tussling in the air over Kiev

Birmingham fans decorate the square in the centre of Bruges before kick-off

Standard Liege's Yoni Buyens almost has his face pummelled by Vorskla Poltava goalkeeper Serhiy Dolganskiy

Club Brugge 'keeper Colin Cooseman celebrates his side's early lead against Birmingham, though it didn't last with Brum eventually winning it 2-1 in the 9th minute of injury time

Kenwyne Jones celebrates in customary style after scoring the opening goal for Stoke against Maccabi Tel Aviv

Legia Warszawa's Maciej Rybus gets crumpled in a pile-up with Rapid Bucharest duo Rui Duarte and 'keeper Danut Coman

Tottenham's Danny Rose is fouled on the edge of the box by Rubin Kazan captain Roman Sharonov.

By FRANCO PANIZO

It's been over a year since Herculez Gomez last represented the U.S. men's national team, but that drought could soon end after Gomez's latest goal-scoring performance.

For the fourth straight game that he's played in, Gomez scored a goal.

Several of the U.S. National Team players were in action for their clubs as the group phase of the Europa League kicked off Thursday. Here's a recap:
Jozy Altidore continued his blistering scoring pace for AZ Alkmaar, netting his sixth goal in eight matches in all competitions when he fired home the opening goal in the 4-1 win against Malmo.

Jozy Altidore's wonder-goal helped AZ Alkmaar power to a win over Malmo FF while Steve Cherundolo and Hannover were held to a scoreless deadlock by Standard Liege as Europa League group play kicked off.

Four European football games, three different countries, two English munts and a beer bike Standard Liege v Helsingborgs (18:08:11)Roda JC v Waalwijk (19:08:11)FC Cologne v Kaiserslauten (20:08:11)RSC Anderlecht v Mons (21:08:11) Join Millwall fans, Guy and Hutch as they romp through Europe swerving their 5 a day in favour of football and beer.

Four European football games, three different countries, two English munts and a beer bike Standard Liege v Helsingborgs (18:08:11)Roda JC v Waalwijk (19:08:11)FC Cologne v Kaiserslauten (20:08:11)RSC Anderlecht v Mons (21:08:11) Join Millwall fans, Guy and Hutch as they romp through Europe swerving their 5 a day in favour of football and beer.

The first classic of the season took place in the Belgian Jupiler League this weekend with Club Brugge and Anderlecht fighting it out on Matchday 5 of the 2011-12 campaign.

Despite being reduced to ten men in the 74th minute when goalkeeper Colin Coosemans was sent off for a second bookable offence it was the Flanders side who took the lead with just five minutes remaining after Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe struck from the penalty spot.

Uefa have announced the groups for the next round of the Europa League which features two Portuguese clubs, last seasons finalists Braga and Sporting. Group ATottenham Rubin Kazan PAOK Shamrock Rovers Group B Copenhagen Standard Liege Hannover Vorskla Poltava Group C PSV Eindhoven Hapoel Tel-Aviv Rapid Bucuresti Legia Warsaw Group D SPORTING Lazio Zurich Vaslui Group E Dynamo Kiev

Turkey's squad for the upcoming EURO 2012 qualifying matches against Kazakhstan and Austria has been announced Guus Hidddink.
Players will meet at İstanbul Swissotel The Bosphorus'da on 27 August Saturday.
Turkey head coach Guus Hiddink will hold a press conference at Swissotel on 1 September Thursday.

GK: Thibaut Courtois (Atletico de Madrid), Jean-Francois Gillet (Bologna), Simon Mignolet (Sunderland) DEF: Toby Alderweireld (Ajax), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Nicholas Lombaerts (Zenit), Denis Odoi (Anderlecht), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich), Jelle Van Damme (Standard Liege), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal), Jan Vertonghen (Ajax) MID: Moussa Dembele (Fulham), Marouane Fellaini (Everton), Eden Hazard (Lille), David Hubert (Genk), Dries Mertens (PSV Eindhoven), Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (Club Brugge), Timmy Simons (Nurnberg), Jelle Vossen (Genk), Axel Witsel (Benfica) FOR: Igor de.

Evening Standard KAA Gent 3-1 Standard Liège 1 (13:08:11) France: that's done. Now it was time to move on towards Belgium as LesEFW continued apace. Walk this way with Stuart Fuller from The Ball is Round .... With the noise of the Les Sang et Or fans still ringing in our ears we headed away from the Stade Félix Bollaert so that we could see our second game in a day in Gent, Belgium.

Evening Standard KAA Gent 3-1 Standard Liège 1 (13:08:11) France: that's done. Now it was time to move on towards Belgium as LesEFW continued apace. Walk this way with Stuart Fuller from The Ball is Round .... With the noise of the Les Sang et Or fans still ringing in our ears we headed away from the Stade Félix Bollaert so that we could see our second game in a day in Gent, Belgium.

Anderlecht has completed the signing of Milan Jovanovic from Liverpool after the forward failed to make an impact at Anfield.
The Serbian international joined the club following the 2010 World Cup, while previous boss Roy Hodgson was at the helm.
The 30-year-old found first team opportunities hard to come by though and was regularly on the fringes of matchday squads.

The team is in Portugal tonight to play our last pre-season warm-up against Benfica. Kick-off is 7:45 UK time, 2:45pm Eastern, 11:45am Pacific. The liveblog will start an hour before the game. Come on by and give us your thoughts. Liveblog is at the bottom.
Benfica had a strong, strong team two seasons ago, winning the Portuguese league, but that squad has since been partially dismantled, some in high-profile moves to big European teams:

Fábio Coentrão and Ángel Di María went to Real Madrid, Ramires and David Luiz joined Chelsea, and Nuno Gomes (Euro 2004, anyone?

Turkish National Team coach Guus Hiddink has named a 23-man squad for a friendly against Estonia.
Turkey will host Estonia at Istanbul's Turk Telekom Arena on August 10, Turkish Football Federation said on Thursday.
Hiddink called 8 players from Galatasaray and 7 from Fenerbahce.

Anderlecht has struck a deal to sign out-of-favour striker Milan Jovanovic from Liverpool with the move expected to go through once the Serbian passes a medical this week.
Jovanovic was brought to Liverpool by former boss Rafael Benitez last summer from Standard Liege but has since fallen out of favour at Anfield and hasn't started a game for the Reds since January.

Belgian league champions Racing Genk celebrated a maiden Super Cup triumph last night when defeating Belgian Cup winners Standard Liege by a 1-0 scoreline. The champions had home advantage and made the best use of it despite going down to ten men in the 28th minute after forward Jelle Vossen was sent off.

Belgian league champions Racing Genk celebrated a maiden Super Cup triumph last night when defeating Belgian Cup winners Standard Liege by a 1-0 scoreline. The champions had home advantage and made the best use of it despite going down to ten men in the 28th minute after forward Jelle Vossen was sent off.

Anderlecht has confirmed their interest in signing Liverpool's Milan Jovanovic - if they can agree personal terms with the Serbian forward.
"We're currently negotiating with Jovanovic, but we couldn't achieve an agreement (yet)," a spokesman for the Belgian side told BBC Sport.
"We're very much interested and the player would like to come.

Anderlecht confirm interest in Liverpool's Milan Jovanovic

The Serbian international would prefer to return to Belgium, where he played for Standard Liege before moving to Anfield last summer, after an unsuccessful spell on Merseyside

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-07-20 17:59:00 from: Goal

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

Our-of-favour Liverpool striker Milan Jovanovic looks to be edging closer towards sealing a move to Belgian giants Anderlecht.
The Serbian forward's stock in the country is still high after a hugely successful stint with Standard Liege before he made the switch to Anfield, and Jovanovic and his representatives met with Anderlecht president Herman Van Holsbeeck yesterday to discuss personal terms; the talks were a continuation of earlier discussions between the two parties.

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.

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.

Liverpool winger Milan Jovanovic has been given permission to find a new club, after being told he no longer features in the club's plans.
The Serbian has only been at Anfield for one-year after joining last season on a free-transfer from Belgian club Standard Liege.
Despite appearing to find a place in Liverpool's starting XI, the winger subsequently found himself frozen out of the team when Kenny Dalglish took the helm in January.

One of the areas that Harry Redknapp will surely need to strengthen is in defence and with that in mind, there are a number of rumours today linking Tottenham with Elaquim Mangala. A defender of Congolese descent who current plays his football with Belgian outfit Standard Liege.

Mangala is just 20 and has so far made a dozen appearances for France at Under 21 level.

Maddy's Note: BigFourZa, embracing the spirit of transfer season has brought in the highly rated 22 year Karthik, from an unnamed source at an undisclosed loacation for an unnamed fee. Although he's certainly nowhere close to the 20m King Kenny doled out for Henderson, hopefully he performs better for us than the youngster did for the U21s.

Liverpool are struggling to reach a compromise pay-off agreement with Milan Jovanovic in order to move the Serbian international on.
Anderlecht and FC Brugge have offered Jovanovic, 29, a return to Belgian football but the former Standard Liege striker is not prepared to take a considerable cut on his £60,000-a-week wages.

While Milan confirms they are in negotiations for Belgium international Axel Witsel, its reported Liverpool have joined the bidding war.
This week it has become apparent that the Standard Liege starlet is the Rossoneri's number one transfer target for that left midfield role.
"We are in talks with the Standard Liege directors and made contact over the past few days," confessed Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani to SportItalia.