11/29/2006
Sportinglife.com

Osasuna enjoyed their first win in UEFA Cup Group D against OB Odense on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the last 32.

Francisco Punal scored twice for the home side, before turning from hero to villain with an unlikely own goal which raised the hopes of the Danish visitors.
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Nick Morrison
November 29, 2006

LONDON (AFP) – Fulham beat ten-man Arsenal 2-1 at Craven Cottage to end all hopes Arsene Wenger's side might have had of staying in the race for the Premiership title.

An early glanced header from Brian McBride followed by a strike from Tomasz Radzinski put Fulham 2-0 up after 18 minutes and, despite Robin van Persie's sweetly struck free-kick before the interval, Arsenal slumped to a second successive Premiership defeat.
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Alec Kennedy
November 29, 2006

LONDON (AFP) – Manchester United maintained a three-point lead over Chelsea at the top of the Premiership as they brushed past Everton 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Having been forced to settle for a share of the spoils when hosting the champions three days earlier, goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrice Evra and John O'Shea ensured United returned to winning ways.
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Jeremy Cross
November 29, 2006

BOLTON, England (AFP) – Michael Ballack headed home a first half winner as Chelsea maintained their relentless pursuit of Premiership leaders Manchester United with a 1-0 win at Bolton.

The German international notched his fourth goal of the season seconds before the break as Jose Mourinho's side showed Arsenal how to deal with Bolton on their own ground.
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11/29/2006
Doha 2006

IR Iran offered the top action this evening with some impressive runs and fine goals, but their Maldivian opponents proved no walkover and in several runs they caused alarm for the Iranians, finally securing a goal. Their efforts were to no avail, however, and the Maldives lost 3–1.
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Afshin Afshar, latkick.com

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

This is my official ranting and raving column, so do not hold anything I say here too seriously!
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Has anyone seen England keeper David James’ latest hair cut? Man, oh man! And would you believe he paid £250 for it?!
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Wednesday November 29, 2006
Jon Brodkin, The Guardian

When Andriy Shevchenko joined Chelsea, Jose Mourinho described it as "a day when the dream became reality". Six months later the words dream and Shevchenko appear in the same sentence about as regularly as Steve Harmison and wicket. Some must imagine the Ukrainian hopes the episode will turn out to be a bad dream and he will find himself back in Milan.
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11/28/2006
James Cone

(Bloomberg) — European champion Barcelona is the most attractive soccer team for corporate sponsorship, according to a survey by sports marketing company Global Sponsors.

Barcelona, which beat Arsenal 2-1 in May's final of Europe's elite Champions League, tops England's Manchester United and Spanish rival Real Madrid in the survey, the London- based company said in an e-mailed press release.
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11/28/2006
the-afc.com

DOHA: Two-time defending champions Iran landed in Doha on Monday a few hours after receiving special FIFA permission to play in the Asian Games here in the capital of Qatar.
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November 27, 2006

DUBAI (AFP) – World football's governing body FIFA has temporarily lifted its ban on Iran so it can take part in the Asian Games football competition after frantic behind the scenes manoeuvering.

"The ban has been provisionally lifted. The team can participate in the Asian Games," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Monday.
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