April 30, 2007

LONDON (Ticker) – The United States still has a chance to host the 2010 World Cup, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Monday.

South Africa is due to stage the tournament in three years but there have been reports of delays in construction, bringing the possibility that the tournament will be unable to be staged there.

The sport's world governing body remains confident all facilities will be ready in time but Blatter feels FIFA needs to keep options open.
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4/30/2007
Mitch Phillips

LONDON (Reuters) – A place in the Champions League final is Liverpool's for the taking but to claim it they will have to take risks to get past an ailing but stubborn Chelsea on Tuesday.

Liverpool were lucky to escape with a 1-0 defeat from a first leg where they seemed so concerned with the tactical requirements of negating the London side that they completely forgot about launching attacks of their own.
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Phil Minshull
April 29, 2007

MADRID (AFP) – Barcelona maintained their slender one point lead of the Spanish first division, thanks to a Samuel Eto'o goal in their 1-0 victory over Levante, as the top three teams in Spain all won.

Second-placed Sevilla triumphed 3-1 over Espanyol while Real Madrid remain one point and one place further back after their 4-1 thrashing of struggling Athletic Bilbao.

The three-way race for the title with six games to go is the tightest for five years.
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Steve Griffiths
April 29, 2007

LONDON (AFP) – Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor plunged Fulham deeper into relegation trouble as his late goal set up a 3-1 win over Lawrie Sanchez's struggling side on Sunday.

Fulham had looked set to snatch a crucial point when Simon Davies cancelled out Julio Baptista's early goal at the Emirates Stadium. But Adebayor's sublime strike left Fulham heartbroken and Gilberto Silva rubbed salt into their wounds with a penalty in the final moments.
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Ryland James
April 29, 2007

BERLIN (AFP) – Werder Bremen blew a golden opportunity to go top of the Bundesliga on Sunday as they crashed to a shock 3-2 defeat at relegation-threatened Arminia Bielefeld.

With three games left to go and, league-leaders Schalke 04 losing 2-1 to VfL Bochum on Friday night, third-placed Bremen passed up the chance to leap-frog their rivals and re-take the top spot they last held in January.

Although Bremen equalised twice, Bielefeld were worthy winners in an electric game with both sides creating plenty of chances.
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Neil Johnston
April 28, 2007

LIVERPOOL, England (AFP) – Manchester United took a huge step towards clinching the title by defeating Everton 4-2 after a stunning second half fightback at Goodison Park on Saturday.

Goals either side of half time by veteran defender Alan Stubbs and Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes appeared to have left Sir Alex Ferguson's hopes of a ninth Premiership title in the balance.

But an horrendous error by young keeper Iain Turner proved the turning point as United netted four times in the final half an hour to go five points clear of Chelsea, who could only draw against Bolton, with three games remaining.
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Andrew Fifield
April 28, 2007

LONDON (AFP) – Chelsea saw their hopes of retaining the Premiership title all but snuffed out as they were held to a costly 2-2 draw by Bolton on Saturday.

Kevin Davies' 53rd-minute equaliser, combined with Manchester United's stirring victory at Everton, left Jose Mourinho's side five points adrift of the league leaders with just three matches remaining.

The west Londoners must now pin their hopes on a miracle turn-around in the season's final weeks, but a resigned air had settled over Stamford Bridge long before the final whistle blew.
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April 28, 2007

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – Bayern Munich have signed Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni from AC Fiorentina in a deal worth 18 million euros, it was reported on Saturday.

The 29-year-old striker, who has scored 12 goals in 27 internationals, has signed a five-contract and will reportedly earn 5.5 million euros per season according to German magazine Sport-Bild.

The forward is believed to have made his decision on Friday evening and chosen the German giants over European rivals AC Milan, Juventus Turin and Inter Milan, who were also bidding for his signature.
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4/27/2007

BERLIN (Reuters) – Werder Bremen striker Miroslav Klose apologised to his club on Friday for meeting Bayern Munich executives earlier this week.

"The meeting with Bayern was only an informational conversation and not a contract negotiation," last year's World Cup top scorer told the German sports news agency SID. "It only lasted 20 minutes but the timing was obviously unfortunate.

"I want to apologise to Werder and all the fans. I should have told the coach and manager about it."
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April 26, 2007

PARIS (AFP) – Spanish league strugglers Osasuna turned on the style to claim a precious 1-0 home win over reigning UEFA Cup champions Sevilla in the first leg of their semi-final here Thursday.

And an all-Spanish final in Glasgow on May 16 looks a distinct possibility after Espanyol defeated German side Werder Bremen 3-0 in the other semi-final first leg in Barcelona.
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