4/30/2008
Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

Guys, I could not resist tackling this one for more than one day! Someone had to take a stand and defend this fallen football hero!

Apparently Ronaldo (The Brazilian one) is in hot waters with his very attractive Brazilian model girlfriend, Ana Beatriz Barros. He was accused of soliciting the services of three working ladies in Rio. Mind you that prostitution is legal in Brazil or at least where this incident happened, so no legal complexities there. However, the three ladies turned out to be anything but! Yep! These ladies apparently don’t throw out their razors after shaving their legs! They simply face a mirror and continue shaving all that grows in between their ears and under their eyes!
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4/30/2008
by Steve Griffiths

LONDON (AFP) – Didier Drogba sent Chelsea to their first Champions League final and got revenge on Rafa Benitez as his double strike clinched a 3-2 win against Liverpool in Wednesday's semi-final second leg.

Drogba had given Chelsea the lead in the first half at Stamford Bridge before Fernando Torres sent the tie into extra-time.

That set the scene for Frank Lampard to cap an emotional return as the midfielder restored Chelsea's lead with a penalty in his first appearance since the death of his mother.
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April 29, 2008
Angus MacKinnon

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) – A superb long-range strike from Paul Scholes sent Manchester United into the first all-English final of the Champions League after a nerve-tingling 1-0 win over Barcelona here on Tuesday.

After a goalless first-leg, the midfielder's 14th minute strike was enough to ensure Sir Alex Ferguson's side will face either Chelsea or Liverpool in Moscow on May 21.
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4/29/2008
Afshin Afshar, lastkick.conm

It took a couple of months but the Iranian national team coach, Ali Daei, has finally lost his patience with the Iranian Football Federation (IFF).

Speaking to reporters on his way to a meeting with the head of Iran’s National Physical Education Organization, Mohammad Aliabadi, Daei blasted the IFF for failing to arrange friendly matches prior to March’s World Cup Qualifier against Kuwait.

Daei, who was appointed in February, also showed his frustrations regarding the IFF’s apparent reluctance to finalize the coaching staff’s contractual agreements.
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Guys,

This is a clip of the game between Al-Ittehad of Saudi Arabia and Sepahan in which Emadreza, Sepahan’s Iraqi striker, scored the winner.

I do not speak Arabic so I have no idea what the announcer is saying, but I was floored by the drama in his voice and his numerous invoking of the name of God in Arabic. His disappointment is truly heartfelt!

If anyone here speaks Arabic, please let us know what he is saying.

4/25/2008
the-afc.com

TASHKENT – Iran and Uzbekistan warmed-up for the 2008 AFC Futsal Championship with two friendly matches in Tashkent, both of which ended with the reigning continental champions defeating their Central Asian hosts.

The first game, which took place on Tuesday at the Yunusabad Stadium where the Uzbeks finished runners-up to Japan in the 2006 AFC Futsal Champinship final, was a closely-fought affair with Iran winning 1-0 courtesy of Mohammed Reza Zahmatkesh’s strike.

The second game at the same venue two days later, ended with a more telling victory for Iran as goals from Morteza Azimai, Masoud Daneshvar, and Muhammed Taheri saw the eight-time Asian champions run out 3-0 winners.

The 2008 AFC Futsal Championship is taking place in Bangkok, Thailand from May 11 to 18, where Iran will be looking to consolidate their supremacy in the indoor game and make it nine out of ten tournament triumphs, while the Uzbeks are in the hunt for their first title after finishing runners up to the Iranians in 2001 and to the Japanese in 2006.

April 24, 2008 
By: Charles Whisnand, Appeal Sports Editor, nevadaappeal.com

Mehdi Samii is an example of how soccer, family, community – and really the whole world – comes together.

And it all comes together this weekend when the Comstock Shootout holds its boys tournament.

Among the teams who will take the field on Saturday and Sunday in the tournament being played at Edmonds Park and Mills Park will be the Capital Soccer Club's Carson Patriots under-12 boys team. The team is coached by Samii, who made it to Carson City by way of Iran.

"I'm just a player," said Samii, who says he's really not that important on the local soccer scene. But he's well aware of the many people who have made it possible for him to coach soccer and the be part of the community.
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Friday, February 29, 2008
By Patricia Cohen, The International Herald Tribune

NEW YORK: Often it is better to ignore the conventional wisdom and just stand there.

Radek Cerny, a goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur, was facing off against Manchester United's exuberant young midfielder, Christiano Ronaldo, for a penalty kick during the recent fourth round of the Football Association Cup in Britain. As Ronaldo's foot swung back for the kick, Cerny leapt to the left expecting a sharp shot to that corner. The ball barreled into the lower right.
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4/23/2008

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – A rare failure of nerve by Cristiano Ronaldo cost Manchester United the chance of a famous victory but Sir Alex Ferguson's side still emerged as favourites to reach the Champions League final after a goalless draw with Barcelona in their semi-final first leg clash here on Wednesday.
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4/23/2008
the-afc.com

JEDDAH – Emad Mohammed scored a late winner as Iranian league leaders Sepahan completed the double against Al Ittihad with a 1-0 away win over the Saudi side at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on Wednesday.

The Iraq international striker netted the only goal of the game with 11 minutes remaining to give Sepahan their second straight win in Group A as they drew level with Al Ittihad on six points, three behind group leaders Kuruvchi of Uzbekistan.
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