New York: After the final whistle of his 50th and final game with Chelsea, Rafa Benitez walked toward the visitors' dugout at Yankee Stadium, raised his left hand in a small acknowledgement to someone in the crowd and disappeared into the tunnel. "A lot of fans, they were supporting in the end," he said. "Some of them, maybe we couldn't change their minds. But we did our job."
Far away from the jeering supporters at London's Stamford Bridge, Benitez completed his brief but productive stint as manager with a 5-3 loss to Manchester City in a season-ending friendly on Saturday night.
Distrusted by Chelsea fans following his tenure at Liverpool, Benitez never settled in after he was hired on a seven-month contract in November to replace Roberto Di Matteo, who was sacked six months after leading Chelsea to their first Champions League title. Still, Benitez did manage to lead Chelsea to the Europa League title during his short time with the team.
Outgoing Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is expected to return to Chelsea for a second stint, the ninth managerial change under owner Roman Abramovich since 2004. Benitez appears headed to Napoli....
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09:41 AM, May 26, 2013
London: Britain launched fighter jets on Friday to escort a Pakistan International Airlines plane carrying 297 passengers from Lahore after it was diverted from Manchester, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry said. Flight PK709 from the city of Lahore in Pakistan was due to land at Manchester Airport in north west England at 1230 GMT. The plane was diverted to Stansted airport, east of central London, according to a Manchester...
06:58 PM, May 24, 2013
English soccer champions Manchester United(MANU.N) have trimmed 10 million pounds off the annual interest bill on their debt through a refinancing arranged by Bank of America. The move could free up more cash to help new team manager David Moyes to strengthen his team for next season after taking over from Alex Ferguson, who retired this month after leading United to 13 English league titles. The American Glazer family bought...
03:11 PM, May 24, 2013
London: Manchester City have set their next manager the daunting task of winning five trophies in the next five years. City sacked manager Roberto Mancini earlier this month, saying the club had failed to achieve any of its stated targets for the season except qualification for the Champions League and are expected to appoint Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini. "If we look at the next five years, I would say I...
02:00 PM, May 24, 2013
St. Louis: Manchester City overcame a three-goal deficit to beat rivals Chelsea 4-3 on Thursday in the opener of a two-game U.S. tour. Edin Dzeko's second goal of the game tied it in the 85th minute for Man City and Micah Richards scored the stoppage-time winner by redirecting a header into the net. "They've had a tough couple of weeks, losing the manager, losing the F.A. Cup final," Man City...
09:35 AM, May 24, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan is exploring an IPO of U.K football team Cardiff City as early as this year, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in a deal that would follow the team's recent promotion to the Premier League. Cardiff City would be the second Premier League team to float shares in the past year, after Manchester United (MANU.N) listed on the New York Stock, raising...
09:29 AM, May 24, 2013
Pellegrini, who had previously coached Villarreal and Real Madrid in Spain, arrived at Malaga in November 2010. ...
03:13 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: In one of the most bizarre bits of news related to Alex Ferguson since he retired as coach of Manchester United, what is allegedly the last stick of chewing gum chewed by the legendary football tactician has been sold for a whopping 390,000 on online auction site Ebay, with all proceeds going to charity. According to reports in the UK media, Ferguson's chewing gum was somehow retrieved from...
04:04 PM, May 22, 2013
Miami: Manchester City and the New York Yankees have formed a new Major League Soccer team to play in New York City from 2015, the organizations said on Tuesday. English Premier League club Manchester City, owned by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, will be the majority partner in New York City Football Club with the Yankees, the biggest name in baseball, an "active member of the ownership group". "This is...
10:13 PM, May 21, 2013
Milan: Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis denies meeting former Chelsea coach Rafael Benitez on Monday but admits he is interested in selling Edinson Cavani to sign Manchester City's Edin Dzeko. Napoli is in the hunt for a new manager after Walter Mazzarri announced his departure. De Laurentiis says on Tuesday, "I didn't go to London to meet with Benitez ... it's true though that I've spoken with a lot of...
07:42 PM, May 21, 2013
London: Manchester United earned a record 60.8 million pounds in Premier League television revenue this season en route to a 20th English title. Deposed champion Manchester City, who finished 11 points behind United in second, received 58.1 million pounds, according to figures released by the league on Tuesday. Even finishing last was lucrative, with Queens Park Rangers returning to the second tier after earning 39.8 million pounds from TV companies....
04:55 PM, May 21, 2013
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson capped his final season in charge of the English Premier League champions by clinching the League Managers' Association Manager of the Year award for the fourth time on Monday. The 71-year-old Scot's unparallelled success in British soccer ended on Sunday with a remarkable 5-5 draw against West Bromwich Albion. "In a way I am glad it is all over now because it has been hard...
08:23 AM, May 21, 2013
Rome: Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta confirmed that the Italian Serie A champions are in contact with Carlos Tevez in an attempt to sign the Argentine striker. Marotta said Juventus could have some meetings with Tevez's team, reports Xinhua. "It is clear that at this stage of the season agents step forward and I will not rule out a meeting in that sense. We could reach an agreement with them,...
04:25 PM, May 19, 2013
Manchester: Roberto Mancini bade farewell to Manchester City fans by taking out a full-page advert in the local newspaper on Saturday, thanking them for their support during his 3 1/2 years in charge. The Italian was fired by City on Monday after failing to win a major trophy in a season of regression, even though he guided the club to a first Premier League title 12 months earlier. In an...
08:45 PM, May 18, 2013
David Beckham's longevity and his ability to reinvent himself were "absolutely incredible", retiring Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has said. Beckham and Ferguson, who were synonymously linked with Manchester United until the former England captain moved to Real Madrid, both announced in the past 10 days they would retire from soccer at the end of the current season. The 71-year-old Ferguson's final game in charge after 26 years at Old...
09:31 AM, May 18, 2013
London: Arsenal have made no approach for Manchester United's Wayne Rooney but are in "advanced talks" with French side Auxerre to sign 20-year-old striker Yaya Sanogo, manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday. "I don't know if Man United will sell Rooney, and that is the best sign to show you that we have not made any approach for him; the first thing is to phone Manchester United, which we did...
05:59 PM, May 17, 2013
Manchester: When Alex Ferguson wakes up on Monday morning without a Manchester United team to manage he will not be putting his feet up and settling into a quiet retirement. The 71-year-old Scot takes charge of his 1,500th and final United game at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday before stepping down after more than 26 years at Old Trafford. He might have had 10 hours' sleep for the first time...
05:16 PM, May 17, 2013
London: Some up and downs in the career of David Beckham, who said on Thursday he would retire from football at the end of the season: Up: Signs professional contract with Manchester United in 1993 and helps team win Premier League-FA Cup double in 1996. United wins league title again a year later. Down: Gets red card for kicking Diego Simeone in England's second-round match against Argentina at 1998 World...
10:21 PM, May 16, 2013
London: England's Rio Ferdinand has quit international soccer, the Football Association (FA) said on Wednesday. The Manchester United defender, who made his England debut against Cameroon at Wembley in 1997 and won 81 caps, had informed England coach Roy Hodgson of his decision, the FA said in a statement. "After a great deal of thought, I have decided the time is right for me to retire from international football," said...
01:22 PM, May 15, 2013
Berlin: Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben dismissed speculation that he would leave the German champions at the end of the season for Manchester City, saying he had no reason to move. "I am not dealing with this speculation," the Dutchman said. "There is so much speculation but I only want to deal with football. I still have two years on my deal so why should I leave? It is all...
05:43 PM, May 14, 2013
