Utah: A 46-year-old soccer referee who was punched by a teenage player during a game and later slipped into a coma has died, police said. Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following the assault last weekend, Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal said Saturday night. Police have accused a 17-year-old player in a recreational soccer league of punching Portillo after the...
04:07 PM, May 05, 2013
London: Wolverhampton Wanderers chairman Steve Morgan apologised to the fans on Saturday after the club was relegated to the third tier of English soccer for the first time since 1989. Wolves lost 2-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion to finish second from bottom of the Championship, twelve months after they dropped out of the Premier League. They became the only club in the English game to have twice suffered relegations...
10:20 AM, May 05, 2013
Manchester: Manchester City midfielder Scott Sinclair was being treated for a blood clot on his shoulder on Saturday. Sinclair did not travel with the squad for their 0-0 draw against his former club Swansea City earlier in the day and the Premier League club confirmed he was in hospital and in a comfortable condition. The 24-year-old Englishman has started only three games since joining the 2012 Premier League champions in...
10:12 AM, May 05, 2013
Barcelona: Cesc Fabregas's 26th birthday celebrations on Saturday may have been more subdued than usual after Barcelona's Champions League exit to Bayern Munich on Wednesday, the latest in a series of key matches in which he has failed to impress. The former Arsenal captain has struggled to live up to sky-high expectations since returning to his boyhood club in the summer of 2011, even prompting media speculation he may move...
10:02 AM, May 05, 2013
Milan: Fiorentina's Champions League hopes diminished as a late goal meant it lost 1-0 at home to Roma in the Serie A on Saturday, in a match where it hit the woodwork twice. Former Fiorentina striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, who scored a hat trick in last weekend's 4-0 win against Siena, headed in a corner in stoppage time. The result left Fiorentina one point behind AC Milan in the race...
09:28 AM, May 05, 2013
Barcelona: Cristiano Ronaldo headed in two goals to help Real Madrid beat Valladolid 4-3 in the Spanish league on Saturday, but the entertaining win was overshadowed by growing dissatisfaction with coach Jose Mourinho for criticizing the club. Madrid's ninth straight home win in league play denied Barcelona the chance to clinch the league title this weekend. Madrid reduced Barcelona's lead to eight points, meaning the Catalan side can't seal the...
08:40 AM, May 05, 2013
Swansea: Manchester City dropped points in their bid to secure second place in the English Premier League by drawing 0-0 with Swansea in a lackluster match on Saturday. Edin Dzeko and David Silva missed gilt-edged late chances at Liberty Stadium for the deposed champions, who are provisionally seven points clear of third-place Chelsea having played a game extra. "The first half was so-so but we missed five incredible chances to...
11:18 PM, May 04, 2013
Manchester: Gareth Bale produced yet another moment of magic to keep Tottenham on course for a return to the Champions League, while Wigan boosted their survival hopes in the English Premier League with a come-from-behind win at West Bromwich Albion. Playing his first match since being named English football's player of the year, Bale cut inside from the right in the 86th minute and smashed a long-range strike into the...
10:39 PM, May 04, 2013
Vasco: East Bengal's chance to stay in contention for the title race ended after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Dempo FC in the 25th round of the I-League played at Tilak Maidan Stadium on Saturday. East Bengal, who led 1-0 at half time, scored through Penn Orji in the 17th minute. Dempo who were unable to breach the rival defence in the first half found the equaliser...
08:56 PM, May 04, 2013
Hull: Hull returned to the Premier League on Saturday after a three-year absence by clinching a second-place finish in England's second tier ahead of Watford on a dramatic final day. After drawing 2-2 with already-promoted Cardiff, Hull would have been denied the automatic promotion place if Watford had beaten Leeds in a match ending later because of a lengthy first-half injury delay. However, Watford conceded a late goal to lose...
08:04 PM, May 04, 2013
Rome: AC Milan have denied local media reports that manager Massimiliano Allegri will be moving to AS Roma at the end of the season. "AC Milan categorically denies what was published today in the pages of the Corriere della Sera regarding its manager Massimiliano Allegri," the club said on their website (www.acmilan.com) on Saturday. Milan-based daily Corriere della Sera said Allegri had accepted a three-year contract to move to the...
04:58 PM, May 04, 2013
Rio de Janerio: Former Chelsea and Portugal playmaker Deco is facing a 30-day automatic suspension after his "B'' sample confirmed a positive test for a diuretic. Deco tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic which can help hide performance-enhancing substances. The test came after Fluminense's 2-0 win over Boavista on March 30. If found guilty by Brazil's sports tribunal, the 35-year Deco faces a suspension of up to two years. Fluminense...
12:21 PM, May 04, 2013
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi missed training on Friday as he battles to regain fitness for the La Liga leaders' final few matches of the campaign. "The Argentine forward ... did physiotherapy work" apart from the rest of his team mates, Barca said in a statement on their website. Messi damaged a hamstring just over a month ago and although he had been given the all-clear by medical staff he was...
08:06 AM, May 04, 2013
Madrid: UEFA president Michel Platini refused to jump on the German soccer bandwagon on Friday, saying it was too soon to draw conclusions from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund reaching the Champions League final. Looking for explanations after Bayern and Borussia knocked out Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, pundits have heaped praise on the German clubs for their efforts in developing home-grown talent. "Conclusions are made every year...
10:16 PM, May 03, 2013
London: Midfielder Scott Sinclair's likely exit from Manchester City after a forgettable season is a stark reminder of the club's transfer market failings following last year's Premier League title. While Sinclair is not the reason City handed the league crown back to Manchester United without much of a fight, his signing from Swansea City in August epitomised the club's low-key approach to squad strengthening. Whereas neighbours United captured the prized...
09:59 PM, May 03, 2013
Madrid: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho lashed out at his critics and suggested he was not being given enough credit on Friday amid widespread expectation he is poised to abandon the La Liga club at the end of this season. The outspoken Portuguese, who has hinted he may be on his way back to Chelsea despite having a contract with Real until June 2016, reiterated that he will decide his...
07:42 PM, May 03, 2013
London: Arsenal are in a "very, very strong position for the future", manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday as an eighth season without a trophy reaches a nervy conclusion. Wenger also played down any talk of him leaving the Gunners before his current contract ends next year and said he felt as committed to Arsenal as he has done since arriving in the red half of North London in 1996....
07:34 PM, May 03, 2013
Barcelona: Dethroned as Europe's dominant team, Barcelona can begin rebuilding their reputation by clinching the Spanish league title this weekend. Barcelona can secure their 22nd domestic title and their fourth in five years if they beat Real Betis at Camp Nou on Sunday and second-place Real Madrid drops points at home against Valladolid the day before. Barcelona and Madrid were both eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals this week. Yet...
06:47 PM, May 03, 2013
Barcelona: With both Barcelona and Real Madrid still smarting from their respective Champions League collapses, the talk is already turning to what changes can be made - maybe even need to be made - for next season. Both Spanish teams lost to German opposition in the semi-finals. Bayern Munich routed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate, and Borussia Dortmund survived a second-leg loss to reach the final with a 4-3 combined score...
06:29 PM, May 03, 2013
Juventus are poised to clinch the Serie A title on Sunday in a match against struggling Palermo which brings together the two extremes of Italian soccer. With their own stadium, recent stability and restrained transfer policy, forward-looking Juventus are the club who have best adapted to the harsh new financial realities of Serie A. Lowly Palermo, on the other hand, have been mired in chaos, firing and hiring coaches at...
04:42 PM, May 03, 2013
