Australia s Mark Bresciano is in danger of missing the World Cup in Brazil, due to a four-month ban for an illegal transfer to Al Gharafa.
Bresciano has been fined $1.8 million and faces four months on the sidelines and the prospect of missing next year s World Cup, unless his appeal is successful.
Qatari club Al Gharafa, who boasted Harry Kewell in their ranks last year, are suspended from all transfer activity for one year.
Al Nasr have been notified of their right to compensation by FIFA, despite a report by Gulf News in April claiming the 33-year-old Bresciano had bought out the remainder of his two-year contract in the UAE.
Bresciano spent one season in UAE s Arabian Gulf League in 2011-12, scoring 11 goals before making the switch to Al Gharafa.
Galatasaray have said Lukas Podolski will stay at the club after interest from Beijing Guoan failed to materialise.
Sporting director Levent Nazifoglu had previously said a transfer was nearing completion , but the Chinese club denied that they were ever interested in the former Germany international.
Podolski has scored 23 goals in 56 appearances for Galatasaray since his arrival from Arsenal in July 2015, including the winner against Fenerbahce in last season s Turkish Cup final.
After Gala s 1-0 victory over Atiker Konyaspor, Nazifoglu said: Podolski is a very professional player with good character, and the interest from China is no longer there.
Podolski is our player and continues to be.
Podolski has returned his family to Germany, so …
Eintracht Frankfurt and AC Milan have agreed a swap deal involving Ante Rebic and Andre Silva, according to the Bundesliga club s sporting director Fredi Bobic.
Croatia international Rebic was left out of Sunday s 2-1 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf amid speculation he was close to moving from Frankfurt to San Siro.
Bobic expects the forward to complete a switch to Milan on Monday before the transfer deadline, while Portugal striker Silva is due to sign for Eintracht. It is believed both players will move on loan.
The clubs have an agreement, Bobic told Sky in Germany. If everything goes OK, Silva will be a Frankfurt player tomorrow and Rebic will be in Milan.
Rebic had also been linked with Inter following a fine 2018-19 season, in which he scored 10 goa…
French striker Frederic Piquionne scored twice to send cash-strapped Portsmouth back to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final but that match might never take place.
Piquionne s second half goals were enough to condemn Birmingham City to a 2-0 defeat at Fratton Park here on Saturday but 2008 FA Cup winners Portsmouth s real triumph will come on March 15 in the High Court when they face the prospect of liquidation.
If British tax authorities succeed in getting bottom of the Premier League Portsmouth wound-up in the courts over their claim for 12.1 million pounds (18.3 million dollars), their potential semi-final opponents will have a bye into the final.
But such considerations were a million miles from the thoughts of a typically passionate Portsmouth crowd who roared …
Rafael Benitez
Being a football manager is not easy that’s for sure. Even at the lowly level I manage at , it is really difficult to keep a squad of eighteen players happy. If they are not playing, they are moaning and it is usually about the manager!
So it is against that fact that one must consider the words of Liverpool’s Albert Riera. Speaking to Spanish Radio Marca, he said,
I would like to spend my whole career at Liverpool, but we players live to play. My aim is to go to the World Cup and for this I have to be playing. When the coach says nothing to you and you are well, with no physical problems and training well, you cannot help but think it must be something personal. If I m doing something badly and you are my boss, and you value me, then you are g…
Bayern Munich face a mammoth task in their UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is praying for a once in a century display.
In last week s opening leg at Camp Nou, Bayern matched Barca for 75 minutes until Lionel Messi inspired Luis Enrique s side to a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Argentine maestro scored the opening two goals before setting up Neymar for the third in stoppage time as the Catalan giants moved to the brink of their fourth final in the past 10 seasons.
Bayern s preparation for this clash has been less than ideal, with Pepe Reina who started in goal in place of the rested Manuel Neuer on Saturday- lasting just 13 minutes before being sent off in their 1-0 home defeat to Augsburg.
However…
Another Sergio Ramos late show secured an unconvincing 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna as Real Madrid struggled in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
It was the first time since May 2014 that Madrid had started a LaLiga game with neither Bale or the rested Ronaldo and Benzema in their line-up, and they were indebted to late goals from Mariano Diaz and Sergio Ramos to secure a new club record of 35 matches unbeaten.
Madrid unsurprisingly enjoyed the greater share of possession, but Deportivo – sensing they will not have many better opportunities to get a result at the Bernabeu with the hosts star trio absent – gave a good account of themselves.
Deportivo thought they had been made to rue missed opportunities just after the break,…
In what many considered to be one of the most important games of the night in the WCQ qualifiers, Wales were able to surprise many by beating Czech Republic to boost their hopes of reaching the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The one and only goal of the game came in the final 10 minutes with Daniel James popping up to give the Welsh something to really sink their teeth into as the campaign to get the nation back into international football s biggest tournament continues.
Feisty encounter
Between the two red cards and the many tough challenges that went in throughout the course of the night, we d say this is one of the liveliest qualifiers we ve seen in recent times. Wales and Czech Republic both really went for it and if there were fans in the stadium, you can imagine there would ve bee…
A visibly delighted Jack Grealish revelled in how Manchester City s thrilling 6-3 win over RB Leipzig topped off his eagerly awaited Champions League debut.
Grealish became City s club-record signing in a reported £100million move from Aston Villa in the previous transfer window, a deal that came about in part due to his desire to play in Europe s premier competition.
The England international marked the occasion with a goal and an assist, becoming the first Englishman since Wayne Rooney for Manchester United against Fenerbahce in 2004 to do both on his Champions League bow.
His performance helped City make it 18 games unbeaten in group-stage fixtures, while they also became the second quickest to 50 wins in the tournament s history, reaching the landmar…
Cameroon coach Volker Finke has refused to confirm reports that striker Samuel Eto o is to retire from international football.
According to French newspaper L Equipe, the Chelsea striker told team-mates that he was to withdraw from Cameroon duties following their 1-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Libya on Sunday.
However, Finke avoided commenting directly on the issue, saying that he is keen for Eto o to clear up his own future.
Samuel Eto o is a great player and it is better that he should be the one to explain things, he is the one who knows his decision, he said.
He has given a lot to football and Cameroon and that is why he is the one to explain this.
The win over Libya ensured that Cameroon will feature in the third round of qualification.
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